Odyssey 8.100 · Book 8, lines 100–103
Let the stranger carry word of us
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νῦν δʼ ἐξέλθωμεν καὶ ἀέθλων πειρηθῶμεν πάντων, ὥς χʼ ὁ ξεῖνος ἐνίσπῃ οἷσι φίλοισιν οἴκαδε νοστήσας, ὅσσον περιγιγνόμεθʼ ἄλλων πύξ τε παλαιμοσύνῃ τε καὶ ἅλμασιν ἠδὲ πόδεσσιν.
And now let us go out and make trial of contests of every kind, so that the stranger may tell his own dear ones, when he has returned home, how far we surpass all other men in boxing and wrestling and in jumping and in running.
Word by word
The setting
Having ended the feast, Alcinous proposes the entertainment that fills the middle of Book 8: an afternoon of athletic contests before the assembled Phaeacians.
A note on this passage
Alcinous names the plan: an impromptu games. He frames it as hospitality — the guest should carry home a report of Phaeacian excellence — and lists the events, the familiar Greek roster of boxing, wrestling, jumping, and the footrace.
There is pride under the courtesy. The Phaeacians want to be remembered, and the king assumes the stranger will return home to tell of them — the one thing Odysseus most doubts he will ever do. The word for surpass sets a competitive edge that the scene will soon turn sharp, when a young Phaeacian mistakes the silent guest for a man who cannot compete.
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