Chapter 6
While the noble, much-enduring Odysseus, conquered by sleep and worn out by his exertions, lay resting there, Athene came to the country of the Phaeacians and entered their city. These Phaeacians had once lived in the broad lands of Hypereie, and been neighbours to the Cyclopes, a quarrelsome people, who took advantage of their greater strength to plague them, till the day when their king, Nausithous, made them migrate and settled them in Scherie, far from the busy haunts of men. There he laid out the walls of a new city, built them houses, put up temples to the gods, and allotted the land for cultivation. But he had met his fate long since and gone to Hades’ Halls; and it was now the divinely-inspired Alcinous who ruled them. To his palace the bright-eyed goddess Athene made her way, still intent on her plans for King Odysseus’ restoration.
The good King Alcinous had a young daughter called Nausicaa, tall and beautiful as a goddess. She was asleep now in her richly-furnished room, with two of her ladies, both blest with beauty by the Graces, lying by the door-posts, one on either side. The polished doors were closed; but Athene swept through like a breath of air to the girl’s bed, leant over the head of it and spoke to her, disguising herself as the daughter of a ship’s captain named Dymas, a woman of Nausicaa’s own age and one of her bosom friends.
“Nausicaa,” said bright-eyed Athene, imitating her friend’s voice, “how did your mother come to have such a lazy daughter as you? Look at the lovely clothing you allow to lie about neglected, although you may soon be married and stand in need of beautiful clothes, not only to wear yourself but to provide for your bridegroom’s party. It’s this kind of thing that gives a girl a good name in the town, besides pleasing her father and her mother. Let us go and do some washing together the first thing in the morning. I offer to go with you and help, so that you can get yourself ready as soon as possible, for you certainly won’t remain unmarried long. Why, every nobleman in the place wants you for his wife, you, a Phaeacian princess. Do ask your royal father in the morning to have a waggon made ready for you with a couple of mules. These waistbands and robes and glossy wraps could go in it, and it would be much more comfortable for you yourself to drive than to go on foot, as it’s a long way from the city to the washing-pools.”
When she had finished, Athene of the flashing eyes withdrew to Olympus, where people say the gods have made their everlasting home. Shaken by no wind, drenched by no showers and invaded by no snows, it is set in a cloudless sea of limpid air with a white radiance playing over all. There the happy gods spend their delightful days, and there the Lady of the Bright Eyes went when she had explained her wishes to the girl.
Soon after, Dawn enthroned herself in the sky, and Nausicaa in her lovely gown awoke. She was amazed at her dream and set out at once through the palace to tell her father and her mother. She found them both in the house. Her mother was sitting at the hearth with her maids, spinning yarn stained with sea-purple; and she caught her father just as he was going out to join his princely colleagues at a conference to which he was called by the Phaeacian nobles. She went as close to him as she could and said:
“Father dear, I wonder if you could tell them to get me a big waggon with strong wheels, so that I can take all the fine clothes that I have lying dirty here to the river to wash? And indeed it is only decent for you yourself when you are dis-cussing affairs of state with important people to have clean linen on your back. Then again, there are five sons of yours in the palace, two of them married, while three are merry bachelors who are always asking for clothes straight from the wash to wear at dances. It is I who have to think of all these things.”
She spoke in this way because she was too shy to mention her marriage to her father. But he understood her thoroughly and replied:
“I don’t grudge you the mules, my child, or anything else. You may go; and the servants shall get you a fine big waggon with a hood to it.”
He called to his men and they set to work. While they prepared a smooth-running mule-cart outside the house, led the mules under the yoke and harnessed them to the vehicle, Nausicaa fetched the gay clothing from the store-room. She then packed it in the polished waggon, while her mother filled a box with various kinds of appetizing provisions and dainties to go with them, and poured some wine into a goatskin bottle. The girl climbed into the cart and her mother handed her a golden flask of soft olive oil, so that she and her maids could anoint themselves after bathing. And now Nausicaa took the whip and the glistening reins, and flicked the mules to make them go. There was a clatter of hooves, and then they stepped out bravely, taking the clothes and their mistress along. But as her maids followed and kept her company, she was not left to go alone.
