Odyssey 7.69 · Book 7, lines 69–72
Honored as a goddess in the streets
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ὣς κείνη περὶ κῆρι τετίμηταί τε καὶ ἔστιν ἔκ τε φίλων παίδων ἔκ τʼ αὐτοῦ Ἀλκινόοιο καὶ λαῶν, οἵ μίν ῥα θεὸν ὣς εἰσορόωντες δειδέχαται μύθοισιν, ὅτε στείχῃσʼ ἀνὰ ἄστυ.
So she is honored in her heart, and holds her place, both by her dear children and by Alcinous himself, and by the people, who, gazing on her as on a goddess, greet her with words when she walks through the town.
Word by word
The setting
Athena describes the standing of Queen Arete. She is cherished not only by her family but by the whole people, who greet her like a goddess when she passes through the city.
A note on this passage
The honor is drawn out in widening circles: first in her own heart, then by her children and by Alcinous, and finally by the whole people, who look on her as on a goddess and salute her as she walks through the town. A queen loved by the household and the city alike.
The telling word is the comparison to a goddess. Homeric praise reaches for the divine as its highest measure, but here it does real work: it tells Odysseus how far Arete's word carries. To be greeted like a goddess in the streets is a kind of political power, and it is that power, not mere courtesy, that a suppliant at her knees is reaching for.
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