Sincerely or not? Hospitality works in many ways. To most Homer`s Odyssey is epic poetry about war and heroes, gods and mortals, and it is, to the untrained reader.However Homer`s poetry tells us something more about the culture of the people during those times.
He shows us what power the hospitality that is given holds. In Homer`s The Odyssey Odysseus is welcomed in the most magnificent of manners almost from start to finish.The welcomes he receives are fit for a king consisting of feasts and gifts even when his visits were without warning. Hospitality is something cherished by the people of Homeric times, in Book X of The Odyssey it is used to show a warm welcome, as a tool of trickery, and as mistrusting bait for onlookers.
In the Homeric culture hospitality is more than just a warm welcome. It is a special bond between families that have done such things for generations.This is shown early on in Book X when Aeolus, a family friend of Odysseus allows Odysseus to stay for an entire month."To this city of theirs we came, their splendid palace, and Aeolus hosted me one entire month..." (1, 1-1). More info on Odyssey you can find here — https://freebooksummary.com/the-odyssey-thesis-23124
This warm welcome was followed by all the necessary gifts for Odysseus to make it home, including the bag of winds. The final bit of good fortune was to make the wind from the west howl in order to speed the trip up and blow him ion the direction of Ithaca.This example shows hospitality in its general form, as a warm welcome featuring gifts and joyous behaviors.
Later in Book X we see the dark side of hospitality.This is when Odysseus travels to the land of Circe where is met with a seemingly warm welcome.He is wooed by charm that is false, only portrayed to seduce travelers into Circe`s community."...suddenly she struck with her wand, drove them into pigsties, ..." (1, 262-263) It is a power not to reckon with.The only way that Odysseus escaped it was ...