The Significance Of The Plot O

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described in the book. Homer draws a very good picture of how guests are welcomed, what entertainment they are given and the way they are send on their way. The picture is filled with kindness and warmth. We could say that the kind of hospitality presented in the book is hardly seen today. The different steps of welcoming some one are really interesting. The host is bathed and fed right after his arrival no matter who he is. Hosts do not really present the question that identifies their guest until later on, after he has been well rested and entertained. A great example of this is when Telemachos and Athene, in the body of Mentor, visit Nestor. When Nestor sees the two men he has never seen before he has a feast with his sons and companions. In the sight of the strangers they all stand up and greet them. The first thing that is done is to find a place for the two guests on the table and to feed them.
" But when they had put aside their desire for eating and drinking,
first to ...

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to persuade him to be her husband, only the will of the hero is to go back to his wife and already grown son. Even though holding him against his will, Kalypso is a very good hostess. She never harms Odysseus's. She cooks for him and bathes him but never uses her powers in a negative way. She even promises that she would make him immortal if he marries her. There is warmth and kindness again, the two important elements of xenia. The time spend on Kalypso's island helps pieces of the story, other than Odysseus' journey home and important for its plot, to be developed.
Really significant are the Phaiakians. Without their help Odysseus would have never been home in time to organize the ...

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