Literary history is filled with traveler stories. These travelers travel to faraway lands, gaining new experiences and knowledge of cultures around the world. As much as these literary travelers can tell readers about the new cultures they encounter, their stories also contain a wealth of information about their own origins. Some of the most famous literary travellers' tales are The Odyssey, The Arabian Nights: Tales from the 1001 Nights and the two Anglo-Saxon elegies "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer". “In each of these famous tales, the main characters or speakers reveal key information about their own society during their travels. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus is the most central traveler in the story. Odysseus encounters many different societies during his travels, from the lonely island of the goddess Calypso to the land of King Alcinous of Phaeacia. As a warrior, husband, father, and king, the story of Odysseus's travels reflects the culture of his homeland, even when it is miles away. Among the ancient Greek values ​​represented by Odysseus are the Xenia and the Kleos. Xenia was the ancient Greek idea of ​​hospitality, introduced by the Greek gods. Under Xenia, people provided food and shelter to travelers with the understanding that they would one day return the favor. Readers of The Odyssey can make inferences about the Greek concept of Xenia by reading about Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemus. When Odysseus and his men land on the island of the Cyclops, Odysseus announces that he will explore the island to see if its inhabitants "are savages, lawless aggressors, or the kind who welcome strangers and fear the gods.” This quote reflects the importance of Xenia in Odysseus' culture. Odysseus is willing to risk encountering "lawless attackers", because there is a chance that he will instead find people who follow Xenia and will provide food and shelter for his men, like Odysseus himself. even would do it for travelers in his native country. Another value reflected in The Odyssey is the idea of ​​kleos, or glory. The importance of glory to Greek society is clear throughout the story, but especially when Odysseus speaks with Achilles in the land of the dead. Odysseus, seeing Achilles' bitterness over his own death, seeks to comfort Achilles by reminding him of the glory he gained during his life as a Greek warrior. Despite the fact that Achilles' life was cut short, leaving his son to grow up without a father. , Odysseus' comfort shows that Odysseus believes that the glory gained by Achilles is worth everything he has lost. This statement demonstrates how important Kleos was to ancient Greek warriors like Achilles and Odysseus. They obviously believed that losing life and even family was worth gaining personal glory. The Arabian Nights resembles The Odyssey in many ways. Sindbad, like Odysseus, is a literary traveler who discovers new lands and cultures during his travels. There is, however, at least one major difference between Sindbad and Odysseus: while Odysseus was born into wealthy Ithacan royalty, Sindbad was a middle-class merchant by birth. Sindbad's wealth was self-made. As a result, Sindbad has a different perspective than Odysseus, and this perspective gives readers a unique insight into Muslim merchant culture. The accounts of Sindbad's travels in The Arabian Nights focus largely on trade. On each tripof Sindbad, his intention is "to see the world, as well as to make profits through trade". This sentiment reflected Muslim merchants who traveled and traded all over the world, from the East Indies to India and the west coast of Africa. Their travels contributed greatly to cultural diffusion between the regions with which they traded. These merchants transmitted ideologies and customs as well as products from distant lands. These merchants became educated thanks to this cultural diffusion, allowing them to access social mobility, an uncommon phenomenon at the time. A traveling merchant who became rich through trade, Sindbad personifies this new social mobility. Sindbad's objective of "making profit by trading" therefore reflects the real life of Muslim merchants of the time. In addition to representing Muslim merchant culture, Sindbad serves as an example of two important themes: hard work and hope. Sindbad represents the value of hard work in how he obtained his wealth. Later in The Thousand and One Nights, Sindbad speaks with a porter who is poorer than him. Sindbad basically tells this merchant that he is not unworthy of his excessive wealth because of the lengths he went to to obtain it. The fact that he built his fortune through his own work as a merchant shows how Sindbad society valued hard work. Sindbad's conversation with the doorman also reflects the belief that if one works hard, one will be rewarded. Thus, Sindbad's wealth is a reward for his own hard work as well as a product of it. Sindbad's story also reflects the importance of hope and faith in Middle Eastern society. There are many examples in The Arabian Nights where Sindbad could have lost hope or faith. When monkeys plundered Sindbad's ship, for example, leaving Sindbad and the rest of the passengers stranded on an island, it would have been perfectly understandable for Sindbad to lose hope of making it out alive. When the cannibals seized Sindbad's men, Sindbad surely had reason to lose confidence that God would protect him. However, after the two meetings, Sindbad remains hopeful and thanks God for his guidance. Sindbad's optimism tells readers that he does not believe that hope is lost or that God has abandoned him, even in the darkest of times. This provision reflects the values ​​of faith and hope in Middle Eastern society. The old English elegies of "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer" are also literary traveler's tales and reflect the change in religion that occurred in England's times. Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons were originally pagans, but began to convert to Christianity when monks arrived from northern Umbria. “The Wanderer” reflects these new Christian ideas, saying that “wealth is fleeting” and referring to “the Heavenly Father, where stability is found for us all.” The idea that material things like wealth are fleeting, while God and heaven are eternal is an idea rooted in Christianity. “The Sailor” also declares: “A fool is he who does not fear the Lord; death will find him unprepared. / Blessed is he who lives humbly; that mercy comes to him from heaven. These lines express the Christian belief in the preparation of one's soul for salvation. The presence of Christian themes in these two elegies reflects the abandonment of paganism that occurred in Anglo-Saxon society. Another aspect of Anglo-Saxon society reflected by "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer" is the relationship between a lord and his servants. Historically, servants pledged loyalty to their lord by.