James Urbec

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Rohrbacher, David

Area of Concentration

Classics

Abstract

In this thesis, I analyze the ways that Homer uses hospitality as a reference point for the characters and conflicts in the Odyssey. Hospitality is a central theme of the text, and is used as a framework within which the ξεῖνοι over the course of the epic can display their virtue or villainy, and be understood in context. In Chapter One, I examine the first four books of the Odyssey, the so-called “Telemachy,” and argue that the section provides essential context and setup for the characters and hospitality concepts explored later in the text. In Chapter Two, I explore the second ‘arc’ of the epic, Odysseus with the Phaikians, in which Odysseus must earn his way home by carefully navigating the hospitality of Phaikia. I argue that the problems in this section stem from the excessively ‘civilized’ nature of the Phaikian hosts. In Chapter Three, I analyze Odysseus’s encounter with the Cyclops, and how it relates to and informs the rest of the voyage and epic. And finally, in Chapter Four, I examine the conflict between Odysseus and the suitors, his most complex challenge, and the capstone to his journey.

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