Megan Braine
Professor Spano
ENG-225
March 23, 2019
Too Good not to Read: Why “The Odyssey” is a Must Read
Throughout a person’s lifetime, they will meet and come across many people they may or may not know. Also throughout a person’s lifetime, they will come across people who are welcoming and help them out in a simple or tough time. Viceversa, they’ll come across people who do the opposite of that. Hospitality is something that every person should have. Hospitality is simply being friendly, welcoming, and generous. Hospitality can be viewed or expressed in many different situations. For example, if you are hosting an event or a simple family gathering at your home, if you are meeting someone for the first time, if you have an interview, etc. Hospitality can even be a word to describe a place or an area. When it comes to Hospitality, a person should always try to represent and be their best selves. You can show hospitality to your friends, family, and/or a stranger. When dealing with strangers, the most important thing to remember is your safety. There are some people in this world who are just not good people. When in a situation, it should be quiet clear if you are safe or not. Sometimes it could not be as clear, but most times it is. For example, if you are hosting an event in your home, you definitely want to know who will be attending. Another example of hospitality to a stranger is being kind, don’t be judgemental. It is important to be open minded because everyone is different, but everyone has something amazing and unique about them. An impressive read that gives a good representation of Hospitality is “The Odyssey”. Xenia, a word used by Ancient Greeks, is the formal word of Hospitality. Xenia meaning “guest-friendship,” is Ancient Greeks concept of Hospitality and the showmanship shown to anyone who is/was far from home. Hospitality to Ancient Greeks was a sacred social structure during the bronze age, twelfth century b.c.e, and in “The Odyssey”, the author Homer expresses and shows how hospitality was so important to Ancient Greeks throughout his books.
In Homer’s epic poetry book “The Odyssey,” the main character Odysseus struggles to make his way home after the end of the Trojan war. From the beginning of his journey home to the end of his journey home, Odysseus comes across Hospitality from many strangers. Both in a positive way, and a negative way. Odysseus is treated like a god, from most people that he crossed paths with. He receives food, shelter, and clothes from them, all in which shows great hospitality. With all of Odysseus’s struggles, he must be brave, strong, and fearless. He loses many men on his way home, but Odysseus did eventually make it there. Odysseus travels from Phaeacia to the goddess Circe’s palace to the goddess Calypso’s palace, and to a Cyclopes’s cave. While Odysseus tries to get home, his wife is home waiting for him. Penelope his wife, is approached by suitors in which threaten her marriage with Odysseus. In the article “Three Models of Authority in the "Odyssey"”, it’s expressed to us that,
“Penelope must prove that Odysseus is genuinely her husband; Odysseus must lay to rest any of those doubts raised by the poem that Penelope is still faithful to him. The ingenuity of the bed trick is that it is not an absolute proof of either his identity or her fidelity, but requires from both husband and wife an act of mutual trust.” (Chaston 16)
Overall, “The Odyssey,” gives great examples of quality hospitality and poor hospitality, in which teaches us many moral life lessons. This is a book everyone needs to read at some point in time.
Odysseus journey back to his kingdom was for 10 years, which included kind gestures of hospitality from strangers, the first occurring in Phaeacia. When he gets to Phaeacia he has no clothing due to the sinking of his ship. “With that Odysseus emerged from the bushes.He broke off a leafy branch from the undergrowth And held it before him to cover himself.” (Homer 88) Princess Nausicaa finds him and gives him clothing. She also offers him food as well as help to return home. Without questioning Odysseus about his name, home, or background information, the King and Queen of Princess Nausicaa, invited Odysseus for dinner. They offer him food, along with entertainment. Eventually Odysseus reveals himself; he tells them who he really is. The people then help him to continue his journey home and give him gifts at shore. “As Nausicaa, Alcinous' daughter, had ordered. They set down a mantle and a tunic, Gave him a golden flask of olive oil, And told him to wash in the river.” (Homer 91) The women in Phaeacia bathe Odysseus and from what i learned in “The Hospitality of Noble Women in the Odyssey” by Victoria Pedrick, this is a gesture of Hospitality to the greeks; “gesture of hospitality is to arrange a bath for the guest, a task that is treated as an innocuous chore and delegated to servants.” (Pedrick I) At Phaeacia, Odysseus was showed a great level of hospitality. Going back to the word Xenia, the King Queen and others did not ask Odysseus who he was. They immediately invited him for a feast and treated him like royalty.
“They were serving food and mixing the wine When the herald came up leading the bard,
Honored Demodocus, and seated him on a chair Propped against a tall pillar in the middle of the hall. Odysseus, with his great presence of mind, Cut off part of a huge chine of roast pork Glistening with fat, and said to the herald.” (Homer 120)
Next, Odyssey and his men stubble upon the beautiful witch-goddess Circe, who allowed him and his men to stay in her palace. At first Circe turned all of Odysseus’s men into pigs, but Odysseus convinced her to changed them back and never to harm him. “Those men of yours are up in Circe's house, Penned like pigs into crowded little sties. And you've come to free them?” (Homer 149) Odysseus and his men stayed in Circe’s palace for a year. The men ate there, relaxed there, and waited till they thought it was time to go. Again, we see a great deal of hospitality from goddess Circe to Odysseus and his men.
Odysseus then receives hospitality from the goddess Calypso, in which he was kept at her palace for many years. She was generous to Odysseus and gave him a place to stay for a long while. She also provided food and water as well. When Odysseus was ready to leave and continue his journey, Calypso gave him a magical raft that could take him wherever he needed to go.
