Odyssey 6.74 · Book 6, lines 74–78
Loading the linen and the food
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κούρη δʼ ἐκ θαλάμοιο φέρεν ἐσθῆτα φαεινήν. καὶ τὴν μὲν κατέθηκεν ἐυξέστῳ ἐπʼ ἀπήνῃ, μήτηρ δʼ ἐν κίστῃ ἐτίθει μενοεικέʼ ἐδωδὴν παντοίην, ἐν δʼ ὄψα τίθει, ἐν δʼ οἶνον ἔχευεν ἀσκῷ ἐν αἰγείῳ· κούρη δʼ ἐπεβήσετʼ ἀπήνης.
And the girl brought shining clothing from the chamber, and stowed it on the polished wagon; and her mother placed in a chest satisfying food of all kinds, and put in dainties, and poured wine into a goatskin bag; and the girl climbed onto the wagon.
Word by word
The setting
The wagon is loaded for the outing: the princess with the clothes, her mother with provisions.
A note on this passage
The loading, itemized with a housekeeper's care: the girl carries out the bright linen and stows it; her mother packs a chest with food of every kind, adds relishes, fills a goatskin with wine. Then Nausicaa mounts the cart.
The mother's hands are the undercurrent. She never speaks, but she provisions the trip as if for more than an afternoon's wash — a full meal, wine, the good oil still to come. A daughter's laundry errand is quietly outfitted like a small expedition, the household's love expressed as packed provisions rather than words.
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