History Main / SacredHospitality

* In ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'', a ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' fanfic, Stoick takes sacred hospitality quite seriously. [[spoiler:This becomes a plot point when ships from Eire arrive at Berk to discuss an alliance. After Stoick and Hiccup promise their hospitality to the Eirish crew they discover that the Eirish had brought thralls with them, which presents a problem for Stoick; generations ago thralldom was outlawed on Berk and Stoick is personally opposed to any form of slavery.]] Also, each chapter of the story begins with a passage from a (fictitious) scholarly work regarding the history of Berk and how Berk becoming a safe haven for dragons has affected world history. One passage discusses the history and importance of sacred hospitality, observing that in many holy scriptures those who observed sacred hospitality were blessed while those who denied it were punished.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', when Jack has kidnapped Santa Claus as his guest for Christmas, he gave instructions that Santa was to be kept comfortable during his stay. When Jack finds out that Oogie Boogie was not only treating Santa terribly but was planning to eat him, Jack was ''pissed''.

* Similarly in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', when Romeo and his friends sneak into the Capulet feast in disguise but are still found out, Lord Capulet says that they should be left alone for the time being. He even reprehends his nephew Tybalt when he disagrees.

--> Face now paper white and stomach twisting itself in knots, Lucius finally regained enough of his senses to reach for his napkin, but before he could spit out his most recent bite of the Dark Lord’s pet basilisk, he froze as his host spoke once more.\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', Simone quickly offers to let Mystery Inc. stay the night in her mansion, insisting she can’t let them leave without enjoying some Southern hospitality. This is even after the gang had caused some trouble due to Scooby relentlessly pursuing her swarm of pet cats, Scooby and Shaggy constantly raising a ruckus due to being easily scared every few minutes, disrupting her gardener’s work, and scraping up the wall of her kitchen to look for clues. EasilyForgiven in the name of Southern hospitality, right? [[spoiler: Dead wrong. What Simone, Lena, and Jacques have [[HumanSacrifice planned]] for the gang is very, very much the antithesis of Southern hospitality, and was in fact a red flag that something was very wrong.]]

*** The Laws strictly bind the Faerie and all members of their Courts. We see a key instance of what happens if someone tries to break the Laws in ''Literature/ColdDays''. Also, even when the hospitality is granted, ExactWords very heavily come into play (The Fae follow their rules at any cost, and are [[CannotTellALie magically compelled to never lie]], but that means there are ''no'' better {{Rules Lawyer}}s and {{Loophole Abuse}}rs. In fact, one of those rules ''is'' “there is no spirit of the law, only its letter.” As such, beware harming or insulting one, or trapping one into actions they’d ''really'' be against taking - you’re not safe just because ''here and now'' they find themselves forbidden to vaporize you with a magic blast. The moment you’re no longer covered under hospitality or have angered them enough to make you suffer in every way the rules and/or their promises don’t explicitly prohibit, expect your life to get considerably worse and considerably shorter.)

** Historically, ''Literature/FireAndBlood'' has Manfryd Mooton, Lord of Maidenpool, face a grim choice during the Dance of the Dragons: if he does not deliver the head of the dragonrider girl Nettles to King's Landing and Queen Rhaenyra, he will be denounced and attainted as a traitor, and sentenced to death as well. The trouble is that Nettles, along with Prince Daemon Targaryen, is already in his castle, and therefore under the protection of Guest Right—meaning that if Lord Manfryd ''does'' deliver Nettles' head, he and his house will be forever cursed. He and his maester eventually decide to tip the couple off so they might flee, and this becomes the impetus behind his decision to switch sides from Rhaenyra's faction to those still loyal to King Aegon II.

* ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'': As in the source material, the Klatchian and D’reg’s Codes of Honour are serious about hospitality: “If you take in a guest or ''are'' a guest, treat the hospitality as sacred for exactly 72 hours.” Conversely, the Dark Lord’s Code puts a twisted spin on the idea: “Provide visiting heroes who aren't yet scheduled for the death trap with comfortable lodgings, submissive servants, and a change of clothes.”

* In the French rpg ''Rêve de Dragon'', young people are expected to travel - some a few days or weeks in their life until the nearest town and then settle down, some ( like the [=PCs=]) become permanent travellers. Every village has a House of the Travellers where they're received free for a week or so in return for entertaining the locals with tales of their travels.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTheHiketeia'' deals with Diana offering protection to a runaway girl from Gotham City. This is before the runaway is revealed as a murderer (the people she killed needed to go, though.) Eventually, ComicBook/{{Batman}} shows up to arrest her, but not only did Wonder Woman promise her guest protection and hospitality, the guest also invoked the titular Hiketeia, a ritual that requires that Wonder Woman does not discharge her guest without the guest's consent, on pain of death from the Erinyes, who will kill her if she does so. Since Wonder Woman's life is forfeit if she surrenders the girl and Batman (unaware of this deal) is not just going to let the girl get away with murder, [[LetsYouAndHimFight Wonder Woman and Batman end up fighting over the situation and their conflicting morals.]] The girl decides to leap [[DrivenToSuicide off a bridge.]] Batman himself tries to invoke the Hiketeia so that Wondy wouldn't be able to stop him without breaking her oath, but she informs him that she has the right to refuse it if she chooses. It only applies once she accepts it in the first place, as she did with the girl.

* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': {{Downplayed}}, but Paul later realises that this is part of why Wonder Woman (from a Greek background) didn't raise objections to him working with the Sivana family, while other League members would have liked him to just arrest them all. While he was a guest in their home, xenia dictated that he ought to remain polite and not start anything.

* ''Series/ComeDineWithMe'' is a RealityShow entirely designed around guests breaking the laws of hospitality: people are invited to each other's houses, waited on hand and foot, and then encouraged to bitch and moan about the slightest flaws in the food or entertainment. While most people have some heated arguments and forgive and forget when the competition is ended (kinda - contestants state they'd try not to keep in contact if they ''really'' hated each other) one guest was heavily criticized both on the show and across the country after [[SoreLoser he kicked everyone out of his house after losing the competition]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fPmVv5is6Q Have a look here!]]

** Another Myth/GreekMythology one: Procrustes the blacksmith, and innkeeper of the first InnOfNoReturn, who offered xenia then broke it. You see, he would let guests stay at his house and stay in this special iron bed. However, if they proved shorter than the bed, he would stretch them out to get them to full size; if they were too tall, he would cut them to size. What if they were exactly the right size? Funny, that: [[MortonsFork he secretly had two beds]]. Eventually, Theseus captured him and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard "fitted" him to the bed he had used to murder passersby]]. [[TheUnreveal No one knows whether Theseus had to stretch or chop Procrustes]].

*** Tantalus' bit with Pelops leads to a whole chain of curses--many of them involving parents killing children or the other way around--that end up defining a good chunk of Greek Myth, including the breach of hospitality that started UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar. On one hand, Pelops, as King of Pisa (the one in the Peloponnese), curses Laios, the King of Thebes, after a particularly severe breach of hospitality: Laios raped and abducted Chrysippus--Pelops' son--while a guest in Pisa, leading Pelops to cry, "May your own son kill you, Theban!" This curse is what leads to [[Theatre/OedipusRex that famous bit with Laios getting killed and his son marrying his wife]], which in turn leads to the Seven Against Thebes, regarded as a warm-up to the Trojan War. In the meantime, Pelops' other son Atreus became King of Mycenae--a very good gig--but his other brother Thyestes makes the mistake of seducing Mrs. Atreus while a guest in the Mycenae royal palace (a major breach of hospitality). Atreus finds out and in revenge slaughters Thyestes' sons and serves them up to their father, tricking him into eating them (which, revenge or no, is [[DisproportionateRetribution still a breach of hospitality]]). Thystes then curses Atreus, whose sons are Menelaus and Agamemnon, whose tale is partly recorded above. Of course, then you get into the interesting story of how Agamemnon gets killed by his wife (who was seeing Thyestes' son Aegisthus after the Iphigenia story), who then gets killed by her son Orestes and daughter Electra, the former of whom goes mad until absolved by an Athenian court (and [[JustSoStory creating the presumption of innocence in the Athenian justice system]], if Creator/{{Aeschylus}}' ''Theatre/TheOresteia'' is to be believed).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E3LuckOTheDucks Luck 'O' the Ducks]]", a ConArtist leprechaun steals Scrooge's money, and to save face, he invites Scrooge and his nephews to "his" castle in Ireland. The only problem is, the castle isn't his, and the other leprechauns don't like ''him'' or trespassers. However, after the Leprechaun King finds out that the guy ''did'' invite Scrooge and his family, he decides they can't throw them in the snake pit, as they first intend to do. Instead, he decides to throw a big party for them (seeing as leprechauns will apparently use ''any'' excuse to throw a party, no one else objects).

* The main charge against the Clan Campbell-led British army over the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe Glencoe Massacre]] was the betrayal of the [=MacDonald=]s' hospitality by the billeted soldiers; a much-later inquiry found the Commander guilty of "Murder Under Trust". The two clans have been at each other's throats ever since, to the point where there are still pubs in traditional [=MacDonald=] country that forbid Campbells from drinking there. [[note]]This old Scottish feud was brought to the attention of (some segments of) the American public by "Time & Life", [[Recap/MadMenS7E11TimeAndLife Episode 11 of Season 7]] of ''Series/MadMen'', in which an administrator of an exclusive Connecticut preschool who happens to be a [=MacDonald=] invokes the massacre as a reason for denying admission to Pete Campbell's four-year-old daughter, and ''fights'' Pete. This episode is set in ''1970''.[[/note]]

** Showing that even demigods were not immune to this, Tantalus, who was a son of Zeus. For some reason, the Olympians liked him enough to attend one of his banquets. When he noticed that his larder wasn't fully stocked with enough meat to prepare the feast, he decided to supplement it with his ''own son'' Pelops (meaning he fed Zeus not only human flesh but ''his own grandson'', and the other gods their own great-nephew or cousin). This revolted the Olympians[[note]]Except, in some stories, Demeter, who was so worked up about missing Persephone that she ate a bit of Pelops' shoulder; it was replaced with a magical bit of ivory[[/note]] who revived the boy but decided to give Tantalus a chance to redeem himself as their guest. What did Tantalus do? He ''stole their ambrosia'', shared it with his mortal friends, and blabbed the secrets of the gods. Tantalus stole the food of the gods and ''[[TooDumbToLive bragged about it]]''. His punishment was just as nasty as Ixion's. Since Tantalus' crimes were food-related, he was condemned to eternal starvation and thirst in Tartarus. He was chained to a tree laden with ripe fruit while waist-deep in fresh water, with the nasty catch that the tree branches would lift the fruit out of his reach and the water would recede whenever he tried to take a sip. Thus the origin of the word "tantalize".

