Odyssey 1.203 · Book 1, lines 203–205
He will find a way home
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οὔ τοι ἔτι δηρόν γε φίλης ἀπὸ πατρίδος αἴης ἔσσεται, οὐδʼ εἴ πέρ τε σιδήρεα δέσματʼ ἔχῃσιν· φράσσεται ὥς κε νέηται, ἐπεὶ πολυμήχανός ἐστιν.
Not for long now will he be from his dear fatherland's soil, not even if iron bonds should hold him; he will contrive how he may return, since he is a man of many devices.
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The setting
The prophecy itself: Odysseus will not stay long from his homeland, not even if iron chains held him — he is too resourceful. The claim rests on his defining epithet, πολυμήχανος, the man of many devices.
A note on this passage
The prophecy lands on character rather than fate. Odysseus will come home, Athena says, and the guarantee is not the will of heaven but the man himself: even iron chains could not hold him, because he will think his way out. The future turns on a single word.
That word is πολυμήχανος — "of many devices," the epithet that defines Odysseus against every other hero. Achilles is the best fighter; Odysseus is the one who finds the way. Here the formula does exact work: the promise of return is underwritten by his cunning, the same μῆτις that will build the raft, blind the Cyclops, and string the bow. The poem is telling Telemachus who his father is by naming what he can do.
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