In due course they reached the noble river with its never-failing pools, in which there was enough clear water always bubbling up and swirling by to clean the dirtiest clothes. Here they turned the mules loose from under the yoke and drove them along the eddying stream to graze on the sweet grass. Then they lifted the clothes by armfuls from the cart, dropped them into the dark water and trod them down briskly in the troughs, competing with each other in the work. When they had rinsed them till no dirt was left, they spread them out in a row along the sea-shore, just where the waves washed the shingle clean when they came tumbling up the beach. Next, after bathing and rubbing themselves with olive-oil, they took their meal at the riverside, waiting for the sunshine to dry the clothes. And presently, when mistress and maids had all enjoyed their food, they threw off their headgear and began playing with a ball, while Nausicaa of the white arms led them in their song. It was just such a scene as gladdens Leto’s heart, when her Daughter, Artemis the Archeress, has come down from the mountain along the high ridge of Taygetus or Erymanthus to chase the wild boar or the nimble deer, and the Nymphs of the countryside join with her in the sport. They too are heaven-born, but Artemis overtops them all, and where all are beautiful there is no question which is she. So did this maiden princess stand out among her ladies.
When the time came for Nausicaa to set out for home after yoking the mules and folding up the clothes, the bright-eyed goddess Athene intervened once more and arranged for Odysseus to wake up and see this lovely girl who was to serve as his escort to the Phaeacian city. Accordingly, when the princess passed the ball to one of her maids, she missed her and dropped it instead into the deep and eddying current. At this they all gave a loud shriek. The good Odysseus awoke and sitting up took counsel with himself.
“Alas!” he sighed. “What country have I come to now? What people are there here? Some brutal tribe of lawless savages, or kindly and god-fearing folk? And what is this shrill echo in my ears, as though some girls were shrieking? Nymphs, I suppose – who haunt the steep hilltops, the springs of rivers and the grassy meadows. Or am I within hail, by any chance, of human beings who can talk as I do? Well, I must go and use my own eyes to find out.”
So the gallant Odysseus crept out from under the bushes, after breaking off with his great hand a leafy bough from the thicket to conceal his naked manhood. Then he advanced on them like a mountain lion who sallies out, defying wind and rain in the pride of his power, with fire in his eyes, to hunt the oxen or the sheep, to stalk the roaming deer, or to be forced by hunger to besiege the very walls of the homestead and attack the pens. The same urgent need now constrained Odysseus, naked as he was, to bear down upon these gentle girls. Begrimed with salt he made a gruesome sight, and one look at him sent them scuttling in every direction along the jutting spits of sand. Alcinous’ daughter was the only one to stand firm. Emboldened by Athene, who stopped her limbs from trembling, she checked herself and confronted him, while Odysseus considered whether he should throw his arms round the beautiful girl’s knee and so make his prayer, or be content to keep his distance and beg her with all courtesy to give him clothing and direct him to the city. After some hesitation he decided that as the lady might take offence if he embraced her knees it would be better to keep his distance and politely plead his case. In the end, his address was not only disarming but full of subtlety:
“Mistress, I throw myself on your mercy. But are you some goddess or a mortal woman? If you are one of the gods who live in the sky, it is of Artemis, the Daughter of almighty Zeus, that your beauty, grace and stature most remind me. But if you are one of us mortals who live on earth, then lucky indeed are your father and your gentle mother; lucky, your brothers too. How their hearts must glow with pleasure every time they see their darling join the dance! But he is the happiest of them all who with his wedding gifts can win you for his home. For never have I set eyes on such perfection in man or woman. I worship as I look. Only in Delos have I seen the like, a fresh young palm-tree shooting up by the altar of Apollo, when my travels took me there – with a fine army at my back, that time, though the expedition was doomed to end so fatally for me. I remember how long I stood spellbound at the sight, for no lovelier sapling ever sprang from the ground. And it is with just the same wonder and veneration that I look at you, my lady; with such awe, indeed, that I dare not clasp your knees, though my troubles are serious enough. Only yesterday, after nineteen days of it, I made my escape from the wine-dark sea. It took all that time for the waves and the tempestuous winds to carry me here from the island of Ogygia. And now some god has flung me on this shore, no doubt to suffer more disasters here. For I have no hope that my troubles are coming to an end: the gods have plenty in store for me before that can be. Pity me, my queen. You are the first person I have met after all I have been through, and I do not know a soul in this city or this land. I beg you to direct me to the town and to give me some rag to put round myself, if only the wrapper you may have brought for your linen when you came. And in return may the gods grant you your heart’s desire; may they give you a husband and a home, and the harmony that is so much to be desired, since there is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends, as they themselves know better than anyone.”
