Odysseus almost drowns in the sea because of Poseidon but was saved by the goddess Ino, she gave him a veil that kept him safe after his ship wreck.
I think its since I stopped vacuuming as an adverb.
It is a figure of speech. Obviously they hadn't actually been on the verge of cutting each other's throats, it's a fancy way of saying they were all very angry and couldn't stand each other. The author's purpose was to imply that before something happened, they were very angry and unable to stand each other.
