Nausicaa (Greek: Ναυσικάα/Ναυσικᾶ /nɔːˈsɪkiə/; also rendered Nausicaä, Nausikaa) is a character in Homer's Odyssey (Odýsseia). She is the daughter of King Alcinous (Alkínoös) and Queen Arete of Phaeacia. Her name, in Greek, means "excelling in ships".
In Book Six of the Odyssey, Odysseus is shipwrecked on the coast of the island of Scheria. Nausicaa and her handmaidens go to the sea-shore to wash clothes. Odysseus emerges, after being awoken by t...
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Nausicaa (Greek: Ναυσικάα/Ναυσικᾶ /nɔːˈsɪkiə/; also rendered Nausicaä, Nausikaa) is a character in Homer's Odyssey (Odýsseia). She is the daughter of King Alcinous (Alkínoös) and Queen Arete of Phaeacia. Her name, in Greek, means "excelling in ships".
In Book Six of the Odyssey, Odysseus is shipwrecked on the coast of the island of Scheria. Nausicaa and her handmaidens go to the sea-shore to wash clothes. Odysseus emerges, after being awoken by their games, from the forest completely naked, scaring the servants away, and begs Nausicaa for aid. Nausicaa gives Odysseus some of the laundry to wear, and takes him to the edge of the town. Realizing that Odysseus being seen with her might cause rumors, she and the servants go ahead into town. But first she advises Odysseus to go directly to Alcinous' house and make his case to Nausicaa's mother, Arete. Arete is known as wiser even than Alcinous, and Alcinous trusts her judgments. Odysseus approaches Arete, wins her approval, and is received...
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