Book 6: How Odysseus Appealed to Nausicaa, and She brought him to her father’s house
Athena is in Scheria, a Phaiacian town. She tells the King’s daughter, Nausicaa to get up
and start making stuff for her future wedding. She wakes and is excited of the dream.
Nausicaa and her ladies go and wash the clothes, bathe, and have fun. Athena wakes up
Odysessus to make him see the girl. He scares all of them except Nausicaa. They talk and
he bathes. She invites him to her home. He does not want to walk in with her to prevent
gossip so he’ll go in alone. He prays to Athena and she hears him.
Book 10: The Island of the Winds; the Land of the Midnight Sun; Circe
Odysseus gets to the Island of Aiolia. Aiolia has 12 kids, 6 boys and 6 girls who marry
each other. He stayed a month. Odysseus asked him for help before he left. Aiolia
consented and gave him a bag of wind. He also made the winds blow so no rowing was
needed. On the 10th day of sailing they saw homeland. Odysseus fell asleep and his crew
thought there were riches in the bag. So they opened it. The wind blew them away from
their homeland and back to Aiolia. They went ashore, ate, then to Aiolia’s home. Aiolia
turned him out of his house saying he was cursed. They rowed away and on the 7th day
came to the stronghold of Lamos, Laistrygonian Telepylos. They went ashore and talked
to the daughter of Laistrygonian, who showed them to her home. Laistrygonian grabbed a
man to eat for supper. Men got away and the giants threw boulders at them. Odysseus’s
ship was the only one to get away. They reached Aiaia next where Circe (terrible goddess
w/lovely hair) lived. They went ashore. On the 3rd day Odysseus went and looked upon
Circe’s home but decided to go back to his men first before going inside. A stag came in
his path. He killed it and they feasted. Next morning they split into 2 groups. One group
went to Circe’s house. It was surrounded by beasts that acted like happy dogs. Everyone
went in except Eurylochos. She gave them drugged food to forget their homeland and tap
their heads turning them into pigs. Eurylochos came back and told Odysseus. He went to
the home but was stopped by Hermes and given a charm to stop her spell. He told
Odysseus to pretend he was drugged then draw out his sword and threaten her. So he did
and she asked him to sleep with her. He made her swear to never do evil against him. She
bathed him and they sat down to eat, but he would not till his friends were okay.She
changed them back and she asked them to stay and to put their stuff in a cave. They all
feasted, bathed, and stayed for a year. When everyone was homesick Odysseus asked
Circe to help but they would have to complete a task first. She asked him to go to Hades
and get directions from Teiresias. The North wind would take them. He would have to
sacrifice animals to get the man to tell him. The crew was sad by the news but agreed to
go. Circe gave them the animals needed.
