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Xenia (Greek)

This article is about the ancient Greek concept of hospitality. For other uses, see Xenia (disambiguation).
"Theoxenia" redirects here. The moth genus Theoxenia is considered a junior synonym of Ethmia.
Jupiter and Mercurius in the House of Philemon and Baucis (1630–33) by the workshop of Rubens: Zeus and Hermes, testing a village's practice of hospitality, were received only by Baucis and Philemon, who were rewarded while their neighbors were punished.

Xenia (Greek: ξενία) is an ancient Greek concept of hospitality. It is almost always translated as 'guest-friendship' or 'ritualized friendship'.[1] It is an institutionalized relationship rooted in generosity, gift exchange, and reciprocity.[2] Historically, hospitality towards foreigners and guests (Hellenes not of your polis) was understood as a moral obligation, as well as a political imperative.[1][3] Hospitality towards foreign Hellenes honored Zeus Xenios (and Athene Xenia), patrons of foreigners.[4]

The rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest and host expressed in both material benefits (e.g. gifts, protection, shelter) as well as non-material ones (e.g. favors, certain normative rights).[4] The word is derived from xenos 'stranger'.

  1. ^ a b Strootman, Rolf (2014). "Social Dynamics" Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires: The Near East in the Achaemenids, c 330 to 30 BCE. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. Chapter 7. ISBN 9780748691272.
  2. ^ Anton Powell (1995). The Greek world. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-04216-6. OCLC 52295939.
  3. ^ Plato. "Plato, Laws, Book 12 Page 952-953". perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Daniel Ogden, ed. (2007). A companion to Greek religion. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. ISBN 978-1-4051-8216-4. OCLC 173354759.

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