Diet & Foodways

By John Bracken

[This is an abstract of a more extensive monograph, “Ancient Greek Foodways: Food, Diet, and Cuisine of the Classical Era,” a paginated version of which is available here. ]

At the center of our public presentation is our very much edible display of the diet of the Ancient Greek in the Classical era. We know about the Greek foodways of antiquity – what they ate, how they preserved and cooked their food – from a wealth of extant ancient sources. It appears in a range of literature, from Athenian comedies to professional cookbooks and medical treatises written by Classical and Hellenistic era Greeks and later Romans studying the Greek language and culture. Depictions of Greek food and culinary habits also appear all throughout their art, especially in decorative pottery. Finally, there is the surviving physical evidence uncovered in archeological sites and revealed through scientific chemical analysis.

Greek food production rested on a triad of three staples: barley grown for the various bread, cakes and porridges to fill their bellies; olives for turning into oil for cooking, eating, and lighting; and grapes for cultivating into wine. Owing to the climate, landscape, and soil of Greece, barley was the primary grain produced. Wheat by and large had to be imported from Egypt, and what is today Ukraine, the Balkans, France, and Spain. Greeks of all social classes subsisted off of barley both as a staple food and as an indispensable part of religious sacrifices. Barley was made into unleavened bread, simple cakes, flatbreads, porridge, gruel and mashes. Various types of wheat cultivated in the ancient world – einkorn, emmer, spelt – was reserved more for leavened breads and finer cakes and pastries. It was cereals that made up the bulk of the caloric intake of Greeks. Some estimates suggest that they accounted for three-quarters of the calories typically consumed.

Supplementing the grains were legumes and pulses, mainly broad beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, vetch. Nuts like almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts and beechnuts were eaten in great quantities as well. Next to these, olives and grapes were the signatures of the Greek diet. Originating in the Levant, the Greeks spread olives and grapes throughout the Mediterranean, where they thrived in the favorable climate. Olives of various types could be eaten after curing on their own of course and its oil eaten with bread, but its primary value was in its use as a cooking medium. For grapes, both whites and reds were cultivated in Greece and imported from other exotic destinations. The Greeks always mixed their wine with water; drinking wine unmixed was considered ‘barbaric’. 

Other fruits produced included apples, quinces, peas, pomegranates, figs, and berries like myrtleberry, mulberry and blackberry. There was a cornucopia of vegetables to match, including leek, fennel, endive, onion, asparagus, celery, various leafy greens, and mushrooms. For roots, they grew radish, turnip, beet, and parsnip. There were also a great range of greens that were wild harvested from the fields, woods and mountainsides. To flavor their food, they counted among their herbs and spices fennel, dill, basil, cilantro, oregano, mint, cumin, sage, thyme, and silphium. They also relied heavily on sesame and flax and poppy seeds, vinegar, olive oil, salt, almonds, eggs and cheese. Honey served as the primary sweetener, together with grape must, dried dates and figs. 

Ancient Greeks received much of their protein from fish and other seafood. With their extensive coastlines along the Aegean Sea and broader Mediterranean, Greeks dined on a large variety of fish, including tuna, bluefish, pike, dogfish, skate, carp, sturgeon, swordfish, dolphin-fish, bream, mackerel, cod, mullet, sole, turbot, eels, and various small fish like sardine, anchovy, shad, and sprat. Fish was consumed fresh as well as salted, smoked, and brined – one of the commonly used methods of food preservation in antiquity. In addition to fish, they also feasted on cuttlefish, squid, octopus, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, crabs, lobsters, langoustines, and prawns. 

Unlike today, meat made up only a small portion of the Ancient Greek diet. The main livestock raised in Greece were sheep and goats. For economic reasons, these were valued more for their renewable resources: wool for producing cloth and milk for making cheese. Indeed, goat and sheep cheeses were an everyday food item, eaten on its own, with bread, or as flavoring in cooking. The rugged mountainous landscape of Greece made cattle raising largely unsuitable. Those who did own cattle used them as beasts of burden to work the fields. Typically it was only when they became old that they were killed for their meat and hides. Pigs were also husbanded and are the exception for being raised primarily for their meat. 

