How and why is the "hospitality theme" in The Odyssey important?

Question

How and why is the "hospitality theme" in Homer's The Odyssey important?

Answer 1

In essence, many of the problems that befall people in the epic are due to violating hospitality.

* Odysseus and his men land on the island of the Cyclops. They come into a cave, and eat the roasting sheep that is there - violating hospitality by going into someone's home and eating their food without permission (or even asking). The resultant blinding of the Cyclops angers Poseidon, who blows Odysseus off course.

* Circe invites Odysseus' men to a feast, and turns them to swine - excepting Eurylochus who goes and warns Odysseus. Hermes intervenes and protects Odysseus from Circe's magic - partially because she violated hospitality.

* On Thrinacia, Odysseus and his men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe, and hunted down the golden cattle of Helios - causing them to be shipwrecked, killing all but Odysseus, and resulting in him being enslaved by Calypso for seven years.

* The suitors that seek Penelope's hand violate hospitality by refusing to leave, and by continually feasting at Penelope's expense. This justifies their death at Odysseus and Telomachus' hands.

I had to write a 2 page essay about it in college :)

Answer 2

Odyssey Hospitality

Answer 3

All your multiple guesses are mostly wrong. The "Iliad" is important because it served as a sort of moral codex for the ancient Greeks. It was the tale that embodied many of their moral and ethical concepts such as hubris and nemesis, moderation and simplicity, vengeance, etc. The "Odyssey" was of much less importance yet contained some of the same themes. These two works have helped us understand the IDEALS to which the ancient Greeks aspired; and the consequences of failing to meet those ideals. They do not, as appears in B, tell us so much about the LIVES of average ancient Greeks; these works tell us of their BELIEFS and IDEALS. It is certainly no factual account of the Persian invasion, by the way, as the Persian invasion of Greece happened many hundreds of years AFTER the events in the Iliad. Furthermore, the struggle is Doric Greeks versus Ionic Greeks (the Trojan, for instance); not Greeks v. Persians. You should try again; your choices are a FAIL.

Answer 4

Odysseus tries, for 20 years, to make his way home to his wife, Penelope. Because they're lonely & homesick, he & his party accept "hospitality", if one could call it that, from some very inhospitable characters.
Polyphemus, the Cyclops, imprisons them in his cave & tries to make a meal out of them. They are forced to blind the Cyclops in order to escape & they incur incur the wrath of Poseidon, Polyphemus' father.
Circe the Sorceress turns several of his men into animals & enslaves them. Hermes gives Odysseus an antidote to break the spell & they can then escape.
In the meantime, Penelope finds herself forced to extend hospitality to some unwanted houseguests. Several suitors are vying for her hand & trying to convince her to abandon hope for Odysseus' return. When Odysseus finally does return, he exacts vengeance upon those who abused this hospitality.
That's my take on it. Of course, I've only given a few highlights, but I hope this helps.