Lover's Row

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An original song by Sofie Z.

A song of the three women who yearn for Odysseus: Circe, Calypso, and Penelope.

Oh, and the birds felt like joining in... coincidentally at the perfect moments:)

All photos below are by Sofie Z.

Three Lovers: Envy

"But one man alone... his heart set on his wife and his return - Calypso, the bewitching nymph, the lustrous goddess, held him back, deep in her arching caverns, craving him for a husband" (Book 1, pg. 78, 15-18).

Dawn: Shining

"When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more we all turned out, intrigued to tour the island" (Book 9, pg. 216, 168-169).

Anticleia: The House of Death

"My mother, dead and gone now... Anticleia - daughter of that great heart Autolycus - whom I had left alive when I sailed for sacred Troy. I broke into tears to see her here, but filled with pity, even throbbing with grief, I would not let her ghost approach the blood till I had questioned Tiresias myself" (Book 11, pg. 252, 95-99). ~Odysseus

Helen: Hidden Ingredient in Their Drinks

"Then Zeus's daughter Helen thought of somethine else. Into the mixing-bowl from which they drank their wine she slipped a drug, heart's ease, dissolving anger, magic to make us all forget our pains..." (Book 4, pg. 131, 243-246).

Penelope: Worried Reflection

"If you are a god and have heard a god's own voice, come, tell me about that luckless man as well. Is he still alive? does he see the light of day? Or is he dead already, lost in the House of Death?" (Book 4, pg. 151, 934-938). ~Penelope to Athena (disguised as Iphthime)

Calypso: Ogygia Island

"On the tenth, at dead of night, the gods cast me up on Ogygia, Calypso's island, home of the dangerous nymph with glossy braids, and the goddess took me in in all her kindness, welcomed me warmly, cherished me, even vowed to make me immortal, ageless, all my days - but she never won the heart inside me, never" (Book 7, pg. 187, 291-297). ~Odysseus

"Ah great goddess... don't be angry with me, please. All that you say is true, how well I know. Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far short of you, your beauty, stature. She is mortal after all and you, you never age or die... Nevertheless I long - I pine, all my days - to travel home and see the dawn of my return" (Book 5, pg. 159. 237-242). ~Odysseus

Troy: The Reason for Lost Love

"Wife, one thing is certain—not all our soldiers will return from Troy unhurt … So I cannot say whether the gods will let me come back or whether I shall fall on Trojan soil. But I leave everything here in your charge. Look after my father and mother in the house as you do now … And when you see a beard on our boy's chin, marry whomsoever you fancy and leave your home." (Homer, Odyssey 18.260). ~Odysseus