Calypso's Treatment Of Women In The Odyssey

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In the Odyssey, there are typically two ways women are depicted - the pure, devoted housewife, or the enticing, irresistible seductress. For the most part, the housewives are seen as useless without men, only there to do household chores, domestic tasks and to take care of the children. Penelope is seemingly a great example of that; she’s seen as weak and very loyal towards Odysseus, in hopes that he will return. The seductresses mainly exist as trouble for men - drawing them off course and “forcing” them to be unfaithful to their wives. This is the case with Calypso as she traps Odysseus and refuses to let him go until a god interferes.
Calypso, in simplest terms, is a femme fatale - attractive, seductive, and without a shadow of doubt, will reign disaster and bring calamity to any man who gets involved. She shows female dominance and knows that although she is a woman, she is equal to Odysseus, and refuses to be overpowered by him (similarly to Circe). After she traps Odysseus on her island, Calypso comes off as very selfish and obsessive. She …show more content…

Until then, she is very demanding, and forces Odysseus into a position of, essentially, a sex slave. For seven years, he is trapped on Ogygia, obeying her every command and desire. This is proven when the story tells us, "By nights [Odysseus] would lie beside her, of necessity, in the hollow caverns, against his will, by one who was willing, but all the days he would sit upon the rocks, at the seaside, breaking his heart in tears and lamentation and sorrow as weeping tears he looked out over the barren water" (5.152-158). Odysseus craved his home, he