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Essay / Review of the book Homer's Odyssey
In book 6, in the evening, Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, is visited by Athena in a dream and forces her to clean her dress. Once Nausiacaa wakes up, she takes her maids and a mule cart, and the maids clean her clothes in the ponds by the river. They then clean themselves up and play a game naked. Ulysses, undressed, wakes up after listening to them. Odysseus walks towards them, but his muddy and wild gaze frightens them, except Nausicaa. He asks if she is a goddess or mortal and compliments her exceptional attractiveness. Ulysses asks him for his help to give him an outfit and guide him to the city. Nausicaa is happy to agree. Odysseus washes and is given something to eat and drink. To avoid people's gossip, Nausicaa asks him to hide when they enter the city, then to then head towards the palace of Alcinous, where he will meet his mother, from whom he will have to ask for help; if she likes it, she will soon have it in the house. Odysseus proves to be a wise decision-maker and judge of character. When he frightens Nausicaa's servants with his naked and frightening look, he must decide whether to hug Nausicaa's knees in his plea, a customary gesticulation to charm her. As he regularly does, Odysseus uses words, nearly forty lines worth, to praise her attractiveness and question whether she is a deity and, more importantly: "I'm so impressed/I can't bring you to your knees" (book 6 180-181). Obviously, the real reason he doesn't do this in the first place is that in his current state "he might irritate the girl by touching her knees" (book 6 159). Here, expressions are not simply an alternative to the act, but rather a simple substitute for it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In book 7, when Odysseus waits for Nausicaa to visit his father's palace, he heads alone and meets Athena in the form of a little girl. and asks him the way to the palace. Athena leads Odysseus to the palace, covering him with fog so that no one can observe him. Odysseus enters the luxurious and lavish palace and meets the queen and king. He hugs Arete's knees and asks her to come into his house. Alcinous takes him to the restaurant where Ulysses eats. Alcinous wonders if Odysseus is a divinity; he reassures him, he is not. Arete distinguishes Odysseus's attire as his own tailoring and asks him who provided him with his clothes and who he is. He tells his story from Calypso's island to Nausicaa's help that day. Alcinous states that Nausicaa should have gone straight home with him, but Odysseus states that it was his opinion to follow her individually. Alcinous promises to help him get home. Here, once again, Odysseus applies his intelligence by taking responsibility for a plan by Nausicaa to travel individually to the palace. He so cleverly and modestly avoids the implication behind their unrelated paths - that Nausicaa, to some optimistic extent, perhaps, believed the public could consider them to be engaged - that Alcinous even gives him Nausicaa as a companion to who he has to visit. Furthermore, Odysseus intelligently chooses this period to hug Arete's knees; earlier with Nausicaa, he didn't do it so as not to scare her. He recognizes appropriate dignity and, as usual, he combines his activities with touching and principled words. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In Book 8, The Many Songs – Inside.