Examples Of Hospitality In The Odyssey

The concept of guest hospitality is extremely important in ancient Greece. Hospitality, or Xenia, is so essential in Greek society that Zeus, in addition to being the king of the Gods, is also the God of travelers (Wikipedia). This created an obligation for the host to be hospitable to their guests, and conversely, the guests had their own responsibilities as well. If either the host or the guest was to break any rule set by Xenia, there would be severe penalties dealt by Zeus and also by society (Wikipedia). In The Odyssey, Xenia is a theme which is shown repeatedly throughout the book: Nestor and Menelaos take in Telemakhos warmly as a guest and Eumaios plays an excellent host to Odysseus, while Odysseus is disguised as a wandering

Hospitality is mentioned all throughout the book. Hospitality is important to the people in that time. Zeus’s law of hospitality is that any stranger that comes to your home, the host must be willing to feed, entertain, and maybe offer them a bath and anything else they might be in need of without question until those things had been given, and also give them a parting gift. “It’s wrong my friend, to send any stranger packing-even one who arrives in worse shape than you. Every stranger and beggar comes from Zeus and whatever scrap they get from the likes of us, they’ll find it welcome.” (Book 14 pg.303 Line 64) This statement shows how important it is that the people follow Zeus’ law of xenia. Along with providing great hospitality the guest has to be respectful as well. Some of the biggest parts in the book that shows hospitality is with the Cyclops, and the goddesses Circe and Calypso, the suitors and the Phaeacians.

Xenia is the generosity and hospitality the Greek give to their guest when people come over to their home. Hospitality plays a major role in Greek society. In American society, today hospitality is not a priority. The most we do is let guest in to sit and offer maybe food and water. In the Odyssey Homer shows in Greek culture that hospitality is very important several times in the text and should treat everyone as royalty.

Throughout Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus the main character in the story is tested with the true meaning of hospitality. In the heroic age, hospitality was viewed as punishment or acceptance of a stranger. While Odysseus longed for his return to home, he faced the two different kinds of hospitality offered within the heroic age. My theory is that Odysseus was provided with good hospitality when he would enter a town that allowed him to eat at their table, bathed within their baths, and sleep within their homes. The townspeople and their king often provided superior hospitality for strangers without questioning them first. It's thought that maybe the wonderful hospitality was provided in return of viewing the stranger as a

The Greeks have been known for their hospitality and politeness, especially when treating guests- whether strangers or not. This is demonstrated near the beginning of the Odyssey when Telemachus went to Pylos to visit Nestor. Nestor, not knowing who he was taking into his home as guests, treated them with great honor and respect. "Now is the time," he said, "for a few questions, now that our young guests have enjoyed their dinner. Who are you, strangers? Where are you sailing from, and where to, down the highways of sea water (p 299)?" If ever Greeks were to serve themselves before their guests or even a little better than them, then they were breaking the most basic of all Greek customs,

In Greek society, hospitality is really important. The Greeks strongly believed in their gods, and they always wanted to be prepared if one came knocking at

Each culture treats strangers and guests with distinct differences from every other culture. One of the most hospitable cultures was that of the ancient Greeks, exemplified in Homer’s The Odyssey by both gracious hosts and guests. In Greece and The Odyssey, not only was good hospitality etiquette expected, but the added pressure from the conviction that the gods would punish the host if guests were treated without respect (whether they were poor or rich) further compelled excellent manners. The Odyssey illustrates the proper etiquette when dealing with guests.

The most common situation or scene from the ancient Greek literature often appears to be the scenes in which the characters are in foreign lands, lost, or just plain weary. This results in the need for hospitality to be shown to the travelers. Hospitality was shown to wandering strangers and wayfarers for several reasons. The most obvious of these, was that the host may himself, one day, be in trouble

Another example of generous hospitality is when Odysseus landed on the shores of Skheria, land of the Phaiakians. They give him a boat full of supplies and send him sailing home, but Poseidon had not finished teaching Odysseus a lesson. Zeus, not wanting to interfere with his brother, allowed him to destroy the Phaiakians and their boat while allowing Odysseus to live. They were punished because the dared to interfere with the gods' punishment of Odysseus.

The Odyssey is an epic poem attributed to the now-famous Greek poet, Homer, written approximately in the early sixth century B.C.E. The poem shares the tale of the wily adventuring solider, Odysseus', return from the Trojan war to his wife and home in Ithaca. The poem details his misadventures, the efforts of his son, Telemachus, to find him, and revenge on his wife's suitors. While many themes run through this poem, the most prevalent is that of hospitality. The Host-Guest relationship is significant in the Odyssey as it acts as one of the main thematic devices used by Homer and examples of good hospitality versus bad hospitality and their results serve as the main plot elements throughout the tale.

The hospitality is both wanted by the guest and willingly given by the host, and Menelaus fulfills all the “requirements” that are expected of a good host. Telemachus is bathed by the women of Menelaus’s palace, which is a recurring example of good hospitality in Homer’s works. The women “draw warm fleece and shirts around their shoulders” (Homer, 240), and Menelaus welcomes him with a grand feast. He tells Telemachus to “Help yourselves to food, and welcome! Once you’ve dined we’ll ask you who you are” (Homer, 240); here he demonstrates that he knows the proper “principles” of xenia, as he only asks questions after he serves his guests. “I’ll give you a princely send-off – shining gifts, three stallions and a chariot burnished bright- and I’ll add a gorgeous cup so you can pour libations out to the deathless gods on high and remember Menelaus all your days” (Homer, 253). The “three stallions and a chariot” included in his gifts to Telemachus are meant to serve as transportation. “…and remember Menelaus all your days” – as stated previously, hospitality could have been used to spread a person’s name if they would provide a high standard of it to strangers, and Menelaus would have wanted to be known for his hospitality. He also would have wanted for Telemachus, the son of the known Odysseus, to remember that Menelaus

The Odyssey is an epic about Ancient Greek culture written by Homer. This is one of the two major Greek poems. Odysseus is on a long journey back to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. The most valued life traits in an Ancient Greek culture is respect. Odysseus helps portray this by worshiping gods through the epic.

Homer values the characteristic of hospitality because the characters who do not demonstrate this characteristic typically suffer fatal or near-fatal injuries. In the Odyssey, Penelope (Odysseus’ wife) was hosting an event to make one of the suitors (potential marriage partners) her new husband because she had given up hope that Odysseus would not return home. The men who were at her house would just eat and drink, and showed no hospitality (21.70-78). In the Odyssey, Odysseus had attended this event disguised, and became aware of Penelope’s discourteous guests. Odysseus then goes on a “rampage” and slaughters all of the guests except for a few men who Telemachus (Odysseus’ son) swore their loyalty (22.16-529). Additionally, in chapter 21, Antinoös was the first to be killed because of his abrupt and rude manners, and distinctly

Hospitality is the idea that no one is unwelcome in your home; everyone is treated like an honored guest. In the Iliad, written by Homer, this practice is extremely important in the culture present, as it a reoccurring idea throughout the books. The characters in the Iliad are split between the Greeks and the Trojans, excluding the gods, all with their own separate interpersonal conflicts, all of which are greatly affected by hospitality. Hospitality in The Iliad is an important theme, whose importance is shown through the situations it shifts along with its affects on character development, that is either respected or ignored, both with dramatically different results.

Hospitality goes two ways; Guest have responsibilities just like the host does. The suitors, who are actually unwelcomed, guest takes Odysseus’s wife hospitality for granted as they waste all the goods and try to get at her constantly. Also when Odysseus returns in the disguise of an old man, the suitors treat him with great inhospitality.