The guest law is a
specific Greek ideology that is much present in many pieces of
literature, specifically the Odyssey. This lively rule is fairly
simple. It basically says: treat a guest to your home as you would
want to be treated as a guest. The law is strictly regulated by Zeus,
as it is, essentially, his doctrine (9.290-295). Although the
admonition to obey is present in much of the bulk of this book, I'd
like to specifically analyze three respective events. As the decree
relates across the board, one gleaming predicament is that of
Polyphemos, Poseidon's son (9.440-455), when he taunts Odysseus. On
the contrary to the kyklopes, is Kalypso whom takes the story's
protagonist in for years. A moderate apprehension of the canon is
Telemakhos' humble tale of taking in one who needs help, and nothing
else. All three of the foretold anecdotes relate to each other in a
subliminal, contrasting, almost indescribable way. I find that the
disparity of these situations assuredly begins with one of the
extremes.
At first account,
Polyphemos is actually marginally respectful to Odysseus, but then
the tides turn. The evil beast eats several of the hero's men
(9.310-320), and then takes into captivity many more of them.
Immediately we can see that the guest law is violated, because eating
your guests is not a properly tempered action. Tampering with
Odysseus' wit is never a good idea, and it goes to show in the
following event. Angered, the hero devises a plan to strike back at
Polyphemos (9.335-350). When executed, the voyager's scheme is quite
brutal, he strikes at the monster's one and only eye, and blinds the
beast (9.365-426). As Odysseus' men flee with him, the evil becomes
quite enraged. Polyphemos begins to throw huge boulders at the
escaping men. Thankfully, the men escape, but not without loses.
Although violence may not have been necessary, it was an apt action
to take against the guest violator, whom should not have taken evil
action unto the men in the first place. This is one extreme of the
story, it displays a total disregard for the guest law, and it is the
complete contrast to one other tale. Kalypso is the bearer of an odd
interpretation of Zeus' rules.
Although the story
of Kalypso is strange and daunting--and it may not even have been a
tale of hospitality—I find it perfectly fit to describe
misinformation of Zeus' set of scripts. Kalypso's island is one of
the many places Odysseus habitats, only, unlike the others, his visit
to this place was not in any sense brief. Our hero spent
approximately 7 years on this strange and tempting island
(5.150-160), descriptively he was held hostage by Kalypso
(5.200-220). It would seem that this tale of captivity is Homer's way
of showing the guest law gone haywire. One day, after being struck
down by the sea god's lightning bolt (5.138), and losing the
remaining figures of his men (5.140), Odysseus washed up-shore onto
his new mistress' islet. At first, I find it futile to counter the
idea of Kalypso actually taking in Odysseus through the guest
doctrine. After all, Kalypso took in the drifting man and allowed him
to be prisoned by beauty and temptation (5.160-165). Although Kalypso
was holding our main-man captive, I still feel that she was trying to
help him. Kalypso does help the man, she comforts him, and tempts
him. The story is an obvious example of a wanderer being taken in by
a willing captor. Odysseus may have wanted to escape, but the
maiden's provocative manners endured him to stay put. This fable is
yet another end on the spectrum of the guest law. Telemakhos
presents us one of his own tales, one in which he exemplifies the
moderate attitude that the rule of Zeus may show.
During our hero's
son's true homecoming from Menelaus' island, the boy comes across a
desperate man. This man, named Theoklymenos (15.320-350), asks for a
pick-up back to Ithaka on Telemakhos' newly acquired ship.
Theoklymenos is an odd character, he recently slashed his cousin in
the land of Argos (15.339), and would now like to travel home. As
our moderate interpretor, Telemakhos simply allows the man to come
on-board. Without question of his past, Odysseus' heir leads
Theoklymenos to Ithaka (15.351), the common destination of both
(15.332). Often the guest law ends parting with gifts, and this is no
exception to the case. Telemakhos does not give the wanderer anything
extravagant, but he does provide a source of housing. The boy's
interpretation of the rules is directly on par to where it should be.
I believe the boy clearly shows a moderate distinction between our
two polarized extremes.
To finalize, that
is, to come to my complete conclusion, I argue that my above
comparisons conflict with each other to produce a simple fact. The
guest law is the supreme law of human behavior, and the above three
paragraphs prove this. The story of mean kyklopes shows that
disobeying the law will have unfortunate consequences, such as losing
sight. Kalypso tells us that an over-interpretation of the law is
bad, but results in little bad. Finally, Telemakhos shows that
obeying the law in a moderate fashion allows for great things, in his
case, a homecoming. Although the law may have its faults, and
following it word for word may result in pure evil, the rule is good.
This doctrine allows those who do good to get good back, and in a
modern world, with certainly no god intervention, the law supplies
the user with a glimpse of morals.
