Book 6

1 So much-enduring noble Odysseus slept there, overcome by sleep and weariness; but Athena went to the land and city of the Phaeacians. They had once lived in spacious Hypereia, near the Cyclopes, arrogant men, who kept plundering them and were stronger than they were. From there Nausithous, godlike in looks, had made them rise and move, and settled them in Scheria, far from men who eat bread; he drove a wall around the city, built houses, made temples for the gods, and divided the plowland. But he had long since been overcome by his fate and gone down to the house of Hades, and Alcinous was ruling now, whose wisdom came from the gods. To his house went the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, planning the homecoming of great-hearted Odysseus. She went to the richly wrought chamber where a girl was sleeping, like the immortals in form and beauty, Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous; and near her slept two maids who had their beauty from the Graces, one on either side of the doorposts; and the shining doors were shut. Like a breath of wind Athena sped to the girl’s bed, and stood above her head and spoke to her, in the likeness of the daughter of Dymas, famed for ships, a girl of her own age and dear to her heart. In her likeness gray-eyed Athena spoke:

25 “Nausicaa, how did your mother come to bear so careless a daughter? Your shining clothes lie uncared for, and your marriage is near, when you must be beautifully dressed yourself and give fine clothes to those who will lead you to your husband’s house. It is from such things that a good name goes out among men, and a father and a lady mother rejoice. So let us go and do the washing as soon as dawn appears. I will go with you to help, so that you can get ready quickly, for you will not be a maiden much longer: already the best young men of all the Phaeacians in the land are courting you, and you are a Phaeacian born. Come, ask your famous father early this morning to have the mules and the wagon made ready, to carry the sashes and the robes and the shining bedspreads. And it is much better for you yourself to go that way than on foot, for the washing pools are a long way from the city.”

41 So gray-eyed Athena spoke and went away to Olympus, where, they say, the seat of the gods stands firm forever. It is not shaken by winds, nor ever wet with rain, nor does snow come near it, but the clear air spreads out cloudless, and a white radiance runs over it; there the blessed gods take their pleasure all their days. There the gray-eyed one went, when she had told the girl all she had to say.

48 Soon Dawn of the lovely throne came and woke Nausicaa of the lovely robe; and at once she marveled at the dream, and went through the house to tell her parents, her dear father and mother; and she found them at home. Her mother sat by the hearth with her women, spinning yarn of sea-purple; and her father she met as he was going out to join the famous kings at a council, to which the lordly Phaeacians had called him. She stood close to her dear father and said:

57 “Papa dear, will you not have them get a wagon ready for me, the high one with good wheels, so that I can take our fine clothes to the river to wash? They are all lying dirty. And it is right for you yourself, when you sit among the first men and take counsel, to have clean clothes on your body. And you have five dear sons in the palace, two married and three unmarried, in their bloom, and they always want freshly washed clothes to wear when they go to the dancing. All this is on my mind.”

66 So she spoke, for she was shy to speak of her own glad marriage to her dear father; but he understood it all, and answered: “I do not begrudge you the mules, my child, or anything else. Go; the servants will get the wagon ready for you, the high one with good wheels, fitted with a frame on top.”

71 So saying, he called to the servants, and they obeyed. Outside they made ready the mule wagon with its good wheels, and led up the mules and yoked them to it; and the girl brought the shining clothes from her chamber and laid them on the polished wagon. Her mother put food in a chest, every kind of food, all the heart could want, and put in relishes, and poured wine into a goatskin; and the girl climbed onto the wagon. Her mother gave her smooth olive oil in a golden flask, so that she and her women could anoint themselves after bathing. She took the whip and the shining reins and whipped the mules to start them; and there was a clatter of hooves, and the mules strained on without stopping, carrying the clothes and the girl, not alone: her other maids went with her.

85 When they came to the lovely streams of the river, where the washing pools were that never failed, and plenty of fair water welled up and flowed through, enough to clean the dirtiest clothes, there they unhitched the mules from the wagon and drove them along the eddying river to graze on the honey-sweet grass. They took the clothes from the wagon in their arms and carried them into the dark water, and trampled them in the pits, quickly, racing one another. When they had washed them and cleaned off all the dirt, they spread them out in rows on the seashore, where the sea washed the pebbles cleanest on the beach. Then they bathed and anointed themselves richly with oil, and took their meal on the banks of the river, and waited for the clothes to dry in the brightness of the sun. When they had eaten their fill, the maids and their mistress herself, they threw off their veils and played at ball, and white-armed Nausicaa led them in song. As Artemis, the arrow-showering, goes over the mountains, along towering Taygetus or Erymanthus, delighting in boars and swift deer, and with her play the nymphs, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis, who haunt the wild fields, and Leto is glad at heart; and Artemis holds her head and brow above them all, and she is easily known, though all are beautiful: so the unwed girl stood out among her maids.

