Ogygia (island)

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Fantastic cave landscape with Odysseus and Calypso
( Pieter Bruegel the Elder , around 1616, Johnny van Haeften Gallery, London)

Ogygia ( Greek  Ὠγυγίη or Ὠγυγία ) is the name of the island in Greek mythology on which the nymph Calypso lived.

epos

According to Homer , Calypso held Odysseus on the island for seven years before Hermes, the messenger of the gods, conveyed the gods' decision to let Odysseus move on.

Homer describes the island in his epic as follows:

“When he [Hermes] now reached the distant island [Ogygia], he climbed
out of the waters of the dark sea to the shore,
walked on until he came to the wide grotto of the nymph
with flowing curls, and found the nymph at home.
Before her a great fire burns 'on the hearth', and in the

distance the lovely scent billowed from the burning wood of the cedar and the lemon tree
. She sang in a melodious voice,
Busy, a beautiful fabric with a golden coil to work.
Around the cave grew a grove full of green trees,
poplar willows and alders and fragrant cypress trees .

Under the arbor lived the broad-
plumed birds, owls and hawks and broad-leaved water-crows,
which streak the sea with greedy glances.
A vine spreads
its scraping tendrils around the arched grotto of the rock , hung with purple grapes.

And four springs poured their silver-flashing water,
one close to the other, and meandered this way and that.
Meadows were green around, overgrown with clover and eppich. "

- Homer : Odyssey: Fifth Canto, 55-72

The description of the flora ( cypress , black poplar , black alder ) on Ogygia suggests that it is an island of the dead . Real celery (translated as Eppich above) is a sign of sadness.

The position of the island is given as being at the "navel of the sea".

Localization attempts

The mythical Ogygia is often identified with the Maltese island of Gozo , where a "calypso grotto" is shown. But the Greek island of Gavdos south of Crete also claims to have been the home of the nymph. Gavdos has included the slogan “Gavdos, Island of Calypso” in their self-promotion. Callimachos began as early as the 4th century BC. BC Ogygia is the same as the island of Gaudo . In more modern research, however, doubts have arisen as to whether Callimachus meant Gavdos or the island of Gozo. The island of Melite off the Croatian coast (today Mljet ) was and is connected to the Kalypso island. On the island of Pantelleria , which belongs to Sicily , the Grotta di Sateria is also regarded as the grotto of the Calypso. a. on Samuel Butler , who identified Ogygia with Pantelleria. A localization on Lipari or Panarea (both belong to the Aeolian Islands ) has also been suggested.

In addition to the Mediterranean, Ogygia was also sought in the Strait of Gibraltar ( Isla del Perejil ) or across the strait, in the Atlantic. Strabo already located Ogygia in the Atlantic based on Homer's information. Some modern researchers joined in: Arthur Breusing saw the island of calypso in Madeira , while Richard Hennig left it open whether Madeira or one of the western Canary Islands could be identified with Ogygia.

Calypso Grotto Gozo

Above the Ramla Bay is the "Calypso Grotto" ( Calypso Cave ) of the island of Gozo. After part of the cave has collapsed, it is closed to visitors and can only be viewed from above.

  • Entrance to the "Kalypso Grotto" on Gozo

  • View at the exit of the "Kalypso Grotto" on Ramla Bay

  • Declaration on the "Kalypso Grotto" from the Ministry for Gozo

See also

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Homer, Odyssey 1.50.
  2. ^ Hans von Geisau: Ogygia. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 249.
  3. ↑ Quoted in Strabon, Geographika 7,3,6.
  4. ↑ On this already (and rejecting Gozo) Hans Lamer: Kalypso 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswwissenschaft (RE). Volume X, 2, Stuttgart 1919, column 1784 ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ At Apollonios von Rhodes , Argonautika 4,572–575 ( English ) Calypso lives on an island Nymphaia , which was with this Melite; see. including Hans von Geisau: Ogygia. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Sp. 249; Zlatko Mandzuka: Demystifying The Odyssey. Autorhouse, Bloomington 2013, pp. 405, 409 ff.
  6. ↑ Equation on conoscerepantelleria.it
  7. ↑ Samuel Butler: The Authoress of the Odyssey. 1897, chapters 9-11 at Wikisource.org
  8. ↑ Armin Wolf : Homer's journey: in the footsteps of Odysseus. Completely revised new edition. Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar - Vienna 2009, p. 112 ff.
  9. ↑ Victor Bérard : Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée. Volume 1, Librairie Armand Colin, Paris 1902 pp. 240ff., Esp.p. 263ff.
  10. ↑ Strabo, Geography 1,2,18.
  11. ↑ Arthur Breusing: The solution of the Trier puzzle. Odysseus' wanderings, along with additions and corrections to the nautical science of the ancients. Bremen 1889 (quoted from Richard Hennig: New discoveries on Homer's geography. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie , (N. F) Volume 75, 1926, pp. 266–286, here: p. 282 ( PDF ).
  12. ↑ Richard Hennig: New Findings on Homer's Geography. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, (N. F) Volume 75, 1926, p. 282.