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To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you appear to be a sensible, well-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives prosperity to rich and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what he has seen fit to send you, and make the best of it."
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
Book 6 Summary
While Odysseus is sleeping, Athena goes to the city of the Phaeacians and visits the dreams of Nausicaa, the daughter of King Alcinous. She tells tells her to go to the cisterns to wash all of her house’s laundry. The next day Nausicaa decides to act on the dream and her and her maidservants head out.
After washing everything, the girls eat a meal and begin to play with a ball. This was enough to wake Odysseus up. Not sure what to make of the commotion, Odysseus covers his nakedness with a branch of leaves and cautiously wanders over to where he heard the noises. When the girls see Odysseus, a dirty, grimy, scary looking naked man, they all run away except Nausicaa.
Odysseus keeps his distance and explains to Nausicaa he is shipwrecked and asks for her directions to town and for some clothes. Nausicaa agrees to help Odysseus and gives him clothes and a jar of oil so he can clean himself up. When he returns from bathing, the girls are all struck by how handsome he is. They give Odysseus some food to eat and Nausicaa comes up with a plan for Odysseus to get help from her father so he can return home.
Odysseus’ Silver Tongue
If you’ve read the Iliad, or you know about Odysseus from other sources, you know that he’s most known for his cunning and his rhetorical skills. These attributes of his make their first appearance in the Odyssey here in Book 6.
Picture the scene. A group of teenage and/or young adult girls are by themselves enjoying their day. All of the sudden, out of the bushes comes this strange, naked man. He’s dirty and grimy and is covering himself with a leafy branch. What would you do if you were the girls? What would you do if you were Odysseus?
Fortunately for Odysseus, one of the girls, Nausicaa, doesn’t follow the others in running away screaming, so he immediately lays on the charm.
“O queen, I implore your aid – but tell me, are you a goddess or are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven, I can only conjecture that you are Jove’s daughter Diana, for your face and figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a mortal and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and mother – thrice happy, too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and delighted they must feel when they see so fair a scion as yourself going out to a dance; most happy, however, of all will he be whose wedding gifts have been the richest, and who takes you to his own home. I never yet saw any one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am lost in admiration as I behold you.”
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
I don’t think what Odysseus said would work by today’s standards. He probably would have been jailed for indecent exposure and sexual harassment. Nonetheless, let’s breakdown what Odysseus did:
He keeps his distance
He deduces Nausicaa’s station (as royalty) and addresses her as such
He asks Nausicaa for help without elaborating (for now)
He praises her beauty—even wondering if she is one of the goddesses
He says her family must be proud of her
He tells her whichever man takes her as a wife would be a really lucky guy
On the surface, this may appear creepy, but we know before this encounter that Nausicaa has been thinking about marriage (most girls her age are). Odysseus has deduced this.
He flatters Nausicaa some more
He asks Nausicaa for help again
He gives a very brief account of what’s happened to him
He appeals to Nausicaa’s pity
Here’s what Odysseus does in the part of his plea I didn’t quote:
He asks for directions and clothes
He says a blessing to Nausicaa
He ends with a piece of insight, perhaps to show he’s not some vagabond
Odysseus uses his knowledge of etiquette to make himself less of a threat, his observational skills to see what kind of person he is dealing with (young woman; has maidservants and dresses like royalty; because she is a young woman: 1) is still with her parents and thinks about their reputation; 2) is probably thinking about marriage; and 3) takes her appearance quite seriously), and his rhetorical skills to diffuse the situation.
Nausicaa’s Maturity
Despite his impressive speech, Odysseus may have still been toast if it hadn’t been for Nausicaa’s level-headed approach to the situation. She listens to Odysseus and realizes he speaks eloquently and sees he is someone in need of help. She recognizes that her homeland can’t be easily invaded and therefore the gods must have sent Odysseus to them.
“This is only some poor man who has lost his way, and we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress are under Jove’s protection, and will take what they can get and be thankful.”
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
After she helps Odysseus so he can bathe, clothe, and eat, she gives him exact directions on how to get help from her father, king Alcinous.
Nausicaa is also concerned about the optics of the situation (she’s a young woman concerned about her appearance after all).
