Xenia in the Odyssey Essay

The hospitality that Telemachos and Penelope show Odysseus when he returns home, even though they do not know who he really is yet another example of xenia. This hospitality helps in his winning his home back from the suitors. Telemachos welcomes Odysseus into the house, and gives him permission to beg the suitors of money. Despite knowing this, said suitors harass him when he asks for coins. In response to this, Telemachos says “, There will be no pleasure in this feast, at all since vile things will be uppermost. Now the hallowed prince Telemachos spoken […] I drive away no man.“ Telemachos’s defense of Odysseus, even in guise of a vagabond, shows great grace on his part, and show great hospitality, on top of undermining the suitors, thus giving them less power. After the suitors have gone home, Penelope summons her maidservant, saying “, Eurynome, bring up a chair, and put a fleece on it, so that the stranger can be seated, and tell me his story, and listen to what I have to say. (Homer.18.97-99)” This statement shows that Penelope is intending t make a beggar as comfortable as she, and set aside time specifically to

Germany is allowing open borders to the refuges of Syria, an estimate of 800,000 people in 2015 alone, as an amazing display of hospitality, or as the Greeks call it, xenia. Xenia is an important feature in The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer in the 8th century B.C. Homer effectively uses xenia as a way to show that the gods need to be respected. He emphasizes the need for respect by showing what will happen if xenia is broken. If one breaks xenia, the gods will punish the offenders by striking them down or cursing them, as shown in the Cyclops and The Cattle of the Sun God.

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 women that work for Odysseus that had helped the suitors were hanged and tied to boards as a way of torture. They had fell for the suitors rather than staying on Odysseus' side. Since this could be treason, they do deserve some sort of punishment, but this is very extreme. Being left to die for taking the side against a ruler that hasn't been anywhere near his kingdom for twenty years is wrong, but people all over Ithaca believed that Odysseus was dead. It should be understood by Odysseus that twenty years is a long time, so people starting to fade him out and draw toward the new people trying to replace

The three topics that will be discussed about Odysseus’ revenge against the suitors are his, motivations, strategies, success, and my opinion on whether justice was carried out or not. First, it is critical to understand the reasons for odysseus to attacked the suitors. There are total of three motives; all of them involved with ownership. While Odysseus was gone the suitor had laid eyes on Penelope.( Odysseus’s wife) This obviously upsets Odysseus when he returns home, and his wife doesn’t even belong to him any more. So, if he wants his wife back he will have to destroy the one that is trying to take her away from him. The second motivation for Odysseus to revenge against the suitor is to save his son Telemachus. Because the suitors hungered for the death of Telemachus, for he was prohibiting them from marrying his mom. The last motivation is to get what rightfully belonged to him. After 10 years of absence from home his possessions was slowly taken away. Therefore, he had to fight for his possessions.

A prevalent subject in The Odyssey is hospitality, known as xenia in Greek. Xenia encompasses different rules for hosts to follow, and Odysseus encounters various kings and powerful characters that all follow these rules differently. Among the hosts were Polyphemos, Calypso, Circe, Alkinoos, and Eumaios, who show good and bad hospitality. An example of the bad hospitality is the cyclops Polyphemos, shown when he says, “You are a ninny...telling me, mind the gods! We Kyklopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus... I would not let you go for fear of Zeus...unless I had a whim to” (9.295-303). Since Polyphemos is indifferent toward the god that protects travelers, he does not feel guilty when treating Odysseus poorly and eating his guests.

(Odyssey 1457). Although after Odysseus starts killing the suitors, they say they will leave and make some restitution, they still deserve punishment. They still deserve punishment because they took over Odysseus’ home and tried to replace him as Penelope’s husband. Also, they have the choice to leave before Odysseus returns, but never leave. The killing of the maids is justified as well.

Not only the suitor treat her as an object but her son as well. He feels she does not know what she doing or lack of knowledge about how to run the kingdom. Odysseus still treat her as a innocent child and know she could not harm the maids.

One of the most important themes in The Odyssey is the concept of xenia, which is the old Greek word for hospitality. In modern times, hospitality is something we rarely think of, and the first thing that comes to mind is the hotel industry, but in ancient Greece, xenia was not about hotels, or just about etiquette, it was a way of life with many benefits in a world that was still mostly savage. Xenia was more than just being polite to strangers. It was a set of rules and customs that defined the guest-host relationship between two individuals, two groups of people, or an individual and a group. Some basic rules of this relationship were that the guest could not insult the

For twenty years, the wooers pursued Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, dined in his hall, and gave gifts to her to capture her heart. They were aware that what they were doing was wrong but they still continued under the impression that Odysseus was dead. For twenty years, Odysseus tried to get home to his wife and son and his house. When he returned and realized what occurred in his house in his absence he was outraged and had all right to be. The wooers deserved their punishment for their actions were unforgiveable.

I suppose if we were to measure the standards of today the suitors or the maids did not deserve what they received. But to measure what they did or did not deserve one would have to measure how retribution was handed out in throughout the story. I feel that the punishment dealt to the suitors or the maids was something that Athena seemed to want. There were many instances in the last set of books when Athena allowed things to happen to Odysseus to deepen his resentment for the suitors. In one instance she allowed the suitors to insult Odysseus because “she wanted the pain to sink deeper into Odysseus’ bones.” (574) The fact that there was a constant reminder that suppliants are to be treated well according to the God’s or it would anger them is also something constantly reinforced. Odysseus is often treated horribly by the suitors and even his own herdsman when they

When Odysseus arrives at Ithaca he finds that his home has been invaded by suitors. Each suitor's plan is to get Penelope's hand in marriage so they can be king of Ithaca. The only way Odysseus can stop this is by killing every single suitor in his residence. So after he was disguised as a beggar and successfully completed Penelope's trial he started a battle with all the suitors. After the battle in book 22 Odysseus decides that everyone that was participating in the suitor's plot should be severely punished.

(269-274). She says if Odysseus was there, he would quickly confront them, but it rest in the hands of the other gods. She also tells Telemakhos that he should gather and have the suitors banished from the Kingdom. She then advises him to visit Pylos

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.

Upon arriving to Phaeacia, Odysseus is treated like a king. Even though nobody knows who he is, Alcinous still treats him as the guest of honor: