A Lesson in Hospitality

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu notices several different cultural aspects when she travels to Turkey. The one that caught my attention was the way the ladies immediately welcomed Montagu to the bath chambers. They are very welcoming of this stranger and are willing to have her join them which quickly reminded me of the Odyssey. The hospitality offered that is offered by the Turkish is similar to hospitality offered by the Greeks.

Hospitality is very important in the Odyssey and is very different than what we are used to today. Both Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, experience warmth when they land on new territory. The first example of this is in Book Three when Telemachus and Athena visit Pylos. When the king of Pylos sees them he begins “waving them on in welcome, urging them to sit”. Telemachus and Athena are strangers to the king, but he still welcomes them. All that he asks is that they say a prayer to Poseidon before they are welcomed with a feast. It is protocol throughout most of the Odyssey that strangers are greeted with a bath and a feast.

Lady Montagu is greeted with a great amount of respect. She is also offered to join the women and they offer to help her undress so she can bathe. She notes that she does not know of a “European court where the ladies would have behaved themselves in so polite a manner to such a stranger”. She even goes on to say that she is not met with “disdainful smiles or satirical whispers” which occur in her assemblies when someone is not dressed appropriately. This seems to still be true.  One reason is that we do not have public bath chambers, but our hospitality skills do seem to lack. It seems as though most people are skeptical to welcome a stranger into their home, or even just to offer kindness to someone who appears to be different. Perhaps we could learn something from the Greeks and the Turkish.