** It is a SecretTestOfCharacter, but not in the way tropers might expect. Townsfolk believe that giving/receiving gifts, or even just bartering generously, unites them as a people. Refusing to entangle yourself in a social interaction is ''not'' kindness, but a signal that you don't consider yourself part of the Town...so the best option is to take what the kids offer (some toast and a bottle of milk) and return the next day with a piece of toast. They will take it, praising Artemy for not forgetting his heritage ''and'' caring that they get fed. This nets you not just the milk, but a much-needed reputation boost.
* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'' Damian Tenma is very sorry he cannot offer his guests proper refreshments...because he is in jail on suspicion of murder, with his 'guests' being his defense team.

* In ''VideoGame/SixAges'', clan advisors are careful to distinguish between guests and mere ''visitors''. You can murder guests in some cases (usually the interface won't even give you the option), but doing so will make your clan magic and reputation drop like a stone...no matter how disrespectful they were being.

** A reporter during the Kosovo conflict once stayed at a Muslim household. One of the people living there was treated as well as he was, and at first, he considered him a relative of the owners. However, he also overheard this stranger being given ominous warnings that if he left the house, he'd be killed...by the father. When the reporter asked for more details, he learned that this man was a guest in their house fifteen years before, and had killed the family's eldest son during a dispute. Under both Shari'a and the peculiar local interpretation of custom, this is punishable by death, but since he was a guest, he was still to be treated with respect. As such, he'd been living with this family quite happily since, and the family had gotten used to his presence to the point where many of them begged that he never leave, for his own sake.

-->I sympathize with General von Thoma: Defeated, in captivity and... ''dinner with Montgomery''.

* The Uplands have an idiosyncratic version in ''[[Literature/AnnalsOfTheWesternShore Gifts]]''. Guests are to be given useful work to do so that they don't feel like bums. But when you get an invite, you have to accept it at some point or give ''major'' offense, and if you're dealing with a family that has a particularly nasty gift, giving offense is a very bad idea.

* UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar described in ''Literature/TheIliad'' of Creator/{{Homer}}:
** The war results from a violation of xenia. Paris was a guest of Menelaus but seriously transgressed the bounds of xenia by abducting his host's wife, Helen. Therefore the Achaeans were required by duty to Zeus to avenge this transgression, which as a violation of xenia was an insult to Zeus's authority.
** Two heroes meet during the battle and realize that their grandfathers had once been host and guest. So they trade armor. That way they can ensure that they do not kill each other and so infringe on the obligations of ''xenia''.

* At the beginning of ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'', Cedric the Saxon orders an old Jew admitted to his hall over the protests of his (only slightly more welcome Norman) guests, using very nearly the exact words from the Abraham example. On the other hand, none of his retainers make room for the old man to sit down.

* This trope appears to be in strong effect in ''Literature/KinosJourney'', in which nearly every country welcomes any travelers from the outside world as guests of honour and gives them free food, lodgings, and guided tours at the drop of a hat. Apparently, travelers in this world are so rare that this doesn't unduly tax their resources, but it's still amazing how many countries maintain luxurious hotels ready just in case a traveller comes along every few years and needs a place to stay.

* Referenced in ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'': Bast threatens the scribe, saying "You have eaten at my table," implying that this created a magical obligation between them. Since Bast is [[spoiler:a fairy]], he probably means this literally.

* Creator/MarcoPolo wrote that during his travels he came across the district of Kamul. When strangers arrived, the male head of a household would leave his own house and allow the stranger to live there as if it were his own, and as if all the females of the household were his own wives. The people of Kamul felt so strongly about this custom that when the Khan banned it, they sent a delegation to ask him to reverse his decision, which he did. Pretty lousy for the wives, though...

* In Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterOfHed'', Morgan recalls the tale of Ingris, who refused Har hospitality and was {{curse}}d for it.

* ''Literature/{{Sandokan}}'': Subverted by lord Guillonk: when he learns that the guest he had healed was actually Sandokan he kicked him out of his house and prepared an ambush against him. Sandokan seems to play it straight: while never tested on it he knows well the code and took offense on the ambush (only the ambush: as a pirate, he ''was'' Guillonk's enemy, and having fully recovered he admitted he was fair game for being kicked out).
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "Literature/ShadowsInZamboula," Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian is warned about the InnOfNoReturn by someone with whom he had stayed for many months.
* In Creator/BernardCornwell's ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'s Triumph'', [=McCandless=] and Sharpe are put up by Pohlmann after they escort Simone there. When [=McCandless=] is shot and his horses stolen, he reminds Pohlmann they were his guests. Pohlmann is apologetic and has the man killed.

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Thuvia, Maid of Mars]]'', Thuvia refuses to let Cathoris defend her honor after Asok's behavior on the grounds he is her father's guest.

* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]] is full of examples. Zeus himself was patron of hospitality (as well as most other social laws), so breaking Sacred Hospitality, either by host or guest, would incur his fury.

