Odyssey, Book 8 Notes

Banquet in the house of Alcinous; the games


Major concepts:

• Alcinous's response to Odysseus's request for help
• Preparation of the black ship
• Song / storytelling of the bard; games; feasting; dance
• Demodocus, the bard
• Demodocus's song / effect on Odysseus
• Challenge of the Broadsea / Odysseus's response
• Gifts for Odysseus

Study Guide Questions:

1. Describe the activities that King Alcinous arranges to entertain Odysseus.
2. Who is Demodocos?
3. Why might his blindness be significant?
4. How is King Alcinous helping Odysseus to get home?
5. Who is Odysseus quarreling with in the first song?
6. What is Odysseus's reaction whenever Demodocos sings about the Trojan War?
7. How does Odysseus respond to the challenge of Broadsea?
8. Which qualities of Odysseus shine through in this episode of athletic competition?
9. How does Odysseus win the respect of the young Phaeacians?
10. What does Alcinous ask Odysseus at the end of book 8?

Page 79.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn..." --> epithet
• "...while Athena took the form of one of Alcinous' servants..." --> Athena dons yet another disguise
• "...he looks like an immortal god...." --> simile
• "...for Athena had beautified him about the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter..." --> Athena improves Odysseus's appearance again, just like she did with Nausicaa -- now Odysseus has looks and authority

Page 80.
Vocabulary: chieftains

• "Let us draw a ship into the sea--one that has never yet made a voyage--and man her with two and fifty of our smartest young sailors...." --> Odysseus's ship would have carried 60+ men; again, Alcinous is boasting about the Phaeacians
• "...we will have Demodocus to sing to us...." --> Demodocus's name is of Greek origin, meaning 'welcomed by the people'
• "...famous bard Demodocus, whom the muse had dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of his eyesight...." --> physical blindness could suggest mental or spiritual insight (to a Greek)
• "...the muse inspired Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially a matter that was then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles..." --> this side-story does serve a purpose: it refers possibly to the time in the Trojan War after the death of Hector and Odysseus's confrontation with Achilles -- this story asks the question: will cunning (Odysseus) or force (Achilles) win the war? Agamemnon would have been happy with the two leaders fighting because it was prophecied that "Troy would fall when the best of Greeks came into conflict"

Page 81.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...let us then proceed to the athletic sports..." --> not only was there a banquet, there also were games
• "Acroneos, Ocylaus, Elatreus, Nauteus..." --> weird names? weird for a reason -- they all have to do with (take a guess) sailing / the sea
• "...nor is he at all old..." --> actually, by this point, Odysseus would have been in his early-mid forties
• "Your return home will not be long delayed, for the ship is already drawn into the water, adn the crew is found...." --> this reassures Odysseus that no matter how (well or bad) he does in the contests, he will still have a way home

Page 82.
Vocabulary: reviled

• "I have been through infinite trouble, and am come among you now as a suppliant..." --> says Odysseus: leave me alone
• "I gather, then, that you are unskilled...you are one of those grasping traders..." --> people like Odysseus would have gained wealth through raiding other lands, like pirates; independently wealthy people (like the Phaeacians) would have found this to be primitive and unrefined
• "No god would make a finer looking fellow than you are, but you are a fool...." --> says Odysseus: you've messed with the wrong guy
• "Athena, in the form of a man, came and marked the place where it had fallen...." --> Athena appears before Odysseus makes a fool of himself by angering the Phaeacians; remember, he is still a guest and must "keep a low profile"
• "If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I am exceedingly angry...." --> Odysseus challenges them

Page 83.
Vocabulary: intrigue, defiled

• Philoctetes inherited a bow from Heracles -- the bow never missed -- so of course he could outshoot Odysseus
• "...when we Achaeans were before Troy and in practice...." --> BIG hint at who he is -- is Odysseus ready to tell yet?
• "...for Apollo was angry with him and killed him because he challenged him as an archer..." --> jealousy of the gods -- anthropomorphism
• "Sir, we have had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which I understand that you are willing to show your prowess..." --> Alcinous acknowledges Odysseus's authority and stature
• "...singularly fleet of foot and are excellent sailors..." --> what?! good at sailing?!!! I never knew.
• "...the bard began to sing of the loves of Ares and Aphrodite..." --> this story tells about how the gods enjoy and condone adultery -- this is the only time mentioned in the Odyssey where the gods are not "morally sound"

Page 84.
Vocabulary: festooned, loth, vestibule

• "...and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like cobwebs..." --> not because the trap looked like a spiderweb, but because it was invisible like a spiderweb (simile, by the way)
• "Father Zeus...and all you other blessed gods who live for ever..." --> he calls on Zeus for help, but Poseidon comes instead
• "See how limping Hephaestus, lame as he is, has caught Ares who is the fleetest god in heaven; and now Ares will be cast in heavy damages...." --> does brawn always win over brain?

Page 85.
Vocabulary: raiment

• "...if Ares goes away without paying his damages, I will pay you myself...." --> a better compromise: that way, if Ares cuts out without paying, Hephaestus will still get his retribution
• "...Ares to Thrace...Aphrodite to Cyprus and Paphos...." --> these are two totally different directions
• "I was astonished as I saw them...." --> just as much as the Phaeacians enjoy boasting, they also enjoy receiving praise -- Odysseus praises them again
• "...let us give him such proof of our hospitality as he may reasonably expect..." --> here, Alcinous tells the elders what they must give up to provide to Odysseus

Page 86.
Vocabulary: amiss, raiment

• "He was very glad of a warm bath..." --> this would have been a typical bathing scene in Greek times

Page 87.
Vocabulary: freighting

• "Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous..." --> Odysseus offers his blessings
• "Demodocus, there is no one in the world whom I admire more than you...." --> the ultimate praise for a performer / singer would be to praise the accuracy of his story
• this is yet another hint at who Odysseus is
• "the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into their fortress..." --> the Trojans want to do one of three things with the horse: (1) destroy it immediately; (2) launch it off of a cliff; or (3) keep it as a souvenir / offering to the gods [they end up keeping it, causing the fall of Troy and ending the war]

Page 88.
Vocabulary: piteously

• "...how Odysseus went raging like Ares along with Menelaus to the house of Deiphobus...." --> Deiphobus is important because he was one of the Trojan leaders after Hector's death
• "He wept as a woman weeps...even so piteously did Odysseus weep..." --> Homeric simile describing Odysseus's sorrow / weeping for the story
• "...let Demodocus cease his song, for there are those present [ahem, Odysseus] who do not seem to like it...." --> only Alcinous notices Odysseus weeping like a baby
• "...it will be more polite in you to give me a plain answer...." --> does Alcinous suspect, at this point, that Odysseus has been hiding something?
• "Still I do remember hearing my father say that Poseidon was angry with us for being too easy-going in the matter of giving people escorts...." --> yet another prophecy: is this one about helping Odysseus? will their ship be wrecked after helping him home?

Page 89.
Vocabulary: none.

• "And now, tell me and tell me true...." --> Alcinous asks who Odysseus is
• Question: If the Phaeacians are so distant and isolated from all other areas -- would they have even heard of Odysseus? obviously, with bards like Demodocus, the answer would be yes, though they probably couldn't have related much to his sorrow and wouldn't understand why he would cry when the bard sang about Troy and the Achaeans

Book 8 divides into three main sections, each with a song:

1. Odysseus and Achilles's argument (Odysseus weeps at this)
2. Aphrodite and Ares (no weeping)
3. Troy / the Trojan Horse (Odysseus weeps at this one too)

Bibliography