TOPICS
GREEK FOOD
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MYTHOLOGY
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I ordered my first Greek salad on my first day in Delphi only to be shocked that there was no lettuce in the colorful combination of fresh ingredients. "No lettuce?" I asked completely shaken up. "Shouldn't there be lettuce in a Greek salad?""No," said our hostess, Sania Papa, "We do not use lettuce here. Lettuce is an anti-aphrodisiac. We don't even grow it here.""Lettuce is a what?" I shot back to her. "Tell me how that's possible.""You know the myth of Adonis, the beautiful boy who turned the heads of all the goddesses? He was so beautiful that he thought he could steal Hera away from Zeus. Then one fine day when the nymphs were looking for him they found his body in the lettuce patch. He had become a wilting head of lettuce due to the anger of the gods for trying to break up the relationships between the gods and goddesses. Since then lettuce has become for us a symbol of sexual impotence. Therefore no lettuce on your salad.""Americans always put lettuce in their Greek salads," I said."We Greeks prefer thinly cut fresh green cabbage if we're going to have anything big and leafy. But of course fresh tomatoes and cucumbers are the base of this type of salad. We call it a dinner salad. Each of the ingredients is fresh except the Kalamata olives and the Feta cheese. I see you are not eating the Feta.I don't eat any product from an animal."Ah," she said, "You are a neo-Pythagorean. His ancient followers ate only vegetables. They also sacrificed plants to the gods in place of animals."I never heard of sacrificing vegetables to the gods," I replied curiously. "Oh yes, definitely. Pythagoras put his sacrifices in the same temples as the rest of the Greeks. He made his own clean altars, altars without blood on them. The gods must have smiled on him, because he is still known and studied to this day. In fact he has his own chapter inOvid's 'Metamorphosis' explaining the theory of sacred vegetarianism."
"But Ovid was a Roman.""The Romans were fascinated by the Greek Golden Age, when the gods existed on Nectar and Ambrosia alone. We don't know exactly what they were, but we do know that these two foods had no animal flesh in them at all. From what we have of their writings, the ancient Greeks made most animal sacrifices so they could share food on festival days. The Pythagoreans rebelled against this practice and thus against the state religion, which was also the state government. Re-bellion was not tolerated. However, there was a temple dedicated to Apollo Genetor on Delos where no blood sacrifices were permitted. When Pythagoras himself made plant and incense sacrifices there, the Greek kings declared sacred vegetarianism another cult of the Greek religion. They looked for a way to fit everyone into the state's life back then," she said with a smile.Next came an order of baby okras in a thin tomato and onion sauce. The okras were crisp, tasting somewhat like a grilled vegetable. "Yes, we sometimes grill our vegetables before we saut� them. It gives them a distinct flavor that isn't dominated or overwhelmed by the sauces.""Is there any symbolism for the okra?" I asked."Of course," Sania replied, "Okra is a member of the mallow family. Along with asphodel (a variety of lily similar to an arum), mallow was the most sacred plant sacrifice in the temple of Apollo Genetor.""It seems like everything in this meal has a history," I observed as I enjoyed the okras followed by a glass of Attican Retsina wine."When one is an historian," Sania continued, "Everything has a story and everything takes on many additional meanings. Greece is a land of history, both of humans and gods. Studying sacred vegetarianism history here perhaps will compensate for the fact that so little of our food is truly vegan, as you prefer. But now, let me give you some authentic Greek homestyle meatless, dairyless, and eggless recipes that you can easily make in your own kitchen," Sania said as we ate and talked the night away about the foods of Ancient Greece
Thomas Sterns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 26, 1888. He was raised in a family that had distinguished Americans since colonial days. At 18 years of age, T.S. Eliot entered Harvard, after graduating he went abroad. Then he taught in a boys school briefly before spending eight years in Lloyds Bank in London.T.S. Eliot inspired the musical Cats in the 1980s from his well-known book Old Possum's Book of Cats. He also wrote "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock" in 1915. After 1915, T.S. Eliot wrote such poems as "Portrait of a Lady".The Waste Land appeared in 1922. It was considered by many to be his most challenging work. In 1927 Thomas Sterns Eliot became a British subject and was confirmed in the Church of England.His essays, "For Lancelot Andrews" (1928) and his poetry, "Four Quartets" (1943) increasingly reflected this association with a traditional culture. "The Rock" (1934), his first drama, was a pageant play. This was followed by "Murder in the Cathedral" (1935), a play dealing with the assassination of Archbishop Thomas a Becket, who was later canonized.
