Greek Hospitality

Even though we have only read the first four books of the Odyssey so far, it has already become evident that hospitality will be a recurring theme throughout this epic poem. Hospitality is obviously very important in the ancient Greek culture, and it is vastly different than what most of us consider as hospitality today. According to Homer’s Odyssey, proper hospitality in ancient Greek culture involves treating a stranger to the best food and drink one can offer, and perhaps even providing a nice bath before asking the stranger who he or she is. This type of hospitality was so foreign to me that I had trouble believing that this was the norm. However, this is in fact one of the most basic rules of this society, and all of the respectable characters in The Odyssey treat their guests this way without hesitation.

            But why did the Greeks have these rules for hospitality? What is the reason behind automatically treating total strangers as guests of honor? I believe one reason for this culture is due to the common Greek belief that gods and goddesses often disguise themselves as strangers. Knowing that any random stranger could be a god in disguise naturally motivates hosts to treat every guest as a god, no matter what the situation may be. Homer’s story reinforces this idea, as Telemachus treats Athena disguised as Mentes hospitably in the opening book. Despite the fact that Telemachus is already suffering from a plague of parasitic suitors, he genuinely welcomes Athena into his house. The text reads: “[…] and straight to the porch he went, mortified that a guest might still be standing at the doors. […] ‘Greetings, stranger! Here in our house you’ll find a royal welcome. Have supper first, then tell us what you need.’(1.140-141, 144-146)” Considering his situation, the fact that Telemachus is “mortified” that he might have forgotten about a guest really emphasizes how important hospitality is to him. This scene in itself teaches Homer’s audience that hosts should always be aware that strangers may be gods in disguise.

            Another reason why the ancient Greeks had this custom of generosity towards strangers is because they either expected to be treated this way in the future as strangers themselves, or they had already been treated this way in the past by other hosts. In The Odyssey, both Nestor and Menelaus had been received hospitably by other hosts during their journey back from Troy, and this in turn played a role in influencing them to be hospitable towards Telemachus. In the case of Menelaus, he specifically mentions how he enjoyed hospitality from other men during his voyage home: “Just think of all the hospitality we enjoyed at the hands of other men before we made it home […]. (4.38-39)” To Menelaus, it is absurd to receive hospitality and not do the same in return. This reveals the general mindset and belief of Greeks to treat others the way you wish to be treated, and to give as you have received.

            I believe that in The Odyssey, hospitality can be used as a dividing line to separate the morally upright from the evil. All of the characters that have shown hospitality so far (Telemachus, Nestor, and Menelaus) are considered “good guys”. However, we view the characters that have broken the rules of hospitality in a bad light. For example, the suitors are clearly villains at this point, and they have abused the hospitality of Penelope and Telemachus as guests. Another example of a villain is Calypso, and she is being a terrible host by holding Odysseus captive on her island. Although this may not be a cause-and-effect relationship, there seems to be a correlation between showing hospitality and having good character. Overall, hospitality seems to be a bigger theme in this poem than one might expect.

Works Cited

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin, 1996.