What is the name of the Phaeacian queen?

Arete is the queen of the Phaeacians in Homer’s Odyssey. She rules alongside her husband, King Alcinous, on the island or land of Scheria, where the shipwrecked Odysseus seeks help returning to Ithaca.

Arete is not merely a background character. Odysseus approaches her as well as Alcinous, and the Phaeacians’ willingness to help depends heavily on the royal household’s response. Nausicaa, their daughter, discovers Odysseus after Athena guides her to the shore, but she is a princess rather than the queen.

The name Arete is associated with excellence or virtue in Greek thought, although the mythological character is distinct from the philosophical concept. Athena is a goddess, not the Phaeacian queen, while Alcinous is the king and Arete’s husband. The Phaeacians eventually carry Odysseus safely back to Ithaca.