Where Myth Meets the Sea

Odysseus, Calypso & the Western Edge of Greece

The waters surrounding Mathraki and Othoni are not just beautiful — they are legendary.

In Homer’s Odyssey, these western Ionian seas form the final and most mystical chapter of Odysseus’ long journey home from the Trojan War. Long before modern maps, this edge of Greece was known as a place where the mortal world brushed against myth.

As Odysseus sailed westward, his ship passed through the Diapolo–Diakopo Channel, just beyond Mathraki — a narrow passage between two uninhabited islands. According to legend, this was the domain of the Sirens, mythical beings whose voices were said to enchant sailors and draw them toward destruction.

Aware of their power, Odysseus devised a plan. He ordered his crew to seal their ears with beeswax and bind him to the mast, so he alone could hear the Sirens’ song without surrendering to it. As the ship passed safely through the channel, Odysseus heard beauty so overwhelming it tested his very will — yet he endured.

From there, fate carried him onward.

Storms eventually drove Odysseus ashore on the island of Ogygia, believed today to be modern-day Othoni — the westernmost point of Greece. It was here that he encountered Calypso, the immortal sea nymph who lived in a cave overlooking the water, near what is now known as Calypso’s Cave, adjacent to Aspri Ammos.

Calypso welcomed Odysseus, offering him shelter, comfort, and even immortality if he would stay with her forever. Yet despite the beauty of the island and Calypso’s devotion, Odysseus longed for home — for Penelope, for Ithaca, for the life he had left behind.

After seven years, the gods intervened. Zeus sent Hermes to instruct Calypso to release Odysseus. With quiet resignation, she helped him build a raft and sent him back to the sea — toward his destiny.

✨ Experiencing the Myth Today

When we sail from Mathraki toward Aspri Ammos and Othoni, we follow this same ancient route — passing through waters shaped by story, wind, and time.

Guests may:

• Glide along the coastline by SUP, conditions permitting, toward Calypso’s Cave
  
  

• Swim beneath towering white cliffs at Aspri Ammos
  
  

• Visit the port of Othoni, where myth meets everyday island life
  
  

• And, if luck allows, witness dolphins swimming alongside the bow, just as sailors once believed the gods themselves were watching
  
  

This is not a reenactment — it is an invitation to experience the landscape as Odysseus once did: slowly, attentively, and with reverence.

Here, myth is not something you read about.
It is something you move through.

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