Hospitality In The Odyssey Essay

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Hospitality is the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Hospitality in Greek culture was customary. People in Ancient Greece were guest friendly so as to please the gods out of fear of their wrath. Hospitality in modern times would be more cautious and less likely to allow a random stranger entrance into one’s home. People in modern times vary with one’s beliefs which allows for less pressure. In the story The Odyssey, the abuses of hospitality justify acts of retribution by the characters in the story. Times such as the meeting of Cyclops and the unauthorized entrance of the suitors while Odysseus is away, justify acts retribution. There are also times when hospitality in the story was guest …show more content…
Calypso, who craves Odysseus for her own, cares for the castaway. Odysseus hungers “for home and wife” (1. 21). Calypso is then confronted by Hermes, a messenger sent by Zeus, to free Odysseus. Although it pains Calypso, she allows him hope for safe passage. Odysseus washes up on shore and is found by the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians. To the people of Ancient Greece and Asia Minor “all guests were godsent. They had to be treated with great courtesy before they could be asked to identify themselves and state their business” (Holt 656). Odysseus was shown that in some places hospitality was greatly valued.
In the story The Odyssey, the abuses of hospitality justify acts of retribution by the characters in the story. Times such as the meeting of Cyclops and the unauthorized entrance of the suitors while Odysseus is away, justify acts retribution. There are also times when hospitality in the story was guest friendly such as when Calypso harbors Odysseus and when Odysseus is found by the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians. Hospitality was valued more by Calypso and King Alcinous’ people than Cyclops and the suitors. Acts of retribution can be justified in the story of The
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