Odyssey 10.398 · Book 10, lines 398–400
A longing to weep
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πᾶσιν δʼ ἱμερόεις ὑπέδυ γόος, ἀμφὶ δὲ δῶμα σμερδαλέον κονάβιζε· θεὰ δʼ ἐλέαιρε καὶ αὐτή. ἡ δέ μευ ἄγχι στᾶσα προσηύδα δῖα θεάων·
And over all a sweet longing for weeping stole over, and around the house rang terribly; and the goddess herself too took pity. She, standing near me, addressed me, bright among goddesses:
Word by word
The setting
The men are men again, restored and reunited with their captain. The relief breaks as grief: the whole hall fills with the sound of weeping, and even Circe is moved. Then she steps close to Odysseus to speak.
A note on this passage
Joy in Homer often arrives as tears. A ‘sweet longing’ for weeping takes the whole company, the hall rings with it, and even the witch who caused the whole ordeal is softened. The reunion is loud, physical, unguarded.
The telling phrase is ἱμερόεις γόος, a ‘longing’ for lament — grief felt as something the men want, a release they have been holding back. Circe's pity is the surprise: the same goddess who penned them like animals now stands among them moved, which readies the turn from enemy to host that her next words begin.
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