Odyssey 4.123 · Book 4, lines 123–127
The three maids, and the basket from Egypt
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τῇ δʼ ἄρʼ ἅμʼ Ἀδρήστη κλισίην εὔτυκτον ἔθηκεν, Ἀλκίππη δὲ τάπητα φέρεν μαλακοῦ ἐρίοιο, Φυλὼ δʼ ἀργύρεον τάλαρον φέρε, τόν οἱ ἔθηκεν Ἀλκάνδρη, Πολύβοιο δάμαρ, ὃς ἔναιʼ ἐνὶ Θήβῃς Αἰγυπτίῃς, ὅθι πλεῖστα δόμοις ἐν κτήματα κεῖται·
Beside her at once Adreste set a well-made chair, Alkippe brought a rug of soft wool, and Phylo brought a silver basket, which Alkandre had given her, the wife of Polybus, who dwelt in Egyptian Thebes, where the most possessions lie stored in the houses;
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The setting
Three named handmaids furnish Helen's place: a chair, a rug, and a silver work-basket whose history the poet pauses to tell — a guest-gift out of Egyptian Thebes.
A note on this passage
Three named maids move in sequence — a chair, a rug, a silver basket — each item catalogued as it arrives. The poem slows to itemize Helen's household, and the basket's history opens a small detour to Egypt.
The provenance is not idle. Alcandre of Egyptian Thebes gave the basket, and Thebes is named as the richest of cities. Homer roots Spartan splendor in a wider world of exchange; the objects around Helen carry the memory of guest-friendship reaching all the way to the Nile.
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