How have the men broken the laws of xenia (hospitality) and what happened to them?

Ancient Greek concept of hospitality

This commodity is nearly the aboriginal Greek concept of hospitality. For other uses, come across Xenia (disambiguation).

"Theoxenia" redirects here. The moth genus Theoxenia is considered a junior synonym of Ethmia.

Jupiter and Mercurius in the House of Philemon and Baucis (1630–33) by the workshop of Rubens: Zeus and Hermes, testing a village'due south practice of hospitality, were received only past Baucis and Philemon, who were rewarded while their neighbors were punished.

Xenia (Greek: ξενία) is an ancient Greek concept of hospitality. It is virtually always translated equally 'invitee-friendship' or 'ritualized friendship'. It is an institutionalized human relationship rooted in generosity, gift substitution, and reciprocity.^[1] Historically, hospitality towards foreigners and guests (Hellenes non of your polis) was understood as a moral obligation. Hospitality towards strange Hellenes honored Zeus Xenios (and Athene Xenia) patrons of foreigners.^[2]

The rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest and host expressed in both material benefits (e.g. gifts, protection, shelter) as well as non-material ones (e.g. favors, certain normative rights). The give-and-take is derived from xenos 'stranger'.

The Greek god Zeus is sometimes called Zeus Xenios in his part as a protector of strangers. He thus embodied the moral obligation to exist hospitable to foreigners and guests. Theoxeny or theoxenia is a theme in Greek mythology in which human beings demonstrate their virtue or piety by extending hospitality to a humble stranger (xenos), who turns out to be a disguised deity (theos) with the capacity to bestow rewards. These stories caution mortals that whatever guest should exist treated as if potentially a disguised divinity and help establish the idea of xenia as a fundamental Greek custom.^{[iii] [4]} The term theoxenia also covered entertaining among the gods themselves, a popular subject in classical fine art, which was revived at the Renaissance in works depicting a Banquet of the Gods.

Legally, xenia was a charge of bastardy. Attic lawsuits apply it to accuse someone of committing citizenship fraud perpetrated through union fraud. The Periclean citizenship police of 451/450 expanded the definition of bastardy to include the children of unions betwixt Athenians and non-Athenians.^[5]

Overview [edit]

Xenia consists of 2 basic rules:

1. The respect from hosts to guests. Hosts must be hospitable to guests and provide them with a bath, food, drink, gifts, and safe escort to their next destination. Information technology is considered rude to ask guests questions, or even to enquire who they are, before they have finished the repast provided to them.
2. The respect from guests to hosts. Guests must be courteous to their hosts and not be a threat or burden. Guests are expected to provide stories and news from the outside globe. Most chiefly, guests are expected to reciprocate if their hosts e'er call upon them in their homes.^[6]

Xenia was considered to exist particularly important in ancient times when people thought that gods mingled among them. If one had poorly played host to a stranger, at that place was the risk of incurring the wrath of a god disguised equally the stranger. Information technology is thought that the Greek do of theoxenia may have been the antecedent of the Roman rite of Lectisternium, or the draping of couches.

While these practices of guest-friendship are centered on the gods, they would get common among the Greeks in incorporating xenia into their customs and manners. Indeed, while originating from mythical traditions, xenia would become a standard practice throughout all of Greece as a historical custom in the affairs of humans interacting with humans as well as humans interacting with the gods.

In the Iliad [edit]

