Departure of Ulysses from Calypso
Mercury despatched by Jupiter to Calypso with a message commanding her to send away Ulysses—A raft constructed by Ulysses—His departure on the raft—A storm raised by Neptune, and the raft destroyed—Escape of Ulysses from the tempest, and his landing on the isle of Scheria, inhabited by the Phaeacians.
Aurora, rising from her couch beside The famed Tithonus, brought the light of day To men and to immortals. Then the gods Came to their seats in council. With them came High-thundering Jupiter, amongst them all The mightiest. Pallas, mindful of the past, Spake of Ulysses and his many woes, Grieved that he still was with the island nymph:— “O father Jove, and all ye blessed ones Who live forever! let not sceptred king Henceforth be gracious, mild, and merciful And righteous; rather be he deaf to prayer And prone to deeds of wrong, since no one now Remembers the divine Ulysses more Among the people over whom he ruled Benignly, like a father. Still he lies, Weighed down by many sorrows, in the isle And dwelling of Calypso, who so long Constrains his stay. To his dear native land Depart he cannot; ship arrayed with oars And seamen has he none, to bear him o’er The breast of the broad ocean. Nay, even now, Against his well-beloved son a plot is laid, to slay him as he journeys home From Pylos the divine, and from the walls Of famous Sparta, whither he had gone To gather tidings of his father’s fate.”
Then answered her the Ruler of the storms:— “My child, what words are these that pass thy lips? Was not thy long-determined counsel this— That in good time Ulysses should return, To be avenged? Guide, then, Telemachus Wisely—for so thou canst—that, all unharmed, He reach