Atlas’s daughter Calypso had detained Odysseus for seven years before the gods finally released him, and he managed to escape from the island of Ogygia on a raft. He was then wrecked in a storm inflicted by Poseidon, and swam ashore on the island of the Phaeacians, variously named Scheria or Phaeacia. After he had hauled himself, exhausted and naked, out of a river estuary he made his way into a wood, where he fell asleep in a heap of leaves.
The following morning Nausicaä “of the beautiful robes”, daughter of Alcinous the King of the Phaeacians and his queen Arete, travelled in a mule wagon with her handmaids to wash those robes in a river. Her mother had given her a chest of food, wine in a goat-skin flask, and soft olive oil in a flask of gold for the princess and her handmaids to use after bathing themselves.
When they arrived at the washing place on the river, they unhitched the mules and let them graze, then washed the garments in the river, and spread them out on the shore to dry. They next bathed themselves, anointed their bodies with oil, and had lunch. Afterwards they played ball with one another. Just as they were about to harness the mules back up to the wagon, Nausicaä threw the ball at one of her handmaids, who failed to catch it, so it fell into deep water.
At that point Odysseus woke up, heard the sound of the women’s voices, covered himself with a leafy branch, and emerged from the wood. The handmaids scattered, but Nausicaä stayed where she was. Odysseus, still salt-crusted from his shipwreck, begged for Nausicaä’s help. She agreed to take him back with her to the palace, and told her handmaids to return and assist him. Odysseus went and washed the salt off his body, then anointed himself with oil, and dressed in clothes provided by the princess. The women gave him food and drink, which he consumed ravenously.
Once he had eaten his fill, the party took the mule wagon back to the city, where King Alcinous and the Phaeacians heard Odysseus plead his case to return home to Ithaca.
William McGregor Paxton’s Nausicaä (before 1937) picks the moment of Odysseus’ first appearance, just before the handmaids scattered in fright. Although the text doesn’t state that they were nude at this stage, when playing ball after lunch, Paxton startles us with eight females and one male nude packed into a single canvas, a feat of which even William Etty might have been proud.
Friedrich Preller the Elder’s Odysseus and Nausicaä (c 1864) is an expansive landscape which is unfortunately not available at higher resolution. The naked Odysseus is just in the process of coming out from behind a bush, towards the right. Nausicaä stands as if in a spotlight in the centre of the canvas. Her handmaids are seen still dealing with the washing (left), in alarm (behind her), or preparing the mule wagon (background). I think I can also see a coastal city in the far background.
Jean Veber’s Ulysses and Nausicaä (1888) is richly narrative despite its apparent simplicity. It follows Homer’s text faithfully, in showing the initial moment of contact between Odysseus and Nausicaä (at the right), with her handmaids scurrying off in shock. Veber also places a ball between the pair, as a further link to the text.
Lovis Corinth’s lithograph Odysseus and Nausicaä from 1918 mixes the moments of the text narrative: Odysseus is shown at the right, still naked and clearly neither bathed nor oiled. He pleads with Nausicaä in the centre, who has one handmaid with her. Behind them is the mule wagon, mules in harness, with further handmaids on board.
Salvator Rosa’s Odysseus and Nausicaä (1663-4) shows a slightly later moment in the story, where Odysseus is being given garments to cover his nakedness, although one of the handmaids still seems sufficiently shocked at his appearance that she needs to be comforted.
Michele Desubleo’s Odysseus and Nausicaä (c 1654) gives a fuller account of the text. Odysseus is shown naked, clutching the leafy branch strategically to his crotch with his left hand. His right arm is held out, apparently pleading his case to the princess, who is sat in her beautiful robes, and in the process of handing him an item of clothing.
Nausicaä holds in her left hand a wooden bat, following the apocryphal story that the ball game which they were playing was an early form of real tennis, for which the ball is towards the lower edge of the painting. Behind her is the canopy of the wagon, and there is washing drying towards the top of the canvas, and in the middle distance. There’s also a neatly folded pile at Nausicaä’s feet. The far distance shows a gentle Mediterranean coastline.
Joachim von Sandrart’s Odysseus and Nausicaä (c 1630-88) elaborates the scene of Odysseus pleading with Nausicaä. He’s naked apart from the leafy branch, on bended knee, while she is reaching for some clothes to hand to him. One of her handmaids is just about to pass him a large bowl of fruit. There are also some ornaments and puzzles, of which the most prominent is a small dog by the princess’s right foot. But behind Odysseus, lurking in the shade, is another naked male wearing a garland of flowers on his head, who doesn’t match any character from the story.
In the background is a building which may be a temple of Poseidon, the first place in the city that Odysseus visits, in order to make peace with the god for his future sea travel. And watching from the heavens is Athena, who has been intervening to try to help Odysseus.
Jacob Jordaens’ The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaä (c 1630-40) apparently connects with a tapestry cycle designed by the artist and showing the life of Odysseus. It’s a sophisticated re-casting of the original story in contemporary times, and repays careful study.
Odysseus has just emerged from the wood at the right, is naked, and crouches, his hands held together while he pleads his case with Nausicaä. Her party is substantial, with an ornate carriage of state drawn by a pair of fine horses, and what appears to be a second carriage with handmaids, behind the figure of Nausicaä complete with her beautiful robes. A total of thirteen handmaids are shown.
Pieter Lastman’s Odysseus and Nausicaä (1619) is a slightly earlier painting that may have influenced Jordaens. It too re-casts the story into more contemporary times, but preserves more references to the original. Odysseus is naked, save for his self-adhesive leafy branch, and is pleading his case with Nausicaä. She stands alone, magisterial and rather more matronly than others have depicted.
In front of Odysseus is a spread fit for a princess plus, complete with an ornate chest. Although the wagon is more rustic in construction, it’s drawn by a white horse. The handmaids on the wagon, who are loading baskets of washing onto it, show fright if not panic and terror. In the distance two more handmaids are seen carrying another basket of washing to the wagon.
Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes’ Classical Landscape – Ulysses Imploring the Assistance of Nausicaä (1790) is not only a glorious imagined landscape, but also comes close to being a complete account of the story. Odysseus, wearing only a nappy/diaper of leafy branches, has just stepped out from the trees at the right, and is pleading his case with Nausicaä, who stands in sunlight slightly to the left of centre. Behind her are two mules by a chariot-like carriage. One handmaid is still down by the estuary washing clothes, but the others are huddled in hiding below a small cliff above the beach. Further along the coast, shown at the left edge of the canvas, is a city with a prominent pharos-like tower, a reference to the Phaeacians’ sea-going skills and Odysseus’ future travels.