Calypso (nymphs) explained

In Greek mythology, Calypso (; Ancient Greek: Καλυψώ Kalypso means 'she who conceals' or 'like the hidden tide'^[1])^[2] is the name of several nymphs, the most well known being:

• Calypso, the nymph who, in Homer's Odyssey, kept Odysseus with her on her island of Ogygia for seven years.^[3] Calypso, who fell deeply in love with Odysseus, was only swayed to release him after Athena convinced Zeus to send the order.^[4]

Other references to nymphs named Calypso, include:

• Calypso, one of the Oceanids, the 3,000 water nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-wife Tethys.^[5] She was, along with several of her sisters, one of the companions of Persephone when the maiden was abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld.^[6] Her name may signify 'the sheltering cave'.^[7]
• Calypso, one of the 50 Nereids, sea-nymph daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris.^[8]
• Calypso, one of the seven Hesperides and sister of Aiopis, Antheia, Donakis, Mermesa, Nelisa and Tara.^[9]

Further reading

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Fowler, R. L., Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. .
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. .
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Kerényi, Carl, The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951.
• Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001. .
• Walters, Henry Beauchamp, History of Ancient Pottery, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, Based on the Work of Samuel Birch, Volume 2, London, J. Murray, 1905.

Notes and References

1. Book: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. 2013. 9780786471119. 197.
2. Grimal, s.v. Calypso.
3. [Homer]
4. Web site: Calypso The Nymph of Ogygia . GreekMythology.com . GreekMythology.com . 1 May 2024 .
5. [Hesiod]
6. Fowler, p. 13; Larson, p. 7; Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2), 2.5, 2.418 - 423.
7. Book: [[Kerényi]], Carl. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames and Hudson. 1951. London. 41.
8. Apollodorus, 1.2.7
9. Book: Walters, Henry Beauchamp. 1905. 2. 92.