
One last day at Circe's table
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ὣς ἔφαν, αὐτὰρ ἐμοί γʼ ἐπεπείθετο θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ. ὣς τότε μὲν πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα ἥμεθα, δαινύμενοι κρέα τʼ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ·
So they spoke, but in me, at least, my proud spirit was won over. So then, indeed, the whole day long, until the sun went down, we sat, feasting on boundless meat and sweet mellow wine.
The same speech-closing formula answers the crew, and Odysseus agrees. They spend the whole of that day, until sunset, in a final feast before departure.
The formula repeats with one telling change: last time Circe's words won the men's spirit; now the crew's words win Odysseus's. He yields, and they hold one more daylong feast, the same meat and wine, until the sun sets.
Homer reuses line 466 almost exactly, swapping only who persuades whom. The repetition marks the hinge of the episode: the year of ease is ending, and the last feast is a farewell, not a beginning. The identical wine and meat now taste of departure rather than rescue.
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Odyssey 10.475 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/10.475/