Chapter 5: Athena asks Zeus to
free Odysseus, and Zeus agrees to restore Odysseus' wealth and punish the suitors of Penelope. Hermes,
the messenger god, travels to Calypso's island and lets her know that she must free Odysseus. Calypso
is very angry, and agrees to let Odysseus go, but without any help such as ships or provisions. Odysseus
builds a raft from trees and an axe, and Calypso helps him a bit with sails and tools. Odysseus has
good sailing for 17 days, but then Poseidon, who has been detained for some time, returns and causes
a storm, because he hates Odysseus. Odysseus is thrown off of his raft, but he is helped by a sea-goddess
named Ino, who tells him to swim to shore. He swims for two days, but eventually finds shore. Athena
helps Odysseus to safely land. He makes a bed of leaves, and quickly falls asleep.
Chapter 6: Nausika, the daughter
of the nobleman Alkinoos, finds Odysseus half-naked and asleep on the shore. Her handmaidens run away
from him, but she stays, and after he begs for hospitality, she willingly gives him food, and offers
him oil to bathe with. Nausikka then devises a plan so that Odysseus will be able to receive hospitality
from her parents and she will not be looked down on for associating with an unknown man.
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