Maybe some medical condition :)
The answer is the readers Senses. Because it helps us better imagine the settings as if we were there.
The symbolism of the new cloak in this excerpt is - the new cloak represents Odysseus's transformation from a weary traveler to the returning hero.
He spent many years on the sea, far from his family and loved ones, and he became old and tired. This new cloak is his transformation - he is a hero now, and he has come back to Ithaca to rule again.
