Odyssey 7.329 · Book 7, lines 329–330
Odysseus rejoices, and prays
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ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς, εὐχόμενος δʼ ἄρα εἶπεν, ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·
So he spoke, and much-enduring noble Odysseus rejoiced; and praying then he said, and uttered a word and called aloud:
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The setting
The king's speech ends. Much-enduring Odysseus, promised his convoy home, is glad — and turns at once to prayer.
A note on this passage
A two-line hinge closing the exchange. So Alcinous spoke; and much-enduring, noble Odysseus rejoiced, and at once fell to praying, uttering a word aloud. The formula sets up the short prayer that immediately follows.
The epithet earns its keep here: πολύτλας, ‘much-enduring,’ attaches to the one moment of relief. The man defined by suffering on the sea hears that the sea is about to be crossed for him in safety, and his first response is not to boast but to pray — the reflex of someone who has learned never to trust good news ahead of the gods. The gladness and the prayer arrive in the same breath.
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