"Social Conventions in Homer" Consider the importance of following established rules of conduct in the Odyssey, with especial reference to the interaction of women and men (goddesses optional).
Throughout Homer's The Odyssey there is the motif of xenia, or zenophilia, the great ethical imperative, the obligation to entertain outsiders. It is the sacred Greek custom of hospitality. Mortals as well as gods have to adhere to it. Zeus, the most powerful of the Olympian gods, is the patron of this custom.
In Book 6, Princess Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians, offers help and hospitality to Odysseus, who was washed ashore. "This …
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…will and abide by the social rules of conduct. Justice will prevail in the end. Whatever the deeds and actions, choices and mistakes - in the end there is a system of rewards and punishments that upholds the social and divine structure.
Homer, The Odyssey, translated by E.V.Rieu (1991), Penguin Books, Book 6, p.91, ll 205-210
ibid, Book 1, p.6, ll 104/105.
ibid, Book 5, p.71, ll 28-30.
ibid, Book 23, p.353, ll 351-353.
Ibid, Book 22, p.340/341, ll 413-417
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