Hospitality in Homer

Hospitality in Homer

            During several trips to India, I was always amazed at the level of personal service that was offered to me wherever I went. People bent over backwards to assist and were constantly seeking feedback on the level of service provided, either orally or through customer comment cards or surveys. Finally I asked what was behind this emphasis on good service. The explanation was surprising. First I was told that if an enterprise was in the service business, then it was required by regulation to be able to provide proof of service rendered and hence the need for some sort of written feedback. But the follow-up comment really got to the root of the custom. I was informed it was believed that there were 33 million gods in the Hindu religion and that one never knew if the stranger you were meeting was a god or not. Just to be on the safe side, it was better to treat the stranger as if they were a god, and that meant providing the person with the best of service. The ancient Greeks called the custom ‘Xenia’ which is most often translated as ‘guest-friendship’ and the word embodies the Greek concept of hospitality. ‘Xenia’ is an important theme in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

            ‘Xenia’ for the Greeks involved providing strangers or visitors with food and drink, shelter and accommodation, favours and parting gifts, as well as safe passage to their next destination and directions for their journey. The word itself is derived from the Greek word for ‘stranger’, and there were certain unwritten rules surrounding the practice of providing such hospitality to strangers. For example, it was considered rude for the host to ask questions of the guest or even to ask their name before providing them with a bath and some sustenance. It was important for hosts to treat their stranger-guests or foreigners with respect, for like the Hindus of India today, they could not be certain whether they were entertaining a mortal or a god. That respect was a two-way street. Stranger-guests were also expected to be courteous to their hosts, not to take advantage and not to provide a threat or an undue burden. In a world without newspapers or television, it was also expected that the guest-friend would share with their hosts all the tidbits of information or gossip which they might have picked up throughout their journey. It was also expected that the courtesy that was shown a guest-friend would be reciprocal, and that the same level of hospitality would be afforded the host should he ever find himself visiting the guest-friend’s home in the future.

The obligation to reciprocate to the descendant of a generous host also passed to future generations of a guest-friend. We find an example of this in Book VI of Homer’s Iliad. The Achaean hero Diomedes met Glaucus, a Trojan ally from Lycia, on the battlefield. They boasted about their backgrounds and they discovered that Diomedes was the grandson of Oeneus and Glaucus was the grandson of Bellerophon, both of whom had been guest-friends in days gone by. Bound by the customs of ‘xenia’, the two grandsons were unable to combat one another and decided to trade armour as a gesture of the enduring friendships of their two families.

“So let us exchange armour with one another so that everyone will know that we are ancestral mutual friends. Having spoken thus, they leaped down from their horses, seized the hands of each other and pledged their mutual faith.”

The importance of the concept of ‘xenia’ was heightened by the fact that the exchange of armour was not an even one, with Glaucus’s golden armour being worth one hundred oxen, prized significantly higher than the armour made of bronze which Diomedes bore that was worth only nine oxen.

It is worth noting that it was a breach or violation of the principle of ‘xenia’ which led to the start of the whole conflict, the Trojan War. The Trojan prince Paris was visiting Sparta on what was supposed to be a diplomatic mission and was there as a guest of King Menelaus. His real purpose was to abduct Helen, the wife of Menelaus, because the queen had been promised to him by the goddess Aphrodite as payback for Paris selecting her as the fairest of all in the beauty contest of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Whether Paris took her forcibly, or Helen was smitten by the good-looking Trojan and went willingly, or Aphrodite had cast a spell on her is immaterial. The point of the matter is that Paris acted inappropriately as a guest-friend of Menelaus and the Greeks were rightfully outraged over his conduct. Paris not only took the wife of Menelaus, but also absconded with a significant amount of Spartan treasure. The ten year Trojan War was mounted by the Danaans in an attempt to recover Helen and the treasure and to take revenge on the Trojans for the violation of the principle of ‘xenia’.

Homer presents good hospitality and the feasting, drinking, music and good conversation that go along with it as so expected and such a natural part of everyday life, that a violation of the customs and rituals of hosting can be viewed as contravening one of the very foundations of a good society. Hospitality was so engrained in the psyche of the ancient Greeks that we are not surprised to see it being practised even by the gods. In Book I of the Iliad, Homer presents us with two feasts, one mortal and one divine and both are quite similar in nature.

