Friday, July 30, 2010

Who were the Phaeacians?

Reading Homer's Odyssey, I find myself confusing the Phaeacians with the Phoenicians and the Achaeians. My lexica and other references elude this topic except for Georg Autenrieth's 'A Homeric Dictionary' which has, "Φαίηκες: the Phaeacians, a fabulous people related to the gods, dwelling in Scheria, where they lived a life of ease, averse to war and devoted to sea-faring. The ships in which they escort guests to their homes, however distant, are themselves possessed of intelligence to find the way. The names of nearly all the Phaeacians mentioned are significant of the love of ships, not excepting that of Nausicaa [ναῦς means a ship], the most charming of them all...."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaeacians

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