Odyssey 6.20 · Book 6, lines 20–24
Athena at the bedside, in a friend's shape
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ἡ δʼ ἀνέμου ὡς πνοιὴ ἐπέσσυτο δέμνια κούρης, στῆ δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς, καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν, εἰδομένη κούρῃ ναυσικλειτοῖο Δύμαντος, ἥ οἱ ὁμηλικίη μὲν ἔην, κεχάριστο δὲ θυμῷ. τῇ μιν ἐεισαμένη προσέφη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
And she, like a wind's breath, rushed to the bed of the girl, and stood over her head, and spoke a word to her, likening herself to the girl, daughter of ship-famed Dymas, who was her age-mate and dear to her heart. In that likeness bright-eyed Athena addressed her:
Word by word
The setting
Athena, moving like a gust of wind, reaches Nausicaa's bed and stands over her head to send a dream. She takes on the appearance of one of the girl's own friends — the daughter of Dymas, a companion of her own age.
A note on this passage
The dream is staged with Homer's fixed technique: Athena comes at wind-speed, halts at the sleeper's head — the standing-place of every dream-figure in the poem — and borrows a face the girl will trust: a friend her own age, the daughter of Dymas, dear to her heart.
The choice of mask is the point. A goddess who wanted only to command could appear as herself; instead she becomes the one girl Nausicaa loves, so that a divine plan will arrive sounding like a friend's idea. This is how the gods steer mortals in the Odyssey — not by force but through the people and wishes already inside them.
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