The first feast took place in the home of the priest Chryses. Odysseus and a small group of his men had been despatched by King Agamemnon to return the girl Chryseis to her father. She had been taken as a war prize and had been awarded to Agamemnon but this had outraged her father and he had called upon the god Apollo to visit a plague upon the Achaeans. The god had consented and the Greeks were being decimated by the resulting pestilence. Chryses had promised that the curse would be lifted if his daughter was returned. Agamemnon had reluctantly agreed and had sent Odysseus to bring her back home. The grateful Chryses treated his guests with fine hospitality and we are told that they spent the day eating roasted meat that had been cooked on blazing logs, drinking fiery-looking red wine, and entertaining each other with song. Fully sated, they bedded down by their ships and did not leave their host until rosy-fingered dawn appeared the following morning.

At the end of Book I, Homer gives us an account of a very similar feast that took place among the gods on Mount Olympus. The gods had been arguing among themselves because many of them were on opposing sides as far as the war was concerned. The lame god Hephaestus put them in good humour by serving copious amounts of wine and as Homer says,

“The blessed gods erupted in inextinguishable laughter when they saw Hephaestus bustling around the house serving them. They feasted the whole day long until the sun went down and they had plenty of everything, food for the banquet, the sound of the lyre which Apollo held and the sweet songs that the Muses raised on high.”

It is obvious that among mortals and immortals, peace and harmony come about when men and gods break bread with each other. It is equally as obvious that the failure to be a good host, to mingle and to share willingly can have devastating results as a consequence. To deliberately violate this basis of harmony will be seen as an action that must be punished. Regardless of what may be going on in one’s life and the distractions that one is facing, all these must be set aside when the obligations associated with ‘xenia’ arise.

We see an example of this in Book IX of the Iliad. Consumed by the wrath that the confiscation of Briseis had caused him, Achilles withdrew from the battle in petulance and was content to sit in his tent with his friend Patroclus and to play his lyre and sing while his Achaean comrades were being slaughtered on the battlefield. In the meantime, Agamemnon had relented and was willing to return Briseis, offer Achilles a great treasure as well as one of his own daughters in marriage after the war, if only Achilles would return to the fighting. Agamemnon sent Odysseus, Ajax and Phoenix as his emissaries to carry his offer of peace to Achilles. But before any conversation about the purpose of the visit could take place, Achilles had to assume the role of host and provide his esteemed guests with food and drink, according to the traditional customs of ‘xenia’. One of the basic principles of good hosting was that hospitality always came before business. After they had had their fill of food and drink, Odysseus revealed the purpose of their visit and later the peace offering that Agamemnon proposed.

“Rejoice Achilles, we have dined beyond measure both in the tent of the son of Atreus and here in your tent, for you have given a banquet agreeable to everyone’s taste. But it is not this delightful banquet that is our prime concern, O god-cherished one, but the utter calamity that we behold and fear.”

In an extraordinary encounter at the end of the Iliad, the concept of providing hospitality before getting down to business was upended. The grieving Priam secretly visited the tent of Achilles during the night to plead for the return of the body of his slain son Hector. Only after their heart-wrenching conversation and an agreement to return the corpse was reached, did Achilles fulfill his obligations as the good host. Priam had caught Achilles completely off guard when he entered his tent, fell to his knees and kissed the hands of the warrior who had killed his son. Priam was so set upon his purpose that he refused to allow Achilles to provide him with any form of hospitality before he was able to make his entreaty to him.

“Do not even sit me down in a chair as long as Hector lies outside the hut uncared for.”

Only after their business had been conducted did Achilles provide the old man with food, drink and a bed for the night, and then,

“Achilles went himself to bed in the inner part of the well-built hut and by his side slept the fair-cheeked Briseis.”

We must remember that the story of the Iliad is not a story about the Trojan War, but rather one about the wrath of Achilles. A critical conversation occurred at the beginning of the epic when Achilles declared that he would withdraw from the fighting because of the wrong done to him by the confiscation of Briseis. This marked the start of the hero’s rage and the true beginning of the story. The conversation between Achilles and Priam at the end of the epic is the other bookend. The wrath of Achilles was dissipated and the story ends, other than for the final destruction of the city. Homer does not even allow the importance of providing hospitality to stand in the way of the Achilles/Priam encounter. This crucial business must take precedence and ‘xenia’ can come later.

While hospitality plays more of an ancillary role in the Iliad, it is a central theme in Homer’s Odyssey. ‘Xenia’ is a divine imperative which prescribes that hosts be both welcoming and generous and that guests be respectful and not take advantage of the hospitality that is offered to them. In many respects, ‘xenia’ embodies the values that are important in ancient Greek culture. In the Odyssey, Homer presents us with several stories of hospitality being offered and accepted as it should be, as well as incidents when the customs of ‘xenia’ have been abused, and he explores the subsequent dire consequences which result from those violations of protocol.

