Odyssey 6.79 · Book 6, lines 79–82
Oil, whip, and reins
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δῶκεν δὲ χρυσέῃ ἐν ληκύθῳ ὑγρὸν ἔλαιον, ἧος χυτλώσαιτο σὺν ἀμφιπόλοισι γυναιξίν. ἡ δʼ ἔλαβεν μάστιγα καὶ ἡνία σιγαλόεντα, μάστιξεν δʼ ἐλάαν· καναχὴ δʼ ἦν ἡμιόνοιιν.
She also gave soft oil in a golden flask, so she might bathe with her serving-women. Then she took the whip and the glossy reins, and lashed them, driving them on; and there was a clatter of the two mules.
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The setting
The provisioning finishes; Nausicaa takes the reins herself and sets the mule-team moving.
A note on this passage
The provisioning finishes with a golden flask of oil, for the girls to rub down with after bathing; then Nausicaa takes up whip and shining reins, cracks the lash, and the mules clatter into motion. The scene finally moves.
The reins are in her own hands. Homer gives the princess the driver's whip, not a servant — she manages the team herself down to the river. It is a small mark of the poised, capable girl the book keeps building toward the moment she will need that composure, alone before a naked stranger.
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