Femininity In Odysseus

Temptresses use their feminine charms to reveal Odysseus’s promiscuous acts as well as his hubris. Calypso, a temptress in the epic, is a nymph who is “imprisoned” on the secluded, beautiful island, Ogygia. In Book IV, Odysseus is washed ashore on Ogygia and is there for seven years, continuously being tempted by Calypso. “True enough,/ Calypso the lustrous goddess tried to hold me back,/ deep in her arching caverns, craving me for a husband”(Homer IX. 33-36). Calypso’s attempts to make Odysseus her husband are in vain, but she manages to expose Odysseus’s immoral behavior demonstrating that he is susceptible to her feminine charms. During his stay on Ogygia, he displays these human-like tendencies and weaknesses: “Though he fought
shy of her and her desire, he lay with her each night, for she compelled him”(V. 82-83). Despite these tendencies, he still cries for his family and wants to escape Ogygia:“But when day came he sat on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet and scanning the bare horizon of the sea” (V. 84-85). Due to the fact that he desires to escape a paradise in which he has intercourse with a goddess every day on a beautiful island, exemplifies what he deep down feels.
He comes to the realization that he misses his family dearly and chooses abandon the luxurious life he is currently living. When one looks at the big picture, Odysseus wants to escape paradise and go back to his humble home, to his aged wife, to his unknown son. Through this, the reader knows Odysseus’ true intention, which is to finally find the place where he longs to be. This implies that being immortal and living on Ogygia for eternity is not the life for Odysseus. He wants to die with the rest of his generation and prefers to be human rather than a god, shown when he declines Calypso’s offer for immortality. Another example of temptresses are the Sirens. Though not boasting feminine charm and immortality, they sing a beautiful, irresistible song. So beautiful in fact that when men listen to it, they are beguiled into following the sound and eventually get killed by the Sirens. However, Circe instructs Odysseus how to pass through the Sirens domain which is required in order to get home. Odysseus is given explicit instructions to put beeswax in the ears of his shipmates so they don’t listen to the song. However, if his crew ties him up,
then he is allowed to listen.
“... but if you are bent on hearing, have them tie you hand and foot in the swift ship, erect at the mast-block, lashed by ropes to the mast so you can hear the Sirens’ song to your heart’s content. But if you plead, commanding your men to set you free, then they must lash you faster, rope on rope.”(XII. 44-60)
Even though Circe permits Odysseus to listen to the song, he lies to his shipmates and tells them that he must listen to it.
So, he plugs his companions ears, and following the advice of Circe, instructs the crew to bind him to the mast with rope. This event conveys Odysseus’s hubris; even though it wasn’t necessary for him to hear the song, he still insists on listening to it. He did this to boast that he’s the first person to listen to the Siren’s song and live to tell that tale. Without a doubt, the use of temptresses is one of the most effective ways of using women to communicate to readers and listeners Odysseus’ hubris and promiscuous
tendencies.