Odyssey 6.247 · Book 6, lines 247–250
Much-enduring Odysseus eats
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ὣς ἔφαθʼ, αἱ δʼ ἄρα τῆς μάλα μὲν κλύον ἠδʼ ἐπίθοντο, πὰρ δʼ ἄρʼ Ὀδυσσῆι ἔθεσαν βρῶσίν τε πόσιν τε. ἦ τοι ὁ πῖνε καὶ ἦσθε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς ἁρπαλέως· δηρὸν γὰρ ἐδητύος ἦεν ἄπαστος.
So she spoke, and they readily heard her and obeyed, and set beside Odysseus food and drink. Truly then he drank and ate, much-enduring godly Odysseus, ravenously; for long had he been without food.
Word by word
The setting
The maids obey their mistress and set out a meal. Odysseus, wrecked and starved after days at sea, is fed for the first time among the Phaeacians.
A note on this passage
The maids obey at once and set food and drink beside him, and Odysseus falls on it — he had gone long without eating. The type-scene of the guest fed runs its course, quickly and without ceremony.
The formula and the fact rub together. ‘Much-enduring, godly Odysseus’ is the grand name, and the same lines have him bolting his meal ‘ravenously,’ like any half-starved man. The poem does not apologize for it. The greatness and the empty stomach sit in one breath: endurance, here, looks like a man who has not eaten in a very long time.
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Odyssey 6.247 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/6.247/