Odyssey 10.345 · Book 10, lines 345–347
She swore the oath
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ὣς ἐφάμην, ἡ δʼ αὐτίκʼ ἀπώμνυεν, ὡς ἐκέλευον. αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ὄμοσέν τε τελεύτησέν τε τὸν ὅρκον, καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼ Κίρκης ἐπέβην περικαλλέος εὐνῆς.
So I spoke, and she at once swore, as I bid. But when she had sworn and completed the oath, then I mounted Circe's surpassingly beautiful bed.
Word by word
The setting
Circe agrees without hesitation and swears the oath Odysseus demanded. Only once the vow is spoken and complete does he accept her bed. This is Odysseus narrating his own tale to the Phaeacians.
A note on this passage
The exchange resolves quickly. Circe swears the moment he asks, the oath is completed, and only then does Odysseus go to her bed. The sequence is careful: demand, oath, and then, and not before, consent.
Homer marks the order with 'then' set hard after the completed oath — the bed comes only once the binding is done. The epithet on the bed, 'surpassingly beautiful,' briefly lets Circe be the goddess and hostess again rather than the enemy, now that the terms are safe. Danger managed, the scene can turn toward welcome.
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