The importance of hospitality

    Hospitality plays an important role in the lives of men in ancient Greece. We see it exhibited every time Telemachus or Odysseus arrive in a foreign city, or when someone visits them. There is an informal greeting, followed by the host making the visitors feel at home. Only after the visitor has dined with the host, does the host request their names and origin. The most important reason the ancient Greeks did this was in case their visitor was a god or goddess. It would be extremely bad to turn away a god; you would probably inflict bad "luck" on your family for generations to come.
    This hospitality is a double edged sword. It was definitely a good move for Telemachus to accept the latecomer to his party, the man was actually the goddess Athena. [SPOILER ALERT] Yet, as I was reading chapter 10 in preparation for my presentation, I came across two instances where this so called "hospitality" was used as a weapon. When Odysseus and his men are visiting the Laegstrygonians, they are given a "barbarous welcome" and their hosts prepared a feast for them. Yet, as soon as Odysseus and his men entered their palace, one of them is snatched up by a native and is "torn up for dinner." The native Laegstrygonians, being superhuman in size, soon attack  Odysseus' men with their fists and massive rocks. Odysseus' ship manages to escape, but many of his men are dead. Another occurrence of this false welcoming is when Odysseus' men enter Circe's dwelling. The goddess prepares a meal for them, but laces it with poison and later turns them into swine.
    Although is seems plausible that this welcoming of visitors is truly a custom in ancient Greece, it could also be used as a plot device. It creates a kind of suspense when the protagonist enters a foreigner's palace: are they going to be eaten or will they be treated to a full stomach and healthy mind?

Who's the hero?

    I know this post might seem short, but I can't think of anything substantial to write about at the present time, although I would like to talk about the short story Wool. I bought the novel version at the book bar and am really interested in reading the rest of it. Based on the first section, I think the book has the potential to be really interesting and, as it was selected for this class, would probably be worth reading. The biggest question I have now is, who is the hero?
    Given that this is the Hero's Journey class, the section of the book that we read should have a hero of some sort. Yet I can't determine who it is. Allison is definitely a candidate, but her brief role in the book seems to point otherwise. She dedicated her time inside the silo to finding out the truth behind mysterious server wipes and past revolts and in the end, puts her life on the line to determine if her work was successful. She went into the belly of the whale, so to say, by leaving the bunker, but she didn't win, as evidenced later by Holston's demise; the whale chewed her up and spit her into the abyss. I think this failure prevents her from fulfilling the traditional definition of a hero.
    The next candidate for a hero would be Holston. However, he also meets an end similar to his wife. After spending three years pouring over the data that his wife discovered and the image altering programs, he decides to leave the safety of the bunker to follow her. Although this could seem like a heroic act, I don't think it is. Holston is depressed, he has lost the will to live without his wife, and leaving the bunker is his last attempt at finding happiness. This is obviously unsuccessful.
    Mayor Jahns is the only other character described enough in the book to be a candidate. Based on Mr. Mitchell's hint in class that Jahns does survive when she leaves the bunker, there is a good chance that she would meet the qualities of a hero. At the end of the short story, however, there isn't enough evidence to make a decision.