Odyssey 8.433 · Book 8, lines 433–437
Heating the bath
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ὣς ἔφατʼ, Ἀρήτη δὲ μετὰ δμῳῇσιν ἔειπεν ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν ὅττι τάχιστα. αἱ δὲ λοετροχόον τρίποδʼ ἵστασαν ἐν πυρὶ κηλέῳ, ἔν δʼ ἄρʼ ὕδωρ ἔχεαν, ὑπὸ δὲ ξύλα δαῖον ἑλοῦσαι. γάστρην μὲν τρίποδος πῦρ ἄμφεπε, θέρμετο δʼ ὕδωρ·
So he spoke, and Arete gave word to her handmaids to set a great tripod over the fire as quick as could be. And they set the bath-water tripod on the blazing fire, and poured water into it, and taking up logs kindled them beneath. The fire played about the belly of the tripod, and the water grew warm.
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The setting
Alcinous has asked his queen Arete to heat water for the stranger's bath. She passes the order to her maids.
A note on this passage
Arete relays the command and the maids set to work: they stand the great cauldron on the fire, pour in water, take up logs and kindle them beneath, and the flames play around the vessel's belly until the water heats.
It is a type-scene of plain domestic labor, told with patient exactness. Homer lingers on the mechanics — the wood, the belly of the pot, the warming water — because the poem's grandeur rests on such quiet competence. The marvelous convoy that will carry Odysseus home is being prepared, and it begins with women heating a bath.
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