In 1948, King George VI bestowed the order of Merit on T.S. Eliot, and in that same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. On January 4, 1965 Thomas Sterns Eliot died at the age of 76.Here is one of his poems I enjoy:
Aunt Helen
Miss Helen Slingsby was my maiden aunt,
and lived in a small house near a fashionable square
Cared for by servants to the number of four.
Now when she died there was a silence in heaven
And silence at the end of her street.
The shutters were drawn and the undertaker wiped his feet-
He was aware that this sort of thing had occurred before.
The dogs were handsomely provided for,
But shortly afterwards the parrot died too.
The Dresden clock continued ticking on the mantelpiece,
And the footman sat upon the dining-table
Holding the second housemaid on his knees-
Who had always been so careful while her mistress lived.
The food people ate varied a good deal from time to time and from place to place. So you'll need to read about each time and place separately. There are some things all these times and places had in common, though.First, there was no refrigeration or freezers. It was very hard to keep food from going bad. People did a lot of different things to preserve food. They dried fruit to make raisins, prunes, dried peas, and dried apples. They pickled vegetables, meat, and fish in brine (salty water) to make pickles and garum, a fermented fish sauce. They fermented grape juice and apple juice and barley to turn them into wine and cider and beer. They made yogurt and cheese. They smoked meat from pigs to make ham and bacon. Honey also acts as a good preservative.
(Suggestion for a project)Second, because it was so hard to carry things from one place to another without canals or trains or trucks, people usually could only eat what was available in their area at that time of year. If there was a shortage of food because of bad weather or crop diseases, people starved. Even in a good year, it was impossible to get fresh vegetables in the wintertime!
Third, before Christopher Columbus came to America in 1492 AD, and even for some time after that, many of the foods we eat today were not known in Europe, Africa, or Western Asia. They had no potatoes, no tomatoes, no corn-on-the-cob (maize). Europeans also had not yet gotten rice or citrus fruits (lemons and oranges) from China. Indian spices like cinnamon and pepper were available in Europe, but they were very expensive. And they didn't know how to make noodles.
You can see that they must have eaten very differently! And yet a lot of the foods they ate will also seem familiarFood, for the Greeks, had all sorts of religious and philosophical meaning. The Greeks, to begin with, never ate meat unless it had been sacrificed to a god, or had been hunted in the wild. They believed that it was wrong to kill and eat a tame, domesticated animal without sacrificing it to the gods. Even with vegetables, many Greeks believed that particular foods were cleaner or dirtier, or that certain gods liked certain foods better than others. The Pythagoreans, for example, would not eat beans. But even if you were not a Pythagorean, the Greeks tended to think of the god Dionysos whenever they drank wine (which was often), and to think of Demeter and Persephone whenever they ate bread.The Greeks ate mainly the Mediterranean triad, wheat (or barley or millet), wine, and olive oil. They also grew vegetables, especially legumes (lentils, beans, peas, chickpeas). Possibly they ate more fish than most other Mediterranean people. Also, because of their feelings about sacrificing meat, they may have eaten meat less than other people did.
Where do the Greek myths STOP? At what point in time can we assume that the essence of Greek mythology was lost? The decision as to when exactly the essence was lost is strictly arbitrary, but when I read Greek myths as told by the Roman, Ovid, circa 20 B.C.E., I get a little skeptical as to the depth of his insight... after all, he was a thousand years, a language and a culture away from the origins of the myths... all he could possibly tell us is how Romans viewed Greek mythology... this is important for the study of the Romans but not of the Greeks. I don�t even trust the Classical Greeks to keep the stories straight... the Classical Period, Athenian Greece, beginning circa 502 B.C.E., was a time of cultural and artistic freedom. The Classical Greek writers and story tellers probably embellished the myths in a way that seemed proper to them but, after all, they were five hundred years away from the harsh and brutal foundations of Greek culture and myths.For us to try to imagine the Olympians of The Iliad we must abandon the dramatic stories of the Classical Greeks and the flights of fancy of the Romans. To use them would be like losing your car keys in a dark alley and going down the block to look for them under the streetlight because the lights� better. Even though the Classical Greek and Roman versions of the Ancient Greek myths outnumber the authentic texts I will try to, eventually, only list the oldest stories on these pages. I hope you enjoy my effort...Greek Myths are all that�s left of the ancient Greek religion. About 1200 b.c.e., the residents of, what we would call, Greece and Asia Minor shared a common belief in a group of deities that came to be known as The Olympians. The distillation of the various regional beliefs into a coherent central religion was probably not as tidy and uniform as we would prefer, but it�s fair say that the stories of the Olympians survived because they had the largest number of followers and, most importantly, The Olympians did not forbid or punish the pursuit of knowledge. Beauty, poetry and creative activities are the blessings of The Immortals and are a vital part of the Greek tradition.
