Nausicaa returned to her father’s mansion and went to his room where her old nurse Eurymedusa lit the fire.
Odysseus (Ulysses) arrived in the city, hidden by a cloud which Athena had covered him with. The goddess then took on the appearance of a Phaeacian child and crossed his path. As the hero asked her for direction, she offered to accompany him. She told him that Poseidon allowed the ships of her people to be as fast as thought to be “the smugglers of the great abyss.”
Then she explained the parentage of Queen Arete, niece of Nausithous:
Poseidon had married Periboea “the most beautiful woman”, daughter of Eurymedon. He was the king of the presumptuous giants and caused the downfall of his people as well as his own.
From their union was born Nausithous, who in turn had two children, Alcinous and Rhexenor. The latter just married was killed by Apollo, but he left a daughter, Arete, whom his brother married. Arete was loved by all, more honoured by her husband than any woman, and her goodness calmed down the quarrels.
Nausicaa had told Odysseus (Ulysses) that only the benevolence of her mother Arete would allow him to return to his home. Upon his arrival at the palace, the hero was amazed by the light that fell from above, like a ray of sun or moon. At each gate of the wall, two immortal dogs, ageless, gold and silver coloured, made by Hephaestus, watched over the king’s house. Golden ephebes held torches. Of the fifty servants of the palace, some at the millstone crushed the golden wheat and the others were engaged in weaving. The Phaeacians were unsurpassed in this art because Athena had granted them a righteous heart and skilled hands. Orchards full of pear, pomegranate, apple, fig and olive trees, as well as a vineyard and vegetable garden, produced fruits and vegetables all year-round.
Still hidden by a cloud, Odysseus (Ulysses) entered the great hall and saw the kings of Phaeacia drinking in honour of Hermes. Then he passed in front of King Alcinous and threw himself directly at the knees of Queen Arete, who spun on her distaff the beautiful dyed sea purple wool.
Then the cloud dissipated. The hero begged the congregation to bring him back to the land of his fathers and then sat in the ashes of the hearth.
Echeneus, the oldest of the Phaeacians, who knew so much of the past, begged Alcinous to offer a seat to their guest.
The king gave him the seat of his son, whom he loved the most. Then he acceded to Odysseus (Ulysses)’ request and decided to host a big party the next day, before his boatmen would bring him back to safety in his country.
As Odysseus (Ulysses) had not yet revealed his identity, he suggested that he might be an immortal sent by the gods for some new purpose, as they used to do in the past. The gods often shared their tables or passed them on the road for the Phaeacians were close to them, as were the Cyclops and the Wild Giants. But Odysseus (Ulysses) told him he was not an immortal, asked for food because he could not escape his human nature, and urged his guests to prepare his departure at dawn.
All went to bed except Alcinous, Arete and Odysseus (Ulysses). The queen questioned with winged words the hero, having recognized the clothes woven by his wives.
Odysseus (Ulysses) told her the end of his adventures since his stay with Calypso.
As Alcinous regretted that it was not his daughter who brought him to his palace, Odysseus (Ulysses) assured him that he wanted it that way.
So the king, telling him that he would have liked to make him his son-in-law, decided his return for the next day. His boatmen would take him as far as he would like, even beyond the Euboea that his people located at the end of the seas. Alcinous also warned him that he would be asleep during the journey.
Odysseus (Ulysses) prayed to Zeus so that Alcinous’ words would come true for the greater glory of the latter, and then he went to sleep in a bed prepared for him with purple sheets.
“What continues the path with fire” and “the pure act” have long been prepared by a yoga “that takes care of everything, that neglects nothing”, that is, that puts consciousness in everything (Nausicaa with white arms had Eurymedusa as a nurse).
The master of yoga, an expression of the superconscious, makes it easy to establish contact with “what allows the passage”, offering for the last time his help in view of the realization of supramental Unity (Athena wrapped Odysseus (Ulysses) in a cloud because the Phaeacians did not welcome foreigners). By pure intuition, therefore undistorted, the seeker is informed that he is close to the “great abyss” that marks the boundary between the Overmind and the Supramental, a passage into another reality. Its crossing, still controlled by subconscious powers, is only allowed to those who can let the light pass through them without opposing any obstacle, without making any shadow (a little girl guides Odysseus (Ulysses) and tells him that Poseidon conceded “the great abyss” to the smugglers of her people). It is confirmed that the means of passage are no longer a matter of the mind and operate instantly (Phaeacian boats are “faster than wing or thought”).
The parentage of Arete indicated by Homer can be understood as the evolution over the ages of human access to the supramental “Power” which is that of transformation. We give our understanding below, with all reservations.
Eurymedon “a vast power” was the king of the Giants, associated to “the power of action” as were other primordial giants, the Hundred Arms (the Hecatoncheires) that characterized “divine omnipotence.” Th