Hospitality (Xenia) in “The Odyssey” by Homer

Discuss the topic of hospitality in “The Odyssey” by Homer.

The code of hospitality (xenia) presents the requirement to grant shelter, food, and wine, free of molestation, to a visiting stranger – a code sacred to Zeus himself. Crucially, xenia operates as a touchstone that exposes virtue or vice and the degree of civilization in almost all the characters in the story. Where else, and in what sense, is the theme of hospitality brought to the reader’s attention? Your answer can focus on the literal, the interpretative, or both.