Odysseus spares the priest of Apollo when his men sack Ismarus, and the priest gives him jars of wine in thanks. It is the kind nobody pours straight. One part in twenty mixed with water and a man still stumbles to bed. He carries it onto the next ship, the next island, the next coast. [SPOILER: Inside the cave, after watching the Cyclops eat their friends two at a time, he steps forward with a bowl of it. Your flock is the finest I have seen. The Cyclops drinks it in one gulp. He drinks again. His eye loosens. He laughs and asks Odysseus’s name and Odysseus says Nobody, and the giant says he will eat Nobody last. Then his head drops and the stake comes out of the dung. The priest’s gratitude saves Odysseus’s life on a different island years later. Mercy compounds.]
The Undiluted Wine of Ismarus
The priest of Apollo's gift. So strong you cut it twenty to one with water and still lose your balance. Strong enough to fell a Cyclops.