Odyssey 8.11 · Book 8, lines 11–14
Athena's summons
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Athena — δεῦτʼ ἄγε Φαιήκων ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες, εἰς ἀγορὴν ἰέναι, ὄφρα ξείνοιο πύθησθε, ὃς νέον Ἀλκινόοιο δαΐφρονος ἵκετο δῶμα πόντον ἐπιπλαγχθείς, δέμας ἀθανάτοισιν ὁμοῖος.
Come now, leaders and rulers of the Phaeacians, go to the assembly, so that you may learn of the stranger who has newly come to the house of wise Alcinous, having wandered over the sea, in body like the immortals.
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The setting
Athena, in the herald's shape, calls the Phaeacian nobles to the meeting-ground. She has not named the stranger; she presents him only as a godlike castaway.
A note on this passage
Speaking as the herald, Athena issues the formal summons: leaders and counsellors, come to the assembly to see the stranger. She gives the crowd its first image of him — a man newly washed up from the sea, and in his very body like the gods.
The godlike look is not a compliment but a plan. A few lines on, Athena will physically enlarge Odysseus so the Phaeacians admire him; here, in the herald's mouth, she is already seeding that awe before the man appears. The summons and the beautifying are one operation. She is not only gathering an audience — she is telling it what to see.
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