110 But when she was about to go home again, and was yoking the mules and folding the beautiful clothes, then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, had another thought: that Odysseus should wake and see the fair-faced girl, who would lead him to the city of the Phaeacians. The princess threw the ball to one of her maids; she missed the maid and threw it into a deep eddy; and they all screamed aloud. Noble Odysseus woke, and sat up, and pondered in his mind and heart:

119 “Ah me, to what people’s land have I come now? Are they violent and savage and unjust, or kind to strangers, with minds that fear the gods? A shrill cry of girls has rung around me, of nymphs, it seemed, who haunt the steep peaks of the mountains and the springs of rivers and the grassy meadows. Or am I somewhere near men with human speech? Come, I will try for myself and see.”

127 So saying, noble Odysseus crept out from under the bushes, and with his thick hand he broke a leafy branch from the dense wood, to hold around his body and cover his nakedness. He set out like a lion bred in the mountains, trusting in his strength, who goes on, rained on and beaten by the wind, and his eyes blaze; he goes among the cattle or the sheep or after the wild deer, and his belly drives him to try the flocks even in a close-built fold: so Odysseus was about to go among the lovely-haired girls, naked as he was; for need had come upon him. A fearful sight he was to them, all fouled with brine, and they fled this way and that along the jutting beaches. Only the daughter of Alcinous stayed; for Athena put courage in her heart and took the fear from her limbs. She stood and faced him; and Odysseus pondered whether he should clasp the fair-faced girl by the knees and beg her,¹ or beg her as he was, from where he stood, with gentle words, to show him the city and give him clothes. As he thought it over, this seemed the better course, to beg her from where he stood with gentle words, for fear the girl might be angry in her heart if he took hold of her knees. At once he spoke, gently and shrewdly:

149 “I clasp your knees, my queen: are you a goddess or a mortal? If you are a goddess, one of those who hold the wide sky, it is to Artemis, daughter of great Zeus, that I would liken you most nearly, in beauty and stature and form. But if you are one of the mortals who live on the earth, three times blessed are your father and your lady mother, and three times blessed your brothers; their hearts must always glow with joy because of you, when they watch such a young flower going into the dance. But blessed in his heart beyond all others is the man who prevails with his bride-gifts and leads you home. For I have never yet seen with my eyes a mortal like you, man or woman; awe holds me as I look at you. Once on Delos, by the altar of Apollo, I saw something like you: the young shoot of a palm tree springing up. For I went there too, and a great host followed me, on that journey on which I was to meet with grievous troubles. And just as, when I saw that, I marveled at it long in my heart, since never yet had such a tree sprung up from the earth, so, lady, I marvel at you and am amazed, and I am terribly afraid to touch your knees; but a hard sorrow has come upon me. Yesterday, on the twentieth day, I escaped from the wine-dark sea; all that time the waves and the rushing storms were carrying me from the island of Ogygia. And now some god has cast me up here, no doubt so that here too I may suffer some evil; for I do not think it will stop, but the gods will bring much more to pass before then. But, my queen, have pity; it is to you first that I have come after many hardships, and I know no one else among the people who hold this city and this land. Show me the town, and give me some rag to throw around me, if you had a wrapping for the clothes when you came here. And may the gods give you all that you desire in your heart, a husband and a home, and grant you oneness of heart, a good thing; for there is nothing stronger or better than this, when a man and a woman keep house together, one in heart and mind: a great grief to their enemies and a joy to their friends, and they themselves know it best.”

186 Then white-armed Nausicaa answered him: “Stranger, you seem neither a bad man nor a foolish one; and it is Olympian Zeus himself who gives good fortune to men, to the good and the bad, to each as he wills. He must have given you this lot, and you must bear it all the same. But now, since you have come to our city and our land, you will not lack clothing or anything else that a suffering suppliant ought to receive when he comes. I will show you the town, and tell you the name of the people. The Phaeacians hold this city and this land, and I am the daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, on whom the might and power of the Phaeacians rest.”

198 She spoke, and called to her lovely-haired maids: “Stand still, my maids! Where are you running, just because you have seen a man? Surely you do not think he is an enemy? There is no man alive, and there never will be, who could come to the land of the Phaeacians bringing war; for we are very dear to the immortals. We live far off in the surging sea, the farthest of men, and no other mortals have dealings with us. This is some unlucky wanderer who has come here, and we must take care of him now; for all strangers and beggars come from Zeus, and a gift, though small, is welcome. So, my maids, give the stranger food and drink, and bathe him in the river, where there is shelter from the wind.”

211 So she spoke, and they stopped and called to one another, and sat Odysseus down in a sheltered place, as Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, had told them. They laid a mantle and a tunic beside him for clothing, and gave him smooth olive oil in the golden flask, and told him to bathe in the streams of the river. Then noble Odysseus spoke among the maids: “Maids, stand over there, a good way off, so that I may wash the brine from my shoulders myself and rub myself with oil; for it is a long time since oil has touched my skin. I will not bathe in front of you; I am ashamed to go naked among lovely-haired girls.”

