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Different forms of hospitality in the odyssey
What does the Odyssey say about Greek culture
Importance of hospitality in the odyssey
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Translation of literature often results in many ideas and words getting lost, as the translations aren’t able to reflect the ideas and words originally crafted by an author. This is especially true in Fitzgerald’s translation of The Odyssey, in which many Greek ideas and words are lost in the translation. These include the Greek words Oizdus and Xenia, which both represent ideas that cannot be fully expressed in English because they pertain to ideas from a culture that is much different than the modern western culture that Robert Fitzgerald, the translator, lived in. The Greek word Oizdus represents the idea of deep pain and suffering and Xenia represents the ancient-Greek custom of hospitality. It is important to note that hospitality in ancient-Greece was much different than today’s version. Hospitality in the Greek world was thought of as mandatory and that refusal of one’s request for hospitality would anger the gods. In The Odyssey there is a deep entrenched connection between the ideas of Oizdus and Xenia. In his book, Homer shows that hospitality often brings pain when it is unwanted or when it is accepted without caution.
In The Odyssey, unwanted hospitality brings upon pain. For instance, Penelope is caused much pain due to the fact that she hosts the suitors even though
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she doesn’t want to host them. She does this in order to please the gods through her adherence to the idea of Xenia. On the other hand, Telemakhos wants to get rid of the suitors because they are disrespectful and they deplete Telemakhos’s and his mother’s resources and eat their livestock. He says, “ Expel them, yes, if I only had the power; the whole thing’s out of hand, insufferable. My house is being plundered: Is this courtesy? Where is your indignation? Where is your Shame (2. 66-69)?”. Telemakhos wants to expel the suitors because his “ house is being plundered” by them and because of their lack of respect. Fitzgerald even shows how serious the situation is by using the word “plundered” effectively comparing the suitors to thieves. Even though the suitors are being terrible guests and and Penelope and Telemakhos are personally suffering as a result of having them, Penelope graciously hosts the suitors. Through Penelope’s suffering, Homer displays the cause and effect relationship between Xenia and Oizdus. Kalypso’s unwanted hospitality towards Odysseus causes him to suffer. It is important to note that Xenia is usually an affair between humans so this instance is abnormal because Kalypso is a goddess. But still, Kalypso provides Odysseus with hospitality even though he doesn’t want it by trapping him on her island. Odysseus wants to leave and go back home, but Kalypso won’t let him. Homer shows Odysseus’s sadness when he writes, “ He sat on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with wet eyes scanning the bare horizon of the sea. (5. 164-166)” In this scene, Odysseus’s sadness and pain is directly linked to the hospitality provided by Kalypso, making her seem more like a captor than a host. Accepting another’s hospitality without caution causes Odysseus and his shipmates pain and peril. For example, when Odysseus sends three of his men to scout out the island of the Lotos Eaters, he has to drag them all the way back to the ship. Odysseus says, “ They fell in, soon enough, with Lotos Eaters… I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down (9. 98-106)”. Although the Lotos Eaters were sincere in their hospitality and didn’t want to cause harm to Odysseus or his men, accepting their hospitality was dangerous because those who ate their Lotos flowers lost all desire to go back to Ithaka. In this scene, Odysseus puts his men in a compromising and perilous position because he doesn’t warn his shipmates about the Lotos Eaters and because of Odysseus’s shipmates lack of caution around the hospitality of the Lotos. Kirke’s hospitality towards Odysseus is an example of insincere Xenia.
