Characters
- Alcinous — father (named; met later)
- Arete — mother whom Odysseus must approach
- Lyssa — dream-sender; beautifier after the bath
- Nausicaa — Phaeacian princess; stands firm; clothes and directs Odysseus
- Nausicaa’s maids — flee, then assist at their mistress’s order
- Odysseus — shipwrecked suppliant; receives aid
Places
- City and palace of Alcinous — destination Nausicaa describes
- River washing-pools near the shore — meeting place
- Scheria — land of the Phaeacians
Themes
Narrative
Athena appeared to Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, in a dream as a companion, urging her to wash clothes for an approaching marriage. At dawn Nausicaa drove the mule-cart with her maids to the washing-pools by the river near the shore where Odysseus slept, salt-crusted from his raft wreck.
After the wash and a ball-game, a cry woke Odysseus. He emerged from the bushes covering himself with a leafy branch, terrifying the maids; only Nausicaa stood firm. He flattered her as Artemis-like and begged clothing and the way to town. She gave him oil and garments from the wash, had him bathe at a distance, and Athena shed beauty over him. Nausicaa then instructed him to follow the cart to the city but enter alone—lest gossip link her with a stranger—and to clasp her mother Arete’s knees in the palace as the path to escort home. The meeting establishes Phaeacian hospitality through a maiden’s courage and discretion before the hall scenes begin.