The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Wanderings

Ὀδυσσείας ζ

Book 6. Odysseus and Nausicaa at the River

Nausicaa, the king's daughter, comes to the river to wash clothes and finds a stranger. She gives him a cloak and tells him the way to the palace.

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  1. 1

    So there he slept, much-enduring noble Odysseus,

    Metre

    ὣςso, thusὡς · adverbadverbial to καθεῦδε
    ὁheὁ · nominative singular masculine pronounmodifies Ὀδυσσεὺς

    epic ὁ used as personal pronoun 'he', not the article — common Homeric usage

    μὲνon the one handμέν · particlesentence particle
    ἔνθαthereἔνθα · adverbadverbial to καθεῦδε
    καθεῦδεsleptκαθεύδω · imperfect active indicative, 3rd singular verbmain verb
    πολύτλαςmuch-enduringπολύτλας · nominative singular masculine nounmodifies Ὀδυσσεὺς

    fixed epithet for Odysseus, 'much-enduring' — recurs formulaically across the poem

    δῖοςnoble, godlikeδῖος · nominative singular masculine adjectivemodifies Ὀδυσσεὺς
    ὈδυσσεὺςOdysseusὈδυσσεύς · nominative singular masculine nounsubject of καθεῦδε
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    worn out by sleep and weariness; but Athena

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    went to the land and city of the Phaeacian men,

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    who once long ago dwelt in spacious Hypereia,

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    near the Cyclopes, those overbearing men,

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    who used to plunder them, being mightier in force.

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    From there godlike Nausithous moved them and led them away,

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    and settled them in Scheria, far from men who toil for bread,

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    and ran a wall around the city, and built houses,

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    and made temples of the gods, and apportioned the fields.

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    But by now he, struck down by fate, had gone to Hades,

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    and Alcinous then ruled, knowing counsels from the gods.

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    To his house went the goddess, gray-eyed Athena,

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    devising the homecoming of great-hearted Odysseus.

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    She went into the richly wrought bedchamber, where a girl

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    was sleeping, like the immortals in form and looks,

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    Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous,

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    and beside her two handmaids, with beauty from the Graces,

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    one on each side of the doorposts; and the shining doors were shut.

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    Like a breath of wind she rushed to the girl's bed,

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    and stood above her head, and spoke a word to her,

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    in the likeness of the daughter of Dymas, famed for ships,

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    who was her own age and dear to her heart.

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    Likened to her, gray-eyed Athena addressed her:

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    "Nausicaa, why did your mother bear you so careless?

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    Your shining clothes lie there uncared for,

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    yet your marriage is near, when you yourself must wear fine things

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    and provide them for those who will lead you in the procession.

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    For from such things a good report rises among people,

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    and your father and honored mother rejoice.

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    But come, let us go washing at the showing of dawn;

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    and I will follow along as your fellow worker, so that as quickly as possible

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    you may get ready, since you will not stay a maiden much longer;

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    for already the noblest throughout the land are courting you,

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    of all the Phaeacians, where your own people are too.

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    So come, urge your glorious father at break of dawn

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    to make ready the mules and wagon, which can carry

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    the sashes and robes and shining coverlets.

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    And for you yourself it is far better this way than on foot

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    to go; for the washing-places are far from the city."

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    So speaking, gray-eyed Athena went away

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    to Olympus, where they say the seat of the gods stands secure

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    forever. It is not shaken by winds, nor ever

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    drenched by rain, nor does snow come near it, but a wholly cloudless

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    clear sky spreads above, and white radiance runs over it;

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    there the blessed gods take their delight all their days.

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    There the gray-eyed one went, when she had instructed the girl.

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    At once came Dawn on her fair throne, and woke her,

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    Nausicaa in her fair robe; and at once she marveled at the dream,

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    and went through the house to bring the news to her parents,

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    her dear father and mother; and she found them within.

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    Her mother sat by the hearth with her serving women,

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    spinning sea-purple yarn; and her father, at the door

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    as he was going out, she met, on his way to the famous kings

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    in council, where the noble Phaeacians were calling him.

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    Standing very close, she spoke to her dear father:

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    "Papa dear, won't you make ready for me a wagon,

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    high and with good wheels, so I may take the fine clothes

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    to the river to wash, the ones lying here all soiled?

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    And for you yourself it is fitting, being among the foremost,

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    to take counsel in council wearing clean clothes on your body.

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    And five dear sons have been born to you in your halls,

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    two of them married, but three lusty bachelors;

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    and they always want to have freshly washed clothes

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    to go to the dance; and all this is on my mind."

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    So she spoke; for she was ashamed to name her own ripe marriage

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    to her dear father. But he understood it all and answered:

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    "I do not begrudge you the mules, my child, nor anything else.