* Sacred Hospitality killed the great hero [[Myth/CelticMythology Cuchulainn]]. One of his geases prevented him from ever turning down hospitality; another forbade him from eating dog's flesh. When he stayed with an enemy (for reasons that made sense at the time), dinner that night was dog. The next day, stripped of his strength, Cuchulainn was killed in battle.
* In another example from Myth/CelticMythology, Bres becomes unpopular as new king of the Tuatha De because he refuses to host them properly AND humiliates them with manual labor on top of it.
* In Literature/TheBible:

* In Creator/PoulAnderson's "Literature/{{Eutopia}}}", Iason tells the Voivode that Ottar's anger led him to attack Iason, in violation of sacred hospitality. To be sure, he doesn't tell what he had done to provoke anger.

** King Midas, despite being greedy, was very hospitable, and this was what eventually got him in trouble. When his servants caught the old satyr Silenus drunk and passed out after trespassing on his royal grounds, Midas ordered him bathed and fed, and politely entertained him for ten days before taking him back to Dionysus in Lydia. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wished for. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold. The god warned Midas that he had made a foolish wish, but he granted it, and as everyone familiar with the story knows, Dionysus was right. In some versions of the myth, when Midas begs to recant his wish, Dionysus specifically refers to Midas' hospitality, saying basically "you should not suffer for that."

** The D'regs have very strong laws to show hospitality to a guest for three days. In ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', "[[CowboyCop 71-Hour Ahmed]]" [[RedBaron got his name]] when he broke this law by killing his (murderously evil) host an hour before the three days were up; another character comments that it wouldn't have mattered so much if he had just waited the extra hour. Thing was, Ahmed knew the killer would pounce the instant Sacred Hospitality ran out (he was bound to it as well); Ahmed didn't want to give him the opportunity.

-->''The day a woman of the Gordons cannot keep her countenance is not a day you shall ever see.'

* [[WordOfDante According to]] ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', betrayal of one's guest or host is such a dire sin that it not only gets you sent to the Ninth Circle (lowest level) of Hell (a [[EvilIsDeathlyCold frozen lake]] with Satan himself frozen in the middle), but especially egregious offenders actually go there before they die -- while a demon takes over the living body. In fact, not only is it at the lowest level, but those who betray their guests or hosts are said to be the second-worst kind of traitor, second only to traitors to their benefactors, worse than those who betray their country or family. This is explained because while one does not choose your family or country, those under the bonds of hospitality enter it of their own free will, making its breaking especially heinous. Violators of hospitality are completely frozen in the lake, except for their faces (traitors to family and to country are frozen to their chins; traitors to benefactors are completely encased in the ice and contorted into various positions -- except for the three worst traitors, Judas, Cassius, and Brutus, who are being chewed constantly by Satan's three mouths).

*** Admetus is pretty famous for this trope, actually. He once sheltered Apollo when the latter was sentenced to spend a year as a mortal for killing (variously) Delphyne or the Cyclops. As a reward Apollo not only served as Admetus' cowherd during that time, ensuring that all the cows bore twins, but later helped Admetus win the eponymous Alcestis' hand in marriage. He also convinced the Fates to allow Admetus to forgo the expected day of his death if Admetus could find someone to die in his stead. Alcestis eventually volunteered to do so, leading to the above encounter with Heracles.

* JapanesePoliteness: Japan is perhaps considered in popular culture to be a modern example of Sacred Hospitality. They have many unwritten rules when it comes to welcoming guests, visitors, and anyone they may encounter in life in general, including but not limited to, avoiding bragging or explicit disagreement at all costs so as to not offend the guest, and indirectly praising their guests but always downplaying one's own accomplishments. In fact the Japanese language itself [[{{Keigo}} has an entire dialect for use in Hospitality]]. Hospitality in Japan is such a serious business, as hosts believe that their guests being anything less than completely happy with the experience represents a personal and professional failure. At some of the more traditional Ryokan (Japanese inns), the staff of the inn will wait out front when you arrive to greet you as you come in and will similarly see you off when you leave, waving until you/your car is out of sight.

** Whiskey Peak puts on AFeteWorseThanDeath for visiting pirates, feeding and boozing them into a state where they can be easily killed or captured; Zoro (a Type 1 NeverGetsDrunk) sees through this and single-handedly takes down the entire town. However Luffy, having missed the chaos, is furious at Zoro for attacking people who were kind and gave them plenty of food. He's actually so angry at Zoro that he refuses to hear any explanation and actually starts a fight to the death. Meanwhile, Nami (also a Type 1) decides that turnabout is fair play and uses the chaos to help herself to ''their'' loot.

* In one of the very oldest Myth/RobinHood ballads, "Robin Hood and the Potter", Robin lures the sheriff to the forest, but then lets him go on the grounds that the sheriff's wife had been hospitable to him.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': During ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', Ben Reilly (who was Spider-Man at the time) helped the injured mobster Jimmy 6 get medical attention after it was clear there was a contract on his head, and later said he'd help later if he needed it. Unfortunately for Ben, Jimmy (who was the son of up-and-coming crime lord Fortunado, and trying to lay low from his father for a while) took him up on that offer when he needed a place to stay; despite the fact that Jimmy was ''not'' the most pleasant roommate, Ben kept his word. (And Ben was able to prevent a crisis later when Fortunado did make his move because of it; plus, Jimmy remembered it, and was an occasional ally of Peter, who took over again as Spidey after Ben's death at the hands of Norman Osborn.)

