Hospitality In The Aeneid

In the epic The Odyssey, Homer supports the Greek tradition of hospitality when Aeolus helps Odysseus get to Ithaca and King Alcinous provides Odysseus the resources to return home to reveal the thematic understanding that society should act towards others in a way that reflects how they would want others to act towards them.

The Homeric epic often foretells of a long perilous journey filled with warfare and trials of the human condition that coincides with the spiritual journey that each human being has to take. How are The Aeneid and The Confessions similar in that they both depict warfare and a long spiritual journey? In The Aeneid, Aeneas’ journey is filled with many trials and temptations both physical as well as spiritual. Aeneas is seen as a model of piety, but he is living in a sinful relationship with his mistress Dido, the queen of Carthage. In The Confessions, St. Augustine tells of his spiritual journey from his adolescence when he had no interest in virtue or Christianity

In ancient history Romans have always been the dominant force that would build itself back up and strengthen into a major civilization for hundreds of years to come. Although, what a lot of people don’t know is how the Romans initially began or perceived to be created as a people that was born from mythological stories that tied into their own culture at the time. Titus Livius (Livy) was an historian that wrote many books on the history of Rome, but today we will only go through an English translation from 1919 of Livy’ first book. We will be discussing what happened (what was written down as the origin of Rome), some interesting points in the text, and analyze the way Livy wrote/structured his work.

Odysseus is the heroic character from The Odyssey by Homer, and Aeneas is the heroic character from The Aeneid by Virgil. Both men had fought on opposite sides of the Trojan War, a war fought at Troy. Odysseus fought for Greece, while Aeneas fought for Rome. Along with these basic things, the two heroes do have similarities, as well as differences. Both Odysseus and Aeneas are on a journey to get to home. However, their character as men are not alike; Aeneas is very “duty-driven”, while Odysseus is driven mainly by his own self-interest. Virgil makes his character, Aeneas, an opposite to Odysseus in this way to express the difference between their cultures.

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey is one of the most complex pieces of literature in the field of classics, the intricacies and hidden meanings that are engrained in the text make it a perfect source to examine the behaviors that were valued and displayed in Greek society. Hospitality is one of the major behavioral patterns that is central to this epic as well as ancient Greek society. Homer helps the reader to understand this code of behavior by writing vivid scenes where the audience can see what lengths the hosts are willing to go to in order to please their guests. However, this understanding is complicated by some abuses of hospitality by the protagonists, Odysseus and Telemachus when they themselves are guests, receiving others hospitality.

In the Odysseus (book 9), written by Homer, (book 9) has several symbolisms throughout the episode. One major symbolism used throughout this episode was hospitality. Homer use Cyclops and Odysseus to represent the different view of hospitality. Odysseus action symbolize the poor use of hospitality. Odysseus and his men sailed to the land of the Cyclopes. When they made to Cyclopes’ land, Odysseus wants to find out if the men on the land believe “…wild savages with no sense of right or wrong or hospitable folk who fear the gods (l70 line).” Odysseus and his men enter one of the Cyclopes cave without his permission. Odysseus and his men ate all the Cyclopes food, drank his wine and took some the Cyclopes stock. Odysseus wanted to leave but he

Negative presentations of hospitality almost always hurts a character in some way. One of the first instances of this is when Odysseus meets Polyphemus of the Cyclops’ Island. Polyphemus does not immediately show hospitality upon meeting Odysseus and his crew, so Odysseus asks for it. “... beholden for your help, or any gifts you give as a custom to honor strangers… Zeus will avenge the unoffending guests… We cyclops care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus… where was it, now, you left your ship…” (Homer 902). Since Polyphemus refuses to give Odysseus hospitality, there is no chance of civility and this will not help Odysseus, only hurt him. To prove Polyphemus’ incivility even more, he asks where Odysseus boat is so he can destroy it. Another example of negative hospitality is the suitors blatant disrespect for Penelope’s good hospitality.

