Odyssey 6.285 · Book 6, lines 285–288
'I would blame such a girl myself'
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ὣς ἐρέουσιν, ἐμοὶ δέ κʼ ὀνείδεα ταῦτα γένοιτο. καὶ δʼ ἄλλῃ νεμεσῶ, ἥ τις τοιαῦτά γε ῥέζοι, ἥ τʼ ἀέκητι φίλων πατρὸς καὶ μητρὸς ἐόντων, ἀνδράσι μίσγηται, πρίν γʼ ἀμφάδιον γάμον ἐλθεῖν.
So they will talk, and to me these things would become a reproach. I too am indignant at another girl, whoever should do such things — who, against the will of her dear father and mother, while they live, consorts with men before coming to open marriage.
Word by word
The setting
Nausicaa closes the imagined gossip and turns it back on herself, judging the case as the town would. She grants the principle behind the sneer: a girl who consorts with men before an open, sanctioned marriage deserves reproach.
A note on this passage
Having voiced the town's malice, Nausicaa disarms it by agreeing with its rule. She says she too would fault a girl who went with men behind her parents' backs, before a proper public marriage. It is a graceful move: she is not defying the code, only protecting herself from a false charge under it.
The key phrase is 'open marriage' — ἀμφάδιος γάμος, marriage in the light, witnessed and sanctioned by the family. The line marks the sharp boundary a young woman lives inside: everything hangs on visibility and consent of father and mother. Nausicaa is not prudish but precise; she knows exactly which line she must be seen not to cross.
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