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Xenia In Homer's Odyssey

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“Xenia”, the Greek concept of hospitality, is both followed and rejected throughout Homer’s The Odyssey, and it causes significant results in the situations expressed throughout the book. For example, when Odysseus gets back to Ithaka, Eumaios, his swineherd, does not recognize his master but still welcomes him into his hut, resulting in Odysseus eventually reuniting with his son. Even though Eumaios does not know it is his master, he still allows Odysseus to come inside and make him feel comfortable. Eumaios’s actions prove the significance of the practice of xenia throughout Ancient Greece. In opposition, when Odysseus and his men go into the house of Polyphemus, a savage kyklops who does harm unto any trespasser, they are showed hostility,

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