ξεῖνε, σὺ δ᾽ ὦκ᾽ ἐμέθεν ξυνίει ἔπος, ὄφρα τάχιστα
πομπῆς καὶ νόστοιο τύχῃς παρὰ πατρὸς ἐμοῖο.290
δήεις ἀγλαὸν ἄλσος Ἀθήνης ἄγχι κελεύθου
αἰγείρων· ἐν δὲ κρήνη νάει, ἀμφὶ δὲ λειμών·
ἔνθα δὲ πατρὸς ἐμοῦ τέμενος τεθαλυῖά τ᾽ ἀλωή,
τόσσον ἀπὸ πτόλιος, ὅσσον τε γέγωνε βοήσας.
ἔνθα καθεζόμενος μεῖναι χρόνον, εἰς ὅ κεν ἡμεῖς295
ἄστυδε ἔλθωμεν καὶ ἱκώμεθα δώματα πατρός.
αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν ἡμέας ἔλπῃ ποτὶ δώματ᾽ ἀφῖχθαι,
καὶ τότε Φαιήκων ἴμεν ἐς πόλιν ἠδ᾽ ἐρέεσθαι
δώματα πατρὸς ἐμοῦ μεγαλήτορος Ἀλκινόοιο.
ῥεῖα δ᾽ ἀρίγνωτ᾽ ἐστί, καὶ ἂν πάϊς ἡγήσαιτο300
νήπιος· οὐ μὲν γάρ τι ἐοικότα τοῖσι τέτυκται
δώματα Φαιήκων, οἷος δόμος Ἀλκινόοιο
ἥρωος. ἀλλ᾽ ὁπότ᾽ ἄν σε δόμοι κεκύθωσι καὶ αὐλή,
ὦκα μάλα μεγάροιο διελθέμεν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν ἵκηαι
μητέρ᾽ ἐμήν· ἡ δ᾽ ἧσται ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάρῃ ἐν πυρὸς αὐγῇ,305
ἠλάκατα στρωφῶσ᾽ ἁλιπόρφυρα, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι,
κίονι κεκλιμένη· δμῳαὶ δέ οἱ εἵατ᾽ ὄπισθεν.
ἔνθα δὲ πατρὸς ἐμοῖο θρόνος ποτικέκλιται αὐτῇ,
τῷ ὅ γε οἰνοποτάζει ἐφήμενος ἀθάνατος ὥς.
τὸν παραμειψάμενος μητρὸς περὶ γούνασι χεῖρας310
βάλλειν ἡμετέρης, ἵνα νόστιμον ἦμαρ ἴδηαι
χαίρων καρπαλίμως, εἰ καὶ μάλα τηλόθεν ἐσσί.
εἴ κέν τοι κείνη γε φίλα φρονέῃσ᾽ ἐνὶ θυμῷ,
ἐλπωρή τοι ἔπειτα φίλους τ᾽ ἰδέειν καὶ ἱκέσθαι
οἶκον ἐυκτίμενον καὶ σὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν."315
ὣς ἄρα φωνήσασ᾽ ἵμασεν μάστιγι φαεινῇ
ἡμιόνους· αἱ δ᾽ ὦκα λίπον ποταμοῖο ῥέεθρα.
αἱ δ᾽ ἐὺ μὲν τρώχων, ἐὺ δὲ πλίσσοντο πόδεσσιν·
ἡ δὲ μάλ᾽ ἡνιόχευεν, ὅπως ἅμ᾽ ἑποίατο πεζοὶ
ἀμφίπολοί τ᾽ Ὀδυσεύς τε, νόῳ δ᾽ ἐπέβαλλεν ἱμάσθλην.320
δύσετό τ᾽ ἠέλιος καὶ τοὶ κλυτὸν ἄλσος ἵκοντο
ἱρὸν Ἀθηναίης, ἵν᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἕζετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.
αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ ἠρᾶτο Διὸς κούρῃ μεγάλοιο·
"κλῦθί μευ, αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος, Ἀτρυτώνη·
νῦν δή πέρ μευ ἄκουσον, ἐπεὶ πάρος οὔ ποτ᾽ ἄκουσας325
ῥαιομένου, ὅτε μ᾽ ἔρραιε κλυτὸς ἐννοσίγαιος.
δός μ᾽ ἐς Φαίηκας φίλον ἐλθεῖν ἠδ᾽ ἐλεεινόν."
ὣς ἔφατ᾽ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δ᾽ ἔκλυε Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη.
