Wherefore art thou, Kirk Douglas?
by chuckofish
“Meanwhile great Odysseus in the river scrubbed the salt crust from the flesh of his back and broad shoulders and cleaned his hair of the frothy scum dried in it from the infertile sea. When he had thoroughly washed and anointed himself smoothly and put on the clothes given him by the girl, then did Athene daughter of Zeus contrive to make him seem taller and stronger, and from his head she led down the curls of his hair in hyacinthine tendrils. As when some master craftsman (trained by Hephaestus and made wise by Palas Athene in all the resources of his art) washes his silver work with molten gold and betters it into an achievement that is a joy for ever–just so did the goddess gild his head and shoulders with nobility. Then he went far apart and sat down by the margin of the sea, radiant with graciousness and glory, so that the girl in wonder said to her well-coiffed maidens…”
Homer, The Odyssey (Book VI)
translated by T.E. Shaw (1935)
Methinks the gods and goddesses were not unlike the movie moguls of yesteryear.
dual personalities 
So true…and I like the T.E. translation, although he did turn it from poetry to prose.
I just loved the ‘contrived to make him look taller and stronger’ part, so that the poor girl doesn’t have a chance! And the well-coiffed maidens–not much has changed!
Well, you know, those ancient Greeks were always trying to look taller and stronger — hence things like helmets with large, horse-hair crests. Anything to be impressive. I guess you can’t really blame them.