Returning Home

'As for your home-coming, I myself was never in any doubt: I knew in my heart that you would get back ... And now, to convince you, let me show you the Ithacan scene. ...'

As she [Athene] spoke the goddess dispersed the mist, and the countryside stood plain to view. And now joy came at last to the gallant long suffering Odysseus. So happy did the sight of his own land make him that he kissed the generous soil, then with uplifted hands invoked the Nymphs:

'And I had thought, you Nymphs of the Springs, you Daughters of Zeus, that I should never set my eyes on you again! Accept my greetings and my loving prayers. Gifts too will follow as in days gone by, if through the kindness of this warrior Child of Zeus I am allowed to live and see my son grow up.'

'Be bold,' said Athene of the flashing eyes, 'and dismiss all such doubts from your heart. ...'

[Homer, The Odyssey, XIII. 352-360]