Odyssey 7.155 · Book 7, lines 155–158
The eldest Phaeacian rises
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ὀψὲ δὲ δὴ μετέειπε γέρων ἥρως Ἐχένηος, ὃς δὴ Φαιήκων ἀνδρῶν προγενέστερος ἦεν καὶ μύθοισι κέκαστο, παλαιά τε πολλά τε εἰδώς· ὅ σφιν ἐὺ φρονέων ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·
At last the old hero Echeneus spoke among them — he who was elder of the Phaeacian men, and excelled in counsel, knowing many things of old; he, with good will toward them, addressed them and spoke:
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The setting
Odysseus sits in the ashes at the hearth, a suppliant no one has yet answered. The oldest and wisest of the Phaeacians rises to speak.
A note on this passage
The silence is broken by the right man. Echeneus is the oldest of the Phaeacians and the finest in speech, steeped in the old knowledge; when such a one stands, the room listens. Homer gives him a full introduction before a single word of his counsel, so that the advice will carry the authority of age.
This is how a well-ordered council works in the poem. Not the king first but the elder, who can tell Alcinous what courtesy requires without seeming to instruct him. The formula 'knowing many old things' is the Homeric badge of the counsellor — memory itself is the credential.
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