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Alicia LeVan

Fragments of the primordial Great Goddess:
CALYPSO & CIRCE
(A Play of Polarities)

Before examining Calypso and Circe, please remember that the context
of these characters is primarily in relation to the
central-male-protagonist-hero Odysseus, and that Homers' Odyssey is an
epic poem written in a non-linear, cyclical fashion; so although the
book of Calypso comes before that of Circe, Odysseus actually
encounters Circe before Calypso.

Calypso

-[name means the concealer. (Gregory Crane, p.17)]

She is a Goddess with several functions, a complex character, and as
an individual she represents the dual nature of the feminine as both
light and dark in a subtle, integrated/harmonious/in accordance way.
When coupled with Circe, Calypso primarily represents (what has been
constructed as) primarily the light aspects of the Great Goddess.

ROLES:

*

Immortal Goddess:
* Her father is Atlas, who divides Heaven from Earth. he is
in-between, like his daughter who is a mediatrix between the
world of immortal living and mortal life, as well as Heaven,
Earth and the Underworld.
* Her relationships are restricted to Odysseus, her only
other visitor being Hermes, otherwise she seems to always be
entirely alone; unmarried and independent. She is isolated on
her remote island. While on her island, [for 5-8 years,
(references vary)], Odysseus also remains separate from her,
living his days alone by the seashore, weeping in anguish
over his exile, longing to be home in Ithaka with his wife
and son. Therefor Calypso is the pure, remote feminine,
untouched and inaccessible, separate, distinguished and
different from the world of men,(or the view of the world by
men).
* She is dominated by Zeus. It is under his will and the
threat of being chastised that she decides to comply and let
Odysseus continue his journey.
* It is not in her power to provide him with ship and company
to return him home, but only with the materials (from the
Earth) of her isle for a raft, food, and a cloak. She is
overpowered as her provisions have no strength to protect him
from the wrath of the angry god Poseidon. [It is interesting
to note here that "Poseidon was originally a female Posidaeja
in Minoan civilization, which recognized no male symbol of
the sea," (p.58,B.W.)] The cloak actually hinders him when it
becomes tangled as he struggles to swim to safety.
* To Odysseus she offers the gift of immortality and all
things befit for a God if he stays with her. In ancient times
menstruating women were worshipped for bestowing powers of
immortality. Inexplicably shed without wound, flowing in
rhythm with the moon cycle, and wholly foreign to male
experience, her blood was of magical importance and regarded
by men with holy dread as it contains the life essence. She
is infused with the Great Goddesses divine life-blood, which
is the substance of all creation. Ironically, Calypso's
promise of eternal life is actually a form of death, as he
would have to live in isolation from the world of mortal
living forever.
* She is ridiculed by other gods for having a mortal as her
lover; she sites other goddesses and men who were unfairly
punished for such behavior. Here we see a shift in behavior
towards the free expression of female sexuality, it is being
restricted and condemned. Meanwhile, the male gods,
especially the almighty patriarch Zeus, can express their
sexuality with whomever they please, whenever and wherever.
*

