Odyssey 2.421 · Book 2, lines 421–423
A following wind, and the crew to the tackle
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ἀκραῆ Ζέφυρον, κελάδοντʼ ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον. Τηλέμαχος δʼ ἑτάροισιν ἐποτρύνας ἐκέλευσεν ὅπλων ἅπτεσθαι· τοὶ δʼ ὀτρύνοντος ἄκουσαν.
[She sent] a fresh West Wind, singing over the wine-dark sea. But Telemachus urged his companions on and ordered them to lay hold of the tackle; and they heard him as he urged them.
Word by word
The setting
Athena has sent a fair breeze astern. Now the poem names it: a fresh West Wind, singing over the sea. Telemachus, launched on his search for news of his father, calls his companions to the ship's gear.
A note on this passage
The wind that speeds the ship is Athena's gift, sent the line before; here it fills in as a fresh West Wind that 'sings' over the water. Against that divine breath the poem sets a plain human command: Telemachus tells his crew to take hold of the ropes, and they obey.
The undercurrent is how smoothly help from a god folds into ordinary seamanship. Nothing marks the moment as miraculous. The goddess supplies the wind; the young captain gives the order; the men move to the tackle. Divine aid in the Odyssey rarely arrives as a wonder — it arrives as good weather and a crew that listens.
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