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10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 AUGUST 2026 FEATURE Ogygia and Calypso's Cave: Where Read Homer to remember what Ogygia was; watch Christopher Nolan's film to feel what it is. From a cold university basement in Canada to the hot theatre at Eden, Eva Brannon connects the dots I was in Canada the first time I read The Odyssey. Sitting in that freezing university classroom, tucked down in the basement of our building, I listened close- ly as our professor read aloud Homer's descriptions of Ogygia. I could see the dark blue waves carved behind my eyelids. I could taste the wine, "ruddy and sweet," on my tongue, and feel the sharp, pale rocks stabbing the soles of my feet as Odysseus ran down to the beach. For over two thousand years, historians and poets have identi- fied Gozo with Ogygia, the island on which Odysseus was trapped by the nymph Calypso for seven years. That's why we have the now-closed potential death trap that is Calypso's Cave. Much about the over 12,000-line epic poem is speculation. For millennia, people have wondered whether the Trojan War ever happened, whether Homer really wrote it, and whether he existed at all in the first place. Likewise, we can never know whether Ogygia really was Gozo. But ge- ographically, it does make a lot of sense, and as a Maltese person, I'd like to go with that. Odysseus washed up on the shores of Ogygia after becoming stranded with his men on the is- land of Helios, which is general- ly identified with Sicily today. If you've watched the movie, you already know that their trip did not go so well. Beyond Ogygia's "envied shores", which Homer says would make even the gods stare in won- der, he describes a cave covered in grapevines and surrounded by purple violets and wild parsley. In this cave, Odysseus was held cap- tive by the semi-goddess Calypso. That sort of thing really makes you appreciate this godforsaken island. Outside are hundreds of "odor- ous cypress, pines, and poplars, where sea-owls bred," all of which have become pretty sparse in the 21st century. I can't say those descriptions didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth as I pictured what our island has been reduced to today. But more on that later. Odysseus' journey to Ogygia was certainly no two-hour Vir- tu Ferries trip either. For nine days, he was thrashed around by a furious sea, kept alive only be- cause Athena had taken a liking to him, before washing up on an island surrounded on all sides by the Mediterranean and far from the race of men. Well, that's what happens when you piss off Posei- don. So, here's a lesson for any Mal- tese person planning a summer trip to Sicily—make sure to offer a sacrifice to Poseidon before you get on the ferry. This is especially true if you happen to be return- ing from a war in which you com- pletely demolished a city built in his honour, and even more so if you blinded his one-eyed son. That might be getting a little spe- cific, but I'd offer the sacrifice ei- ther way. I watched Christopher Nolan's film at Eden. Cinema 6. I have a feeling the AC was switched off because it was really hot in there. The guy sitting to my right kept offering me swigs of whiskey he'd mixed into his Starbucks Cara- mel Latte. Not as bad as it sounds. Homer's Ogygia, Nolan's not so Gozo The movie starts off on Ogygia, with Odysseus wandering aim- lessly along the shore, trying to figure out how on earth he got there in the first place. Not to be that person, but that's not at all how it goes in the poem. Actual- ly, I'm going to be that person a lot as I write this. Anyway, I immediately noticed that Ogygia looked absolutely nothing like the island described by Homer, and even less like Gozo. At most, Nolan's shores could be compared to the long stretch of white rock hidden be- hind Riviera. Only in January. But even that would be pushing it. Maybe my Maltese bias is showing, but I don't think Nolan did much research into Gozo or Ogygia, and he most certainly has never been to Ramla l-Ħamra or the cave that hangs above it. I don't think the word "Ogygia" is mentioned once throughout the entire three-hour movie. As you watch the movie, you quickly find out that Calypso has EVA BRANNON ebrannon@mediatoday.com.mt Calypso Cave Gozo (Photo: Kurt Sansone/MaltaToday) A still from the movie Odyssey of the characters Calypso and Odysseus