Hospitality describes the friendly and open nature of welcoming and treating guests warmly through offering company, shelter, and other accompaniments to make their stay more fulfilling. It is a moral concept that drives humanity to treat each other with dignity, even when they are strangers. It remains an old and highly relevant social concept, especially with the increased social divisions that include racism, fascism, and other forms of discrimination. Hospitality as an industry is striving to increase service catalogs to improve guest experiences. Although it is currently commercialized, hospitality began as a human virtue that guests did not require to purchase. Due to changes and the evolution of the concept, it is often misused to cause social problems, as it can be used to dupe unsuspecting and innocent guests. Hospitality remains a central theme in both the Bible and The Odyssey. The paper will highlight the two texts to show the concept of a social virtue used to manipulate people and cause harm in the Odyssey.
Hospitality is encouraged as a social virtue in both texts, whereby Greek culture has practiced the same for generations while God orders his people to practice the approach as the right way of life. Hospitality is highly rampant throughout The Odyssey as a way of life. The Greek community practices the concept as part of life in what is referred to as xenia. People in these regions are expected by law o be warm and welcoming to guests regardless of their background or conditions. The community believes that strangers deserve to be welcomed into the homes and offered accommodation, food, drinks, and other assistance, such as seeing them off. The practice aims to make people feel comfortable and at home, as this would attract blessings from the Greek gods. Various examples stem up to show hospitality in the community, such as when Telemachus warmly greets and welcomes Athena into his house without asking for any background information. It was until after he had offered food and drinks that he sought to know more about Athena. It reflects the concept of xenia whereby guests also deserved good treatment and not resentment to receive blessings.
In both texts, hospitality is also used to show the power of God and gods in the case of Greek culture. The Bible is filled with numerous acts of hospitality and policies where God emphasizes the need to be hospitable to others to show God’s powers and blessings. God commands the Egyptians to be hospitable to strangers amongst themselves by offering clothes and food and not chasing them away (Leviticus 19:33-34). Besides ordering the believers to offer hospitality to strangers, God follows up in the New Testament by promising rewards for good deeds. God promises that those that invite strangers, the blind, and the poor into their houses and offer them food and banquets of flowers will receive their blessings and will be showing how blessed they are hence manifesting God’s power for all regardless of situations (Luke 14:12-13). The acts are closely related to those found in The Odyssey, as discussed further.
When the King of Ithaca travels, Penelope is visited by many visitors, amongst them several suitors. They know the King is away and are using the opportunity to lure Penelope with Lust to gain her acceptance. They hope to gain marriage and leadership as the new Kings. Besides eating and getting extremely drunk, the suitors also cause substantial destruction in the palace. Nonetheless, Penelope does not chase them away or demand to be repaid for the damages. She remains hospitable, giving them everything they would want to feel more comfortable. Guided by xenia, Penelope shows the aspect of treating strangers with kindness as a means to show them the blessings bestowed on a person by the gods. She wants them to know although they could not win her heart, they were good people and did not deserve any harsh treatment. It mirrors The Bible’s view of hospitality, where God is glorified through treating others better.
While hospitality is primarily used in the Bible to show good virtues that attract blessings and people to God, it is highlighted as a tool that can be used to manipulate people to their doom. It is often expressed that when a deal is too good, it might present hidden agendas, hence the need for extreme precautions. Blindly following good treatment can often lead to rough and sad endings, as seen in The Odyssey. The Sirens, the beautiful nymphs, are rather deceiving and appear as lovely ladies with their limpid melodies. They easily captivate unsuspecting travelers who are drawn by the sweet melodies thinking they are headed for a better outcome. They attract travelers who think of getting shelter and food before resuming their journey. Contrary to their expectations, the Sirens dupe them to kill them. It reflects on hospitality being used to cause harm to unsuspecting strangers. Other creatures in The Odyssey, such as the Cyclops, are, however, not trained in hospitality and do not show any signs of the same. From their menacing appearance of a single eye and giant appearance, the Cyclops does not reflect any image of hospitality and constantly causes harm by acting rudely and immorally. The Bible remains clear on these aspects as it stands firm against such acts of weaponizing hospitality or denying the same entirely. It warns that the consequences are suffering and not entering the kingdom of heaven. It is a reality of the Cyclops and Sirens, that lead miserable lives.
In conclusion, hospitality remains a social virtue that is encouraged to lead a peaceful and inclusive life. At the same time, it remains an old concept encouraged and practiced freely to offer care, especially to the most vulnerable society members. It has, however, been commercialized and improved to offer the best services to the highest bidder. Nonetheless, hospitality is highly prevalent in The Odyssey and The Bible as it is encouraged as the right way of life. Xenia is adopted as the way of life in The Odyssey, whereby the people are expected to welcome guests into their homes warmly and offer them food, shelter, and other assistance. It is seen as the ideal way of life and a means of showing the power of Greek gods. It is the same idea in The Bible whereby God orders believers to remain hospitable to strangers to manifest God’s power and blessings. Such acts, as shown by the Cyclops and the Sirens, stand to get punished in the eyes of God for abusing hospitality. While the cyclops do not practice it in totality, the Sirens use it to cause harm
