[PDF] The Unfriendly Phaeacians revealing himself. The next element

What are the Phaeacians known for?

The Phaeacians are known for going out of their way to return a helpless stranger to his homeland. This exceeds even the generous welcome that we usually find in the Odyssey and is consistent with the locals’ devotion to Zeus, protector of lost wanderers and champion of suppliants.

What is the Phaeacian genealogy?

The rest of the Phaeacian genealogy directly concerns Nestor himself and his version of the twin myth. This part of the Phaeacian genealogy, starting with Nestor’s counterpart Alcinous, is crucial, because it is the only explicit representation of Nestor’s twin myth in Homer.

What was the island of the Phaeacians?

That assumption gave birth to the suggestion that the island of the Phaeacians was the Greek island Corfu. Corfu is one island close to Ithaca and it matches the description of Scheria in the Odyssey. However, no excavations have brought to the surface any evidence for the mythical civilization of the Phaeacians.

Did the Phaeacians have an earlier existence in Greek epic tradition?

It remains possible that the Phaeacians had an earlier existence in Greek epic tradition with a function other than conveying shipwrecked mortals. But in any such prior existence their nature and function cannot have been very distinct if they were totally remade by the Odyssey.