Why Is Xenia Such an Important Theme in 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.

Homer’s great literary classic, The Odyssey, represents and illustrates many emotional and mental values. All of these values can be classified under three different main themes that are constant throughout the epic tale. These themes are: A boy’s struggle to be a man, a king’s struggle to reclaim his kingdom, and a man’s struggle to return home. As one reads this book it will become more and more evident to them that a man’s struggle to get home is the most important theme throughout Homer’s adventure.

Homer's great literary classic, The Odyssey, represents and illustrates many emotional and mental values. All of these values can be classified under three different main themes that are constant throughout the epic tale. These themes are: A boy's struggle to be a man, a king's struggle to reclaim his kingdom, and a man's struggle to return home. As one reads this book it will become more and more evident to them that a man's struggle to get home is the most important theme throughout Homer's adventure.

Everyone loves to receive gifts. For some it makes them feel special or important. In the Odyssey gift giving can be seen as sign of respect. Xenia, an important aspect to Homeric society, can be described as the guest-host relationship. It was of importance in Homeric society because it was something that could make or break the relationship you have with someone. Throughout the Odyssey xenia influences those who Odysseus comes into contact with impacting the plot of the story. Focusing on the theme of gifts and gift giving throughout the Odyssey I will support Odysseus assertion that gift giving was connected to respect with three specific examples.

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.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.

Imagine a life without television, no internet, no cell phones, no radio, no movies, and no video games. This was the life during the Odyssey. The storytelling in the Odyssey gave Greek society a way of entertainment. Men, woman, and children would listen to these stories with attentiveness and would then share them throughout their lives. These stories were told in many ways such as in poems, songs, and tales. If not for storytelling in the Odyssey, the story of Odysseus would be a lot shorter, as well as insignificant to Greek society. The storytelling in the Odyssey knitted the life of Odysseus together, and gave many moral lessons and

Guests can be the ones to bring the wrath and retribution of the gods upon themselves. In The Cattle of the Sun God, Odysseus and his men come across Helios' island, where Helios keeps his cattle and can not leave due to storms(Homer, The Odyssey, Trans, Robert Fitzgerald, Prentice Hall, lines 830-842). Odysseus goes to the ship to pray to the gods to show him a way out of this situation, but his men are already on shore getting ready to kill Helios' cattle for food, even though they were warned by Odysseus (Homer, The Odyssey, Trans, Robert Fitzgerald, Prentice Hall, lines 839-840,854-855, 864-885). The gods protected Odysseus from the wicked deeds of his men by putting him in a deep sleep: " Made supplication to the gods who own Olympus, all the gods- but they, for answer, only closed my eyes under drops of sleep." (Homer, The Odyssey, Trans, Robert Fitzgerald, Prentice Hall, lines 859-862). Odysseus' men killed the cattle while Odysseus was still asleep. Because Odysseus' men killed their hosts cattle, they broke xenia, and the punishment for the men was death as decided by the gods: " Let me throw down one white-hot bolt, and make splinters of their ship in the winedark sea." (Homer, The Odyssey, Trans, Robert Fitzgerald, Prentice Hall, lines 918-919). Now Zeus, the god of the sky, let the storms that were keeping Odysseus and his men trapped on the island clear up. Odysseus and his crew jump on the opportunity to leave the island, only to meet their demise (Homer, The Odyssey, Trans, Robert Fitzgerald, Prentice Hall, lines 933-939). However, since Odysseus did not partake in the killing or eating of the cattle, he is spared from the contrived destruction of the men (Homer, The Odyssey, Trans, Robert Fitzgerald, Prentice Hall, lines 945-963). The homicide of the crew is punishment for breaking xenia and sends the message, do not disrespect the

Xenia is the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, the generosity shown to those who are far from home. Xenia is an important theme in the Odyssey – it is shown in the numerous characters, whether royal or monstrous, that Telemachus and Odysseus encounter, and could be shown as willingly given and wanted hospitality, unwanted/overwhelming, or unwillingly given; these encounters can also show lack of hospitality. This essay will discuss what xenia was to the ancient Greeks, and how this virtue was portrayed in the Odyssey.

     Ancient Greece is known for its beautiful theaters and its skilled poets. One of the most famous ones at that time and famous even now is Homer. Nobody knows who he actually is but the works that he has created are far more than magnificent. The Odyssey and The Iliad are two poems that turned into myths, have actually been accepted as part of the history of the Greeks. The Odyssey is a story about a hero from the Trojan War who struggles to get home to his family and when he finally does he faces the suitors who he fights and defeats with the help of the gods and his son who he hasn't seen for around twenty years. The gradual development of the plot, the actual, end of the book is

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.

Ideas of Xenia; Xenia is the Greek relationship between 2 people from different regions. Usually what would happen was a traveler would live in a citizen's house, and the citizen would provide them with a place to live and food to eat. This was mostly caused by the fear of the gods, specifically Zeus, who was known as the god of, among other things, travel. People thought he was watching over them by pretending to be a traveler and entering their homes. The traveler would not be a permanent resident, although they were usually allowed to stay for as long as they wished. The three rules of xenia are as follows:

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey follows Odysseus on his long journey home. The Epic also includes the stories of Odysseus’ family left behind: the travels of his son, Telemachus, and how plenty, of what we would now call “home wreckers”, suitors pressured his wife, Penelope, into marrying one of them. The characters are beautifully crafted and the story is truly epic. All the elements presented can bring in any reader from any century, the Cyclops, the Gods, the trickery of Penelope, and the disguises of Odysseus, are all legendary literary hooks . There are many things to learn—about writing, about the world around us, the world ahead of us, and the past behind us—from The Odyssey. (26) It is undeniably evident that this ancient text has

It is important to keep reading, “The Odyssey.” Even though it is 2800, years old, students still need to learn about it. It is important to continue studying “The Odyssey” because is it a moral story, the historical significance is important, and it is essential to study other culture’s mythology.

The role of hospitality is seen in many examples throughout the Odyssey. However, it is not always the same in every example that Odysseus encounters. When Odysseus comes across the Cyclops Polyphemus, the hospitality he receives is totally outside the norm of civilization, which is what he is used to. Instead, because of his ego, Odysseus receives a barbaric welcome instead of the hospitable welcome that he is accustomed to.