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This article discusses the Greek mythological character Nausicaa. For the anime film, see Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. See Nausicaa (disambiguation) for other usages.

Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre

In ancient Greek literature, Nausicaa (often rendered Nausicaä; Greek: Ναυσικάα^[1]), burner of ships, a daughter of King Alcinous (Alkínoös) of the Phaeacians and Queen Arete, appears in Homer's Odyssey (Odysseía). The maiden Nausicaa dreams that Athena tells her to do her laundry. While doing this, she finds the shipwrecked Odysseus on the shore of Scheria (modern Corfu) and brings him to her mother. Homer gives a literary account of love never expressed: while she is presented as a potential love interest to Odysseus – she says to her friend that she would like her husband to be like him, and her father tells Odysseus he would let Odysseus marry her – nothing really results between the pair. Nausicaa is also a mother figure for Odysseus; she ensures Odysseus' return home, and thus says "Never forget me, for I gave you life," indicating her status as a "new mother" in Odysseus' rebirth.^[2]

Nausicaa, Frederic Leighton c.1878

A substantial portion of the Odyssey consists of Odysseus recounting his adventures to Alcinous and his guests. Alcinous then generously provides Odysseus with the ships that finally bring him home to Ithaca.

Nausicaa is young and very pretty; Odysseus says that she resembles a goddess, particularly Artemis. Nausicaa is known to have several brothers.

According to Aristotle and Dictys of Crete, Telemachus, son of Odysseus, married Nausicaa and had a son named Perseptolis or Ptoliporthus.

1. ^ Homeri Odyssea, book 6, line 17, Georg Olms Verlag 1991, ISBN 3-487-09458-4
2. ^ Powell, Barry B. Classical Myth. Second ed. With new translations of ancient texts by Herbert M. Howe. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998, p. 581.

Portions of this material originated as excerpts from the public-domain 1848 edition of Lemprière's Dictionary by John Lemprière.

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