In Book VIII, Odysseus is a guest at the court of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians. The blind bard Demodocus sings at a feast, and his songs of the Trojan War move the disguised Odysseus to tears — tears that Alcinous alone notices.

Homer’s masterstroke is the hero’s use of mêtis (cunning intelligence) over brute strength. The art of Demodocus holds a mirror to Odysseus — the hero weeps to hear his own glory sung as epic.