Odyssey 1.44 · Book 1, lines 44–47
Grey-eyed Athena takes up the case
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τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
Athena — ὦ πάτερ ἡμέτερε Κρονίδη, ὕπατε κρειόντων, καὶ λίην κεῖνός γε ἐοικότι κεῖται ὀλέθρῳ· ὡς ἀπόλοιτο καὶ ἄλλος, ὅτις τοιαῦτά γε ῥέζοι·
Then answered him thereupon the goddess, grey-eyed Athena: O father of ours, son of Cronos, highest of rulers — most assuredly that one lies laid low in a fitting doom; so may perish any other likewise, whoever does such things.
Word by word
The setting
Zeus has finished. Now Athena — the poem's grey-eyed goddess and Odysseus's champion — answers. She begins with a formal address to her father Zeus and a quick endorsement of his judgment on Aegisthus, before turning to her real concern.
A note on this passage
The reply formula turns the council over to Athena, and she opens by granting Zeus his point completely: yes, Aegisthus got exactly the death he had earned, and may every man who does the like die the same way. It sounds like agreement.
It is really a setup. Athena concedes the Aegisthus case in three quick lines precisely so she can pivot to the man she actually came to speak for — Odysseus, whose name is the next word out of her mouth. Her epithet is working too: γλαυκῶπις, the grey-gleaming eyes, marks her as the goddess of clear sight and shrewd argument, about to use the father's own justice against him.
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