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Hospitality In Homer's Odyssey

586 Words3 Pages

In the story of Odyssey, the plot is based off numerous amount of events that have to deal with the various themes featured in the epic. The author puts certain emphasis on a few specific themes in the poem through how he develops the characters, setting, and plot points. It is seen that the theme of hospitality is one of the motifs that is emphasized in Odyssey by Homer, for it is expressed consistently through the story. Corresponding with the elements of setting as well as the parts that fall into a Homeric society, the theme of hospitality is first shown through how the characters act towards each other. At one point during the novel, Odysseus, who is disguised, is offered to stay the night with his old servant, Eumaeus. This scene is described in book 14: “...the swineherd sprang to his feet /And started to make up a bed for Odysseus”(Homer 221). Despite the fact that he is a stranger, Eumaeus offers the disguised Odysseus to stay the night. Not only does this show the hospitality of the setting, where strangers are very welcoming to strangers, but it also shows how the theme of hospitality contributes to the aspect of characters and how …show more content…

For example, Penelope is miserable throughout a majority of the poem, for suitors have continued to take advantage of her and her/her son’s household. In book 17, she says, “‘...while they themselves / Mob our house day after day’”(273). This excerpt of Penelope’s words show how the hospitality that is a stern aspect of the time period she lives in is what is forcing her and her son, Telemachus, to continue hosting the suitors until they have a real reason to say no (such as Odysseus returning home). These obligations that are caused by the theme of hospitality have a large effect on the

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