Best viewed on a wide computer screen
Nausiccaa returns to her father’s palace where her brothers take charge of the mules and the clothes washing. Nausicaa’s chambermaid, Eurymedusa, a long serving slave who helped raise Nausicaa, lights her fire and makes her supper.
Meanwhile, Odysseus sets off towards the city, accompanied by Athena who cloaks him in a mist to hide him. As Odysseus enters the city Athena appears to him as a young girl. Odysseus asks her for directions to the king’s palace. Athena offers to guide him, saying her father lives next to the palace. She warns him not to look at or speak to anyone along the way. She says the Phaeacians do not like to play host. She leads him to the palace. She says he will come upon Arete, the queen, first. She tells Odysseus the story of Arete’s lineage, descended from Poseidon through Nausithous, who was also the father of Alcinous, so Arete’s husband is also her uncle. Arete is loved and respected by everyone, and her cool judgement helps her to resolve disputes easily. Athena advises that winning Arete’s favour is key to being helped.
Athena now leaves Odysseus and returns to Athens.
Odysseus sees the riches or Alcinous’ house as he enters, with walls, doorposts and doors made from precious materials like gold, silver and lapis. Two guard dogs, made of silver and gold by Hephaestus, sit before the door of the throne room. Inside, the walls are lined with finely spun weavings. Around fifty serving women work, grinding grain, as well as weaving or spinning. Their domestic skills match those of the Phaeacian sailors in the harbour.
In the courtyard there is a magnificent orchard growing pomegranates, pears, apples, figs and olives. Different fruits are available all year round. Grapes are grown and dried into raisins, are crushed for wine, or eaten. Vegetables are also grown. The orchard and gardens are fed by two streams. The abundance of their orchard is a sign of the Phaeacians’ favour with the gods. Odysseus sees that the Phaeacians are diligent in their libations to the gods.
As Odysseus enters the throne room the mist Athena has cast about him disperses and he heads directly to Arete. He kneels before her and clasps her knees in the accepted manner of a supplicant. He begs for help to return home. He says he has suffered a long time.
Echeneus, the eldest Lord, chastises everyone for allowing a guest to remain on his knees. He urges Alcinous to set an example for his people; that Odysseus should be given supper. Alcinous sits Odysseus in Lord Laodamus’ chair, his favourite son. Odysseus is shown hospitality with a generous serving of food. Wine is poured, libations are given to the gods, and they then drink. When they finish, Alcinous says they will sleep and in the morning they will meet and make arrangements for Odysseus to be taken back home, where the gods and fate can then be responsible for him again. Alcinous does not believe Odysseus poses them any threat, since he believes he would have been warned by a god, otherwise, since he believes he and his people are favoured by the gods. The gods even sit at their table when they are present, since they are descended from gods.
Odysseus assures Alcinous he is only a mortal man who is a slave to the needs of his body, especially the need to eat and drink. But now he desires only to see his home before he dies. His emotionally plea wins the approval of the Phaeacians who applaud him.
As the hall is cleared after eating, Arete approaches Odysseus. She recognises the cape and shirt he is wearing. She made them herself. She asks who he is and how he came by the clothes.
In answer to Queen Arete’s question, Odysseus tells the whole story of his voyage. He recounts how he was imprisoned by Calypso for seven years after he lost all his shipmates at sea. He explains that he never loved Calypso and she eventually let him go. He speaks of the long voyage on the raft he made to Scheria, where he found it difficult to land. He explains that when he eventually made it to shore Arete’s daughter, Nausicaa, found him. He praises her for the help she gave him and her modesty. He says that Nausicaa fed him, had him washed and gave him the clothing. Arete feels Nausicaa fell short of her duty by not escorting him to their house. Odysseus diplomatically takes the blame. He said that Nausicaa encouraged him to come but that he refrained so that her reputation might be protected, and that King Alcinous may not be moved to anger.
Alcinous assures Odysseus that he is a balanced man who is not prone to anger. In fact, he says that if Odysseus were willing to live on Scheria, he could marry Nausicaa, along with a house and great wealth. Otherwise, Alcinous has arranged for Odysseus to be taken home the following day, no matter how far away. He is proud of his sailors and their ability to navigate the seas swiftly. Odysseus says a prayer to Zeus, asking for Alcinous’ future good fortunes and fame.
Odysseus is given a bed on the porch and the king and queen go to sleep in their chamber.
I have discussed the etymology of Nausicaa’s name in the page for Book 6 of The Odyssey, as well as Nausithous, the king before Alcinous. Nausithous is given a brief history near the beginning of that book, lines 8 – 13 in Fagle’s translation. Homer mentions Nausithous again in Book 7 as he explains the lineage of Queen Arete:
The passage is dense with detail which this condensed family tree, based on the passage, might help with:
The family tree shows that Arete has married her uncle, Alcinous, brother to her father, Rhexenor, who was killed by Apollo. Rhexenor is said to have been killed by Apollo either as a bridegroom or newlywed in several sources. Fagles has him married in his translation. Rhexenor is said to have made some kind of challenge against Apollo, but it seems unclear what that challenge was. Apollo killed him as a result.
