Olive Fruit And Olive Oil In Greece: Testimonies Of Its Uses Through Mythology, Legend, History And Philosophy

By Maria Protopapas-Marneli and Antonia Trichopoulou

1. Introduction

The connotations about the multiple uses of the olive tree and the olive oil derive from various sources, namely the fields of mythology and legend, history as well as philosophy. Olive oil and tree have also a diversity of uses that have been brought to light through research in the above areas. They range from medicinal properties, cosmetics and body health, cleaning and protecting surfaces, rituals as well as lighting and industrial applications. Moreover, there are plenty of references to culinary and social practices related to countries of the Mediterranean basin. Specifically, the Mediterranean culinary properties have been rediscovered in the last fifty years although the Greeks, among a few other Mediterranean populations, were accustomed to this type of nutrition from the beginnings of their appearance. It is obvious that a product with such a range of uses contributes not only to a nation’s economy but also influences people’s individual health and lives.

(a) Olive oil and fruit in Mythology, legend and Archeological evidence.

Examining the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, one can curiously observe that among the main story that involves the war of the Achaeans against the Trojans in the Iliad or the misfortunes of Odysseus in the Odyssey on his return-home voyage, olive oil is a prominent feature. Its different uses emerge as a leitmotif picture of cure of wounds, dinner preparation, skin remedies, specifically as a perfumed liquid or medical ointment.

In fact, olive oil is the raw material of ointments mixed with herbs that give the wellness of gods, heroes, and animals. So many stories are mingled with the olive oil. Let us remember in the Iliad, the olive oil mixed with perfumed rose water that Aphrodite used to cure Hector’s dead body, just to eliminate the traces of bleeding wounds caused onto his body by its dragging along the road. In the same Iliad, (1) (14, 170 ff.) Hera asks Aphrodite to give her the broidered zone after she had perfumed her body with oil before going to sleep with the King of the Gods. Also, Nestor’s beautiful daughter, the Princess Polycaste, bathes Telemachus in the asimanthos (2) and anoints him with olive oil. This was the place where the union of the two young people probably happened and Homer was born, according to the oracle of Delphi. (3)

In addition, women used perfumed oils while men used fresh olive oil for their daily body treatment. Animals also liked being tended with olive oil; so, Patroclus, according to Achilles, used to treat the manes of his horses with olive oil, (4) while Diomedes and Odysseus washed themselves with sea water and anointed their bodies with olive oil before dinner. (5)
During the expedition of the Achaeans to Troy, two doctors followed them, Machaon and Podalirius, the sons of Asclepius. When Machaon was wounded and Podalirius was in combat, due to their absence, Eurypylus asked Patroclus to cut out the arrow from his thigh, wash off the blood with warm water and spread on the wound a soothing ointment made with oil.
Moreover, the olive tree coexists with the Greek literature because from the Homeric poems, it constitutes an everlasting topic that interconnects the lives of both gods and humans. In this context, the poet of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter personifies the olive tree because its uninterrupted presence in human life con- fuses the reasoning which at the end attributes human properties to it. (Dillon, 2004) (6) Thus, in the poem cited above, although Persephone is lamenting because of her abduction by Hades, nobody can hear her voice not even the rich olive trees in fine fruits: vv. 22–23 “But not one of the immortal ones, or of human mortals, heard her voice. Not even the olive trees which bear their splendid harvest”.
Her mother Demeter, instead, is running towards the sound of her daughter’s voice but in vain. Finally, exhausted by running and bereavement, vv. 100 “the Goddess sat in the shade, under the thick growth of an olive tree” that had grown by itself near a spring, “Looking like an old woman who had lived through many years”. (tr. Nagy) (7)