“Sir,” said the white-armed Nausicaa, “your manners prove that you are no rascal and no fool; and as for these ordeals of yours, they must have been sent you by Olympian Zeus, who follows his own will in dispensing happiness to people whatever their merits. You have no choice but to endure. But since you have come to our country and our city here, you certainly shall not want for clothing or anything else that an unfortunate outcast has the right to expect from those he approaches. I will show you to the town and tell you who we are. This country and the city you will see belong to the Phaeacians. I myself am the daughter of King Alcinous, who is the head and mainstay of our state.”
Here she turned and called out her orders to the gentle-women in attendance: “Stop, my maids. Where are you flying to at the sight of a man? Don’t tell me you take him for an enemy, for there is no man on earth, nor ever will be, who would dare to set hostile feet on Phaeacian soil. The gods are too fond of us for that. Remote in this sea-beaten home of ours, we are the outposts of mankind and come in contact with no other people. The man you see is an unfortunate wanderer who has strayed here, and now commands our care, since all strangers and beggars come under the protection of Zeus, and the charity that is a trifle to us can be precious to others. Bestir yourselves, girls, provide our guest with food and drink, and bathe him in the river where there’s shelter from the wind.”
The rebuke from their mistress checked the women’s flight. They called halt to each other, and then found Odysseus a seat in the sheltered spot that the Princess Nausicaa had pointed out. On the ground beside him they laid a cloak and tunic for him to wear, and giving him some soft olive-oil in a golden flask they suggested that he should wash himself in the running stream. But the gallant Odysseus demurred.
“Ladies,” he said, “be good enough to stand back over there and leave me to wash the brine myself from my shoulders and rub my body with olive-oil, to which it has long been a stranger. I am not going to take my bath with you looking on. I should be ashamed to stand naked in the presence of gentlewomen.”
At this the maids withdrew and told their young mistress what had occurred. Meanwhile Odysseus was cleaning himself with river-water of the salt that incrusted his back and his broad shoulders, and scrubbing his head free of the scurf left there by the barren brine. When he had thoroughly washed and rubbed himself with oil, and had put on the clothes which the young girl had given him, Athene, Daughter of Zeus, made him seem taller and sturdier than ever and caused the bushy locks to hang from his head thick as the petals of the hyacinth in bloom. Just as a craftsman trained by Hephaestus and herself in the secrets of his art takes pains to put a graceful finish to his work by overlaying silver-ware with gold, she finished now by endowing his head and shoulders with an added beauty. When Odysseus retired to sit down by himself on the sea-shore, he was radiant with comeliness and grace. Nausicaa gazed at him in admiration and said to her fair attendants: “Listen, my white-armed maids, while I tell you what I have been thinking. This man’s arrival among the Phaeacians, who are so near the gods themselves, was not unpremeditated by the Olympian powers. For when first we met I thought he cut a sorry figure, but now he looks like the gods who live in heaven. That is the kind of man whom I could fancy for a husband, if he would settle here. I only hope that he will choose to stay. But come, girls, give the stranger something to eat and drink.”
