Odysseus and Calypso

Arnold Böcklin's painting "Odysseus and Calypso" (1883) is a moody, allegorical work that reflects the artist's interest in darker themes and spectral scenes. The painting depicts Calypso, a nymph from Greek mythology, who detained the hero Odysseus on her island of Ogygia for seven years in Homer's Odyssey. Despite her promises of immortality, Calypso could not make Odysseus forget his home. Böcklin's interpretation, along with works like Island of the Dead, is noted for its morbid symbolism, which foreshadowed 20th-century art movements like Surrealism.123