| “ | They send a person who can never stay. Who can never accept my offer of companionship for more than a little while. They send me a hero I can't help... just the sort of person I can't help falling in love with. | ” |
–Calypso talking to Percy about the Fates, in The Battle of the Labyrinth | ||
Calypso is the daughter of the Titan Atlas. As punishment for her support of her father in the First Titanomachy, she was banished to Ogygia, a remote island where different heroes whom she could not help but fall in love with would end up, examples being Odysseus and Percy Jackson. However, none of those heroes whom she falls for would ever be able to stay with her. Later on, she was rescued by Leo Valdez after the Second Giant War ended. Once she left her island with Leo, she gave up Titan-hood and is currently a mortal, but was later revealed to have regained her magical powers. She is currently in a relationship with Leo Valdez.
History
The Odyssey
As a daughter of Atlas, Calypso was described to be a "goddess of strange power and beauty" , as well as the absolute ruler of the isle of Ogygia (pronounced oh-gee-gee-ah). 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 wished to return to his wife, Penelope, the queen of Ithaca.
Calypso is much more hostile to Odysseus in the Odyssey than to Percy Jackson in The Battle of the Labyrinth. Although Odysseus is content at first with Calypso, he soon becomes unwilling to stay with her.
Odysseus' patron goddess Athena then asks Zeus to release Odysseus. Zeus complies and sends Hermes to tell Calypso to set Odysseus free. Calypso begrudgingly accepts this command and gives Odysseus the supplies he needs to make a raft home. She then allows him to sail away. In some versions of the Greek folk tales, it is noted that she dies because of her heart suffering in the absence of Odysseus.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Sea of Monsters
Calypso is briefly mentioned by Circe as being a powerful sorceress, along with Medea. [1]
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Atlas, her father
After Percy causes an eruption at Mount Saint Helens, he washes up on the island of Ogygia (pronounced oh-jee-jee-ah). Calypso nursed him back to health, but 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. Percy first thought she was evil because Circe told him before that Calypso and Medea are powerful Sorceresses. 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 when they were having a nice time and why she refuses to enjoy herself. She tears up when she looked at him. She was about to finish telling him her story when Hephaestus showed up. He told them what was going on back in civilization and left after a short time.
Percy Jackson
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 Olympian War. She is also cursed to have heroes wash up on her island, wounded or hurt for her to heal. However, the people that landed on her island were always people she would fall in love with, but they would never be able to stay with her. 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 and he had duties. Accepting his choice, Calypso makes him a magical raft and sends him off, asking him to take one of her magical plants, moonlace, which has a delicious smell, with him and plant a garden for her, which he did. As he was leaving on the raft he stated that Calypso would always be his biggest "what if".
The Last Olympian
Calypso does not appear in this book but is mentioned. The moonlace she gave him appears again in the windowsill of his apartment. Percy said that the moonlace "bloomed like crazy" under his mother's care. Calypso is also mentioned when Prometheus asks Percy to surrender. Prometheus said not all Titan offspring were bad, such as Calypso. Percy replied to that, saying Calypso was different.
After the Battle of Manhattan, 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.
The Heroes of Olympus
The House of Hades
Calypso is first mentioned when Percy Jackson is forced to fight a number of arai in Tartarus. The arai make curses real when they are destroyed, revealing that Calypso had cursed Annabeth for being Percy's love interest at the time. When Annabeth Chase destroyed one of the arai, she began to wonder why Percy left her. Percy tried to tell her he was right there, but every time he got close, she would be transported away. As Percy takes on more curses and becomes too weak to stand, he feels bad about how poor a friend he had been and feels that he should have made sure the gods had freed her from Ogygia, which they didn't.
