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Greek society hospitality odyssey
The ancient Greeks sense of hospitality their word of honor
The ancient Greeks sense of hospitality their word of honor
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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 …show more content…
Since Poseidon, god of the earthquake, is still furious toward Odysseus for stabbing Polyphemus in the eye, the Phaeacians’s xenia went wrong. They hosted their guest properly, but went against the gods’ will and in a way showed no respect to the gods, especially Poseidon. After Poseidon knew Odysseus went back to Ithaca, he said, “I will lose all my honor now among the immortals, now there are mortal men who show me no respect – Phaeacians, too.” (13. 145-147) Thus, the Phaeacians were punished and killed for showing xenia to the wrong
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
Like David who is favoured by God, Odysseus is favoured by some of the gods and goddesses who reside on Mount Olympos. Zeus, the king, however, feels neutral and will help according to what he sees fit. When Odysseus and his crew realizes they are trapped and are bound to be eaten by the Cyclops, the son of Laertes has the idea of having the big brute drink wine till he is passes out and then drive a burning stake into his eye, blinding him. Of course it would’ve been easier to just kill Polyphemos, but then no one would be able to move the hefty boulder blocking the entrance. So afterwards, all the men clung onto the sheep and rams, hanging from their underbelly, and waited until they would be released into the pasture. With four men eaten, but everyone else free including Odysseus, he hollers from his boat, “‘Zeus and the other gods have paid you back!’” (Odyssey. l. 536) and starts this shouting contest between them. From this, Odysseus tells him his real name. Polyphemos is rather shocked by this knowledge because a prophecy had warned him about this blinding event, expecting someone who was a good-looking giant, and continues to call Odysseus a tiny coward for tricking instead of fighting him. What’s different between Polyphemos and Goliath, other than the fact that one is a mythical being and the other just abnormally enormous in height, is that a god favoured the former of the two. Ever since the Trojan War, some of the other Olympians, especially Poseidon, have been making Odysseus’ journey home a devastating hardship. Polyphemos, as son of the earthquake god, prays to Poseidon that Odysseus return home with a broken spirit after several
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.
... As stated before, the women were able to get away with wrongdoings. The Cyclops were able to get away with eating Odysseus's men and even managed to get Odysseus in trouble with the gods. Odysseus didn't display the best hospitality at moments, such as when he skewered the Cyclops's eye and then taunted him about it, but even he ended up being punished when he had acts of bad hospitality. Despite being the most hospitable group, the Phaeacians ended up being punished more than most.
For the Greeks, Homer's Odyssey was much more than just an entertaining tale of gods, monsters, and men, it served as cultural paradigm from which every important role and relationship could be defined. This book, much more so than its counter part 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. Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each--through her vices or virtues-- helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks.
Homer’s Iliad is ripe with a variety of social structures. The passage where Diomedes meets Glaucus in battle shows the reader how a variety of these structures interact, and how the Argives value them in relation to each other. There are times when the characters fight for glory, there are times when they strive to earn riches, but above all else, they respect xenia. Xenia is the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, and it is evoked any time a guest visits a host. The Achaeans respect it above all else, and failure to adhere to its strict customs could lead to the forfeiture of countless souls. By the end of the story, xenia has overpowered money, battle, and glory, cementing its place as the most powerful force in all of Homer’s Ancient
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The women in “The Odyssey” dictate the direction of the epic. Homer the blind creator may have contrived the story with the aim to depict a story of a male heroism; but the story if looked at from a different angles shows the power women have over men. The Sirens and women that posses the power of seduction when ever they are encountered take the men off their course, and lead many to their death. The power women in the Epic pose can be seen from the goddess all to the wives. From The nymph Calypso who enslaves Odysseus for many years posses all the way back to Penelope who many argue is of equal importance to
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.
In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they were faced with serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.
Greek Hospitality is represented multiple times in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey there is a law that men should show hospitality to any guests, but sometimes they do not. A few times they do show hospitality is when Odysseus goes to Alkinoos’ castle, when he goes to the home of Eumaeus, a trusty swineherd, and one time he does not see hospitality, is when he finds himself in the home of the cyclopes Polyphemus.
Hospitium, or Xenia, also called the guest right, was a Greek philosophy that required that all guests were to be given generous welcomes by their hosts, either with wine, gifts, or food. In Greek Society, Hospitium must be practiced by both the guest and the host. If these laws were not followed, the wrongdoing party would risk antagonizing Zeus, the protector of travelers. Besides the guest’s guidelines, there were also the host’s guidelines, which are to make sure the guest’s needs are met. Here we see that in the Odyssey, our perspective of the moral quality of the characters in the story directly coincides with their abidance or rejection of Hospitium. The fine line between the guest’s rights and the host’s duty has a major influence on Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ journey in the Odyssey.
Once a cornerstone in society, hospitality has been slowly whittled away over time, however there is evidence of hospitality having a major role in everyday life in stories such as Homer’s The Odyssey, and the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In ancient Greek society, hospitality was known as xenia. In The Odyssey as well as in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, hospitality, in all cases, came with a test of each character’s wit, resilience, and strength of character.
When introduced, Odysseus is easily identified as conceited and arrogant. His hubris is made exceptionally conspicuous during his experience with the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Even after he and his men barely escape the cave and retreat to the safety on the ship, Odysseus continues to yell taunts at Polyphemus, despite the fear and anxiety expressed by his crew. This event is also an example of his impulsive nature, as he does not stop to consider the consequences of taunting the son of Poseidon, the god of earthquakes, nor does he allow the begging of his men to sway his behavior. He calls out, “Cyclops– if any man … should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so–say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye…” (Homer 227). It is these significant acts of hubris and impulsiveness that lead to the curse brought upon him by Poseidon. Also, at various points, Odysseus is shown to be ...
Odysseus and his crew have landed on the cyclops island. Odysseus took with him a dozen of the finest fighters in his crew to geo-tour the island. They were hoping they would meet a friendly cyclop who will show them xenia. They found a cyclops home but the cyclops wasn’t there. His crew wanted to grab food and leave but Odysseus wanted to be polite and wait. When the cyclops finally comes he doesn’t show them xenia and he eats 6 of Odysseus crew. “ Here, cyclops, try this wine-to top off the banquet
Both works included the Greek value of excellence, which was a strong notion of obligation and duty. The Greek word Xenia, meaning to be respected no matter the situation, complemented the Greek value of excellence. The value of excellence was displayed in the life of the Greek hero Achilles. Achilles lived and died, always to be the best. To Achilles shame and disgrace were worse than death. The guest-host relationship was also important in Greek culture. Hospitality was an important virtue, and was exhibited by Odysseus’s wife Penelope in The Odyssey. Penelope preserved the household while Odysseus was away and was fiercely loyal to her husband. Men were to strive for excellence in Greek society, as well as the women. Later during the time of Alexander the Great, he would carry a copy of The Iliad on his campaigns, and was inspired by the heroics of Achilles. Another belief reflected in early Greek stories was that of retributive justice. In The Odyssey, when Odysseus returns home from his long journey he enacts retributive justice on the suitors that have desecrated his home. The Greek’s form of justice was retributive, which distributed appropriate and proportional payback for one’s actions. The men distributed justice in early Greece by force or