Search results
Analysis. As Odysseus sleeps, Athena flies to a Phaeacian city where the princess Nausicaa, daughter of the king Alcinous, lies sleeping. Disguised as a girl the princess's age, Athena scolds her for the poor condition of her clothes, and suggests that they go to the shore to wash them. In the morning, the king gives her a wagon and a team of ...
- Summary: Book 5
- Summary: Book 6
- Analysis: Books 5–6
All the gods except Poseidon gather again on Mount Olympus to discuss Odysseus’s fate. Athena’s speech in support of the hero prevails on Zeus to intervene. Hermes, messenger of the gods, is sent to Calypso’s island to tell her that Odysseus must at last be allowed to leave so he can return home. In reply, Calypso delivers an impassioned indictment...
That night, Athena appears in a dream to the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa, disguised as her friend. She encourages the young princess to go to the river the next day to wash her clothes so that she will appear more fetching to the many men courting her. The next morning, Nausicaa goes to the river, and while she and her handmaidens are naked, playin...
Our first encounter with Odysseus confirms what we have already learned about him from Menelaus’s and Helen’s accounts of his feats during the Trojan War and what Homer’s audience would already have known: that Odysseus is very cunning and deliberative. The poet takes pains to show him weighing every decision: whether to try landing against the roc...
People also ask
What happens in Book 7 & 8 of Odysseus?
What happens in Book 9 of Odysseus?
What is in SparkNotes the Odyssey study guide?
Free summary and analysis of Book 6 in Homer's The Odyssey that won't make you snore. We promise.
The morning after Odysseus’ rugged landing, Athena (disguised as a friend) sends their daughter, Nausicaa, and some of her handmaidens to wash clothes near the spot where the beleaguered hero has collapsed. Nausicaa is a classic nubile beauty and seems somewhat attracted to the wayfaring stranger. She tells him how to find the palace and ...
Books 6-7. Course Hero’s video study guide provides in-depth summary and analysis of Books 6-7 of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. The Odyssey | Books 6–7 | Summary. Share. Summary. Book 6. Athena schemes to introduce Odysseus to the daughter of the Phaeacian king Alcinous, Nausicaa.
Book 6 begins with Athena entering the city of the Phaiakians and finding Nausikaa, the beautiful daughter of Alkinoos. She speaks to Nausikaa, as though she is in a dream, and convinces her to wash her clothes and prepare as she would for her wedding.
One by one the suitors fail to shoot the arrow until Odysseus takes up the bow and accomplishes the feat. The suitors realize Odysseus’s true identity and a blood bath promptly ensues. Before fumigating the house, Telemachus decides to hang the traitors and has Melanthius tortured and killed. Read a full Summary & Analysis of Books 21 & 22.