• The Trojan war described in the Iliad of Homer resulted from a violation of xenia. Paris, from the house of Priam of Troy, was a invitee of Menelaus, king of Mycenaean Sparta, but seriously transgressed the bounds of xenia by abducting his host's wife, Helen. Therefore, the Achaeans were required past duty to Zeus to avenge this transgression, which, as a violation of xenia, was an insult to Zeus' dominance.
• Diomedes and Glaucus run across in no man'due south state. However, Diomedes does not want to fight some other human descendant from the Gods, and so he asks Glaucus about his lineage. Upon revealing information technology, Diomedes realizes that their fathers had adept xenia with each other, and they are invitee-friends. Therefore, they decide non to fight, just to continue their hereditary guest-friendship past trading armor.^[vii]
• Hector speaks to Ajax about exchanging presents so that people will remember them for dropping their hatred and becoming friends.^[eight] While this is not a traditional example of xenia, it does demonstrate the power of friendship in the Greek civilisation.
• Book ix: Achilles invites Odysseus into his home and asks Patroclus to make the strongest vino for them to beverage. Patroclus also brings meat with the wine. The men eat and take light chatter before Odysseus delivers Agamemnon'due south offer to Achilles.^[9]
• Book xviii: Hephaestus hosts Thetis in his home. Concerned with making Thetis comfortable, Hephaestus lays out amusement and puts away his tools.^[10]
• Volume 24: In the concluding book of the Iliad, Priam supplicates Achilles in an endeavour to get his son Hector back. Instead of turning him out as the enemy, Achilles abides by the rules of xenia and allows him to stay.

In the Odyssey [edit]

Xenia is an important theme in Homer's Odyssey.

• Every household in the epic is seen alongside xenia:
  • Odysseus' house is inhabited by suitors with demands across the premises of xenia.
  • Menelaus and Nestor's houses are seen when Telemachus visits.
  • In that location are many other households observed in the epic, including those of Circe, Calypso, and the Phaeacians.

• The Phaeacians, peculiarly Nausicaä, were famed for their immaculate application of xenia, as the princess and her maids offered to bathe Odysseus and then led him to the palace to be fed and entertained. Later sharing his story with the Phaeacians they agree to take Odysseus to his home state. In a new rule, he states that you should non beat your host in a competition because it would be rude and could damage the relationship.^[11]

• Telemachus shows xenia, in Book Ane, to the bearded Athena by graciously welcoming her into his ain home and offering her nutrient. He fifty-fifty moves her chair away from the suitors who are rude.

• Eumaeus the Swineherd shows xenia to the disguised Odysseus, claiming guests come under the protection of Zeus. When i of the suitors Ctesippus mocks the disguised Odysseus and hurls an ox's hoof at him as a "gift", mocking xenia, though Odysseus dodges this, Telemachus says if he had striking the guest, he would have run Ctesippus through with his spear.^[12] The other suitors are worried, saying Ctesippus is "doomed" if the stranger is a bearded god. Too equally this, whenever Homer describes the details of "xenia", he uses the same formula every fourth dimension: for example, the maid pouring wine into the gold cups, etc.
• An instance of bad xenia occurs when Homer describes the suitors. They keep to eat Penelope and Telemachus out of business firm and home. They are rude to non merely to each other but to Telemachus and the guests, such equally disguised Athena and Odysseus.
• Another excellent instance of bad xenia is the cyclops Polyphemus. The cyclops breaks custom by request Odysseus where he is from and what his name is the moment he meets him (it is proper for a host to first feed their invitee earlier asking them questions). And so, non only does the cyclops not offer Odysseus'due south crew whatsoever nutrient, he eats them and so refuses to permit them leave.
• Calypso, a fair goddess, had wanted to keep Odysseus in her cavern as her husband, just he refused. Circe had as well failed to continue Odysseus in her halls every bit her mate. Although both of these women had fine homes and fine things to offer him, their hospitality was too much for Odysseus. He instead left each with the goal of returning to Ithaca and reclaiming his family and his dwelling. Sometimes Hospitality was unwanted^[13] or was given unwillingly.

In the Argonautica [edit]

The Argonautica, written by Apollonius of Rhodes, takes place earlier the Iliad and the Odyssey. Since the story takes place during Greek times, the theme of xenia is shown throughout the story.

• When the Argonauts are warmly received by King Kyzicus of the Doliones who provides rubber harbour and sacrificial materials to help the Argonauts consecrate a new altar to Apollo.^[14] In the opposite harbour xenia is violated by the monstrous globe-born who attack the Argonauts.^[15]
• The King of Bebrykians, Amykos, makes the Argonauts fight to be able to leave. Polydeukes volunteers himself to participate in the battle match.^[16] This is a clear violation of xenia, and the Argonauts become worried when they achieve their next destination later on in Book two, when the Argonauts are on an island after a storm caused by Zeus. The Argonauts call out, asking for the strangers to be kind to them and treat them fairly. They realize that Jason and the men on the island are related by Jason's father's side of the family. The men provide vesture, sacrifice with them, and share a repast before the Argonauts get out the island in the morn.^[17]
• When Jason talks about going to Aietes' palace, he says that they will receive a warm welcome and surely he will follow the rules of xenia.^[18]
• The first fourth dimension the Argonauts reach Aietes' palace, also the first time Medeia is depicted in love with Jason due to Eros, Aietes has a feast prepared. The Argos are served, and subsequently their repast Aietes begins to ask questions about the Argonauts' purpose and voyage to his kingdom.^[19]