Leo Valdez, her boyfriend
Later, Leo lands on her island after being blasted from the Argo II. At first, she despises Leo and think that the gods are mocking her. After the two become angry at each other, Leo builds a small hut far enough away from Calypso so that she couldn't see him, but close enough where Calypso could continue to bring him food. After Leo finds some Celestial Bronze and begins working on a way to navigate off the island, Calypso visits him to yell about all the noise he is making from his makeshift forge and how he is scaring away the birds. However she brings him some food and tells him to eat, as he hasn't eaten in two days. Later she visits again, bringing him a recreated set of his favorite clothes, except these were fireproof so Leo couldn't burn them like he had with the other clothes Calypso had made him. Leo comments that she is warming up to him, but she claims she is returning a favor for all the things on her island he had fixed during his time there. She begins to take an interest in one of his projects and helps Leo get it to work with her magic after Leo sets his shirt on fire when he turns it on. The two watch a vision in the device of Camp Half-Blood preparing for battle, Camp Jupiter soldiers being attacked by the Kerkopes, and Reyna trying desperately to reach Rome, with Calypso believing that Reyna is Leo's girlfriend, which he says she isn't.
When the machine stops and Leo tries to get it started again, Gaea appears before the two. She taunts Leo until Calypso steps in and tells Gaea she is not welcome on her island. Gaea turns her attention to her and offers Calypso a chance to join her, as Ogygia will be destroyed when she remakes the world. She tells Calypso that all she needs to do is kill Leo and she will free her from her island. Calypso refuses as Ogygia is not only her prison, but her home and she banishes Gaea from it.
Calypso then spends every moment trying to help Leo build a ship to escape her island so that he can stop Gaea. She even makes a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, thinking they are more practical after making Leo so many pairs. As the two bond, Leo offers Calypso the option of leaving with him, but she refuses as it would destroy any chance Leo has of escaping. They continue to work and Leo is so impressed that he offers Calypso a job if she ever leaves her island. The two joke about how they could open a shop called "Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters," which would not only fix machines, but sell fruit, vegetables, cider, and stew.
As Leo begins plans on a boat, he admits that he plans on coming back with Festus in order to spring Calypso from her island. Calypso says he can't as the rule is that no one can visit Ogygia twice, but Leo isn't convinced, believing he can use a crystal from her island to navigate back; as he can't start Leo and Calypso’s Auto Repair without Calypso. Just then the magic raft appears and Calypso forces Leo onto it before it vanishes. Leo makes the connection that the raft only appears to take away people Calypso is in love with, but she says she still hates him. Leo tries to promise her that he will return, but she cuts him off with a kiss, not wanting to hear Leo's promise. After the kiss however, Leo makes an oath on the River Styx that he will return.
The Blood of Olympus
That oath he made actually represented the third line of the Prophecy of Seven: "An Oath to keep with a Final Breath". After Leo was revived by the Physician's Cure, he arrived at Ogygia on Festus where Calypso was standing on the beach, wearing jeans and a white blouse. She comments that he "is late". After helping Leo from his fall, Calypso kissed him. After Leo asked her if she wanted to get off Ogygia, she stepped back, raised her hand and her invisible servants brought two suitcases and set them at her feet. They soon got on Festus, with Calypso's arms around Leo's waist, and they soared into the unknown.
Between the Series
She and Leo were wandering the winds for the past six months until Festus picked up a signal from Harley's homing beacon.
The Trials of Apollo
The Hidden Oracle
She and Leo arrive at Camp Half-Blood after Nero's attack on the camp. She and Leo agree to join Apollo on his quest to become a god again.
