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The Code Of Hospitality In Homer's Odyssey

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Hospitality is something the ancient Greeks thought highly of. They treated all their guests with honor and respect. Greeks treated their guests like this because this stranger could be a god in disguise. They believed that if one were to follow the hospitality code, you shall be rewarded. If you were to disregard the hospitality code, you will be punished. That is why you must be kind to every stranger, family member or friend that enters your home. Those who choose to disregard this will be punished in a terrible manner. In Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, Polyphemus, Calypso, and the suitors break the code of hospitality and are punished for their terrible actions towards their guest or host. Odysseus first arrives on Calypso's island. Calypso …show more content…

As he ventures on he ends up on the island of the Cyclops. Him and his men make the decision to enter the Cyclops's cave. Once they enter they find the Cyclops's delicious cheese. Odysseus and his men begin to devour the cheese. This is wrong, they are eating someone's special food without permission. The Cyclops then enters and asks Odysseus, who he is and why he is here. He tells the Cyclops his ship has been wrecked and his men are hurt. Polyphemus shows no care for the situation. He viewed Odysseus and his men as intruders. To show them how angry he is, Polyphemus does this “Then he dismembered them and maid his meal/ gasping and crunching like a mountain lion everything: innards, flesh and marrow bones” (9.195-198). The Cyclops savagely murdered Odysseus’s men. After he is done, Odysseus and his men make a plan to leave. There plan is to get the Cyclops drunk and stab his eye out, so he cannot see and they can escape. Once they got him drunk on the floor, Odysseus and his men drive a piece of tree into Polyphemus's eye. The Cyclops was screaming in pain. He eventually becomes calm and falls back to sleep. Morning comes and Polyphemus moves the stone slab that barricades the only escape. As he lets his cattle out to roam, Odysseus and the men slip out. Polyphemus does not notice due to his blindness. The men are almost free they have found their ship and are sailing away. Until Odysseus opens his big mouth and

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