Homer's Odyssey, Book 7

“The awesome goddess poured an enchanted mist around him, harboring kindness for Odysseus in her heart.”

Art: Odysseus before Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians, by August Malmstrom (1853)

As we begin Book 7, we’re 1/4 of the way through the Odyssey — a significant moment in great storytelling. This is where the “act break” into the second act occurs even today in screenplays. A new adventure begins as the protagonist crosses the threshold by committing to the next step in their adventure. This transition is well-marked in Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus falls asleep, buried deep in the earth under dead leaves then awakes in Book 6 to new sounds and a new day. Discovered by Nausicaa, he bathes and dons fresh, clean clothing. Here, in a new land, his first steps towards returning home to Ithaca are well underway. As Nausicaa returns to the palace, Odysseus follows close behind… but not too close behind, lest onlookers mistake him for some foreign suitor for their princess.

Athena shrouds him in mist, to protect him from strangers and meets him disguised as a girl, to guide him towards the palace. This secrecy is significant. After all, these people worship Poseidon. And, although their ancestors were once terrorized by Polyphemus, they still worship the sea god, who blesses their ships. They might not take too kindly to a man who has angered the great Poseidon himself. In fact, as we soon learn, the first king of this city-state was none other than the sea god’s son!

Notice how Queen Arete is described: noble, strong, influential and powerful. A worthy mirror to Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, who has held on to his reign in Ithaca by a thread—literally. The palace is opulent, surrounded by gardens where every fruit imaginable grows year-round. A true vision of plenty and cornucopia, like an ancient garden of Eden, a blessing bestowed by the gods, and a marked contrast to the naked, earth-covered Odysseus Nausicaa met in Book 6.

The passage that always strikes me most in this book is Odysseus’s self-identification. It’s filled with humility, rather than pride: “I’m nothing like the immortal gods. […] I’m just a mortal man.” Could it be that the great hero, full of guile and cunning, has in fact learned a lesson over these past years? It’s important to keep this in mind as he recounts his story in the books to come. It’s also remarkable that we learn how and why Odysseus was stranded for seven long years on Calypso’s island. The goddess even promised to make him immortal, like a god, but Odysseus claims that she never won his heart. In other words, when it came to choosing between immortality and his family and home in Ithaca, Odysseus didn’t hesitate. He wears his mortality like a badge of honor.