The epithet 'ποντομέδων' (pontomedōn, 'ruler of the sea') is applied here to Zeus, a usage that, while attested in other contexts (e.g., Aeschylus), is striking in Aristophanic comedy. It reflects the poet's tendency to conflate the Olympian hierarchy with the archaic, Homeric theogony, specifically echoing the Iliadic description of Zeus as 'ruler of the sea' (Iliad 1.398, 15.194) to heighten the absurdity of the old man's delusion that he is presiding over a trial of cosmic proportions. This specific epithet is not a generic synonym for Zeus but a deliberate archaizing allusion that underscores the character's confusion between the mundane Athenian legal system and the primordial order.