* In ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast'', taking the rose is not only theft, but it is also compounded by the hospitality shown to the merchant first.

* Fire Lord Zuko's response to the Gaang's arrival in ''Fanfic/TowardsTheSun'' to give them the palace's best hospitality, give them the rooms they want so they can feel safe, have his servants cater to them and try to be a good host. The Gaang's response is to be constantly rude to Zuko's face (all of them), constantly accuse Zuko of poisoning them (Sokka), threatening to attack Zuko thinking that he wouldn't hear (Katara), making impossible demands (Aang) and be rude to all the servants (the original Gaang). Toph even points out that Zuko is lying when he's trying to say it was nice to have them.

** Bilbo Baggins extends this to the dwarves when they first raid his pantry in ''[[Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney An Unexpected Journey]]'', despite the fact that the dwarves just barged into his house. Though that was less due to the boorishness of the dwarves and more for the fact that Gandalf tricked them into thinking they were invited.

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' it is a plot point that the protagonist's family has to provide shelter for a wounded soldier because that is the law. They later give rooms to the relatives of the wounded soldier, reasoning that their mothers (who are absent for most of the plot) would be angry at them if they let the guests sleep in the barn. [[spoiler:This is partly because it turns out the wounded soldier is actually a princess of the realm.]] The guests, on the other hand, abuse their hospitality by one of them planning to steal a kiss from the son of the house, [[spoiler:and one successfully seducing him, which is a big deal in a world where word of this getting out would make him considered DefiledForever. Luckily his family is openminded]].

* Referenced in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', where the Count is noticeably unwilling to dine at Albert's home. While he gives other excuses, the explanation is to the effect that he's familiar with the importance of hospitality in Arab tradition, and knows that it wouldn't be right to revenge himself on them if he shared their food. It's how Mercedes gets her first hint that the Count doesn't have her husband's best interests at heart, since he refuses food she herself gives him.

** Barbarian heroes have an ... idiosyncratic approach to this, as described in ''Literature/InterestingTimes''. They see nothing wrong with inviting their enemies to dinner, getting them drunk, and then slaughtering them, because frankly, that's the enemies' own fault for not expecting it. But they're horrified by the ideas someone would ''poison'' a meal they'd prepared for their enemies, [[PoisonIsEvil because that's not even giving them a chance]].
* [[WordOfDante According to]] ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', betrayal of one's guest or host is such a dire sin that it not only gets you sent to the Ninth Circle (lowest level) of Hell (a [[EvilIsDeathlyCold frozen lake]] with Satan himself frozen in the middle), but especially egregious offenders actually go there before they die -- while a demon takes over the living body. In fact, not only is it in the lowest level, but those who betray their guests or hosts are said to be the second-worst kind of traitor, second only to traitors to their benefactors, worse than those who betray their country or family. This is explained because while one does not choose your family or country, those under the bonds of hospitality enter it of their own free will, making its breaking especially heinous. Violators of hospitality are completely frozen in the lake, except for their faces (traitors to family and to country are frozen to their chins; traitors to benefactors are completely encased in the ice and contorted into various positions -- except for the three worst traitors, Judas, Cassius, and Brutus, who are being chewed constantly by Satan's three mouths).

* Referenced in ''Literature/DragonBones'': Ward says something like "Welcome, traveler, to the hearth of Hurog" to an escaped slave, which he knows is an ancient phrase with which he acknowledges her guest-status, which binds him to treat her like a guest, and, implicitly, also protect her from those who wish to re-enslave her. She reacts kind of rudely, apparently ignorant of the implications of his words.

*** The Laws strictly bind the Faerie and all members of their Courts. We see a key instance of what happens if someone tries to break the Laws in ''Literature/ColdDays''. Also, even when the hospitality is granted, ExactWords very heavily come into play (The Fae follow their rules at any cost, and are [[CannotTellALie magically compelled to never lie]], but that means there are ''no'' better {{Rules Lawyer}}s and {{Loophole Abuse}}rs. In fact, one of those rules ''is'' “there is no spirit of the law, only its letter.” As such, beware harming or insulting one, or trapping one into actions they’d ''really'' be against taking - you’re not safe just because ''here and now'' they find themselves forbidden to vaporize you with a magic blast. The moment you’re no longer covered under hospitality, or have angered them enough to make you suffer in every way the rules and/or their promises don’t explicitly prohibit, expect your life to get considerably worse and considerably shorter.)

** When Harry does jobs for [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Strength of a River in His Shoulders]] he normally meets him in a forest since River Shoulders doesn't like coming into the city (for obvious reasons). Even though they meet around a campfire it's ''Harry's'' campfire and as such he's obligated to serve as a host and share food, drink and tobacco. Harry notes that this isn't actually necessary since they get on well but even so going through the motions of Sacred Hospitality makes both of them more comfortable.

* This trope appears to be in strong effect in ''Literature/KinosJourney'', in which nearly every country welcomes any travelers from the outside world as guests of honour and gives them free food, lodgings and guided tours at the drop of a hat. Apparently, travelers in this world are so rare that this doesn't unduly tax their resources, but it's still amazing how many countries maintain luxurious hotels ready just in case a traveller comes along every few years and needs a place to stay.