“Calypso saw him off her island, After she had bathed him and dressed him In fragrant clothes. She filled up a skin With wine that ran black, another large one With water, and tucked into a duffel A generous supply of hearty provisions. And she put a breeze at his back, gentle and warm.” (Homer 77)
“Calypso brought him a large piece of cloth To make into a sail, and he fashioned that, too. He rigged up braces and halyards and lines, Then levered his craft down to the glittering sea.” (Homer 77)
From previous information presented, we can see that Odysseus’s journey back home was a bumpy and dangerous expedition, but with the help of others he got through. One character that showed opposite examples of hospitality was the Cyclopes. When Odysseus and his men arrived to a cave, they were not aware a Cyclopes was around. Opposed to the Phaeacians not asking Odysseus who he was, or why they were here, the Cyclopes did. “Who are you strangers? Sailing the seas, huh? Where from, and what for? Pirates, probably, Roaming around causing people trouble.” (Homer 131) The Cyclopes did not care for the Gods. Odysseus asked for gifts and acts of hospitality due to their situation, but he didn’t care and ate some of Odysseus’s men. “Cyclopes Don't care about Zeus or his aegis Or the blessed gods, since we are much stronger.” (Homer 132)
“Cyclops, You ask me my name, my glorious name, And I will tell it to you. Remember now,
To give me the gift just as you promised. Noman is my name. They call me Noman— My mother, my father, and all my friends, too.” (Homer 135)
The Cyclopes response to Odysseus asking for gifts was, “Noman I will eat last after his friends.Friends first, him last. That's my gift to you.” (Homer 135) To get the Cyclopes to release them and make him corporate they give him wine, then stab him in the eye, blinding him. Eventually being able to escape with herd of ship. The Cyclopes did not show Xenia or in other words Hospitality at all. He trapped the men in the cave, ate some of the men, and threatened to eat Odysseus. From the article, Assembly and Hospitality in the Cyclôpeia, the interpret that from this specific section, it is non-xenia. “Odysseus’ uninvited entrance into his “host’s” cave, Polyphemus’ inquiring after his “guest’s” name before offering a meal, the monster’s eating of his visitors instead of feeding them, and his guest-gift of promising to consume “No One” last have all been examined in ways that heighten our appreciation of the narrative.” (Newton 2)
On one of Odysseus and his men’s last stops, they did something that takes away from their noble and brave character. At Thrinacia, the home of Helios’s cattle, the men stayed there for a month because of the direction of the wind. After a month of staying there, the men started to run out of food. They soon ended up feasting on the cattle, which is against Ancient Greek beliefs, especially on this land. This action from Odysseus and the men shows poor character to who they are. Throughout the journey home they received food, shelter, clothing, and more. To eat the cattle, on the land that was home to Helios’s cattle was wrong. After the gods found out about this they were punished and they deserved it.
“If you leave these unharmed and keep your mind. On your journey, you might yet struggle home To Ithaca. But if you harm them, I foretell. Disaster for your ship and crew, and even if you Escape yourself, you shall come home late. And badly, having lost all your companions.” (Homer 182)
Zeus created a storm to affect their travels at sea after that. Causing rain and wind to destroy their ships. “My men got up and furled the sails, Stowed them in the ship's hold, then sat down. At their oars and whitened the water with pine.” (Homer 183) This whole series of events, does not show Odysseus true character, which is brave, strong, and trustworthy. Also, this doesn’t show respect to the gods or Ancient Greeks beliefs and culture. While researching, I found that one professor did not agree with how hospitality was shown, “Professor Newton argues how that adventure illustrates two important type scenes found in the Odyssey—those of violated hospitality…” (Myrsiades 2)
My stories I’ve read in the past have shown me a good representation of a theme or lesson, but “The Odyssey,” shows both good and bad. Hospitality to Ancient Greeks was a sacred social structure during the bronze age, twelfth century b.c.e, and in “The Odyssey”, the author Homer expresses and shows how hospitality was so important to Ancient Greeks throughout his books. This book should most definitely be at the top of your reading list for the following reasons. One, it shows hospitality in the best way. How someone should treat a stranger, greet a stranger, and help out a stranger in need. Two, it also provides a representation of the worst kind of hospitality. It’s metaphorically speaking but we can see the bigger picture from it. And lastly, because throughout the whole book, Homer was able to see how people can not realize how much they receive from others and take advantage of that. Overall Odysseus soley survived off of the hospitality from others. From the article Assembly and Hospitality in the Cyclôpeia is tells us, “Most critics cite the hero’s reckless blurting out of his name to Polyphemus as the act that results in his ten years of wandering, the loss of his comrades, and the troubles he finds in his house: see Bradley (1968), Brown (1966), and Dimock (1971). According to these views, Odysseus could have avoided trouble if he had not spoken out.” (Newton 40) After reading this we can ask ourselves, how would Odysseus journey be different if he didn’t receive hospitality from others?
Work Cited
Newton, Rick M. “Assembly and Hospitality in the ‘Cyclôpeia.’” College Literature, vol. 35, no. 4, Fall 2008, pp. 1–44. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/lit.0.0029.
Pedrick, Victoria. "“The Hospitality of Noble Women in the Odyssey”." Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 166, Gale, 2014. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420118127/GLS?u=edis78478&sid=GLS&xid=d6076d98. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.
Myrsiades, Kostas. “Homer; Analysis and Influence.” College Literature, vol. 35, no. 4, Fall 2008, pp. xi–xix. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.middlesexcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34632974&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Colleen Chaston. “Three Models of Authority in the ‘Odyssey.’” The Classical World, vol. 96, no. 1, 2002, pp. 3–19. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4352712.
