Odyssey 10.446 · Book 10, lines 446–450
Circe bathes the men
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ὣς φάμενοι παρὰ νηὸς ἀνήιον ἠδὲ θαλάσσης. οὐδὲ μὲν Εὐρύλοχος κοίλῃ παρὰ νηὶ λέλειπτο· ἀλλʼ ἕπετʼ· ἔδεισεν γὰρ ἐμὴν ἔκπαγλον ἐνιπήν. τόφρα δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ἑτάρους ἐν δώμασι Κίρκη ἐνδυκέως λοῦσέν τε καὶ ἔχρισεν λίπʼ ἐλαίῳ,
So saying, they went up from beside the ship and the sea. Nor indeed was Eurylochus left behind at the hollow ship, but he followed; for he feared my terrible rebuke. Meanwhile in her halls, Circe carefully bathed the other comrades and anointed them with rich oil,
Word by word
The setting
The crew set out from the shore for Circe's house. Eurylochus, left at the ship, fears Odysseus's anger and comes along. Inside, Circe has begun to tend the men she had earlier transformed and then restored.
A note on this passage
The company go up from the ship and the sea toward the house. Even Eurylochus is not left behind: fear of his captain's terrible rebuke pulls him after them. Meanwhile, in her halls, Circe washes the rescued men with care and rubs them with rich oil.
Two kinds of power meet in these lines. Eurylochus yields not to reason but to dread of Odysseus. And Circe, the menace of the last scene, now plays the flawless host, bathing and anointing the very men she had penned as swine. Her welcome is as total as her spell was.
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