Theme Of Hospitality In The Odyssey

Hospitality was a pressing theme in the original Odyssey, and one that is well reflected within the story Anon(ymous). Despite the characters all largely being strangers at first, everyone Anon seems to run into welcomes him with little to no restraint; this could possibly be an emblem of either how little regard they have for the threat of a stranger or traveler (generally percieved as dangerous or something to be wary of, as unknown things are), or a disregard/belittlement of his capabilities to appear as a threat to them. The hold no regards for worry over his presence because they do not believe him to be a risk. Ali and Nasreen saw no issue with invitig a veritable stranger immediately into their home, the only person seeming to take issue

One example of this is Anon’s mother, and her attempts to keep the factory owner at bay. The story of a woman being forced to find a clever approach to keep suitors at bay is not one unique to just this story, but a literary troupe that has been present in multiple stories throughout history. This troupe is in fact present in the Odyssey, with Penelope’s character; Odysseus’s wife, who fended off multiple suitors over his decade-long journey by weaving a burial shroud. She stated that she would not be ready to marry again until she had completed it. Every night she would undo her weaving, preventing the shroud from ever being finished, and subsequently preventing her from ever having to marry and of her suitors until one of her maids revealed this fact (similar to Sewing Lady #2, or “Vanna” in the play, who exposes her to Mr Mackus). While Nemasani’s character more closesly resembles Penelope’s, her tale is also resemblant of Scheherazade from the Arabian Nights, or One Thousand and One Nights. The story starts with the Persian King’s wife cheating on him— a crime that he executed her for— and following her death, he formed a twisted routine; every day he would marry a virgin, at night he

Though most connections in regards to Mr. Zyclo’s pet bird will remain strictly speculatory, there are multiple interpretations and tales from folklore revolving birds that could be ascertained within the context of the story; a common superstition (dating back to the era of Rome) revolving around birds flying into houses is that they are meant to foretell an important message— however, if the bird dies while still trapped inside the house, it augurs death. While this belief involves the act of a bird flying into a home, the nature of many legends are often reused in a malleable, more interpretable sense over time. Moreover, Mr. Zyclo’s pet bird walking in through the doorway could be seen as equivocal to a bird’s flying, as the bird is described as walking in heels as opposed to having any sort of wings (36). While the script dictates the bird exiting through the same doorway, later in the dialogue, Mr Zyclo references another bird he used to have, expressing that it was noisy, and that it “flew away”(37). While he states that this first bird was able to leave the butcher shop, following the passage wherewherein he describes the kind of meat he prepares to Anon(36), one possible assumption the passage alludes to is that he killed his first pet bird, which, according to the superstition described previously, presages death.