Generalizations and associations seem to permeate the culture of every human society. If this were not the case, there would be no need for the sociological study of ethnocentrism. Homer's Odyssey strongly displays this quality of judging cultures and other peoples based on criteria defined by the ancient Greek civilization itself. In this way a parallel can be drawn between ancient China and ancient Greece. The Chinese once considered their country the center of the universe; their values, beliefs, and customs were the standards against which they measured everything and everyone else. From the Odyssey a similar methodology can be detected in the way the Greeks assessed the level of sophistication of other cultures by using their familiar conventions as universal standards for defining humanity. Through The Odyssey it is possible to isolate three main methods used by the Greeks in their cultural classifications: hospitality, storytelling and diet. However, to fully appreciate the importance of such comparison criteria, one should examine the context in which each criterion was used. Since Homer does not directly list each criterion one by one, it may be necessary to give a cursory examination of the attributes of each civilization that Odysseus encounters, as well as the different impressions that the Greeks had when they encountered each of them, in order to formulate a basic picture understanding how hospitality, storytelling and diet relate to each other and to the overall concept of humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Hospitality is one of the most recurring themes in the Odyssey. By examining how Nestor welcomes Telemachus into his family, one can see a good model of how a host should treat his guests. Even before Nestor identifies Telemachus as Odysseus' son, he and his family kindly escort Telemachus and his companions into their home, inviting them to dine with the others (The Odyssey, Book III, 34-44). Nestor, in fact, asks the foreigners to identify themselves only after Telemachus and his companions have finished eating (III, 69-74). While we might find this “eat first, ask later” practice rather strange today, the ancient Greeks commonly used this concept of hospitality as a way to gauge the level of grace and sophistication of a particular people. Storytelling is also another integral part of ancient Greek culture to which the characters of the Odyssey attributed high value and excellence. For example, because of Odysseus' incredible tales of his travels, the Phaean listeners were all "struck into silence, held captive by history through the dark chambers" (XI, 333-334). Accordingly, the Phaeacians proceeded to shower Odysseus with further gifts, so as to compensate him for his sufferings and show their appreciation for his well-told stories (XI, 336-341). Overall I found the ancient Greek concept of hospitality and the high value placed on storytelling to be quite interesting, if a little foreign to my understanding of the culture. However, I was able to relate to most of their values ​​regarding diet and culinary sophistication, including the assumptions about the nature and quality of a culture associated with such ethics. For example, one can refer to how Odysseus described the Cyclops, Polyphemus: “his mind was lawless, / and indeed he was a monstrous wonder made to be seen, not / as a man, a bread-eater, but rather like a woodland animal." / summit of a high mountain seen from a distance from the others” (IX, 189-192). Despite the fact that the Cyclops was described as monstrous, lawless and primitive, it should be noted thedirect comparison with humans that Odysseus made to help his listeners better understand Polyphemus' morally depraved nature. In short, the Cyclopes did not eat bread, like normal humans. First of all, the phrase “bread eater” serves as a metaphor for non-anthropophagy. Since both the Cyclopes and Odysseus spoke the same language and could communicate on a coherent level, the thought of one sentient being knowingly devouring another sentient being seemed barbaric and repugnant, almost cannibalistic. So, I shuddered as I read how Polyphemus killed two of Odysseus' companions by crushing them to the ground, "like puppies," and then ate them raw (IX, 287-295). I suppose that because I share this same aversion to cannibalism as the ancient Greeks, I have bridged some of this cultural gap that prevents me from fully understanding their concept of humanity and refined civilization. If we try to adopt this same degree of fervor with respect to Greek hospitality and story-telling, as we might do in the rejection of cannibalism, we might better relate to the way the Greeks in the Odyssey valued different cultures, classifying some as barbaric and others as more superior. For example, the first concepts that come to mind when I think of the word "cannibal" are primitive, cruel, uncivilized, violent, and uncultured. So, associating the word "cannibal" with the Cyclops, the vices of such adjectives and a negative impression of individual surfaces remain in my mind. It can therefore be hypothesized that this formulation of the image of a particularly barbaric race was precisely the effect that Ulysses wanted to convey to his listeners at the time. However, although some might argue that nothing prevents Odysseus from manipulating concepts of hospitality, story- Telling and following a diet such as to evoke an extremely negative impression of a particular foreign culture, it might be suggested that the ancient Greeks simply had concrete examples to describe barbaric cultures, where inhospitality and cannibalism were simply associations given to such unrefined civilizations. For example, one might compare Polyphemus to the Laestrygonians. Like the Cyclopes, the Laestrygonians were much larger and stronger than humans (X, 112-113). This race of giants also demonstrated murderous cruelty when they hurled gigantic boulders at Odysseus' ships, so that all but his were destroyed (X, 121-132). However, the greatest similarity between the Cyclopes and the Laestrygonians is the fact that they both eat human flesh. Two of Ulysses' men were immediately captured and prepared for dinner in the house of one of these giants (X, 116), while others were speared like fish and taken away to be eaten (X, 124-125). Thus, an ancient Greek could then create hypotheses about different cultures by generalizing the concepts of diet, hospitality, etc. and associating them with the apparently barbaric nature of those civilizations described. For example, the fact that both Cyclopes and Laestrygonians are meat eaters may imply that they are also cruel, inhospitable, and dangerous. Likewise, if Odysseus encounters a third race that seems ruthless, inhospitable, and primitively aggressive, it would not be unreasonable to assume that such a race might also be devourers of human flesh, and not eaters of bread like man. , a correlation can also be drawn between the values ​​of ancient Greek culture and their theological beliefs. For example, when Odysseus first spoke to the Cyclops Polyphemus, he asked for a “guest present” or “some gift of grace, for such is the right of strangers” (IX, 267-268). When I initially read those lines, I felt that Odysseus' words were a little forward and bold, almost rude. However, reading further, I found a possible reason why Odysseus reasoned in..