Her maids at once carried out her orders and set food and drink before the stalwart Odysseus, who ate and drank with avidity, for it was a long time since he had tasted any food.
Meanwhile Nausicaa of the white arms had come to a decision. After folding up the clothing, she stowed it in her fine waggon, harnessed the sturdy mules, and herself climbed in. Then she called to Odysseus and gave him his instructions.
“Come, sir,” she said, “it is time for you to make a move towards the city, so that I may direct you to my good father’s house, where you can count on meeting all the Phaeacian nobility. But this is how you must manage – and I take you for a man of tact. So long as we are passing through the country and the farmers’ lands, walk quickly with my maids behind the waggon and the mules, following my lead. But that will not do when we come to town.”
“Our city is surrounded by high battlements; it has an excellent harbour on each side and is approached by a narrow causeway, where the curved ships are drawn up to the road and each owner has his separate slip. Here is the people’s meeting-place, built up on either side of the fine temple of Poseidon with blocks of quarried stone bedded deeply in the ground. It is here too that the sailors attend to the rigging of the black ships, to their cables and their sails, and the smoothing of their oars. For the Phaeacians have no use for the bow and quiver, but spend their energy on masts and oars and on the graceful craft they love to sail across the foam flecked seas.
“Now it is the possibility of unpleasant talk among these sailors that I wish to avoid. I am afraid they might give me a bad name, for there are plenty of vulgar fellows in the place, and I can well imagine one of the baser sort saying after he had seen us: ‘Who is this tall and handsome stranger Nausicaa has in tow? Where did she run across him? Her future husband no doubt! She must have rescued some ship-wrecked foreigner who had strayed this way, since we have no neighbours of our own. Or perhaps some god has answered her importunate prayers and stooped from heaven to make her his for ever. And it is better so, better that she should venture out herself and find a husband from abroad. For she obviously despises her countrymen here, though so many of the best would like to marry her.’ That is how they will talk, and my good name would suffer. Indeed I should blame any girl who acted so, with her parents alive, running away from her friends to consort with men before she was properly married.”
“So you, sir, had best take note of my directions, if you wish to make sure of being sent home by my father with the least possible delay. You will see near the path a fine poplar wood sacred to Athene, with a spring welling up in the middle and a meadow all round. That is where my father has his royal park and vegetable garden, within call of the city. Sit down there and wait awhile till we get into the town and reach my father’s house. When you think we have had time to do so, go into the city yourself and ask for the palace of my father, King Alcinous. It is quite easy to recognize: any little child could show it you. For the houses of the rest are not built in anything like the style of Lord Alcinous’ mansion. Directly you have passed through the courtyard and into the buildings, walk quickly through the great hall till you reach my mother, who generally sits in the firelight by the hearth, weaving yarn stained with sea-purple, and forming a delightful picture, with her chair against a pillar and her maids sitting behind. My father’s throne is close to hers, and there he sits drinking his wine like a god. Slip past him and clasp my mother’s knees if you wish to make certain of an early and happy return to your home, however far you may have strayed. For, once you have secured her sympathy, you may confidently expect to get back to your motherland and to walk once more into your own fine house and see your friends again.”
When she had finished, Nausicaa used her glistening whip on the mules, and they soon left the flowing river behind them, swinging along at a steady trot. But the princess kept them to a pace which allowed the maids and Odysseus to keep up with her on foot, and used her judgment in laying on the whip. As the sun was setting they reached the well-known grove that bore Athene’s name. Here the good Odysseus sat down and proceeded to offer up a prayer to the Daughter of almighty Zeus.
“Listen to me, unsleeping child of Zeus who wears the aegis, and hear my prayer this time, though you turned a deaf ear to me the other day, when I was shipwrecked and the great Earth-shaker broke me up. Grant that the Phaeacians may receive me with kindness and compassion.”
Pallas Athene heard his prayer but still refrained from appearing before him, out of deference to her Father’s Brother, who persisted in his rancour against the noble Odysseus till the very day when he reached his own land.