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    Go; the servants will make ready for you a wagon,

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    high and with good wheels, fitted with an upper rack."

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    So speaking he called to the servants, and they obeyed.

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    They made ready outdoors the well-wheeled mule wagon,

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    and led the mules up and yoked them under the wagon;

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    and the girl brought out from her room the bright clothing.

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    And she laid it down on the polished wagon,

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    while her mother put in a chest food to the heart's content,

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    all kinds, and put in relishes too, and poured wine

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    into a goatskin; and the girl climbed onto the wagon.

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    And she gave her, in a golden flask, smooth olive oil,

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    so she might anoint herself after bathing with her serving women.

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    And she took the whip and the shining reins,

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    and lashed them to go; and there was a clatter of the mules.

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    Tirelessly they strained, and carried the clothes and the girl,

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    not alone: along with her went the other handmaids too.

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    And when they came to the lovely stream of the river,

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    where indeed the washing-places ran full year-round, and much clear water

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    gushed up from below, enough to clean even the dirtiest clothes,

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    there they unhitched the mules from the wagon,

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    and drove them along the eddying river

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    to graze the honey-sweet grass; and from the wagon

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    they took the clothes in their hands and carried them into the dark water,

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    and trod them in the pits, swiftly, vying with one another.

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    Then, when they had washed and cleansed all the dirt away,

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    they spread them in a row along the shore of the sea, where most of all

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    the sea kept washing the pebbles clean against the land.

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    And when they had bathed and anointed themselves richly with oil,

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    they then took their meal beside the banks of the river,

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    and waited for the clothes to dry in the gleam of the sun.

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    Then, when they had their fill of food, both the maids and she herself,

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    they began to play at ball, throwing off their headscarves;

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    and among them white-armed Nausicaa led the singing.

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    As Artemis the archer goes over the mountains,

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    either along towering Taygetus or Erymanthus,

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    delighting in boars and swift deer;

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    and along with her the nymphs, daughters of Zeus who bears the aegis,

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    the field-dwellers, play, and Leto rejoices in her heart;

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    above all of them she holds her head and brow,

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    and is easily known, though all are beautiful;

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    so did the unwed maiden stand out among her handmaids.

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    But when she was about to head back home again,

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    having yoked the mules and folded up the fine clothes,

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    then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, thought of something else,

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    how Odysseus might wake and see the fair-faced girl,

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    who would guide him to the city of the Phaeacian men.

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    Then the princess threw the ball toward a handmaid,

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    but missed the handmaid and cast it into a deep eddy;

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    and they cried out aloud. Then noble Odysseus awoke,

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    and sitting up he pondered in his mind and heart:

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    "Alas, to whose land of mortals have I come this time?

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    Are they violent and savage, with no sense of justice,

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    or kind to strangers, with a god-fearing mind?

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    How a girlish cry of young women rang around me,

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    of nymphs, who hold the steep peaks of the mountains

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    and the springs of rivers and the grassy meadows.

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    Or am I somewhere near to people who have human speech?

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    But come, let me make trial myself and see."

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    So speaking, noble Odysseus crept out from under the bushes,

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    and from the thick wood he broke off a branch with his stout hand,

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    a leafy one, to screen the man's private parts about his body.

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    He went forth like a mountain-bred lion trusting in his strength,

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    who goes on rained upon and blown by wind, and within him his two eyes

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    blaze; and he goes after the cattle or the sheep

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    or after the wild deer; and his belly bids him

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    to go even into the close-built fold to try for the flocks.

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    So was Odysseus about to come among the fair-haired girls,

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    naked as he was, for need had come upon him.

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    He appeared terrifying to them, fouled with brine,

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    and they fled in fear, one here, one there, along the jutting spits of sand.

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    Only the daughter of Alcinous stayed, for in her Athena

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    set courage in her heart and took the fear from her limbs.

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    She stood and faced him, holding her ground. And Odysseus debated,

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    whether he should clasp the fair-faced girl's knees and beg,

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    or rather, standing apart, with gentle words

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    should beg her to show him the town and give him clothes.

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    And as he pondered, this seemed to him the better course:

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    to beg with gentle words while standing apart,

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    lest, if he grasped her knees, the girl be angered in her heart.

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    At once he spoke a gentle and shrewd word:

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    "I beg you by your knees, my lady. Are you some goddess, or a mortal?

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    If you are some goddess, of those who hold the wide heaven,

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    then to Artemis, the daughter of great Zeus,

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    in beauty and stature and form I liken you most closely.

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    But if you are one of the mortals who dwell upon the earth,

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    thrice blessed are your father and your honored mother,

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    and thrice blessed your brothers. Surely their hearts

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    are always warmed with gladness for your sake,

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    as they watch such a blossom entering the dance.

