Of tempests & Greek mythology: the legend of Gozo’s Calypso’s Cave in Homer’s Odyssey

You might have heard of a dude called Homer. He published a few works here and there back in the day – one of them being the Odyssey. In his very (very, very) long recount, Homer tells the story of Ulysses and how he ended up on the island of Ogygia. What’s this got to do with Malta, you say? Legend has it that Ogygia is our very own Gozo!

As the legend goes, the ship that Ulysses was on was struck by a horrendous tempest, causing it to be shipwrecked. The only survivor was, of course, Ulysses. After a few days holding on to a mast, he saw land and swam towards it. There, he found food, water, flowers and beautiful girls (yes, that’s what the legend says).

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Calypso appeared from a cave, dressed in white from head to toe, and gave him food. Ulysses spent a good seven years, “in heaven with a queen” as the legend goes, but others have speculated that he was her captive. But it was time to go back to his land, and he prayed to the gods to help him, who told him to insist with Calypso to give him, food, water and sails for the boat.

He left her in tears and headed back to Greece, but if you head to Ramla l-Hamra beach, you can spot Calypso’s Cave. As previously mentioned, the widely held local legend states that Ogygia is actually Gozo. But, if that’s not convincing enough, historians have reportedly backed up the assertion, including renowned Greek historian Callimachus.

Did you know about this local legend?