Women, Weird and Wonderful: Nausikaä, who Enamoured both Odysseus and his Son

When the Greek hero Odysseus returns home after his odyssey of twenty years, he gives his wife an account of his adventures. But he leaves out his encounter with Nausikaä, princess of Phaiakia, who found him at the beach after a shipwreck. He had met with nymphs, witches, queens and amazons, but Nausikaä was different. She was young but wise, nice but classy, pretty but modest, and above all, sincere. He had really, really liked her, but had never acted on his feelings. Eventually, he had left her shores, which had less to do with longing for home, than with respect for this special lady. If only she had been a few years older… So he doesn’t mention her to his wife. But he does tell his son, Telemachos, about her. And in the youngster’s mind appears a picture of this girl, in the bright colours of his father’s description. Sweet, elegant, ravishing and kind, everything a man would wish his bride to be. So Telemachos sails off to Phaiakia, and instead of the father, Nausikaä ends up marrying the son. Eagerly, according to the myths.