Nymph:- Beautiful Bride, Sensual Seductress
* The word nymph, attributed to female nature spirits or
demi-goddesses who haunt caves, woods, springs and meadows,
comes from Nymphe, which meant bride or nubile young woman.
Deriving from-
"the ancient Greek temples called nympheae (which) were
located at sacred springs, and staffed by 'colleges' of
unmarried priestesses... 'Nymphs' served as priestesses in
ancient temples of the Goddess, especially in sexual
ceremonies, where they represented the divine principle of
flowering fertility... Even now, 'nymphomania', connotes
sexual obsession, like the moon-madness supposed to motivate
the ancient nymphs in their seasons of mating," (Barbara
Walker's Encyc. of Myths and Secrets).
* Despite connotations with fertility and life for a man 'to
be among the nymphs' was a synonym for death, as it was
eternal separation from the mortal world.
* Calypso displays an intense sexual desire,(almost
smothering), to make Odysseus her eternal mate, thus herself
an eternal wife, forever dependent on him, but to be one.
This is flattering to Odysseus' stature as a hero, as if a
mortal man could satisfy a goddess! She keeps Odysseus on her
island, which stagnates and stifles his mission. She also
seduces/compels him to sleep with her against his will,(long
ago she had ceased to please him). Her ability to
seduce/enchant/charm Odysseus demonstrates the influential
power immortal female sexuality has in relation to the mortal
male hero, she is in control.
* At night, he sleeps with her out "of necessity, in the
hallow caverns, against his will."(Homer) Perhaps the
'necessity' he has for unity with the feminine, coup[led with
his yearning for home,(an embodiment of the feminine
principle representing relationship, community, cooperation,
and non-aggression)] represents a need for integration of the
feminine principle within his psyche after years of
functioning in war, with the constant testosterone of
destroying, killing, raping and surviving in the most
inhumane, strife torn, blood drenched, barren plains of Troy.
After ten years of functioning as a killer and destroyer, he
must heal his numbness and de sensitivity by connecting with
his feelings. The emotional outpouring when he weeps in pain
from being in exile from his home(the feminine) suggests that
he has begun to integrate the feminine virtues of
sensitivity, patience, contemplation, depth, ripening,
healing and transforming insight that enable him to continue,
and to be drawn back home. Thus he is reborn through Calypso.
*

Divine Hostess:
* Although there is no mention of children birthed by Calypso in
the Odyssey, other sources say she and Odysseus bore
Nausithous and Nausinous, (Hesiod's Theogony, 1010), or that
Latinus was their only son, (Apollod. vol. 2.295).
* Calypso nurtures, soothes and comforts Odysseus. She feeds,
bathes and clothes him, following the tradition of host and
guest, yet this functions on a more intimate level, like a
mother and child, or wife and husband.
* She provides him with the essentials for his journey.
*

Splendid Ideal Vision/ Object of Male Desire
* The Divine Calypso is described as a surpassingly beautiful,
lovely nymph, magical, shimmering, glittering, with glorious
hair, most divinely made, singing in a warm, sweet voice,
high and low, a bright, shining, majestic goddess.
* Her home is on an island at the center or edge of the
world, the isle Ogygia. Described by Homer in wonderfully
suggestive, symbolic, visual detail. It is an idealized,
unspoiled, abundant, fruitful, immortal paradise that is
isolated and remote from the rest of the world. The
description of her lush, rich natural environment stresses
the sensual pleasure, vibrancy and delight of the land of
Ogygia, reflecting Calypso herself. There is a fresh, cool,
pure spring, birds, trees, and flowers. The earth is
metaphorically the body of the original Great Goddess of over
flowing, flowering fertility and life. This passage is a
depiction of a sacred space, a place given over to the divine
feminine, the archetype of the Great Goddess.
* The surface image of Calypso is like an incredibly pure,
charismatic, and beautiful image to which the hero can
dedicate acts of heroism, virtue, wisdom, and spirituality,
utilizing her as an image of his own higher nature, his soul,
so to speak.
* Her image of paradise is the ultimate dream destination of
the heroic Greek quest.

MOTIFS:

* 

Cave, or sea-caverns:

Described by Homer as smooth, by G.C. as soft and that which isolates
and conceals its occupant. A persistent motif closely connected to
Calypso. It is her house. Within the dark inner recesses of her
cavern she and Odysseus join in sexual union. Cybele's cavern
shrines called marriage chambers, and caves were used for privacy
to make love. Words for cave, temple and brothel interchanged
during era of promiscuous priestesses. Before temples, all of
religious rites were held in them. Caves were universally
identified with the womb of the Mother Earth, symbolic of birth
and regeneration.

Hearth:

Latin; focus. The religious center of family, home, (clan and tribal
life as well). Sacred to the goddess Hestia. Provides access to
ancestor spirits now dwelling in the underworld.

