Role in The Odyssey
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 as a guest by Alcinous.
During his stay, Odysseus recounts his adventures to Alcinous and his court. This recounting forms a substantial portion of the Odyssey. Alcinous then generously provides Odysseus with the ships that finally bring him home to Ithaca.
Nausicaa is young and very pretty; Odysseus says that she resembled a goddess, particularly Artemis. Nausicaa is known to have several brothers. According to Aristotle and Dictys of Crete, Nausicaa later married Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, and had a son named Perseptolis or Ptoliporthus.
Homer gives a literary account of love never expressed: while she is presented as a potential love interest to Odysseus – she says to her friend that she would like her husband to be like him, and her father tells Odysseus he would let him marry her – nothing would result between the pair. Nausicaa is also a mother figure for Odysseus; she ensures Odysseus' return home, and thus says "Never forget me, for I gave you life," indicating her status as a "new mother" in Odysseus' rebirth. Interestingly, Odysseus never tells Penelope about his encounter with Nausicaa, out of all the women he met on his long journey home. Some suggest this indicates a deeper level of feeling for the girl.
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