Odyssey 8.96 · Book 8, lines 96–99
Alcinous calls an end to the feast
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αἶψα δὲ Φαιήκεσσι φιληρέτμοισι μετηύδα·
Alcinous — κέκλυτε, Φαιήκων ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες. ἤδη μὲν δαιτὸς κεκορήμεθα θυμὸν ἐίσης φόρμιγγός θʼ, ἣ δαιτὶ συνήορός ἐστι θαλείῃ·
At once he spoke among the oar-loving Phaeacians: Hear me, leaders and rulers of the Phaeacians. Now indeed we have satisfied our hearts with the equal feast and with the lyre, which is the companion of the bounteous feast.
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The setting
Alcinous, alone among the Phaeacians, has seen the stranger weeping at Demodocus's song. He rises to address the assembled nobles.
A note on this passage
Alcinous breaks the mood. He turns to his people with the formal address of a host-king — leaders and rulers — and states plainly that the feasting is done: they have had their fill of food and of the lyre that keeps a good feast company.
The tact is the whole point. The king has just watched his guest weep at the song; rather than name the grief, he changes the program. What sounds like a simple after-dinner announcement is really a rescue — moving the company outdoors, away from the music that is wounding the stranger, toward games that ask nothing of the heart.
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Odyssey 8.96 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/8.96/