* In Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', General Tilney invites the protagonist in his house because he wants her to marry his son. One day, he suddenly throws her out with a lame excuse and sends her away in a public coach with no attending servant. (This doesn't sound so horrible today, but back then it meant deliberate insult.) The reason for all that was, he found out she wasn't as rich as he thought. His violation of Sacred Hospitality is how the reader fully sees his true colors.

** The next morning, the lord's wife starts coming on to Gawain, but he refuses to accept anything but a kiss on the cheek, which he dutifully gives to the lord that evening. The same thing happens the next day, but the third day, the wife also gives him a magic belt, which he doesn't hand over.

** When Robb Stark returns to Walder Frey after violating his marriage pact to one of the Frey daughters, Catelyn urges the importance of requesting bread and salt, since that would make Robb a guest and free from fear of reprisal during his stay. [[spoiler:It doesn't work. In a shocking violation of Sacred Hospitality, the Freys and their secret allies, [[TheStarscream the Boltons]], slaughter their guests in what is later called "The Red Wedding". Even their newfound allies are sickened by their actions and the Freys become TheFriendNobodyLikes.]] This even has further implications, as it basically lowers the ([[CrapsackWorld already low]]) morale of the entire realm, as it was considered the one rule that even the warring lords would stick to. When it becomes clear that they won't, [[KarmaHoudini and won't be held accountable for it]], the number of people violating sacred hospitality, or terrified that their guests might do so, skyrockets following the Red Wedding, [[spoiler:and the Freys are gradually picked off in retribution for this]].

** Though it's unclear whether or not there really are gods who enforce the Guest Right, all of the above who have violated Guest Right end up suffering a great deal later in the story, whether or not other people ''know'' they violated the Guest Right. [[spoiler:The Freys are hated by all and are slowly being picked off one by one, courtesy of Lady Stoneheart and Wyman Manderly. Manderly himself is suspected of being behind the disappearance of the Freys he did murder, but no one can prove it. He is slashed across the neck during a fight by one of those who suspect him, but survives. Jaime Lannister loses a hand (With killing the Tully guards being a major factor in why, since it caused him to be chained to a wall and his condition weakened until Brienne could defeat him), and Cersei Lannister's sanity begins to slip. The Night's Watch mutineers seem to survive, but Coldhands kills them as they attempt to make south for the Wall. The Tyrells don't suffer immediately, but Loras suffers a gruesome injury in the battle of Dragonstone, and the last seen of him is that he is in grave condition. Tyrion, meanwhile, has completely lost his wealth and status and is now a universally despised alcoholic wreck.]]

* ''Literature/LesVoyageursSansSouci'': As travelling across the countryside, Sébastien and Agathe start feeling tired and hungry. Both kids land near a cottage and walk towards an old farmer, who readily asks that pair of stranger and strangely-dressed kids if they are starving. Sébastien and Agathe nod, and the old woman is happy to feed them and give them directions.

** Westeros treats hospitality religiously. When formally welcoming a guest, they are given protection in the Light of the Seven. To break the guest right is considered to be unthinkable.

* ''Series/{{Rome}}''. After Julius Caesar's assassination, Marc Antony turns up at Brutus' house to arrange a truce. No-one seriously believes that Antony will stick to any agreement, so after Antony steps outside so they can discuss the matter, the other conspirators urge Brutus to kill Antony while they have the chance. [[HonorBeforeReason Brutus refuses to kill a guest in his home]], whereupon his mother points out that Antony isn't in their home, [[LoopholeAbuse he's waiting outside on the street]] for their decision. Brutus is then shown stepping out onto the street...to embrace Antony, signifying he's accepted their truce, which doesn't stop Antony from cutting the throat of a man who tried to murder him earlier. Then again, they were on the street.

** The poor, elderly couple Baucis and Philemon received with glad hospitality two weary travelers whom their wealthier neighbors had driven off. Since these travelers were [[AngelUnaware Zeus and Hermes]], they quickly realized that their supplies refused to run out no matter how much they and their guests took. Recognizing that they must be playing host to gods, the couple prostrated themselves before their guests. The gods then turned their neighbors' village into a lake, and transformed the stingy neighbors into fish, and then told Baucis and Philemon that they would be granted a wish. The old couple replied that their wish was that they should die at the same moment so neither of them had to live widowed. When they did die, they were outside their home looking at that lake, and because Zeus [[PetTheDog can be a softie sometimes]], he turned the old couple into two trees, their branches forever intertwined in love, forever looking out on one of the most beautiful vistas in Greece.

*** After Zeus was through, Ixion was thrown into Tartarus, chained to a wheel, set on fire and left to burn for all eternity. The Hera sex doll gave birth to the Centaurs. And, ladies and gentlemen, this is why ''you [[TooDumbToLive do not abuse the hospitality of the Greek gods]]''.

** The above two cases inspire a line in the New Testament which expounds this trope:

* ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'': As in the source material, the Klatchian and D’reg’s Codes of Honour are serious about hospitality: “If you take in a guest or ''are'' a guest, treat the hospitality as sacred for exactly 72 hours.” Conversely, the Dark Lord’s Code puts a twisted spin on the idea: “Provide visiting heroes who aren't yet scheduled for the death-trap with comfortable lodgings, submissive servants, and a change of clothes.”