αὐτῷ δ᾽ οὔ πω φαίνετ᾽ ἐναντίη· αἴδετο γάρ ῥα
πατροκασίγνητον· ὁ δ᾽ ἐπιζαφελῶς μενέαινεν330
ἀντιθέῳ Ὀδυσῆι πάρος ἣν γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι.
notes
Nausicaa finishes giving her instructions to Odysseus, telling him where to find the palace and instructing him to approach her mother the queen first when he enters. Odysseus prays to Athena.
Before driving off in her wagon, Nausicaa gives the stranger one more set of instructions: to avoid the wagging tongues of locals, he should walk with the servants behind the wagon until they come within shouting distance of the city, then wait in a grove sacred to Athena until the entourage has reached the city and approach the city alone.
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The poet conjures an amusing tableau for us here, of the brawny warrior trudging along behind the wagon while the princess leads the way, flicking her whip over the mules. This will be the last time we will see Nausicaa exerting her regal authority, putting herself firmly in the driver’s seat to counter the vulnerability brought on by her feelings for the stranger.
Nausicaa predicts that Odysseus, once inside the palace, will find the same kind of tranquil domestic scene she left when heading out for the picnic: the queen by the hearth, surrounded by her servants, the king sitting on his throne, drinking like a god. Her next piece of advice has prompted much discussion from scholars: Odysseus should bypass Alkinous and go directly to Arete to plead for help. If the world of the Odyssey is basically patriarchal, why would a suppliant approach the queen? Addressing all the issues, anthropological, literary, and textual, raised by this question is beyond the scope of our essay; we can at least consider, though, whether Nausicaa’s advice makes any sense in the context of our understanding of the poem. From the storyteller’s point of view, arranging an encounter with a prominent woman for the stranger fits with the ongoing focus on power and gender in the poem. Arete is yet another in the series of female figures with whom the hero must negotiate his return to Ithaka. Her meeting with the stranger prefigures that of Penelope with the beggar. Here the role of potential marriage partner is absent, having been displaced onto Nausicaa, but in both cases the hero’s first challenge is to win over the queen.
But if Arete presents a dignified figure, Alkinous at first might seem a slender reed for Odysseus to lean on. Though we get no hint of disrespect for her father from Nausicaa, from our perspective he gets off to a shaky start as a host. Once Odysseus has approached Arete, the king must be prompted by one of his subjects (7.153–66) to acknowledge the suppliant as a good host should do. Then after Odysseus gives a brief account of what brought him to Scheria, Alkinous seems to overcompensate by enthusiastically offering the stranger Nausicaa in marriage on the spot (7.311–16). As the episode progresses, Alkinous settles into his regal position and discharges his duties appropriately. Perhaps his unsteady beginning is meant to present a negative paradigm for Odysseus, demonstrating the necessity for exerting masculine authority, another way in which the scenes in the Phaeacian palace prefigure Odysseus’s return to his own home.
Nausicaa drives off and effectively disappears from the story, apart from an uneventful description of her arrival at the place (7.1–13) and a later cameo appearance, just before Odysseus begins the narrative of his adventures (8.461–62). Her character is one of Homer’s small masterpieces, a young princess unwavering in her command of a potentially dangerous encounter while struggling with new and bewildering emotions. To get Odysseus from the seashore to the city did not require the poet to create the kind of subtle and insightful portrait we find in the young princess. As she herself says, “a mere child” (πάϊς … νήπιος, 300) could lead him to the palace. Her importance, as we have seen, is twofold: 1) A naïve and innocent contrast to the powerful Calypso, she nonetheless represents a genuine threat to the hero’s homecoming who, like the nymph, must be handled with supreme tact; 2) Her situation and response to it prefigure in various ways that of Penelope at the end of the poem.
Conclusion
In Book 6, we see, for the first time in the poem, Odysseus entering a new and unfamiliar society as an anonymous stranger. His enforced exile on Calypso’s island only ends because Athena convinces Zeus to send Hermes to effect the hero’s release. The nymph’s powers establish the nature of the threat the hero faces from controlling female forces and the paradigm will reappear in various forms throughout the story, right up through the final reunion with Penelope in Book 23. Once on Scheria, Odysseus must use all his skills to win over the locals so that they will help him to reach home again. He will delay revealing his heroic identity until he feels sufficiently confident that his campaign has succeeded. In the interim, Homer begins to explore the interplay of celebrity and namelessness that will grow in richness as the poem proceeds, providing us with a view detached from the imperatives of Athena’s heroic return story. Odysseus finally reveals his identity to the Phaeacians at the beginning of Book 9, and then launches a rendition of his adventures before reaching Calypso’s island, in the course of which the journey from unknown stranger to glorious hero will play out twice more before he reaches Ithaka, in the cave of the Cyclops and on the island of Circe. Once he is home, the pattern will recur twice more, on the farm with Eumaeus and finally in the royal palace. Each repetition adds layers of meaning to the original paradigm, enriching the poet’s meditation on the riddles of human identity and its role in the creation of meaning in human life.
