Greek Xenia Protected Unknown Strangers

Ancient Greeks treated strangers with extraordinary care because any guest could potentially be a god in disguise. Their hospitality code, known as xenia, required hosts to offer food, drink, shelter, and often a bath before even asking a guest's name, since mistreating a stranger risked offending Zeus Xenios, protector of guests. Greek mythology repeatedly reinforced this idea by having gods test mortals through disguised visits. The Iliad even frames the Trojan War as the consequence of Paris violating xenia by abducting Helen while he was a guest in her husband Menelaus's home.

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