Hospitality myth in general, and theoxeny in particular, is one of the two main types of myth that provide the Odyssey's larger overarching structures. While romance forms the Odyssey's outermost frame, and provides its ending (the recognition scenes with Penelope and Laertes, Books 23–4), theoxeny forms the frame directly within, providing the epic with its other climax, the destruction of the suitors in Book 22. I define hospitality myth simply as a mortal host entertaining or receiving a guest (usually a stranger of unknown identity) into his dwelling. Most of Books 1, 3–4, 9–10, 14–15, and 17–22 (with shorter treatments in Books 7–8), are detailed presentations of hospitality myth. The anthropologist Pitt-Rivers is one of many to assert the centrality of hospitality in the Odyssey (1977: 94), “Indeed the whole work may be viewed as a study in the law of hospitality.”

Hospitality is sacred. Both the Odyssey (Od. 9.270–1; 14.283–4, 14.389, 17.155; cf. 3.346) and the Iliad (13.624–5) declare Zeus its special guardian. As Bolin notes (2004: 39–40, 48), hospitality resembles sacrifice in being similarly grounded in reciprocity, as in the formula, do ut des, “I give, that you may give.” Though written about Genesis 18–19, Bolin's comments about the dynamics of hospitality in ancient cultures are equally applicable to Homeric episodes, and worth noting at length (2004: 45):