"Much as you long to see your wife,
the one you pine for all your days…and yet
I just might claim to be nothing less than she,
neither in face nor figure. Hardly right, is it,
for mortal woman to rival immortal goddess?
How, in build? in beauty?"
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 231-236. Here we see a battle for Odysseus’ heart between two powerful love rivals, Calypso and Penelope. The nymph claims that she is more beautiful than Penelope who waits for Odysseus at home. She pleads with Odysseus to remain with her, questioning how a human woman could rival an immortal goddess.