The Dark Prophecy
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Calypso, along with the rest of the group, lands on the capital building in Indianapolis. They land before a woman named Nanette approached them and took hold of Apolo after identifying the former god. The woman grabbed Apollo before the former immortal sorceress punched her in the head, resulting in the woman's head to be revealed as a metal fake and Calpyso to break her hand. Leo ran over to her before finding out she was a Blemmyae working for Triumvirate Holdings calling for back up. She attacks Nanette again with a kick, resulting in the blemmyae to be disoriented and her breaking her ankle. Leo and Apollo helped her walk as the three retreated into an alley way where a ghost was pointing them somewhere, but they are quickly corned by their headless hunters. When Leo has a plan she helps Apollo distract the blemmyae by acting as chorus to his story, mostly in the form of insults. She is aided on the bulldozer and the three make a break for it. As Nanette is about to kill them she herself is killed by a stray arrow. A woman comes to their aide as she takes out all the blemmyae. She introduces her self as Emmie and states that Calypso looks like her half-sister and takes them to the Waystation. After arriving she was lead by Emmie to the infirmary. Several hours later she is good as new and watching the fallen god have a vision. They gather around a table as Agamethus tries to tell them something. When the trio learned that Emmie and Josephine's adoptive daughter Georgie has been taken by the emperor she sands her condolences. As they prepare and eat lunch, Emmie and Joesephine talk about what has happened to the Waystation's inhabitants and their daughter. A noise is coming from the roof, the former hunters go to investigate and tell their guests to stay put. Apollo explains to her and Leo the ritual for seeing Trophious. When Leo says he will get Festus she scolds him. Moments later the two find Apollo trapped in a net by the net goddess Britomartis. The goddess tell she them that she wants them to free her griffins in three days time or they will never save Georgiana. She tells her and Apollo to head to the city's zoo while Leo works in defenses. After telling the ex hunters what Britomartis told them they had their guests do chore days with her planting with Emmie before they send her and the boys to separate wings for the night. At first light she wakes Apollo to head to the zoo to free the griffins. As they make their way to the Indianapolis zoo she tells Apollo to ask his arrow, which they learn to look by a train and have tatter tots. They argue about their mortal status along the way. When they reach the zoo they find a directory pointing them to the train but hear Lityerses and others coming towards them. She pulls him towards a near by cafe to hide. She picks the lock with a Bobbi pin and she and Apollo hide in the cafe. They find the griffin tatters in a locked freezer she easily opened and she finds the train ride on a map. They hear Lityerese order one of his men to stay by the cafe and they wonder how to get past him. They make their way towards the train but are cornered by Germanus by the reptile house. She scares them off with fake magic. They reach the train station only to find Lityerses blocking their way and calling for backup. He teases her for being Leo's girlfriend and Apollo pulls her out of the way when he us crushed by vegetation. They board the train and locate the monster enclosure. They then find the griffins, open their enclosure and sing an ancient duet to calm them. She feed the female while Apollo feeds the male before Lityerses appears behind them. As Lityrses is about to kill them, Meg McCaffrey arrives and fends him off. After she and Apollo mount the griffins and he releases all the other monsters, and forces the net on the ceiling away to the astonishment of both former immortals. She passes out right after that, and Apollo and Meg escorts her to Waystation. She is feint when she arrives and is taken to the infirmary by Leo and Josephine. It is later revealed that Calypso's magic was Britomartis' doing, to the anger of Leo and Apollo. However Joesephine claims she can help restore her magic. She is told to stay behind when Apollo, Leo and Meg infiltrate Commodus's palace. When the released prisoners made their way to the waystation she handed out refreshments and medical supplies. She took a note pad when Georgie was on the Throne of Memory. She managed to perform minor feets of magic, such as moving a mug across a table. But she feels it will be a while before she gets her full powers back, assuming they survive the mornings attack. After speaking with Emmie and Joesophine, she and Leo have decided to stay at the Waystation. Halfway through the battle she, Josephine, Thalia and Lit were at a standstill while Commodus had Leo, Emmie and Georgie hostage. After Apollo blinds Commodus and his men and the others take out his guards, Calypso summons a blast of air and pushes the god emperor out of the waystation. They could not find the god emperor and neither could their search parties. She then aided in the cleaning and attended Heloise's funeral. She and Josephine decipher some of the prophecy over dinner, she objects to Leo warning Camp Jupiter alone of the attack on their camp. The next morning she is arguing with him about what to pack. |
Relationships
| “ | Love will make you do crazy things. Or, more accurately, being trapped on a deserted island for centuries will make you do crazy things. | ” |
Odysseus
Calypso fell in love with Odysseus when he washed up in Ogygia during his trip back to Ithaca, after the Trojan War. However, because of her curse, to always fall in love with with any man who washed up on her shore, Odysseus left to return to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus.
Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician, the husband of Elizabeth who ended up at Ogygia at some point in his life. Like all other of Calypso's lovers, he left for his wife, Elizabeth Sydenham. No books regarding him mention his relationship with the titaness.
