Classical Mythology/Food Code

Classical Mythology Course Odysseus among the Sirens In many Greek myths, a series of oppositions and identities is set up around the foods that creatures eat. The foods distinguish mankind from animals, and mankind from gods. The main alimentary code is built around the rite of sacrifice. Almost every slaughter of a domestic mammal or bird was understood as a rite of sacrifice dedicated to a deity. Every time ancient Greeks or Romans ate meat, they validated and confirmed these classes of beings: Type of Being Food Violation animals raw meat, unprocessed vegetables Polyphemus the cyclops eats Odysseus's companions raw, showing that he is not human. humans cooked meat, processed foods (wine, cheese, olives) Demeter accidentally eats a boiled piece of Pelops' shoulder. gods smoke of sacrifice, ambrosia, nectar The Hymn to Hermes has Hermes wanting to eat the meat of sacrifice, but instead resisting and just enjoying the smoke. This "food code" is explained in Claude Lévi-Strauss The Raw and The Cooked and expanded upon in the work of Jean-Pierre Vernant and Marcel Detienne. References Classical Mythology Course Odysseus among the Sirens