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Nausicaa

Nausicaa was the daughter of King Alcinous of Phaeacia and Queen Arete.

Biography[]

Nausicaa was born on the Greek island of Scheria, the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete. In 1173 BC, she and her handmaidens went to the shore to wash clothes, only to find the shipwrecked Odysseus lying naked on the beach. Nausicaa gave Odysseus some laundry to wear and took him into town, where he was received as a guest by Alcinous. Odysseus recounted his adventures to Alcinous and his court, leading to Alcinous providing Odysseus with the ships that brought him back to Ithaca. Nausicaa and Odysseus had an unrequited love for each other, with Nausicaa privately hoping that Odysseus would become her husband, and Odysseus never telling his wife Penelope about Nausicaa due to his feelings for her. She later married Odysseus' son Telemachus, with whom she gave birth to a child, Perseptolis.

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