Odyssey 7.179 · Book 7, lines 179–180

Alcinous names his herald, Pontonous, and gives the order for the evening libation: mix the bowl, serve wine to everyone through the hall, so that they may pour to Zeus. The command turns a private welcome into a shared act of the whole company.

The sentence breaks off mid-thought — 'so that to Zeus, who delights in thunder…' — and the reason waits for the next line. Homer ends the evening as he began the welcome, by turning to the god who stands behind the stranger. Even the closing cup of the feast is aimed upward, to the power that made the guest sacred.

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