(a1) Olive in Crete and Mycenae

Preceding the Iliad epic, the cultivation of the olive tree in the Mediterranean basin, especially in the southern part of Crete began in the Neolithic period (7000-3500 BC). Since then, the olive fruit has been one of the food staples of the Cretans and generally of all Greeks. Evidence for study -such as olive kernels- dates back to 3000-2000 B.C., from the Prepalatial period (2000–1925 B.C.). Relevant findings prove that the harvest was guarded by the central authority although it seems that it first made its appearance even earlier in this period (3000-2100 (Manning, 1995). (8)
Evidently, from the very antiquity, the environmental framework in Crete has been characterised by the production of different kinds of trees, fruits and/or domesticated animals. Here, the olive tree delineates not only the nutritional habits of the population but also the socioeconomic consequences, as well as the rituals or the customs and traditions of the island’s inhabitants. Thus, the physiognomy of Cretan people is based primarily, apart from other factors, on the dialogue they have with the environment. The commercial income of Crete is owed especially to the wide range of uses of both the olives and the olive oil as edible items that hold a prime position along with wine and honey.
In addition to Crete, there are multiple written sources about the olive oil, coming from the Mycenaean palaces such as the Linear B clay tablets and other reliable origins. After the decipherment of linear B in 1952, the olive and olive oil established an identity and finally a name in the Greek language: e-ra-wo. Τhis name had been testified only in the Homeric epics but following the decipherment of linear B, it acquired an additional written tradition of almost five centuries. (Boulotis,1993)

In the Early Bronze Age, the olive tree began to be domesticated which was followed by the socio-political progress during this period as well as the construction of the Minoan Palaces in the rising of the 2nd millennium. Evidence of the consumption of the olive fruit as an edible product is attested by the findings in graves accompanying the dead (Boulotis, 1993) (9). It is not certain that in this period the olive oil was equally used for food or that its appearance as an edible product was certified later. It is certain, however, that in the period according to the decryption of the Linear B by Ventris and Chadwick, there were two kinds of olives: one for consumption (=po-pa = φορβή/φορβάς) and the other for crushing and oil production; for that reason, a special utensil, called ka-pa (=σκάφα/σκάφη), was needed. The same name is still in use at present in Greek.
Likewise, especially from the evidence of the Linear B tablets, more uses are attested to the olive oil. It is testified that the cultivation of the wild olive simultaneously with the domesticated one is easily explicable because of its use as a basic item for the production of ointments as well as perfumes, due to its qualities since it is less greasy and has more curative properties. It is certain that all the information cited above was known both to the Minoan and to the Mycenean authorities. Both invested in perfumed oil production and as a status symbol, perfumed oils were destined to be of interest to the palatial elites. As a matter of fact, they sought to enhance and stabilise their position in the Mycenaean society through status-invested products and their subsequent redistribution to the rest of the population or their exchange with respective products from other elites. (Fappas, 2010)

The need for olive oil in Greece as well as in the Near and Middle East confirms its diverse uses not only in religious rituals and passage rites where purity was an essential prerequisite but also its use in lighting as raw material or in clothes cleaning. It seems, indeed, that there were also industrial uses of oil, e.g. in tanning and weaving. As it is known from the decipherment of the Linear B, oil was also suitable as a cleaning agent such as soap, or a protective coating for various surfaces (Papaefthymiou-Papanthimou, 1 B.C.E.).
Moreover, the commercial use of the olive oil is attested by the quantities of transport stirrup jars, which were found next to the olive oil depots of the Palace. This type of jars were used especially for oil transportation.
In the Knossos Palace, the delivery of the raw materials to the perfume-makers was exclusively undertaken by the bureaucratic sector of the western wing of the palace, who had the control for the supply of raw materials, that is, apart from the olive oil also of herbs such as rosemary, cyperus species, honey, coriander, which needed to be boiled in order to produce ointments or perfumes. This is testified by the Linear B tablets including the term zo-a (=zew=to boil) and by the tablets from the House of the Oil Marketer in Pylos, from which we have the names of the four well-known perfume-makers: Eumedes, Kokalos, Thyestes and Philaios, who were famous for the preparation of the perfumed oils with coriander, celery, chives, cumin, which mixed with oil, immediately acquire various properties (healing, antioxidant, astringent).

