When Nausicaa returned to the palace, her brothers came out to meet her, they unharnessed the mules from the cart and brought a basket of clothes into the palace. Nausicaa went to her chambers; there her nanny-slave Eurymedusa prepared a rich dinner for her.
Odysseus, after waiting a little at the city gates, went into the city. The goddess Athena surrounded him with a dark cloud and made him invisible, so that none of the Phaeacians would offend the hero. At the gates of the city, the goddess Pallas Athena herself appeared to him under the guise of a Phaeacian maiden, and when Odysseus turned to her with a request to show him the palace of Alcinous, Athena agreed to accompany him, advising him not to ask questions to those he met, since the Phaeacians, according to her, were not hospitable. Odysseus followed the goddess silently. He was surprised by the wealth of the city, the pier with a number of ships, the vast city square and the impregnable walls of the city. Finally, they came to the palace of Alcinous. Leaving Odysseus, the goddess once again, like Nausicaä, advised him to appeal first of all to Queen Arete. Having given these pieces of advice, Athena left.
If Odysseus was struck by the wealth of the city, then he was even more amazed by the wealth of the palace of Alcinous. The palace was all made of shiny copper. The walls at the top were decorated with iron. A door cast from pure gold led to the palace, the lintels were made of silver, and the threshold was copper. At the door stood two living immortal dogs, forged by the god Hephaestus himself, one golden, the other silver. Odysseus entered the palace. There he saw richly decorated benches on the walls, covered with precious bedspreads. On stands stood statues of young men cast in gold with torches in their hands. Diven was the palace of Alcinous. But most wonderful of all was the garden located at the palace. All kinds of fruits were always ripening in it, both in winter and in summer. Warm Zephyr fanned the garden. There was also a vineyard there that produced ripe grapes all year round. A bright spring gurgled in the garden, while another spring bubbled at the very threshold of the palace. Odysseus marveled at everything for a long time; Finally, he entered the banquet hall; Alcinous, Aretas and the noblest Phaeacians sat there. They offered a libation to the god Hermes with fragrant wine. Covered in a cloud, Odysseus approached Arete and fell at her feet. At that moment, Athena dispersed the cloud, and everyone saw the great hero. Everyone was amazed. Odysseus loudly begged the queen to help him, the unfortunate wanderer. Having expressed his plea, Odysseus walked away and, as if asking for protection, sat down on the ashes by the hearth. On the advice of one of the Phaeacians, the oldest of them all, Alcinous took Odysseus by the hand and sat him down next to him. The servants served Odysseus food and wine, and all those present poured a libation in honor of the protector of wanderers, the thunderer Zeus. Alcinous invited all those gathered to his place the next day to honor the stranger with a rich feast, since Alcinous thought that one of the gods had visited him in the guise of a mortal. But Odysseus dissuaded Alcinous. He told the king how many troubles he had suffered during his journey from the island of the nymph Calypso, and also told how Princess Nausicaä, whom he met on the seashore, helped him. Alcinous listened to Odysseus with great attention and, amazed by his wisdom, exclaimed:
- Oh, bright gods of Olympus! If you had given Nausicaä a husband like this stranger, I would have given him great wealth as a dowry! But we will not keep you, stranger, against your will on our island. We will take you home. The Phaeacians do not fear any journey by sea, no matter how far it may be!
But it was too late, the feast was over. Queen Arete ordered a bed to be prepared for Odysseus, and he soon fell into a deep sleep. The entire palace of Alcinous fell into sleep.
The next morning, Alcinous ordered all the Phaeacians to gather for a council to decide how to deliver Odysseus to his homeland. Pallas Athena herself walked around the city, calling citizens to the square under the guise of a herald. He brought Alcinous and Odysseus to the square and sat him next to him. Soon all the people gathered. The Phaeacians looked at the hero with surprise. Pallas Athena endowed him with inexpressible beauty and grandeur. King Alkinou turned to those gathered and told them:
- Listen, citizens! A stranger has arrived to us, he asks us to help him return to his homeland. We have never refused to help strangers. Let's equip the ship and take our guest home. I invite everyone who sets sail to my feast, and I also invite all the elders. In my palace we will honor the stranger with a rich feast. Let the singer Demodocus be invited to the feast, so that he can entertain the guests with his wondrous singing.
Alcinous said so. Immediately fifty-two oarsmen went to prepare the ship for sailing. Nevertheless, the elders followed Alcinous to his palace. The king's servants prepared a rich feast, slaughtering two bulls, twelve sheep and eight pigs. The servant Alcinous brought the blind singer Demodocus to the feast. The guests sat down at the table and a merry feast began. When everyone had had their fill, Demodocus took his cithara, which hung on a nail above his head, struck the ringing strings and sang about how two great heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, argued during a solemn feast. Odysseus heard this song, sad memories washed over him, tears rolled from his eyes. So that the Phaeacians would not see his tears, he covered his head with a purple robe. Demodok finished this song. Odysseus wiped away his tears and, taking a golden goblet in his hands, made a libation in honor of the immortal gods. Demodocus sang again about the exploits of the heroes at Troy, and Odysseus cried again. No one paid attention to his tears, only King Alcinous wondered why the stranger was shedding tears, and he understood the reason for these tears.
