The Odyssey, Telemachus and King Alcinous would be admired by a Greek audience for their embodiment of the Greek values; hospitality, devotion to the gods, cleverness.
Telemachus shows hospitality and cleverness through his treatment and interactions with the suitors he hosts in the family house. These suitors have been taking up room, eating food, and wreaking havoc on the estate for years since his father left for Troy. Telemachus still offers an extreme amount of hospitality to the suitors even though they are actively pursuing his own mother in his house. Telemachus shows this through his interaction with Athena in disguise. She describes his house as “the lordly suitors on hides of the oxen which they had killed and eaten, and gambling …show more content…
Telemachus displays hospitality in his treatment of the suitors, even through they are unwanted guests and are actively trying to marry his mother while in his own house. Telemachus also displays cleverness instead of just trying to use brute force by obtaining a ship from the suitors. He gives them reasons to let him have a ship that seem to benefit the suitors but actually will benefit Telemachus in the end. King Alcinous of the Phaecians also displays Greek values in the Odyssey. He offers hospitality to the nearly naked, starving and almost dead Odysseus even through he does not know who he is. He provides an escort to get Odysseus back to his home safely with no payment in return. He also prays to Zeus before meals even through Poseidon is a much bigger influence in his life. Alcinous recognizes Zeus as King of the Gods and the one with the most power over the world. While there are many other positive Greek values exemplified by other minor characters in The Odyssey, the one seen in almost all of them is hospitality. This is shown by Telemachus and King Alcinous, as well as other characters such as Aeolus, Calypso, and King Nestor. The reason that Homer chose to include this in almost every good character is that it was the most important value in Greek society at the time. Good hospitality could make the difference between life and death at the time, and could greatly improve peoples lives. While today hospitality is not considered a heroic or very important value, when the Odyssey was written it was. Homer clearly shows how important and integral it is to the society. While the stories of The Odyssey amazed and surprised the Greek audiences at the time, it also taught them the most important value at the time -
Telemachus shows hospitality and cleverness through his treatment and interactions with the suitors he hosts in the family house. These suitors have been taking up room, eating food, and wreaking havoc on the estate for years since his father left for Troy. Telemachus still offers an extreme amount of hospitality to the suitors even though they are actively pursuing his own mother in his house. Telemachus shows this through his interaction with Athena in disguise. She describes his house as “the lordly suitors on hides of the oxen which they had killed and eaten, and gambling …show more content…
Telemachus displays hospitality in his treatment of the suitors, even through they are unwanted guests and are actively trying to marry his mother while in his own house. Telemachus also displays cleverness instead of just trying to use brute force by obtaining a ship from the suitors. He gives them reasons to let him have a ship that seem to benefit the suitors but actually will benefit Telemachus in the end. King Alcinous of the Phaecians also displays Greek values in the Odyssey. He offers hospitality to the nearly naked, starving and almost dead Odysseus even through he does not know who he is. He provides an escort to get Odysseus back to his home safely with no payment in return. He also prays to Zeus before meals even through Poseidon is a much bigger influence in his life. Alcinous recognizes Zeus as King of the Gods and the one with the most power over the world. While there are many other positive Greek values exemplified by other minor characters in The Odyssey, the one seen in almost all of them is hospitality. This is shown by Telemachus and King Alcinous, as well as other characters such as Aeolus, Calypso, and King Nestor. The reason that Homer chose to include this in almost every good character is that it was the most important value in Greek society at the time. Good hospitality could make the difference between life and death at the time, and could greatly improve peoples lives. While today hospitality is not considered a heroic or very important value, when the Odyssey was written it was. Homer clearly shows how important and integral it is to the society. While the stories of The Odyssey amazed and surprised the Greek audiences at the time, it also taught them the most important value at the time -