Also, in classical antiquity, through Hippocratic medicine, the healing properties of olive oil were preserved or rather disseminated as a therapeutic medicine, since Hippocrates in his treatises, On Airs, Waters and Places, On the Injured and On Ulcers refers to treatments with olive oil, as well as its mixture with wine, vinegar and water. For wound care antisepsis, he used pure wine, primarily sweet. If simultaneously astringent properties were needed, he used strong red wine. With these, he thoroughly soaked the freshly washed, clean, and sun-dried fabric coverings (the ‘gauzes’), which he called leuka or splenia. If red wine was unavailable and white wine had to be used, he would add astringent substances. He also used a mixture of turpentine oil mixed with vinegar, which also contains similar polyphenols, for external application (l. VI,419). The Hippocratic physician knew how to suture wounds and would pass the sutures through hot oil before use.” Hippocrates’ pre- scriptions were followed by the important physicians of antiquity, such as Soranus of Ephesus, Rufus of Ephesus and Galen of Pergamum.

(b) Olive in Attica and Athens

The Athenian legend wants Athena to offer the city of Athens her beloved olive tree as a symbol of prosperity,10 peace and harmony among its citizens and those of neighbouring cities. This is the reason the city had taken the name of the Goddess, and the Athenians worshipped Athena for her generous gesture to them. As the legend goes, it is because of the high protection to the city of Athens by the Goddess that the olive tree which Athena had planted near the Erechtheion, the oldest tree of the world according to Herodotus (V, 82), is said to have sprung up again a day after the destruction of her Temple by the Persians in 480 BC. Additionally, it is known that in the Parthenon, in front of the statue of the goddess Athena, there was an olive oil tank since the olive oil was also used for the maintenance of temple statues.
In fact, the olive tree grows spontaneously everywhere, thanks to the wind that carries the pollen of its flowers even onto a rocky ground. This is one of the reasons that its rich fruit, so valuable for the strengthening of the organism, became the basic seasoning with which the Athenians attempted to liven up their rather poor daily diet of bread.
In Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus at Colonus, vv. 694–705, the Chorus says:
“And there is a thing such as I have not heard of on Asian ground, (695) nor as ever yet born in the great Dorian Isle of Pelops: a plant unconquered, self-renewing, causing terror to destroying enemies. (700) It greatly flourishes in this land—the gray-leafed olive, nurturer of children. Youth cannot harm it by the ravages of his hand, nor can any who lives with old age. For the sleepless eye (705) of Zeus Morios watches over it, and gray-eyed Athena.(Jebb, 1889)” Hence, it is easy to assume that the olive tree was also protected by the King of the Gods, since in his quality as Morios Zeus, he gave the olive tree a sacred existence. It is indeed true that in general, Greeks at the war did not cut down one another’s olive trees, recognising how long they took to come to maturity.(11) We learn from Lysias’ speech on the Olive Stump (VII) that whoever thought of cutting out even an olive stump was accused of being guilty by the Areopagus since an olive tree could spring up again only from a stump. (Let us remember the case of the Olive tree flourishing again just after its burning by the Persians in the Erechtheion). The decision of the Court of punishment to death for such a case must be considered in the context of impiety. (Detienne, 1970) Both the city and the citizens were interconnected with the cultivated landscape of Attica since the lands outside its frontiers constituted the conflict area among the neighbouring cities.

