Odyssey 6.251 · Book 6, lines 251–254
Nausicaa yokes the mules and mounts
Read the full text in our reader
αὐτὰρ Ναυσικάα λευκώλενος ἄλλʼ ἐνόησεν· εἵματʼ ἄρα πτύξασα τίθει καλῆς ἐπʼ ἀπήνης, ζεῦξεν δʼ ἡμιόνους κρατερώνυχας, ἂν δʼ ἔβη αὐτή, ὤτρυνεν δʼ Ὀδυσῆα, ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·
But white-armed Nausicaa thought of another thing: folding the clothes she laid them upon the fine wagon, and yoked the mules, strong-hooved, and mounted up herself, and roused Odysseus, and spoke a word and addressed him:
Word by word
The setting
The washing is done and the stranger fed. Now Nausicaa readies the mule-cart for the drive back to the city, and turns to give Odysseus his instructions.
A note on this passage
With the washing done and the stranger fed, Nausicaa readies the journey home. In a rapid sequence she folds the clothes onto the wagon, yokes the mules, climbs aboard, and rouses Odysseus to speak to him.
The verbs come one after another, clipped and practical, and every one is hers. This is a young woman running the whole departure — cart, animals, guest — with unfussed command. The speech she is about to make will be just as managed: she has already worked out exactly how this awkward arrival is to be handled.
Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.
Open Odyssey 6.251 in the full reader
Always open passages in the reader
From the Great Library
You are reading a page of the Odyssey — the whole book is free in our interlinear reader.
The Great Library Project presses the classics in their original languages, glossed word by word — free to read, always. Browse the whole library.
Also on our shelves:
Odyssey 6.251 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/6.251/