When Odysseus lands on Aiaia, Kirke is hospitable to Odysseus’s men and “ Prepared a meal [for them]… adding her own vile pinch, to make them lose desire or thought of our dear father land (10. 258-260)”. Once again, this is different because the notion of Xenia is usually between humans. This being said, when Odysseus’s men landed on Aiaiai, they didn’t know that Kirke was a goddess. Odysseus’s shipmates’ need for Kirke’s hospitality blinds them to her trickery until it is too late. Odysseus and his shipmates’ willingness to accept another’s hospitality causes them to trust their hosts too much blinds them to
caution. In The Odyssey, Homer shows that Xenia has a cause and effect relationship with Oizdus as hospitality often brings upon pain especially when there is undeserved trust or unwanted hospitality involved. By intertwining the ideas of Oizdus and Xenia, Homer creates a powerful message: Be careful who you trust because not everyone has your best interests at heart.
From the very beginning we can see the Powerful Kirke showing good xenia by the way she treats her guests, it is the way he does it that makes us question whether it is slightly wrong. “On thrones she seated them…she prepared a meal of cheese and barley and amber honey mixed with pramanian wine…” (Pg. 172 lines 257-259) Although this shows nothing but good xenia she adds her own evil spice to the feast, “…adding her own pinch, to make them lose desire or thought of our dear father land.” She betrays them, uses their weakness to her advantage and turns them into swine. Once Odysseus hears about this he rushes to stop this trickery, while on the way the great Hermes prepares him with an herb that will stop the powerful effects of Kirke’s evil trance. Odysseus arrives with a clear mind and even though Kirke works hard to put him under her trance, she fails time and time again. Odysseus loses track of his long term goal to go home and ends up staying over a year willingly drinking wine and eating luxurious meat. When he finally realizes it is time to get back on plan and head home. A sneaky Kirke has other plans for Odysseus and his crew’s journey, “…you shall not stay here longer against your will, but home you may not go unless you take strange way…come to the cold homes of Death and pale Persephone.”
Throughout literature characters have relied upon entities greater then themselves to furnish them with aid as they meet the many challenges they must face. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus’ epic journey and the many obstacles that bar his return home. But Odysseus is not alone in this struggle and receives aid from many gods, especially the clear-eyed goddess Athena. There are times when Odysseus beseeches the gods for aid, but other times he is too foolhardy to receive aid from even the immortal gods. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey revolves around the cyclical phases of his dependence, independence and his return to reliance upon the gods’ aid.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
Understanding a story requires more than just reading words and matching them with a general definition. One needs the ability to comprehend the themes by carefully reading between the lines. The concept of xenia is displayed numerous times throughout The Odyssey. Xenia is a type of hospitality that many of the Greeks found necessary to abide by. As Carly said in her description of xenia, it "describes guest-friendship as a sort of custom of the home." In order to fully grasp the idea of the book, one must understand this Greek hospitality and the significance it served to many Greeks during this era. If there were an absence of xenia, The Odyssey would not have any cultural depth to it; instead, it would be a book solely about a war hero who experiences few obstacles on his way home. The main characters of The Odyssey followed the unwritten code of xenos, even if it was not self-beneficiary. Them being
“I often gave to vagabonds, whoever they might be, who came in need.” (Homer, 351) Hospitality was evident in Homer’s time period and eventually was seen as an institution in the Greek culture. A guest-host relationship, known as Xenia, takes place throughout The Odyssey whether it’s to gain relationships or to avoid punishments from the gods. It is a major theme and is apparent in every book of The Odyssey. Hospitable characters who use xenia are what keep this novel going. Xenia affects the plot in many ways and influences characters actions and choices throughout the novel.
In The Odyssey, Homer contrasts Odysseus and his native island of Ithaka with other characters and places that are perceived to be superhuman and subhuman as well as with the less than fully human. Throughout the course of this paper, you will be introduced to a vast number of characters and several circumstances will be examined in order to answer the question of what it is to be human and fully human. Up until the time Telemakhos leaves to find news of his father, he is viewed as nave and child-like by the suitors and his own mother, even though he is in his late teens. This lack of recognition can be attributed to Telemakhos’s poor choices, or lack of choices early in the epic. While Telemakhos remained loyal to a father he has never known, without Athena’s assistance, he would have done absolutely nothing about the suitors.