Percy Jackson
Calypso and Percy first met when Percy was stranded on her phantom island of Ogygia. Calypso had healed Percy after he was severely weakened at Mount Saint Helens. Percy later learns that the immortal Calypso was condemned to live on the island forever after supporting her father, Atlas. She asks him to join her and live with her forever where he would become immortal, but he turns her down, even though it would save him from the prophecy (if he had stayed on the island, he would never turn 16). Calypso was in love with Percy, and he somewhat loved her as well. Percy considered her more beautiful than Aphrodite, "but I wouldn't say that out loud or she'd blast me to ashes,". In The Last Olympian, Percy requested that the Olympians show leniency to the Titans who did not support Kronos, freeing Calypso from her prison. Percy has even stated, that for as long as he lived, she would always be his biggest "what-if". It was revealed that Hera sent Percy to Calypso so she could heal him, while the Fates allowed Percy on the island as he was the kind of person Calypso couldn't help but fall in love with. However, like all other heroes that land on her island, Percy had to leave her, which too was part of her punishment.
In The House of Hades, Calypso reappears. It is known that, when Percy made the gods swear to free her from her prison, she was forgotten, staying trapped on Ogygia. She blamed the gods for this, but also Annabeth, as she thought it was Annabeth's fault she was alone. Although she cursed Annabeth for it, Percy did not blame her but instead blamed himself for not ensuring that the gods freed her from her island.
In The Hidden Oracle, Percy and her have an awkward reunion and hug. Leo, Calypso, and Percy spend time together for most of the day before Percy has to leave.
Leo Valdez
| “ | Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez; I still hate you. | ” |
–Calypso to Leo Valdez, in The House of Hades | ||
In The House of Hades, Leo lands on Calypso's island, as the gods had not seen to Percy's wish of setting her free from Ogygia, her cursed home. Although Leo and Calypso do not get along very well when they first meet, when he works to escape, she turns out to be a great help and they become friends. They also share a kiss just before Leo leaves. Leaving Ogygia, Leo doubts that he really is "in love with an immortal girl" and that Calypso is in love with him. He then swears upon the River Styx that he will come back for Calypso. When he returns to the world, it is clear that he misses Calypso: Jason notices that he has lost most of his nervous energy and has the same heartbroken expression that he saw from Nico.
In the The Blood of Olympus, Leo is obsessed with returning to Calypso after he has defeated Gaea. Once Gaea is gone, he returns to Ogygia and takes Calypso back into the mortal world.
Personality
As seen in The Battle of the Labyrinth, Calypso is kindhearted, and caring, yet could be feisty and rebellious, not liking the fact that she had to fall in love simply because the gods wanted her to as a punishment. She was very shy around visitors to her island as anyone that arrives there is someone she would fall in love with, causing her to hide her true feelings. She also has a warm heart, telling Percy that even if her father is a Titan, she still loves him and has no anger toward the gods for trapping her on her island. She shows a level of curiosity to Percy, asking him about how the world has changed in the time she has been trapped and feels bad that there is a place where flowers cannot grow (New York City). She is also very down to earth.
In The House of Hades, Calypso is still trapped on the island despite the gods promising to release her. She is angered as a result of this and when Leo lands at her island is hostile to him at first. She eventually warms up to him, but never admits to liking him at all and denies it at every turn; making excuses for the help she offers him. She tells him she doesn't like being told what to do and is shown to be harder, more blunt and sarcastic than before, especially around Leo. This is probably to do with the fact that she's been left behind so many times, not being told what is really at work.
Appearance
| “ | She wasn't trying to be beautiful and didn't even care about that. She just was. | ” |
–Percy Jackson, talking about Calypso in The Battle of the Labyrinth | ||
In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Calypso was described to have cinnamon-smelling caramel hair that was braided over one shoulder, dark almond-shaped eyes, and a face that appeared to be timeless. She wore a white sleeveless Greek dress with a low circular neckline trimmed in gold, and seemed to radiate a natural glow in the moonlight. According to Percy, it was difficult to tell whether she was 15 or 16 due to her timeless features, but he found her to be "twice as brilliant" as the stars, and far more beautiful than even Aphrodite herself, for she seemed more natural. Aphrodite's husband, Hephaestus, also acknowledged Calypso's beauty, as demonstrated by his compliment of her - "beautiful as always".
