There is something seriously wrong with the way this was written

[conuly]

and I just can't put my finger on it:

Another excellent example of bad xenia is the cyclops Polyphemus. The cyclops breaks custom by asking Odysseus where he is from and what his name is the moment he meets him (it is proper for a host to first feed their guest before asking them questions). Then, not only does the cyclops not offer Odysseus's crew any food, he eats them and then refuses to let them leave.

On the face of it, I think we can all agree that eating your guests is just poor hospitality, and yet... I don't know, I just think that framing is weird.

Comments

[conuly]

Hey, xenia was serious business to the Ancient Greeks! Although I'm sure they, too, didn't put "rudely asking people their business before they sat down" on quite the same level as cannibalism.

And honestly, I think the bathos here is unintentional. I've read the other examples of breaches of xenia in the Odyssey on the wikipedia page, I think this is just poor writing.