This minor planet is named after Phemius, a character from the Odyssey. He was a poet who lived in Odysseus' house while he was lost at sea, performing for Telemachus and Penelope and, begrudgingly, the suitors who terrorized them. Twice in the Odyssey he was asked to perform. The first was by Telemachus, who wanted him to continue singing a poem that painfully reminded Penelope of her husband's absence. The second was by Odysseus, who asked him to perform wedding songs as a distraction. The symbol of this minor planet is a combination of those two lyrical subjects, tragedy and love. It is a lyre, symbol of the muse of love poetry Erato and Phemius' own instrument of choice, and a superimposed large downward dagger, symbol of the muse of tragedy Melpomene. The two elements are composed so as to suggest the shape of the Greek letter Phi. |
10664 Phemios
page revision: 9, last edited: 29 Jan 2022 18:40
Post preview:
Close preview