The Theme Of Hospitality In Homer's The Odyssey

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Throughout his work, The Odyssey, Homer develops a potent theme of hospitality. In the times of ancient Greece, Xenia- or the guest law- was a very important concept. Xenia consisted of two basic rules: the host must welcome in the guest, feed them, and take care of them; in return the guest would be courteous to the host. In The Odyssey, Xenia is one of the only codes of moral conduct that is universal, and a characters hospitality influences others on their journeys throughout the book. When the Phaeacians show a strong sense of hospitality towards Odysseus, he benefits strongly from it and is able to arrive home as a cause of their generosity. On the contrary, when Circe and Polyphemus show a lack of hospitality, they are punished for their doings. Throughout The …show more content…

They mistreat Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus. Many years after Odysseus left to the Trojan war, the suitors come to win Penelope 's hand in marriage. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as Odysseus had been gone for a long time. However, they mistreat Penelope and Telemachus and later face the consequences of this. Penelope treats them the best she can by feeding and clothing them, but they do not treat her well in return. They take over her house, eating lots of her food and killing her livestock. When Telemachus goes on a journey to find his father, they decide they are going to try to kill him. Although they are not successful, the mere fact that they attempted to kill their hosts son reflected poorly on them. When Odysseus comes home disguised as a beggar many of the suitors mistreat him. Antinoos, the main instigator of the mistreatment, commands him to leave and even threatens to skin him (Homer 222). When Odysseus reveals himself, Athena helps him and Telemachus kill all of the suitors (Homer 275). As a consequence of their mistreatment towards Odysseus and his family, the suitors are killed by

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