Odyssey 10.352 · Book 10, lines 352–355
They dress the hall
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τάων ἡ μὲν ἔβαλλε θρόνοις ἔνι ῥήγεα καλὰ πορφύρεα καθύπερθʼ, ὑπένερθε δὲ λῖθʼ ὑπέβαλλεν· ἡ δʼ ἑτέρη προπάροιθε θρόνων ἐτίταινε τραπέζας ἀργυρέας, ἐπὶ δέ σφι τίθει χρύσεια κάνεια·
Of these, one cast fair purple rugs over the chairs above, and underneath spread linen; and the other drew silver tables before the chairs, and on them set golden baskets.
Word by word
The setting
The nymph-servants set the room for a feast. Homer follows two of them: one drapes the chairs, the other draws up the tables and sets out baskets.
A note on this passage
The scene slows into the fixed choreography of the Homeric feast. One maid throws purple cloths over the chairs with linen beneath; another sets silver tables and golden baskets before them. Each move is exact and unhurried.
This is the type-scene of hospitality doing its familiar work, and its familiarity is the point. After the terror of the sty and the standoff over the bed, the poem returns to the ordinary grammar of welcome. Circe, so lately a threat, is now the perfect hostess — the danger has not vanished, but it has been folded into the rituals of a guest received.
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