Calypso

Calypso (also known as Atlantis in Greek Mythology, Ατλαντίδα in Ancient Greek ) is a character who appears for a brief time in The Battle of the Labyrinth. She is described as being kind, down to earth, and even more beautiful than Aphrodite, to Percy.

History
The Greek mythological Calypso is described as a lovely seductress. She is the daughter of Atlas.

The Odyssey
Calypso is generally known and remembered for her role in Homer's Odyssey, in which she imprisons the Greek hero Odysseus in her abode, Ogygia, in order to make him her immortal husband. According to Homer, Calypso kept Odysseus in her island for seven years, until Odysseus wishes to return to his wife, Penelope, the queen of Ithaca. Odysseus' patron goddess Athena then asks Zeus that Odysseus is released, and Zeus sends Hermes to tell Calypso to set Odysseus free.

Although Calypso accepts this command, in some versions of the Greek folk tales, it is noted that she dies because of her heart suffering in the absence of Odysseus. In the movie, Calypso was played by Vanessa Williams.

Appearance
"She didn't mean to be beautiful, she just was."

- Percy Jackson

Calypso is described with caramel hair, braided over one shoulder which smells of cinnamon, almond-shaped eyes, and is, according to Percy, even more beautiful than Aphrodite because she seems more natural. She appears to be 15 or 16. She has face of these faces appear timeless. She wears a white sleeveless Greek dress with a low circle line in gold.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Calypso is a beautiful character under a curse. She is lonely and whenever someone washes up on the shore,the island of Ogygia (pronounced O-jee-jee-ah), they leave her. Calypso found Percy on the shores of Ogygia after he caused Mt. Saint Helens to erupt. She nursed him back to health when he hit the shores of Ogygia, unconscious. Percy at first was unsure of her as she and the island were both very beautiful, and in his experience, places like that are usually traps (he had also previously met Circe, and she had said something about, "Medea, Calypso, now they were powerful women."). She did admit that she was the daughter of Atlas, but said she wouldn't hurt him. She healed him and let him roam around the island. One night when they were eating dinner Percy asked her why she always pulled away and teared up when she looked at him and refused to enjoy herself. She was about to tell him when Hephaestus showed up. He told them what was going on back in civilization and left after a short time. Percy realized that as much as he wanted to stay, he had to go back to Camp Half-Blood eventually. Calypso was saddened by the news and explained to Percy that she was cursed to stay on Ogygia forever by the Gods, because she supported her father in the first great war. She is also cursed to have heroes wash up on her island, wounded or hurt, for her to heal: she would always fall in love with them, but they always have to leave and are never allowed to return to her island. She reluctantly offers Percy the chance to stay with her on Ogygia, where he would be immortal. Though Percy hated to refuse, he did, because his friends needed his help. Accepting his choice, Calypso makes him a magical raft and sends him off, asking him to take one of her flowers and plant it in Manhattan, which he did at the end of the book, and which later appears again in his windowsill in The Last Olympian.

The Last Olympian
Calypso does not appear in this book but is mentioned. After the battle, Percy makes a request to the gods that Calypso, along with any other peaceful Titans who did not fight in the original war be allowed amnesty and be freed pointing out that their treatment by the gods was what caused some of them to switch sides. It can be presumed that Calypso is now free.

Calypso is also mentioned when Prometheus asks Percy to surrender. He said that was different.



Ogygia - Calypso's Curse
Ogygia is the phantom island where Calypso was imprisoned. She cannot leave the island, but others can. Calypso says that the gods will come to visit her every so often and bring word of the outside world. Every thousand years or so, the gods of Olympus will send Calypso a "companion" (hero) to Ogygia so that Calypso will "tend to him and befriend him." (It can be inferred that they send injured male heroes, like Percy.) All the heroes sent to her attract her, so she falls in love with them. But, as Calypso states (and Percy agrees), the Fates are cruel, and they always send someone who can break her heart, and never stay. However, after the end of the Second Titan War as part of the gods' promise to claim all their kids they were to set Calypso free. She hasn't been mentioned, but we can assume that she is free to do what she wants now, and may fall in love and marry.

Trivia

 * A moon of Saturn is named after Calypso.