Odyssey 8.261 · Book 8, lines 261–265
Odysseus marvels at the dance
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κῆρυξ δʼ ἐγγύθεν ἦλθε φέρων φόρμιγγα λίγειαν Δημοδόκῳ· ὁ δʼ ἔπειτα κίʼ ἐς μέσον· ἀμφὶ δὲ κοῦροι πρωθῆβαι ἵσταντο, δαήμονες ὀρχηθμοῖο, πέπληγον δὲ χορὸν θεῖον ποσίν. αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς μαρμαρυγὰς θηεῖτο ποδῶν, θαύμαζε δὲ θυμῷ.
And the herald came near, bearing the clear-toned lyre to Demodocus; and he then went into the middle, and around him young men in first youth stood, skilled in the dance, and they beat the divine floor with their feet. But Odysseus gazed at the twinklings of their feet, and marveled in his heart.
Word by word
The setting
The lyre reaches Demodocus and the dancing begins. Odysseus, still an unnamed guest, watches the young Phaeacians perform.
A note on this passage
The herald brings the clear-toned lyre to Demodocus; the bard steps into the middle, and around him young men in the first bloom of youth take their places, expert dancers. They beat the sacred floor with their feet, and Odysseus watches the flashing of their feet and marvels in his heart.
The undercurrent is a rare moment of unshadowed pleasure for a grieving man. At the last song Odysseus wept and hid his face; now he simply gazes, caught by the twinkling of dancers' feet — Homer's shimmering word marmarygás, a play of light. For one breath the man of sorrows is only a spectator delighted by skill, before the next song reaches back into his own life.
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