The Odyssey, Hospitality, and the Proper of Strangers

In The Odyssey, welcoming strangers is an obligation; it needs to be one for American Christians too. 

The Odyssey, the epic poem of Homer, now the topic of a blockbuster movie by Christopher Nolan, tells the story of Odysseus, a hero discovering his method dwelling after battle. On his journey, he depends on the help and kindness of strangers to make it again to his household in Ithaca. Amidst Nolan’s thrilling portrayal of battle and revenge, as Odysseus survives encounters with Cyclopes, witches, and man-eating giants, there lies an ethical lesson about hospitality that even Christians ought to study from. 

When Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his crew search refuge on the island of the “lawless outrageous Cyclopes,”¹ the captain is assured that they are going to be welcomed since “everybody’s heard of the Legislation of Zeus.” Nevertheless, they quickly discover themselves on the mercy of the monster Polyphemus (Invoice Irwin), who wastes no time devouring the lads. Although within the movie the crew stroll into the cave uninvited and assist themselves to the meals, in Homer’s model, Odysseus tries to plead with Polyphemus and says, “We come to you and are supplicants at your knees, should you may give us a visitor current or in any other case some present of grace, for such is the proper of strangers.”² 

The duties of hospitality are central to the understanding of life that lies on the core of Homer’s Odyssey. They dictate how friends ought to act and the way hosts ought to reply. These norms apply throughout civilized life, however notably to strangers. The Odyssey embodies an ethic discovered in lots of cultures that teaches that strangers should be obtained graciously and with a serving to hand—a precept which Nolan phrases “Zeus’s Legislation”—as a result of, as Odysseus’s loyal swineherd Eumaeus (John Leguizamo) observes, “all wanderers and strangers come from Zeus.” There’s a transparent echo of this theme within the New Testomony the place Jesus says, “For I used to be hungry and also you gave me one thing to eat; I used to be thirsty and also you gave me one thing to drink; I used to be a stranger and also you took me in” (Matthew 25:35). 

At present whereas some People are fast to assist insurance policies that harm refugees and immigrants, Christians ought to keep in mind what the Bible (and The Odyssey) teaches about hospitality and the way we should always welcome the strangers who come as immigrants and refugees. 

Odysseus as a Refugee

We’re first launched to our hero within the opening line of Homer’s poem, as “the person of some ways, who was pushed far journeys, after he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel.”³ Odysseus, although he may not match our typical psychological picture of a refugee, bears many similarities to at least one. Having gained a battle overseas, he now wishes to return dwelling to his kingdom and his spouse, Penelope (Anne Hathaway). However he’s prevented from doing so at each flip, making what ought to have been a brief journey right into a ten-year escapade whereby he’s compelled to make momentary residence in international lands. Homer writes, “Many had been they whose cities he noticed, whose minds he discovered of, many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the broad sea, struggling for his personal life and the homecoming of his companions.”⁴

Many refugees internationally face an identical expertise. The typical size of time a refugee spends in exile is between ten and fifteen years, not far off from Odysseus who spends twenty years away from dwelling, the primary ten preventing a battle he by no means needed to battle. Homer exhibits in his telling of this story, that even heroes and kings like Odysseus can undergo displacement. 

When he’s trapped within the cave of Calypso (Charlize Theron) and begins to inform his story, Odysseus first breaks down in tears over the ache and grief he has suffered. Damon’s portrayal of this scene invokes pity and empathy for the expertise of being unable to return to at least one’s dwelling and household. This grief and struggling is shared by many others who’re displaced from their houses.

Xenophobia and Mistreatment

Odysseus suffered extra than simply displacement; he additionally endured mistreatment by the hands of many from whom he sought safety. Whereas Odysseus is just not the right visitor (and in Nolan’s model learns to really feel regret for his personal violations of hospitality), he nonetheless suffers abuse by the hands of his hosts. Like many fashionable refugees, when Odysseus arrives in international lands, he’s not at all times met with kindness and generosity. Whether or not out of malice or selfishness, most of the hosts on whose doorstep Odysseus and his crew wind up, scorn, mistreat and even try and homicide the lads. 

