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The Role Of Hospitality In The Odyssey

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During the time of Thanksgiving, many families join together in one place and prepare a huge meal. In a way similar to the cultures in the Odyssey, the host family prepares this big meal, comfort, and relaxation for all of the other members and travelers who have decided to join them. Although Thanksgiving is a tradition that started in 1621 and the Odyssey was first written in the eighth century BC, they still have a lot of the same attributes in common. Characters throughout the story such as the people of Pylos cease their celebration to show hospitality to strangers whom they have never met before. Other characters offer hospitality to strangers, who, in the end, appear as gods or well-known people such as Menelaus. Other characters throughout the story, such as the Cyclops (Polyphemus), do not show hospitality, but rather harm the strangers whom they encounter. Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, several characters offer hospitality to strangers because they respect the power of the gods. Conversely, other characters do not respect the power of the gods, and show negative hospitality toward the strangers they encounter or show hospitality based on their fear of the gods. Throughout the duration of the epic poem, there are several examples of positive and negative hospitality in all aspects of Odysseus’ travels.

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The people of Pylos are one of the greatest examples of people who show hospitality in the book because they interrupt a royal wedding to provide for the stranger, they then prepare him a whole meal and allow the stranger to stay for as long as he would like. The cyclopes, Polyphemus, is an excellent example of a character who does not show hospitality because he threatens, and even eats, some of Odysseus’

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