Odyssey 8.485 · Book 8, lines 485–488
Odysseus praises the singer
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αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο, δὴ τότε Δημόδοκον προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
Odysseus — Δημόδοκʼ, ἔξοχα δή σε βροτῶν αἰνίζομʼ ἁπάντων. ἢ σέ γε μοῦσʼ ἐδίδαξε, Διὸς πάϊς, ἢ σέ γʼ Ἀπόλλων·
But when they had put away the desire for drink and food, then Odysseus of many wiles addressed Demodocus: 'Demodocus, above all mortals I praise you, of them all. Either the Muse, child of Zeus, taught you, or Apollo;
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The setting
The feast done, the still-unnamed guest turns to Demodocus. His praise opens a request that will follow: he honors the bard as a man taught by a god.
A note on this passage
A standard feasting formula closes the meal, and Odysseus begins to speak. He praises Demodocus above every other mortal and offers the reason: only a god could teach such singing — the Muse, or Apollo, the two divine patrons of song. It is high courtesy from a guest to his host's bard.
The praise is also cover. Odysseus is steering. He compliments the accuracy of the bard's Trojan songs precisely so he can ask for one more — the song of the horse, his own masterpiece. And there is dramatic irony he cannot state: the man calling the singing god-taught is the hero the next song will be about, testing whether a stranger's legend survives being sung to his face.
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