Document Type
Pre-Print
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
It is a commonplace among Homeric scholars that Scheria is a gateway between worlds. In what follows I shift focus to the role the Phaeacians play in facilitating Odysseus’s passage home, beyond doing so literally. My basic claim is that Odysseus is reintegrated into a functioning human society on Scheria before reestablishing his domestic relationships on Ithaca. He there establishes xenia, or guest-friendship, with the royal household, an institution that throughout the poem epitomizes civilized values. In this, Nausicaa plays a central role, and she too stands at the threshold of changing identities, from virgin princess to an adult wife and mother.
Repository Citation
Cook, Erwin F., "Book 6: Odysseus Meets the Maiden" (2024). Classical Studies Faculty Research. 138.
https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/class_faculty/138
Comments
Book review of A Critical Guide to Homer’s Odyssey. J. Christensen ed.