Eurymedon was the leader of the Gigantes, a race of giants. In some accounts he is said to have been a titan and led his people to destruction in a war against the gods. The exact details of their destruction seem unclear.
At the same time, Arete claims lineage through the gods, too. Poseidon is cited as her great grandfather.
In Book 6 of The Odyssey, Homer gives us a brief history of Nausithous. He is said to have led his people away from the destructive power of the cyclops to Scheria.
As for Arete, the opening of this passage tells us “Arete, she is called, and earns the name”. In Greek ‘Arete’ describes a virtuous person whose moral qualities are beyond question. Someone who is ‘arete’ has also achieved their full potential in life. To be ‘arete’ requires a lifelong commitment to the qualities that this word implies. The quality of her character is more explicitly told to us in lines a little further on:
In Book 7 of The Odyssey King Alcinous tells the story of Rhadamanthys and a voyage he takes with the Phaeacian sailors to Euboea and back in one day. The king describes Euboea as a place “at the edge of the world”:
As a first thought, Alcinous’ story precedes the far more fantastical tales Odysseus will tell the Phaeacian court in books to follow. Aulis, the place where the Greek forces gathered before the Trojan expedition, is on the northern coast of Euboea, and Troy, itself, is in Asia Minor, even further east across the Aegean Sea.
The primary purpose of Alcinous’ story is to illustrate the skill of the Phaeacian sailors, who are now offered in service to Odysseus. Euboea, separated from Scheria by the Peloponnese and Attica, is obviously a substantial return trip to claim to have made in one day, especially during this era. Even now, it could take two three days to sail the distance one way. The Phaeacians are clearly favoured by the gods, as is emphasised in this book of The Odyssey by their wealth and the intimacy with which they interact with them. We are told that their ships were gifts from Poseidon (line 39 of Fagles’ translation) and they evidently possess supernatural powers.
In some legends Rhadamanthys was the son of Zeus and Europa, along with his twin brother Sarpedon, and his brother Minos. Rhadamanthys was exiled by Minos after their father, King Asterius died, because Minos feared his popularity and was jealous. Other versions of the story – the version Fagles favours in his notes – is that Rhadamanthys was the Cretan king whom Minos deposed.
Rhadamanthys was considered a man of great integrity and wisdom. These qualities made him suitable as a judge in the Underworld, where he was one of three judges. Rhadamanthys judged the souls of Easterners.
Homer first mentions him in Book 4 of The Odyssey, where he tells us that Rhadamanthys went to the Elysium Fields after his death (Fagles’ translation Book 4, line 635).
The purpose of the voyage Alcinous describes in Book 7, we are told, is to take Rhadamanthys to see Tityus, although why Rhadamanthys needed to see him, we do not know. Fagles’ describes Tityus as a “legendary sinner”. He had attempted to rape the goddess Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. For his sin, he was tortured for all eternity in Tartarus, an abyss in the Underworld, where every day an eagle would come to tear out his liver, only for it to grow back again, ready to be consumed again the next day. This is exactly like the better-known account of Prometheus, the titan who was condemned to the same fate for defying the gods by giving fire to mankind.
This painting by Swedish painter August Malmström captures the moment Odysseus kneels and clutches Arete’s knee in supplication. He pleads, “grant me a rapid convoy home”, and stares into her eyes, trying to hold her attention. The response from Alcinous and Arete, along with the other Phaeacians, appears cold and suspicious. This is in contrast to the reception of hospitality and warmth we may remember. But before the old Lord Echeneus stands to demand Odysseus be given hospitality, we are told, “all the rest stayed hushed, stock-still.” That is, the people of Alcinous’ court react in just the way Malmström has portrayed it.
Arete, with her hand raised to her chin, appears to be listening to Odysseus, but her left arm, folded beneath her breast, indicates reserve or defensiveness. Alcinous looks on, stern and implacable. In the background we see members of the court whispering or looking sideways at Odysseus with attitudes of suspicion, too. Nausicaa on the far right of the picture’s edge, is most interesting. She has contrived the meeting for Odysseus, but her response mirrors that of everyone else. She turns her body away from Odysseus, and she looks at him from the corners of her eyes. She almost looks fearful. The young child crouching behind Arete may be frightened, but it is also possible the child is just playing.
Homer goes to some lengths to portray the Phaeacians as wealthy and enlightened. Malmström suggests this wealth with the imposing column that bisects the painting, as well as the fine clothes worn by the subjects, the drapery at the left of the painting and the well-wrought tripod at the bottom right corner, which also signifies the Phaeacian’s piety and close relationship with the gods.