The Odyssey

In Book eight of Homer’s Odyssey our hero Odysseus has come to the palace of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians. This book can be read as a historical record, containing paragons and social rules. These rules and paragon are Homer’s and the archaic Greek’s view of a society in its most undisturbed form. Homer uses the Phaeacians to illustrate what behaviors are to be expected of a kingdom. By giving the listener/reader such a calm and well-organized realm Homer creates a stark juxtapose to all of the other oikos (homes) seen previously in the epic. Family, peace, respect, leadership, religion, sport, sailing, and much more are exampled in their quintessential form. All these aspects of Greek culture are held to high esteem and the Phaeacians are given all of these qualities by the gods.

Being a good host is one of the most important social rules of Greek culture. If one wishes to be a good leader he must always honor strangers looking for shelter. The Greeks put a high value on hospitality to ensure no mistreatment of the gods should they visit in disguise. Homer begins with a prime example of a model host and leader. Alcinous “…awoke in his sacred might…” 1 is the paragon of a good host. This is first exampled when he holds an assembly and gives a speech to the other leaders. In this act he not only shows he is a good host by giving Odysseus unconditional help he also shows his ability as a leader through the much revered quality of speech making. When he sees Odysseus cry at the tale of Demodocus Alcinous demonstrates his aptitude for hosting by interrupting “…enough of feasting now, and of the lyre that complements the feast. We should go outdoors for some contest...” 2. By doing this he shows that he...

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...an turn a leader that tales are told of into someone who struggles to adapt to what most Greeks would find to be perfect.

As historians looking at this text it is important to note that Homer lived and wrote the Odyssey more than three hundred years after the Trojan War and Odysseus. Although the story stays basically the same the values of Homer and the Greeks at the time may have changed what the tale meant. So Homer’s Odyssey really is the most accurate title one could give this legend because he wrote it with his ideals of his time. By looking at this text with a historian’s eye one realizes that it is a good look into what am archaic Greek would have thought of as an ideal society.

Works Cited

1 Homer, Odyssey, , 106.

2 Homer, Odyssey, , 109.

3 Homer, Odyssey, , 111.

4 Homer, Odyssey, , 118.

5 Homer, Odyssey, , 108.

6 Homer, Odyssey, , 107.