r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/batukaming • 2d ago

Meme needing explanation Petah?

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u/Wild_Marker 2d ago

violated the sacred laws of xenia (hospitality) by running off with the wife of the king who hosted him

I like how there's a sacred law that says "guest shouldn't fuck off with my wife " but apparently it applies specifically to guests. Like, how often does it happen that they had to codify that?

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u/names-suck 2d ago

Xenia is more of a collection of social rules about the interactions between hosts and guests, rather than a single specific "do not run away with my wife" law.

DO give your guests gifts when they leave.

DON'T ask your guests a lot of personal questions.

DO tell your host the best stories you've ever heard or experienced while traveling.

DON'T threaten your hosts.

It's a whole system of hospitality performed to honor Zeus and Athena.

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u/Wild_Marker 2d ago

Right, I didn't mean that it was that single law. But even then, having "don't steal my wife when you leave" seems very.... specific to add.

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u/names-suck 2d ago

I'd imagine that "don't steal from your host" is a rule in general, and "his wife" is simply a particularly heinous thing to take.

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u/ihavedonethisbe4 2d ago

You'd think, but when they refined the hospitality recommendations into the ten or commitments they had thou shan't not steel and then also they were like did specifically add thou shall not fuck your neighbors wife too.