Book VIII · Episode 1 of 5

Assembly and Feast

Chiefs feast Odysseus, song moves him

Scenes

1. Assembly Convened — Herald Athena summons chiefs
   • Alcinoüs leads Odysseus to marketplace
   • Crowd marvels at the disguised stranger
   • A ship and fifty-two oarsmen are chosen
   • Demodocus is summoned for the feast
2. Feast and First Song — Demodocus sings the quarrel, Odysseus weeps
   • Youths launch a new ship
   • Alcinoüs sacrifices sheep and oxen
   • Song fulfills an oracle, pleases Agamemnon
   • Odysseus secretly weeps beneath his cloak
   • Only Alcinoüs notices his hidden tears
3. Games Proposed — Alcinoüs proposes games for youths
   • Contests test skill in four events
   • Alcinoüs’ own sons join the princes
   • Clytoneius outruns the field
   • Euryalus tops the wrestlers
   • Amphialus, Elatreus, Laodamas also triumph