The Phaeacian society demonstrates the ideal Utopian society in Homer’s mind, which can be characterized by its
Prosperity
The Book Eight of The Odyssey demonstrates a day of entertainment in Scheria. Odysseus, who initially comes to the land as a stranger, is welcomed and invited to a feast by King Alcinous of the Phaeacians (Homer, Odyssey, 95). In this chapter, Homer is not interested in describing any sacrificing ceremonies that generally take place before an important feast, but rather focusing on the number of animals that would be slaughtered to prepare the feast:
“Alcinous sacrificed for them a dozen sheep, eight white-tusked boars, and two shambling oxen” (Homer, Odyssey, 95).
In summary, the Phaeacians are characterized by hospitality, generosity and they are living in prosperity.. If the Phaeacians were living in misery and suffering from starvation and disease, Homer would not highlight the “lavish supply” (Homer, Odyssey, 95) of food and the king would not hold such a big meal for a stranger (Homer, Odyssey, 94).
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| The Phaeacian society in marked by prosperity. |
Peace
The Phaeacians do not like fighting and warfare. They are not very skilful in violent sports like wrestling and boxing, but rather in running (Homer, Odyssey, 100). Even today, wrestling and boxing are considered to be violent sports and related to aggression. On the other hand, running is less violent, dangerous, and it can be thought as a defensive strength as compared to boxing. Also, the Phaeacians follow the codes of sportsmanship. In Book Eight, even though Euryalus’ verbal insult towards Odysseus is not an action that respects Xenia, readers should notice that their argument does not end up in a fight; both men agree to take their quarrel in the form of a sporting competition (Homer, Odyssey, 98-99). In the end,Euryalus accepts Odysseus’s winning without any resentment, but rather he respects Odysseus and hands him his valuable sword as a gift (Homer, Odyssey, 104).
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| Odysseus is engaged in a phaeacian sportive competition. |
Sexual equality
Among the Phaeacians, equality between men and women seems to exist because women can take leading roles in the country. In Book Eleven, when Odysseus has finished talking about the female heroines what he met in the House of Hades, Queen Arete breaks the silence and takes the leading role. She is respected by the Phaeacians and is addressed by the prestigious lord Echeneus as “our wise Queen”. Her power in the palace indicates that women can be as important as men in the Phaeacian society (Homer, Odyssey, 148-149).
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| Phaeacian Women |
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| Women have very high social status in Scheria. |
Coming up...Phaeacian Palaces ^0^
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