Odyssey 10.375 · Book 10, lines 375–377
Circe sees the untouched meal
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Κίρκη δʼ ὡς ἐνόησεν ἔμʼ ἥμενον οὐδʼ ἐπὶ σίτῳ χεῖρας ἰάλλοντα, κρατερὸν δέ με πένθος ἔχοντα, ἄγχι παρισταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
But Circe, when she saw me sitting there, not laying my hands on the food, but held fast by strong grief, came and stood near, and spoke winged words:
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The setting
Odysseus sits at the feast without touching it, weighed down by grief for his men. Circe, the goddess and enchantress hosting him, notices.
A note on this passage
Circe notices at once: her guest sits without reaching for the food, gripped by heavy grief. She comes and stands close and speaks winged words to him. The narrator marks the exact moment her attention turns.
The detail that his hands do not move to the food makes the refusal legible as a message. In this world, not eating a host's meal is a charged act, close to an accusation. Circe reads it correctly and answers it, and the whole exchange to come grows out of a plate left untouched.
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