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The next morning, Athena toured the city under the guise of a herald of King Alcinous to invite the Phaeacians to the assembly.
Alcinous still did not know the name of Odysseus (Ulysses) and whether it came from the people of the dawn or those of the sunset. He ordered that a boat be prepared with fifty-two rowers and that the divine bard, the blind Demodocus, be called. He sang the quarrel between Odysseus (Ulysses) and Achilles, which delighted Agamemnon. As he listened to him, Odysseus (Ulysses) could not hold back his tears. He tried to hide them, but Alcinous noticed. The latter then invited the assembly to the games and the most valiant of the Phaeacians sparred among themselves.
Laodamas, one of Alcinous’ sons, invited Odysseus (Ulysses) to join them, but Odysseus (Ulysses) evaded the invitation, saying that he was too preoccupied. Euryale insisted, calling the hero a vulgar trafficker. Odysseus (Ulysses), in turn, replied that if he was of great beauty, his mind was no less empty. Then, stung by the remark, the hero took the heaviest of the discs and threw it further than all the Phaeacians had done.
Then he challenged them to all the games except the race, because of his exhaustion. Nor did he want to compete with Laodamas out of respect for his host. He said he was the best at javelin throwing and archery, assuring that only Philoctetes, Heracles and Eurytus, who was killed by Apollo when he challenged him, surpassed him in this art.
Alcinous replied that his people did not excel in boxing or wrestling, but rather in sea-faring and running, and that he had always loved feasting, the zither, singing and dancing, new adornments, hot baths and love.
Then Demodocus sang the love of Ares and Aphrodite, the trap set by the jealous husband Hephaestus, and the arbitration of Poseidon. He also sang how Apollo made “the messenger” Hermes confess that he would accept without shame to be chained indefinitely if he could in return sleep in the arms of the goddess.
To the twelve kings of Phaeacia, being himself the thirteenth, Alcinous asked that they each give gifts of clothes and gold to the hero. He also ordered Euryale to give a present and apologise. The latter obeyed and offered a well-crafted sword. Then Alcinous asked his wife to prepare a tunic and a scarf while he himself would offer a gold cup. When all presents had been deposited in a chest, Odysseus (Ulysses) closed the lid with a special knot taught by Circe.
After the hero had bathed, Nausicaa came to say goodbye to him, saying that he owed her the price of his salvation. Odysseus (Ulysses) replied that he would pray to her every day like a goddess. Then he wished to honour the bard and asked him to tell the story of the Trojan horse. As Demodocus was performing, Odysseus (Ulysses) could not hold back his tears. King Alcinous noticed this and ordered Demodocus to stop singing. Then he asked the hero his name, his origins, the story of his adventures and the land where the Phaeacian boats should take him. These intelligent vessels sailed without helmsman and rudders, knowing the thoughts and feelings of men, cities and countryside, without fear of damage or destruction when they made the crossing over the abyss of the seas.
Then Alcinous told his father’s prophecy that one day Poseidon, irritated by their reputation of infallible smugglers, would break a boat returning from a mission and conceal their city with a high mountain.
By his “highest intelligence (overmind)”, the seeker does not yet know whether his experiences already foreshadow the future or are those the men of ancient times could have (Alcinous does not know if Odysseus (Ulysses) comes from “the peoples of the dawn or those of the sunset”).
Mother gives a precise answer: two signs must be present if we want to be sure that we are on the right evolutionary path:
– An absolute, indisputable and infallible certainty of knowledge by identity (that can only be given by the body)
– A perfect and constant equality, which is not only an equality of the soul, but a state of immutable peace, unchanging, spontaneous, effortless, towards all events and circumstances, all material and psychological contacts, whatever their character or how much shock they bring. The vibrations coming from people or things do not have the power to change this inner state in which there are no more pleasant and unpleasant things. (See Mother’s Agenda, Volume 2, February 25, 1961)
Then the seeker recalls to his consciousness, thanks to his inner intuitive perception, the most important events of his development (Demodocus, the blind divine bard, sang the dispute between Odysseus (Ulysses) and Achilles). If we know that the motive for the dispute between Odysseus (Ulysses) and Ajax was the weapons of Achilles, no document narrating the dispute between Odysseus (Ulysses) and Achilles has come to us. One can only suppose that the dispute concerned the best yoga for evolution, Odysseus (Ulysses) being more related to the progress in the overmind by his mother and Achilles to the process of purification in the depths of the vital.
He then celebrates this new stage: games are organized. If they did not acquire in ancient Greece the fame of other games, it is probably because those who reached this stage of yoga were too rare, a few initiates or even avatars.
Before going into detail, what Homer presented in the rest of this Book is the difference in the ancient yoga practices that gave access to this stage and those that give access to the supramental, those that require a deeper surrender (surrender in the hands of the Divine), relaxation, joy and harmony right down to the body.
The old practices emphasized the will towards the goal, discipline, fights against hostile forces, strength, courage, perseverance, skill in the works, etc. while the new yoga, if it has not completely abandoned the ancient asceticism (still practiced by the Phaeacians), requires other “skills”.
First the games are practiced by the Phaeacians only (the most valiant of the Phaeacians sparred with each other), like a demonstration of the yogas required for the rest of the path.
What contributes to “master” the external nature (Laodamas) remains an important element and therefore invites the seeker to c