Legend of Ulysses and Calypso
The Sataria cave in Pantelleria is the place where, according to legend, Ulysses met the beautiful sea goddess Calypso.
According to the story of Homer's Odyssey, Calypso was the daughter of Atlas and lived on the island of Ogygia, which according to legend is identified on the island of Pantelleria. His home was a cave, what is now known as the cave of Sataria. The cave is in fact described by Homer as deep, with many rooms, overlooking natural gardens and with springs flowing through the grass.
The goddess Calypso was punished for having sided with her father in the Titanomachy and was therefore exiled on the island of Ogygia. When Ulysses escaped the terrible vortex of Charybdis, he landed on the island of Ogygia where he met Calypso. The Odyssey tells how Calypso fell in love with Ulysses and kept him with him, according to Homer, for seven years, offering him immortality in vain, which the hero refused because he retained the desire to return to his homeland, to Ithaca. The desire of Ulysses was finally accepted by Athena, who, feeling sorry for her protégé, asked Zeus to intervene. He sent Hermes to convince Calypso to let him go and she reluctantly agreed. Thus it was that Ulysses continued his journey towards Ithaca.