The multifaceted use of olive by the Athenians is also proved by the engraved olive brancheson their coins. Olive branches were also used to crown the heads of victorious athletes, generals, and kings. The wood was used to construct houses and boats while the oil gave fuel to lamps, cleaned the human body and anointed the athletes’ agile muscles.
Furthermore, the olive oil was given in praise to the winning athletes of the gymnic agon and equestrian games at the Panathenaea. The considerable quantity of oil given to the winners was transported in amphoras created especially for this reason in the workshop of a pottery maker, winner of the pottery games organised in the city of Athens. A case in point is the winner of a four-horse chariot, who was given as a prize the exaggerated quantity of 5.040 L of olive oil. In general, olive oil was not allowed to be commercially exploited and was used only for household needs that were not limited to cooking but to a long list of other activities (Tiverios, 1976). Only in the case of gymnic and equestrian winners did the city allow oil export. Pindar’s testimony confirms the information: Theaios of Argos, winner of Panathenaea, is transporting jars full of olive oil to his city from Athens. (Pindar Dem.)(12)
The new Athenian citizen was fully inscribed -when becoming hoplite- in the territory of the city which coincided with the cultivated space, as proved by the oath taken by the ephebes, at the moment they were promoted to the condition of hoplites. After having sworn to keep his place in the ranks, to defend the soil of the city, to safeguard the hiera and the hosia, the two modes of sacredness in the politico-religious field, each young Athenian invoked, next to Hestia and several warrior powers, the Boundaries of the Homeland, the Wheat, the Barleys, the Olives, the Fig trees, that is to say, a whole series of powers that drew an image of the city as a cultivated land and as a political land inseparably.(13)
Oil reputation, as seen above, goes back to mythology and legend, and constituted the symbol of peace and well-being of the Ancient Greeks since it took the leading position due to its nutritive qualities. Theophrastus, Aristotle’s pupil, in the treatise Enquiry into plants investigates olive tree cultivation along with wine and fig, (Hort, 1916)(14) while the Roman agronomist, Columella, calls the olive tree the “Queen of plants”. (Hatzisavvas, 2006) Pausanias as well mentions Heracles as the importer of the olive plant from legendary “Hyperborean countries” in order to use its leaves in the wreath awarded to Olympic victors. (Hatzisavvas, 2006)(15)

Apart from the divine protection that justify the worship of the citizens towards the gods, a careful reading of the ancient philosophical texts also offers the reader rich material on the presence of the olive tree and its fruit in the Athenian context. There are many stories about Diogenes of Sinope and his confrontations with Alexander the Great as well as with many citizens and philosophers in Athens. Among his preferences seem to have been his counterpoints with Plato. Legendary or not, it is a common secret that the Athenian popular tradition liked to bring these two philosophers into confrontation. One of the common subjects of contradiction between the two was the simple meals Plato used to take not only in his everyday meals but also when invited to attend dinners. Diogenes Laertius in his Lives of Philosophers reports a dialogue between Diogenes of Sinope and Plato himself. (Diogenes) Observing Plato one day at a costly banquet taking only olives to eat, he said: ’How is it that you, the philosopher who sailed to Sicily for the sake of these dishes, now, when they are before you, you do not enjoy them?’ ’Nay, by the Gods, Diogenes’, replied Plato, ’there, also for the most part, I lived upon olives and such like.’ ’Wy then’, said Diogenes, ’did you need to go to Syracuse? Was it that Attica at that time did not grow olives?’ (DL VI, 25). From the above dialogue, we must not only assume that Plato liked simple meals, as was customary in the city of Athens, but also see that it focuses on the information about the abundance of olive trees in the landscape of Attica. Xenophon, in Memorabilia II, 9, 4, informs us that a wealthy landowner like Crito, Socrates’ friend, “made a harvest of ‘wheat, oil, wine, wool, and other goods from the fields that were essential for daily life’”.

In the second book of Plato’s Republic (Ferrari 2000), Socrates describes the first city-model (the first utopia), in which the citizens live a harmonious and simple life divided as they are into different groups of employees (builders, farmers, weavers, shoe-makers and healers). They all live cooperating with each other. They eat grains, olives and figs, and other fruits, all gifts of the earth and nutrition made by a very simple way of cooking. They make use of animals but uniquely for the works of the land. They do not eat meat and because of their healthy meals, they have no need for doctors but only for healers in case of a work accident. This city constitutes an ecological prototype since every human being lives a natural life distant from governance, armies and fear of war. This kind of city promotes an easy life built on self-sufficiency. But let us hear Socrates himself arguing about this city: “I forgot that they (the inhabitants of this city) will also have relishes—salt, of course, and olives and cheese and onions and greens, the sort of things they boil in the country, they will boil up together. But for dessert, we will serve them figs and chickpeas and beans, (372d) and they will toast myrtle-berries and acorns before the fire, washing them down with moderate potations and so, living in peace and health, they will probably die in old age and hand on a like life to their offspring.”(16)

