ABSTRACT

In The Odyssey, which, with The Iliad, is the oldest surviving work of Greek literature, Homer offers glimpses of attitudes toward begging and giving in the ninth century B.C. Response to beggars may reveal character, but there is no agreemerit on what the response should be. Both Antinous and Odysseus resort to violence against a beggar; Antinous is criticized, Odysseus congratulated by the suitors for having beaten one in a fight, Antinous chides the other suitors for taking the easy way by being generous with other people's property. On giving in general, as opposed to giving to beggars or the poor, Hesiod's advice –this time to the "princes" or large landowners of Boetia, the district of Greece where he lived –was succinct. As Hesiod saw it, self-interest should be the guiding principle in both giving and withholding.