Hospitality in the Ancient World: Tolerance and War, in A.G. Lind, A.P. Pinto, and D. Lambert (eds), The Process of Becoming Other in the Classical and Contemporary World. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 3-16 (original) (raw)

In antiquity, hospitality established a bond between human beings that has been overturned by us today. In modern society, humans face the approach of an unknown person suspiciously and even spitefully. The other is not a concern for people enclosed in their own world and immersed in their own feelings. Murders can happen in daylight hours in the streets of our big cities and passers-by often feel fear hidden in indifference. The emergence of masses of refugees in Europe forces governments to pursue a different approach, yet many people greet the arrival of these multitudes with worry and hostility. In ancient Greece Zeus was the divine protector of beggars, travellers, refugees, and foreigners, hence his familiar epithet Ξένιος. Ιt was a sacred duty for a host to welcome a visitor. The man who trespasses the threshold of another’s front door should be received by the houseowner with food, clothes, and other kinds of assistance, such as an escort to take the visitor back to his country if needed (think of the case of Odysseus). In exchange, the newcomer should answer to the traditional questions of who he is (by reporting his lineage), where he comes from and where he is going. Gifts were given to the foreign host before departure. The Greek term that expresses this relationship is ξενία, and the host and the guest are both called ξένοι. They will be connected for life through the duty of mutual protection, which extends to their family and loved ones. The Homeric poems, Euripides’ tragedies, Herodotus’ history, Xenophon’s works, and Hellenistic writers will help to understand a concept that merges cultures and establishes a world of peaceful coexistence.