Odyssey 3.425 · Book 3, lines 425–429
The goldsmith, and the feast made ready
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εἷς δʼ αὖ χρυσοχόον Λαέρκεα δεῦρο κελέσθω ἐλθεῖν, ὄφρα βοὸς χρυσὸν κέρασιν περιχεύῃ. οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι μένετʼ αὐτοῦ ἀολλέες, εἴπατε δʼ εἴσω δμῳῇσιν κατὰ δώματʼ ἀγακλυτὰ δαῖτα πένεσθαι, ἕδρας τε ξύλα τʼ ἀμφὶ καὶ ἀγλαὸν οἰσέμεν ὕδωρ.
And another, in turn, bid the goldsmith Laerkes come here, to overlay the ox's horns with gold. The rest of you remain here together, and tell the maids within, through the glorious halls, to prepare a feast, seats and wood about, and to bring shining water.
Word by word
The setting
Nestor's commands continue: a man is to summon Laerkes the goldsmith to gild the heifer's horns, while the rest of the company stays put and the household's maids ready the sacrificial feast.
A note on this passage
Nestor finishes parcelling out the tasks. One man is to fetch the goldsmith Laerkes to sheathe the horns; the others hold their places; the maids are set to laying out the feast — seats, firewood, the clean water for the rite. Every hand in the house is given its job.
The gold is the telling detail. The horns are to be overlaid not for any use but for a look: an ordinary farm beast is being dressed as an offering fit for a god's eye. The command already reaches toward the line a few verses on — that Athena 'might rejoice, beholding it.' Piety here is partly display, and the whole warm machinery of hospitality is bent to please an unseen guest.
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