The Significance of the Host/Guest Relationship in The Odyssey

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey translated by Robert Fagles completely illustrate Odysseus’s journey home after The Trojan War. Separated into twenty-four different books, the poem describes the hardships Odysseus faces and how he overcomes obstacles. Though this poem is composed for listeners and may seem incomprehensible, Homer includes a plethora of literary devices to help audiences better understand, follow, and enjoy the context of The Odyssey. Throughout this poem instances of epic simile, foreshadowing, epithet, and xenia are included to help the poem flow.

The Odyssey is a 3,200 year-old epic poem written by Homer. The poem has many themes including hospitality, vengeance, and loyalty. These themes combined are what make the Odyssey so relevant today. One of the most important themes that comes into play in The Odyssey is the theme of loyalty. The theme is used throughout Odysseus’ journey and even after the journey is over.

The Odyssey by Homer is an epic poem about a hero’s perilous ten-year journey home with twelve ships and hundreds of men. During this voyage, however, Odysseus and his men face the wrath of Poseidon, the wiles of Circe and the Sirens, and the peril of the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. In the end, Odysseus loses everything except his determination to return home to his beloved wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Even though he experiences many difficult challenges, Odysseus is a hero who exemplifies the Greek cultural values of bravery, wit, and loyalty.

One of the many points that can support the idea of The Odyssey as an epic poem is that it is a story that showcases the morals and values that the ancient Greeks held dear. One of the morals that is implied by Homer in the story is the importance that the ancient Hellenic societies placed on hospitality and manners. This trait of hospitality is shown throughout the entirety of the story; and is shown in the section of the story when Telemachus, a prince, treats his father, who has been disguised as a beggar, with the utmost respect and manners. The story says that “Odysseus moved aside, yielding his couch, but from across the room Telemachus checked him: Friend sit down we’ll find another chair.” (16. 49-50) This action by Telemachus shows the importance of hospitality to the

While reading this poem, the reader can identify many archetypes. There are the heroes, the villains, the wise teachers and many more. Numerous themes and ideas are portrayed throughout this poem, it is the basis of which all other books model themselves after. “The Odyssey” was written by Homer in 720 BC, known as the Bronze Age. It is an Epic that tells the story of a father, Odysseus, who goes through many trials and adventures In order to be reunited with his Wife Penelope, and Son Telemachus.

A prevalent subject in The Odyssey is hospitality, known as xenia in Greek. Xenia encompasses different rules for hosts to follow, and Odysseus encounters various kings and powerful characters that all follow these rules differently. Among the hosts were Polyphemos, Calypso, Circe, Alkinoos, and Eumaios, who show good and bad hospitality. An example of the bad hospitality is the cyclops Polyphemos, shown when he says, “You are a ninny...telling me, mind the gods! We Kyklopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus... I would not let you go for fear of Zeus...unless I had a whim to” (9.295-303). Since Polyphemos is indifferent toward the god that protects travelers, he does not feel guilty when treating Odysseus poorly and eating his guests.

6. What does this bloody scene add to the epic’s theme about the value of hospitality and about what happens to people who mock divine laws? In ancient Greece the suitors have mocked the divine laws of hospitality and are being punished for not valuing same

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 Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for

In the epic Greek home, the Odyssey, author Homer conveys a tale of a man, Odysseus, as he tries to get home after a ten-year Trojan war. The poem he has presented as the message of appealing to everyone's desire to make the painful and long journey home to be with their family. Homer depicts this message through his use of Homeric similes and it accomplishes his attempt of engaging into that desire of longing that everyone feels. The Author compares the subject of Odysseus and his son, Tele Maykus, meeting after Odysseus made the long journey home to a, "keen and fluttering as those of a great taloned hawk.

Homer 's epic, 'The Odyssey ', is a lengthy poem that recounts the Trojan war hero, Odysseus ' arduous and protracted journey home to Ithaca. In it, Homer accentuates the somewhat feudal nature of his world, a societal structure that far more resembles his own than that which actually existed in Mycenaean Greece, less to supplement the story, but rather to serve as the primary focus. Despite the feudal qualities of the world that Homer relates, the poem is almost entirely devoid of class conscious thinking. Instead, the primary source of structure comes from the household. The 'Odyssey ' serves as something of a champion for the oixos (Ancient Greek for the household

The Odyssey is a celebrated epic filled with many different themes, motifs, styles, and characters that could be examined in vast detail, but the theme of hospitality is a reoccurring one throughout the entire narrative. Homer writes about examples of both great hospitality and very inhospitable characters in his epic poem. Hospitality in The Odyssey creates definition of how individuals are either punished or rewarded by the gods.

The people see the gods an authority figure so if they treat people bad they get punished. Also they give offerings as saying thank you protecter spare me, or treat me well. Odysseus makes sure to tell the Cyclops about Greek values,“‘ As custom is to honor strangers./We would entreat you, great Sir, have a care/ for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge/ the unoffending guest.’”(377). Just like any other

Hospitality shaped Greek life. This unspoken code, highly valued in Greek society, established responsibilities for both guests and hosts. Demonstrating generosity and kindness, honorable hosts offered their guests extravagant feasts, luxurious baths, and lavish housing. In response, gracious guests showed courtesy and respect to their hosts by refraining from abusing the hospitality extended towards them. Hospitality reveals the moral character of both hosts and guests in the Homerian epic The Odyssey.

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey follows Odysseus on his long journey home. The Epic also includes the stories of Odysseus’ family left behind: the travels of his son, Telemachus, and how plenty, of what we would now call “home wreckers”, suitors pressured his wife, Penelope, into marrying one of them. The characters are beautifully crafted and the story is truly epic. All the elements presented can bring in any reader from any century, the Cyclops, the Gods, the trickery of Penelope, and the disguises of Odysseus, are all legendary literary hooks . There are many things to learn—about writing, about the world around us, the world ahead of us, and the past behind us—from The Odyssey. (26) It is undeniably evident that this ancient text has