Ancient Law That Created the Greek Mediterranean World - Zeus' Law

Comments (228)

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   @KingsandGenerals 1 month ago

   🎥 Watch 300+ exclusive videos on Youtube► youtube.com/channel/UCMmaBzfCCwZ2KqaBJjkj0fw/join or Patreon ► www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals

   26 likes

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   @JohnnyElRed 1 month ago

   Xenia = Zeus' Law.
   Xena = Warrior Princess.

   268 likes

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   @awesomehpt8938 1 month ago

   Christopher Nolan: I can’t be bothered to call it Xenia so everyone is going to call it Zeus’ law

   202 likes

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   @georgezachos7322 1 month ago

   Greek here. Do remember that ancient Greeks directed xenia and later filoxeneia, at Greeks from other Hellenic city states and kingdoms, not to those whom they considered barbaric or inferior. In THEORY everyone was eligible, in practice only other Greeks were.

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   @thevisitor1012 1 month ago

   Persian Messenger: "W-Wait, what about Zeus law?! You can't do this to me"
   Leonidas: "Look, this is a Snyder film not a Nolan one"
   Kicks

   429 likes

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   @seantomlinson3320 1 month ago

   Last time I was this early, Zeus was still with Métis.

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   @karlsteiner 1 month ago

   In Homer's Iliad, the opposing heroes Glaucus and Diomedes identify one another as indirectly bound by the xenia between their respective grandparents Bellerophon and Oeneus. They then cease their fighting, declare themselves as friends (on the war's opposing sides) and trade their armor with one another as gifts.

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   @BlairBasham 1 month ago

   Xenia bound the conduct of the guest as well. As a guest, one doesn't steal the host's wife! Paris spit in the eye of Xenia by stealing Helen! This is the major theme of The Iliad

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   @grage1734 1 month ago

   Xenos = A fellow Greek stranger
   Barbarian = Anyone who didn’t speak Greek

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    @lordMartiya 1 month ago

    Xenia is also the reason why so many Greek kings joined the expedition against Troy: some were bound by their oath as former suitors of Helen, but many others came, and stayed long after having their fill of loot, because Paris kidnapped Helen and stole Sparta's treasure while he was a gurst

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    @jesseberg3271 1 month ago

    Any community that wasn't welcoming to travelers became avoided, got cut off the trade routes, and withered on the vine. That means that the communities that protected travelers were the ones which survived, and the ones which didn't might as well have been destroyed by fire from the sky.

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    @pheralanpathfinder4897 1 month ago

    This concept has continued to the modern day in various forms including the Good Samaritan story.

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    @danieltraceski2513 1 month ago

    @1:25 "We don't do AI": Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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    @arturhashmi6281 1 month ago

    The tradition of hosting a stranger because they might be a god in disguise is a foundational Indo-European mythological concept. In antiquity, it functioned as a religious enforcement mechanism, because there were no police forces or hotels, the terrifying threat that an ordinary beggar could secretly be a powerful deity testing your morality was what kept ancient societies peaceful toward travelers.
    This motif is eg. central to the medieval Polish myth about the birth of the nation's first dynasty, which begins when two mysterious strangers are kicked out by an evil ruler but warmly hosted by a poor wheelwright named Piast, whose son named eventually rises to power as a result of their divine blessing.

    87 likes

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    @AndyMiller_UK 1 month ago

    The most authoritative text I found on this subject is Gabriel Herman's Ritualised Friendship & The Greek City (1987 Cambridge University Press).
    The most important first remark is well done, and thank you for explaining both Xenia and Hiketeia (ritual supplication) each part of the code for Xenoi (Strangers).
    As you explained Xenia goes hand in hand with Hiketeia. A person from a lower status or one severely in distress who needed help simply applied utilising the ritualised supplication (grasping the knees of the lord or home owner and potentially touching the lord's beard) giveing themselves over to the lord to house, feed and assist. Unlike Xenia there was no expectation of reciprocity. But also the assistance was not forever. Anyone could apply for Hiketeia.
    Xenia was primarily a "horizontal code" between "equals" who were expected to reciprocate in the future. The Xenos (strangers) were first identified as potential friends before being offered Xenia. Xenia was NOT available to locals not to non-free persons or enemies. Nolan abuses the code of Xenia in his Zeus's Law.
    You are correct - in the late bronze age there were no states in "greece", but back in 1200 BCE (during the Late Bronze Age), if for example an Egyptian prince arrived at the palace of Mycenae, he would not be treated under standard Xenia. Instead, he would be received under the Great Powers Diplomatic Code of the ancient Near East—a highly formalized, peer-to-peer system of royal brotherhood and reciprocal gift exchange. This later (700BC) was turned into Proxenia.
    The absolute oldest surviving document to explicitly use the word "proxenos" is an inscribed grave monument—the Cenotaph of Menekrates of Oianthea, found in Korkyra (modern Corfu)—which dates to roughly the middle of the 6th century BCE (c. 550 BCE). It honours Menekrates for his diplomatic service to the community.
    Xenia applied to diplomats and other emissaries. Emissaries travelling to negotiate peace did not answer to a single "law book," but were governed by a highly structured, universally understood framework known to modern historians as the Amarna Diplomatic System (dating back to 1500 BC - established by the "Club of Great Kings" - Egypt and the Hittite Empire). This framework was reinforced by a strict, multi-layered code of interstate oaths, sacred oaths before the gods, and customary messenger immunity. This code was replaced by Xenia and, later, ProXenia. This whole system fell apart when the Persians invaded in the 5th century BC.Proxenoi (Greek citizens representing foreign states) had become spies.

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    @Doomsquad99 1 month ago

    The quality of these videos after so many productions blows me away

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    @robwalsh9843 1 month ago

    We think of Antiquity being full of people looking for an excuse to dismember other people, but so many cultures and peoples had strong traditions of hosting and hospitality.

    11 likes

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    @wardafournello 1 month ago

    The meaning of the ancient Greek word "xenos".
    For the ancient Greeks,the term "xenos" refers to a Greek person from another city-state—whether known or unknown to the host—who speaks Greek,who believes in Zeus, and NOT to a "barbarian" who does not speak the language.
    The divine law of hospitality (*xenia*) applies only to Greeks, not to barbarians.
    
    Upon the initial meeting between guest and host, they would exchange greetings and words of welcome in Greek; the host would then see to the guest's cleanliness and attire, after which a meal was served, followed by formal introductions.Farewell & Xenia Gifts Followed.
    Xenia concerned a bond between families, not between peoples.
    
    And about the suitors, they were neither strangers nor guests; they were well-known scions of aristocratic families from the area.
    Naturally, the law of hospitality did not apply to them.They were invaders and squatters.

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    @danielhurst8863 1 month ago

    Excellent overview and presentation of Xenia

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    @ekmalsukarno2302 1 month ago

    Whenever I come across the name Xenia, I think of the James Bond villain Xenia Onatopp. Does anyone else think this way?

    4 likes