Odyssey 8.43 · Book 8, lines 43–45
Summon Demodocus, the god-gifted bard
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μηδέ τις ἀρνείσθω. καλέσασθε δὲ θεῖον ἀοιδὸν Δημόδοκον· τῷ γάρ ῥα θεὸς πέρι δῶκεν ἀοιδὴν τέρπειν, ὅππῃ θυμὸς ἐποτρύνῃσιν ἀείδειν.
and let no one refuse. Summon the divine singer Demodocus; for to him the god granted song above all, to delight, in whatever way his heart stirs him to sing.
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The setting
Alcinous ends his speech by calling for entertainment: let no one refuse, and summon the blind singer Demodocus, to whom the god gave the gift of song above all others.
A note on this passage
The speech closes on the bard. Summon Demodocus — the god gave him song beyond all others, to delight his hearers however his spirit moves him to sing. The blind singer is introduced with the highest possible warrant: his art is a divine grant.
The undercurrent is the poem describing itself. Demodocus is the Odyssey's self-portrait — the singer whose god-given song is about to make Odysseus weep, and whose praise the hero will soon speak. When Homer says the god ‘granted him song to delight,’ he is stating the theory of his own craft: poetry as a gift from heaven, and pleasure as its purpose.
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