A grove sacred to Athena, just outside the walls of the Phaeacian city. Nausicaa, kind but not naive, tells Odysseus to follow her wagon only as far as the grove and then stop. People will see him, freshly bathed and broad-shouldered after the river, and they will talk if he walks in beside her. Better that she go ahead. He stands in the grove and watches the wagon enter the city. The trees smell of green wood. The linen Nausicaa has given him is warm against his skin. He takes a long breath. The grove is a small breathing space between two acts: the sea throwing him at a coast, and the palace receiving him as a stranger. It is also the first place he is alone on land and clean, the first time in years his body is not in motion. He stands among Athena’s trees, and Athena will meet him on the road from there.
The Grove of Athena
A sacred grove outside the city walls. Where Odysseus waits for Nausicaa to go ahead so people will not talk.