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    But happiest of all in his heart, beyond the others,

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    is the man who, weighing you down with bridal gifts, leads you home.

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    For never yet have I seen with my eyes such a mortal,

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    neither man nor woman. Awe holds me as I look at you.

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    Once on Delos, beside the altar of Apollo,

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    I saw such a thing: a young shoot of a palm tree springing up.

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    For I went there too, and a great host followed me,

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    on that journey which was to bring me grievous troubles.

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    And just as, seeing that, I marveled in my heart

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    a long while, since no such shaft had ever risen from the earth,

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    so at you, lady, I wonder and am amazed, and I dread terribly

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    to clasp your knees; but harsh grief has come upon me.

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    Yesterday, on the twentieth day, I escaped the wine-dark sea;

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    for until then the waves and the swift storm-winds bore me ever on

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    from the island of Ogygia. Now a god has cast me down here,

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    so that here too I may suffer some evil; for I do not think

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    it will end, but the gods will yet bring much to pass before that.

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    But, my lady, take pity. For after suffering many evils

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    it is to you first that I have come, and of the others I know not one

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    of the people who hold this city and this land.

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    Show me the town, and give me a rag to throw around me,

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    if you had some wrapper for the linen when you came here.

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    And may the gods grant you all that your heart desires:

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    a husband and a home, and may they grant you oneness of mind,

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    a noble harmony; for there is nothing stronger or better than this:

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    when, of one mind in their thoughts, a man and woman keep

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    their household — many sorrows to their foes,

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    but joys to their friends; and they themselves know it best."

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    Then white-armed Nausicaa answered him in turn:

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    "Stranger, since you seem neither a base nor a senseless man —

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    Olympian Zeus himself apportions fortune to mortals,

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    to good and bad alike, to each as he wills;

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    and to you, no doubt, he gave this lot, and you must endure it all the same.

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    But now, since you have come to our city and our land,

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    you shall lack neither clothing nor anything else

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    that befits a sore-tried suppliant when he comes to meet us.

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    I will show you the town, and tell you the name of the people.

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    The Phaeacians hold this city and this land,

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    and I am the daughter of great-hearted Alcinous,

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    on whom the might and power of the Phaeacians depend."

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    She spoke, and gave command to her fair-haired handmaids:

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    "Stop for me, handmaids. Where are you fleeing at the sight of a man?

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    Surely you do not think this is some enemy man?

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    There is no living mortal, nor will there ever be born,

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    who would come to the land of the Phaeacian men

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    bringing war; for we are very dear to the immortals.

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    We dwell far off in the wave-washed sea,

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    at the world's edge, and no other mortals have dealings with us.

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    But this is some unlucky wanderer who has come here,

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    whom we must now care for; for from Zeus come all

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    strangers and beggars, and a gift, though small, is welcome.

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    But give the stranger, handmaids, food and drink,

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    and wash him in the river, where there is shelter from the wind."

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    So she spoke, and they halted and called to one another,

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    and they sat Odysseus down in the shelter, as had bidden

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    Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous;

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    and beside him they laid clothing, a cloak and a tunic,

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    and they gave him liquid oil in a golden flask,

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    and bade him bathe in the streams of the river.

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    Then indeed noble Odysseus spoke among the handmaids:

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    "Handmaids, stand off there at a distance, so that I myself

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    may wash the brine from my shoulders, and around me with oil

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    anoint myself; for it is long since oil has touched my skin.

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    But I will not bathe in front of you, for I am ashamed

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    to stand naked, having come among girls with lovely hair.

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    So he spoke, and they withdrew apart and told the girl.

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    But noble Odysseus washed his skin in the river,

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    the brine that clung about his back and broad shoulders,

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    and from his head he scrubbed the scum of the barren sea.

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    But when he had washed all over and anointed himself richly with oil,

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    and put on the clothes that the unwed girl had given him,

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    then Athena, sprung from Zeus, made him

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    taller to look upon and sturdier, and from his head

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    she made his curling hair fall down, like the hyacinth flower.

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    As when a man overlays silver with gold,

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    a skilled man, whom Hephaestus and Pallas Athena have taught

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    every kind of craft, and he brings graceful works to completion —

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    so she poured grace over his head and shoulders.

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    Then he went off and sat down apart on the shore of the sea,

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    gleaming with beauty and grace; and the girl gazed at him.

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    Then she spoke to her maids with their lovely hair:

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    "Listen to me, white-armed maids, while I say something.

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    Not against the will of all the gods who hold Olympus

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    does this man come among the godlike Phaeacians;

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    for before, he seemed to me unseemly to look at,

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    but now he is like the gods who hold the wide heaven.

