This little play is a light-hearted dramatisation of the scene in Homer's Odyssey, Book 5. Odysseus, King of Ithaca and his men have had many adventures since the fall of Troy. All of his ships and men have been lost in a terrible storm, and Odysseus himself is washed up on an island belonging to the nymph Calypso (she is a sort of goddess). Calypso likes Odysseus, and keeps him for several years on her island, even though he is unhappy and badly wants to return home to Ithaca, and to see his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, who he hasn't seen for 20 years. Telemachus was just a baby when he left.
The goddess Athene is the protector of Odysseus, and the play is about the dialogue between Odysseus and Calypso, on one side, and Zeus and the other gods and goddesses on the other. Athene asks Zeus for help, but before Zeus can even consider going to help her, Hera, who is jealous of nymphs, stops him. So Hermes is sent to Calypso to tell her that Zeus commands that Odysseus must be allowed to go home. Calypso has to agree, and promises Odysseus all he needs to make a raft and journey on towards home. Calypso is very sad, and Zeus wants to comfort her, but Hera won't let him.
Calypso and Odysseus in original form
Calypso and Odysseus in four scenes