“I am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may be set on foot against me later on; for the people here are very ill-natured, and some low fellow, if he met us, might say, ‘Who is this fine-looking stranger that is going about with Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I suppose she is going to marry him.’”
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
As a result, she instructs Odysseus to wait a little bit, then enter the city a different way than her and ask directions to her father’s house.
Notice that Nausicaa doesn’t complain about the fact that the people may gossip. She’s just pointing out a fact. There’s nothing about “people need to be more tolerant,” or “people should do their due diligence and get all the facts first before jumping to conclusions,” or even “who cares what other people think?” In fact, Nausicaa says quite the opposite:
“This is the kind of disparaging remark that would be made about me, and I could not complain, for I should myself be scandalised at seeing any other girl do the like, and go about with men in spite of everybody, while her father and mother were still alive, and without having been married in the face of all the world.”
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
Nausicaa recognizes that that’s just how things work, and if the roles were reversed, she would be shocked by what the other girl was doing.
In light of a tabloid infested, post-“MeToo” world, it seems that there’s nothing new under the sun. The gossipers and the scandalizers don’t care about the facts, or the context, or “due process” – they just want to gossip and scandalize and are usually the ones who prevail in public opinion.
Maybe the Christian evangelist Billy Graham was on to something when he made it a strict rule to never be alone with a woman other than his wife?
Maybe more people should care about optics and reputation while doing less complaining about it?
Because, more than likely, they would be just as guilty of gossiping and jumping to conclusions under the right circumstances.
That’s just how it is.
Were that there were more men and women who lived virtuously and actively protected their virtue.
Two Quotes That Stood Out
There were two quotes that stood out to me, both completely unrelated to each other. I just wanted to comment on them briefly.
Minerva went away to Olympus, which they say is the everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and neither rain nor snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine and in a great peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are illumined for ever and ever.
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
This description of Olympus comes out of left field to me. I don’t recall an explanation like this in the Iliad, and Olympus was mentioned multiple times in the Odyssey before this point.
Anyway, it gives us an insight into how the ancient Greeks in Homer’s time viewed the dwelling place of their gods. No climate hazards or inconveniences, perfect weather all the time, and a perfect amount of light to make the place a peaceful one. This is what a suitable environment for the gods looked like to the ancient Greeks. Perhaps, this is what paradise looked like to them.
As I mentioned in my posts on the Iliad (see my post on Book 22), I really like statements like these that give the reader a glimpse of how the ancient Greeks viewed the world, the cosmos, and themselves. We learn information that the ancient Greeks took for granted and wouldn’t normally have thought necessary to write about.
[Odysseus to Nausicaa]: “For there is nothing better in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind in a house. It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their friends glad, and they themselves know more about it than any one.”
Odyssey, Book 6; Samuel Butler translation
This statement by Odysseus carries a lot more weight knowing what we learned in Book 5. Recall that Odysseus turned down the goddess Calypso’s offer to make him immortal and stay with her forever. Why did he turn her down? Because he wanted to get back home and be with his wife. He knew there was more joy in being with his family for a limited time than being with a goddess forever.
If it isn’t already clear by now, family is a major theme in the Odyssey. The Odyssey, as I mentioned in my post on Book 1, is not just about Odysseus—it’s about Odysseus and his whole family. Odysseus struggles to get home. Telemachus struggles to get by without a father. Penelope struggles to stay faithful to her marriage. Laertes struggles to cope with the loss of his son.
It was a minor theme in the Iliad. We saw Hector interact with his wife and son as he struggled to protect them from the Achaean invasion. An invasion brought on due to the antics of his brother Paris. He was realistic in that he was certain Troy would fall, but he hoped to carve out a future for his son.
This is yet another reason why I think the Odyssey (and the Iliad) should be taught more in schools and more widely read. Family is a concept and an institution that is dying in our culture.
We would do well to contemplate long and hard why Odysseus and his family are doing what they are doing to get back together again—despite the temptations, hardships, and (sometimes life threatening) adversities.
That’s all for Book 6 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Ulysses and Nausicaa by Louis Gauffier, 1798. Public domain