How important is the episode in Phaeacia compared to the rest of the poem? "The Odyssey," written by Homer

Have a little read: ... How important is the episode in Phaeacia compared to the rest of the poem? "The Odyssey," written by Homer, is the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Homer describes Odysseus' journey and shows that his return back home is greatly influenced by several Gods and Goddesses. Three such influential Gods are Calypso, Athene and Poseidon. This intervention of the Gods is a recurring pattern and stylistic technique that Homer utilises in his Greek epic, "The Odyssey." Book five opens with the Gods sat down in assembly and with the goddess Athene feeling sorry for noble Odysseus due to him being imprisoned in Nymph Calypso's home on the island of Ogygia. She said before them that the she wishes for him to return home and to return quickly, this she asks the Gods to help her with. Hermes the Messenger is sent by Zeus to deliver the news to Calypso that it is time now for Odysseus to return home. However, his return would not be simple. Odysseus should be given no help, he should build a raft with his own hands and set out to sail with the help of no man or God. When he reaches a certain city that is owned by the Gods they shall make him a boat and give him riches. Already, from the opening of book five, Odysseus' challenge is set and the reader learns where he has been for the past seven years, on an isolated island with the beautiful Calypso. At a first glance, the reader may suspect the intentions of the Goddess Calypso to be unfavourable to Odysseus. When Hermes approaches her and tells her the message, she understandably does not want to suffer the loss of him. She has grown to like Odysseus but in her selfishness for not wanting to lose him, she does not consider that Odysseus has a family of his own and a home he longs to return to. The first time when we see Odysseus in this chapter is when he is crying, " but the days found him sitting on the rocks or sands, torturing himself with tears." Of course, this is not the usual picture we are familiar of when thinking of Odysseus, he is usually classed as noble and brave, however we should remember that Odysseus is still mortal. He naturally has many emotions, separating him from the Gods. This human weakness he is feeling whilst he is on Calypso's island reminds us as readers just how much he is longing for home, for his faithful wife Penelope and for the son he left eighteen years ago. This I think is very important, it reiterates just how much Odysseus loves his wife Penelope. Calypso, the beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus still after seven years does not have Odysseus' love. She indeed was a temptation to him, but the fact that Odysseus did not grow to love Calypso shows just how desperate he was to return home. The longing Odysseus has felt for seven years I think is very important to how the story is retold; the readers are being introduced to the stories of the hero.