When the guests had had their fill, Alcinous invited them all to go to the square and take part in games there. Everyone followed the king, and the hero Odysseus walked next to him. The Phaeacian youths began to compete in various exercises: fast running, wrestling, jumping, fist fighting and discus throwing. When the competition was already over, the beautiful and powerful Euryalus approached the son of King Alcinous, Laodam, who surpassed everyone in beauty, and invited him to invite the stranger who looked so powerful to participate in the competition. At first the handsome Laodam hesitated, then he approached Odysseus and kindly invited him to take part in the games. But Odysseus refused - he was depressed by sadness for his homeland. Euryalus heard Odysseus’s refusal and said with a grin:
- Wanderer! I see that you, of course, cannot be equal to the mighty young athletes. You are probably one of the merchants who, traveling around the seas, are engaged only in trade.
Odysseus frowned menacingly and answered Euryalus:
“You said an offensive word, Euryalus!” I see from you that the gods do not endow man with everything. So they endowed you with beauty, but did not give you wisdom. You insulted me with your speech, but know that I am experienced in competitions. I took part in many battles, suffered a lot of grief, experienced many dangers, I lost a lot of strength, but still I will test my strength.
Having said this, Odysseus grabbed a huge stone and threw it with his mighty hand. A stone whistled over the heads of the Phaeacians. They bent down so that the stone would not hit them, but it flew through the entire crowd and fell as far as no young man could throw a disc, although the discs were much lighter than the stone. Taking the form of a Phaeacian elder, the goddess Athena marked the place where the stone fell and said that the stone was thrown as far as no Phaeacian would throw, no matter how powerful he was. Then the delighted Odysseus exclaimed:
- Phaeacian youths! Throw the disc as far as I threw the stone! If you throw it to my stone, then I will throw another one, perhaps even further than the first. I challenge you all to a competition in fist fighting, wrestling and running. I will not fight only Laodam. I will not raise my hand against someone in whose house I am received as a guest.
King Alcinous answered Odysseus:
“Stranger, I see that only the mockery of the impudent Euryalus forced you to challenge all the participants in the games to fight, in order to show us all your great strength.” In everything, perhaps, you will surpass us, but not in fast running, since the gods gave the Phaeacians invincibility in running and also made them the first sailors in the world. We all, moreover, love singing, music, merry dancing and the luxury of feasts. Now they will call here the most skilled young men in dancing, and you will be convinced that it is not for nothing that we are proud of this art.
Alcinous ordered to bring the cithara to the singer Demodocus. The servant immediately fulfilled his command. Demodok took the cithara from the hand of the servant, struck the golden strings and sang a cheerful song. As he sang, the young men began to dance lightly. Odysseus looked at them with delight and was indescribably amazed at the beauty of their movements. When the youths’ dance was over, King Alcinous ordered all the elders to present Odysseus with a luxurious robe and a talent of gold as a gift. Euryalus, in addition, was supposed to honor Odysseus with a special gift for the insult he had caused. Euryalus immediately took off his precious sword, handed it to Odysseus and said:
- Oh, stranger! If I said a word that is offensive to you, then let the wind scatter it. Forget about him! May the gods send you a happy return to your homeland so that you can see your wife and your whole family sooner.
- May the gods protect you too, Euryalus! - Odysseus answered, “never repent that you gave me a sword, atonement for the offense inflicted on me with this gift.”
But the sun was already setting, and everyone hurried to the palace of King Alcinous. There Odysseus went to the rest provided to him by Alcinous, put all the gifts brought to him in a luxurious box sent to him by Arete, and, tying it with a rope, tied the ends with a skillful knot, which Kirk had taught him. Having dressed in magnificent clothes, Odysseus went to the banquet hall. There he met Nausicaä. The princess addressed him with words that conveyed the sadness of separation:
- Wonderful stranger! Soon you will return to your homeland, remember me there. After all, you owe your salvation to me too.
- Oh, beautiful Nausicaä! - Odysseus answered her, “if Zeus the Thunderer allows me to return safely to my homeland, then every day there, like a goddess, I will pray to you for saving me.”
Having said this, Odysseus sat down next to Alcinous, and a merry feast began. During the feast, Odysseus asked Demodocus to sing a song about a wooden horse built by the Greeks near Troy. Demodocus sang, and Odysseus again began to shed bitter tears. Seeing the stranger's tears, Alkina interrupted the singing of Demodocus and asked why the stranger sheds tears every time he hears the song about the exploits of the heroes at Troy. He asked the stranger to tell him who he was and who his father and mother were. Alkina promised to take him home, no matter who he was. He promised to fulfill his promise, although he knew that the god of the seas, Poseidon, was threatening to punish the Phaeacians for taking strangers to their homeland against his will. Poseidon threatened the Phaeacians that someday he would turn the ship that took the wanderer to his homeland into rock, and cover the city forever with a high mountain! Alcinous knew this, but still decided to deliver Odysseus to his homeland. Now Alcinous wanted to know who this stranger was who was sitting next to him; That’s why he asked Odysseus to tell him who he was and to tell about all the adventures that he had to experience.
“King Alcinous,” Odysseus answered him, “you want to know about all the disasters that I had to experience, you want to know who I am, where I come from, who my father is.” Know, I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, king of the island of Ithaca. You already know what I experienced when I left the island of the nymph Calypso. Now I will tell you about all my other adventures that befell me when I sailed from Troy. Listen!
So said Odysseus and began the story of his adventures.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru