"My dear child," answered
Eurynome, "all that you have said is true, go and tell your son about
it, but first wash yourself and anoint your face. Do not go about
with your cheeks all covered with tears; it is not right that you
should grieve so incessantly; for Telemakhos, whom you always prayed
that you might live to see with a beard, is already grown
up."
"I know, Eurynome," replied
Penelope, "that you mean well, but do not try and persuade me to wash
and to anoint myself, for heaven robbed me of all my beauty on the
day my husband sailed; nevertheless, tell Autonoe and Hippodameia
that I want them. They must be with me when I am in the room; I am
not going among the men alone; it would not be proper for me to do
so."
On this the old woman went out of
the room to bid the maids go to their mistress. In the meantime
Athena bethought her of another matter, and sent Penelope off into a
sweet slumber; so she lay down on her couch and her limbs became
heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed grace and beauty over her
that all the Achaeans might admire her. She washed her face with the
ambrosial loveliness that Aphrodite wears when she goes dancing
[khoros] with the Graces; she made her taller and of a
more commanding figure, while as for her complexion it was whiter
than sawn ivory. When Athena had done all this she went away, whereon
the maids came in from the women's room and woke Penelope with
the sound of their talking.
"What an exquisitely delicious
sleep I have been having," said she, as she passed her hands over her
face, "in spite of all my misery. I wish Artemis would let me die so
sweetly now at this very moment, that I might no longer waste in
despair for the loss of my dear husband, who possessed every kind of
good quality [aretê] and was the most
distinguished man among the Achaeans."
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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