Because Book 5 presents the reader’s first meeting with Odysseus, it is interesting that Homer chooses to show him alone on a beach on Calypso’s island, apparently defeated and weeping. Throughout the poem, Odysseus is a series of apparent contradictions, a much more complicated character than we would find in any stereotypical epic hero.
The modern reader might be bothered by the apparent double standard of morality in the epic, in which Penelope is expected to be absolutely celibate for 20 years, rejecting all suitors and faithfully awaiting her husband’s return, while Odysseus has at least two extended sexual liaisons. When the reader first meets him on Ogygia, he has been spending the nights in Calypso’s bed and his days mourning his absence from home and family. Homer’s audiences would not have had difficulty reconciling these differences. Odysseus does want to return to Penelope and his life on Ithaca despite the obvious attractions — physical, spiritual, and mortal — that Calypso has to offer him. It does not occur to Odysseus or his contemporary audience that he has one code of behavior for himself and another for Penelope.
Calypso rages at the double standard when Hermes announces that she must let Odysseus go. She launches into a rant against the male gods, “unrivaled lords of jealousy” (5.131), who think nothing of gods carousing with mortal women but condemn female gods when they take mortal lovers. She cites an impressive litany of examples. However, in the end, she must accede to the judgment of Zeus.
