Odyssey 7.172 · Book 7, lines 172–176
Water, bread, and the shining vessels
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χέρνιβα δʼ ἀμφίπολος προχόῳ ἐπέχευε φέρουσα καλῇ χρυσείῃ ὑπὲρ ἀργυρέοιο λέβητος, νίψασθαι· παρὰ δὲ ξεστὴν ἐτάνυσσε τράπεζαν. σῖτον δʼ αἰδοίη ταμίη παρέθηκε φέρουσα, εἴδατα πόλλʼ ἐπιθεῖσα, χαριζομένη παρεόντων.
And a handmaid, bearing water, poured it from a pitcher, a beautiful golden one, over a silver basin, for washing; and beside him she drew a polished table. And the grave housekeeper, bringing bread, set it before him, laying on many dishes, generous with her stores.
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The setting
Odysseus has been raised from the hearth and seated in honour; now the household serves him.
A note on this passage
The type-scene of the meal unfolds in its fixed order. A handmaid pours water from a golden pitcher over a silver basin so the guest may wash his hands, then draws a polished table to his side; the grave housekeeper brings bread and sets out many dishes, freely, from the stores at hand. Every gesture is the ordinary machinery of welcome.
Homer lingers on the silver and the gold, the beauty of the vessels, because in Phaeacia abundance is the keynote. This is a fairy-tale household where the cupboards never empty and the plate is precious. The very smoothness of the scene tells the reader that Odysseus has come, at last, to a place that will do him no harm.
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