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In classical antiquity, a rhapsode was a professional reciter of poetry, especially the epics of Homer, but also the wisdom-verse of Hesiod and the satires of Archilochus, among others. Plato's dialogue Ion, wherein Socrates confronts a star rhapsode, remains our richest source of information on these artists.
Etymologically, the term means either "stitch-singer" (because the rhapsode stitched together elements of traditional poetry in his performances) or "staff-singer" (because he held a staff as the emblem of his trade).
It was much thanks to these rhapsodes that the works of Homer could be preserved until they were actually written down.
Often, rhapsodes are depicted in Greek art, wearing their signature cloaks. Such a cloak is also characteristic of travellers in general, implying that rhapsodes moved from town to town singing their stories.
A rhapsode features heavily in the JACT course "Reading Greek." As a companion of Dicaeopolis, he travels from Byzantium to Athens, looking at how beautiful the Parthenon is, how beautiful the ship-yard is, etc. as well as reciting bits of Homer. At the JACT Greek Summer School in 2005, the phrase ὀ ῤαψοδος (the rhapsode) became associated with raucous sex, and currently at the Cambridge University Faculty of Classics there will often be outbursts of "ὀ ῤαψοδος" accompanied by obscene gestures. Such a tradition may be attributed to Fish and Tom, but no one's going to blame them. It must be remembered that the rhapsode is the best general of the Greeks, for he knows Homer. However, since it is a physical impossibility for any ship to be black, hollow and swift at the same time, the best general of the Greeks must be an idiot. οιμοι
See also
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