223 So he spoke, and they went off and told the girl. Then noble Odysseus washed from his skin, with the river water, the brine that crusted his back and his broad shoulders, and from his head he scrubbed the scurf of the barren sea. And when he had bathed all over and rubbed himself with oil, and put on the clothes the unwed girl had given him, Athena, born of Zeus, made him taller to look at and broader, and from his head she made his hair fall in thick curls, like the hyacinth flower. As when a skilled man overlays silver with gold, a craftsman whom Hephaestus and Pallas Athena have taught every kind of art, and the work he finishes is full of grace: so she poured grace over his head and shoulders. Then he went off and sat down apart on the seashore, shining with beauty and grace; and the girl gazed at him. Then she spoke among her lovely-haired maids:

239 “Listen to me, my white-armed maids, so that I may tell you something. It is not against the will of all the gods who hold Olympus that this man has come among the godlike Phaeacians. Before, he seemed to me a sorry sight, but now he is like the gods who hold the wide sky. If only such a man might be called my husband, living here, and be pleased to stay here! But come, my maids, give the stranger food and drink.”

247 So she spoke, and they listened closely and obeyed, and set food and drink before Odysseus. And much-enduring noble Odysseus drank and ate greedily; for he had long gone without food.

251 But white-armed Nausicaa had another thought. She folded the clothes and put them on the fine wagon, and yoked the strong-hoofed mules, and climbed up herself; and she urged Odysseus on, and spoke to him and called him by name: “Get up now, stranger, and go to the city, so that I may bring you to the house of my wise father, where, I promise you, you will meet all the best of the Phaeacians. But do just this, for you seem to me not without sense. While we are going through the fields and the farmlands of men, walk quickly with the maids behind the mules and the wagon, and I will lead the way. But when we come near the city, you will see a high wall around it, and a fine harbor on either side of the city, and a narrow way in; and the curved ships are drawn up along the road, for every man has a slip for his ship. There is their place of assembly, around the fine temple of Poseidon, built of great quarried stones set deep in the earth. There they tend the tackle of their black ships, the cables and the sails, and shave the oars smooth. For the Phaeacians care nothing for bow or quiver, only for masts and oars and balanced ships, in which they cross the gray sea rejoicing. It is their unkind talk I want to avoid, so that no one may sneer at me afterward; for there are very overbearing men among the people, and some baser fellow who met us might say: ‘Who is this tall, handsome stranger following Nausicaa? Where did she find him? He’ll be her husband, I suppose. Either she has taken in some wanderer from his ship, a man from far away, since no one lives near us; or some god she has prayed and prayed for has come down from heaven in answer to her prayer, and she will have him all her days. So much the better if she has gone out herself and found a husband from somewhere else; for she looks down on the Phaeacians here in the land, the many fine men who court her.’ So they will say, and it would be a disgrace to me. And I would blame another girl too who did such things, who went with men against the will of her father and mother while they lived, before open marriage came. Stranger, listen quickly to what I say, so that you may soon win an escort and passage home from my father. You will find a splendid grove of Athena near the road, of poplar trees; a spring flows in it, and around it there is a meadow. There is my father’s estate and his flourishing orchard, as far from the city as a man’s shout carries. Sit down there and wait for a while, until we come into the town and reach my father’s house. And when you think we have reached the house, then go into the city of the Phaeacians and ask for the house of my father, great-hearted Alcinous. It is easy to know, and even a little child could lead you there; for the houses of the Phaeacians are built nothing like the house of the hero Alcinous. And when the house and the courtyard have taken you in, go very quickly through the hall until you come to my mother. She sits at the hearth in the firelight, spinning yarn of sea-purple, a wonder to see, leaning against a pillar, and her maids sit behind her. And there, leaning against the same pillar, is my father’s chair, where he sits and drinks his wine like an immortal. Pass him by and throw your arms around my mother’s knees, so that you may see the day of return with joy, and quickly, even if you are from very far away. If she is kindly disposed to you in her heart, then there is hope that you will see your friends and reach your well-built house and your own native land.”

316 So saying, she struck the mules with the shining whip, and they quickly left the streams of the river. They trotted well, and their feet flew; and she drove with care, so that the maids and Odysseus could keep up on foot, and plied the lash with judgment. The sun set, and they came to the famous grove, sacred to Athena, where noble Odysseus sat down. At once he prayed to the daughter of great Zeus: “Hear me, child of Zeus who holds the aegis, Unwearied One! Hear me now at least, since before you never heard me when I was wrecked, when the famous Earth-shaker wrecked me. Grant that I come to the Phaeacians as a friend and find pity.”

328 So he prayed, and Pallas Athena heard him. But she did not yet appear to him face to face; for she stood in awe of her father’s brother, who raged furiously against godlike Odysseus until he reached his own land.

Notes

1. 1. To clasp someone’s knees was the ritual gesture of a suppliant. A suppliant who was accepted came under the protection of Zeus, and to refuse or harm him was an offense against the god.