Odysseus: Novel Summary: Chapters 5-6

Chapter 5: Athena asks Zeus to free Odysseus, and Zeus agrees to restore Odysseus' wealth and punish the suitors of Penelope. Hermes, the messenger god, travels to Calypso's island and lets her know that she must free Odysseus. Calypso is very angry, and agrees to let Odysseus go, but without any help such as ships or provisions. Odysseus builds a raft from trees and an axe, and Calypso helps him a bit with sails and tools. Odysseus has good sailing for 17 days, but then Poseidon, who has been detained for some time, returns and causes a storm, because he hates Odysseus. Odysseus is thrown off of his raft, but he is helped by a sea-goddess named Ino, who tells him to swim to shore. He swims for two days, but eventually finds shore. Athena helps Odysseus to safely land. He makes a bed of leaves, and quickly falls asleep.
Chapter 6: Nausika, the daughter of the nobleman Alkinoos, finds Odysseus half-naked and asleep on the shore. Her handmaidens run away from him, but she stays, and after he begs for hospitality, she willingly gives him food, and offers him oil to bathe with. Nausikka then devises a plan so that Odysseus will be able to receive hospitality from her parents and she will not be looked down on for associating with an unknown man.