Greek Gods and Goddesses
Olympians this section introduces the Greek pantheon, and it features the Olympian gods and goddesses - for example Aphrodite, Athena, and Zeus
Chthonians these are the Greek gods and goddesses of Earth and the Underworld examples are Hades and Persephone Titans the beings who ruled before the coming of the Olympians - Gaia and Hyperion are two examples of Titans Free Spirits a list of important Greek gods and goddesses who do not fit into a specific category - includes the Muses, Nike, nymphs, etc.
Resources The Bibliography this list features recommended books that contain information about Greek myth and artThe Mythography Forum visit the Mythography forum for engaging discussions about Greek mythology!Lexicon use the Mythography lexicon if you are looking for information about Greek words - it is the place to find meanings for Greek terms.There are many different kind of gods and goddess. Much has been written about the goddess Athena. As the patron deity of the city of Athens, she played an enormous role in the lives of not only the residents of that illustrious polis (Greek for city), but in many respects all of the Greek speaking world. Our oldest sources of Greek literature - the works of Homer and Hesiod - discuss Athena. The goddess appears in several significant passages of Homer's Iliad, and she is one of the most influential deities in the Odyssey in her role as Odysseus's patron and ally. Therefore, Athena's attributes were codified early in the epics and poetry of Greece: she was the divine sponsor of warriors and heroes, she introduced several of the arts and crafts necessary for civilization, and she represented wisdom. Obviously, the goddess played a prominent role in Greek mythology.Birth of Athena The poet Hesiod states that Athena emerged from the head of Zeus; indeed, she sprang out fully grown and armed for battle. Furthermore, the legend of her birth reveals another odd aspect. According to the story, Zeus became enamored with Metis (the name Metis, incidentally, means "thought"). Together, they conceived a child, but Zeus, fearing that his offspring would be a powerful male god who would eventually overthrow him, swallowed the pregnant Metis. In time, it was Zeus himself who gave birth to a daughter, with the assistance of Hephaistos, who played the part of a midwife by striking Zeus's head with an axe and thereby releasing Athena.
This instance of Zeus giving birth is not unique: the god also gave birth to Dionysos. Indeed, this is significant, as the birth of Athena from the head of her father emphasizes a couple of important features about the goddess. The idea that she was born from a male underscores her relationship with men, both divine and human. In the human realm, Athena consistently becomes a protector of heroes; while in the divine she completely avoids sexual liaisons with gods.
The government of many city-states, notably Athens, passed through four stages from the time of Homer to historical times. During the 8th and 7th centuries BC the kings disappeared. Monarchy gave way to oligarchy--that is, rule by a few. The oligarchic successors of the kings were the wealthy landowning nobles, the " eupatridae," or wellborn. However, the rivalry among these nobles and the discontent of the oppressed masses was so great that soon a third stage appeared.The third type of government was known as tyranny. Some eupatrid would seize absolute power, usually by promising the people to right the wrongs inflicted upon them by the other landholding eupatridae. He was known as a "tyrant." Among the Greeks this was not a term of reproach but merely meant one who had seized kingly power without the qualification of royal descent.
The tyrants of the 7th century were a stepping-stone to democracy, or the rule of the people, which was established nearly everywhere in the 6th and 5th centuries. It was the tyrants who taught the people their rights and power.
By the beginning of the 5th century BC, Athens had gone through these stages and emerged as the first democracy in the history of the world.
