Nausicaa was the goddess-like daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete, rulers of the Phaeacians. While out one day with her maids to wash her clothing, Nausicaa discovered Odysseus on the Scheria beach. He had shipwrecked onto her family’s lands and fallen asleep underneath a flourishing olive tree. The playful cries of the maids awoke him, causing him to stir from his restful slumber. Reading the situation quickly, Odysseus begged hospitality from the Princess Nausicaa. Graciously she granted the lost hero anything he needed and brought him to her father’s vast palace. Nausicaa’s role within The Odyssey exemplifies the pinnacle of female Greek virtue through her unearthly beauty, hospitality through motherly care, and unwavering purity.
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She is shown as “a match for the deathless gods in build and beauty.” Within The Odyssey, beauty defines a female character and indicates a woman's overall virtue. Through Nausicaa’s beauty, the reader gets a glimpse of her overall pristine character. Her beauty symbolizes her virtuous nature and mastery of all womanly attributes. The “white-armed” Nausicaa, unlike the other beautiful immortals Calypso and Circe, does not use her beauty to seduce Odysseus. “Endowed/ by the gods with all her beauty,” the princess enchanted Odysseus; but instead of using her beauty, she took a motherly role towards him. She worked to get him home instead of plotting to keep Odysseus, unlike the schemes of the nymph Calypso and goddess …show more content…
Her hospitality towards Odysseus, who “begged her for help,” exhibited her moral character and empathy for others. When she first encountered Odysseus, she exclaimed, “we must tend him well.” With perfect manner, she clothed him and gave him all the honors of an extinguished guest by giving Odysseus “food aplenty and shining wine/ a bath in river too.” This hospitality includes motherly qualities on the part of Nausicaa. Her warm reception coupled with her promise that Odysseus will “never lack for clothing or any other gift,” takes on a motherly tone. Everything Princess Nausicaa does for Odysseus is to nurture and aid him; to her he “owe[s] the gift of life.” This fact is not lost on Odysseus, who admits “you saved my life, dear girl.” This ideal of the mother and hospitality is unlike the role of Penelope, who is physically a mother in her own right. The care and concern Nausicaa shows Odysseus is not found in the character of Penelope, not even to her son Telemachus. Nausicaa exemplifies all the character traits of a doting mother and hospitable host, adding to her overall master of Greek
She is shown as “a match for the deathless gods in build and beauty.” Within The Odyssey, beauty defines a female character and indicates a woman's overall virtue. Through Nausicaa’s beauty, the reader gets a glimpse of her overall pristine character. Her beauty symbolizes her virtuous nature and mastery of all womanly attributes. The “white-armed” Nausicaa, unlike the other beautiful immortals Calypso and Circe, does not use her beauty to seduce Odysseus. “Endowed/ by the gods with all her beauty,” the princess enchanted Odysseus; but instead of using her beauty, she took a motherly role towards him. She worked to get him home instead of plotting to keep Odysseus, unlike the schemes of the nymph Calypso and goddess …show more content…
Her hospitality towards Odysseus, who “begged her for help,” exhibited her moral character and empathy for others. When she first encountered Odysseus, she exclaimed, “we must tend him well.” With perfect manner, she clothed him and gave him all the honors of an extinguished guest by giving Odysseus “food aplenty and shining wine/ a bath in river too.” This hospitality includes motherly qualities on the part of Nausicaa. Her warm reception coupled with her promise that Odysseus will “never lack for clothing or any other gift,” takes on a motherly tone. Everything Princess Nausicaa does for Odysseus is to nurture and aid him; to her he “owe[s] the gift of life.” This fact is not lost on Odysseus, who admits “you saved my life, dear girl.” This ideal of the mother and hospitality is unlike the role of Penelope, who is physically a mother in her own right. The care and concern Nausicaa shows Odysseus is not found in the character of Penelope, not even to her son Telemachus. Nausicaa exemplifies all the character traits of a doting mother and hospitable host, adding to her overall master of Greek