The Role Of Hospitalityity In The Odyssey

If people are given one hundred dollars and have the option to either donate the money or spend the money, most people would spend the money on themselves. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus faces various challenges as he tries to make his way back to his homeland of Ithaca after the Trojan War. Along the way, hospitality fromof other the strangers Odysseus meets becomes imperative to his survival and his eventual homecoming. While characters such as Alkínoös and Eumaios are responsible forof taking care of their homesteads and any guests that arrive at their homes, the suitors never hold the responsibility of owning a house therefore, they feel that it is not their responsibility to be hospitable to their guests. The Odyssey takes place after

Upon arrival at Odysseus’ house, a beggar (secretly Odysseus under a disguise) is attacked by the guard dogs. Eumaios swiftly shoos the dogs away and ultimately saves Odysseus’s life. He then welcomes Odysseus into his house by saying, “Come to the cabin. You’re a wanderer too./ You must eat something, drink some wine, and tell me/ where you are from and the hard time you’ve seen (XIV. 53-55). Eumaios has known this beggar for approximately a minute, and he has already saved his life and given him shelter. Eumaois, who is also poor, is able to recognize the similarities that the two share. Next, he understands the importance of hospitality. The beggar is blown away by the things that Eumaois offers him and prays that the gods will bless Eumaois for his hospitality. Instead of basking in thankfulness, Eumaois modestly replies with, “‘rudeness to a stranger is not decency,/ poor though he may be, poorer than you./ All wanderers/ and beggars come from Zeus’” (XIV. 65-70). He understands that hospitality is a test sent from the gods, and in order to pass, one must welcome all strangers. Even though he does not have much to offer, he exemplifies the meaning of hospitality- he truly gives everything that he can offer. Eumaois goes out of his way to welcome the beggar and even sacrifices items such as his own bed covering and his food supply to meet Odysseus’ needs.

To start with, the suitors are downright rude to outsiders, whether it is out in the city or in Odysseus’ house. In one case, “And like a drunken fool/ he [Melánthios] kicked at Odysseus’ hip as he passed by” (Fitzgerald. XVII. 297-298). Later that day, Antinoos throws a stool at “the man’s [Odysseus’] right shoulder/ on the packed muscle under the shoulder blade--/ like solid rock, for all the effect one saw” (XVII. 605-607). In both cases, the suitors were being anything but hospitable, and neither thought about the repercussion of their actionsts from the gods. It appears that the suitors haved become so accustomed to being rude to strangers, unlike Alkínoös and Eumaois, that they doid not feel bad about being rude. Since they haved no responsibilities, they felt no guilt and simply believed it is someone else’s problem. The payback would come later upon Odysseus’ slaughter of the suitors. Next, the suitors make fun of the beggar for wanting food, when in reality, they do not provide anything of their own to Odysseus’ house; they eat his cattle, they make a mess of his dining hall, and they commit their ill actions in his dormitories. Penelope comments on their leaching of Odysseus’ wealth by saying, “how they fed their courtship on his cattle,/ oxen and fat sheep, and dank up rivers of