For instance, when the crew discover themselves remodeled into wild pigs by the evil witch Circe (Samantha Morton), Odysseus should use his powers of persuasion to free them. Calypso retains Odysseus on her island for seven years, additional delaying his journey dwelling. And Polyphemus entraps and murders Odysseus’s crewmates. This sequence of misadventures illustrates the exploitative nature of inhospitality. In describing his Cyclopes Homer says, “These individuals don’t have any establishments, no conferences for counsels…every one is the regulation for his personal wives and kids, and cares nothing concerning the others.”⁵ The Cyclopes’ selfishness holds them again from true hospitality which is about greater than caring for our households and pals, it’s about caring for strangers and never mistreating those that come to us for assist. 

This egocentric habits is mirrored by the suitors who’ve taken over Odysseus’s home in his absence. Whereas hosts should be hospitable, friends have an obligation to respect their hospitality and never abuse it. Welcomed into the palace in accordance with Zeus’s Legislation, the suitors, particularly Antinous (Robert Pattinson) squander the king’s meals and mistreat his spouse and son. But when different beggars come to the court docket looking for support, Antinous is the primary to brush them apart, forgetting that he too was as soon as a visitor looking for hospitality. Penelope grieves their selfishness, telling Telemachus (Tom Holland) they’ve forgotten the very rules the dominion was constructed on: Zeus’s Legislation—“deal with others as you’d be handled.”

When Odysseus returns as a beggar, he assessments their character, figuring out that the “clearest view of a person is from beneath.” Antinous and his comrades mock Odysseus and fail his take a look at by exhibiting they don’t have any regard for hospitality. In the long run they pay the worth not only for wrecking the palace however for mistreating strangers and violating that almost all sacred regulation. 

Sadly, many refugees who come to the U.S. looking for form hosts are additionally met with scorn and mistreatment. In lots of instances, these looking for asylum in america endure additional trauma within the asylum course of. Moreover, attributable to shifting attitudes and insurance policies, anti-immigrant sentiment typically within the U.S. is rising. Which means when strangers arrive on our shores, they’re more and more being met with hostility not solely from authorities officers however from common People. Though most don’t have any intention of murdering strangers just like the Cyclopes, in fact, we could also be tempted to imitate their sentiment and care solely about these in our circle and never about others. 

It’s right here that Homer’s story reminds us of the true which means of hospitality. The phrase xenophobia, typically used to criticize these terrified of immigration, comes from the Historic Greek phrases for stranger and worry. At its root is the phrase xenia which seems all through Homer’s epic. Xenia signifies hospitality or care in the direction of friends and is the antithesis of xenophobia. When the Cyclopes and others selfishly refuse to help Odysseus and his crew they’re selecting xenophobia over the responsibility of xenia. Moderately than present hostility or worry in the direction of strangers, Homer calls us to point out kindness and generosity to extra than simply our quick circle. 

Household Separation in The Odyssey and At present

Like Odysseus, many refugees endure being separated from their households for months and years. When the victorious king of Ithaca lastly returns dwelling, he reunites along with his spouse Penelope and son Telemachus in a heartfelt scene. After his spouse verifies Odysseus’s true identification, they embrace of their marriage mattress and Homer says, “She spoke, and nonetheless extra roused in him the fervour for weeping. He wept as he held his beautiful spouse, whose ideas had been virtuous.”⁶

Sadly, household reunion is just not at all times potential for a lot of refugees and immigrants who’ve been separated from their family members. For the reason that starting of the present administration within the U.S., 205,000 youngsters have been separated from their dad and mom. If present insurance policies proceed by 2029, an estimated 910,000 U.S. citizen youngsters can be separated from one or each of their dad and mom and 272,000 U.S. citizen spouses can be separated from their accomplice in response to a report by the Nationwide Affiliation of Evangelicals and World Aid. Household separation is a tragedy, and present insurance policies make it a typical a part of the immigrant expertise. Whereas Odysseus will get to reunite, many others don’t. 

