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Negative Presentations Of Hospitality In Homer's Odyssey

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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. …show more content…

They drinking Odysseus’ wine, and feasting on his herds. This does not make Penelope happy, which makes her even less likely to pick a suitor. This is harmful to the suitors wants and wishes because one of them will not be chosen now. Finally, a beggar that runs errands and does things for the suitors named Irus takes after their disrespectful habits and presents Odysseus with very negative displays of hospitality. When Odysseus asks to share Irus’ begging turf, he refuses and threatens Odysseus. Odysseus then breaks his jaw, not wanting to kill him with one blow. This negative presentation of hospitality does not works and Irus’ favor because it ends up causing him harm. If Irus had shared his turf with Odysseus, he would not have a broken jaw. These examples show that the abuse to someone’s hospitality or refusing to give it will almost always end up in a harmful

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