Hospitality In The Odyssey

Homer the author of the Odyssey, uses fear of the gods to portray the idea of “Xenia”; Which means hospitality to all so that they can live a normal and happy life. When a person enters someone's home for the first time, his or her first impression is based off of the homeowners hospitality. The rules of hospitality are, provide the guest with food and drink, let them bathe, and let them rest or entertain them. In the Odyssey, the concepts of hospitality are important to the ancient Greeks because, they believe those who disobey the rules will get punished by Zeus such as Polyphemus he lost his eyesight by Odysseus, but there are characters who do obey the rules such as Nausicaa and Eumaeus, and such as Nestor and Alcinous. Nausicaa

Alcinous and Nestor did the concepts in their own way but still used the same steps of hospitality. Alcinous’s daughter Nausicaa brought a stranger to her father, and he orders a banquet for him. After he was settled, the stranger (Odysseus) is seated in the guests place of honor. Demodocus which is known as the famous blind minstrel is called over. Odysseus gives him a gift of pork crisp with fat and requested a song about the wooden horse of Troy, which was really a song about himself. As he sanged Alcinous notices Odysseus tears running down his cheeks and demands that his guest reveal his identity. This is demonstrated near the begging 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 ?”. (page 728 ll 175-189) If ever Greeks were to serve themselves before their guests or even a little better then them, then they were breaking the most basic of all Greeks

This specific character stood out the most to me, his name was Polyphemus. Polyphemus was a cyclops that live on Sicily. Odysseus in his crew arrived in Sicily after being blown off course. Him and his crew found Polyphemus’s cave while he isn't there. Polyphemus came home and said “Stranger, he said who are you ? and where from? What brings you here by sea ways-a faire traffic? Or are you wandering rogues, who cast your lives like dice, and ravage another folk by sea ?.” (page 747 ll 711-714) With fear struck into their hearts, Odysseus goes on and tell him how he and his crew came across to his island. “Here we stand, beholden for your help, or any gifts you give-as custom is to honor strangers. We would entreat you, great Sir , have a care for the gods courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.” (page 747 ll 725-729) Polyphemus replied with a brutal chest, unmoved from Odysseus story. He ate two of Odysseus crewmen and two more the next morning for breakfast, two more later on for lunch. In return for his unwelcoming and the killing of his crew man. Odysseus chops out a six-foot section of a pole and smoothed it. He then hewed it again making it a stake with a pointed end and held it to the heat of the fire. Then hid it in a dung pile and profusion. Odysseus says “Cyclops, try some here liquor to wash down your scraps of men. Taste it, and see the kind of drink we