TREES:

cedar: According to the Asyrians, it produces the 'pure charm' and
drives away demons, its cones can heal the sick. Cedar groves were
considered oracular shrines and the tree itself "the revelation of
the oracles of heaven and earth" (B.W. Dict. of Symbols & Sacred
Objects).
poplar: the Tree of Life, because of its distinctly bicolored
leaves; dark green on the side that faces Heaven, pale green on
the side that faces Earth, representing the male/female duality
from which all was born.
cypress: "According to orphic descriptions of the afterlife, the
first thing a newly arrived soul would see in the underworld was a
white cypress"(ibid)

BIRDS:

"here rested their stretched wings"- like Odysseus' recovery.
raven: symbolizes the destructive, dark aspect of the feminine,
the goddess as death giver and is manifested in women as the
crone.
owl: a symbol of the crone, as death giver and wise woman.
hawk: sometimes personifies the god ferrymen on the mythological
river Styx-(name means fearful, magical, taboo) therefor the hawk
is a connection to the underworld, death and rebirth.

grape & vine:

A symbol of the sacrificial savior and wine frenzied Dionysis, who
although is a male god, is the chaotic darkness and destructive
aspect attributed to the feminine. Used to make wine, the 'blood
of the earth' was symbolic of the life-blood of sacrifice and
menstruation. According to the Gnostic Gospel on the origin of the
world, they were the forbidden fruit that the serpent reveals to
Eve.

violets:

Traditionally represent most subtle, gentle, delicate and tender
psychic qualities, the "hopes and fears that we experience as
humans are eloquently metaphored by a... violet."(R.L.) The violet
is also a symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love and
lust.

four springs/fountains:

"Fourfold compositions, archetypal of perpetual renewal or
wholeness...are associated with the great goddess of life and
death, and the goddess of vegetation...symbols of
becoming...accompany fourfold designs.' they do not depict the end
result of wholeness but rather the continuous striving towards it
, the active process of creation." (Marija Gimbutas)
Women identify more with the process of creating rather than with
the end result. All things are eternally transforming and
becoming, evolving into forever> cyclical.
Four streams of water from the goddess is also a 'rivers of
paradise' symbol. The term fountain has mystical connotations as
the central feature of the old, matriarchal, uterine paradise thus
containing the secret of eternal life. Springs are pure, unpoluted
water that gently bubbles up from deep inside the mysterious womb
of the earth, from the underworlds' Styx of rebirth.

ocean, sea, water:

Represents birth, death and rebirth. Water is the life force of the
earth, the amniotic fluid from which all of life on earth began.
The sea is the uterine abyss, the deep, an uncontrollable
elemental force that destroys and kills as well as purifies.
Ocean, or Greek Oceanus (Okeanos)- the sea god created by the
Goddess Eurynome to represent the planet Venus- was the Great
World serpent meaning "of the swift queen" which was originally
associated with the primal Goddess.(B.W.) Water is the element
that corresponds with human emotions, which is gendered as
feminine.

conclusion:

The bright and glorious goddess Calypso, in all her blossoming
fertility and vibrant beauty, has a hidden dark shadow that
represents the mysterious danger of the feminine. To be life, she
also has to be death as the two are inseparable.
Although Calypso does not impose a direct threat to Odysseus's
safety, she does have the ability to keep him on her isle forever.
She has sinister/witchy undertones that become obvious when
examine the symbols of her environment: grape vine, hearth, raven,
owls, and the cypress.
The most obvious indicator of her potential for evil doing is that
she is distrusted by Odysseus and is accused of deception when she
announces to send him on with his journey. He accuses her of
having 'guile' beneath the offer she refused for seven years, so
he requests her to swear an oath. At this she calls him a 'dog'
and then swears to the Earth and to the Styx, showing her
connection to the earth/life as well as to the underworld/death=
rebirth.
Her passage also shows striking similarities to the Hymn to
Demeter> the intervention of Hermes and the parallel roles of
Calypso to Hades, and Odysseus to Persephone. (G.C.)
Finally, it is important to emphasize that her character embodies
female sexuality expressed in socially constructed roles of bride
and wife, only in relation to the male. The attitude towards the
free expression of her sexuality is shunned and is ideally to be
restricted and confined to entities that equal her status,(thus to
be shared only with immortals). We see here the beginning of the
ownership, degradation and disintegration of woman's body and
sexuality by the male patriarchy.

Circe

A Goddess with a complex character and having several functions. The
duality of her nature is split/incompatible/discordant. She primarily
represents (what has been constructed as) the Dark aspects of the
Great Goddess, although her character contains elements from the Light
as well.