289 ἐμέθεν: “my,” fem. gen. sing. 1st pers. pron.
289 ξυνίει: “listen to,” 2nd sing. pres. act. imperat. > συνίημι.
289 ὄφρα … /… τύχῃς: purpose clause.
289 τύχῃς: 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > τυγχάνω + gen.
292 αἰγείρων: “(a grove) of black poplars,” in apposition to Ἀθήνης.
292 ἐν δὲ …, ἀμφὶ δὲ …: “in it …, and around it …” Understand ἐστί with the second noun.
293 τεθαλυῖά: “blooming,” “flourishing,” fem. nom. sing. pf. act. ptc. > θάλλω.
294 τόσσον ἀπὸ πτόλιος, ὅσσον τε γέγωνε βοήσας: “as far from the city as (someone) is heard shouting,” i.e., within shouting distance of the city. Understand τις as the subject of γέγωνε.
295 μεῖναι: 2nd aor. mid. imperat. >μένω.
295 χρόνον: “for a while” (LSJ χρόνον 3a).
295 εἰς ὅ κεν ἡμεῖς / … ἔλθωμεν: “until we come …,” with aor. subj. (Smyth 2383). The subject, ἡμεῖς, refers to Nausicaa and her attendants.
297 ἐπὴν … ἔλπῃ: “whenever you expect …,” general temporal clause, ἐπὴν (ἐπεί + ἄν) + subj. The verb introduces indirect discourse with accusative (ἡμέας) and infinitive (ἀφῖχθαι).
297 ἀφῖχθαι: pf. infin. mid./pass. > ἀφικνέομαι.
298 ἴμεν: infin. > εἶμι, used as an imperative.
298 ἐρέεσθαι: “inquire about,” infin. > ἔρομαι, used as an imperative.
300 ἂν … ἡγήσαιτο: “could show the way,” potential optative.
301 οὐ … τι: “not at all.”
301 ἐοικότα τοῖσι: “resembling this (house).”
301 τέτυκται: 3rd sing. pf. pass. indic. > τεύχω. Singular verb with neuter plural subject (δώματα).
302 οἷος δόμος: “such is the house,” understand ἐστί.
303 ὁπότ᾽ ἄν … κεκύθωσι: “whenever …,” general temporal clause with subjunctive.
303 κεκύθωσι: 3rd pl. reduplicated aor. act. subj. > κεύθω.
304 διελθέμεν: “go through,” infin., used as an imperative, with genitive.
304 ὄφρ᾽ ἂν ἵκηαι: "until you come" (LSJ ὄφρα II.2).
304: ἵκηαι: 2nd sing. aor. mid. subj. > ἱκνέομαι.
306 ἰδέσθαι: explanatory, or epexegetical, infin.
307 εἵατ(ο): “were sitting,” 3rd pl. impf. mid./pass. indic. > ἧμαι.
308 ποτικέκλιται αὐτῇ: “stands near the same pillar,” echoing κίονι κεκλιμένη in the previous line. ποτι- = προσ-.
309 τῷ … ἐφήμενος: “seated there,” “seated on this (throne).”
309 ἐφήμενος: masc. nom. sing. pres. mid./pass. ptc. > ἐφήμαι.
310 τὸν παραμειψάμενος: “passing him by,” masc. nom. sing. aor. mid. ptc. > παραμείβω.
311 ἵνα … ἴδηαι: purpose clause.
311 ἴδηαι: 3rd sing. aor. mid./pass. subj. > εἶδον.
312 εἰ καὶ: “even if …”
313 εἴ κέν … φρονέῃσ(ι): protasis of a future more vivid conditional.
313 φίλα φρονέῃσ(ι): “is kindly minded toward,” “is disposed to be friendly to,” with dative.
314 ἐλπωρή: understand ἔσται (“there will be”).
317 αἱ: ie., the mules.
318 τρώχων: unaugmented 3rd pl. impf. act. indic. > τρωχάω.
319 ἡ: i.e., Nausicaa.
319 ὅπως … ἑποίατο: purpose clause with optative in secondary sequence.
