Odyssey 8.398 · Book 8, lines 398–400
The court agrees; heralds are sent
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ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἐπῄνεον ἠδʼ ἐκέλευον, δῶρα δʼ ἄρʼ οἰσέμεναι πρόεσαν κήρυκα ἕκαστος. τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Εὐρύαλος ἀπαμείβετο φώνησέν τε·
So he spoke, and they all then approved and bid it, and so each sent forth a herald to fetch the gifts. And Euryalus in turn answered him and spoke aloud:
Word by word
The setting
Alcinous has finished. The Phaeacian nobles approve his plan and each sends a herald to fetch the gifts. Euryalus, singled out to apologize, prepares to answer.
A note on this passage
Four verbs carry the scene forward: they approved, they bid it, each sent a herald, Euryalus answered. This is the poem's connective tissue — a command given, instantly obeyed, the gifts already on their way.
The quiet point is how frictionless Phaeacia is. Alcinous speaks and the whole court ratifies him in a single line; the heralds move at once. Set this beside the assembly on Ithaca in Book 2, which argues and dissolves without deciding anything, and the contrast is the poem's own: this is the well-governed land Odysseus passes through on his way back to the broken one.
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