Odyssey 6.308 · Book 6, lines 308–309
The king's chair beside hers
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ἔνθα δὲ πατρὸς ἐμοῖο θρόνος ποτικέκλιται αὐτῇ, τῷ ὅ γε οἰνοποτάζει ἐφήμενος ἀθάνατος ὥς.
And there my father's throne is set leaning against hers, where he sits drinking his wine, seated there like an immortal.
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The setting
Still describing the hall to Odysseus, Nausicaa places her father Alcinous — his throne set right beside the queen's, where he sits over his wine.
A note on this passage
Only now does the king enter the picture, and he enters as an attachment: his throne leans against Arete's, and he sits at it drinking, at ease. The order is deliberate — the queen was described first and fully, the king second and briefly.
'Like an immortal' is the household's own view of Alcinous, a Phaeacian king close to the gods and untroubled by the world Odysseus has crossed. The line is warm, but it also quietly tells the suppliant where to aim. The man drinks like a god at his ease; it is the woman at the hearth whose favor decides things. Nausicaa has just told Odysseus to pass the king by and clasp her mother's knees.
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