319 ἑποίατο: 3rd pl. pres. mid. opt. > ἕπομαι.
320 νόῳ: “sensibly.”
320 ἐπέβαλλεν ἱμάσθλην: "applied the whip."
322 ἵν(α): “where.”
323 ἠρᾶτο: 3rd sing. aor. mid./pass. indic. > ἀράομαι. The subject is Odysseus.
325 ἄκουσον μευ: “listen to me,” “hear me.” ἀκούω + gen.
325 ἄκουσας: 2nd sing. aor. act. indic.
326 ῥαιομένου: “when I was shipwrecked.” Understand as agreeing with μευ (μου).
326 ἔρραιε: 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. > ῥαίω.
327 δός: “grant that …,” 2nd aor. imperat., introducing an accusative (μ[ε]) and infinitive (ἐλθεῖν) construction.
327 φίλον … ἠδ᾽ ἐλεεινόν: “as…,” in apposition to μ(ε).
329 ἐναντίη: “face to face.”
330 πατροκασίγνητον: i.e., Poseidon, Zeus’s brother.
330 μενέαινεν: “was raging against,” unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. (with ν-moveable) > μενεαίνω, with dative.
331 πάρος ἣν γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι: “before he reached his land.” πάρος + infin., “before …,” like πρίν + infin. (Smyth 2461).
vocabulary
ὦκα: quickly, swiftly, fast
συνίημι συνήσω συνῆκα συνεῖκα συνεῖμαι συνείθην: listen to, understand
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
πομπή –ῆς ἡ: escort, guidance; arrangement for one's departure 290
νόστος –ου ὁ: return (home)
δήω – – – – –: to find, meet with (present with future sense)
ἀγλαός –ή –όν: splendid, shining, bright
ἄλσος –ους τό: a glade
Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena
ἄγχι: near
κέλευθος –ου ἡ: path, with neuter plural κέλευθα
αἴγειρος –ου ἡ: black poplar tree (populus nigra)
κρήνη –ης ἡ: a well, spring, fountain
νάω or ναίω: to flow; to overflow with (+ dat.)
λειμών –ῶνος ὁ: grassland, meadow, field
τέμενος –ους τό: sacred precinct
θάλλω θαλλήσω ἔθηλα τέθηλα ––– –––: to bloom, abound, to be luxuriant
ἀλωή –ῆς ἡ: a threshing-floor; orchard, garden
τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast
γέγωνα (perf. of γεγωνέω): to shout, cry out
βοάω βοήσομαι ἐβόησα βεβόηκα βεβόημαι ἐβοήθην: to shout, roar
καθέζομαι καθεδοῦμαι/καθεδήσομαι κάθημαι ἐκαθέσθην: to sit down, take one's seat 295
ἄστυδε: into, to, or towards the city
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently
ἐπήν = ἐπεὶ ἄν: when, after
ἔλπω – – – – –: to hope
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
ἠδέ: and
μεγαλήτωρ –ορος: great-hearted, proud
Ἀλκίνοος –ου ὁ: Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians in Scheria, a grandson of Poseidon
ῥεῖα: easily, lightly 300
ἀρίγνωτος [–η] –ον: easily recognizable
νήπιος –α –ον: infant, child; silly, ignorant, without foresight
τεύχω τεύξω ἔτευξα τέτευχα τέτυγμαι ἐτύχθην: to make, build, prepare, fasten; to bring about; (pass.) to be brought about, to be
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
οἷος –α –ον: (such a kind) as; for οἷός τε see οἷος III.2
δόμος –ου ὁ: house, home
Ἀλκίνοος –ου ὁ: Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians in Scheria, a grandson of Poseidon
ἥρως ἥρωος ὁ: hero, warrior
ὁπότε: when
κεύθω/κευθάνω κεύσω ἔκευσα κέκευθα ––– –––: to cover, hide, hold, contain
αὐλή –ῆς ἡ: courtyard; enclosure for livestock; court, residence
ὦκα: quickly, swiftly, fast
μέγαρον –ου τό: a large room, hall, feast-hall
διέρχομαι διελεύσομαι διῆλθον διελήλυθα ––– –––: to go through, pass through
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit 305
ἐσχάρα –ας ἡ: the hearth, fire-place
αὐγή –ῆς ἡ: the light of the sun, sunlight
ἠλάκατα –ων τά: wool
στρωφάω – – – – –: to turn constantly
ἁλιπόρφυρος –ον: of sea-purple, of true purple dye
θαῦμα –ατος τό: a wonder
κίων –ονος ἡ: a pillar
κλίνω κλινῶ ἔκλινα κέκλικα κέκλιμαι ἐκλίνην/ἐκλίθην: to (cause to) lean; to put (a foe) to flight
δμῳή –ής ἡ: an enslaved person, especially one taken in war
οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit
ὄπι(σ)θε(ν): from behind, behind, afterward, hereafter; adv. or prep. +gen.
