Arete

Arete represents queenly dignity and the quiet authority wielded by women within ancient household structures. As wife to Alcinous and mother to the Phaeacian princes and princess, she occupies a position of significant influence, though her power operates primarily within the domestic sphere rather than in open governance. Her characteristic pose—spinning purple wool by firelight while leaning back against a bearing-post, attended by her maids—suggests both the traditionality of her role and her contentment in fulfilling it with grace and skill.

Her importance is such that Nausicaa considers her the crucial figure in securing assistance for Odysseus (Ulysses), instructing him to approach her directly and lay his hands upon her knees as a suppliant. This suggests that while Alcinous holds formal kingship, Arete exercises considerable practical authority over matters of hospitality and the household's decisions. She is a woman of judgment and authority, not merely decorative but genuinely central to the functioning of her court and the welfare of those who come within her household's protection.