Examples Of Xenia In The Odyssey

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

Helena Teel Dr. Swadley ENGL 1163 12 March 2024 Nausicaa’s Representation of The Xenia Code In book six of the Odyssey the xenia code is strongly shown through the actions between Nausicaa and Odysseus. Throughout book 6, Nausicaa, despite fearing him at first, shows great kindness to Odysseus, offers him directions and a partial escort to her father’s house, and advice on how to get favors from her family to get home. While Nausicaa is showing kindness and offering a great example of the xenia code, what is the xenia code? The Xenia Code is how hosts must treat their guests by offering food, drinks, baths, gifts, etc.

Xenia is defined as the hospitality the Greeks offered to travelers who traveled from far complete with a set of customs that is expected to be followed by both guest and host (Weimer 3). One of the first instances of xenia in Odysseus’ episodic adventures is the suitors visiting Odysseus’ home in his absence. While the contact of xenia was upheld throughout the story, it was broken later due to their progressive exploitations in Odysseus’ home when the owner of the house returns. The suitors had violated the contract of xenia by abusing Telemachus and Penelope’s hospitality. While it is understandable that they were there to take Penelope’s hand in marriage due to Odysseus’ long absence, the suitors ate and drank all the food and wine in the supply without care and also planned to kill their host, Telemachus. As guests, the suitors’ unreasonable demands on the supply of the house, poor treatment of their hosts, and continuance, despite being told to leave, caused Odysseus to take action through killing all the suitors and their servants on his return, officially breaking the contract of

Xenia, which is hospitality towards strangers, plays an essential part in ancient Greek culture. In the time that The Odyssey was written, poor men with good xenia would treat strangers unexpectedly. Men and women with this hospitality were spread throughout Greece in the medieval age, unlike now. The honor of a person could be tested by the xenia he or she had and was important in ancient Greece. Hospitality played a significant role in The Odyssey because the Phaeacians showed great xenia towards strayed Odysseus and Eumaios cared for the unknown beggar.

When Odysseus is introduced to the malicious Cyclops, Odysseus quickly learns Cyclops negative outlook toward strangers. While Odysseus pleads for the Cyclops acceptance by stating "we're at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest-gift, the sort that hosts give strangers", The Cyclops ruthlessly responded after Odysseus claimed his identity as a nobody, "Nobody? I'll eat Nobody last of all his friends- I'll eat the others first! That's my gift to you!" (Homer 219-220, 223). The Cyclops appears to have no difficulty in expressing negative hospitality while he states, "we Cyclops never blink at Zeus and Zeus's shield of storm and thunder, or any other blessed God- we've got more force by far" (Homer 220). Although, Odysseus experienced unpleasant hospitality within his journey, he was also lucky to find townspeople and their kings that accepted strangers with a positive outlook.

Calypso's trait is vanity, and she keeps Odysseus captive for seven years in order to fulfill her selfish desires. Despite her efforts and hospitality, Odysseus still longs for home as he sits each day by the rocky shore. After Hermes brought the message that Calypso must release Odysseus, Calypso tries to persuede Odysseus to stay. "..if you could only know how much suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own country, you would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours...Yet I flatter myself that I am no whit

By contrast with the Phaeacians, Odysseus had previously met the race of the Cyclops, whose qualities exhibited that they did not practice the norm of hospitality. Through the language used, it is evident in the astoundment in Odysseus’s voice to find lack of hospitality. As Odysseus narrates in Book Four: “We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes… They have no laws nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the tops of high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they take no account of their neighbours…” (IV: 599-604).

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Xenos; it plays a huge part in Greek culture. In ancient time times xenos was the custom to honour strangers. Throughout the epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men use xenos even though their customs is not what everyone else uses. They take advantage of xenos by taking the Cyclopes food in book 9, accepted food from a sorceress in book 10, and kills the suitors who plundered his home in book 22.

In Homer’s epic poems the Odyssey and Iliad xenia plays an important role. In the ancient Greek society, people believed in hospitality. It was so much important to them that they believed it was presided over by Zeus, the king of the gods. Traveling in Homer’s time was much tougher and longer than in modern times. At that time, there were no motels like nowadays where people can check in for one night.

In the Odyssey, Xenia is also shown to be one of the hallmarks of a civilised society, allowing us to judge the societies that Odysseus visits by their attitudes to xenia. For example, the Cyclopes are well informed about Xenia, yet disregard it because they have no fear of the God’s retribution. This tells us that the Cyclopes live in a formidable and amoral society. Even the Gods are shown to respect Xenia rules, for example in Book 5 when Calypso gives hospitality to Hermes. Good xenia is shown to have good repercussions for both the guest and the host: for example, Odysseus’ stay on the island of Calypso, where he is met with exceptional hospitality. Odysseus received this hospitality well and continued to please Calypso. Only at the end did he ever try to refuse her hospitality and leave, and even this caused no serious problems. Here we have an example of the guest-host relationship working well. Calypso is provided with a companion, even if it was not permanent, and Odysseus was provided with shelter, provisions, and protection for his men. In the end it proves to be a beneficial situation for them both.

The crew sails to the land of the Cyclopes, and find food in Polyphemus’ cave; the men advise Odysseus to snatch some of the food and leave, but he decides to stay for a while longer. Polyphemus soon returns and makes a show of hospitality at first, but he soon turns impatient and hostile – ‘“Give me still more, frely, and tell me your name straightway now, so I can give you a guest present to make you happy.”’ (Homer, 9.355-356). He promises Odysseus him a lovely gift if he will tell him his name, but in reality he just wants his name so that he could curse him. He devours some of Odysseus’s men and imprisons Odysseus and the rest in his cave, but Odysseus blinds him with a spear and escapes. Compare Polyphemus’ interactions with the men and the principles of “good” xenia, and you would find the exact opposite of what would have been considered “adequate” hospitality; the Cyclops, instead of offering food and a place to rest like in the previous example of Menelaus’ treatment of Telemachus and his crew, becomes irritated with Odysseus and his men and even eats some of them then imprisons the rest. (Hinds,

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

Offering a hot beverage, food, the safety of your home, or entertainment are all examples of presenting good xenia to guests. xenia is commonly used to portray hospitality or a guest/host relationship. xenia, is important in Ancient Greek society. Zeus is the God of travelers, in addition to being the king of the Gods. This forces for the host to feel obliged to treat their guests with much hospitality, and vice versa with guests, serving with high responsibility. Zeus would severely punish those who break the fine rules of xenia and hospitality. In the epic,“The Odyssey” by Homer, there are multiple examples of good and bad xenia. The group of 108 men who slouch around Penelope show poor xenia and are eventually stricken with their bitter death. Conversely, Eumaios presented great xenia when taking Odysseus in, even while he was disguised as a beggar. Xenia is a prevalent theme in the book and holds a central place in The Odyssey.

In the epic, the way in which hosts receive strangers and offer hospitality demonstrates their Greek values. For example, when Odysseus arrives on the island of the Phaeacians, they immediately offer him hospitality as King Alcinous “rais[es] him up/… in a burnished chair, / displacing his own son, … /… the son he love[s] the most” (7: 200-204). Here, the Phaeacians are characterized as generous and kind