Odyssey 6.36 · Book 6, lines 36–40
Rouse your father for the mule-cart
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ἀλλʼ ἄγʼ ἐπότρυνον πατέρα κλυτὸν ἠῶθι πρὸ ἡμιόνους καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐφοπλίσαι, ἥ κεν ἄγῃσι ζῶστρά τε καὶ πέπλους καὶ ῥήγεα σιγαλόεντα. καὶ δὲ σοὶ ὧδʼ αὐτῇ πολὺ κάλλιον ἠὲ πόδεσσιν ἔρχεσθαι· πολλὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ πλυνοί εἰσι πόληος.
But come, rouse your renowned father early, before dawn, to make ready the mules and a wagon which would carry the girdles and robes and glistening coverlets. And this way it is far better for you, yourself, than to go on foot; for the washing-pools lie far from the city.
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The setting
Still inside the dream, Athena (as Nausicaa's friend) gives the practical plan: get Father to ready the mule-cart for the long ride to the river washing-pools, loaded with the household's fine cloth.
A note on this passage
The practical half of the plan: wake your father before dawn, have the mule-wagon fitted, and load it with the girdles, robes and bright coverlets — and note that riding beats walking, since the washing-place lies well outside the town.
The undercurrent is a trousseau in disguise. Girdles, robes and glistening cloth are just the fine woven things a bride carries to a new house, and Athena has the girl herself dwell on her marriage-linen without ever saying the word. The homely detail — mules, cart, the distance to the river — roots the epic in real Phaeacian housekeeping.
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