Interesting Relationships

* She is daughter to her mother Perse, daughter of the ocean, and to
her father was Helios, the sun, whose symbols are referred to
throughout her passage. These two also bore a son, her brother
Aaetes. She is also sister to Aega, a goddess born by Helios and
Gaea, (earth). Aega is the goddess of the sun and day, and
domestic animals.
* She has four nymph daughters born of springs.(Lattimore) or they
are her nymph maids born of fountains, under boughs, or in seaward
streams.(Fitzgerald) She does have other household servants, like
the maid and larder mistress.
* Although not in Homers' Odyssey, Circe and Odysseus bore
Telegonus, and Agreus and Latinus,(who supposedly was son of
Calypso). Their children were considered 'faultless' and 'strong',
and ruled over the famous Tyrsenians. (Hesiod)
* She has a relationship with Hermes that exists prior to her
encounter with Odysseus. It is Hermes who has the knowledge of the
potent black root of the earths' soil that enables Odysseus to
resist her drug. He displays knowledge of her sexual skill and it
is he who informs Circe that Odysseus would be coming to her one
day. Hermes name comes from hermaphrodite. He is a God of magic,
medicine, occult wisdom. The Aegean Great Mother Goddess' primal
serpent consort.

ROLES:

*

Compassionate Healer/ Ideal Domestic Provider
* Like the detailed description of Calypsos rich environment,
Homer pays careful symbolic detail to the environment inside
of Circes home, emphasizing her connection to the domestic
sphere.
* Circe intimately bathes, feeds, and clothes Odysseus with
her own gentle hands which is described in detail along with
the blends healing and soothing effects it has on Odysseus'
aching body. She does this for his men as well.
* During the full year on Aeaea, described in seasons, Circe
provides an abundance of food and wine. It was probably she
who was the god that put the stag in Odysseus's path which
provided a feast for the men upon arrival. The entranced life
with Circe idealizes the mortal activities of feasting and
drinking the abundance of roasted meat and dreamy wine.
* Provides the sacrificial ewe and the ram.
* It is she who senses and identifies with their grief
stricken
hearts and prompts Odysseus and his men to stay so as to
heal/restore their gallant hearts. Thus she heals them 
emotionally so that they can continue their journey.
*

Witch Goddess/Sorceress/Wise Woman
* According to Apollodorous, vol.1.115,(or xen. mem. 1.3.7?),
Circe has the powers of spiritual purification as she
purifies the Argonauts and her brother for the murder of
Apsyrtus.
* Clearly she is skilled in the arts of medicine, magic,
spells, and charms. She creates a potent 'unholy drug' of
'numbing drops of night and evil' one example that she is
highly educated and skilled in herbs and extracts.
* She is likened to a cat, an animal traditionally associated
with witches as they are her companions and are the shape she
may take. The felines' cunning, sly nature has also been
attributed to the feminine.
* She has great wisdom of the underworld and of the sacrifice
to ensure Odysseus' future. She prophesizes and ordains the
deed he must do in order to ensure his future. The
surroundings are described by her in much length and vivid
detail, emphasizing the strong connection she has to the land
of the dead and its Queen pale Persephone,(Hecate or Hel).
There Odysseus and his men must sacrifice a black ewe and
ram. A journey to the underworld is viewed as a total
catastrophe to them. The underworld was seen as dark,
mysterious, awesome but deadly for living mortals, with
phantoms and bloody pits. (Yet it was not the torture chamber
of the Christian hell).
* Circe warns Odysseus about the sirens' pleasing song which
is an incantation that can create confusion and paralyze the
his will,(thelgian), making him forget his home. Circe also
has the ability of thelgian although she doesn't use it
against Odysseus.
* She uses a stick, staff, wooden rod, or wand, to 'fly'
after the men and whip them into the pigsty. It is a
witches/sorceress' tool of control, transmutation and focused
channeling of energy. It is still used today by workers of
ritual and magic along with the cauldron which was a
necessary ingredient of ancient households. It is a
traditional symbol of witch craft. According to Homer this
"dazzling brazen vessel seethed" and bubbled and boiled hot
upon a fiery blaze in Circes house.
* As a sorceress, she has awesome powers of transformation;
she transforms the men into swine,(Appolodorous' Epitome
states that she also changed their shapes into asses, lions
and wolves as well by her magic wand rather than her drug),
and then back again while her character also transforms from
dangerous, cruel, evil, deceptive, beguiling, treacherous
enemy to good, lovely, divine, exquisite, helpful friend and
flawless lover. She also makes her self invisible.
*

