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?
I think it is interesting how important to the story the idea of hospitality is, both in being upheld and disregarded. I think this idea still holds some resonance in our society today. When someone visits another person's house, they are often offered food or drink, although not quite in as formal a way as the Greeks. I apologize for bringing this up, but the betrayal of hospitality made me think of the scene from The Game of Thrones where one of the main characters is visiting someone and is offered food and drink, which is supposedly a sign of peace, but the king he is visiting ends up having him murdered, which is a huge betrayal of trust and tradition. I wonder if this tradition started with the ancient Greeks, or goes back even further in human history.
ReplyDeleteYeah that's interesting how in the instances you mentioned, Odysseus wasn't treated with much hospitality. It is interesting because hospitality is vital in Ancient Greece and even in modern Greece. Whenever I go to Greece, everyone values hospitality. They give you a warm welcome, offer food or drinks, and let you sit down and talk. Now, I can see that being hospitable to visitors has carried on from ancient to modern Greece .
ReplyDeleteHospitality seems to go hand in hand with being civilized. When Odysseus and his men get to the cave of Polyphemus, he is enraged to see these invaders eating his food and relaxing in his home. Odysseus even says, "What are they--violent, savage, lawless? or friendly to strangers, god-fearing men?" I took this to mean not being hospitable is the equivalent of being a brute.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really perceptive point: sort of the reverse of the "every stranger comes from Zeus" idea. Every host might be a Circe, whose hospitality is really a veiled poisoning.
ReplyDeleteThe "failed hospitality" Odysseus and crew encounter during his wanderings also reflects the idea that he's at the very margins of the known world at this point, far beyond the bounds of familiar "civilization," and so he really doesn't know what he's going to encounter when he enters these palaces. Even the good Phaecians are skeptical of him at first, since they have so little experience with outsiders.