Homer relates to us that for ten years following the Trojan War, Odysseus wandered the wine-dark sea and visited many lands. He was a traveller with many times only the clothes on his back, and he relied upon the hospitality of others for his survival. During his travels, he welcomed the kindness of strangers at times and behaved as a true guest-friend, while at other times he was inflicted with abuse and rightly punished those who dared to violate the customs of ‘xenia’. All the while that he made his way home to Ithaca, the hospitality of his own home was being violated by 108 suitors who schemed to marry his wife and to destroy his son and who were intent on dissipating his livelihood, as they did so by freely consuming his possessions. The theme of hospitality runs throughout the Odyssey and provides an essential framework for the telling of Homer’s story.

Hospitality begins and ends the narrative of the Odyssey. At the beginning of the story we are taken to Ithaca where we find 108 arrogant suitors pursuing Queen Penelope, in an attempt to get her to choose one of them as a marriage partner and successor to Odysseus the vanished king. He had been gone for twenty years and the suitors were now prepared to have one of their number take over the kingdom. They and their retinues were destroying the household and systematically robbing it of its riches. They demanded the best of everything and were abusing the hospitality of their absent host. Not only were they in hot pursuit of the hero’s wife, they were also bent on the destruction of his only son Telemachus, openly plotting his demise so that his inherited right to the throne did not stand in the way of their plans. Homer paints us a picture of the abuse of the principles of ‘xenia’ and uses the story of Telemachus to further highlight the wrongdoings of the suitors.

The goddess Athena visited the home of Odysseus and arrived at the threshold in disguise. We see Telemachus sitting there in dismay, worrying about his mother, the dissipation of his household and the absence of his father. But when he spotted Athena standing at the doorway, he was mortified by the fact that a guest-friend may have been ignored. He greeted her, clasped her hand in friendship and invited her into the house to receive the hospitality that was due to her as a traveller and guest.

“The goddess first spotted godlike Telemachus for he was sitting among the suitors with a sad heart, thinking about his dear father coming from somewhere and scattering the suitors in the house and reclaiming the mastery of his own domain. As he thought about these things seated among the suitors, he spied Athena and went straight to the doorway for he believed it to be shameful for a visitor to have to stand around the doorway for a long time. He came up to her and grasped her by the right hand and took the spear of bronze from her and spoke to her with winged words. ‘Welcome stranger for you are among friends. After you have eaten, you can tell us what you desire.’”

The actions of Telemachus, who plays the part of the good host, are in direct contrast to the actions of the suitors who are constantly abusing the hospitality of the host. Since hospitality is seen as a divine imperative by the ancient Greeks, we know that this abuse of ‘xenia’ will not go unpunished.

In Book I of the Odyssey we see ‘xenia’ violated by the suitors and in Book XXII, Homer reveals the punishment meted out to them for them doing so. Odysseus had returned and together with Telemachus and a few friends, they sought revenge for the actions of the suitors and carried out the punishment that was due. The 108 suitors were slaughtered in a bloodbath and the 12 handmaidens, who had become their willing accomplices and sex partners, were hung by the necks until they died. Justice prevailed and the violation of the principles of ‘xenia’ had been avenged.

In addition to this one narrative that permeates the whole story, throughout the entire work Homer provides us with several examples of both good hospitality and bad. Telemachus was hell-bent on finding out what had become of his father who left twenty years before to go off to war, when his son was still an infant. He traveled to Sparta to visit King Menelaus and his wife Helen to see if they had any news about the present whereabouts or the demise of Odysseus. Menelaus greeted the strangers who arrived at his doorstep and offered them a bath, fresh clothes and food and drink. In true host fashion and in accordance with the rules of ‘xenia’, he provided for their every needs before even asking them who they might be. Menelaus told them,

“Eat now and may your hearts be gladdened and once you have dined we will ask who you might be, for in you can be seen the lineage of your fathers and that you must come from royalty and have been fostered by the gods, for low class men could not have sired the likes of you.”

            The hospitality displayed by Menelaus and Helen was boundless and when they sent Telemachus on his way, they did so having laden him with gifts, as was the custom when entertaining guest-friends. Menelaus said to him,

“But come now and stay at my palace until the eleventh or twelfth day comes and when that times comes I will send you forth with honour and wonderful gifts, three horses and a lovely chariot and I will also present you with a wondrous drinking cup so that you can pour out libations to the immortal gods and remember me for all your days.”

