The belief of the Greeks, in the time of the epic writer Homer, is that all visitors and strangers should be treated with the most hospitality because they are in the care of almighty Zeus. Odysseus is the stranger in the many royal courts he encounters in Homer's The Odyssey. Telemachus, Odysseus's son, is also a stranger in other royal courts that he visits. Nestor's, Menelaus's and Alcinous's courts can be compared in grandeur and splendor, as well as their hospitality to visitors.

Telemachus, in his search for news of his father, encounters two royal courts. The first is the horseman Nestor's palace in Pylos. When Telemachus arrives upon the beaches of Pylos, the city is sacrificing jet-black bulls to Poseidon, the lord of the sea. Telemachus and Athena (disguised a Mentor) are greeted and without questions invited in the feasting and festivities. Only after having started eating...