More handpicked essays just for you.
Greek culture and its influence in western society
Reflection on critical reading and thinking skills
Essay about greek culture
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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 Trojan War was incited by Paris’ theft of Menelaus’ wife. This is the first, and only, breach of xenia in all of the Iliad, with good cause. Paris was Menelaus’ guest but chose to steal Menelaus’ wife and much of his riches instead of honoring xenia as he should have. Paris’ transgression against xenia is what initially agitated Menelaus’. Although this act is not explicitly pictured in the Iliad, the Trojan War is essentially the fallout of Paris’ breach of xenia and without his infraction, many lives …show more content…
Oeneus chose to entertain Bellerophon in his halls for twenty days, for no other reason than that Bellerophon was a foreigner in his land, a guest. Not only did they feast and drink for twenty days, they also gave each other “gifts of friendship”. Although it is safe to assume Oeneus acquired great wealth through his battles he still spent a large sum of money on his guest, not only through revelry but through gifts. This is not the only example of the heroes placing xenia over monetary wealth. At the end of Diomedes’ speech to Glaucus about friendship, Homer says “But Zeus took away Glaucus’ good sense, / For he exchanged his golden armor for bronze, / The worth of one hundred oxen for nine,” (6.243-245). The claim that Glaucus’ must have had his sense taken away from him to allow him to exchange his golden armor for Diomedes’ bronze armor is wrong. Xenia is what prompted the exchange, not a lack of sense. Glaucus does not care about the value of the armor, instead he wishes to celebrate xenia. The value of this continued host-to-guest interaction is worth far, far more to both Glaucus and Diomedes than the monetary value of their …show more content…
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). Diomedes’ offer to host Glaucus “if ever you [Glaucus] come to Argos”, as well as Glaucus’ implied agreement to host Diomedes, shows that they are not now simply aware of the other’s lineage, but instead have a deep friendship inspired by nothing more than the virtue of the xenia of times past. 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
Diomedes and Glaucus decided not to fight each other because they discovered their respective grandfathers Oeneus and Bellerophon were friends after Glaucus obliged him by telling Diomedes about the people from whom he’s descended.
The Trojan War is one of the most known battle or war in history, if not the most known. It was a very, very long war, but there was one main source or reason of conflict that drove it to last so long, it seemed endless. Paris, a Trojan prince, was promised a wife as fair as the goddess of beauty by Aphrodite herself. The particular woman she promised was already married to a Greek King by the name of Menelaus. This started not only tension between the Greeks and Trojans but also anger because they were recently married.Helen should have returned to the Greeks for a few reasons that could have led to a shorter war, or even no war.First off, Greek King Menelaus is her rightfully wedded husband. The war would have been totally prevented if a couple of decisions were better made. Finally, she never really was in love with Paris. It was all manipulated by Aphrodite.
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
Hospitality: Greek philoxenia; literally “love of strangers.” Homer might have had such a definition in mind when he introduced the theme of hospitality to his epic poem the Odyssey. A multitude of reasons for the prominent position this theme plays, both in the Odyssey and perhaps in Homer’s own society, are hinted at in the introductory books, often referred to as the Telemachy. Just two of these, namely the hunger for news and the belief in divinity, are illustrated by the words and actions of the hosts Telemakhos and Nestor.
In opposition to this, Odysseus’ request for hospitality is followed by the Cyclops stating, “you are a fool.we Cyclopes do not care about Zeus or any of your blessed gods for we are ever so much stronger than them” (92/93). In accordance to this, the greatest reason for one to show hospitality was because they believed the gods might show up in disguise; if a god was displeased, it would inevitably lead to disaster.... ... middle of paper ... ...for I am not prophesying without due knowledge; everything has happened to Odysseus as I foretold.
Xenia, the Greek concept of hospitality and guest-host relationship, was an important rule that everyone is expected to live by. One example of Homeric Greeks that followed Xenia were the Phaeacians who had complied with the tradition by hosting Odysseus after he had landed on their island. Another example of Xenia is when Menelaus had greeted Telemachus into Sparta and treating him with the proper respect that Xenia demands. Although there are many who follow Xenia, there are those who do not. The cyclops, Polyphemus, does not behold this tradition by not treating Odysseus and his crew with respect and hospitality. In Homer's epic, The Odyssey, Xenia is shown as an important tradition by the development of the Phaeacians, Menelaus, and Polyphemus.
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
“The word ‘hospitality’ in the New Testament comes from two Greek words. The first word means ‘love’ and the second word means ‘strangers’. It’s a word that means love of strangers”-Nancy Leigh Demoss. The idea of Xenia might be one of the most important themes in the Odyssey. It is the Greek concept of hospitality, the generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home and/or associates of the person bestowing guest-friendship. In the Odyssey, Homer really shows the reader how important this value is. The theme Xenia is a major topic in Homer’s the Odyssey; by giving us many examples of what happens if you show good or bad hospitality. Homer clearly emphasizes the importance of Xenia to the plot by showing that people who showed good hospitality had a better fate opposed to the people that did not.
“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.
People who are in need have always been around, and will also continue to be here; therefore, the means of hospitality should be spread. Throughout Greek culture, xenia has been a prominent method for those who are in need. Homer could obviously see the importance of hospitality since he put such emphasis on it in his work. This re-occurring theme has however, lost some of its relevance through time, but can still be shared through small acts of kindness. The Bible even says to “offer hospitality to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9).
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.
Hospitality in the greek is Xenia which was the guest to host friendship and obligations of the host and guest. The giving of gifts was usually done between guests and hosts. They really strived for a symbiotic give and take relationship in which the host does most of the leg work but a honorable and good guest would give so gift or reward in return. The only time when the host could really reject or throw out a guest was when a guest violated xenia terribly to the point where Zeus would give the order to seek justice for an act of such magnitude. For example when Paris is a guest in the King of Sparta Menelaus’ house as a guest and then steals his beautiful daughter from him and runs away. The theft of a princess is a major offense and would definitely deserve some repercussions it says many times in the Iliad of how the gods disapprove of this act.
... hospitality should be given to a guest because of how they treat Telemachos. The Cyclops, Polyphemos, shows how xenia can be not given at all, by the way that he treats Odysseus and his men. How one disregards the rules of hospitality, and does it knowingly, is how the suitors behaved. Throughout the Odyssey, Homer writes about many different instances of good hospitality, like the people of Pylos. Homer also shows instances of bad hospitality, like how the suitors behave as guests and how Polyphemos treats his guests. No matter if it is a good or bad example of hospitality, the impression of how important xenia is to the Greeks is always present. All of the Greeks follow the rules of hospitality to the nines, for fear that they will be struck by Zeus’s lightning bolt.
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
Paris’ brother, Hector, told him: "Paris, appalling Paris! Our prince of beauty-mad for woman, you lure them all to ruin." (Book III) Women are not the only ones drawn to ruin by Paris. The whole Trojan army, not to mention the whole city of Troy, was endangered by Paris’ selfishness. Paris is very likely the cause of the Trojan War. His story was told by prophecies before he was born: The prophecies said that he would be the cause of the destruction of Troy. His parents, Priam and Hecuba, left him to die on a mountain when he was a baby, but he was rescued and returned to Troy as a young man. Paris abducted prince Menelaos’ (of Mycenae) wife, Helen, who was said to be the