‘He went straight up to his visitor, grasped his right hand, took his bronze spear and gave him cordial greetings. “Welcome, friend! You can tell us what has brought you here when you have had some food.”’ (The Odyssey pg.30)
As the text suggests, the guest who was being entertained, expected to be provided with food, a place of comfort to rest, shelter and good company. My hypothesis is that since most Achaeans did not usually travel outside of their village, then it would be assumed that this person was on a mission; therefore the host is entitled to provide help and assistance. The hospitality that is shown towards the Goddess Athene in the rest of the Book 1, portrays the importance of the accommodation and the excellent treatment of a guest in the Achaean society. Not only does the well treatment of a guest reflect on how nice an Achaean is, but it also reflects on how rich the host is, as he usually flourishes the guest with a single or many gifts to show their wealth and good fortune.
As I was reflecting on my reading and discoveries, I began to think that good hospitality is a way of making an offering to their Gods, as a sign of respect. Zeus is a God of many areas including the God of hospitality, therefore one way of worshipping this God is to abide by the hospitality code and treat strangers, guests and travellers well. Finally, I was able to see the guidelines of the hospitality code that the ancient Greek society of this period in history needed to abide by and it seems to me, that there was unwritten law of: if you are kind and hospitable to strangers who are in need, you too may be a stranger at a person's home, in need of good hospitality. In fact, there were no hotels or motels in this society, so one had to rely on the good nature and kindness of another as that was the only way to survive when out on some sort of mission, away from their home town.
As I mentioned before, the Ancient Greeks believed in Gods and Goddesses, therefore being a polytheistic religious society. It was believed that there was a God or Goddess for everything important in their lives. Olympian Zeus, the father of men and gods, was Athene’s father and Zeus also had many other sons, daughters and relatives who were Gods and Goddesses. The ancient Greek civilisation worshipped these Gods and Goddesses by making offerings to them frequently. Throughout the first four books, there were a number of times where sacrifices were made to the Gods. In Book 3, Telemachus and Mentor visit the Wise Nestor in which he is first seen sacrificing “nine jet black bulls” to the God Poseidon, Lord of the Earthquake. The Gods could interact freely with the Achaeans and the Gods could choose whether to show themselves, disguise themselves or watch from above, A good moral citizen of Ancient Greek society, would give respect to all their Gods, even though many mortals believe that the Gods control their every move.
Included in their religion, is their concept of righteous marriage, which is portrayed through Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and Telemachus’ mother. Telemachus’ father, Odysseus, has gone to fight in the Trojan War but he has been away for almost 20 years, when most of his comrades have made their way back to Greece. Penelope and Telemachus, at home back in Ithaca, came to the conclusion that Odysseus was dead therefore many suitors came to Penelope’s home asking for her hand in marriage. Suitors were obviously common in that society, but Penelope and Odysseus’ love was strong and Penelope delayed her second marriage for a long time. This shows that Penelope is extremely faithful to her husband who is in fact, not dead at all but trapped on the Nymph Calypso’s island. Even though the role of women in ancient Greek society may seem insignificant, Penelope has a lot of power over her family and her people while her husband is away at war. She is able to pick who her husband will be, when she believes that Odysseus is dead, even though most fathers will pick the groom for his daughter. She is able to postpone the wedding and by choosing whom to marry next, she is determining the future King of Ithaca. Even though she may not know it, Penelope holds the power over the aristocracy. I believe that Penelope will continue to play an important role in “The Odyssey”, even though I believe that the role of women may often be overlooked in this society and hopefully I am able to uncover the remaining books of the text so that I am able to discover more about the Achaean society.
Telemachus is angry that the suitors have come to live in his home and live off his land in order to persuade his mother into marriage. When Athene comes to visit Telemachus in the form of Mentes, she exclaims:
"Any decent man would be disgusted at the sight of such disgraceful behaviour." (“The Odyssey" pg. 9)
She says this as she is asking why the group of young men has not brought their own food, but eating a banquet in another person's home. Athene then tells Telemachus to seek the advise of the Wise Nestor of Pylos to ask if he has any new on Odysseus' return from the war, so that they can get rid of the disgraceful suitors all together. Odysseus had built up a good reputation, as he was a kind King of Ithaca, therefore Telemachus did not want his reputation to be ruined by a group of suitors who were ready to step up in a position of King after they married Queen Penelope.
The good reputation of Odysseus had come about from the respect of his people; he was an excellent warrior and had many riches and valuables that he had taken after defeating another kingdom. In the Homeric Society, the people had a law of what I like to call "blood vengeance", which is s form of family honour. The naming of many of the families recognise their heritage, for example, Telemachus would be known as 'Telemachus, son of Odysseus: the great warrior'. This family heritage needed to keep its reputation therefore if another person murdered a member of their family, it was legal to go and kill that person, or some one else from their family to keep their good name. This "blood vengeance" would obviously continue to go around in circles until one family was superior, fit enough to kill many people of the other family.
Throughout my studies I have found that the only way to become rich was if you were a great warrior, like Odysseus, therefore it was acceptable to take the riches of another warrior who they had defeated in a war. Odysseus had a beautiful castle with many riches and nice objects that showed to guests and strangers that he was a war hero and an excellent warrior through how many riches he had obtained from his victories. The first book of “The Odyssey” elucidates Odysseus’ castle:
‘Once inside the lofty hall, he took her spear and put it by one of the great pillars in a wooden rack among the many spears of the patient Odysseus. He then conducted her to a beautiful carved chair, over which he spread a linen cloth, and seated her there with a stool for her feet.’ (“The Odyssey” pg. 7)
The value of a great gift was a definite sealed friendship, as it shows that they are worthy enough to receive such a gift therefore worthy enough to become friends. This was a good way of forming an alliance with other powerful leaders, so when the gift bearer was in need of help, the receiver of the gift will remember the excellent token and offer his help. This custom is a common public demonstration of the true value of a friendship between two people in ancient Greece.
In conclusion, I have discovered many different codes and customs that the Achaeans had to abide by in ancient Greek society in 1100- 1000 B.C. Many of these codes and customs were not laws that had to be strictly followed, but parts of everyday life that helped people and helped people to make friends. The people of ancient Greece have a diverse polytheistic religion, which is the basis for most of their codes and customs, especially hospitality and the important roles that it plays in the life of every Achaean. I hope that you have found my recent discoveries interesting, and that it gives you an insight on what ancient Greek life was like.
Yours Sincerely,
Jessica Sinclair
