The Importance Of Hospitality In Homer's Odyssey
Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey demonstrates the importance of hospitality to wanderers and strangers by showing numerous examples of how a host and a guest should properly interact with one another.
The law of hospitality is first shown when Telemachus felt “mortified” (I.40) at a guest standing at his doors and goes to personally receive them. Hospitality is emphasized by the fact that Telemachus felt “mortified” or great humiliation at a guest not being properly shown in, that causes him, the prince of Troy, to personally receive an unknown stranger. Furthermore, Telemachus places his unknown guest at an “elaborate chair of honor” (I.52) and “a stool to rest her feet” (I.154) while he sits in a “low reclining chair” (I.155) treating his guest better than he treats himself, …show more content…
When Odysseus tells Polyphemus that “Zeus of the Strangers guards all guests” (IX.304), Polyphemus states that he doesn’t fear the Gods implying that he has no care for hospitality or incurring the Gods’ wrath. As a result of Polyphemus breaking the laws of hospitality, it leads to his fate of being blinded by Odysseus and his men. Similarly, these rules apply to the guests as well, for they must treat their hosts with respect and courtesy. Telemachus describes what the suitors are doing in his house as “destroying one man’s goods” (I.433), showing the suitors’ unbefitting conduct as a guest. If one is a guest with etiquette they should not be doing things that harm the host or “destroy” the home of the host except the suitors do not follow these rules. Subsequently, they meet with an ill fate when Odysseus returns home, punishing them all with death for destroying his home. The importance of hospitality to wanderers and strangers apply to everyone regardless of status has been shown through examples of a proper relationship between a host and a guest or the consequences of not showing
The law of hospitality is first shown when Telemachus felt “mortified” (I.40) at a guest standing at his doors and goes to personally receive them. Hospitality is emphasized by the fact that Telemachus felt “mortified” or great humiliation at a guest not being properly shown in, that causes him, the prince of Troy, to personally receive an unknown stranger. Furthermore, Telemachus places his unknown guest at an “elaborate chair of honor” (I.52) and “a stool to rest her feet” (I.154) while he sits in a “low reclining chair” (I.155) treating his guest better than he treats himself, …show more content…
When Odysseus tells Polyphemus that “Zeus of the Strangers guards all guests” (IX.304), Polyphemus states that he doesn’t fear the Gods implying that he has no care for hospitality or incurring the Gods’ wrath. As a result of Polyphemus breaking the laws of hospitality, it leads to his fate of being blinded by Odysseus and his men. Similarly, these rules apply to the guests as well, for they must treat their hosts with respect and courtesy. Telemachus describes what the suitors are doing in his house as “destroying one man’s goods” (I.433), showing the suitors’ unbefitting conduct as a guest. If one is a guest with etiquette they should not be doing things that harm the host or “destroy” the home of the host except the suitors do not follow these rules. Subsequently, they meet with an ill fate when Odysseus returns home, punishing them all with death for destroying his home. The importance of hospitality to wanderers and strangers apply to everyone regardless of status has been shown through examples of a proper relationship between a host and a guest or the consequences of not showing