In this piece, illustrative of the rites of hospitality in ancient
Greece, Chénier has drawn much of his inspiration from the arrival
of Ulysses in Phaeacia; as it is described in the sixth book of the
_Odyssey_. The reader will also notice, from the gaps in the text and
unfinished lines, that the poem had not reached the stage of completion.
Chénier, who himself published none but two of his poems, was prevented
by death from giving the finishing touch to this and many other pieces.