Odyssey 8.438 · Book 8, lines 438–442
Arete packs the gifts
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τόφρα δʼ ἄρʼ Ἀρήτη ξείνῳ περικαλλέα χηλὸν ἐξέφερεν θαλάμοιο, τίθει δʼ ἐνὶ κάλλιμα δῶρα, ἐσθῆτα χρυσόν τε, τά οἱ Φαίηκες ἔδωκαν· ἐν δʼ αὐτὴ φᾶρος θῆκεν καλόν τε χιτῶνα, καί μιν φωνήσασʼ ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
Meanwhile Arete brought out from the chamber the beautiful chest for the stranger, and laid within it the fair gifts, clothing and gold, which the Phaeacians had given to him; and she herself placed in it a cloak and a fair tunic, and raising her voice she addressed him in winged words:
Word by word
The setting
While the bath-water heats, Arete readies the chest of parting gifts for the stranger.
A note on this passage
While the water warms, Arete brings the beautiful chest out from the store-room and lays the gifts inside — the clothing and gold the Phaeacians gave — then adds a cloak and a fine tunic with her own hands, and turns to speak to the guest.
The queen packs the treasure herself, and the winged-words formula (ἔπεα πτερόεντα) marks the turn from doing to saying, her practical care about to become practical advice. In this house it is the woman who manages the wealth and attends to the stranger — a glimpse of why Odysseus was told, on arriving, to appeal to Arete first.
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