Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
The Phaeacians explained
Ulysses, shipwrecked and alone, is discovered by Princess Nausicaa and her maidens.
What happens
Ulysses, shipwrecked and alone, is discovered by Princess Nausicaa and her maidens. Guided by Minerva, he gains the hospitality of King Alcinoüs and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians. After participating in games and hearing the bard Demodocus sing of Troy, Ulysses reveals his identity and recounts his adventures. The Phaeacians load him with gifts and convey him safely to Ithaca, but Neptune punishes them by turning their returning ship to stone.
Themes in this chapter
Hospitality and Its Violation
The Phaeacians exemplify proper hospitality by welcoming, feeding, and gifting Ulysses, while Neptune's punishment of them highlights the violation of divine will.
Fate and Free Will
Ulysses' journey home is guided by divine intervention (Minerva) and human choice (the Phaeacians' aid), yet Neptune's wrath shows the limits of free will against fate.
Heroism and the Quest
Ulysses' perseverance through shipwreck and his display of strength in the games affirm his heroic status as he continues his quest to return to Ithaca.
Characters to notice
- Ulysses
Shipwrecked hero who seeks and receives hospitality from the Phaeacians; reveals his identity and recounts his adventures.
- Minerva
Goddess who aids Ulysses by guiding Nausicaa, shielding him with a cloud, and directing him to the palace.
- Neptune
God who punishes the Phaeacians for aiding Ulysses by transforming their ship into a rock.
- Jupiter
Referenced as the source from whom the poor and stranger come, underscoring the duty of hospitality.
- Phoebus Apollo
Inspires the bard Demodocus to sing of the Trojan War.
- Mercury
Worshipped by the Phaeacian chiefs during their evening libation.
Key passages
“The poor and stranger are from Jove.”
The poor and the stranger come from Jupiter.
Nausicaa reminds her maidens that it is a duty to care for wanderers because they are sent by the king of the gods.
“Dear to the Muse, Who yet appointed him both good and ill, Took from him sight, but gave him strains divine.”
Beloved by the Muse, who granted him both blessing and curse, taking his sight but giving him divine song.
Description of the blind bard Demodocus, who is inspired by Apollo to sing of Troy.
“In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind; No helm secures their course, no pilot guides; Like man intelligent they plough the tides, Conscious of every coast and every bay That lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray.”
In marvelous ships that move by themselves, guided by mind rather than helm or pilot; they intelligently navigate every coast and bay under the sun.
Alcinoüs describes the Phaeacian ships, which the author likens to an anticipation of steam navigation.