Hospitality In The Aeneid, And The Canterbury Tales

Taste, specifically food and drink, shows the values and traditions of people during specific historical periods and the societal norms that shape the time they live in. Food represents the level of social interaction, civil advancements and the overall nature of a society. Hospitality manifests this connection between culture and food and was an extremely prevalent norm in ancient Greece and Rome. Because this theme recurs in many of the texts in our sequence, we can understand that hospitality was universal and could have been found no matter where a person travelled. Food is culture. During the Roman Empire’s destruction and eventual rebuilding process, the shaping of the prime society the people were aiming for was adapted by diet as food played a major role in their lives. As seen in the texts, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Bible: Gospel of Matthew, and The Canterbury Tales, we notice how food, taste and diet help us to better understand the society and time period, specifically through the act of hospitality.

Medieval taste author Montanari Massimo also gives

Now the queen’s household made the whole house glow as they prepared a banquet in the kitchens. Embroidered table cloths… were spread, and set with massive silver plate, or gold, engraves…” (I: 865-874) Illustrated here is the language Virgil used to reveal the extent to which the hospitality was shown. The people had such a simple diet but still insisted on pouring this abundance of goods for this man whom they did not know. Although at times there was lack of resources, that did not diminish the generosity given to others but in fact, enhanced it. The most noble and virtuous of people proceeded with hospitality regardless of the material goods they did or did not