Introduction: the mercenary motive, or, going for a song

Why did the Greek lyric poets compose their poems? Why do any poets write? In any age, the motive for artistic and literary production is partly mysterious, and certainly complex. Some writers do what they do for money and not much more. But this banal statement cannot be straightforwardly applied to the archaic Greek world, partly because there was no such thing as coined and thus easily negotiable money before the sixth century BCE, by which time lyric poetry was already well under way. Odysseus in Phaeacia (actually an honoured guest rather than a host) sends Demodocus the epic bard a rich portion of meat after he has sung of the adulterous love-making of Ares and Aphrodite (Od. 8.477ff.). Might he have sent him cash instead, the equivalent of slipping him a £20 note, if cash had been invented? We would incline to say 'No'. Hospitality costs the giver something in financial terms, of course; but cash is a cruder medium. But the real difference is not in the medium but in the method of presentation. To be sure, anthropology and economics teach us that there is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch; the expectation of a return is always there, and Odysseus is about to ask Demodocus a favour: please now sing about the Wooden Horse (lines 492-3). What makes the difference is less that between food and cash as between unconditional and conditional giftgiving. Odysseus makes his 'gift' first, then asks his favour.