Folktale Motifs of the Nausikaa Episode in The Odyssey
In Book VI of The Odyssey, the tale of princess Nausikaa exhibits the folklore motifs of struggle, lust, persuasion, marriage, determinedness, and gender roles that are historically valued in Western culture. People perceive the episode of Nausikaa and the Phaiakians in different ways. Book VI is a wonderful representation of a "fairy-tale" encounter that simply allows those who are involved to experience hope and change. In the Nausikaa episode, innocence is almost lost, persuasion becomes a method for salvation, kindness is overabundant, and genuineness to the self is of great importance. Folktales have been used throughout history to pass along customs, beliefs, and ways of life. They have influenced society's structure and development, along with metaphorically reminding and teaching people about how things were in the past and should be in the future. In Book VI of The Odyssey, Odysseus is washed onto the shore of the island of the Phaiakians, is wakened by the princess Nausikaa and her maidens, and his encounters are filled with folktale motifs. These motifs are cliché elements that constitute the Nausikaa episode, are defined in nonfictional culture, and express the themes of persuasion, eroticism, forbidden beauty, social norms, and rebirth. John Arnott MacCulloch, a Scottish author whom wrote many works on mythology and folklore, describes folktales and relates their use in culture and The Odyssey's Book VI in his article "Folk-Memory in Folk-Tales." Like MacCulloch, Michelle Zerba and Yoav Rinon both relate the Nausikaa episode to an event of courtship, but the act of persuasion is simply for Odysseus to successfully find a way to return to Ithaca. Zerba explains Odysseus's procedures in "Odyssean Charisma and the uses of Persuasion," while Rinon discusses Odysseus's needs in "The Pivotal Scene: Narration, Colonial Focalization, and Transition in Odyssey 9." Relating to the ancient culture of the Greeks, Patricia Rosenmeyer writes about mythological folklores' motifs and the underlying idea of eroticism in the Nausikaa episode in her work "Girls at Play in Early Greek Poetry." These authors provide unique and intriguing concepts about the folktale motifs that are present in Book VI of The Odyssey. In "Folk-Memory in Folk-Tales," MacCulloch writes that folktales are "transcripts of the ideas, beliefs, and customs of a forgotten time" (308), and that sometimes in folktale "daughters engage in menial tasks" (308). This folktale motif of a daughter doing labor is shown in Book VI of The Odyssey when Nausikaa asks her father if she can go to the river to wash her clothes. At the river is where Odysseus discovers Nausikaa, and he is filthy and wretched-looking from his journeys at sea. The beautiful Nausikaa's innocence is expressed as she playfully socializes with the handmaidens as her equals. When Odysseus shows himself and confronts the girls, Nausikaa is the only one to stand her ground. The fact that Nausikaa shows no fear makes her unique. This scene promotes the folktale idea of how a hero in disguise sees a woman that he wishes to court, and he becomes intrigued to do so by showing some form of respect. Odysseus is unsure of how to approach Nausikaa, and he views her as distinguished and goddess-like, even though her presence is not appropriately staged for greeting someone of the opposite sex. MacCulloch writes, "The menial, again, marries the princess, because she has not been so very far removed from him in rank at one time. In folktales, the hero has often to recognize his bride disguised among several girls, dressed alike or alike in appearance" (308). Nausikaa is unfit for any man to see her because of how she is wearing minimal clothing at the time Odysseus confronts her;
Odysseus's appearance matches Nausikaa's because of his nakedness. Also, unknown to Nausikaa, Odysseus is of royal status and has qualities that she, too, possesses. The folktale motifs of courtship, heroism, equality, and royal status are expressed as Odysseus is compared to a prince in disguise competing for a princess. Book VI's Nausikaa episode is full of folktale motifs, but those motifs do not solely pertain to the relationship between Nausikaa and Odysseus. The motifs also pertain to Odysseus's journey and development as a man. Michelle Zerba writes that the Phaiakian episode "is structured by...events that demarcate polarities essential to the dynamics of the epic as a whole and to the workings of persuasion in particular: the encounter with Nausikaa in Book 6, which provides Odysseus with access to the king and queen" (319). Characteristics of a folktale exist in Book VI to not only form the concept of a respectable encounter between Odysseus and Nausikaa, but to also guide the path of the epic hero Odysseus towards salvation after all of the journeys that he has experienced. In all of Odysseus's journeys, he