What does Poseidon turn the Phaeacian ship into after it returns Odysseus?

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Poseidon turns the Phaeacian ship into a stone after it returns Odysseus. In Book 13 of Homer's Odyssey, the Phaeacians escort Odysseus from Scheria to Ithaca, allowing him to reach home after his ten-year journey following the Trojan War. Their ships are described as extraordinarily swift and capable of finding their destinations without ordinary navigation.

Poseidon is furious because the Phaeacians have aided his enemy. Odysseus blinded Polyphemus, Poseidon's Cyclops son, and the sea god has repeatedly delayed the hero's return with storms and shipwrecks. After the ship comes back toward Scheria, Poseidon strikes it and fixes it to the seabed in the shape of a ship.

The punishment also fulfills an earlier prophecy known to the Phaeacians: one of their ships would eventually be turned to stone for carrying travelers safely across the sea. In the story, King Alcinous responds by ordering the Phaeacians to stop escorting strangers. Ancient writers and later local tradition associated the petrified ship with a rock near Corfu, which some identified with Scheria.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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