Il paesaggio della solitudine in Od. V. Una prospettiva ermeneutica

The fifth book of the Odyssey opens with an extensive description of the landscape of Ogygia, Calypso’s island on which the hapless hero first appears. The naturalistic representation, characterised by grace and beauty, is counterbalanced by some narrative elements that are connected to the emotional sphere of bewilderment and sadness, and seemingly reflect a sort of inner landscape of Odysseus. The aim of this paper is to analyse the Homeric narrative in the light of the symbols and the linguistic and lexical specificities that represent Ogygia as both a place of idyllium, but also of irremediable loneliness. To this end, it will also be useful to compare the fifth book with the environmental descriptions in Od. XIII, 187-360 and with the subsequent formal references in Greek lyric poetry.