I agree with the post below about how one could view the people in The Odyssey as being too welcoming of their guests, possibly even to a fault. However, I want to follow up by saying that I don't find such an extreme form of hospitality is particularly unusual in ancient texts such as The Odyssey. Take for example, the story of Abraham and the angels found in The Bible. The text says that Abraham, upon seeing the angels "ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed down to the earth" (Genesis 18:2). He then proceeds to take them to his tent and feed them, no questions asked, and all before the angels can say a word. They do not even get the chance to introduce themselves to Abraham. This echos one of the acts of common courtesy found in The Odyssey: allow your guests time to eat, before asking questions. Latter on in The Bible, God gives the Israelites the following instructions regarding hospitality: "When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself" (Leviticus 19:33-34). Again, this philosophy seems to go hand in hand with actions of the different hosts found in The Odyssey. Similarly, in The Koran, it is stated several times that it is incredibly important to greet every guest with great respect, and that believers in Allah are to present their guests with anything they might require(1), even if the host's house is not particularly spacious(2). This form of extreme hospitality is observed by many members of the Islam religion even to this day.
Again, I agree that such hospitality could be potentially dangerous, but the fact is that it seems to be the norm in such ancient texts, which is what this post was trying to show.
1. http://www.harunyahya.com/beauties01.php
2. http://ipaki.com/content/html/29/1097.html
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