"Feast of Calypso for Odysseus," (ca. 1616) J. Brueghel the Elder (with H. de Clerck)

Calypso: her island is the "navel of the sea," apparently equidistant from all human habitations. We are told that not even the gods care to go there, for there are no sacrifices or other rites. At first glance Calypso resembles Circe, but her essential meaning is different. She offers Odysseus a life free of death and old age, but at the price of family, home, and all other bonds of common humanity. Odysseus finally rejects this offer in favor of Penelope's fragile, mortal humanity. Brueghel's rendition of her island suggests a natural, sensuous paradise, with nothing to distract one from unending feasting and sex …

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