Odyssey 8.536 · Book 8, lines 536–540
Alcinous halts the song
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Alcinous — κέκλυτε, Φαιήκων ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες, Δημόδοκος δʼ ἤδη σχεθέτω φόρμιγγα λίγειαν· οὐ γάρ πως πάντεσσι χαριζόμενος τάδʼ ἀείδει. ἐξ οὗ δορπέομέν τε καὶ ὤρορε θεῖος ἀοιδός, ἐκ τοῦ δʼ οὔ πω παύσατʼ ὀιζυροῖο γόοιο
Hear me, leaders and counselors of the Phaeacians: let Demodocus now still his clear-toned lyre, for not in any way does he sing these things to the pleasure of all. Ever since we began the feast and the divine bard rose up, from that time on he has never yet ceased from grievous lament.
Word by word
The setting
Alcinous, having caught the stranger weeping, breaks off the performance. He calls his lords to attention and asks the bard to set down the lyre, noting that the guest has grieved through the whole feast — the courteous prelude to asking, at last, who he is.
A note on this passage
Alcinous stops the music. He calls his lords to attention and asks Demodocus to lay down the lyre — not because the song is poor, but because it is not pleasing everyone. Since the feast began, he says, the stranger has not stopped grieving.
It is a courteous man reading a room. Alcinous never names the grief or its cause; he simply notes that a guest has wept through the whole performance, and acts to spare him. The Greek sets ‘the divine bard’ beside ‘grievous lament’ in one breath — the very excellence of the song is what wounds. This gentle interruption is the hinge of the book: in the lines just after, Alcinous will ask the weeping stranger who he is.
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