Φιλοξενία

Pineapples and Hospitality

I’ve always had a large number of pineapples in my room. Not living ones. Among them are two glass and brass pineapples.

I think they are meant to be elegant vestibules for Piña Coladas.

I use them to store the metal caps of Champagne bottles that I have drunk.

Memories of time spent with friends, joy shared, sometimes with strangers.

In Greek culture there is this concept of φιλοζενια. It has been there since the time of Homer. It is one of the few elements of Ancient Greek culture, if we can call it that, that has passed into the modern sense of ‘Greekness’. It literally means love to strangers. It is often translated in modern times to hospitality, but it is so much more than that.

It is the warm embrace that you receive from someone you have never met.

It is the two women who chance upon you, lost at a local rubbish dump, thinking it is an archaeological site, and invite you into their home to break bread together.

It is the glow in someone’s eyes as they realise you appreciate their small act of kindness.

It is offering me a spoonful of sugar syrup, even when I have so much compared to you, as you are welcoming me into your home.

To me, it is the most beautiful part of the human experience, offering up your love, care, and time for someone you hardly know.

It is the reason that I feel more Greek than British.

It is the reason that I wear all these Orthodox bracelets on my arm, as they are markers of φιλοζενια that I have received, and I hope I can share with others.

They are markers like the pineapples in my home, markers of warmth, hospitality, and welcome.

I have a Greek friend here in Boston, who said to me, you are the embodiment of φιλοζενια, which unbeknownst to him could have been one of the kindest things someone could say to me.

It struck.

I have presented myself here, amongst many new people, in a new setting as what I hope to be my true self. Not held back by perceptions or models of past experience.

If I could have one positive impact on people, it would be sharing with them my φιλοζενια.

Pineapples, as well as being signs of hospitality and welcome, are also signs of wealth and status. There is a famous painting by Hendrick Danckerts, of King Charles II being handed a pineapple by his gardener!

In Caribbean folklore they were often associated with endurance, protection, and resilience due to their tough exterior and spiky leaves.

In Asian culture they are also associated with fertility!

I like all of these associations. They are the elements one needs or desires as an entrepreneur - you need fertility to create the germ of a new idea, you have to understand hospitality and welcome to raise funds, you certainly need endurance and resilience as you grow your business with your first customers. This all hopefully leads to wealth and status.

So pineapples and φιλοζενια have followed me to Harvard Business School for good reason.