Odyssey 7.295 · Book 7, lines 295–297
'This is the truth'
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ἥ μοι σῖτον ἔδωκεν ἅλις ἠδʼ αἴθοπα οἶνον καὶ λοῦσʼ ἐν ποταμῷ καί μοι τάδε εἵματʼ ἔδωκε. ταῦτά τοι ἀχνύμενός περ ἀληθείην κατέλεξα.
She gave me food in plenty and sparkling wine, and bathed me in the river, and gave me these clothes. These things, grieving though I am, I have recounted to you truthfully.
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The setting
Odysseus ends his account. He lists Nausicaa's gifts — food, wine, a bath, the clothes he wears — and closes by insisting, for all his grief, that he has told the whole truth.
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Nausicaa's kindness, itemised: food in plenty, sparkling wine, a wash in the river, and the very clothes he now wears. Then Odysseus closes his account — this, grieving though he is, he has recounted to them truthfully.
The closing word carries weight. Odysseus, the great teller of false tales, ends by insisting this one is ἀλήθεια, the truth, nothing hidden. He has in fact shaded it — taking the blame for arriving alone, saying nothing of his name — yet the claim of truthfulness is his bid for trust. And the clothes on his back are the proof the queen will recognise a few lines on.
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Odyssey 7.295 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/7.295/