Odyssey 8.4 · Book 8, lines 4–7
To the assembly by the ships
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τοῖσιν δʼ ἡγεμόνευʼ ἱερὸν μένος Ἀλκινόοιο Φαιήκων ἀγορήνδʼ, ἥ σφιν παρὰ νηυσὶ τέτυκτο. ἐλθόντες δὲ καθῖζον ἐπὶ ξεστοῖσι λίθοισι πλησίον. ἡ δʼ ἀνὰ ἄστυ μετῴχετο Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη
For them the sacred might of Alcinous led the way to the assembly of the Phaeacians, which had been built for them beside the ships; and coming, they sat down on the polished stones, close by. And Pallas Athena ranged up through the town,
Word by word
The setting
At daybreak the Phaeacian king leads his still-unnamed guest out to the public assembly. The Phaeacians are a seafaring people; their meeting-ground lies by the harbour.
A note on this passage
The king himself walks the stranger down to the Phaeacian meeting-ground, which lies beside the ships, and the men settle on the polished stone benches. Then the poem cuts to Athena, who goes unseen through the town to gather a crowd.
Two quiet facts sit underneath. The assembly of this sea-people is built at the harbour — their civic centre is their fleet, the very thing that will carry Odysseus home. And the welcome is stage-managed from Olympus: as in the palace the night before, Athena arranges the reception, so that the stranger will not be met by an empty square. Nothing in his homecoming is left to chance.
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