Odyssey 6.321 · Book 6, lines 321–322
Sundown at Athena's grove
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δύσετό τʼ ἠέλιος καὶ τοὶ κλυτὸν ἄλσος ἵκοντο ἱρὸν Ἀθηναίης, ἵνʼ ἄρʼ ἕζετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.
The sun set, and they reached the famous grove, sacred to Athena, where noble Odysseus sat down.
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The setting
The party nears the town as the day ends. They come to the grove sacred to Athena, the spot where Nausicaa told Odysseus to wait before entering alone.
A note on this passage
A single, quiet couplet moves the day to its close. The sun goes down as they arrive at the grove sacred to Athena, and Odysseus sits down there — the appointed place, the appointed pause, exactly as Nausicaa arranged it.
The grove belongs to Athena, and the timing is not idle. Odysseus is alone again, at dusk, in the precinct of the goddess who has watched over him from the poem's first pages. The stage is set for a prayer, and the naming of the grove tells the listener whose ear is near before Odysseus opens his mouth.
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Odyssey 6.321 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/6.321/