Political alliances [edit]

Historian Gabriel Herman lays out the use of xenia in political alliances in the Near East.

Solemn pronouncements were often used to establish a ritualised personal relationship, such every bit when "Xerxes, having been offered lavish hospitality and most valuable gifts past Pythios the Lydian, declared "...in return for this I give you these privileges (gera): I make you my Xenos." The aforementioned ready of words could exist applied in non-face up-to-face situations, when a ruler wished to contract an alliance through the intermediary of messengers.^[20] Herman points out that this is correspondent to pacts made past African tribal societies studied by Harry Tegnaeus (in his 1952 ethno-sociological book Blood Brothers) where "the partners proclaim themselves in the class of the blood ceremony each other's 'brothers', 'foster-brothers', 'cousins'. The surviving treaties of 'fraternity' 'paternity' and 'dearest and friendship' between the petty rulers of the ancient Near Due east in the 2nd half of the 2d millennium B.C. incorporate what are probably written versions of such declarations."^[xx] (Herman besides sees an repeat of this in the medieval anniversary of homage, in the exchange between a would-exist-vassal and the lord.)^[20]

Herman goes on to point out that "no less important an element in forging the alliance was the exchange of highly specialized category of gifts, designated in our sources every bit xénia (as singled-out from xenía, the term of the relationship itself) or dora. Information technology was as important to give such gifts as to receive, and refusal to reciprocate every bit tantamount to a annunciation of hostility. Common acceptance of the gifts, on the other paw, was a articulate mark of the beginning of friendship."^[xx] Herman points to the business relationship of Odysseus giving Iphitos a sword and spear after having been given a formidable bow while saying they were "the offset token of loving guest-friendship".^[20] Herman also shows that Herodotus holds "the decision of an alliance and the exchange of gifts appeared as two inseparable acts: Polykrates, having seized the government in Samos, "concluded a pact of xenia with Amasis king of Egypt, sending and receiving from him gifts (dora)".^[xx] Within the ritual it was of import that the return gift be offered immediately after receiving a souvenir with each commensurate rather than attempting to surpass each other in value. The initial gifts in such an substitution would fall somewhere between being symbolic but useless, and of high use-value but without any special symbolic significance.^[20] The initial gifts would serve equally both object and symbol. Herman points out that these goods were not viewed as trade or barter, "for the substitution was non an stop in itself, but a ways to another end." While trade ends with the exchange, the ritual exchange "was meant to symbolize the establishment of obligations which, ideally, would final for ever."^[xx]

Plato makes mention of Zeus Xenios while discussing his journey to run across Dion of Syracuse in The Seventh Alphabetic character.^[21]

In compages [edit]

Vitruvius uses the discussion "xenia" once, virtually the end of Book half dozen of De Architectura, in a note well-nigh the decorative paintings, typically of food, located in guest apartments:

"when the Greeks became more luxurious, and their circumstances more than opulent, they began to provide dining rooms, chambers, and storerooms of provisions for their guests from abroad, and on the first twenty-four hours they would invite them to dinner, sending them on the next chickens, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and other country produce. This is why artists chosen pictures representing the things which were sent to guests 'xenia.'"^[22]

Architectural theorist Simon Weir explained how Vitruvius refers to xenia at the beginning of Volume 6 of De Architectura, in the anecdote of Aristippus shipwrecked and receiving hospitality from the Rhodians.^[23] Besides how xenia was pervasive in the work of the earliest ancient Greek architects, whose piece of work was always concerned with public buildings and the hosting of guests rather than the design of private residences.^[24] Architectural Historian, Lisa Landrum has as well revealed the presence of Xenia in Greek theatre onstage and offstage.^{[25] [26]}

