Abstract:

Hospitality (Xenia) is a very important concept in the ancient Greek society. The important indicator of this is that Homeros’ texts, especially Odyssey, are based on the concept of hospitality. In addition, from the ancient Greek gods, Zeus is referred to as a "gost" (Zeus Ksenios). But in the way it is addressed in the Homeric texts, hospitality reflects a simple ideal. This ideal has changed over time as a result of factors such as the process of colonization, the establishment of the police system and the development of democracy within this system. The purpose of this study is to explain this transformation and the qualities of this transformation. For this, a periodic distinction will be made using the concepts of "homeric hospitality" and "Hellenic-political hospitality". The study will follow a method in accordance with Quentin Skinner’s approach to context analysis through the “social and intellectual matrix” from the Cambridge School, but the method will be applied taking into account the material context. The study will contribute to the literature which deals with the concept of hospitality in Ancient Greece either as a simple Homeric ideal or a concept of various dimensions, explaining the periodic transformation of the concept.

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