Throughout history and literature, people crossed borders. Not only did groups cross physical boundaries such as the walls of Jericho in Joshua and the seas crossed by Odysseus in The Odyssey, but they also crossed social barriers. Some examples include crossing barriers between mortals and immortal gods, like how Athena disguised herself so she could interact with humans, crossing gender barriers like Rahab did in the book of Joshua, and even the intersection of different social classes, a bit like Sindbad was able to play the role of a merchant in The Thousand and One Nights. One thing that has proven true in all of these stories is that when people cross borders, the hospitality – or xenia – of the natives determines how they are perceived. Regardless of era or culture, those with an abundance of xenia are seen as civilized and those with no sense of hospitality are seen as savage or monstrous. 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 epic poem The Odyssey, there are several examples of xenia being shown to travelers by civilized societies. The first example of Xenia is when Telemachus crosses the sea to try to find more information about his father. He meets Nestor and his sons, who welcome him with open arms and feed him before even asking him to reveal his identity. By welcoming Telemachus without knowing who his people are and what he wants, Nestor and his people are seen as good and honorable because of their display of xenia. During his journey, Telemachus meets Menelaus and Helen of Troy, who greet him with the same courtesy as Nestor. Instead of sending him away, Menelaus feeds him before asking him who he is. This norm of welcoming and providing a meal to travelers before questioning them was considered respectful in ancient Greece, and this tradition of xenia was also prevalent in the ancient Greek world. Odysseus also meets Xenia during his travels, even when he is far from home. The greatest example of Xenia's encounter with Odysseus is when he is washed up on the shore of the Phaeacians. Naked and shipwrecked, he asks Nausikaa for help. She shows Xenia helping him (and was especially inclined to do so because Athena makes him look better than before). Nausikaa and her parents welcome Odysseus, feed him and entertain him. This Xenia, like the Xenia Menelaus and Nestor show Telemachus, is intended to prove that the Phaeacians are civil and respectable people. In contrast, Homer also presents characters who show no Xenia towards the travelers and grant them savagery and grotesqueness. Odysseus, on his journey, encounters many different people and creatures. As he crosses borders to different countries, he encounters creatures with morals and ideals different from his own. He encounters a six-headed creature named Scylla, and she greets them by grabbing one of Odysseus' comrades and eating him, rather than displaying any bit of Xenia. As she continues to feed on Odysseus' men, they try to escape. This depiction of Scylla shows her as a human-eating monster, acting without emotion or remorse. Her actions go against the ideals of Odysseus and his culture because instead of feeding men, she feeds on them. The same thing happens when Odysseus meets Polyphemus, the giant Cyclops. Polyphemus does notwelcome with open arms, food and gifts. Instead, it feeds on men much like Scylla. He is presented as a grotesque monster because of this opposition to the idea of ​​Xenia. Scylla and Polyphemus are not human, so they cannot be expected to act the same way humans did back then. It's not as surprising to see a lack of Xenia in creatures that are true monsters as it is to see humans acting without Xenia. In Ithaca, the suitors were an example of people lacking the sense of xenia. These suitors were eating away at Odysseus' wealth, both literally and figuratively. They didn't care about the damage they caused. Characterizing their behavior by a lack of Xenia leads the reader to perceive the suitors not as literal monsters like Scylla and Polyphemus, but as uncivilized pagans. This is why, when Odysseus murders them all, we are still on his side because the suitors' lack of hospitality made them unlikable characters who deserved the outcome that happened to them. The idea of ​​Xenia crossed its own cultural boundaries; Welcoming guests and travelers with hospitality continued even after the times of ancient Greece. In the story of the Arabian Nights, Sindbad, like Ulysses, crosses the sea and discovers new lands and societies. Sindbad is greeted with both hospitality and hostility, and the way he is greeted represents how he perceives the culture and people he has just encountered. He is first greeted by some nasty monkeys who have trashed his ship and left them stranded. He then encounters an enormous black creature which, just like Polyphemus, eats the men of Sindbad (one per day when they remain on earth). The monkeys and the black giant are described in a grotesque manner. They do not greet Sindbad and his ilk with the xenia they expect. These creatures do not act in the same way that Sindbad would, so he considers them monstrous and savage. Sindbad also encounters a crowd of naked men who lead him and his crew to their king. Sindbad later discovers that these people are cannibals and that the food given to his men prevented them from fleeing and made them fat. Although not as grotesque as the monkeys and the black giant, these cannibals are also considered savages by Sindbad. Although they welcome the men with open arms and food, it is a different type of xenia than Sindbad would receive if he returned home. In fact, it wasn't Xenia at all, but a ruse with selfish intent. This is why Sindbad considered them evil. Although Sindbad was greeted with hostility during his travels, he was still treated with Xenia upon his return home. He was fed and entertained and later told the stories of his travels to his people. He considered his own people civilized and respectable because they welcomed them with the hospitality they expected. Xenia is still relevant today when it comes to crossing borders, although it poses more challenges. In ancient Greece, people were afraid of the gods and what they could do to them. They greeted everyone with Xenia because they were afraid of potentially refusing a god in disguise. So, they welcomed travelers and greeted them with food and entertainment so that the gods would not wreak havoc on their society. They only asked their traveler to tell his name and his story after having been well treated. The same thing happened to Sindbad. He was greeted by civilized and respectable people along with Xenia, and was only asked to tell his stories after.