Examples Of Kleos In The Odyssey

The concept of hospitality is not foreign to anybody. It is the treatment of others with compassion, generosity, or respect. In Ancient Greece, this idea was known as xeinos. The word gained relevance at the same time that Homer wrote his epic poem, “The Odyssey,” in which this concept is a major theme. Kleos, the concept of glory and fame, is often contrasted with it because they are both common themes in Homer’s works. Unlike xeinos, which is about one’s actions towards the betterment of others, Kleos is for the advancement of one’s self and legacy. The former is concerned with the present, and the latter primarily with the future. The reason why these two ideas are often considered to be very different, even though they aren’t technically

They rarely exhibit traits from both. The obvious explanation for this would be that it’s because everybody has a priority, and therefore must choose between helping themselves or others. This isn’t true, though, because there are obvious patterns between xeinos-type characters and Kleos-type, meaning that such a trait might not be determined by how compassionate or audacious a person is. The deciding factor might not even be in your control. Let’s start by discussing xeinos, because it’s probably the easiest concept of the two to understand. It’s the willingness to help others of greater need, and sometimes give them even more than they need. Generosity, compassion, and respect are all aspects of xeinos, though specific qualities may vary between people. What we need to know in order to determine its significance in “The Odyssey,” though, is which characters exhibit it as a central feature of their personality. During the earliest chapters of the epic, there is an obvious similarity between the characters that treat Telemachus kindly and hospitably; King Nestor, King Menelaus, and Helen are all royalty. They offer

These characters often feel insecure or in jeopardy, but they might also feel that they have the opportunity to alter their lives for the better. Odysseus is one of these characters. Throughout the story, he is put in dangerous situations one after the other. Not only did he go to war, but he fought numerous monsters on his voyage home, and had to battle a group of more than one hundred men in order to save his family and his kingdom. Naturally, he was not totally confident in the face of all this adversity; he was afraid he would fail. Fear and stress is what drives most of the central characters of this book to commit the actions that drive the plot forward. Telemachus, afraid that he would have to take over as king if Odysseus really were dead and his mother were to remarry, set sail on a voyage with the intention of finding his father. Throughout the poem, Penelope allows the suitors to court her so they won’t ask about Odysseus, and who will be the next king. The entire plot of the Odyssey is about decisions that people made while in situations of great stress, when they were afraid of how everything might turn out. There are other characters besides those of the royal family that exhibit Kleos, though, namely the suitors. In fact, they might not have any traits other than that. Their entire goal is to