The answer is the line "Who, not by strength subdued me, but by wine."
In the excerpt, "wine" means the idea of conversation, wit and charm. Odysseus beat him by talking and having conversation with him but in the end he tricked him.
The central theme of Kamala Markandaya's Nectar in Sieve is the religion. Religion is presented from secular point of view amidst in all the tragic consequences family faces and in all the moral and physical pains they suffer from. Therefore, it is rather paradoxical to find that the religion has been used from positive aspect. The use of theme amidst the tragic events shows author's cynic approach towards religion. For example, when Rukmani visits her mother, the author narrates her thoughts as:
"...and together we would pray and pray before deity, imploring for help until we were giddy. But the Gods have other things to do; they cannot attend to the pleas of every suppliant who dares to raise his cares to heaven..."
Later in the novel, Rukmani describes Gods as not remote, not unheedful because they heard her son Kuti's cries and made her calm. However, it is not the praise of Gods because she later learns that Kuti's improvement was due to Ira's earning from prostitution.
