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Throughout Odysseus' many adventures in his efforts to return home to Ithaca, Homer describes many various cultures that his title character meets along the way. Though many of these cultures could be identified as subcultures of the Greek world, each has unique qualities that separate it from the other cultures. Chief among these qualities is the set of values and morals that serve to define a culture's viewpoint toward life. This is no different in regards to the Phaeacian society on whose land Odysseus washes ashore after leaving Calypso's Island.
The Phaeacian value system is aligned to support the society's seafaring nature and love of the sea. As a result, the system of values rotates around the Golden Rule, "Treat others as you want others to treat you. " When Odysseus first washes ashore in Phaeacian, he is in a disheveled state, much resembling that of a beggar, and his initial encounter with Nausicca relates this through is humility before Nausicca in asking for clothing: "Here I am at your mercy, princess -... But if you " re one of the mortals... three times blest are your father, your queenly mother, " (bk 6 ln 163 - 9). However, Nausicca who understands her people's dependence on sea travel and hospitality, yet is skeptical of a man who approaches young maidens without clothing, devises a test of Odysseus' true intentions without showing disrespect.
She offers Odysseus her maids' aid in his bathing and the remainder of the olive oil. Odysseus graciously accepts her offer, however he shows further respect for Nausicca by asking the maids to turn aside as he bathes himself. "Stand where you are, girls, a good way off, ... But I won't bathe in front of you. I would be embarrassed - stark naked before young girls with beautiful braids" (bk 6 ln 241 - 6). Odysseus' partial refusal of Nausicca's offer coupled with her favorable reaction identifies Phaeacian society's value of hospitality and modesty especially before virgin maidens. Repeatedly, Nausicca find herself torn between her morals and her heart.
This is most evident as the party prepares to return to the palace. Nausicca, with the knowledge of her thoughts of marriage, at first offers Odysseus a seat on the wagon with her, but changes her mind when she realizes what impression on her people this will make when she enters the city. This debate of emotion and logic outlines the emphasis an individual's reputation has in the Phaeacian society. This again reflecting Phaeacian dependence on sea travel and commerce, for a mariner has only his reputation on which to rest the kindness of strangers (This value placed on an individual's reputation is again visible in her opening dialog with Odysseus in which she describes Phaeacian's dedication to the sea and its lord, Poseidon, and dislike of tools of Artemis, after Odysseus compares Nausicca to Artemis. Nausicca's opening does more than to identify the value the Phaeacian society places on one's reputation. It also vividly states the Phaeacian respect and piety toward the Gods and their powers.
It is because of this pious nature of Phaeacian that Nausicca begins to have favorable feelings regarding the truth of Odysseus's intentions. Odysseus, in his opening monologue, speaks of his own piety and respect for the Olympians. Coupled with her society's values of hospitality and piety and Odysseus's wayfaring at sea, Nausicca tends to view Odysseus not as mongrel, but rather as respectful man of sea whose fate is as changing as the sea. The early interactions between Odysseus and Nausicca after he washes ashore on Phaeacian, serve as insight into the values of the Phaeacian society. Nausicca's response to Odysseus's request for clothing reflects on her society's values of modesty and hospitality before strangers, a value her society depends upon of others in its seafaring ways. Furthermore, Nausicca internal debate between her heart and her mind implies the emphasis her society gives an individual's reputation, again a reflection on Phaeacian's seafaring nature.
This reflection to the seafaring nature and love of sea to the Phaeacian society is further apparent within Nausicca's opening monologue with her description of Phaeacian's respect and piety of the Gods. In each of these values, Phaeacian's seafaring nature shows its hand in the value systems development. The values of the Phaeacian society arise from the society's dependence upon the sea and through it other culture on sea, a r evolvement about the Golden Rule, "Treat others as you want others to treat you. " Bibliography: Works Cited Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Files.
New York: Penguin Books, 1996.
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Research essay sample on From The Sea Golden Rule