In the Hebrew Bible [edit]

Abraham and the Three Angels (Byzantine mosaic, Monreale)

Several incidents recorded in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) are considered parallels to the Greek concept of theoxenia, whereby hospitality is shown to a stranger before they reveal their divine nature.^{[27] [28]}

• In Genesis eighteen, Abraham is visited by three men; Yahweh (God) is among them, merely Abraham does not realise this at beginning, addressing him as Adonai ("my lord," a standard honorific for a guest) and provides them with staff of life, curds, milk and veal.^[29] In return, the Lord promises that his wife Sarah, who is elderly, will behave a son. (It is non clear who the other two men are; Christians accept interpreted them as the persons of the Trinity.)^[thirty] The Lord then says he is going to Sodom and Gomorrah to investigate the magnitude of their sins; Abraham intercedes, and delight with the Lord non to destroy the cities if there are ten proficient men in that location.^[31]
• In Genesis nineteen, the two men (identified as מַּלְאָכִ֤ים mal'āḵîm, "messengers," angels) go to Sodom where Lot, a nephew of Abraham, makes them welcome and bakes them breadstuff. The men of Sodom come to Lot's house and demand the visitors exist turned over to them, apparently then that they can rape them. Lot refuses, and the angels strike the men bullheaded. Lot and his family escape the city as God destroys information technology with sulfur and burn down.^[32]

Writers distinguish between "positive theoxenies," in which the customs treats the guest appropriately, and a "negative theoxeny," where the host receives the blessing of life rather than the death the unwelcoming public is cursed with.^{[33] [34] [35]} The theoxenies of Genesis 18–19 are an example of the influence of Hellenic culture on the ancient Israelites.^{[36] [37] [38]}

Meet besides [edit]

• Hospitium - Greco-Roman tradition of hospitality.
• Bellerophon, protected by xenia, even though falsely accused of raping his host married woman.
• Ixion, described in Greek mythology as a flagrant violator of xenia.
• Xenos (Greek) - Stranger/Greenhorn/Alien.
• Omotenashi ( お持て成し, lit. "Welcoming Guests" ) - Japanese tradition of hospitality, parallel of the Aboriginal Greek tradition Xenia.

References [edit]

