Nausicaa

The Princess Nausicaa, daughter of king Alcinous and queen Arete, who rule the Phaeacians, appears in the Odyssey throughout the sixth book and then, sporadically, in the following two. She and her companions have come from the palace to wash the family laundry. Warned in a dream by Athena of his impending marriage, Nausicaa welcomes Odysseus, who has been worn out by several days of sailing and has been washed up on the beach of Scheria after his shipwreck. Unlike her attendants, who run away from the frightening appearance of Odysseus, naked and hairy, Nausicaa welcomes him kindly, feeding him and clothing him to give him a more human appearance, and providing him with all the directions to reach the palace and receive the hospitality due to strangers. Although charmed by the young girl, Odysseus does not remain with the Phaeacians and continues his journey to Ithaca.

Although well-known, this episode from the Odyssey has not inspired much commentary in Antiquity. But, after the rediscovery of Homer in the West, the encounter between Odysseus and Nausicaa interested a growing number of artists, novelists, playwrights, and, more recently, filmmakers and comic strip and cartoon authors. Gradually, Nausicaa’s personality emerged transformed from these representations. The initial figure of a young girl solely concerned with helping Odysseus was enriched with new characteristics: a misunderstood and neglected lover of the hero, courageous and determined to forge her own destiny against patriarchal habit, an erotic figure, a pacifist personality with ecological overtones, Nausicaa has embraced all the ideas of the representation of women over time.