Hiding the Treasure

34So spoke the goddess, and dispersed the mist,
And all the scene appeared. Odysseus saw
Well pleased, rejoicing in his own dear land,
And, stooping, kissed the bountiful earth, and raised
His hands, and thus addressed the nymphs in prayer: —

35“Nymphs, Naiads, born to Zeus, I did not hope
To be with you again. With cheerful prayers
I now salute you. We shall bring you soon
Our offerings, as of yore, if graciously
Zeus’ daughter, huntress-queen, shall grant me yet
To live, and bless my well-beloved son.”

36And then the goddess, blue-eyed Athena, said:
“Be of good cheer, and let no anxious thought
Disturb your mind. Let us bestir ourselves
To hide away the treasures you have brought
Within this hallowed grot in some recess
Where they may lie in safety; afterward
Will we take counsel what should next be done.”

37The goddess said these words, and took her way
Into the shadowy cavern, spying out
Its hiding-places; while Odysseus brought
The treasures thither in his arms —the gold,
The enduring brass, the raiment nobly wrought —
Which the Phaeacians gave him. These they laid
Together in due order; Athena then,
The daughter of the Aegis-bearer Zeus,
Closed up the opening with a massive rock.
Then, sitting by the sacred olive-tree,
They plotted to destroy the haughty crew
Of suitors, and the blue-eyed Athena said: —