ODYSSEY 6
So Odysseus slept, the godlike survivor
Overwhelmed with fatigue.
But the goddess Athena
Went off to the land of the Phaeacians,
A people who had once lived in Hypereia,
| Near to the Cyclopes, a race of savages | 5 |
Great Nausithous led his people
Off to Schería, a remote island,
Where he walled off a city, built houses
| And shrines, and parceled out fields. | 10 |
Alcinous ruled, wise in the gods' ways.
Owl-eyed Athena now came to his house
To devise a passage home for Odysseus.
| She entered a richly decorated bedroom | 15 |
Nausicaa, daughter of noble Alcinous.
Two maids, blessed with the beauty of Graces,
Slept on either side of the closed, polished doors.
| Athena rushed in like a breath of wind, | 20 |
In the guise of her friend, the daughter
Of the famed mariner Dymas. Assuming
This girl's form, the owl-eyed goddess spoke:
| "Nausicaa, how could your mother have raised | 25 |
Are lying here soiled, and your wedding is near!
-85-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Odyssey.
Contributors: Homer - Author, Stanley Lombardo - Translator.
Publisher: Hackett Publishing.
Place of publication: Indianapolis.
Publication year: 2000.
Page number: 85.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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