Within Homer’s The Odyssey hospitality and relationships between the guest and host was a powerful tradition in Ancient Greek times, which built strong relationships and forged alliances. This guest-host relationship is known as xenia, a pinnacle of Greek society, and is a major theme throughout The Odyssey, and influences the plot of the story in very important ways. For many modern readers xenia is difficult to discern in terms of the guest-host relationship and how it is applied without clearly learning it. Fortunately, there are certain essentials of hospitality that are required for a guest to be properly welcomed and received. Additionally, these essential requirements of xenia aid in the development of the plot, particularly near the end of the epic when Odysseus discards his disguise as a guest in his own home and is there to reclaim and restore it. The custom of xenia was seen as a measure of who was civilized, as well as being a significant part of the religious aspect of the Greek’s lives. The Greeks believed that Zeus was the patron God of hospitality and honouring a guest was the same as honouring Zeus. They believed that failing to honour a guest would bring the wrath of the gods upon them. By portraying good xenia, many people were able to spread the fame of their house and improved their own statuses. Xenia is evident in many different incidents throughout The Odyssey. Most of the first half of the epic portrays Telemachus and Odysseus being welcomed as guests in a foreign land. As each interaction develops, they each share common features of hospitality. These features include the bath, the feast, the question of who the guest is, the guest-gift, and the promise of transport and protection. However, throughout T... ... middle of paper ... ... an understanding of what establishes the guest-host relationship helps one to recognise how significant the role of xenia is. Being a good host and offering hospitality would lead to the uncovering of a stranger’s identity, which is seen during Odysseus’ homecoming. This plays a major role in the epic due to the fact that Odysseus must reveal his identity to reclaim his home and rid it of the suitors that have moved into his palace. Due to Telemachus’ hospitality towards Odysseus when he is disguised as a beggar, Odysseus is able to take the necessary steps to secure his home, determine who should be punished and take up the bow used to kill those who defied him and his wife. Hospitality is essential in creating this vital moment within the epic and what it has been built up to. Xenia defined who a person truly was and helped Odysseus eventually make his way home.
In the Odyssey the people of Ithaca are accustomed to hospitality. In Odysseus’s lengthy journey home he learns to maintain modesty. Odysseus’s family never give up on him throughout his entire 20 year journey, and they kept Ithaca for him when he came back. The Greek values of hospitality, humility, and loyalty are conveyed in The Odyssey.
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
In our modern day, there are plenty of different ways that a person can show hospitality towards a guest whether it be a stranger or friend. Having only lived in the United States, I have found myself to be treated most graciously by my friends, but every so often, I do find myself to be lost in a friend 's house. Every person was taught certain morals as a child that they now use in their adult lives, but for some people, hospitality has been thought to be just letting them come into the house. In the Odyssey, so far, we as the readers have come to see how hospitality can be very well done. Whether it be Telemachus or Odysseus traveling and staying at places, they were served at the finest level even though they were complete strangers. The providers have a dedication to help the stranger because they could possibly hope that the gift of food or money will be passed on.
In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer illustrates that one 's nobility is determined by one 's capacity to maintain the traditions of hospitality. Odysseus has left his home of Ithaca, and has not been able return home for decades due to the Trojan War. Since he left for war, he was compelled to leave his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, behind. Numerous suitors attempt to claim Penelope, as they want to obtain the vacant throne, but Penelope remains loyal and declines their engagement. Instead of leaving, the suitors stay in Odysseus’ residence and are distinctly unlawful and unstable. Since conformity to the laws of hospitality determines how dignified one is, one must always provide adequate hospitality to visitors, and in turn, the visitors cannot take advantage of the host. Homer shows this theme through the hospitable actions of Menelaus and Telemachus and contrasts the
Hospitality in Homer’s era was thoroughly presented through extended travels such as Odysseus ' in The Odyssey in addition to the guest-friend relationship, acknowledged as xenia. There are various feasible motives why hospitality was more customary in those times. Traveling in Homer’s time period was much lengthier than in modern times. The reduced amount of advanced methods of transportation is used in Homeric times, for instance by boat or by foot. Their methods were much more time consuming than forms of transportation today. Therefore, several additional nights were spent away from home. Because during this time era hotels were not available to travelers nor would they be affordable if they had. travelers relied on the generosity
In The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, Odysseus makes the journey home after twenty years. He faces obstacles that he must overcome, which includes the loss of all his men. While away his wife Penelope was to pick a suitor from many men who consumed all of Penelope and Telemachus’ wealth. Odysseus returns to Ithaca as a beggar and with the help of Athena, is able to defeat the suitors. Hospitality played a major role in the Odyssey, because it determines the fate of both the host and the guest. Showing anyone into one’s home and respecting them because it is morally right, but the guest must also respect the host repay the favor if needed.