Mistress of Beasts, Wood, and Sacrifice:
* The island of Aeaea is the land of treacherous rocky cliffs,
'shady' thicket, oaks, and rivers, 'wild wood' and large
animals.
* She tames and enchants ferocious beasts,(lion and wolves),
that are typically a dangerous threat to men. This power
displays her ability to control the wild and potentially
dangerous forces of the natural world. In her possession of
the beasts, she does not dominate them by force, rather she
controls her victims, man and beast alike, to which Odysseus
feels 'oppressed'.
* Upon Odysseus' arrival, a god or the goddess Circe, places
a great king stag with 'noble' antlers in his path. (The stag
goes to drink as the "power of the sun constrained him")
Odysseus hunts him down and stabs him with his long phallic
spear witch is described in detail. Life-blood,(like
menstrual blood), flows from the wound. In the Ancient Earth
Religions, the stag is a metaphor of the Horned God of
untamed, male sexuality in connection to the earth,(the body
of the Great Goddess), the consort of Artemis.(B.W.) He is
the male spirit of the forest, and is the dying god
sacrificed in service of the life force, the eternal hunt of
man, the undivided self, at the peak of creative and
emotional power. His activities are also representative of
the seasonal phases in the cycle of the year.
Cernunnos, an image found on a cauldron in 2nd. century AD,
"is the spirit of the sacrificed stag-god, a nature deity to
whom sacrifices were dedicated in order to maintain the wild
creatures and the cycles of nature with his holy blood."
(p.199, B.W.) The Fairy Folk of Northern Europe continued
this ritual tradition as late as the Holy Roman Empire. At
the time of Beltane, or May eve, a young, virgin male is the
chosen subject for a rite of passage into manhood by becoming
the new king of death and sacrifice through hunting and
killing the stag and consuming its raw flesh, absorbing its
energy and acute animal perception. He then mates in a cave
with the sacred virgin 'flower', queen of rebirth and
fertility of the earth in her rite of passage into womanhood.
This sacred union where the male and female symbolize
universal forces, ensures the abundance of crops for the
harvest to come. [Unfortunately the Christians then perverted
the Horned God into the Devil and pagans,(mostly women), were
burned at the stake,(as witches].
In slaying the stag Odysseus connects with his primal male
self. It also represent his defeat of Circes male aspect that
he must slay and absorb before he can challenge her. By
devouring and digesting it, he also absorbs its acute,
heightened perception reflected in the adrenal rush of
excitement, as Odysseus' heart was "high with excitement" and
"beating hard"(p.174, R.F.-Homer)].
*

Sexual Initiatrix:
* The slaying of the stag is an act of asserting his masculine
strength and recognizing his sexual power. It is a form of
mastery of his masculinity, as well as it is a ritualistic
initiation into manhood. He will need these qualities in
order to confront and challenge Circe and free his men. It
may also symbolize the heroes dominance over nature,(thus the
feminine), but is a reenactment of his vital active role in
the natural cycle of life, death and rebirth. His achievement
of royalty through this act is echoed in the covering of a
purple carpet over his finely carved, silver studded chair in
the marble house of Circe, a color worn only by royalty. In
ancient times purple likened to crimson, the color of blood.
* Circe, who is sometimes considered a nymph, is a of dire
divine beauty. She is clearly sexual desirable as even Hermes
notes what a pleasure it is to share her 'flawless' bed,
informing us that she is a sensual goddess.
* Circe has a deeper understanding of sexual possibilities as
she uses sex on two levels. First, with lusty primal instinct
as a device to escape her death from beneath Odysseus mortal
phallic sword, to which she cowers in fear. Second, as a
vehicle for relating deeply through a process of giving and
receiving in pleasure and play so as to create a connection
of mutual trust through sharing a most intimate act of
bonding.
In her flawless bed of pleasure of which she entices
Odysseus, she must be highly skilled in the art of sex magic,
for both helpful and harmful purposes. Odysseus is aware of
this consents to have sex with her he requests her to swear
an oath. This indicates his fear and distrust of her
sexually. For Circe has the power to 'unman' or desex
Odysseus making him into a 'weakling' in her 'dangerous' bed.
Thus she has significant control of sexual forces.
When viewed differently, Odysseus' power to take her immortal
life coupled with his ability to outsmart her drug with the
imparted wisdom from the male god Hermes and the amulet, are
signs of the hero dominating her as he can use his
threatening phallic instrument as a weapon of force and
death.
* Odysseus must grope through the darkness before reaching
her flawless bed while his men sleep in her shadowy hall.
* References to "being a man", like when he accepts her
compelling invitations to stay with her, after slaying the
stag and uniting with her sexually imply that he has now
fully become a man.

