Once there, he is entertained with food, drink, dancing and with the songs of the
minstrel. He is then invited to compete in the Phaeacian games by one of the king’s
sons: ‘you must surely be an athlete, for nothing makes a man so famous for life as
what he can do with his hands and his feet’ (8, 146–148). He declines, but another
Phaeacian, Euryalas, assails him with the taunt that he is a mere trader concerned
with profit. In less ideal circumstances we see Odysseus deeply concerned with
material things. Part of his completeness as a human being is that he is not completely
ideal. But here his heroic spirit responds angrily to the Phaeacian rebuke with the
remark that ‘we cannot all hope to combine the pleasing qualities of good looks,
brains and eloquence’ (8, 168). He then participates and excels, proving himself here
the all-round man comprising the Greek ideal. When Euryalas later apologizes to him
and gives him a sword as a parting gift, Odysseus is gracious in his acceptance; an
ideal social harmony prevails.
Homeric ideals: poetry and art
As he begins the narrative of his tales, Odysseus gives voice to a further Homeric
ideal in his praise of the feast and the song:
‘Lord Alcinous, it is indeed a lovely thing to hear a bard such as yours, with a voice
like the gods’. I myself feel that there is nothing more delightful than when the
festive mood reigns in a whole people’s hearts and the banqueters listen to a
minstrel from their seats in the hall, while the tables before them are laden with
bread and meat, and a steward carries round the wine he has drawn from the bowl
and fills their cups. This, to my way of thinking, is something like perfection.’
(9, 1–11)Whatever partiality Homer had to his own profession, there can be no doubt that the
bard was held in special honour in Homeric culture. In the ideal society of the
Phaeacians, the blind bard Demodocus, whose name means ‘honoured by the
people’, has a special place. In Ithaca Homer makes it clear that Phemius, whose
name means ‘praiser’, sings at the banquet of the suitors ‘by necessity’ (1, 154). The
motif is repeated in the suitor-slaying when Phemius, here called Terpiades (‘the son
of delight’), throws himself at the mercy of Odysseus:
‘You will repent it later if you kill a minstrel like me, who sings for gods and men.
I had no teacher but myself. All kinds of song spring unpremeditated to my lips;
and I feel that I could sing for you as I could sing for a god.’
(22, 344–349)EARLY GREECE: HOMER AND HESIOD 27