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Xenia in Vitruvius' Greek house: andron, ξείνία and xenia from Homer to Augustus
Vitruvius' de Architectura uses the Latin word 'xenia' once, in the chapter on the Greek house, in a seemingly casual note about decorative painting. Yet the Greek homophone denotes a long-esteemed ethical principle permeating Athenian culture and Homeric legend. Greek-speaking readers of de Architectura cannot have missed the reference. Roughly translated as hospitality to strangers, the Greek xenia (ξείνία) referred to both a set of ritualised practices and a socio-political disposition. Vitruvius mentions xenia while explaining another word that also passed from Greek to Latin, 'andron'. Once referring to a man-making leader, the word andron next referred to a men's dining room, and finally, for Vitruvius, a hallway connecting guests' apartments; it is here that Vitruvius tells us 'this is why artists called pictures representing the things which were sent to guests "xenia"'. Drawing together the early history of xenia and andron in Latin and Greek, and Vitruvius' opening sentence in 'The Greek house', that Greeks did not use atria, this unique instance of xenia will be explained as a politically sensitive commentary on the Greek and Roman history of xenia, its representation and architectural expression.
Xenia in Vitruvius' Greek house: andron, ξείνία and xenia from Homer to Augustus
Vitruvius' de Architectura uses the Latin word 'xenia' once, in the chapter on the Greek house, in a seemingly casual note about decorative painting. Yet the Greek homophone denotes a long-esteemed ethical principle permeating Athenian culture and Homeric legend. Greek-speaking readers of de Architectura cannot have missed the reference. Roughly translated as hospitality to strangers, the Greek xenia (ξείνία) referred to both a set of ritualised practices and a socio-political disposition. Vitruvius mentions xenia while explaining another word that also passed from Greek to Latin, 'andron'. Once referring to a man-making leader, the word andron next referred to a men's dining room, and finally, for Vitruvius, a hallway connecting guests' apartments; it is here that Vitruvius tells us 'this is why artists called pictures representing the things which were sent to guests "xenia"'. Drawing together the early history of xenia and andron in Latin and Greek, and Vitruvius' opening sentence in 'The Greek house', that Greeks did not use atria, this unique instance of xenia will be explained as a politically sensitive commentary on the Greek and Roman history of xenia, its representation and architectural expression.
Xenia in Vitruvius' Greek house: andron, ξείνία and xenia from Homer to Augustus
Weir, Simon (author)
2015
Article (Journal)
English
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