Civilized And Uncivilized In Homer's The Odyssey

In ancient Greece, one would fall into one of the two major classes: civilized and uncivilized. In order to fall into the class of civilized, one must abide by Ancient Greek expectations and societal norms; disregard of these rules would defines one as uncivilized. One’s class would then decide not only their way of living but also their perspective image and worth. In ancient Greece, civilization was important to the Greeks to prove their nation was gaining power and flourishing. Anyone whom displayed uncivilized behavior was labeled as barbaros; consequently diminishing their worth to the nation. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the epic exemplified the elements of civilized and uncivilized behavior though views of residency, societal customs, and traditions of hospitality. In The Odyssey, residency shows one’s class by the type of quarters they live in. Only civilized characters in this epic live in houses with dining halls. The dining hall holds important assemblies to discuss issues, rules, and decisions of action. Telemachus discusses and, “evil that robs me of my estate,’ during an assembly. He informs the patrons of Ithaca of the, “things done that cannot be endured,’ and the, ‘injustice,’ the suitors have done to his father’s name. Assemblies, like the one Telemachus held have importance to the civilized citizens to insure they were

These barbarians dwell and live in caves. Calypso, the uncivilized nymph who trapped Odysseus on her island, made him lie within with her in a, “massive cave, where…she found her home,” does not uphold the elements of civilization. Cave dwellers, like Calypso, tend to live alone or far away from civilization. Since they are alone, they do not need dining halls for assemblies to discuss important issues of their people; they are lawless barbarians. These cave dwellers therefore have no worth towards Greek