One of the many parts of ancient Greek culture was xenia, the ritual of offering hospitality and protection to strangers. This act was a way of showing one’s virtuousness and was therefore recognized as a moral obligation. Those who dismissed xenia were entitled to punishment.
5 Steps of Xenia (by the Host):
Welcome the stranger(s) into the home
Offer them a meal and a bath
Ask for their name once they are satisfied and comfortable
Exchange gifts with them
Offer them a safe passage home
Throughout Professor Giannopolou's lectures on Odyssey 9, xenia plays an important role in understanding the different interpretations she proposes of how the story is told.
Violation of Step 1 and 2 of xenia:
“...[we] ate the bulk ourselves and settled down inside awaiting his return…” (260-262)
anti-hero: a protagonist who lack the traditional qualities of a hero, such as virtue and morality
While Odysseus builds his credibility to be the heroine of his story to the Phaeacians, one of Professor Giannopolou's most intriguing arguments is that Odysseus himself breaks the rules of xenia. At a surface level understanding, it is easy to accuse the Cyclops of being the “bad guy,” but is this accusation still correct when Odysseus violates the very ritual that he accuses someone else of?
On his journey home from winning the Trojan War, Odysseus is fueled with pride and bloodthirstiness which results in his provocation of creatures, such as the Cyclops. While it is true that Odysseus punctures the Cyclops’ eye to free and avenge his men, he mainly wants to put himself on a pedestal in hopes of becoming some version of a glorified figure. His arrogance over his success is displayed when he says “if any man… should ask… who blinded you… say Odysseus” (558-560). Odysseus’ egotistical statements nearly cause him and his crew to get crushed by the boulder thrown by the Cyclops.
At first glance, individuals usually make the assumption that characters like Odysseus are always in the right when it comes to stories similar to Odyssey 9. A connection to the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops in pop culture is Disney's Beauty and the Beast. While it is not exactly considered xenia in the movie, Maurice, Belle's father, breaks steps 1 and 2 by inviting himself into the castle without the Beast's permission and preparing his own meal. Both human characters also steal from the creatures of their respective stories. As a result, the Beast, like the Cyclops, conducts a barbarous act that initially seems unjustified. Another similarity between both stories is that people often empathize with characters such as Odysseus and Maurice during their initial analysis because they are made out to be more humane than the monstrous image created for the Cyclops and the Beast. Although Odyssey 9 and Beauty and the Beast have their differences, they both exhibit why it is important to view things from multiple perspectives in order to gain a full understanding of what is occurring.
Beauty and the Beast (1991) by Walt Disney Pictures
Full Clip: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3w1ywj
After completing my first activity in my digital archive, I intend to use this space to expand upon my knowledge of what I learn inside class. Because this archive is online, I plan to incorporate a lot of pictures and videos to help make my activities and other assignments more interactive. Since I am a visual learner, I think that this will help me gain a better understanding of the topics we discuss as well as how they connect to the world around us. If I am being honest, I wasn't too excited about the amount of reading in Humanities Core but having this tool to my advantage will allow me to organize my thoughts better and express my creativity through the creation of this site. Overall, I am very excited about the foundation of this digital archive and can't wait to see how it will grow over the course of this year!
Works Cited:
Homer. Odyssey, Book 9. Nabu Press, 2010.
Giannopoulou, Zina. "Deconstructing Odysseus". Humanities 1A. University of California - Irvine. Irvine, California. 4 October 2023. Lecture.