* In the solo adventure module "A Bad Batch of Brownies" (from ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}} #58''), the reason the brownies are acting "bad" (tattooing themselves, wearing leather jackets, trying to sound and act "tough", and making the forest a complete and utter mess) is because they're trying to emulate an unusual guest. "Wild Jack" is a street tough from a biker gang who came through a Well of Many Worlds from an Alternate Prime Material Plane [[FromBeyondTheFourthWall (as in, ours)]], and while he's not the most cordial or polite of guests, the brownies insist he not be killed or abused, as he's a guest. Not to mention it was ''their'' fault he's here, as they were misusing the Well of Many Worlds and now have no idea how to help him get home. The player's goal is finding a way to do that.

** In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' Of the Great Rights of MagicalSociety, the Right of Hospitality requires a mage to be given sanctuary and protection upon request, usually in the wake of an attack or [[MagicMisfire paradox]], or because the mage is far from home. Most protocols regarding this Right require the mage to keep them for at least a week, protect them from any possible threat, provide them with shelter and enough food to survive off of, and tend to any serious wounds; most mages are likely to go beyond these limited requirements. Failure to properly honor Hospitality is often regarded as extreme enough to act as a preface to declaring war.

* In the French rpg ''Rêve de Dragon'', young people are expected to travel - some a few days or weeks in their life until te nearest town and then settle down, some ( like the [=PCs=]) become permanent travellers. Every village has a House of the Travellers where they're received free for a week or so in return for entertaining the locals with tales of their travels.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'': Both Aslan and Vilani have their own hospitality codes. Some variations of the Aslan code come even before kin ties. One Aslan was praised for killing his brother in battle rather than turn against his host.

* ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt'': While in Arden, a starving Orlando ends up holding up Duke Senior and his retinue a knifepoint for some of their food. Duke Senior is more than happy to invite Orlando to share dinner with him, which confuses Orlando at first.

* In ''Theatre/DieWalkuere'', Hunding finds his wife Sieglinde sheltering a man he's been pursuing, and, presumably having learned from the mistakes in Mythology above, lets him stay freely before trying to kill him in the morning, stating "''Heilig ist mein Herd, heilig sei mir mein Gast''" ("My hearth is holy, let my guest be holy to me too"). The man, Siegmund, then betrays Hunding's hospitality by running off with Sieglinde (who also was Siegmund's long-lost sister). Wotan is cool with the incest, not to mention that Siegmund and Sieglinde are his illegitimate children, but his wife Fricka (who is ''not'' the twins' mom) is the protector of marriage and so she demands that Wotan punish Siegmund with death. [[spoiler:He does allow Hunding to kill Siegmund in combat, and even punishes the titular Walkuere (Brünnhilde) when she tries to stop the duel, but then he kills Hunding himself.]]

** Double-subverted in the main game, where if you accept an invitation from Caesar to his personal fort with negative rep with the Legion, he'll state that you're an idiot to accept his invitation because he's going to have you killed. Then after a moment he tells you that [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor he's just joking]] and he really is trying to get you on his side.

* Ryu's backstory in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' has him depending on, and strictly returning, this. As he is a wanderer with often very little money besides what he wins [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin street fighting]], he must many times depend upon the hospitality of strangers to provide him food and shelter for the evening. However, he also makes a point to be a model guest, even offering to repay his hosts generosity by performing any odd jobs said host may require at the time.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E3LuckOTheDucks Luck 'O' the Ducks]]", a ConArtist leprechaun steals Scrooge's money, and to save face, he invites Scrooge and his nephews to "his" castle in Ireland. The only problem is, the castle isn't his, and the other leprechauns don't like ''him'' or trespassers. However, after the Leprechaun King finds out that the guy ''did'' invite Scrooge and his family, he decides they can't throw them in the snake pit, as they first intend to do. Instead, he decides to throw a big party for them (seeing as leprechauns will apparently use ''any'' excuse to throw a party, no-one else objects).
* Invoked by [[ManipulativeBastard Tarrlok]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' when he walks in on Tenzin and his family (and Korra) eating dinner. When questioned by Tenzin, he reminds him that Air Nomads would never turn down a guest in need of food or shelter. So Tenzin reluctantly gives in, earning him a [[DeathGlare disapproving glare]] from his wife. To add insult to the injury, Tarrlok doesn't even take so much as a bite during his visit.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' episode "Princess Prom" is about the All-Princess Ball, a once-in-a-decade gathering of the kingdoms of Etheria as a display of goodwill and unity, with one of its rules being that conflict is left at the door--along with any partygoers' weapons. Horde Force Captains Catra and Scorpia are able to attend because the latter is technically a Princess, and spend the whole party [[ParanoiaGambit making the heroes look like fools for suspecting an attack]]. Eventually, Catra goads Adora (She-Ra herself) into breaking the No Fighting rules, partly because [[TheGadfly she gets a sick kick out of messing with her former best friend]], but also as a diversion. In the meantime, Scorpia and the rest of her team manage to damage the host kingdom's castle, [[spoiler:kidnap Glimmer and Bow, and steal Adora's [[TransformationTrinket Sword of Protection]]]]. However, they also cause the Kingdom of Snows [[NeutralNoLonger to break its ardent neutrality toward the Horde]].

