Vergil distinctly evokes Homer’s social construct, xenia, in his epic The Aeneid, but he transforms it into hospitium. Xenia is the Greco-Roman concept of hospitality. Although Homer’s Iliad is replete with a variety of societal agents, by the end of his story xenia has overcome money, battle, and glory and cemented its place as the most vital of all authorities in Homer’s Greece. In Vergil’s The Aeneid, xenia is still present, although it now goes by the name hospitium. More than simply allowing hospitium to exist, Vergil still places value in it. Even in a new society hundreds of years later, Vergil decides that the idea of xenia is critical enough for him to incorporate it several times within his work. Both Vergil and Homer place importance
…show more content…
Vergil creates the initial distinction between xenia and hospitium by hiding Aeneas when Dido first appears. Aeneas is the leader of Trojans, and in a classic exhibition of xenia, the leader of one group speaks to the leader of the other; In Vergil’s scene however, when Dido first presents herself to the Trojans, Aeneas is still trapped in a cloud conjured by Venus and thus cannot interact with Dido directly (1.516). The second distinction between xenia and hospitium is that Dido refrains from offering Ilioneus, the oldest Trojan and thus Aeneas’ temporary replacement, what he is due according to xenia (1.520). Instead, Ilioneus is required to provide Dido with information pertaining to him and the other Trojans, saying that, “We have not come to plunder Libyan homes / Or drive your herds away onto the shore,” (1.527-528). On the surface, this seems like a slight change, but when comparing this interaction to the customary Homeric guest-to-host interaction, the contrast is stark. This is because xenia tradition says that a guest must have all of their needs met before they are questioned. This difference is perpetuated in the next lines where Ilioneus says, “What race is this? What nation would permit / Such outrage? They have thrust us from the beach / With war and yield no stopping place on land,” (1.539-541). What the Carthaginians did to the Trojans is not just …show more content…
This phrase from Ilioneus shows that the Trojans expect to receive xenia, but instead receive hospitium. In Homer’s world, a guest is to have all of their material needs met, especially that of sustenance, before any query is made. Yet here, Dido does not offer Ilioneus and his men a single scrap of food before they are barraged with questions. Not only did Dido demand information, but it appears that had the Trojans not obliged, the hail of questions would have rapidly become one of spears. This assumption that a guest is an enemy until proven otherwise is the antithesis of Homer’s xenia. The concept that one must actually earn hospitium instead of it being offered to anyone who needs it is a school of thought that has no chance of existing in any story of Homer. This is exemplified by the fact that in Homer’s world, Diomedes and Glaucus stop in the middle of a battle to respect xenia, while Dido cannot even feed the Trojans before bombarding them with questions. This comparison furthers the idea the xenia is an obligation, a right of the guest, that a host cannot shirk from; Hospitium on the other hand, is simply a privilege that some guests can hope to experience, but is in no way as powerful or persistent as Homer’s
Vergil creates the initial distinction between xenia and hospitium by hiding Aeneas when Dido first appears. Aeneas is the leader of Trojans, and in a classic exhibition of xenia, the leader of one group speaks to the leader of the other; In Vergil’s scene however, when Dido first presents herself to the Trojans, Aeneas is still trapped in a cloud conjured by Venus and thus cannot interact with Dido directly (1.516). The second distinction between xenia and hospitium is that Dido refrains from offering Ilioneus, the oldest Trojan and thus Aeneas’ temporary replacement, what he is due according to xenia (1.520). Instead, Ilioneus is required to provide Dido with information pertaining to him and the other Trojans, saying that, “We have not come to plunder Libyan homes / Or drive your herds away onto the shore,” (1.527-528). On the surface, this seems like a slight change, but when comparing this interaction to the customary Homeric guest-to-host interaction, the contrast is stark. This is because xenia tradition says that a guest must have all of their needs met before they are questioned. This difference is perpetuated in the next lines where Ilioneus says, “What race is this? What nation would permit / Such outrage? They have thrust us from the beach / With war and yield no stopping place on land,” (1.539-541). What the Carthaginians did to the Trojans is not just …show more content…
This phrase from Ilioneus shows that the Trojans expect to receive xenia, but instead receive hospitium. In Homer’s world, a guest is to have all of their material needs met, especially that of sustenance, before any query is made. Yet here, Dido does not offer Ilioneus and his men a single scrap of food before they are barraged with questions. Not only did Dido demand information, but it appears that had the Trojans not obliged, the hail of questions would have rapidly become one of spears. This assumption that a guest is an enemy until proven otherwise is the antithesis of Homer’s xenia. The concept that one must actually earn hospitium instead of it being offered to anyone who needs it is a school of thought that has no chance of existing in any story of Homer. This is exemplified by the fact that in Homer’s world, Diomedes and Glaucus stop in the middle of a battle to respect xenia, while Dido cannot even feed the Trojans before bombarding them with questions. This comparison furthers the idea the xenia is an obligation, a right of the guest, that a host cannot shirk from; Hospitium on the other hand, is simply a privilege that some guests can hope to experience, but is in no way as powerful or persistent as Homer’s