Socrates characterises simple feeding a healthy food, as well as in Xenophon’s Memorabilia,(17) Socrates equals Attic “good feeding” to a synonym for “eating” at all. This kind of simple feeding is defended a short time later also by the Cynics both as healthy and as a renunciation to useless culinary luxury. Diogenes of Sinope liked feeding on olives for breakfast, thinking that even a nice baked cake was not worthwhile, since the feeling of hunger is satisfied with the simple gifts of the earth. The Cynic Crates, his pupil, on the other hand, loved to eat lentils and it was lentils that caused the interruption of the relationship between the Stoic Zeno and his master Crates. (Hicks, 1958)(18) The consumption of the simple products of the earth ensures health and an easy life, distanced from the vain search of complicated foods which very often are causes of diseases and conflicts between poor and rich citizens. It is evident then that simple food confirms political and ethical positive results and suggests a practical solution to civil discord. During the Hellenistic Era, the simple food became the main issue for a happy life promoting self-sufficiency both to the city and the citizens. The city is content as well with its own production since it rejects luxuries. In such a manner, the desire for new products coming from the neighbouring cities is absent and consequently, there is no need for war. Distanced from the fear of war and the conquest of new goods, people enjoy the goods that their own land gives them without even being cultivated: olives, figs, thyme, seeds, and garlic. In this context of simple food, the Cynics and Crates par excellence find enjoyment and pleasure: “But it bears thyme and garlic, figs and loaves, which are no cause for its in- habitants to war with another, nor do they take up arms for profit or for fame”. (Hicks, 1958)(19) According to Diogenes Laertius, his pupil, Zeno of Citium, accustomed to the habits of his master, used to drink some sweet soaked lupins while for eating he used “one sole loaf of bread; for dessert dried figs and water for drinking”. (Hicks, 1058)20

(d) Evaluation and uses of olive oil throughout the centuries

The everlasting existence of the olive tree, fruit and olive oil go along through the centuries intertwined as they are with the history of cities and people. Olive fruit is a rich feeding article ensuring strength and health; combined with its abundant appearance everywhere in Greece, from Crete to Macedonia, it made Greeks attribute a sacred essence to it. In this vein, the olive branch as a prize became the goal for the athlete during the athletic competitions in ancient Greece. The intensity of vigor of competition, in the attempt to win this prize, is an antidote to death, a hymn to human life combined with the anxiety for the potential loss of nature to regenerate and fertilize the natural world. Hence, the competition and the prize had a twofold meaning. On the one hand, olive wreaths (in Olympia and in Athens) were the means by which Nature channeled its lifeblood to the victor and to his attempts; on the other hand, it was the athlete who was worshipping his strength and youth as an offering to Nature itself (Stambolidis, 2006) Nevertheless, the evidence of the olive tree in literature, history and philosophical texts denotes the existing links between religion, moral beliefs and judicial rules. Moreover, it confirms how the simple diet (and the olive par excellence) acts as a factor in the self-sufficiency of the city and as a determinant of relations between citizens and cities.

