Level+2+Excellence+Exemplars+for+91200,+2012


 * Question number three: Social and cultural traditions**
 * Examine the social and/or cultural traditions expressed in ONE classical literary text that you have studied.**
 * In your answer:**
 * - explain one or more social and/or cultural traditions expressed in the text which dictated how people were expected to behave in society.**
 * - Examine at least one event where the actions of a character(s) were appropriate or inappropriate to the social and /or cultural traditions of their society.**
 * - Draw developed conclusions about why these social and/or cultural traditions were upheld by the classical society for which this text was produced.**

In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the social and cultural tradition of guestfriendship or Xenia is expressed. Guest friendship is the concept of hospitality and courtesy shown to those who are far from home. There are three basic rules of xenia. Firstly, respect from host to guest, next respect from guest to host and lastly that the host gives the guest a gift. In Books 4 and 6 of the Odyssey we see appropriate behaviour towards xenia and in Books 9, 1 and 2 we see inappropriate behaviour as regards guest friendship.

In ancient Greece the people believed that the gods walked among them and they felt that they had the religious obligation to obey their rules. Zeus was the god of travellers (among other things). This meant that if you mistreated your guest or didn't follow the steps of guestfriendship eg. not giving your guest a part gift, then you would feel the wrath of a god, and that god would probably be Zeus. Since people in Ancient Greece believed in the gods, clearly they wished to obey them as they did not want to upset them, as the gods could do horrible things to them.

Xenia usually starts with host and guest greeting each other, host then invites him in and has either a servant/maid that brings out a bowl of water and washes their feet and hands, sometimes the host does this. Once that is done a feast is prepared for the guest and after the feast, the host may ask the guest questions about themselves, like who are they, where they come from and what their business is. Next the host may give their guest somewhere to rest and sleep. Before their guest leaves the host must give them a gift. This shows how people in society were to behave, they followed this structure, which ensured that the gods would be happy with them.

An example of the appropriate way to treat a guest in The Odyssey is in Book 4: Menelaus and Helen. Telemachus goes to Menelaus to ask him if he has any information regarding his father, Odysseus's, whereabouts, and whether he is still even alive. Menelaus greets Telemachus, invites him into his home, has a maid wash his feet and gives him a feast. This shows an example of appropriate behaviour as Menelaus follows the steps to ensure that he is pleasing the gods by treating his guests with respect. Another example is seen in Book 6: Nausicaa. This is where Odysseus ends up on the Island of Scherie, he is filthy and hungry. He comes across the princess of the Phaecians, Nausicaa, who is washing her clothes in the river with the help of her maids. She shows xenia towards Odysseus by offering that her maids bathe him. "...you shall give him food and drink, then bathe him in the river," Odysseus respectfully declines the offer and bathes himself. Nausicaa then leads him back to the palace where he is fed given a place to sleep and is encouraged to join in on the games the Phaecians are playing. This shows Xenia as they do not know Odysseus but they still treat him kindly. The goddess Athene knew that the Phaecians were good people an that is why she made sure Odysseus would end up on their island as she knew they would treat him well, with xenia and respect.

An event that was considered inappropriate to society in the epic poem, The Odyssey, was when Odysseus and his men come across someone's home in Book 9: The Cyclops. In this book Odysseus and his men come to an island, they are running out of food and decide to go out and find some. They come across this very big, tall cave that looks occupied but no one is home. Odysseus and his men find cheese in the cave, they take it and start eating it and they make a fire. This doesn't show very good xenia from the guest, as Odysseus and his men are showing no respect to the owner and his belongings. Then the owner comes back; the person who owns the house is Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. Polyphemus is a Cyclops, and is enraged by what Odysseus and his men have done. Polyphemus doesn't live in a society that believes in guest friendship, so he doesn't believe that he should be kind to to Odysseus and his men. Odysseus tried to talk to the Cyclops about xenia as a social custom saying "we had hoped for some friendly gifts from our host." The Cyclops doesn't like this as he does not feel obligated to go along with guest friendship as he feels they have already disrespected him and they don't follow the laws of guest friendship. The Cyclops ends up killing and eating six of the men which definitely shows him as uncivilised in the ancient Greek world as cannibalism was abhorred.