has been endangered, tricked, and seduced by many women, but Nausikaa is the only mortal woman during Odysseus's journeys to present herself as innocent and respectable without any means of foolery or destruction. Like in a folktale, Nausikaa is depicting a princess that acts as an exception to all of the strangeness and evil that shapes all of the other peoples that Odysseus has encountered. Now that Odysseus is on his final journey, he must show kindness while staying true to his wishes of returning home to his wife; to accomplish his return, Odysseus uses the tactic of persuasion to gain access to Nausikaa's respect and to the leaders of the Phaiakians. Rinon writes that Odysseus's "decision to approach the ruler's daughter is based on pure necessity, on his total dependence on her for saving his life and salvaging the possibility of his homecoming. We can see here how Odysseus, whose epithet was once "the city-destroyer" has relinquished his former colonial and heroic focalization" (327). Odysseus wonders how to conduct himself in front of Nausikaa, and Zerba writes about this part of Book VI: "The deliberative mood of the internal dialogue anticipates what is to come in the Phaiakian books where the exercise of persuasion...is linked with the freedom to reveal one's character in a public realm" (320). Once Odysseus meets the queen, Arête, he lies prostrate at her feet as a means of respect. This is Odysseus's way of persuasion towards Arête, and King Alkinoos gains a respect for Odysseus through feeling a connection towards him and by becoming easily persuaded by Odysseus's words. Zerba explains this connection between Odysseus and the King through explaining that, "It is by identifying one's opinions and attitudes with another's that persuasion is effected" (321). Finally, Zerba describes Odysseus's methods of flattering Nausikaa and then persuading the king and queen as a "submission to and release from necessity"(321), because Odysseus realizes the genuine purity of the Phaiakians that in itself could turn in to a dangerous trap. Persuasion is a folktale motif that the character of Odysseus latches onto for his own salvation. The relationship between Nausikaa and Odysseus and the persuasion Odysseus uses to achieve salvation are both subjects made up of folktale motifs that create central themes in Book VI of The Odyssey, but another perspective on the Nausikaa episode stems from the Greek mythological folklore motifs that exist. In "Girls at Play in Early Greek Poetry," Rosenmeyer writes that the verses of Nausikaa and the maidens playing could "in certain poetic contexts...imply erotic play" (168). Nausikaa is "compared to Atermis as she hunts in the mountain glades" (Rosenmeyer, 168). Rosenmeyer believes that Nausikaa's playing is truly innocent and child-like, but the scene expresses Nausikaa's maturing "because Nausikaa, too embarrassed to mention the idea of marriage to her father, pretends to want to wash her family's laundry by the river" (169), and "her presence outside the home and her activities on this day reflect her growing awareness of the power of Eros" (169). Eros, the god of beauty, sexuality, and love, plays a part in molding Nausikaa's encounter with Odysseus into a learning and maturing experience. Rosenmeyer describes Nausikaa as "a girl on the cusp of maturity" (170), and says, "The innocent ballgame becomes imbued with eroticism and danger when we locate ourselves as observers in the bushes with the naked and hungry hero" (170). The folktale motif of "daddy's little girl" growing up dominates the entirety of Book VI as Nausikaa not only faces Odysseus, but also while Odysseus views her from afar and as she lingers in the background as the idea of marriage, innocence, new beginnings, and restoration. The Nausikaa episode of Book VI is a pivotal section of The Odyssey because it provides a sense of hope and comfort that can only originate from a feeling of lust and of the familiar. Odysseus recognizes Nausikaa as a woman as pure as a goddess, and uses her innocence as an advantage for him to achieve passage to his homeland while exuding flattery towards a princess who is secretly craving affection. Growth is formulated for both Nausikaa and Odysseus, and the motifs of two royals lusting after each other, a hero striving to end his struggles, and a formal princess wanting to find her sexual and unique identity in society all create the basis of Book VI of The Odyssey.
Works Cited
Macculloch, J. A. . "Folk-Memory in Folk-Tales." Taylor & Francis, Ltd.. 60.3 (1949):
307-315. Print.
Rinon, Yoav. "The Pivotal Scene: Narration, Colonial Focalization, and Transition in
Odyssey 9." John Hopkins University Press. 128.3 (2007): 327-328. Print.
Rosenmeyer, Patricia A. "Girls At Play in Early Greek Poetry." John Hopkins University
Press. 125.2 (2004): 163-178. Print
Zerba, Michelle. "Odyssean Charisma and the Uses of Persuasion." John Hopkins