motifs:

*

four(four daughters) and Wind:
the four pointed witches charm, or Magic Knot, symbolized the
winds of four directions under female control. Medieval
thought witches controlled the wind, weather and other forces
of nature. Also see 'four/springs/fountains'
*

Oak:
one of most revered trees throughout history. Thought of as
powerful. Traditionally the property of Diana; Artemis, the
goddess of the wood, the hunt, a virgin independent of and
untouched by men representing fertility.
*

Wolves:
are moon worshipping, night time animals. Associated with death
and darkness.
*

Lions:
They draw the chariot of Cybele. Cybele, the Great Goddess of
Earth, Nature, a Creator of Life, associated with hunting,
animals, and fertility was represented as a lion wearing a
crown. Also, lions symbolized the sun.
*

Styx:
shuddery; taboo. Likened to the life giving, magical "menstrual
blood of mother earth, emanating from her secret yonic shrine
in a mountain by the city of Clitor."(BW) It flows from the
world of the living to the world of the dead. It is the cycle
of life death and rebirth.
*

ocean:
see 'sea/ocean/water'
*

wand, or rod:
magical wooden rod of power; also symbolized kings phallic sexual
attachment to the goddess of the land.
*

Domestic Items:
basket: sacred to the goddess as it is a female craft. it
symbolizes agriculture and the harvest spirit, the maternal
body, as well as the dionysian mysteries.
goblet: which holds the wine, the blood of the earth, is
analogous of the womb filled with the blood of life.
cauldron: It is the deep womb of the goddess, a life-giving,
blood-filled vessel. The cauldron is the symbol of the
pre-Christian world, associated with witchcraft and the
female power of cosmic creation. it is where re birthing
takes place as well as magic and medicine.
bowls: were used in ancient sacrificial ceremonies to catch
the blood of the victim, the Greek word for bowl is amrion,
which also means womb. the universe is thought of as the
goddesses great mixing bowl. The bowl is a blood- filled
vessel.
all of these are Gold: the alchemical sign for sun for its
color and immortality due to its impervious nature, it never
deteriorates. It is mutable as it can be melted and reshaped
but doesn't loose luster; unchangeable, untarnishable.
wine: the blood of the earth as it was identified with
women's life-giving menstrual blood that flows gently without
sacrificial killing.
See grape/vine

conclusion:

Circe is intimately connected to the ritual sacrifice necessary for
life to be reborn, thus showing the divine feminine as being the
cyclical vehicle of birth, death and rebirth. She is the
transformative, metamorphoses of primal, chaotic instinct and
destructive urges inherent in the natural world and humans as well
as the fear and dark mysterious void that permeates universal
existence. She controls the forces of nature and is wise as when
to use her knowledge, power and skill in medicine, magic and human
sensuality for the benefit of herself and others.
As "the dread goddess who talks with mortals"(Lattimore, p.53),
Circe is seen as being low, or close to that which is mortal,
therefor un-divine and un-holy. Her loss of status indicated here
and throughout the beginning of her passage are a result of the
rising male perspective which valued definition, order,
rationality, light, life, and knowledge(>the 'good') over the
forces of ambiguity, chaos, intuition, darkness, death and
mystery(>the 'evil') represented by the feminine.

