Modern Day Xenia In Homer's Odyssey

Xenia in the time of The Odyssey was a way for hosts to show off just how much they could spoil their guests. However, modern day xenia has taken on a very different form. Xenia once entailed bathing one's guest and throwing a feast, but now donating money or a blanket is viewed as generous. Though ancient xenia entailed showering one's guest with gifts and asking no questions before letting a stranger into one's house, modern xenia has taken on a much simpler form to make the practice more accessible. Odysseus could show up at a stranger's door and expect to be welcomed inside, no questions asked, which is very different from today's policies, and for good reason. Odysseus was able to count on food and shelter when he was traveling and once told Polyphemus, “Since we've chanced on you, were at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest-gift, the

Odysseus traveled from foreign land to foreign land and was always greeted with an abundance of food, drink, and gifts, likely because, “In ‘The Odyssey’ generous hospitality marks the greatness of a ruler.”(Source B). In The Odyssey how much a one could give was the mark of their “greatness”. Modern xenia should not put the focus of how much someone can give, rather if the host's intentions were ones rooted in generosity. Richmond Eustis remembers “volunteering as a first responder at a shelter”(Source B) in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Richmond never mentioned throwing a feast or showering people with gifts, most likely because this level of magnanimity was not feasible to him. Instead of xenia being closed off to only the extremely rich, it should be possible to practice xenia by just giving one's time and energy. The idea of helping someone in need should always exist, with or without all of the rules of traditional