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Ancient greek hospitality traditions
Quotations about hospitality in ancient greek times
Quotations about hospitality in ancient greek times
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Growing up I was fascinated with Greek mythology. I found the bits and pieces of myth and lore highly entertaining but I seldom received anything of weight from them. Since then I have had only brief forays into the Greek world which makes The Odyssey fairly easy to pull new elements of Greek culture from. Throughout all of Homer’s epic, hospitality is mentioned again and again, highlighting two important aspects of their society. The first is how important hospitality is to them in the first place and second is their fear of retribution from the gods. This fear is pervasive and is even shown clearly by the importance of hospitality. Very early on Telemachus demonstrates how important being a gracious host is to him. Surrounded by the hospitality abusing suitors, Telemachus notices Athena and immediately gets up, “mortified / that a guest might still be standing at the doors” (Homer 1:140-141) and does his best to treat her with a royal welcome. He is mortified by the thought that someone might not be taken care of! His strong reaction makes sense when you consider that he lives in a world where any stranger who shows up could be a god in disguise, further illustrated by the guest being just that in this case. How could you not show hospitality to all strangers if any chance exists that they might be deity? This fear is even more strongly shown …show more content…
Odysseus, fearing he may have caused Nausicca to be the target of her father’s anger, tries to take the blame for himself. To which Alcinous flatly responds, “I’m hardly a man for reckless, idle anger. / Balance is best in all things” (Homer 7:355-354). What a calm and peace-loving man! If only we all could respond the same way when faced with the mistakes of both others and ourselves. Yet this great example of proper behavior is barely made a fuss of in the book. It is simply taken at face value and the tale moves
“What goes around comes around”,this great saying means that kindness is key. In the Odyssey by Homer, one important theme states how hospitality and kindness are always the best policy. Temptations and Obstacles represents a glimpse of allegory in life. Friendship is also a great thing in life because it's about support through tough and good times. Always feel generous with your kindness and support like Odysseus did on his journey.
Right at the beginning of The Odyssey, the reader is shown the hospitality that Telemachus has. Athena arrives, disguised, and he invites her into his home by saying: "'Greetings, stranger! / Here in our house you'll find a royal welcome. / Have supper first, then tell us what you need'" (1.144-46). His address to Athena shows right away that he is an extremely hospitable character. Despite his house being overridden by the suitors, he is still welcoming of this stranger. When she is about to leave, he offers that she stay longer and wants to treat her with honor (1.352-60). Telemachus has no idea who Athena is, yet he still shows extreme generosity towards her. Telemachus is a perfect role model for xenia. Even though the suitors have been pushing him around for years, he still finds it in his heart to provide strangers a lovely experience when they visit him. It seems as though he has seen how terrible it is to be treated with bad xenia and he in turn wants to treat his guests the way that he hopes to be treated.
The Greek value of hospitality is exhibited in The Odyssey by Odysseus and Penelope. Odysseus and his hungry men entered an unfamiliar cave, which was home to the Cyclops. Once the Cyclops saw the men he asked why they are there, and in Odysseus's explanation he mentions “It was our luck to come here; here we stand beholden for your help, or any gifts you give-as custom is it to honor strangers” (line 194). Odysseus is tried to convince the cyclops to let him and his men live by using the Greek value of hospitality. He wants the Cyclops to view him as a guest, not food. To Odysseus it was second nature to help out a guest or person in need. While Penelope was speaking to the suitors she noted “Here is a poor man come, a wanderer, driven by want to beg his bread, and everyone in hall gave bits, to cram his bag” (line 1116). She shamed Antinous for not helping the man, because in Ithaca its is accustomed to provide the hungry and poor with food. The fact that Antinous “threw a stool” at Odysseus, and “banged his shoulder” appalled Penelope. The thought of doing such a thing was unheard of to Penelope since hospitality is a part of her way of life along with all other Greeks. The people of Ithaca from The Odyssey a...
In the beginning of the Odyssey Telemachus has an encounter with the goddess Athena in which he says, “Greetings, stranger! Here in our house you’ll find a royal welcome. Have supper first, then tell us what you need.” (1.144-146). In this quote it may seem that Telemachus is just simply showing hospitality to Athena being nice. However Telemachus doesn’t know that the stranger he sees is Athena, because she is in guise before him. Regardless of the fact that his house is infested with suitors, he feels the need to show that he is the master of the house by being hostile to the stranger. Therefore
Far removed from our individualistic society today is the ancient Greece portrayed in The Odyssey, by Homer, where hospitality and good will are the way of things. As decreed by Zeus himself, those who wish the favor of the Gods must welcome foreign and domestic with hospitality. A man was supposed to offer the best of his food, his home, and his knowledge before ever asking for his guest’s name or why he was there. There is a sense that those of high status are the main givers of hospitality, but they are not the only ones commanded to offer hospitality. Homer emphasizes hospitality from everyone during Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ journeys, using a man’s xenos, host/guest relationships, with his guest to infer his integrity and character. If a man isn’t pure, then he doesn’t show hospitality and Homer makes sure that man is put in his proper place through the vengeance of those he has wronged.
