How we cite our quotes: (Book.Line)
Quote #7
(Menelaos:) ‘Surely we two have eaten much hospitality from other men before we came back here. May Zeus only make an end of such misery hereafter. Unharness the strangers’ horses then, and bring the men here to be feasted.’ (4.33-36)
Menelaos’s reasoning for his generous hospitality is one of gratitude for the assistance given him on his way home from Troy.
Quote #8
(Kalypso:) ‘How is it, Hermes of the golden staff, you have come to me? I honor you and love you; but you have not come much before this. Speak what is in your mind. My heart is urgent to do it if I can, and if it is a thing that can be accomplished. But come in with me, so I can put entertainment before you.’ So the goddess spoke, and she set before him a table which she had filled with ambrosia, and mixed red nectar for him. (5.87-93)
Even the gods have traditions of hospitality between one another.
Quote #9
(Nausikaa:) ‘But now, since it is our land and our city that you have come to, you shall not lack for clothing nor anything else, of those gifts which should befall the unhappy suppliant on his arrival.’ (6.191-193)
The generosity with which Odysseus is received by the Phaiakians recalls Telemachos’s experience with the various kings he visits.