The Parallel Conclusion:

a general list of things in common:

* idealized
* unmarried
* independent
* domestic
* four
* oath
* sex
* sensuality
* provider
* advice
* assist
* nourish
* ambrosia
* drink and food
* heal
* dangerous
* attractive
* fertility/abundance
* lush natural environments
* ocean/sea/water
* menstrual blood
* "conne" Odysseus into their isle.
* singing upon arrival, Calypsos' voice is "sweet" and "warm",
"singing high and low". "Low" Circe sang "beguiling" a "pretty",
"chill sweet song" that sets "the air a-tingle."
* represent life, death and rebirth
* both have smoke rising like the axis-mundi upon arrival
* bear children (not in the Odyssey)
* Hermes appears close to the begining of each passage.

deception:

is a traditional device of the absolute female.
"theatrics, disguise, and acting are essentially attributes of the
psychology of the absolute female...one could say the higher
aspect of the activity of deception is art or the aesthetic
pursuits in general. extreme mutability explains why absolute
woman is prone to 'lie' and disguise herself... such behavior is a
counterpart to fluidity and mutability in the cosmic feminine
nature."(R.L.) This self-protective mutibility is seen as evil
when judged from a male-oriented value standard. Here is the
beginning of the misogyny that continues and escalates as time
goes by.

costume:

both were subtle, tissuey dress, belt, veil towards the end of their
book. veil:-revelation. Latin: revelatio, "to draw back the veil".
Worn by the Goddess in her crone aspect. Represents future fate.
To peek behind her veil and view her dreaded face was to see ones
own death. Odysseus is saved by the veil of the oceanad,
Ino-Leucothea. Penelopes name also means Veiled One, pene=web as
well, and her "reluctance to cut the thread of his life preserved
him through many near-fatal adventures".(B.W.,p.161)
Both Calypso and Circe are associated with symbols that become the
property of Dionysis. His rites involve the qualities of
consciousness that correspond with the worship of the great
goddess.
"The unrepressed form of feminine sexuality is inexorably tied up
with the notorious Greek god... dionysian religions or 'mysteries'
prevailed throughout the world prior to the formation of
patriarchal male-dominated societies and are considered to be the
repository of the most ancient earth-mother religions... his
celebrations were always initiated by women who would then bring
men into the associated sacrificial rites and orgies... dionysian
rites are based on a collective evocation of ecstatic states of
mind through dance, drunkenness, music, chanting, sexual
abandonment, hysteria, and pandemonium."(p.54, R.L.)

weaving/ loom:

Calypso passes "her golden shuttle to and fro" and Circe weaves
"ambrosial fabric sheer and bright by that craft known to the
Goddesses of heaven." The rhythmic, trance inducing act of weaving
is an activity archetypal of the Great Goddess. It is said to be a
reenactment of the Cosmic Goddess who weaves the layered patterns
of the universe, as all things are interconnected, woven into the
continuous fabric of being. She weaves the web of life, death,
future, past and present. Erich Neuman says of weaving,
"'the primordial mystery of weaving and spinning has also been
experienced in projection upon the Great Mother who weaves the web
of life and spins the threads of fate regardless whether she
appears as one great spinstress or, as so frequently, in a lunar
triad...thus the Great Goddesses are weavers."
Witches see reality as swirling spiral patterns of energy.

conclusion

The passages of Calypso and Circe have a tone that is distinctly
different, but in many ways they are like inverted mirror images
of each other, each representing the many sides of duality.
Calypso is light/dark and Circe is dark/light. Though each
character does not conform to rigidly fixed definitions, when we
polarize some of their themes into absolute categories, together
they are: Light/Dark, Life/Death, Good/Evil, Male/Female,
Heaven/Earth, Immortal/Mortal, Otherworldly/Domestic,
Dependent/Independent, Married/Unmarried, Love/Lust, Safety/Fear,
Sweet/Foul, Cold/Hot, Dog/Cat.
Although both are from a man's perspective,(Homers'), Calypso
represents more of the male view of the feminine in his idea of
relating to her. Circe is mainly the feminine entirely unto
itself,(her power as a witch was exclusively female), yet she is
clearly judged by conventional male standards. The hero masters
his masculinity with Circe, and then unites with his feminine
psyche with Calypso. Through coming to know both aspects of
universal/individual duality's, he becomes whole.
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