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The odyssey, what examples of hospitality appear? what is the importance of hospitality in greek culture
The odyssey, what examples of hospitality appear? what is the importance of hospitality in greek culture
The odyssey, what examples of hospitality appear? what is the importance of hospitality in greek culture
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Understanding a story requires more than just reading words and matching them with a general definition. One needs the ability to comprehend the themes by carefully reading between the lines. The concept of xenia is displayed numerous times throughout The Odyssey. Xenia is a type of hospitality that many of the Greeks found necessary to abide by. As Carly said in her description of xenia, it "describes guest-friendship as a sort of custom of the home." In order to fully grasp the idea of the book, one must understand this Greek hospitality and the significance it served to many Greeks during this era. If there were an absence of xenia, The Odyssey would not have any cultural depth to it; instead, it would be a book solely about a war hero who experiences few obstacles on his way home. The main characters of The Odyssey followed the unwritten code of xenos, even if it was not self-beneficiary. Them being …show more content…
Through his use and experience of the practice, the reader follows his story of maturity. It is evident that, no matter the circumstance (such as the annoyance of the suitors), he is more than willing to exercise Greek hospitality: "Welcome, stranger. You shall be entertained as a guest among us. Afterward, when you have tasted dinner, you shall tell us what your need is" (Book I, lines 122-124). After he greeted this stranger (who was truly Athene in disguise), his servants provided them with a place to wash their hands, food, and drinks. This act may have put Telemachos on great terms with Athene, who helped him on the journey to attempt the discovery of his father 's whereabouts. Without the hospitality, Athene may not have helped Telemachos on his journey. While on his journey, Telemachos experiences Greek hospitality in all of the households that he comes across. Even the hosts of those households were very open to him (and Athene), and made them feel welcomed into their
The first words the reader hears from young Telemakhos are those of greeting to an unknown visitor. Seating the stranger in an elaborate throne to one side, providing finely worked implements, and acquiring generous portions of food and drink, Telemakhos displays the very soul of hospitality. Why? The poet states in Book 1, line 167 “…he wished privacy to ask for news/about his father, gone for years.” The island of Ithaka and indeed the whole of Greece were composed of isolated pockets of civilization. Travel on the unpredictable sea and over the mainland’s mountainous terrain was no easy feat; therefore news of the world by any means, even at the mouth of strangers, was welcomed and well-rewarded with hospitality.
In the Odyssey the people of Ithaca are accustomed to hospitality. In Odysseus’s lengthy journey home he learns to maintain modesty. Odysseus’s family never give up on him throughout his entire 20 year journey, and they kept Ithaca for him when he came back. The Greek values of hospitality, humility, and loyalty are conveyed in The Odyssey.
but he is the only one who can discern the proper course of action in the
When Telemachus asks to leave Sparta, Menelaus replies that “it is equally bad when one speeds on the great unwilling/ to go, and when he holds back one who is hastening…/ Yet stay until I can bring you fine gifts…/ while I tell the women/ to prepare a dinner” (XV. 72-77). Menelaus acts excessively friendly, and to some degree, deceptive; he wants Telemachos to stay, but he talks about how a host ought to not anchor a guest in the host 's home. Despite this, Menelaus wishes to give his guest whatever he wants but he also feels he is unworthy host in the event that he allows Telemachus to leave without an appropriate valediction. Menelaus ' point of view of friendliness recommend that it is difficult for a decent Greek to be a legitimate host, as one must attempt to see the world through the eyes of the visitor(s); in the meantime, the host must shun turning out to be excessively accommodating. In addition, when Theoklymenos asks Telemachus where he ought to remain in Ithaca, Telemachus answers, “Were things otherwise, indeed I would urge you
And that is the brilliance of Homer. He takes The Odyssey told in his day as an oral tradition and turns it into a masterful book that has meaning even into today. Homer believes that we should all be kind to our fellow man. In ancient Greece, that means being hospitable to whoever steps into your domain. Anyone who will show hospitality: Telemachus, Nestor, Menelaus, and Alcinous, is revered as a good man worthy of respect and honor, but those that cannot or will not respect xenos are subject to the vengeance that they receive: Aegisthus, Polyphemus, the Laestrygonians, and Circes. Homer wants us all to be hospitable in our lives and he uses Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ journeys in The Odyssey to show us this.
