e alms of
the community. To change one's abode and to travel was assumed to be a
cause of reproach (_Il_. ix. 648). The "land-louper" was naturally
suspected. On the other hand, a stranger's first thought in a new
country was whether the inhabitants were wild or social ([Greek:
dikaioi]), hospitable and God-fearing (_Od_. xiii. 201). Hospitality
thus became the first public charity; Zeus sent all strangers and
beggars, and it was against all law ([Greek: themis]) to slight them.
Out of this feeling--a kind of glorified almsgiving--grew up the system
of hospitality in Greek states and also in the Roman world. The host
greeted the stranger (or the suppliant). An oath of friendship was taken
by the stranger, who was then received with the greeting, Welcome
([Greek: chaire]), and water was provided for ablution, and food and
shelter. In the larger house there was a guests' table. In the hut he
shared the peasant's meal. The custom bound alike the rich and the poor.
On parting presents were given, usually food for the onward journey,
sometimes costly gifts. The obligation was mutual, that the host should
give hospitality, and that the guest should not abuse it. From early
times tallies were exchanged between them as evidence of this formal
relationship, which each could claim again of the other by the
production of the token. And further, the relationship on either side
became hereditary. Thus individuals and families and tribes remained
linked in friendship and in the interchange of hospitalities.

Under the same patronage of Zeus and the same laws of hospitality were
vagrants and beggars. The vagrant and loafer are sketched in the
_Odyssey_--the vagrant who lies glibly that he may get entertainment,
and the loafer who prefers begging to work on a farm. These and the
winter idlers, whom Hesiod pictures--a group known to modern
life--prefer at that season to spend their time in the warmth of the
village smithy, or at a house of common resort ([Greek: lesche])--a
common lodging-house, we might say--where they would pass the night.
Apparently, as in modern times, the vagrants had organized their own
system of entertainment, and, supported by the public, were a class for
whom it was worth while to cater. The local or public beggars formed a
still more definite class. Their begging was a recognized means of
maintenance; it was a part of the method of poor relief. Thus of
Penelope it was said that, if Odysseus' tale were true, sh