Summary Book VI

Book 6
Before the dawn of the thirty-second day (this book and the next), Athena visits Nausikaa, princess of Phaeacia, and in a dream instructs her to wash her clothing when the day breaks, lest a marriageable girl be dressed unseemly. So in the morning she goes to the river where Odysseus is asleep. With her attendant maids she tosses a ball, and the girls' screams awaken Odysseus. Naked and unkempt, he beseeches her pity in a careful, flattering speech. Persuaded, she offers clothing and oil with which to wash. Odysseus reappears, exceedingly handsome, and wins from her a description of the city (for it would be improper for her to accompany a stranger into town), with the advice to pass by Alcinous, the king, and to clasp the knees of her mother, the queen, in supplication.