book eight

• Athene disguised herself as a herald and told the Phaecians to go to the assembly to hear about the stranger
• Athene endows Odysseus with "divine beauty" so that the Phaecians may look at him with admiration, fear and beauty
• Alcinous addresses the assembly, telling them they will help send Odysseus home because there has never been a time where someone has stayed for lack of escort
• Alcinous invites the Phaecians to entertain Odysseus, and summons Demodocus, the divine bard
• The men prepare the ship to take Odysseus home and they begin their meal
• Demodocus is introduced, a bard who is "loved above all others" by the Muse but is blinded
• Demodocus tells the story of the Trojan War which makes Odysseus draw his cloak over his head and start weeping even though the Phaecians were "enjoying the tale"
• Alcinous recognises Odysseus' distress and moves the party to do sports outside
• First there is a race then wrestling, the jump, discus and boxing. Laodamos (the prince) suggests to ask Odysseus if he is an expert in any sports
• Odysseus refuses to play any games saying he is "too sick at heart" and Euryalus insulted says he should have never taken him for an athlete
• Odysseus is "stirred to anger" at his words and hurled a discus instead of retaliating
• Odysseus overshots all other throws and Athene, disguised as one of the crowd sings his praises
• Odysseus offers to compete in any sport and with anyone except Laodamas because "who would fight his host"
• Alcinous apologises and says that he wants Odysseus to sing the praises of the Phaecians, who struggle in boxing and wrestling but have gifts in the dance, the lyre and the feast
• Demodocus returns, telling the story of Aphrodite cheating on Hephaestus with Ares.

  • The Sun saw them and told Hephaestus who built unbreakable chains
  • Hephaestus catches them and traps them, calling the rest of the gods to see the "brazen bitch"
  • Poseidon, Hermes and Apollo came but the goddesses stayed at home out of modesty
• Ares, Aphrodite and Hephaestus pt2

  • All the gods laugh at Hephaestus
  • Poseidon begs Hephaestus to let Ares go and he will make atonement and if he does not, Poseidon will pay the fine and Hephaestus agrees, letting them go without consequence
• Odysseus praises Alcinous' dancers and he begins to gather gifts for Odysseus. Euryalus atones for his words by giving Odysseus his sword and blesses his return home
• Nausicaa wishes Odysseus luck and reminds him that he owes her his life and he says he will pray to her as a divinity
• Odysseus praises Demodocus but asks him to sing of the Wooden Horse and his own heroics
• While he sings, Odysseus heart was "melting with grief" and he cries, weeping like a woman who has thrown her arms around the body of her husband and then is led into slavery
• Alcinous observes his grief once more and asks Demodocus to stop his song
• Alcinous asks Odysseus who he is and also of a warning he got from his father, who said Poseidon gave them the privilege of helping strangers without themselves coming to harm but prophecised that one day Poseidon would wreck one of their ships for doing so and enclose the city with a wall of mountains