"Impossible man!"
Athena bantered, the goddess’ eyes ablaze.
"Others are quick to trust a weaker comrade,
some poor mortal, far less cunning than I.
But I am a goddess, look, the very one who
guards you in all your trials to the last.
I tell you this straight out:
even if fifty bands of mortal fighters
closed around us, hot to kill us off in battle,
still you could drive away their herds and sleek flocks!
So, surrender to sleep at last. What a misery,
keeping watch through the night, wide awake –
you’ll soon come up from under all your troubles."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 20, 46-58. Athena sweeps down from the sky to reassure Odysseus, worried about single-handedly taking on the army of suitors plaguing his wife and house. Athena has stuck with him throughout his quest to return home and eject the suitors. The goddess assures him of her loyal support, saying that even fifty bands of deadly fighters could not defeat them. She describes herself as the "one who guards you in all your trials to the last."