Odysseus Transformed

20Such words were said, but they who uttered them
Knew little what had passed. Eurynome,
The matron of the palace, meantime took
Magnanimous Odysseus to the bath
In his own dwelling, smoothed his limbs with oil,
And threw a gorgeous mantle over him
And tunic. Athena on the hero’s head
Shed grace and majesty; she made him seem
Taller and statelier, made his locks flow down
In curls like blossoms of the hyacinth,
As when a workman skilled in many arts,
And taught by Athena in her craft, twines
A golden border round the silver mass,
A glorious work; so did the goddess shed
Grace over his face and form. So from the bath
He stepped, like one of the immortals, took
The seat from which he rose, right opposite
Penelope, and thus addressed the queen: —

21“Lady, the dwellers of the Olympian heights
Have given you an impenetrable heart
Beyond all other women. Sure I am
No other wife could bring herself to bear
Such distance from a husband just returned
After long hardships, in the twentieth year
Of absence, to his native land and her.
Come, nurse, prepare a bed, where by myself
I may lie down; an iron heart is hers.”

22To this the sage Penelope replied:
“Nay, sir, it is not through pride or disregard,
Or through excess of wonder, that I act
Thus toward you. Well do I remember you
As you were in the day when your good ship
Bore you from Ithaca. Bestir yourself,
Dame Eurycleia, and make up with care
A bed without the chamber, which he framed
With his own hands; bear out the massive bed,
And lay upon it seemly coverings,
Fleeces and mantles for his nightly rest.”