Between two and three centuries before this, the Athenian kings had made way for officials called "archons," elected by the nobles. Thus an aristocratic form of government was established.About 621 BC an important step in the direction of democracy was taken, when the first written laws in Greece were compiled from the existing traditional laws.This reform was forced by the peasants to relieve them from the oppression of the nobles. The new code was so severe that the adjective "draconic," derived from the name of its compiler, Draco, is still a synonym for "harsh." Unfortunately, Draco 's code did not give the peasants sufficient relief. A revolution was averted only by the wise reforms of Solon, about a generation later (see Solon ).Solon's reforms only delayed the overthrow of the aristocracy, and about 561 BC Pisistratus, supported by the discontented populace, made himself tyrant.With two interruptions, Pisistratus ruled for more than 30 years, fostering commerce, agriculture, and the arts and laying the foundation for much of Athens' future greatness. His sons Hippias and Hipparchus attempted to continue their father's power.One of them was slain by two youths, Harmodius and Aristogiton, who lived on in Greek tradition as themes for sculptors and poets. By the reforms of Clisthenes, about 509 BC, the rule of the people was firmly established.Very different was the course of events in Sparta, which by this time hadestablished itself as the most powerful military state in Greece (see Sparta ).Under the strict laws of Lycurgus it had maintained its primitive monarchical form of government with little change (see Lycurgus ). Nearly the whole of he Peloponnesus had been brought under its iron heel, and it was now jealously eyeing the rising power of its democratic rival in central Greece.During this period the intellectual and artistic culture of the Greeks centered among the Ionions of Asia Minor. Thales, called "the first Greek philosopher," was a citizen of Miletus. He became famous for predicting an eclipse of the sun in 585 BC.Suddenly there loomed in the east a power that threatened to sweep away the whole promising structure of the new European civilization.Persia, the great Asian empire of the day, had been awakened to the existence of the free peoples of Greece by the aid which the Athenians had sent to their oppressed kinsmen in Asia Minor.The Persian empire mobilized its gigantic resources in an effort to conquer the Greek city-states. The scanty forces of the Greeks succeeded in driving out the invaders. Athens' Rise to PowerFrom this momentous conflict Athens emerged a blackened ruin yet the richest and most powerful state in Greece. It owed this position chiefly to the shrewd policies of the statesman Themistocles, who had seen that naval strength, not land strength, would in the future be the key to power. "Whoso can hold the sea has command of the situation," he said. He persuaded his fellow Athenians to build a strong fleet--larger than the combined fleets of all the rest of Greece--and to fortify the harbor at Piraeus.The Athenian fleet became the instrument by which the Persians were finally defeated, at the battle of Salamis in 480 BC. The fleet also enabled Athens to dominate the Aegean area. Within three years after Salamis, Athens had united the Greek cities of the Asian coast and of the Aegean islands into a confederacy (called the Delian League because the treasury was at first on the island of Delos) for defense against Persia.In another generation this confederacy became an Athenian empire.
Almost at a stride Athens was transformed from a provincial city into an imperial capital. Wealth beyond the dreams of any other Greek state flowed into its coffers--tribute from subject and allied states, customs duties on the flood of commerce that poured through Piraeus, and revenues from the Attic silver mines.The population increased fourfold or more, as foreigners streamed in to share in the prosperity. The learning that had been the creation of a few "wise men" throughout the Greek world now became fashionable. Painters and sculptors vied in beautifying Athens with the works of their genius.Even today, battered and defaced by time and man, these art treasures remain among the greatest surviving achievements of human skill. The period in which Athens flourished, one of the most remarkable and brilliant in the world's history, reached its culmination in the age of Pericles, 460-430 BC (see Pericles ). Under the stimulus of wealth and power, with abundant leisure and free institutions, the citizen body of Athens attained a higher average of intellectual interests than any other society before or since.
Erechtheum - temple from the middle classical period of Greek art and architecture, built on the Acropolis of Athens between 421 and 405BC.
The Erechtheum contained sanctuaries to Athena Polias, Poseidon, and Erechtheus. The requirements of the several shrines and the location upon a sloping site produced an unusual plan. From the body of the building porticoes project on east, north, and south sides. The eastern portico, hexastyle Ionic, gave access to the shrine of Athena, which was separated by a partition from the western cella. The northern portico, tetrastyle Ionic, stands at a lower level and gives access to the western cella through a fine doorway. The southern portico, known as the Porch of the Caryatids (see caryatid) from the six sculptured draped female figures that support its entablature, is the temple's most striking feature; it forms a gallery or tribune. The west end of the building, with windows and engaged Ionic columns, is a modification of the original, built by the Romans when they restored the building. One of the east columns and one of the caryatids were removed to London by Lord Elgin, replicas being installed in their places.The Temple of Apollo at Didyma - The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 BC). The design of the temple was known as dipteral, a term that refers to the two sets of columns surrounding the interior section. These columns surrounded a small chamber that housed the statue of Apollo. With Ionic columns reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the ancient temple.The Temple of Athena Nike - part of the Acropolis in the city of Athens. The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 BC). The design of the temple was known as dipteral, a term that refers to the two sets of columns surrounding the interior section. These columns surrounded a small chamber that housed the statue of Apollo. With Ionic columns reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the ancient temple. Most ornate of the classic orders of architecture. It was also the latest, not arriving at full development until the middle of the 4th cent. B.C. The oldest known example, however, is found in the temple of Apollo at Bassae (c.420 B.C.). The Greeks made little use of the order; the chief example is the circular structure at Athens known as the choragic monument of Lysicrates ( 335 B.C.). The temple of Zeus at Athens (started in the 2d cent. B.C. and completed by Emperor Hadrian in the 2d cent. A.D.) was perhaps the most notable of the Corinthian temples.
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