In the Odyssey, the reader is presented to many rituals from the ancient Greek world and the hospitality ritual is one of the most important and complex. This ritual is composed by many element that vary throughout the narrative, creating events that engage the characters in different ways. The distortion of the hospitality rituals and the variation of its elements is what prevents Odysseus and Telemachus from going home.
Hospitality in the Ancient Greek world was not only a tradition, but a sacred ritual. Being hospitable was a way of honoring the gods and respecting the patron of strangers, the god of gods itself, Zeus. Besides, it was believed that the gods would sometimes come to earth to test people’s hospitality and they would often leave without being recognized. The reader is presented to this possibility right in the first book, when Athena, disguised as Mentes, goes to Ithaca and advises Telemachus on learning about his father’s fate. The prince receives the goddess with great hospitality, even though she looks like a stranger:
Pausing beside her there, he clasped her right hand and relieving her at once of her long bronze spear, met her with winged words: ‘Greeting, stranger! here in our house you’ll find a royal welcome.
Have supper first, then tell us what you need. (1.142-146)
The hospitality scenes also set a tone to characters and to the episode being described. Here, Telemachus is immediately recognized as a generous man, worthy of his status as prince of Ithaca and victim of the suitors, that doubt of the stranger’s credibility, an attitude that contrasts to that of the royal prince. Hospitality is also an essential part of what the greeks understood as civilization, receiving a guest properly showed that gue...
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...raged departure prayer. Unlike the traditional prayer, however, Polyphemus asks for Ithaca’s king journey to be even longer and full of pain. Poseidon, then, hearing his son’s prayer, prevents Odysseus from going home for many more years after that, being the main reason for his journey home to last 20 years.
These long travels that the heroic characters in the Odyssey are submitted are, therefore, direct consequences of the their interaction to the unknown world that they come to meet. The hospitality episodes are an essential part of the narrative as it is through them that their journey is lengthen. They are also an indicator of the characters’s integrity and through their analysis, they initiate an important reflexion on greek culture and values in social interactions, one of the aspects that are most distinct between the ancient world and the contemporaneity.
Through his use and experience of the practice, the reader follows his story of maturity. It is evident that, no matter the circumstance (such as the annoyance of the suitors), he is more than willing to exercise Greek hospitality: "Welcome, stranger. You shall be entertained as a guest among us. Afterward, when you have tasted dinner, you shall tell us what your need is" (Book I, lines 122-124). After he greeted this stranger (who was truly Athene in disguise), his servants provided them with a place to wash their hands, food, and drinks. This act may have put Telemachos on great terms with Athene, who helped him on the journey to attempt the discovery of his father 's whereabouts. Without the hospitality, Athene may not have helped Telemachos on his journey. While on his journey, Telemachos experiences Greek hospitality in all of the households that he comes across. Even the hosts of those households were very open to him (and Athene), and made them feel welcomed into their
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.
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.
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.
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:8-9). Hospitality can lead down a path of happiness and joy when ensued. In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Xenia is an important factor in the foremost important character’s journey home. The role of xenia in the odyssey when followed can be very beneficial and when not followed, deadly. When abiding by xenia, Telemakhos and Odysseus make great steps towards regaining the power from the suitors in Ithaka.
The Greeks have been known for their hospitality and politeness, especially when treating guests- whether strangers or not. This is demonstrated near the beginning of the Odyssey when Telemachus went to Pylos to visit Nestor. Nestor, not knowing who he was taking into his home as guests, treated them with great honor and respect. "Now is the time," he said, "for a few questions, now that our young guests have enjoyed their dinner. Who are you, strangers? Where are you sailing from, and where to, down the highways of sea water (p 299)?" If ever Greeks were to serve themselves before their guests or even a little better than them, then they were breaking the most basic of all Greek customs, for this tradition of hospitality was passed down from generation to generation, and breaking it would bring embarrassment and dishonor upon the home.
When it comes to hospitality, Greeks stand atop the list of all cultures for their generosity and politeness towards strangers. “Philoxenia” is the Greek word for “the love of strangers”. Philoxenia is demonstrated in several different cases in Homer’s The Odyssey. According to Greek customs, hospitality is respected by the immortal gods. If the Greek code of hospitality is not performed correctly, or not performed at all, the consequences may be very severe, gods may unleash their wrath to whoever does not follow this tradition of thoughtfulness. Homer suggests both positive and negative commentary on his own world through the examples of hospitalities that provide The Odyssey.
To start, within the course of The Odyssey, Odysseus displays hubris through many of his actions. The most prominent instance in which Odysseus shows hubris is while he and his men are trying to escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus. They drug the monster until it passes out, and then stab him with a timber in his single eye. Polyphemus, now blinded, removes the gigantic boulder blocking Odysseus’ escape, and waits for the men to move, so he can kill them. The men escape from the cave to their boat by tying themselves under flocks of rams, so they can easily slip by. Odysseus, now proud after beating the giant, starts to yell at Polyphemus, instead of making a silent escape. Odysseus’ men ask him to stop before Polyphemus would “get the range and lob a boulder” (436). But Odysseus shows hubris by saying that if they were to meet again, Odysseus would “take your life” and “hurl you down to hell!” (462; 463). Polyphemus, now extremely angry with Odysseus, prays to his father, Poseidon, to make Odysseus “never see his home” again, and after which, throws a mountain towards the sound of Odysseus’ voice. (470). Because of Odysseus’ hubris after blinding Polyphemus, Poseidon grants the prayer, and it takes Odysseus 20 years to return home, at the cost of the lives of all his men.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.