Throughout ancient literature, the authors and poets of the time depict their characters in multiple different ways. While some depict their characters as flawed individuals, others paint their characters as perfect, god-like beings who can do no wrong. In no story are the lines between perfect and flawed more skewed than in Virgil’s Aeneid. Virgil shows Aeneas as the perfect hero - the hero destined by the gods to bring the Trojans to Italy, and who fulfills his duty to his people, the gods, and his family before himself. However, due to Aeneas’s human feelings shown many times during the epic, Virgil portrays Aeneas as a flawed character in his grand Roman epic, The Aeneid.

The Odyssey takes the reader on a trip of showing Odysseus’s way back home, after held on an island with the goddess Calypso for years. With the aid of Pallas Athena and other courteous gods and goddesses, he could make it home to Ithaca, and annihilate the suitors that were ill-behaved. However, before his arrival in Ithaca, he encountered and was kindly embraced in numerous stranger’s homes. One of the prime themes in The Odyssey is hospitality. No matter who someone was or where an individual has been, they would always be met with kindheartedness.

The theme of Xenia was one of the most spotted out in The Odyssey, which is the Law of Hospitality. The Law of Hospitality is being polite to strangers who need assistance but it is more than it’s a host and guest relationship. Xenia is seen throughout The Odyssey.

Ancient Greeks define hospitality as, “to maintain order and civility between Greeks from various regions, hospitality was not just a kindness; it was an unspoken cultural law that preserved order for a people who were simultaneously countrymen and strangers”. The Odyssey by Homer, the story of Odysseus’s journey back home, contains several moments of hospitality shown towards him and his companions, who was wandering around the ocean. Although they met dangerous situations in most of the island they landed on, the hospitality that they received from the hosts were always helpful in their journey.

When reading stories of great leaders like Jesus, Gandhi, and Mandela we come across breathtaking messages. The message sent is one of selflessness, the selflessness of leaders. These trailblazers teach us to pack up all personal emotion, bias, and ego and think of the greater good. Whether that is for the greater good of a project, company or even a nation; try to see the big picture.Virgil’s Book IV of the Aeneid: The Passion of the Queen. In Book IV a desperate Queen Dido falls in love with a handsome stranger; neglecting her city and becoming consumed with lust. Throughout book IV Virgil argues that Dido’s selfish neglect of her city is the most significant effect of her bewildering actions.

In the Iliad, hospitality is a reoccurring theme that can change situations, inspire character development, and link itself with other themes to make concrete points. Throughout the Iliad, situations are dramatically shifted when hospitality is used. In many cases, when things are going awry, hospitality allows the characters to, instead of acting like animals, find the humanity inside themselves. For example, in book nine, Nestor proposes a feast for Achilles to try and get him to rejoin the Greek force. Hospitality is especially important in this example, because Achilles was angry but also hospitable. If Achilles was angry but not hospitable the scene would have played out much differently. When Achilles is angry but not hospitable, like in the original fight between him and Agamemnon which

Virgil portrays Aeneas 's self 's stability when he stays in Carthage for years. His love for Dido makes his persistence static for few years that he disregards his goal of finding a new city and prefers his desire but then he realizes that his goal is Rome, therefore, he sacrifices his desire and happiness to find his destined homeland. “Duty-bound, Aeneas, though he struggled with desire to calm and to comfort her" he puts his duty before his personal interests. His ability to accept his destiny despite his unhappiness leads him to be a graceful

The virtue of piety was a defining characteristic in Roman life, Romans carried out their everyday lives in accordance of the ideas of pietas which is one’s duty to their family, God, and people; these Roman values are displayed in Virgil’s The Aeneid through the actions of the character Aeneas, and challenged further in the Gospel of Matthew by Jesus Christ. The word “pietas” is a Latin word that means dutifulness, and refers to the balanced duty to a person’s family, gods, and people in Roman culture. The Romans believed that for these duties to be upheld then it must be implemented in one’s everyday life, and this belief of the Romans separated them from other ancient societies. In The Aeneid, Aeneas engages in all aspects of pietas throughout his journey to Italy to become the ancestor to the city of Rome.