Altogether, hospitality was an important theme for Odysseus, during his adventure back to Ithica. Hospitality also played an important role for Telemachus, and the search for information about the whereabouts of his father. Without this tradition of Greek hospitality, the sequence of events in The Odyssey could have changed drastically. Not only was this Greek custom of hospitality important in The Odyssey, it was also important to Greek citizens. Just the simple tradition of hospitality, whether positive or negative, can explain much about Greek citizens, and how they treat each other.
All throughout The Odyssey there are scenes of good and bad, xenia, or hospitality. It can be seen that hospitality is extremely important in the Greek culture, both how someone treats their guests and how the guests treat the host. A closer look chronologically into the good, then bad examples will show how one acts affects the actions that are brought upon them when they either follow or disobey Zeus' Law. Right at the beginning of The Odyssey, the reader is shown the hospitality that Telemachus has. Athena arrives, disguised, and he invites her into his home by saying: "'Greetings, stranger!
For the Greeks, Homer's Odyssey was much more than just an entertaining tale of gods, monsters, and men, it served as a cultural paradigm from which every important role and relationship could be defined. This book, much more so than its counterpart The Iliad, gives an eclectic view of the Achean's peacetime civilization. Through Odyssey, we gain an understanding of what is proper or improper in relationships between father and son, god and mortal, servant and master, guest and host, and—importantly—man and woman. Women play a vital role in the movement of this narrative. Unlike in The Iliad, where they are chiefly prizes to be won, bereft of identity, the women of Odyssey are unique in their personality, intentions, and relationship towards men.
In The Odyssey, a Greek hero, Odysseus, journeys back home after the Trojan War. Throughout this long voyage, Odysseus meets many people who take him in out of their own courtesy and hospitality. Within this text, the re-occurring theme of hospitality has had much significance and has also made a presence in today’s society. Xenia was common in the Greek culture; however, changes throughout society have made this form of hospitality a smaller occurrence today. Xenia, or the concept of hospitality, is the main theme present in the Odyssey.
Diomedes is on his aristea and devastating the Trojan ranks when he notices a man, Glaucus, Hippolochus’ son. Diomedes stops and asks Glaucus for his lineage, as he wants to know who exactly he is about to kill. After a lengthy aside about Glaucus’ family history, Diomedes grins and plants his spear in the earth. Diomedes then says, “We have old ties of hospitality,”(6.221). The word “ties” implies more than just a slight connection between the two warriors, and the action of both of these men solidifies that idea. Diomedes stops his bloodthirsty frenzy because of his respect for xenia and the fact that Glaucus had an ancestor who had once upon a time been Diomedes’ ancestor’s guest. Diomedes goes on to say, “That makes me your friend and you my guest / If ever you come to Argos, as you are my friend / And I your guest whenever I travel to Lycia” (6.231-233). Even though Diomedes and Glaucus are two generations removed from when the host-to-guest interaction occurred, xenia carries so much weight that even many years down the line, they both still respect it enough to stop in the middle of a raging battle and become friends. This interaction shows how ingrained xenia is in each and every Achaean and Trojan. One could say that Diomedes and Glaucus truly became friends, but, on the other hand, this could be just a habit. All of society respects xenia, so at this point it is
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 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 certain characteristics everyday of their lives, whether they realize it or not; and The Odyssey is just one of those many miraculous tests.
Through characters and situations, The Odyssey promotes and emphasizes many important ancient Greek values such as hospitality, pride, and fate. Stressed greatly in ancient Greek culture, hospitality is evident throughout Homer’s writing, which reflects and expresses many different value systems within it. For example, when in the cave of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, Odysseus confronts him by saying, “we therefore humbly pray to show us some hospitality and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect” (92). To the Greeks, hospitality was very important, to the point that it was an expectation and not just a quality, as it is in today’s culture. If you feared Zeus and the gods, you were to show hospitality.
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.