# The Phaeacians—Fate of the Suitors explained — Bulfinch’s Mythology

> Chapter companion for Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch.

## What happens

Ulysses, shipwrecked and naked, encounters Princess Nausicaa, who provides him with clothing and directs him to her father King Alcinoüs's palace. Guided by Minerva, he enters the splendid Phaeacian court, where he is welcomed, entertained with games and a bard's song, and reveals his identity. The Phaeacians load him with gifts and sail him to Ithaca while he sleeps. Meanwhile, Ulysses learns from Minerva of the suitors besieging his palace and plotting against his son Telemachus. Disguised as a beggar, he reunites with Telemachus and they plan vengeance.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hospitality and Its Violation

The Phaeacians exemplify proper hospitality by welcoming Ulysses, while the suitors violate it by usurping his home and courting Penelope.

### Fate and Free Will

Ulysses' return is guided by divine intervention (Minerva, Neptune) yet requires his own cunning and planning to reclaim his household.

### Jealousy and Revenge

Neptune's jealousy over Ulysses' rescue leads to the petrification of the Phaeacian ship; Ulysses and Telemachus plot revenge against the suitors.

## Character check-ins

### Ulysses

Shipwrecked and seeking aid, he is guided by Nausicaa and Minerva, welcomed by the Phaeacians, and later returns to Ithaca to plot against the suitors.

### Minerva

Appears as a young maiden to guide Ulysses, later as a shepherd to inform him of Ithaca, and helps him disguise himself as a beggar.

### Neptune

Displeased with the Phaeacians for rescuing Ulysses, he transforms their returning ship into a rock.

### Telemachus

Returns to Ithaca from his search for his father, reunites with Ulysses, and conspires with him against the suitors.

### Penelope

Mentioned as Ulysses' wife, besieged by suitors for twenty years, and informed of Telemachus's return via Eumaeus.

### Eumaeus

Faithful swineherd who receives Ulysses in disguise and is sent to inform Penelope of Telemachus's return.

## Key lines

> The poor and stranger are from Jove.

The needy and the foreigner are sent by Zeus.

_Nausicaa reminds her maidens that it is a duty to care for wanderers, as they are under divine protection._

> In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind; No helm secures their course, no pilot guides; Like man intelligent they plough the tides.

Their ships navigate autonomously, as if possessing intelligence, without need for a helm or pilot.

_Alcinoüs describes the Phaeacian ships, which Homer portrays as almost sentient, anticipating modern self-steering vessels._

## Links

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