Mortal · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
Arete
Phaeacian queen worth winning
Observant, shrewd, decisive; notices the weaving, and settles the matter.
Nausicaä tells Odysseus that everything depends on her mother, and she is right. Arete recognizes her own weaving on the stranger's back, questions him closely, and then presses her court to send him home rich.
Bonds
- Arete mother of Nausicaä — the mother Nausicaä bids him entreat
- Arete queen of Scheria — settles disputes, wins reverence
- Arete wife of Alcinoüs — honoured as if a goddess
- Arete aids Odysseus — urges the court to be generous
Appears in
- Book VI Odysseus Discovered by Nausicaä
- Book VII Reception of Odysseus by Alcinoüs
- Book VIII Festivals in Honor of Odysseus
- Book XI Visit of Odysseus to the Land of the Dead
- Book XIII Arrival of Odysseus at Ithaca
Scenes
- Unseen Through the City — Book VII. Misted Odysseus passes harbor unnoticed
- Odysseus Supplicates Arete — Book VII. Misted Odysseus clasps Arete’s knees
- Arete’s Question — Book VII. Odysseus retells Calypso, shipwreck, Nausicaä
- Beds Are Made — Book VII. Maids ready couches, hosts retire
- Gifts Packed for the Voyage — Book VIII. Gifts packed, Nausicaä watches Odysseus
- Arete’s Praise — Book XI. Arete urges gifts for guest
- Phaeacian Counsel — Book XI. Alcinoüs grants gifts, extra night
- Departure from Scheria — Book XIII. Odysseus bids Arete farewell, sleeps