Telemachus’ journey brings him to Pylos, where King Nestor welcomes him with open arms as he “[sits] them down at the feast on fleecy throws” (Homer, 3. 40-1). King Nestor is instantly assumed to be a good-hearted man, because he has fulfilled the first step in proper hospitality. Next, he asks of Telemachus all the questions a good host would care to know and Telemachus’ questions in return prove that he trusts Nestor to help him in his quest to find his father. Nestor offers Telemachus a comfortable stay, gives praise to Odysseus, and treats Telemachus with all the respect of a fellow king. Homer exemplifies Nestor’s honor, because he and his son welcomed Telemachus without knowing who he was until after the feast. This is most likely why all hospitable hosts will not ask for a name or a purpose until they have met their guests’ needs: it is proper to do so.
An interesting thing to note is Nestor’s insight into Agamemnon’s death. Because Nestor has integrity, we accept his interpretation of why Orestes was justified in taking revenge against Aegisthus. Telemachus also agrees how Orestes should be famous for his actions. It proves that the law of the time was that you had the right to punish those who were inhospitable, even to the extremes of murder.
As a final act of kindness, Nestor’s daughter gives Telemachus a bath and Nestor hosts a feast before allowing his guests to leave; off toward Sparta and the rich, warrior king Menelaus. Upon Telemachus’ arrival, Menelaus “brings [him] in to share [the] flowing feast” (Homer, 4. 41-2). Menelaus’ intuition and observance reveal Telemachus’ identity before he even asks and he makes sure to give the prince all the hospitality he deserves. What we learn is that Menelaus and Odysseus were inseparable friends. What an example of how Homer believes a man should act! Menelaus is extremely wealthy, very honorable, a great host, and he was best friends with the hero of the Trojan War! The man that can show hospitality is to be respected for his good nature; in this case, Menelaus. With each new proof of how honorable it is to show hospitality, we see more clearly Homer’s message of how we all should act towards our fellow man.
Still, behind the hospitality, is the story of Agamemnon’s death at the hands of Aegisthus and of Orestes’ revenge. This story actually proves part of what Homer is trying to say too. For three men of integrity to agree on Orestes’ act of vengeance as the right thing to do proves how important being hospitable is. Aegisthus’ lack of hospitality cost him his life. Even if you have no dignity, you should still show hospitality if you fear for your life.
At the conclusion of Telemachus’ journey, Homer’s major focus has already been brought to the forefront of the story; the suitors in Odysseus’ home are showing the same disregard for their xenos that evil Aegisthus did toward Agamemnon being “poised to cut Telemachus down with bronze swords on his way back home” (Homer, 4. 787-8). Also, Telemachus and soon to be Odysseus, wish the same fate for the suitors that befell Aegisthus. But first, Odysseus must forego instances of hospitality on his journey as well.
In fact, the hospitality that is first presented to Odysseus is even greater than that which Telemachus receives. We find him, in a strange land wearing no clothes and waking to some girls in a forest. Within a day he is clothed and brought to the king’s palace in Phaeacia by the princess Nausicaa where he is raised “up from the hearth and sat… down in a burnished chair” (Homer, 7. 200-1) in the very seat where King Alcinous’ most beloved son sat. Thought it is a feast for Poseidon, the God Odysseus angered, Odysseus feasts for the first time in seven years and is treated with respect and honor as people wash his feet and offer him his own personal ship from their stores to sail home with.
While in Phaeacia, Odysseus doesn’t lower his guard, but he accepts and appreciates the hospitality that the men and women show him. Alcinous’ hospitality proves he is another good king and that we should follow the examples he sets. Odysseus obviously feels confident enough to tell the story of his trials to the king and queen even though it takes multiple books and many nights in Phaeacia to finish it. This also shows trust in Alcinous from the contemplating Odysseus.
At this point in the story, we finally get to see what a truly inhospitable host is first hand when Odysseus recalls his “stay” in the cave of Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men (when they were still alive) had to stop at the land of the Cyclopes. As they travel, they happen across Polyphemus’ food stores and partake. When Odysseus decides to stay, Polyphemus comes home and ends up “[lunging] out with his hands toward [Odysseus’] men and snatching two at once, rapping them on the ground” (Homer, 9. 324-6). You can’t completely blame the Cyclops, but he had no knowledge of them other than their pleas for help and hospitality, yet he still took to eating them instead of offering his home as shelter or his lamb as food.
To show the wrong in Polyphemus’ actions, Homer, as well as Odysseus, ensures that Polyphemus gets what he deserves in the form of a blinded eye at the tip of Odysseus’ spear. Homer holds our focus on the shame of not being hospitable by making Polyphemus cry to Poseidon. Even though this is what gives Odysseus all his grief, it shows that an inhospitable person, or Cyclops in this case, will pay for not respecting his xenos with others and will be shamed greatly in doing so.
In his trials, there are more times when Odysseus isn’t shown good hospitality: with the Laestrygonians and in the care of Circe. The Laestrygonians resemble Polyphemus with there snacking on Odysseus’ scouts, but before there can be any retribution for their inhospitable actions, the crews flee and make their way to Circe’s island, Aeaea. With fake hospitality, Circe lures half the men into taking a potion that allows her the chance to turn them all into swine. Odysseus isn’t the man to mess with though. Homer makes it so that Odysseus conquers Circe and once again proves that being inhospitable will usually result in retribution.
Once both Telemachus and Odysseus make it home, they have one last challenge; defeating the suitors. The stage is set for Homer’s main point to be driven home. Throughout the story we have seen good and bad hosts and we have witnessed what has become of them due to their actions. The suitors don’t make matters any better when they harass and strike Odysseus in his beggar form either, but their time is up either way. Homer will give us one final example of why being a good host is so important.
You see, through all these instances of hospitable and inhospitable hosts, Homer builds a sense of what is expected from each and every host when a guest arrives at his doorstep and in the final confrontation we all agree that the suitors, being as inhospitable as they are, deserve to die. So when Odysseus reveals himself after loosing his arrows, the sense of satisfaction that the revenge brings is a strong and unified one because Homer has made us all feel the same way. The more build up he creates, the more we all want one outcome…
And that is the brilliance of Homer. He takes The Odyssey told in his day as an oral tradition and turns it into a masterful book that has meaning even into today. Homer believes that we should all be kind to our fellow man. In ancient Greece, that means being hospitable to whoever steps into your domain. Anyone who will show hospitality: Telemachus, Nestor, Menelaus, and Alcinous, is revered as a good man worthy of respect and honor, but those that cannot or will not respect xenos are accountable to the vengeance that they receive: Aegisthus, Polyphemus, the Laestrygonians, and Circes. Homer wants us all to be hospitable in our lives and he uses Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ journeys in The Odyssey to show us this.
WORKS CITED
Homer. The Odyssey. New York: Penguin Classics, 1999. Print.
