Calypso And Laistrygones In Homer's Odyssey

Homer’s Odyssey can teach us about culture in ancient Greece through Odysseus’ voyage home. In the epic poem hospitality, or “xenia,” is expressed as a reoccurring theme. Throughout the epic poem, there are different examples of hosts and guests. Firstly, the poem presents bad hosts such as Calypso and Laistrygones. Calypso is considered a bad host because she held Odysseus prisoner in her home for several years. In Book Five, Athena said to Zeus, “Now he’s left to pine on an island, racked with grief in the nymph Calypso’s house -- she holds him there by force. He has no way to voyage home to his own native land, no trim ships in reach, no crew to ply the oars and send him scudding over the sea’s broad back” (Odyssey, Book 5, lines 12-19)
She says, “I’ll send him off, but not with any escort. I have no ships in reach… But I will gladly advise him—I’ll hide nothing—so he can reach his native country all unharmed” (Odyssey, Book 5, lines 156-157, 159-160). Her hospitality is not the respectful type that guests are supposed to receive; another example of bad hospitality is Laistrygones. Odysseus and his men find their way to an island and seek shelter in a cave that seems to be the home of a giant. Expecting the normal kindness that guests would receive, they let themselves in and offer wine to the gods and then drink some themselves. When Laistrygones returns home and finds strangers there, he is not the type of host they suspected he would be. He greets them by saying, “Stranger, you must be a fool, stranger, or come from
I’ll show you our town, tell you our people’s name” (Odyssey, Book 6, lines 204-205, 210-213). This is the proper way a guest was expected to be treated in Ancient Greek times. She welcomes him to their land and offers him clothing. Later when the maids are being disrespectful to Odysseus, Nausicaa tells them, “Enough. Give the stranger food and drink, my girls” (Odyssey, Book 6, lines 272-273). This is another example of good hospitality in the epic poem. This is how guests were expected to be treated. At one point on his visit there, Echeneus tells King Alcinous, “This is no way, Alcinous. How indecent, look, our guest on the ground, in the ashes by the fire! Your people are holding back, waiting for your signal. Come, raise him up and seat the stranger now, in a silver-studded chair, and tell the heralds to mix more wine for all so we can pour out cups to Zeus who loves the lightning, champion of suppliants—suppliants’ rights are sacred. And let the housekeeper give our guest his supper, unstinting with her stores” (Odyssey, Book 7, lines