Book 6: The Princess at the River

Odysseus
As I said before, I am delighted and utterly relieved to be safe on dry land. I thought I was surely going to die in that horrible storm. This morning I was awoken by lovely girls dancing by the river. When I emerged from the bushes, all but one ran because my appearance was so frightening. The other stood tall, waiting for me to address her. I greatly admired her aura and sense of power; I could not touch her knees so rather spoke extra gently in hope of winning her kindness. I soon learned she was Nausikaa, the daughter of Prince Alkínoös. Her maids gave me olive oil and offered to help me bathe but I refused, telling them I would much prefer to wash myself. Nausikaa gave me directions to the palace but decided we should arrive there at different times as not to attract unwanted attention. I was also given specific instructions to greet her mother first because my getting home, apparently, depends on whether or not her mother likes me.
I find it interesting how Nausikaa didn’t want to walk into town with me, for fear that people might gossip and she may be brought to shame. Again the question of honor appears; is it really dishonorable to walk with a man before you are married? All the rules of our culture say ‘yes’ but does it make sense? An unmarried man can walk with a woman, can’t he? Our rules are extremely biased towards men, and who made the rules of what is acceptable or not in the first place? Men. I think of my dear wife and how she is just as clever and worthy as any man, it saddens me greatly to think that she has such different restraints regarding honor. It is horrible the way they are thought of and how different their rights are! And the worst part is that this has been so drilled into me my whole life that it is very hard for me to even admit the wrong in it.

http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/ancientchix/

‘If only children could be got some other way without the female sex! If women didn’t exist, human life would be rid of all its miseries’.