Odyssey 1.153 · Book 1, lines 153–155
Phemius sings by compulsion
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κῆρυξ δʼ ἐν χερσὶν κίθαριν περικαλλέα θῆκεν Φημίῳ, ὅς ῥʼ ἤειδε παρὰ μνηστῆρσιν ἀνάγκῃ. ἦ τοι ὁ φορμίζων ἀνεβάλλετο καλὸν ἀείδειν.
And a herald put a very beautiful lyre into the hands of Phemius, who sang among the suitors by compulsion. So then, striking the strings, he struck up his prelude to sing beautifully.
Word by word
The setting
The last stroke of the feast: the house singer is called to perform. Phemius is a captive of circumstance — the resident bard obliged to entertain the suitors who have taken over Odysseus's hall.
A note on this passage
A herald hands the lyre to Phemius, the house bard, and he tunes up to sing for the diners. On its surface this is the last item of the feast: the professional singer takes his place, and the music begins.
One word turns it: ἀνάγκῃ, 'by compulsion.' Phemius does not sing because he is moved to; he sings because he must — the resident poet performing for the men who have seized his lord's house. It is Homer's own word for his own kind, and it is unsparing. The singer of true things is here a captive entertainer; and the poem, at the very moment it shows song crowning the feast, marks the price — an art made to serve usurpers, and doing it under duress.
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