Xenia and the Responsibility of Hospitality

On the finish of the day, Odysseus overcomes his trials and returns to his kingdom. Nevertheless, his homecoming was solely potential due to the help and generosity of others. Not simply divine support within the type of the goddess Athena (Zendaya) however the kindness of individuals just like the Phaiakians. Though omitted from Nolan’s model of the epic, in Homer’s authentic, Odysseus returns dwelling solely due to assistance from a sort king and his ships. Within the halls of Phaiakia, King Alcinous obtained Odysseus warmly earlier than even figuring out his title, demonstrating the true nature of xenia or Zeus’s Legislation. 

Alcinous welcomes Odysseus into his dwelling, gives him with meals, and most significantly, listens to his story. Homer’s tradition took very significantly the responsibility not simply to supply providers to touring foreigners however to point out them the care you’d want to be proven. Alcinous says in Homer’s model, “For any man whose wits have maintain on to the slightest achievement, his suppliant and visitor is pretty much as good as a brother to him.”⁷ Whereas treating strangers like brothers is a far cry from fashionable social norms, we should still have one thing to study from Alcinous. 

The New Testomony makes use of the identical Greek phrase as Homer (xenia) in addition to a associated phrase philoxenia (love of strangers) when telling Christians learn how to deal with others. Paul instructions xenia in (Philemon 1:22) and Hebrews 13:2 says to “not neglect to point out hospitality (philoxenia) to strangers.” (See additionally Romans 12:13.) Whereas Homeric xenia is just not the identical because the love of Scripture, Christians have in frequent with the traditional Greeks a wealthy custom of exhibiting love to at least one’s neighbor by welcoming strangers.

As talked about, xenia additionally implies the reciprocal duties of friends to not benefit from hospitality. By sneaking in by a wood horse and sacking Troy, Odysseus himself violates these guidelines. In the long run it’s revealed that the Greeks themselves are the dreaded “individuals from the ocean,” as Nolan depicts it. When friends are invited in it’s incumbent upon them to respect their hosts. Scripture agrees, calling the individuals of Israel to contribute to the flourishing of international lands they discovered themselves in.

These duties apply to immigrants at this time. Information exhibits that almost all of immigrants, together with refugees, contribute to society and the economic system. However proper now, many individuals don’t even get the prospect to return in any respect. At the moment the U.S. refugee resettlement program is closed for all however a choose few and asylum seekers on the border are being turned away with out being heard. Visitors ought to uphold their duties, however first we should uphold the promise of hospitality as a substitute of closing our doorways to anybody in want.

The story of The Odyssey, vividly informed by Christopher Nolan’s filmmaking, is the story of a hero preventing to make his method dwelling. However beneath his armor is a person displaced from his dwelling, a husband and a father who yearns to be reunited along with his household. He involves the doorstep of strangers and is welcomed by some and spurned by others. He makes it dwelling solely by the hospitality of gracious hosts who open their doorways to him. 

At present, many refugees and immigrants come to our nation as suppliants looking for our support. Now we have the selection between turning strangers away like Polyphemus and the egocentric Cyclopes, on the one hand, and exhibiting true hospitality just like the gracious Alcinous, on the opposite. As Christians, Scripture calls us to welcome the strangers in our midst out of affection. In a time when immigrants are more and more below menace on this nation, American Christians ought to observe the instance of Odysseus’s hosts and love our immigrant neighbors as Christ instructions us to do. 

1.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, translated and with an introduction by Richmond Lattimore (New York: Harper Collins, 1991), E-book IX, verses 106-7: p. 140. ↩︎
2.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, E-book IX, verses 266-8: p. 144.  ↩︎
3.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, E-book I, 1-2: p. 1.  ↩︎
4.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, E-book I, 3-5: p. 1. ↩︎
5.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, E-book IX, 113–15: p. 140.  ↩︎
6.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, E-book XXIII, 231-2: p. 341.  ↩︎
7.  Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, E-book VIII, 546: p. 135. ↩︎