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    Would that a husband such as this might be called mine,

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    dwelling here, and that it might please him to stay in this place.

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    But come, my maids, give the stranger food and drink."

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    So she spoke, and they listened well to her and obeyed,

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    and they set food and drink beside Odysseus.

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    Then much-enduring noble Odysseus drank and ate

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    ravenously; for he had long gone without tasting food.

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    But white-armed Nausicaa thought of another thing.

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    She folded the clothes and laid them on the fine wagon,

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    yoked the strong-hooved mules, and climbed up herself,

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    and she urged Odysseus on, and spoke a word and called to him:

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    "Rise up now, stranger, to go to the town, so that I may escort you

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    to the house of my wise father, where I tell you

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    you will come to know all the noblest of the Phaeacians.

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    But do exactly thus — and you seem to me not lacking in sense:

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    as long as we are passing through the fields and the works of men,

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    for so long, with the maids, behind the mules and the wagon,

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    walk briskly; and I will lead the way.

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    But when we are about to set foot in the city, round which a wall runs —

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    a high one, and there is a fine harbor on either side of the city,

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    and the entrance is narrow; the curved ships along the road

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    are drawn up; for there is a berth for each and every one.

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    There too is their meeting-place, around the fine temple of Poseidon,

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    fitted together with quarried stones set deep in the ground.

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    There they tend to the gear of the black ships,

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    the cables and the ropes, and they shape the oars smooth.

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    For the Phaeacians care nothing for the bow or the quiver,

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    but for masts and the oars of ships and the balanced vessels,

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    in which, rejoicing, they cross the gray sea.

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    Their bitter talk I shun, lest someone afterward

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    should mock me; for there are very insolent men among the people.

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    And some baser man, meeting us, might say this:

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    'Who is this, following Nausicaa — handsome and tall,

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    this stranger? Where did she find him? He will surely be her husband.

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    Perhaps she has taken in some wanderer from his ship,

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    a man from far-off lands — since there are no near neighbors;

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    or some much-prayed-for god has come at her prayer,

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    descending from heaven, and will keep her all her days.

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    Better so, if she herself has gone out and found a husband

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    elsewhere; for she scorns the people of her own land,

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    the Phaeacians, the many noble men who court her.'

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    So they will say, and these would become reproaches against me.

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    And I myself would blame another girl who did such things,

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    who, against the will of her dear father and mother, while they live,

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    consorted with men before coming to open marriage.

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    But, stranger, mark my word quickly, so that as soon as possible

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    you may win escort and your return home from my father.

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    You will find a glorious grove of Athena near the road,

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    of poplars; in it a spring flows, and around it a meadow.

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    There is my father's sacred plot and his flourishing orchard,

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    as far from the city as a man's shout will carry.

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    Sit down there and wait a while, until we

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    reach the town and come to my father's house.

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    But when you judge that we have arrived at the house,

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    then go into the city of the Phaeacians and ask

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    for the house of my father, great-hearted Alcinous.

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    It is easy to recognize, and even a child could lead you there,

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    a small one; for the houses of the Phaeacians are built

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    in no way like it, such is the house of Alcinous

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    the hero. But when the house and courtyard enclose you,

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    pass very quickly through the hall, until you reach

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    my mother; she sits at the hearth in the light of the fire,

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    spinning sea-purple yarn, a wonder to behold,

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    leaning against a pillar; and her maids sit behind her.

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    There too my father's throne leans close beside her,

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    on which he sits and drinks his wine like an immortal.

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    Pass him by, and around my mother's knees throw

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    your arms, so that you may see your day of homecoming

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    with joy and swiftly, even if you come from very far away.

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    If she is kindly disposed toward you in her heart,

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    then there is hope for you to see your loved ones and to reach

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    your well-built home and your native land."

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    So having spoken, she struck the mules with the gleaming whip,

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    and they quickly left the streams of the river.

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    They trotted well and stepped out well with their feet;

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    and she drove with care, so that those on foot might keep up —

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    the maids and Odysseus — and she laid on the lash with judgment.

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    The sun went down, and they came to the famous grove,

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    the sacred one of Athena, where noble Odysseus sat down.

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    At once then he prayed to the daughter of great Zeus:

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    "Hear me, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, unwearied one;

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    now at least hear me, since before you never heard me

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    as I was being broken, when the famous Earth-shaker wrecked me.

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    Grant that I come to the Phaeacians welcomed and pitied."

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    So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athena heard him.

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    But she did not yet appear to him face to face; for she stood in awe

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    of her father's brother; and he raged furiously

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    against godlike Odysseus, until he should reach his own land.

The particulars

The text
Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Wanderings.
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Public-domain Greek (Homer, ancient; text via the Perseus Digital Library). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.