Odyssey 8.250 · Book 8, lines 250–253
Dance, so the stranger will tell
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ἀλλʼ ἄγε, Φαιήκων βητάρμονες ὅσσοι ἄριστοι, παίσατε, ὥς χʼ ὁ ξεῖνος ἐνίσπῃ οἷσι φίλοισιν οἴκαδε νοστήσας, ὅσσον περιγιγνόμεθʼ ἄλλων ναυτιλίῃ καὶ ποσσὶ καὶ ὀρχηστυῖ καὶ ἀοιδῇ.
But come, dancers of the Phaeacians, all who are the best, dance, so that the stranger may tell his own dear ones, when he has returned home, how far we surpass others in seamanship, in running, in the dance, and in song.
Word by word
The setting
Still addressing the stranger, Alcinous calls for a display of dancing. The Phaeacians pride themselves on the dance as much as on their ships.
A note on this passage
Alcinous calls out the best Phaeacian dancers. Perform, he says, so the stranger can tell his own people back home how far we outdo everyone in seamanship, running, dance, and song. The command turns the games into a show mounted for a single spectator.
The undercurrent is how much this people lives to be reported. Twice now Alcinous frames their excellence as something the guest will carry abroad; their worth feels complete only when a stranger sings it elsewhere. And the boast names ships first — the very skill, we will learn, that carries Odysseus home. The Phaeacians' proudest art turns out to be the instrument of the plot.
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