Poetry · Chapter
Hospitality explained
The speaker questions a host's selective hospitality, noting that they are invited to dine and praise the wine while others who are truly in need of a meal are overlooked.
What happens
The speaker questions a host's selective hospitality, noting that they are invited to dine and praise the wine while others who are truly in need of a meal are overlooked.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The host's selective invitation highlights a hypocritical form of hospitality that serves self-interest rather than genuine generosity.
Key passages
“Why ask me, Gastrogogue, to dine, (Unless to praise your rascal wine) Yet never ask some luckless sinner Who needs, as I do not, a dinner?”
Why invite me to dinner, unless it's just to flatter your cheap wine, while you never invite some poor soul who actually needs a meal more than I do?
The speaker criticizes the host for inviting someone who can praise the wine rather than someone truly hungry.