Odyssey 10.220 · Book 10, lines 220–223
Circe singing at the loom
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ἔσταν δʼ ἐν προθύροισι θεᾶς καλλιπλοκάμοιο, Κίρκης δʼ ἔνδον ἄκουον ἀειδούσης ὀπὶ καλῇ, ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένης μέγαν ἄμβροτον, οἷα θεάων λεπτά τε καὶ χαρίεντα καὶ ἀγλαὰ ἔργα πέλονται.
They stood in the forecourt of the fair-tressed goddess, and within they heard Circe singing in a lovely voice, as she plied the great immortal loom — such as are the fine and graceful and glorious works of goddesses.
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The setting
The scouts halt at the porch of the goddess's house. From inside comes a woman's voice, singing at a great loom.
A note on this passage
The men stop at the threshold and hear the goddess before they see her: a lovely voice, a woman singing as she walks the great loom, weaving the shining, delicate work that only goddesses make.
Weaving is the Odyssey's sign of a woman's power — Penelope at her loom, Calypso at hers — and here it is the lure. The scene is beautiful and domestic, and that is exactly its danger: song and fine cloth are the bait set before the cup. The loom is called immortal, a quiet reminder that the singer is no ordinary hostess.
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