off; then backward sweep
The refluent tides, and plunge him in the deep.
And when the polypus, from forth his cave
Torn with full force, reluctant beats the wave,
His ragged claws are stuck with stones and sands;
So the rough rock had shagg'd Ulysses' hands.
And now had perish'd, whelm'd beneath the main,
The unhappy man; e'en fate had been in vain;
But all-subduing Pallas lent her power,
And prudence saved him in the needful hour.

_Book VI._ While Ulysses is thus sleeping, Minerva, in a dream
admonishes Nausicaa, daughter of the Phaeacian king, to wash her
garments in readiness for her wedding. On awakening, the princess,
after bespeaking a chariot with mules to draw the clothes to the
washing place, departs with her maids for the shore.

The clothes washed and hung out to dry, the princess and her
attendants play ball, until their loud shrieks awaken Ulysses. Veiling
his nakedness behind leafy branches, he timidly approaches the
maidens, and addresses them from afar. Convinced he is, as he
represents, a shipwrecked man in need of aid, the princess provides
him with garments, and directs him to follow her chariot to the
confines of the city. There he is to wait until she has reached home
before presenting himself before her parents, as she does not wish his
presence with her to cause gossip in town.

_Book VII._ Having left Ulysses behind her, Nausicaa returns home,
where her chariot is unloaded; but shortly after she has retired,
Ulysses, guided by Minerva in disguise, enters the town and palace
unseen. It is only when, obeying Nausicaa's instructions, he seeks her
mother's presence and beseeches her aid, that he becomes visible to
all. King and queen gladly promise their protection to the suppliant,
who, while partaking of food, describes himself as a shipwrecked
mariner and asks to be sent home. After he has refreshed himself, the
queen, who has recognized the clothes he wears, learning how he
obtained them, delights in her daughter's charity and prudence. Then
she and her husband promise the wanderer their protection before
retiring to rest.

_Book VIII._ At daybreak the king conducts his guest to the public
square, where Minerva has summoned all the inhabitants. To this
assembly Alcinous makes known that a nameless stranger bespeaks their
aid, and proposes that after a banquet, where blind Demodocus will
entertain them with his songs, they load the suppliant with gifts and
send him home