Odyssey 7.139 · Book 7, lines 139–141
Through the hall in Athena's mist
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αὐτὰρ ὁ βῆ διὰ δῶμα πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς πολλὴν ἠέρʼ ἔχων, ἥν οἱ περίχευεν Ἀθήνη, ὄφρʼ ἵκετʼ Ἀρήτην τε καὶ Ἀλκίνοον βασιλῆα.
But he went through the hall, much-enduring noble Odysseus, wrapped in thick mist which Athena had poured about him, until he reached Arete and Alcinous, the king.
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The setting
Still invisible in the mist Athena has shed around him, Odysseus walks the length of the hall toward the king and queen. His goal is Arete: he has been told to supplicate the queen first.
A note on this passage
Odysseus crosses the hall unseen, still muffled in the thick mist Athena poured around him, and makes straight for the king and queen. A single sentence carries him from the door to the thrones.
The mist is protection, but it is also a held breath. A stranger who appeared openly might be turned away, or worse, before he could speak; the cloud lets him reach the one person whose knees he must clasp — Arete — before anyone can react. The goddess's mist buys him the only thing supplication needs: the chance to get his hands on the queen before he is judged.
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