I know I mentioned the importance of this concept in another posting. Just wanted to point out one more thing I noticed about its significance in The Odyssey.
When Telemachus goes to see Menelaus to ask him for word about Odysseus, he is treated as a valued guest even before Menelaus knows who he is. (It's rather sweet, actually, at least to a modern reader, that Menelaus recognizes Telemachus as Odysseus' son in part because T's feet look very much like O's. In ancient Greece, being barefoot was the norm, and so knowing how someone's feet looked would be quite natural. But to us, the only time we hear people talking about who's feet a child has are when doting parents are so gaga over their newborn offspring that they're keeping an eye peeled for such details.)
Menelaus is furious when his steward asks if they should take in Telemachus and his companion. Of course! They see to the horses, then the men -- the guests are bathed and rubbed down with oil, then given warm fleece and fresh clothes. They are offered the best food in the house, and Menelaus says,"Once you've dined, we'll ask you who you are."
He is the perfect host. And twenty years ago, his household was violated by the worst of guests, who repaid his hospitality by eloping with his wife. It's a wonder that Menelaus will ever suffer strangers to darken his door -- but he's a Greek, and to stop being a good host would be worse than to risk another outrage.
Just a thought, probably obvious, but one that hadn't occurred to me before.
Interesting. I do remember reading about this, now that you mention it.
Where, though? Let me see...I think I read a pretty good essay, maybe an introduction to a Greek play, that went into some detail about xenia. Maybe it was one of the Fagles' translations, or else that great collection "Women on the Edge." Have to poke around a bit. Thank you for bringing this up.
