Odyssey 2.267 · Book 2, lines 267–269
Athena draws near as Mentor
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ὣς ἔφατʼ εὐχόμενος, σχεδόθεν δέ οἱ ἦλθεν Ἀθήνη, Μέντορι εἰδομένη ἠμὲν δέμας ἠδὲ καὶ αὐδήν, καί μιν φωνήσασʼ ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
So he spoke, praying; and near to him came Athena, likened to Mentor both in form and in voice, and calling out to him she spoke winged words:
Word by word
The setting
The prayer is answered at once. Athena approaches, this time wearing the shape of Mentor himself — the old counselor, not the earlier stranger — and prepares to speak.
A note on this passage
The answer is immediate: he finishes praying and the goddess is simply there, close by. She has taken Mentor's likeness now — 'both in form and in voice' — the trusted old friend whose name has hung in the air all morning. The disguise fits the moment: Telemachus needs a counselor, so a counselor arrives.
The undercurrent is the winged-words formula, ἔπεα πτερόεντα. Homer keeps it for speech that flies straight to its mark and lands. After a whole assembly of words that changed nothing, the phrase signals that these words will do work — the god's speech, unlike the town's, will move the story.
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