PHAEACIAN MANNERS

BY

G. J. DE VRIES

Many interpreters of Homer and commentators on his poems describe Odysseus' stay in Scheria in idyllic terms: almost at the end of his labours, the hero finds a provisional rest amidst kind people. G. P. Rose was not the first one to defend a different view 1) ; he is, however, the most outspoken, and his reaction is extreme. He argues that Odysseus in Scheria finds himself amidst an unkind and unfriendly people whom he mistrusts, and that it costs him a hard struggle to make himself accepted 2). In view of these interpretations it may be useful to reexamine the relevant passages in the Odyssey with special attention to Phaeacian behaviour. Nausikaa addresses her father in a frank and confidential way (( 57-65 ) . In his answer v. 67 deserves attention: Alkinoos is not al- ways very perceptive; here, however, he is shown as an understand- ing parent bears on the preceding verse). Nausikaa's first reaction to Odysseus' masterly display of diplo- macy (149-185) seems to be rather reserved: no more than (187) is the form of address used. Yet she shows that she is flattered. The "disturbed syntax" of her first lines does not indicate an "inner trepidation" (Stanford ad loc.). She finds Odysseus neither x.iXx.6ç nor acpPwv: no wonder after the compliments she has heard from his mouth. But suddenly she realizes his pitiful state, and her sub- conscious argument is: a man who is in such a miserable condition must have deserved it. It is pity which then makes her mention divine dispensation (Ss at 188 is adversative), thereby showing "a

1) The Unfriendly Phaeacians, TAPA 100 (1969), 387-406. 2) This argument has influenced I. M. Hohendahl-Zoetelief, Omgangs- vormen in het Homerische epos (Ph. D. thesis Utrecht 1975; typescript; an English edition is forthcoming). 114 diplomatic or friendly attitude to the sufferer" (Stanford on « 348). It should be noticed that, whatever apprehension Odysseus may have felt at his first encounter with an unknown people, 101 ff. may at least serve to put him more at ease. Even if Nausikaa's authority may go no further than this point, he may be sure that an appeal to common humanity 193) for first aid will not be rejected. Nausikaa's next words (zgg ff.) show the full confidence of the Phaeacian people: what can happen to us? 204 ff. mean: few visitors come hither, to the outskirts of the world; here, however, is one. Rose's comment on these verses runs: "Even under the best of circumstances this would tend to inspire nervousness in Odysseus, for the whole poem demonstrates that friendly relations with for- eigners were a valued and expected feature of civilized Achaean society"; this, in my opinion, is a tendentious interpretation. In 235 ff. Nausikaa reveals her feelings; these cause the slight confusion which characterizes some passages in her next speech (255 ff.). In the immediate sequel there occurs one of the passages on which Rose puts a very far-fetched interpretation; he finds in it a "con- nection among Poseidon, the boats, and Phaeacian hostility". In 270 ff. Nausikaa says that the Phaeacians do not care for bow and quiver, and "inasmuch as these instruments of war and hunting are integral to the sort of life Odysseus knows, their rejection might portend a society strange to the hero of the Trojan War". They do care for ships, and "the very fact that the boats possess magical abilities 3) places them, in this respect at least, into the class of several of Odysseus' previous encounters in the world of witches and sea-monsters". These abilities are a gift of Poseidon (q 35) who, moreover, is the king's grandfather and the queen's great-grand- father 56 ff.). Finally the Phaeacians are associated with the Cyclopes and the Giants 5 ff., 7159, 206). Now the last point must not be stressed too much. In 1) 506 the

3) Introducing these abilities into the context of Nausikaa's speech in ζ is an error in interpretation. At present neither Odysseus nor the listener/- reader is supposed to know about them. They are mentioned at θ 557 ff.; by then not the slightest distrust can have remained in Odysseus.