The Significance of the Host/Guest Relationship in The...

The Odyssey is an epic poem attributed to the now-famous Greek poet, Homer, written approximately in the early sixth century B.C.E. The poem shares the tale of the wily adventuring solider, Odysseus, return from the Trojan war to his wife and home in Ithaca. The poem details his misadventures, the efforts of his son, Telemachus, to find him, and revenge on his wifes suitors. While many themes run through this poem, the most prevalent is that of hospitality. The Host-Guest relationship is significant in the Odyssey as it acts as one of the main thematic devices used by Homer and examples of good hospitality versus bad hospitality and their results serve as the main plot elements throughout the tale. The Host/Guest relationship,†¦show more content†¦Trade between city-states increased suspicions of the outsider. There were two main views of the stranger. In the primitive times, the poet seems to be suggesting, man lived in a state of permanent struggle and war to the death against the outsider. Then the gods intervened, and through their precepts, their themis, a new ideal was set before man, and especially before a king, an obligation of hospitality: `all strangers and beggars are from Zeus. One of Zeus aspects was that of the god of hospitality, Zeus Xenios. The Guest-Friend relationship provided the traveling stranger with protection, kinsmen, refuge and store-house. The poem begins with a perfect example of the hospitality laws being abused. Book I opens with the son of Odysseus, Telemachus, calling the assembly because his house has been plagued with guests who will not leave. They have broken the laws of Hospitality by remaining within the house and eating the food of Odysseus while trying to woo Odysseuss wife, Penelope. The suitors claim the right to stay through hospitality laws, stating that they remain solely because Penelope will not choose a husband amongst them, it is not the Achaean suitors who are to blame: it is your own mother with her unexampled trickery. Three years have passed, -and a fourth will soon be gone - since she began to baffle her suitors hearts. She gives hope to all, sh promises every man in turn.... TheShow MoreRelatedEssay Homers Hospitality1386 Words   |  6 Pagesthat arose during1600 BC. It was during this time that Ancient Greece began to take form, in both cultural and religious aspects. Historians often r efer to this period as Mycenaean, but due to the culture and values embodied in Homer’s poem, The Odyssey, it is also known as the Homeric Age. In Homer’s world, society consisted of city-states controlled by well-respected Kings. 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