But while this hospitality was being provided to Telemachus and his comrades, we know as he did, that at the same time, the hospitality of his father’s home on Ithaca continued to be abused.

In Book VI of the Odyssey, we find the hero Odysseus shipwrecked and washed ashore on the island of Scheria, the home of the Phaeacians. He was discovered on the shore by the Princess Nausicaa and her handmaidens. The daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete immediately provided the stranger with hospitality and their actions embody the very principles of ‘xenia’. Nausicaa told her handmaidens,

“Surely this is just some unlucky wanderer who has happened here and now we must take care of his needs. All strangers and beggars are gifts from Zeus and any gift, even though small, is always welcome. So come now my maidens and give this stranger food and drink and bathe him in the river in a place that has shelter from the wind.”

Odysseus was also invited into the city to meet the girl’s parents and to be welcomed into their palace. As he sat alone by the fire, Echeneus, an elder of the Phaeacians, advised his king,

“Alcinous, this is not good and it is not seemly that a stranger should sit among the ashes in the hearth, but these others are holding themselves back to see what you have to say about it. But come now and ask the stranger to rise and seat him on a silver-studded chair and urge the heralds to pour some wine so that we may offer a libation to Zeus who throws the thunderbolt for it is he who shows reverence to those who come as supplicants. Let the housekeeper provide a meal to this stranger from out of the bounty that is in the house.”

The king and the queen provided him with every comfort and Odysseus was so taken with the treatment that he was afforded that he revealed his true identity to Queen Arete. In accord with the principles of ‘xenia’, Odysseus was also provided with a means to continue on his journey and safe passage from the land of the Phaeacians. We contrast his fine treatment with the knowledge that back home in Ithaca, his wife and his home continue to be maltreated.

When Odysseus finally returned to Ithaca, he approached his faithful swineherd Eumaeus, disguised as a beggar and sought his hospitality. The dialogue between Eumaeus and Odysseus summarized perfectly the principles of ‘xenia’ and the hospitality afforded to the hero by the swineherd was a model of perfection. As Eumaeus exclaimed,

“No stranger, it would not be right for me to ignore a foreigner, even if it was someone worse than you, for all strangers and beggars come from Zeus…”

Despite the fact that Odysseus presented himself as a beggar in tattered clothes, Eumaeus welcomed him heartily, fed him well, gave him wine to drink, a bed for the night and a fresh garment to cloth himself in when he departed in the morning. Eumaeus also ensured that Odysseus had been adequately refreshed before he was encouraged to tell his story. Once more the contrast in hospitality was made. The poor swineherd offered what he could from his own meagre provisions and treated the guest-friend with great respect, while only a few miles away, the plenitude of the palace of Odysseus was being ravaged by the arrogant suitors. We know surely that Eumaeus will be rewarded and that the suitors will be punished, for the gods will not allow otherwise. Odysseus predicts as much for Eumaeus,

“Eumaeus, may you be as loved by our father Zeus as you are by me, since you have given me such a fine portion of the meat and have honoured me so.”

Throughout his ten year journey back to Ithaca, Odysseus was often on the receiving end of poor hospitality and there were several occasions when he and his comrades were not treated as guest-friends according to the rules of ‘xenia’. The most notable example of this can be found in the treatment that was afforded to the wanderers by the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus and his crew had come ashore in the land of the Cyclops and had discovered the monster’s cave and its full stock of excellent provisions. The crew members urged Odysseus to allow them to rob the cave but he, much to his dismay afterwards, ordered them to wait and see what treatment would be granted to them as strangers in the land.

Odysseus told the Cyclops about their journey and asked for hospitality from the host in whose land they found themselves.

“But we have come to your land and do so on our knees, in the hope that you will be hospitable to us and offer us the gifts that are due to guest-friends, as is fitting. So come O mighty one and show reverence to the gods, for we come seeking your aid and Zeus is the avenger of supplicants and strangers, Zeus who is the god of strangers and who ever attends to the needs of strangers.”

We know that ‘Xenia’ is a divine imperative, but the Cyclops was not moved by this fact because he and his kind put themselves above the gods.

“You are a fool stranger or you come from a long way off, seeing that you exhort me to fear or to shun the gods. The Cyclopes do not care a bit about aegis-bearing Zeus or the great gods since we are better than they are. To avoid the wrath of Zeus, I would not spare you or your companions unless my own heart urged me to do so.”

