Phaeacians

Nausicaa and her attendants washed their garments by the river and spread them along the shore to dry. After bathing and preparing food, they waited beside the water. When they had eaten, they set aside their veils and played ball, with Nausicaa leading them.

Odysseus had been cast ashore after suffering at sea. He had tried to land where the waves broke against rocks, then swam on until he found a river mouth sheltered from the wind. He came out of the water, gathered his senses, and hid in a thicket beneath leaves. There he slept through the night and into the next day. When the sun was westering, he woke and saw Nausicaa and her attendants on the beach.

Odysseus approached Nausicaa and appealed for help. He asked her to show him the way to the town and to give him something with which to cover himself. He said that she was the first person he had met in the country. Nausicaa did not flee. She answered that Zeus gives good fortune as he chooses, and that Odysseus must endure the fate allotted to him. Since he had come to the land and city of the Phaeacians after long suffering, he would have clothing and whatever else a shipwrecked suppliant required.

Nausicaa then identified herself as the daughter of King Alcinous, whose power supported the Phaeacians. She ordered her attendants to stop running, since Odysseus was no enemy. They gave him clothing and food. Nausicaa told him the name of the people and showed him the way towards their city in Scheria. Athena had earlier gone to the Phaeacian city and to Nausicaa's chamber to arrange Odysseus' return. After finding him, Nausicaa directed him towards the household of Alcinous and the help he needed.