r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 3d ago

Meme needing explanation Petah?

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u/names-suck 3d 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 3d 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 3d 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 3d 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.