Later, when Leo arrives on her island in The House of Hades, she changes her outfit. After making Leo several outfits because he keeps burning his up, she makes a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt for herself, as it is better suited for manual labor.
In The Hidden Oracle, Apollo also acknowledged Calypso's beauty, describing her as "beguiling". When he saw her in the flesh, he observed that though she had become a full mortal about his current teenage age, she still retained her otherworldly beauty - her hair was still long and caramel-brown, her almond-shaped eyes were still dark and intelligent, and she had neither flab nor acne. The only difference was that instead of a chiton, she wore modern jeans, a white blouse, and a shocking-pink ski jacket.
Abilities
As the daughter of the Titans Atlas and Tethys, Calypso was "a goddess of strange power", though most of her abilities remain unknown. However, it is implied through Apollo's slight fear of her that she might be an extremely powerful being, especially given her eons of magical practice, and how she is older than the Gods themselves. Testaments to her formidable powers are her banishing Gaia from her island, and her once mentioning that if she had her full magic, she could throw Apollo across Indianapolis. Examples of powers Calypso had demonstrated were:
- Mystiokinesis: As a sorceress, Calypso could cast and manipulate magic. Her magic was mainly directed with song, allowing her to activate machines, heal, see the past and a whole variety if tasks.
- Vitakinesis: Calypso possessed healing powers - in The Battle of the Labyrinth, she nursed Percy back to health though singing a song of enchantment.
- Immortality Bestowal: In The Odyssey, Calypso offered Odysseus an "'immortal life, exempt from age and woe" if he would give up his mortal family and stay with her instead, which proves that she had the power to grant the gifts of immortality and eternal youth to whoever she chooses.
- Aerokinesis: Calypso possessed the ability to create, control, and manipulate the air and wind - in The Odyssey, she provided Odysseus with "'a gentle breeze" to ensure that the weather and sea remained safe enough for him to sail to his desired destination. Apollo also mentioned in The Dark Prophecy that she had control over wind spirits, which could mean her aerial servants on her island, but could also imply more.
- Weaving: In The Odyssey, Calypso was once mentioned to be weaving at her loom with "a golden shuttle", and she also stated in The Dark Prophecy that she had spent literally thousands of years practicing at the loom, which implies a mastery of this skill that either matched or even surpassed that of Athena's. Another ability she derived from this province is:
- Lock-Picking: As shown in The Dark Prophecy, though her weaving skills, Calypso has the ability to undo any lock, for "manipulating pins in a lock was not too different from weaving thread in a loom".
- Multilingualism: Calypso demonstrated numerous times that, even as a mortal, she is able to speak, understand, and communicate in a variety of languages, including Ancient Greek, Minoan, and English.
- Gardening: Perhaps her greatest skill, Calypso is a passionate and heavily experienced gardener.
After being rescued by Leo Valdez, Calypso lost all of her powers and became mortal. However, as of The Dark Prophecy, she regained her ability to cast magic. Leo also describes her as the most intuitive girl he had ever met, vastly surpassing all of his siblings, mastering many mechanical arts within moments despite never being exposed previously.
Ogygia and Calypso's Curse
Ogygia (pronounced as oh-jee-jee-ah) 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 will break her heart, and never stay. However, after the end of the Second Olympian War as part of the gods' promise to Percy to claim all of their kids and they were to set Calypso free. In The House of Hades, it is revealed that the gods forgot about her and she is still on the island. In The Blood of Olympus, Leo returns after the war and takes Calypso on Festus.
Trivia
- Calypso is also a moon surrounding Saturn (planet) that was discovered in 1980 and is named after her.
- Before Percy arrived on Ogygia, her companion was a pirate named Drake, who was possibly Sir Francis Drake.
- Calypso has cursed Annabeth to feel alone, as Percy had done to her once (seen in The House of Hades).
- She is said to have children with Odysseus, as stated by Hesiod, Apollodorus and Homer, though they aren't mentioned in the series.
See Also
References
- ↑ Page 172, UK Copy.