A poet who sings the deeds of heroes, to whom the Muse teaches the song. The blind Demodocus, among the Phaeacians, received sweet song from the Muse and lost his sight, and Odysseus sends him the best cut of meat as an honor. Phemius, in Ithaca, sings to the suitors under compulsion and begs for his life, saying a god planted songs in him. Alcinous compares the stranger to an aoidos, the craft of one who tells a tale well.
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