Odyssey 10.371 · Book 10, lines 371–374
The bread set out — but I would not eat
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σῖτον δʼ αἰδοίη ταμίη παρέθηκε φέρουσα, εἴδατα πόλλʼ ἐπιθεῖσα, χαριζομένη παρεόντων. ἐσθέμεναι δʼ ἐκέλευεν· ἐμῷ δʼ οὐχ ἥνδανε θυμῷ, ἀλλʼ ἥμην ἀλλοφρονέων, κακὰ δʼ ὄσσετο θυμός.
And the honored housekeeper brought bread and set it by me, adding many dishes, giving freely of her store. She bade me to eat; but it did not please my heart, but I sat with my mind elsewhere, and my heart foreboded evil.
Word by word
The setting
The meal is served. But Odysseus's companions are still swine in Circe's sties, and he cannot forget it even at a laden table.
A note on this passage
The honored housekeeper sets out bread and many dishes, giving freely, and bids Odysseus eat. But his heart takes no pleasure in it; he sits with his mind elsewhere, and his spirit forebodes evil.
The long build-up of the feast breaks here on one refusal. The word θυμός, heart or spirit, turns twice: the food does not please his θυμός, and his θυμός senses ill to come. The seat of appetite is also the seat of dread, and in Odysseus the dread wins. He will not feast while his men are penned.
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