Calypso's Island — Odysseus released and shipwrecked
Book 5 of The Odyssey by Homer
Dawn rose from the couch of her lord Tithonus, shedding light upon immortals and mortals alike, and the gods took their seats in council upon the summit of Olympus. Athena once more told the sorrows of Odysseus, how he languished still on Calypso's isle, and she reproached the gods for their forgetfulness. Zeus was persuaded. He ordered Hermes, the swift messenger, to fly to the island of Ogygia and declare to the nymph Calypso the unchangeable will of heaven: she must let Odysseus go.
Hermes bound on his immortal sandals of gold that bore him swift as the wind over sea and land. He took the wand with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them as he pleases, and flew from the peak of Olympus. He skimmed the waves like a cormorant that chases fish through the perilous gulfs of the barren sea, wetting his plumage in the spray. So Hermes rode the waves until he reached the distant island of Ogygia, where the fair-haired nymph dwelt.
He found Calypso in her cave, and a great fire burned upon her hearth. The smell of cedar and juniper filled the island as she fed the flames. She sat within, singing with a lovely voice and weaving at her loom with a golden shuttle. Around the mouth of the cave a luxuriant vine trailed, heavy with clusters of ripe grapes. Four springs of clear water ran in a row, each flowing in a different direction through meadows of violet and parsley. Even an immortal who came upon this place would pause and gaze in wonder, and so Hermes stood and let his eyes drink in the beauty of the scene before he entered.
