Disrespects Of Hospitality In Homer's The Odyssey

Xenia is the generosity and hospitality the Greek give to their guest when people come over to their home. Hospitality plays a major role in Greek society. In American society, today hospitality is not a priority. The most we do is let guest in to sit and offer maybe food and water. In the Odyssey Homer shows in Greek culture that hospitality is very important several times in the text and should treat everyone as royalty.

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus has the tendency to be a narcissistic, selfish and inconsiderate leader towards his men. When Odysseus and his men finally escaped certain death from the giant cyclops, Polyphemus, the not-so-heroic king of Ithaca shouted a taunt above the pleas of his aghast crew, towards the blinded cyclops. He yelled to the enraged cyclops,”If any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shame you so--say Odysseus(Homer IV. 558-560).” With this reproachful act of arrogance, Polyphemus, son of the wrathful Poseidon, cried out to his father, praying that Odysseus' travels be cursed and that he would return home a “broken man” and with “all shipmates lost(IV. 593).” This event shows how he is too unworthy

The concept of guest hospitality is extremely important in ancient Greece. Hospitality, or Xenia, is so essential in Greek society that Zeus, in addition to being the king of the Gods, is also the God of travelers (Wikipedia). This created an obligation for the host to be hospitable to their guests, and conversely, the guests had their own responsibilities as well. If either the host or the guest was to break any rule set by Xenia, there would be severe penalties dealt by Zeus and also by society (Wikipedia). In The Odyssey, Xenia is a theme which is shown repeatedly throughout the book: Nestor and Menelaos take in Telemakhos warmly as a guest and Eumaios plays an excellent host to Odysseus, while Odysseus is disguised as a wandering

Homer values the characteristic of hospitality because the characters who do not demonstrate this characteristic typically suffer fatal or near-fatal injuries. In the Odyssey, Penelope (Odysseus’ wife) was hosting an event to make one of the suitors (potential marriage partners) her new husband because she had given up hope that Odysseus would not return home. The men who were at her house would just eat and drink, and showed no hospitality (21.70-78). In the Odyssey, Odysseus had attended this event disguised, and became aware of Penelope’s discourteous guests. Odysseus then goes on a “rampage” and slaughters all of the guests except for a few men who Telemachus (Odysseus’ son) swore their loyalty (22.16-529). Additionally, in chapter 21, Antinoös was the first to be killed because of his abrupt and rude manners, and distinctly

Hospitality goes two ways; Guest have responsibilities just like the host does. The suitors, who are actually unwelcomed, guest takes Odysseus’s wife hospitality for granted as they waste all the goods and try to get at her constantly. Also when Odysseus returns in the disguise of an old man, the suitors treat him with great inhospitality.

(Homer.9.289-2910” This is one example of the brutality that Odysseus and his crew were also shown, rather than hospitality. The range of degrees of hospitality shown to the travelers is a testament to the number of people who ignored the law of Xenia.

The Odyssey is an epic poem attributed to the now-famous Greek poet, Homer, written approximately in the early sixth century B.C.E. The poem shares the tale of the wily adventuring solider, Odysseus', return from the Trojan war to his wife and home in Ithaca. The poem details his misadventures, the efforts of his son, Telemachus, to find him, and revenge on his wife's suitors. While many themes run through this poem, the most prevalent is that of hospitality. The Host-Guest relationship is significant in the Odyssey as it acts as one of the main thematic devices used by Homer and examples of good hospitality versus bad hospitality and their results serve as the main plot elements throughout the tale.

Hospitality is mentioned all throughout the book. Hospitality is important to the people in that time. 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. “It’s wrong my friend, to send any stranger packing-even one who arrives in worse shape than you. Every stranger and beggar comes from Zeus and whatever scrap they get from the likes of us, they’ll find it welcome.” (Book 14 pg.303 Line 64) This statement shows how important it is that the people follow Zeus’ law of xenia. Along with providing great hospitality the guest has to be respectful as well. Some of the biggest parts in the book that shows hospitality is with the Cyclops, and the goddesses Circe and Calypso, the suitors and the Phaeacians.

In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through obstacles throughout the book that a normal man couldn’t subside. One example is in book 9, his main obstacle that he is trying to face is to escape from being held hostage in a cave by a Cyclops better known as Polyphemus. Odysseus is a archetypal hero, he is also a role model, with an ambition to get to his homeland Ithaca. He goes through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength to get him there, no matter the obstacle nor the negative flaws that he faces. Odysseus put himself and his men in that situation by being curious and wanting to know what kind of land his ship and the winds led him to. This was selfish of him because it cost him some of his men, but a leader and hero has to play that role and some lives will be dealt with on the way. Odysseus says, “The rest of you will stay here while I go with my ship and crew on reconnaissance. I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 429). Saying this quote alone makes Odysseus a humble man due to the fact that not even a piece of land is going to slow him down on his journey back home.

If a group of strangers came to your home or territory, how would you treat your guests? In the opening passage of The Odyssey (Book IX) by Homer, the setting is when Odysseus and his crew on their Journey and encountered sea monsters “Cyclops.” The clever Greek leader, Odysseus, and his men become trapped by a vicious one-eyed monster, who eats the men one by one. Notwithstanding, Odysseus devises a plan, blinds the monster, and escapes with his men. The unique language techniques used by Homer such as tone, diction, and dialogue reveal their characterization and moreover, it portrays a culture also corroborated that the Cyclops treat their guests in the whole different way.

Hospitality shaped Greek life. This unspoken code, highly valued in Greek society, established responsibilities for both guests and hosts. Demonstrating generosity and kindness, honorable hosts offered their guests extravagant feasts, luxurious baths, and lavish housing. In response, gracious guests showed courtesy and respect to their hosts by refraining from abusing the hospitality extended towards them. Hospitality reveals the moral character of both hosts and guests in the Homerian epic The Odyssey.

Throughout Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus the main character in the story is tested with the true meaning of hospitality. In the heroic age, hospitality was viewed as punishment or acceptance of a stranger. While Odysseus longed for his return to home, he faced the two different kinds of hospitality offered within the heroic age. My theory is that Odysseus was provided with good hospitality when he would enter a town that allowed him to eat at their table, bathed within their baths, and sleep within their homes. The townspeople and their king often provided superior hospitality for strangers without questioning them first. It's thought that maybe the wonderful hospitality was provided in return of viewing the stranger as a

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,

Each culture treats strangers and guests with distinct differences from every other culture. One of the most hospitable cultures was that of the ancient Greeks, exemplified in Homer’s The Odyssey by both gracious hosts and guests. In Greece and The Odyssey, not only was good hospitality etiquette expected, but the added pressure from the conviction that the gods would punish the host if guests were treated without respect (whether they were poor or rich) further compelled excellent manners. The Odyssey illustrates the proper etiquette when dealing with guests.

Hospitality is one of the most important and heroic facets of Greek culture that needs to be covered when examining the story line of the Odyssey. There are many settings within the Odyssey that contain both positive and negative connotations of hospitality, and it is important to explore both sides and see how they relate to each other.