* JapanesePoliteness: Japan is perhaps considered in popular culture to be a modern example of Sacred Hospitality. They have many unwritten rules when it comes to welcoming guests, visitors and anyone they may encounter in life in general, including but not limited to, avoiding bragging or explicit disagreement at all costs as to not offend the guest, and indirectly praising their guests but always downplaying one's own accomplishments. In fact the Japanese language itself [[{{Keigo}} has an entire dialect for use in Hospitality]]. Hospitality in Japan is such a serious business, as hosts believe that their guests being anything less than completely happy with the experience represents a personal and professional failure. At some of the more traditional Ryokan (Japanese inns), the staff of the inn will wait out front when you arrive to greet you as you come in and will similarly see you off when you leave, waving until you/your car is out of sight.

** Similarly, out of ''besa'' (a very strong code of honor including hospitality rules), Muslim Albanians saved over 2,000 fleeing Jews during the Holocaust, passing them off (and treating them) as members of their own families, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. As a result, Albania became one of the very few mainland European countries to have ''more'' Jews living in it at the end of WWII than the beginning.

* Characteristic of the Benedictine monastic order, in fact one of their founding rules states that they should "always treat every visitor as if he was Jesus himself" because he might well be. They do have some liberty to decide how pleasant the visitors' stay will end up being, though. As just one example, should a guest be unpleasant, they may find themselves awakened at four in the morning because Jesus would want to be awake for the first prayers of the day; friendly guests, however, may be exempt, because if Jesus wants to talk to His dad He'll wake Himself up.

--> Somebody with too much bronze: "Oh man, everyone's giving me the stink eye. I gotta get rid of this excess."
--> Somebody with not enough bronze: "Hey, your pile of bronze is looking great."
--> Somebody with too much bronze: "Oh this? It's nothing, please take some." (forces bronze into neighbor's hands)
--> ''Later that day'': "Hey, that pile of baskets is looking great." And so on...

* Curiously, the destruction of the Khwarezmians was not the first time that a Persian ruler had started a war by failing to respect an embassy from a nomadic steppe empire. Some six centuries earlier (in 588 CE), a Sassanid governor (satrap) rejected trade negotiations from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6kt%C3%BCrks Göktürks]][[note]] The Göktürks are thought to have been an offshoot of the later [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiongnu Xiongnu]], being survivors of the collapse of the Juqu circa 450 CE. Another steppe empire, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouran_Khaganate Rouran Khaganate]], had enslaved them at that time, but were overthrown by a Göktürk revolt around 550 CE.[[/note]], turning the first embassy away and destroying their goods, then killing the second group of envoys outright. The Western Göktürks, who had aided the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire Sassanid Persians]] in destroying the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephthalites Hephtalites]] only a few years earlier, would ally themselves with Persia's perennial enemy the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire shortly afterwards. While they never did anything like the damage done by the Mongols, they would remain a thorn in the Persians side up for the next fifty years, until Persia was conquered by the emerging [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate Rashidun Caliphate]].

* Some travel guides to Russia say that guests should be very careful about compliments when visiting Russian homes and keep their comments in general terms. This is because under Russian customs and traditions of hospitality if a guest says something positive about an item in a home, the host will take it as an obligation to give that item to the guest as a gift.

* The main charge against the Clan Campbell-led British army over the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe Glencoe Massacre]] was the betrayal of the [=MacDonald=]s' hospitality by the billeted soldiers; a much-later inquiry found the Commander guilty of "Murder Under Trust". The two clans have been at each other's throats ever since, to the point where there are still pubs in traditional [=MacDonald=] country that forbid Campbells from drinking there. [[note]]This old Scottish feud was brought to the attention of (some segments of) the American public by "Time & Life", Episode 11 of Season 7 of ''Series/MadMen'', in which an administrator of an exclusive Connecticut preschool who happens to be a [=MacDonald=] invokes the massacre as a reason for denying admission to Pete Campbell's four-year-old daughter, and ''fights'' Pete. This episode is set in ''1970''.[[/note]]

* In ''Film/StrawDogs'', David finally takes a stand against a group of local toughs when they try to invade his home to abduct a man he's taken in. David fights off the invaders to protect the man, even though he knows that the man is probably a murderer.

* Invoked by [[ManipulativeBastard Tarrlok]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' when he walks in on Tenzin and his family (and Korra) eating dinner. When questioned by Tenzin, he reminds him that Air Nomads would never turn down a guest in need of food or shelter. So Tenzin reluctantly gives in, earning him a [[DeathGlare disapproving glare]] from his wife.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' and ''VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok'' have Sacred Hospitality as a relatively minor recurring theme, fitting with its prevalence in both Greek and Norse mythology. Kratos himself, being from Ancient Greece, takes hospitality ''very'' seriously, while many stories Mimir tells about the Aesir, Thor especially, involve breaking sacred hospitality- usually by getting drunk and starting fights. The opening scene of ''Ragnarok'' has Kratos host Odin and Thor (there to discuss the events of the previous game) at his house; Kratos does his best to be a good host even when he's very wary of his guests' intentions, Thor is actually a pretty good guest who asks for permission before entering and brings a horn of mead as a gift, and Odin (who, ironically, is known in actual Norse Mythology for ''enforcing'' hospitality rules) just barges in like he owns the place.