Book VI · Journey to the City · Scene 3 of 3
Odysseus prays, Athena stays unseen
21“O you unconquerable child of Zeus
The Aegis-bearer! hearken to me now,
Since late you would not listen to my prayer,
What time the mighty shaker of the shores
Pursued and wrecked me! Grant me to receive
Pity and kindness from Phaeacia’s sons.”
22So prayed he, supplicating. Athena heard
The prayer, but came not to him openly.
Awe of her father’s brother held her back;
For he would still pursue with violent hate
Odysseus, till he reached his native land.
Homer, The Odyssey, translated by William Cullen Bryant, 1871. Public domain.