The reason guest friendship was upheld by the classical society was because the people were all heavily religious and the gods were thought to control their lives and could turn their lives around especially if they disobeyed them, or did something wrong. Another reason it was upheld was because it would mean that they'd make new friends that could help them later on or back them in a war, also for the maintenance or development of their reputation. If you didn't respect the gods things could happen that would lead to misfortune and people wouldn't want anything to do with you, so in order for people to keep guests coming and to be able to socialise they would have to uphold xenia, and show hospitality towards guests. For example Odysseus would never go back to the island where Polyphemus is because he wasn't treated with respect and Polyphemus was unkind but he would go back to Scherie as they treated him properly with guest friendship. Further, he would encourage others in the ancient Greek world to visit Scherie therefore increasing the Phaecian's reputation for civilisation as a people, just as he would warn others to stay away from the island of the Cyclops to avoid a race that did not respect or uphold xenia.

In sum, we can see that guest friendship was an important social and cultural tradition which was obeyed by most, and that if you do not follow it, things can go wrong for you. Odysseus and his men were disrespectful to their host and were punished by the Cyclops eating some of the men and the Cyclops was in turn punished for not being a good Homeric host by being blinded. This proves that ancient Greeks believed in being kind, supportive and respectful to others travelling or visiting, by showing hospitality - even to strangers.

One important social tradition expressed by Homer in the "Odyssey" was the tradition of xenia or guest friendship. In ancient Greece, Greek people would be expected to invite strangers into their homes. They would greet them, have them seated, have their hands and feet cleaned. Food and wine would be brought and only after they had eaten could the intentions of the guest be questioned and stories be told by both parties.

An appropriate example of guest friendship was demonstrated by Telemachus in Book One: Athene Visitis Telemachus. Athene, disguised as Mentes, arrives at his home and is invited in without question. For example, Homer states: "He went straight to his visitor ... took his bronze spear and gave him cordial greetings." This example of guest friendship demonstrates Telemachus's good upbringing and marks him out as respectful beside the rude behaviour of the Suitors.

A second appropriate example of guest friendship or xenia is shown by King Alcinous in Book 7: The Palace of Alcinous. This example is longer and is also an example of formulaic writing which shows the whole process of guest friendship. King Alcinous greeted Odysseus, then "seated him on a tall polished chair [a maid poured water] into a silver basin to wash his hands ...brought some bread and ...delicacies, helping him liberally to all she could offer ...Once they had made their libations and drunk their fill Alcinous finally addresses Odysseus and asks of his intentions. This example shows that even kings must pay respect to their guests and treat them with kindness in line with ancient Greek social custom and following the rule of Zeus.

An example of inappropriate guest friendship is shown by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, in Book 9: The Cyclops. While Odysseus and his men travel to Polyphemus's cave carrying wine in anticipation of receiving guest friendship, the Cyclops is uncivilised and ignores customs. Instead of offering hospitality, he traps the men in his cave and kills a few, making a meal of them for himself. Homer has the character of Odysseus protest: "How can you expect ever to have a visitor again from the world of men? You have not behaved rightly." In this illustration, Odysseus shows the importance of such a custom to the Greeks in the ancient world. It explains that it was vital to a person's reputation. If people did not follow the custom of guest friendship, they would not receive further guests, gifts and offers of hospitality would not be returned when they are on their own travels. Odysseus and his men would have expected to have been safely greeted with, and shared,hospitable xenia as they would themselves extend to a stranger who visited Ithaca. This was the custom of civilised men who followed the rule of Zeus the protector of travellers and guests.