2. Conclusion

Finally, as a closing remark, it seems also worth stressing the time- lessness of olive oil through some culinary examples that originated in antiquity and are still in use today. Archestratus(21) gives some recipes for fish cooked in oil, accompanied by herbs and cheese. Oribasius, a Greek medical writer,(22) referring to the legumes, states they were first boiled in water and sprinkled with fresh olive oil before served. Additionally, moving onto pastry making, Athenaeus of Naucratis, a Greek rhetorician(23) reports that glykina, a common ancient Cretan sweet, was made using sweet wine and olive oil, while the same Athenaeus gives another recipe for a cheese pie with sesame seeds cooked in olive oil as well as a kind of pancakes (named ἐγκρίδες) cooked in olive oil and sprinkled with honey when served.
As is evident from the above, the olive tree and olive oil have been integral to Greece from antiquity to the present day. Their enduring importance spans numerous fields—from nutrition and commerce to medicine, perfumery, and cosmetics—underscoring the timeless significance of the olive as a cherished part of the Greek heritage. Together, they are not only central to the Mediterranean diet but also to the rich, multidimensional Greek tradition.

CRediT authorship contribution statement
Maria Protopapas-Marneli: Writing – original draft. Antonia Trichopoulou: Writing – original draft.

Implications
The Greek traditional Mediterranean diet is deeply rooted in history, culture and tradition and is an integral part of the past and the present. Olive oil occupies a central position in this diet and is not important just because it has several beneficial properties – it also allows the consumption of large quantities of vegetables and legumes in the form of salads and of cooked foods.

The olive fruit and olive oil have played a central role in Greek culture, as reflected in mythology, legend, history, and philosophy.

Historically, olive tree cultivation became a cornerstone of Greek agriculture since Mediterranean feeding was based on it. Additionally, olive tree cultivation contributed to the economy, with its products widely used for nourishment, medicine, lighting, and religious rituals. Ancient Greeks regarded olive oil as essential for health, anointing it during ceremonies and employing it in athletic and daily practices.

These narratives collectively reveal the olive’s tree profound integration into Greek identity. Its enduring cultural importance underscores how natural resources can shape spiritual beliefs, economic practices, philosophical reflections and diet, bridging the material and symbolic realms in human life.

Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:

MARIA PROTOPAPAS-MARNELI reports was provided by Academy of Athens. MARIA PROTOPAPAS-MARNELI reports a relationship with Academy of Athens that includes:. Maria Protopapas-Marneli has patent pending to I have a license. I have NO conflict If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Antonia Trichopoulou reports was provided by Academy of Athens. Antonia Trichopoulou reports a relationship with Academy of Athens that includes:. Antonia Trichopoulou reports a relationship with Acad- emy of Athens that includes:. ANTONIA TRICHOPOULOU has patent pending to I have a license. There is NO conflict If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.

