They all depart for home but Odysseus walks at the back of the wagon with the maids, at Nausicaa’s requests, so to not provoke gossip from the towns people at the sight of Nausicaa with a handsome man. Nausicaa tells Odysseus she will direct him to a point in the town but from their on he must find his own way to the palace, with her directions, this way she will not disgrace her parents by associating with men before she is married. The chapter closes with Odysseus alone in the town.
- Nausicaa is around 16 years old, she seems very sensible but susceptible to flattery. The chapter says she is lazy and she is quite thoughtful about herself getting married. She seems eager to please her parents, but knows how to get around them. She is conscious of her position as princess and is respectful of her own and of her parents reputation.
On first seeing Odysseus, Nausicaa sees him as being in a disgusting state, but once Odysseus begins to flatter her, she is lured in my Odysseus’ clever words and give him a chance to clean himself up. Once Odysseus is clean and Athene has made him seem taller and more handsome, Nausicaa admires his appearance. She tells her maids her thoughts on Odysseus, ‘When we first met, I thought him repulsive, but now he looks like the gods who live in heaven. I wish I could have a man like him for my husband’.
- Ways in which Athene helps Odysseus;
Athene is the one who plans the whole meeting between Odysseus and Nausicaa, appearing to Nausicaa as Dymas, and planting the idea to go to the river in her mind.
Athene sets it up that the ball will go into the deep current making the girl’s scream, which makes Odysseus awake.
Odysseus appears more handsome, taller and sturdier to the women, thanks to Athene’s work.
- We see early on in chapter 6 that the Phaeacian women and men alike are married off at a young age. The Phaeacian people seem to gossip at any given cause, and do not seem too accustom to strangers on their island. Nausicaa describes the people in her city as ‘supercilious’. They appear to be craftmens, who take pride in their ships.
- Homer seems to portray the river as idyllic, here we see the women acting almost equal as they are free to remove their head gear and play ball and also to bathe naked in the river itself.
- When Odysseus awakes, he asks him self a number of questions, firstly he wonders which country he is at, I think this is maybe because the waves washed him about and he lost his sense of direction, as he left his raft and swam for land, so wakes up unsure of his location. He also wonders, ‘what people are there here? Hostile and uncivilised savages, or kindly and god-fearing people? By the time Odysseus reaches the Phaeacian island, he has already endured, along with his men, the Cyclops, Polyphemus, been to the halls of hades and lost 6 men and almost died himself by Scylla and the Charybdis, so he is unsure what the gods have planned for him on this island and if the people on it are at all human.
- I don’t think the simile here is apt, it is a little bit of a harsh way to describe Odysseus, the simile almost makes him sound like a savage. He is only curious to see where he has landed and which people occupy the island. He has really been set up by Athene, so the simile seems a bit unfair.
- Odysseus wakes up naked, and uses some leaves to cover himself up, so as not to meet the island’s people naked. He is a cunning man, and is always quick with flattery as he speaks kind words to Nausicaa which takes the emphasis off of his of shabby appearance. With his speech to Nausicaa, he makes her feel sorry for him, partly because he tells her of his suffering, and partly because he seems appears so pleasant to her. Odysseus knows that in this situation he cannot use his handsome looks to get around Nausicaa, but instead has to use his power of speech to persuade Nausicaa for her help, and he does this very well with being charming and flattering her.
- Odysseus shows good manors to Nausicaa by not grasping her knees but instead talking to her from a distance and being curteous.
Nausicaa shows good manors to Odysseus, by feeding and clothing him.
The maids display good manors, by allowing Odysseus to bathe himself in privacy.
- Nausicaa explains to Odysseus that he must walk behind her wagon with the maids, because she would like to avoid gossip. She tells him, she is afraid the Phaeacian people may think, Odysseus is going to be her future husband, and she has chosen him because he is a foreigner and she despises her own people. Nausicaa also doesn’t want to be seen associating with men before she is married, in the fear of giving herself a bad name, and letting down her family.
11. Nausicaa tells Odysseus to address her mother first once he is in the palace.
