The Island of Calypso
02 May 2014 | Gozo
Dean
After the Trojan Wars one of the heroes, Odysseus, tried to get back to his home island of Ithaca and his lovely wife Penelope spinning and weaving away waiting for his return. According to Homer a sea nymph named Calypso kept Odysseus a prisoner on her island of Ogygia.. The legends here on Gozo say Calypso’s mythical island of Ogygia was in fact their beloved Gozo, and they have even identified the bay in which Odysseus was kept prisoner for seven long years. At least this was Odysseus’ story when he finally got back to his wife Penelope! “Honest honey, I did not want to stay there on that beautiful red sand beach on that charming island with all those exotic nymphs!!”
Gozo has a population of just over 30,000 people. The island is quite rural with many small farms growing cane, tomatoes & potatoes. The length is only 14 kms, with just 7 kms. Gozo has the world’s oldest free-standing structures, the Ġgantija temples.
Most towns are built on high hill tops with impressive defensive walls. Many were built by the Knights of St. John (They began in Jerusalem, then Cyprus, Rhodes and finally Malta)….but I digress.
The names of the towns and geographic features are typically Arabic in origin (Arabic rule from 870 to 1127). Mgarr (m-jar), Xewkija (the ‘X’ has a “sh” sound), Xlendi (Shlendee) and Xaghra (the Calypso cave) to name a few. Some tongue twisters for certain.
The Maltese language is actually the original Sicilian language (Sicilians now speak a dialect of Italian) with some Arabic and English thrown in. Genetically the Maltese are basically Sicilian.
Very good weather here, low 20’s and sunny. Cool in the shade or in a breeze and at night. Very good for sleeping especially in the quaint little harbour of Mgarr beside the very sleepy seaside village of the same name (Mgarr is Arabic for port).