Food and drink were placed before him, and while he was eating,
Alcinous ordered a bowl to be filled for a libation to Zeus, the god
of hospitality. The wine was served out to the guests, the libations
were poured, and then Alcinous began to speak again, unfolding his
purpose towards Odysseus.
"Here me, ye princes of Phaeacia. Go ye now to your rest, and to-morrow
we will call an assembly of all the elders, and make a great feast and
sacrifice, and after that we will take counsel how we may best send
the stranger on his way. Safe and sound we will bring him to his
native land, but after that he must take up his portion, according as
the Fates have ordained for him, and spun the thread of his life,
rough or smooth, from the hour when his mother bare him. I speak as
supposing our guest to be a man; but if he be a god, come down from
heaven, then I fear that the gods are devising some snare against us.
For never has it been their wont to appear among us in disguise, but
at sacrifice and at feast they freely consort with us in their own
shape, seeing that we are of their own kin."
"Alcinous," answered Odysseus, "let not this fear trouble thee. I am
no god, as thou mayest see right well. If ye know any man conspicuous
for the burden of sorrow which he bears, ye may learn my lot from his.
But none, methinks, can equal the sum of what I have endured by the
ordinance of heaven.
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