This is not the case for Odysseus and all mortals who live on earth. They have a time limit and when the limit is exceeded it is called death. The fact that it took Odysseus 20 years to return home was 20 years of wasted time. He could have been back with Penelope shortly after the Battle of Troy, but the gods shipwrecked him and forced him to end up in places he didn't want to be. Calypso Island is an example, Poseidon was angry with Odysseus and sent them off of course and they ended up stranded on Calypso Island. He then stayed there for seven years. “Calypso's house – she kept him there by force. He has no way of returning home to his own native country. " (Book