In the book The Odyssey, xenia is considered sacred. If one was to show xenia in a negative way they would later be punished for it and if someone was to show xenia in a positive way they would be rewarded for it. Yet if xenia was both good and bad, how would that affect the outcome? In the story “The Grace of the Witch”, the great and beautiful Goddess Kirke shows good xenia by giving her guests a warm welcome with rich wine, extravagant feast, and tall thrones to sit upon and feel magnificent, but does it all count if she drugged them to stay? The toss between good and bad xenia is questioned when Kirke shows Odysseus and his men good hospitality but it is also threatened when they are forced to stay or must leave and head to the homes of
Hospitium, or Xenia, also called the guest right, was a Greek philosophy that required that all guests were to be given generous welcomes by their hosts, either with wine, gifts, or food. In Greek Society, Hospitium must be practiced by both the guest and the host. If these laws were not followed, the wrongdoing party would risk antagonizing Zeus, the protector of travelers. Besides the guest’s guidelines, there were also the host’s guidelines, which are to make sure the guest’s needs are met. Here we see that in the Odyssey, our perspective of the moral quality of the characters in the story directly coincides with their abidance or rejection of Hospitium. The fine line between the guest’s rights and the host’s duty has a major influence on Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ journey in the Odyssey.
Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, is a heroic narrative that follows the adventures of Odysseus, the powerful King of Ithaca. The main story involves Odysseus’s return journey to his homeland after the Trojan War. However, Homer skips around in the action periodically to give the reader a better understanding and interest in what is going on in the epic. Homer takes his audience from the present action involving Telemakhos’ search for news of his father’s return, to the past where Odysseus tells the Phaiakians of his tragic journey home after the war. The events in Homer’s epic are not in order but still prove more effective at guiding the reader through the narrative. Although the events in the Odyssey are not in chronological order, the story line is enriched by Homer’s use of the in media res method because it introduces characters that were not involved in Odysseus’ adventure, because it shows the urgency of Odysseus’ return to his kingdom, and because it allows the reader to become more interested in the opening chapters without having to wait for a climax in the action.
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The women in “The Odyssey” dictate the direction of the epic. Homer the blind creator may have contrived the story with the aim to depict a story of a male heroism; but the story if looked at from a different angles shows the power women have over men. The Sirens and women that posses the power of seduction when ever they are encountered take the men off their course, and lead many to their death. The power women in the Epic pose can be seen from the goddess all to the wives. From The nymph Calypso who enslaves Odysseus for many years posses all the way back to Penelope who many argue is of equal importance to
“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.
The first four books of Homer’s Odyssey depict certain instances of hospitality which are filled with generosity. One reason for the importance of this hospitality could have been a respect for foreigners, who were completely at the mercy of their hosts, especially when hosts had themselves been foreigners. A second reason why hospitality may have been important was to see if the guest was disguised as an enemy.
So Xenia throughout the Iliad gives us a glimpse at their culture and tradition. The Iliad is full of examples where strangers, are welcomed into the homes of strangers and are sent away full of food and protected for upwards of a week. Even in the midst of war the Greeks stuck to their belief system that they had during their upbringing. The Greek sset a great example for us to follow to give grace to everyone even in bad circumstances.
In conclusion, the “Odyssey” is one of the greatest literary works ever known and this literary analysis should help the reader to understand the important components of the novel such as theme, characters, relationships, symbols, motifs, literary devices, and tone.
An example of complete xenia would be when Telemachos meets the people of Pylos. Telemachos meets the Pylonians while they are in the middle of an important ritual to Poseidon. Even though they are in the middle of a ritual to another god, they stay true to Zeus’s law of hospitality. The people of Pylos welcome Telemachos without question, and as soon as he arrives. They do not ask his name or where comes from until they have fed and entertained him, further following the rules of hospitality. They honor the law of Zeus and continue their festival to Poseidon. The people of Pylos are polite to their guests and treat them very well from the moment they greet them. They wait until Telemachos has eaten to ask him his name and where he has come from. Throughout Telemachos’s stay, they never give him a reason to be nervous or uncomfortable. The people of Pylos are the perfect role models of xenia in The Odyssey because they follow all the rules of hospitality unreservedly.