We
refer to the beauty, the tenderness, and the purity of their domestic
relations. The whole story of the _Odyssey_ is founded on the faithful
wedded love of Odysseus and Penelope, and the contrasted example of
Agamemnon and his demon wife is repeatedly held up to scorn and
abhorrence. The world's poetry affords no nobler scene than the
parting of Hector and Andromache in the _Iliad_, nor has the ideal of
perfect marriage ever found grander expression than in the words
addressed by Odysseus to Nausicaae: "There is nothing mightier and
nobler than when man and wife are of one mind and heart in a house, a
grief to their foes, and to their friends a great joy, but their own
hearts know it best."[1]
[Footnote 1: Butcher and Lang's translation.]
Hospitality in a primitive state of society, where inns are unknown,
is not so much a virtue as a necessity. Even in these early times the
Greeks, within the limits of their little world, were great
travellers, and their swift chariots, and galleys propelled by sail
and oar, enabled them to make considerable journeys with speed and
safety. Arrived at their destination for the night they were sure of a
warm welcome at the first house at which they presented themselves;
and he who played the host on one occasion expected and found a like
return when, perhaps years afterwards, he was brought by business or
pleasure to the home of his former guest.
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