In the book The Odyssey, xenia is considered sacred. If one was to show xenia in a negative way they would later be punished for it and if someone was to show xenia in a positive way they would be rewarded for it. Yet if xenia was both good and bad, how would that affect the outcome? In the story “The Grace of the Witch”, the great and beautiful Goddess Kirke shows good xenia by giving her guests a warm welcome with rich wine, extravagant feast, and tall thrones to sit upon and feel magnificent, but does it all count if she drugged them to stay? The toss between good and bad xenia is questioned when Kirke shows Odysseus and his men good hospitality but it is also threatened when they are forced to stay or must leave and head to the homes of
Home was a prevalent concept in Ancient Greece. Not only was there a goddess of the hearth and home, Hestia, but hospitality towards others was highly stressed. Home was regarded as a place to escape from chaos in the outside world. Homer and Euripides in The Odyssey and Medea, respectively, use the motif of home to show the difference in an individual’s public manner versus their personal, more natural manner. This difference is caused by the different levels of comfort individuals have in different settings. Specifically, the two works portray the difference through experience of the characters, mistrust developed towards others, and the maintenance of dual identities.
Although the Ancient Greeks and American’s today have different practices regarding hospitality, some of their traditions are similar. Many examples of Greek culture, including hospitality, has been displayed in Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey.” This essay will compare hospitality factors between the ancient Greek’s beliefs displayed in the Odyssey and modern day hospitality.
Hospitality or Xenia (Greek for guest-friendship) is a prevalent theme used throughout the Odyssey and helps the readers understand more about Greek culture in the Bronze Age. However in that time it was more like Philoxenia (Extending hospitality to one far from his home). Homer used hospitality to define his characters and shows how it affects them. He introduces their cunning personality traits and ignorance through hospitality. He demonstrates how it affects the gods, and odysseus’s journey, and uses literary elements to do so.
Xenia, at the ancient Greeks society, simply means hospitality: the standard practice of the host and the guest from various locales. Examples from providing food and drink, through offering bath and gift, and to protect and escort guests to their destination are extremely common and what seemed appropriate to expects from the host. Basic rules of xenia include how host should respect guest by not asking questions about one before one finish dining, and how guest should respect host by offering gift and to not to be a burden. Through out Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, hospitality plays a major and constant theme where it at least appeared in 12 different occasions. At Homeric times due to limitation on transportation, people can only travel by vessel or by foot, which were much slower than current sorts of transportation and made the journey back then much longer and more challenging. Additionally, there were
Xenia, the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, was one of the foremost forces in Homer’s Iliad. The Achaeans respect it above nearly all else, and failure to adhere to its strict customs could lead to the forfeiture of countless souls.
The theme of hospitality in The Odyssey is of extreme importance. The Odyssey is an anthem to one of the most honored ancient Greek society’s values, as was hospitality. Hospitality tended to bond Greek’s personal relationships, such as friendship and at the same time loyalty; it symbolizes respect, honor, and justice. Although most of the hosts from The Odyssey did honor their guesses, Odysseus and his son Telemachus, the most remarkable examples of genuine hospitality in the poem are three. Nestor of Pylos and Meneláos, lord of Sparta, gave a great welcome to Odysseus’s son Télemakhus.
Hospitality today is nothing like it was in Ancient Greece. Today, good hospitality is being friendly and respectful to a guest. In Ancient Greece, hospitality was something people had to do, or face the wrath of Zeus. 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. The guest, in turn, would not be a burden in any way. In The Odyssey, most people follow the rules of hospitality, but there are others who do not. The Greek concept of xenia shows the serious priority the Greeks place on the laws of the gods.
The concept of guest friendship is an essential tool that promises safety in everyday ancient Greek life and the significance it carries is reflected in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. It is enforced not only by the mortals in traditional domestic settings, but also on the battlefield and by the gods themselves. The warriors in the Iliad and the Odyssey respect xenia more than they desire kleos.