1. ^ The Greek world. Anton Powell. London: Routledge. 1995. ISBN0-203-04216-6. OCLC 52295939. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
2. ^ A companion to Greek organized religion. Daniel Ogden. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. 2007. ISBN978-1-4051-8216-iv. OCLC 173354759. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
3. ^ Louden, Bruce. 2011. Homer's Odyssey and the Nigh East Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 31–two.
4. ^ Weaver, John B. 2004. Plots of Epiphany: Prison house-Escape in Acts of the Apostles. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 34.
5. ^ A companion to Hellenistic literature. James Joseph Clauss, Martine Cuypers. Chichester, U.Thousand.: Wiley-Blackwell. 2010. ISBN978-one-4051-3679-ii. OCLC 417443926. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
6. ^ Reece, Steve. 1993. The Stranger's Welcome: Oral Theory and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. [catalogues the diverse expectations of hosts and guests in early Greek society.]
7. ^ Homer, Iliad VI:137-282, (Fagles 1990).
8. ^ Homer, Iliad VII: 299–302 (Lattimore 2011)
9. ^ Homer, Iliad 9: 197–265, (Lattimore 2011)
10. ^ Homer, Iliad Eighteen: 406–409, (Lattimore 2011)
11. ^ Homer, Odyssey VIII: 204–211.
12. ^ Homer, Odyssey I, 20.287-319, (Murray 1919).
13. ^ Biggs, Cory; Joseph, Melissa; Bennet, Mollie; Manning, Dustin; Schrodt, Jonas (2002). "The Value of Hospitality". A Guide to Ancient Greek Culture (Educatee project). Schenectady, NY: Marriage College. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
14. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica I: 961–988, (Academy of California 2007).
15. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica I: 989–1011, (University of California 2007).
16. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica Ii: 55–98, (University of California 2007).
17. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica II: 1122–1230, (Academy of California 2007).
18. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica II: 1195–1200, (Academy of California 2007).
19. ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica III: 275–330, (University of California 2007).
20. ^ ^{a b c d e f k h} Herman, Gabriel (1987). Ritualised Friendship and the Greek Urban center. New York: Cambridge University Press.
21. ^ "The Internet Classics Archive | the 7th Letter past Plato".
22. ^ "Vitruvius Pollio, The 10 Books on Architecture, BOOK VI, CHAPTER VII: THE GREEK Business firm, section iv". www.perseus.tufts.edu . Retrieved 2020-04-16 .
23. ^ Weir, Simon (2015). "Xenia in Vitruvius' Greek house: andron, ξείνία and xenia from Homer to Augustus". The Periodical of Compages. twenty (5): 868–83. doi:10.1080/13602365.2015.1098717. ISSN 1360-2365. S2CID 145783068.
24. ^ Weir, Simon (2016). "On the origin of the architect: Architects and xenía in the ancient Greek theatre". Interstices: nine–15. doi:ten.24135/ijara.v0i0.498. ISSN 2537-9194.
25. ^ Weir, Simon (2016-12-25). "On the origin of the architect: Architects and xenía in the ancient Greek theatre". Interstices: Journal of Architecture and Related Arts: 9–15. doi:10.24135/ijara.v0i0.498. ISSN 2537-9194.
26. ^ Landrum, Lisa (2013). "Ensemble performances: Architects and justice in Athenian drama". In Simon, Jonathan (ed.). Architecture and justice: Judicial meanings in the public realm. New York: Routledge. pp. 245–256. ISBN978-1409431732.
27. ^ Jipp, Joshua W. (September 12, 2013). Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in Luke-Acts: An Estimation of the Malta Episode in Acts 28:i-10. BRILL. ISBN9789004258006 – via Google Books.
28. ^ Louden, Bruce (May 5, 2006). The Iliad: Structure, Myth, and Meaning. JHU Press. ISBN9780801882807 – via Google Books.
29. ^ Lee, John. "Entertaining More Than Angels". ChristianityToday.com.
30. ^ "Genesis eighteen:1-2 - A Verse Used to Support the Trinity | BiblicalUnitarian.com".
31. ^ "Genesis 18". biblehub.com.
32. ^ "Genesis nineteen". biblehub.com.
33. ^ "The Role of Theoxenies in Ancient Literature - Mibba". world wide web.mibba.com.
34. ^ Louden, Bruce (January 6, 2011). Homer'south Odyssey and the Nigh East. Cambridge University Press. ISBN9781139494908 – via Google Books.
35. ^ Louden, Bruce (November half-dozen, 2018). Greek Myth and the Bible. Routledge. ISBN9780429828041 – via Google Books.
36. ^ Louden, Bruce (March 3, 1999). The Odyssey: Structure, Narration, and Meaning. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN9780801860584 – via Google Books.
37. ^ Gnuse, Robert Karl (September 30, 2020). Hellenism and the Primary History: The Banner of Greek Sources in Genesis - 2 Kings. Routledge. ISBN9781000164923 – via Google Books.
38. ^ Taylor, John (December xx, 2012). Classics and the Bible: Hospitality and Recognition. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN9781849667890 – via Google Books.

Bibliography [edit]

• Fagles, Robert, trans. 1990. Iliad. New York: Penguin.
• Lattimore, Richmond (2011). The Iliad of Homer. Chicago: Academy of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226470498.
• Murray, A. T., trans. 1919. The Odyssey, by Homer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Printing and London: William Heinemann. [2 volumes].
• The Argonautika. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (2007). ISBN 9780520253933.

• Some of this material comes from lectures by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver, recorded and distributed by The Instruction Visitor.
  • Vandiver, Elizabeth, lecturer. (1999). The Iliad of Homer. [Audio CD]
  • — (1999). The Odyssey of Homer. [Audio CD]
  • — . (2000). Greek Tragedy Office I. [Audio CD]

External links [edit]

• Xenia A comic-strip caption of the formula of Xenia or hospitality in Greek Epic past Greek Myth Comix

smitheatilten.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenia_(Greek)

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