θρόνος –ου ὁ: throne, arm-chair
προσκλίνω προσκλινῶ προσέκλινα προσκέκλικα προσκέκλιμαι προσεκλίθην/προσεκλίνην: to make to lean against, put against
οἰνοποτάζω – – – – –: to drink wine
ἔφημαι (perf. pass. used as a pres.): to be seated
ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods
παραμείβω παραμείψω παρήμειψα παρήμειφα παρήμειμμαι παρημείφθην: to leave on one side, pass by 310
γόνυ γόνατος (or γουνός) τό: knee
νόστιμος –ον: of return
ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day
καρπάλιμος –ον: swift
τηλόθεν: from afar, from a foreign land
ἐλπωρή –ῆς ἡ: hope, expectation (ἐλπίς)
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach
ἐϋκτίμενος –η –ον: well-built, lovely to inhabit 315
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
φωνέω φωνήσω ἐφώνησα πεφώνηκα πεφώνημαι ἐφωνήθην: make a sound, speak
ἱμάσσω ἱμάσω ἵμασα: to flog
μάστιξ –ιγος ἡ: a whip, scourge
φαεινός –ή –όν: bright, brilliant, radiant
ἠμίονος –ου ὁ: mule
ὦκα: quickly, swiftly, fast
ῥεῖθρον (or ῥέεθρον) –ου τό: river, stream
τρωχάω/τρέχω θρέξομαι/δραμοῦμαι ἔδραμον δεδράμηκα: to run fast, gallop
πλίσσομαι πλίξομαι ἐπλιξάμην πέπλιγμαι: to move quickly, gallop
ἡνιοχεύω ἡνιοχεύσω ἡνιόχησα: to drive (a wagon or chariot)
πεζός –ή –όν: on foot
ἀμφίπολος –ου ἡ: female attendant, handmaid
νόος νόου ὁ: mind, perception 320
ἐπιβάλλω ἐπιβαλῶ ἐπέβαλον ἐπιβέβληκα ἐπιβέβλημαι ἐπεβλήθην: to throw on; apply
ἱμάσθλη –ης ἡ: whip
δὐω δύσω έδυσα/ἔδυν δέδυκα δέδυμαι εδύθην: plunge in, go into, sink
κλuτός –ή –όν: illustrious, glorious
ἄλσος –ους τό: a glade
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ἕζομαι – – – – –: to sit down
δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining
ἀράομαι ἀράσομαι (Ion. ἀρήσομαι) ἠρησάμην ἤρᾱμαι: to pray to
Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus
κόρη (or κούρη) –ης ἡ: girl, maiden; daughter
κλύω ––– κέκλυκα ––– ––– –––: to hear, listen to; to have a reputation, be judged or considered
αἰγίοχος –ον: aegis-holding
τέκος –ους τό: child
Ἀτρυτώνη –ης ἡ: an epithet of Athena
πάρος: before, formerly 325
ῥαίω ῥαίσω ἔρραισα ––– ––– –––: to break, shiver, shatter, wreck
κλuτός –ή –όν: illustrious, glorious
ἐννοσίγαιος –ου ὁ: earth-shaker (epithet of Poseidon)
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
ἠδέ: and
ἐλεεινός –ή –όν: finding pity, pitied
εὔχομαι εὔξομαι ηὐξάμην ηὖγμαι: to pray; to make a vow, promise; to declare, affirm; to glory in, boast of (for good reason)
κλύω ––– κέκλυκα ––– ––– –––: to hear, listen to; to have a reputation, be judged or considered
Παλλάς –άδος ἡ: Pallas
Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena
πω: [+neg.] (adv.) never yet, in no way, not at all
αἰδέομαι αἰδέσομαι ᾐδεσάμην –––– ᾔδεσμαι ᾐδέσθην: to respect, revere, honor
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
πατροκασίγνητος –ου ὁ: a father's brother 330
ἐπιζάφελος –ον: vehement, violent
μενεαίνω – – – – – : to be eager, desire; to be enraged at (dat.)
ἀντίθεος –η –ον: equal to a god, godlike
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
πάρος: before, formerly
ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach