This satellite photograph shows the island of Delos in the highlighted area. Less than 1 1/2 square miles of granite, the island has a population today of under 20, mostly archeologists of the French School of Athens. Despite its small size, Delos lies near the geographical center of the Aegean Sea, and is surrounded by many islands which dot the sea between the Greek mainland and the west coast of Asia Minor.
Since the nineteenth century the remains of temples, marketplaces, theaters, ports, statuary, etc., have been excavated shedding considerable light on Delos' role in Greek history and in the history of relations between Greece and Rome. A 42-foot wide Sacred Way leading from the port suggests that, however small and remote, Delos was once a magnificent center for the worship of Apollo. Even as early as Homer's Odyssey the island was already a renowned religious center.
The shipwrecked Odysseus has just pulled himself from the sea onto the shore of an unfamiliar land. In his exhausted condition the first human he casts eyes on is Princess Nausikaa, the beautiful daughter of Alkinoos, the local king and a generous host. Odysseus is torn between clasping her knees--a custom showing ones submissiveness--and standing back and addressing her more formally. He chooses to speak:
Odyssey, 6.160-69 (Lattimore translation)
Odysseus has hardly a clue where he is in the Greek-speaking world. Why would he refer to something that occurred on Delos? To what qualities of the princess does Odysseus appeal by mentioning this experience?