A second example of inappropriate guest friendship is shown by the Suitors of Penelope through the entire poem. These suitors originally arrived at Odysseus's household hoping to win his wife Penelope, but when she did not choose between them, their behaviour deteriorated, they made rude remarks, were loud and uncontrollable, ate all the food and outstayed their welcome. Though they were guests of the house, they were still expected to respect their host. A specific example of the suitors' rude behaviour is shown by Ctesipuus in Book 20: Prelude to the Crisis. In this book, Odysseus arrives home disguised as a beggar, but is disrespected when Ctesippus throws a cow's hoof at him. Homer tells us: "He laid a hand on a cow's hoof that was in the bowl and hurled it at him." This shows a lack of respect for the host, as well as fellow guests, such as Odysseus in the guise of a beggar.

Guest friendship was seen as a vital custom to the citizens of ancient Greece because, if performed correctly it exemplified the host's civility and good will. Performing guest friendship or xenia was a mark of respect towards strangers and travellers and by performing it, hosts would build up a good reputation for themselves. This was vital to the Greeks. By respecting your guests and forming relationships with them, you could rely on them to accept you back into their own homes if you were travelling. This was important because Greek settlements were far apart from each other, so journeys were long and usually they would have to stop along the way. Guest friendship encouraged alliances and relations to be kept up, which would encourage a sense of community and discourage feuds. Guest friendship also aided the travel of news to different parts of Greece.

in modern times we live in a more automated society so have less need for the sense of community that guest friendship brought. While the Greeks had to rely on other people for trading and hospitality, we now have shops and hotels which serve the same purpose. Though we have get togethers with friends and family, people are more suspicious now and will not usually invite strangers into their homes without asking questions. _---

"The Odyssey" by Homer is one of history's most famous literary texts, due to its timeless essence of adventure and heroism. However, this work of fiction serves not only to entertain, but also educates as many scholars study it to gain insight into the workings of the Greek classical world. The society depicted in "The Odyssey" is vastly different to our own and is governed by completely foreign laws, customs and traditions. One of the most prominent of these is xenia or guest friendship which dictated the way two parties interacted as host and guest. In this text, Homer defines the correct procedure for xenia and gives plenty of examples of both appropriate and inappropriate behaviour as viewed by his society. Xenia was expected and generally upheld by both the characters in Homer's epic and the members of society to whom Homer intended as the audience because it had important connotations and implications for religion as well as the geography and population of the Greek classical world and travelling during Homer's time.

The social tradition of guest friendship as seen in the "The Odyssey" is very easy to define and break down into steps as this custom was almost ritualised. Xenia began as soon as the guest arrived upon whence the host must immediately greet them and welcome them graciously to their home. They would relieve the stranger of their weapon, which was generally a spear, and lead them to a fine chair to sit. A housemaid would bring in a gold jug and silver basin and proceed to wash the guests feet and then the housekeeper would bring wine and a selection of delicacies for them to feast on. Following this, the guest would tell their host of their needs, whether they be of bringing news, or requiring transport or accommodation. Generally the host would be able to satisfy these needs and when it came time for the guest to depart, each party, guest and host, would present the other with a gift. Travellers or beggars could not always procure a worthy gift but the host must still treat his guest despite the lack of reciprocation. In this way, travellers could possibly amass a great amount of treasures and if a host gave generously, their good name and reputation was guaranteed to be spread in the future destinations of their guest.

However it was not always enough to follow these steps. The guest had to treat their host as well as his home and household with respect and not overstay their welcome. in return it was considered very rude for a host to inquire into either the identity or needs of his guest before he had eaten. In addition to this, both host and guest had to respect the code of Xenia itself and and never mock any aspect of the custom or take it lightly.

Examples of guest friendship are abundant in the The Odyssey as the main character Odysseus is a traveller attempting to retur5n home. He encounters men, gods and monsters as does his son Telemachus so both characters are frequently in the role of guest or host. Xenia in the Greek classical world is generally synonymous with sophistication and civilisation to its inhabitants. However, it is not only in noble houses where good adherence to the social tradition of xenia can be observed. Book 14 of The Odyssey entitled "In Emaeus' Hut' describes the reunion of Odysseus and his shepherd Eumaeus, although the former is in disguise so as to test the latter's loyalty. Eumaeus treats the supposed stranger kindly as he believes "all beggars and strangers come in Zeus's name". This generosity and great upholding of Xenia not only impresses Odysseus, it informs modern audiences and reminds classical ones of the important link between guest friendship and religion. The term Xenia actually stems from the name Zeus Xenius with which the leading god of the Greek pantheon Zeus was occasionally referred to. Eumaeus and the vast majority of other classical Greeks believed that Zeus was the god of strangers, travellers and all others far from home. Therefore to mock Xenia or take it lightly was to mock Zeus. It was considered that those who upheld Xenia could be seen as godfearing men, which was, and still is, valued in society.