The consequences for Odysseus and his men were dire. Not only did he not provide the Ithacans with hospitality, Polyphemus kept them captured in his cage and feasted on their flesh and blood. Odysseus and the remainder of his crew were only able to escape the monster by getting him drunk and blinding him and then using a clever ruse to flee their captor. The Cyclops disobeyed the divine command to provide hospitality to guests and paid the price as a consequence. We hear directly from the lips of Odysseus that the monster’s punishment is divine retribution and not mortal and that man was only the instrument of its delivery.

“Cyclops, it seems that the man whose companions you were eager to eat with brutal strength in your hollow cave was no weakling. For certainly, you wretched being, evil deeds were destined to fall upon you who did not hesitate to devour your guests within your own house. For this deed, Zeus and the other gods have made you pay the price.”

            In Homer’s stories of Circe and Calypso, we are presented with two different versions of how hospitality might be offered and the consequences of such actions. Circe was an enchantress and a minor goddess and Calypso was a nymph and hence we would expect that their provision of hospitality would have been impeccable, given their divine natures and the fact that ‘xenia’ is rooted in the divine and honours Zeus Xenios, the protector of strangers. The nature of the hospitality offered by the two hosts to their visiting guest-friends or strangers changed over time.

            Odysseus and his crew landed on Aeaea where Circe had her home. The sailors made their way inland and came upon her dwelling. From inside her palace could be heard lovely music and singing and the grounds were prowled by tame wolves and lions. The men were intrigued and when the goddess invited them into her home for a feast, they readily agreed. Unknown to them, she mixed a magic potion into their food and they were all changed into swine. Eurylochus was the only crew member who escaped and he quickly advised Odysseus about what had happened. Circe attempted to entrance Odysseus as well but he had obtained an antidote which made him immune to her potion. He threatened her and Circe relented and changed his crew back into men. From that point forward her attitude changed and she became a good host and offered much more than hospitality to Odysseus and her other guest-friends. She swore a great oath to Odysseus that she would not harm him or his comrades and they eagerly responded to her invitation,

“But come now and eat food and drink wine until you restore the spirit in your breasts to the point that it was when you first left your homeland in rugged Ithaca. Now you are worn out and spiritless, always thinking about your tiring wanderings and your hearts are no longer full of joy because of all the bad things that you have suffered.”

Thus she spoke and our heroic spirits were persuaded. So we stayed there for a whole year, feasting abundantly on meat and sweet wine.

            Calypso the nymph provided excellent hospitality to Odysseus from the moment he arrived in her land. Circe’s intentions were evil whereas Calypso’s were selfish. She enjoyed the company of the mortal hero and looked after his every need, including inviting him into her bed. Her seduction of him lasted for seven years and she was able to secure the attention and admiration of Odysseus by promising him immortality. But it was solely for her benefit and not for his that she acted in this way, and in doing so, she as well violated the basic principles of ‘xenia’. She was finally convinced by a messenger from Olympus to let Odysseus go and to help him along his way and thereby avoided the wrath of Zeus, the patron of guest-strangers.

“I saved him when he was floating alone on the ship’s keel after Zeus had struck his swift ship with a thunderbolt and had shattered it in the middle of the wine-dark sea. All the rest of his goodly companions perished there but the wind and the waves carried him along and brought him here. I welcomed him here and fed him and said that I would make him immortal and ageless all his days. But since it is not possible for any god to slip past or avoid the will of the aegis-bearing Zeus, let that man go on his way over the restless sea if that is what Zeus urges and commands. But I cannot help him on his way for I have no ships with oars or companions to send him over the broad back of the sea. But I will freely counsel him and not conceal anything so that he may return unharmed to his native land.”

            The provision of good hospitality to a stranger was considered an essential part of society for the ancient Greeks. There were some basic rules associated with ‘xenia’ and both hosts and guests were expected to follow them. Zeus, the king of the gods, was the patron of travelling strangers and was referred to in this capacity as Zeus Xenios. This divine patronage created a sacred obligation to the provision of good hospitality and the violation of its basic precepts would lead to severe consequences.

            ‘Xenia’ is a recurring theme in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, but it is particularly featured in the second epic. It acts as a way of measuring the level of morality and good behaviour found in a society and its members. The examples of good and bad hospitality that Homer portrays give us deep insight into various characters and this continuous backdrop of ‘xenia’ provides the listener with a way of comparing the relative worth of those characters. Presentation of the ‘xenia’ theme throughout the two works also helps set the stage for the cause/effect, crime/punishment, or benefit/reward associated with good or bad hospitality. It is a theme that Homer skillfully introduces and uses to tell his story.