This article is part of a special issue entitled: A 360◦ Vision of Gastronomy published in International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: info@academyhealth.gr (A. Trichopoulou).
(1) 14, 170 ff.: “With ambrosia first did she cleanse from her lovely body every stain, and anointed her richly with oil, ambrosial, soft, and of rich fragrance”214: “She spoke, and loosed from her bosom the broidered zone, (215) curiously-wrought, wherein are fashioned all manner of allurements”.
(2) A large container for holding water in which a person may bathe (=take a bath).
(3) Odyssey3, vv. 464–468.Atradition from the days of the Roman emperor Hadrian says Epicaste (or Polycaste) (daughter of Nestor) and Telemachus (son of Odysseus) were the parents of Homer.
The two best known ancient biographies of Homer are the Life of Homer by the Pseudo-Herodotus and the Contest of Homer and Hesiod (=https://www.google.com/search/client=firefox-b-d&q=homer=2C+sun+of+Telemachus). On the sign of the oracle we read that “Homer’s origin is Ithaca and Telemachus is his father; his mother is the daughter of Nestor, named Epicaste, who gave birth to a mortal, but to an all-wise man”.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2025.101287
Received 13 January 2025; Accepted 3 September 2025
Available online 11 September 2025
1878-450X/C 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open article access under the CC BY license (http://crerativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
(4) Iliad, 23, 2􏰃1: Achilles, while watching the funeral games, remembers him this way: “􏰒ut I stay here at the side, and my single-foot horses stay with me; such is the high glory of the charioteer they have lost, the gentle one, who so many times anointed their manes with soft olive oil, after he had washed them in shining water”.
(5) Iliad, 10, Vv. 74–76: “And when the wave of the sea had washed the abundant sweat from their skin, and their hearts were refreshed, they went into polished baths and bathed. 􏰒ut when the twain had bathed and anointed them richly with oil, they sate them down at supper …”.
(6) J. Dillon, op. cit., p. 163: “and throughout the land of Attica there arose a network of sacred olive trees, called moria, which were allegedly cuttings from the original tree on the Acropolis”.
(7) Translated by Gregory Nagy (slightly modified).
(8) This is the great Prepalatial period of Crete, where the first palaces of Knossos, Malia and Phaistos were erected with both great ingenuity and beauty. This chronology is based on S. Manning, The Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze Age: Archaeology, Radiocarbon and History, UNKNO, (1995), who gives absolute dates based or radiocarbon dating.
(9) In Zakro the findings of olives retained their flesh due to the suitable conservation conditions, Op. cit., pp. 23–24.
(10) J. Dillon, Saltand Olives, Morality and Custom in Ancient Greece, Edin- burgh, Edinburgh Univ. Press, p. 162: “Poseidon and Athena contested the honour of being the patron deity of Athens. They each produced what one might call their ’party piece’. Poseidon struck the rock of the Acropolis and caused a salt spring to well up; but Athena in response to that caused an olive tree to sprout on the same site”.
(11) J. Dillon, op. cit., p. 98.
(12) Pindar, Nem. 10. vv. 33–36, 64a, b and 67a on the interpretation of the passage.
(13) M. Detienne, op. cit., pp. 20–21.
(14) Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants.
(15) S. Hatzisavvas, p. 58.
(16) Plato’s Republic, 372 c-d.
(17) Xenophon, Memorabilia, III, 14, 7: “He used to say too that the term “good feeding” in Attic was a synonym for “eating.” The “good” in the compound implied the eating of food that could harm neither body nor soul and was not hard to come by. Thus he attributed even good feeding to sober livers”.
(18) Diogenes Laertius 7, 3: ἄλλως μὲν εὔτονος (Zeno) πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν, αἰδήμων δὲ ὡς πρὸς τὴν Κυνικὴν ἀναισχυντίαν. ὅθεν ὁ Κράτης βουλόμενος αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦτο θεραπεῦσαι δίδωσι χύτραν φακῆς διὰ τοῦ Κεραμεικοῦ φέρειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶδεν αὐτὸν αἰδούμενον καὶ περικαλύπτοντα, παίσας τῇ βακτηρίᾳ κατάγνυσι τὴν χύτραν⋅ φεύγοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς φακῆς κατὰ τῶν σκελῶν ῥεούσης, φησὶν ὁ Κράτης, ‘τί φεύγεις, Φοινικίδιον; οὐδὲν δεινὸν πέπονθας.’
(19) Diogenes Laertius 6, 85 (Anth. Plan. V. 13).
(20) Diogenes Laertius 7, 26–27.
(21) Poet and philosopher in the mid-4th century BC from Gela or Syracuse in Sicily. He wrote a didactic poem Hedypatheia (Life of Luxury) in the 4th century BC, where he advises a gastronomic reader on where to find the best food in the Mediterranean world and reveals the secrets of ancient Greek cuisine. The origin of the modern-day word gastronomy (meaning Rules of the Stomach) is attributed to Archestratus, Europe’s first gourmet writer, and his later readers who knew his poem by the name Gastronomia:https://greekreporter.com/2023/05/30/archestratus-and-the-secrets-of-ancient-greek-gastronomy/.
(22) c. 320–403, he was a Greek medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperor Julian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oribasius.
(23) A Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD, writer of the Deipnosophistae, which means “dinner-table philosophers”, survives in fifteen books. The first two books, and parts of the third, eleventh and fifteenth, are extant only in epitome, but otherwise the work seems to be complete. It is an immense store-house of information, chiefly on matters connected with dining, but also containing re- marks on music, songs, dances, games, courtesans, and luxury: https://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Athenaeusgreek-gastronomy/.

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