The Milman Parry Lectures on Oral Tradition for 1989 I. The Variety of Tales

The exploration of oral poetry over the past sixty years has evitably turned scholars ’ interest to Homer, who offers two very lively, highly poeticized, portraits of oral poets in his Odyssey: Phemius, the singer for the family of Laertes in its ancestral hall on the island of Ithaca, and Demodocus, the blind singer of tales for the fabulously glamorous Phaeacians in remote Scheria. These two singers, accompanied by a lyre, performing narrative songs about the Trojan expedition, the returns from Troy, and the escapades of gods and goddesses, provide entertainment during banquets. Demodocus receives the longer introduction: The herald came near leading the excellent singer, whom the Muse loves above all, and gave him both good and evil; she took away his eyes but gave him the gift of sweet song. Then Pontonoos placed a silver-studded chair for him in the midst of the feasters, setting it against a tall column. He hung the clear-sounding lyre on a peg above his head and showed him how to take it in his hands. Nearby he placed a basket and a beautiful table, and a cup of wine to drink whenever his spirit urged him. The others put forth their hands to the good food that lay befor