Homer describes the correct way to greet a guest in Book 1: Telemachus Meets Athene, when the young Achaean says "Welcome stranger, you shall be entertained as a guest here among us and afterwards, when you have dined you shall tell us of your needs." It is important to note that Telemachus is courteous and friendly but also that he does not inquire about the identity or motives of his guest. As Athene is a god in disguise, Homer is again reinforcing the religious link attached to this particular social tradition. Telemachus's good manners win him the goddesses good favour which serves as a lesson to all classical Greeks listening to Homer's poem, to be kind to strangers as they could be gods in disguise.

Homer also gives examples of bad guest friendship experiences. The most memorable of which exists in Book 9 : The Cyclops. Odysseus and his men discover an island and come ashore seeking hospitality. When they encounter an enormous cave they decide to help themselves to the cheese and wine within and decide to wait until their host arrives. This is considered improper behaviour to take food from a host without their knowledge, but id did not warrant the following actions of their host when he returned. This was because the cave was inhabited by a Cyclops, a one-eyed giant who proceeds to devour Odysseus' men. Homer makes it clear that had Odysseus and his men acted properly the outcome would have most likely been the same because when Odysseus reminds the Cyclops Polyphemus of his duties as a host, the giant replies "Here we have no law, we do what we want." As Polyphemus is the son of Posiedon, god of the sea, he believes he is above being such as Odysseus, despite being mortal himself. He even goes on to say that "Cyclops care nothing for Zeus with his aegis". This indifference to both Xenia and Zeus is hubris, a mortal sin which means it would have been obvious to classical listeners that this reaction by the Cyclops was inappropriate behaviour. Odyssey and his men were not ideal guests but a better example of bad adherence to the code of xenia by guests would be by the suitors of Penelope, Odysseus's wife. These vulgar men squander away Odysseus's unclaimed fortune by feasing daily on his sheep and goats and drinking his wine. They also refuse to leave. If this was not bad enough one suitor Ctessipus openly mocks the social expectation of xenia.Ctessipus should have given Odysseus a real gift or at least treated him with more respect as a fellow guest. Even the other suitors vilify this behaviour saying Ctessipus is "doomed" if Odysseus was a god in disguise.

Evidently guest friendship strongly dictated how people behaved in the classical Greek world. As previously discussed, Xenia was upheld as the characters and audience members of the "The Odyssey" feared the wrath of Zeus and believed gods often walked among them in disguise. However, Xenia was also associated with the geography, population, relationships and desire to travel of the Classical Greek world. Ancient Greece was divided many separated city states, all of which were fiercely proud and independent. These city states however, were also rather aggressive and often fought with other city states over land and resources. Unity, allegiances or alliances were difficult to forge as the rugged hills and unforgiving sea of the Mediterranean ensured regular contact was unlikely. Slavery and immigration were also present, leading to a mixed population, which combined with the constant threat of war, meant Ancient Greece was potentially extremely volatile and unsafe for travellers. Xenia came into existence naturally from the religious requirements but also acted as a sort of moral template for all of the city states to act upon. The same standard of treatment and protection could be expected by travellers everywhere in the ancient Greek world and as travellers knew that they could find food, accommodation and gifts when abroad they happily provided the same to their own guests and visitors. It may have been something of a competition as lands that upheld Xenia flawlessly such as Scherie in The Odyssey were seen to be extremely civilised, sophisticated and even favoured by the gods. Homer's characters uphold xenia to remind his own society to do the same and those who don't are punished and labelled improper.