Greek mythological stories contain many entertaining features: terrible monsters-Medusa and Hydra-, adventurous heroes-Perseus and Hercules-, and amazing gods-Zeus and Athena-. In addition to entertaining the reader, Edith Hamilton's Mythology contains many Greek values and morals that can educate the reader. Many scholars study these values to learn more about the ancient Greek culture. One particular value shown throughout Greek myths is hospitality.
In Homer’s The Odyssey there is another mention of Zeus, the god of hospitality and when Odysseus reaches the cave of the Cyclopes, he tells Polyphemus, “Zeus protects all suppliants and strangers—as god of guests, he cares for all respected visitors “(Bauschatz, 31). The Cyclopes reply expresses that he can care less about the Gods because he believes the Cyclopes hold more power. Towards the end, Polyphemus prays to Poseidon and he throws in Odysseus way but this demonstrates how much interaction the Gods have with the
For hundreds of years, psychologists have attempted to understand why toddlers selfishly refuse to share. Recently, many experts in the field agree that toddlers are incapable of sharing because of their lack of integral brain development. From birth through early childhood, a child can only recognize his own wants and needs. Around the time a child begins kindergarten, he starts to development his understanding of abstract concepts, such as empathy, and sympathy. However, some believe that humans never rid themselves of that original selfishness. In essence, humans are born selfish and hopefully become compassionate later on. The idea of a natural tendency towards selfishness
In the movie, Beauty and the Beast, the objects, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Ms. Potts work their hardest to make Belle comfortable in the castle. They give Belle tea in the morning, a nice room, and delicious food. Hospitality was a major theme in Beauty and the Beast which resulted in a happy ending like in The Odyssey written by Homer. “The ancient Greeks valued a social society in which each person was obligated to help others when in need.” (Alvesteffer) As Odysseus was tirelessly traveling for 10 years, hospitality was essential in The Odyssey and was valuable to Odysseus. Throughout The Odyssey, hospitality is used to bring Odysseus home such as his stay with Calypso, the Phaicians, and Eumaios.
“I often gave to vagabonds, whoever they might be, who came in need.” (Homer, 351) Hospitality was evident in Homer’s time period and eventually was seen as an institution in the Greek culture. A guest-host relationship, known as Xenia, takes place throughout The Odyssey whether it’s to gain relationships or to avoid punishments from the gods. It is a major theme and is apparent in every book of The Odyssey. Hospitable characters who use xenia are what keep this novel going. Xenia affects the plot in many ways and influences characters actions and choices throughout the novel.
In The Odyssey, a Greek hero, Odysseus, journeys back home after the Trojan War. Throughout this long voyage, Odysseus meets many people who take him in out of their own courtesy and hospitality. Within this text, the re-occurring theme of hospitality has had much significance and has also made a presence in today’s society. Xenia was common in the Greek culture; however, changes throughout society have made this form of hospitality a smaller occurrence today. Xenia, or the concept of hospitality, is the main theme present in the Odyssey.
Even though Telemakhos was upset, he still showed them hospitality because that was the right thing to do. He had no other choice but to do it because back in Homer times there were no going around it.
Xenia, the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, was one of the foremost forces in Homer’s Iliad. The Achaeans respect it above nearly all else, and failure to adhere to its strict customs could lead to the forfeiture of countless souls.
Hospitality in the greek is Xenia which was the guest to host friendship and obligations of the host and guest. The giving of gifts was usually done between guests and hosts. They really strived for a symbiotic give and take relationship in which the host does most of the leg work but a honorable and good guest would give so gift or reward in return. The only time when the host could really reject or throw out a guest was when a guest violated xenia terribly to the point where Zeus would give the order to seek justice for an act of such magnitude. For example when Paris is a guest in the King of Sparta Menelaus’ house as a guest and then steals his beautiful daughter from him and runs away. The theft of a princess is a major offense and would definitely deserve some repercussions it says many times in the Iliad of how the gods disapprove of this act.
... hospitality should be given to a guest because of how they treat Telemachos. The Cyclops, Polyphemos, shows how xenia can be not given at all, by the way that he treats Odysseus and his men. How one disregards the rules of hospitality, and does it knowingly, is how the suitors behaved. Throughout the Odyssey, Homer writes about many different instances of good hospitality, like the people of Pylos. Homer also shows instances of bad hospitality, like how the suitors behave as guests and how Polyphemos treats his guests. No matter if it is a good or bad example of hospitality, the impression of how important xenia is to the Greeks is always present. All of the Greeks follow the rules of hospitality to the nines, for fear that they will be struck by Zeus’s lightning bolt.