The exceptional nature of meat consumption was amplified by sacrificial practices. Religious customs entailed that any meat from livestock had to be ritually sacrificed when slaughtered. This conferred an intense symbolic value on meat and placed it out of reach as an everyday food. The most common sacrifices were goats and sheep, followed by pigs. Cattle, though a potent sacrifice, was less common and tended to be a dish enjoyed only occasionally by the wealthy elite. Added to this was an unique ideological component. The Greek cultural connotation around meat-eating was linked with ‘savagery’ and ‘barbarian’ food. Whereas ‘civilized’ Greeks grew grain to make bread, ‘uncivilized’ peoples had to subsist off killing animals – whether domestic livestock or wild game – for food. 

It was for this same ideological reason that hunting for the consumption (as opposed to sport) of wild game was likewise associated with barbarians and the poor, who had to live off the land. The reality wasn’t quite so clear cut however, and deer, wild boar, and hare were eaten by the wealthy urban elite as well. Less problematic was the eating of various wild and domestic fowl like geese, duck, pheasant, quail, and small birds like finches, sparrows, larks and starlings. A later arrival that reached Greece in the Classical period was the domestic chicken. 

While the number of daily meals taken varied. Morning meals were ubiquitous but did not have dedicated ‘breakfast foods’. Rather, the typical Greek breakfast (ákratisma) consisted of the leftovers from dinner from the day before. Alternatively, breakfast might simply be a dish of olives and figs, perhaps a hunk of cheese, and stale bread crusts alongside a cup of wine to dip and soften them in for better eating. To maximize the daylight hours, lunch (áriston) was not normally taken. When it was, it always consisted of light fare: often leftovers from the previous day’s meals with perhaps some fresh bread, or easily portable foods such as breads and fruits (often dried). Alternatively, light fare could be purchased from food stands and taverns. The main meal of the day occurred in the late afternoon or early evening; the equivalent of the modern ‘dinner’ (deipnon). Taking the form of a banquet, it was typically divided into three courses of food followed by wine. 

The meal began with propómata (‘appetizers’) comprising small, piquant, savory dishes including fresh fruits, salted or smoked fish, pickled vegetables and olives, small roasted birds, meat delicacies, flavorful sauces, and other items to whet the appetite. This was followed by the sitos and ôpson. Sitos (‘staples’) formed the bulk of the diet for most Greeks and took the form of barley and wheat breads (served in baskets), porridges, and legumes or pulses. Ôpson (best translated as ‘relish’), encompassed a wide range of foods that were salted, dried, smoked, pickled, or otherwise preserved. This included primarily fish (salted, smoked, brined, or fresh), salted meat, hard cheeses, olives in brine or oil, pickled vegetables, and spreads composed of the same. Wine (mixed with water and other botanicals and spices) was served after the meal, sometimes accompanied by tragemata (‘desserts’), like fresh and dried fruits, cakes, sweetmeats, nuts and cheese. 

What’s missing from the Ancient Greek diet of the Classical period? Conspicuously absent are foods that have come to be associated with Greece and the Mediterranean diet more broadly. Citron, the first citrus fruit to reach the Levant and Europe, arrived in the 1st century CE. Lemons, limes, and oranges were only introduced into Mediterranean cuisine following the Arab expansion in the 8th century CE. Other iconic produce not available in Ancient Greece are a number of vegetables from the Americas, such as the now ubiquitous tomatoes and chillies (not introduced to Europe and the Near East until the early 16th century CE). All forms of potatoes, most squashes (including zucchini), and pumpkins were likewise indigenous to the Americas and were not present in the Ancient Greek diet. Spinach was only introduced to the region in Medieval times. A grain notably absent is maize (i.e., corn) from the Americas, as well as both rice and pilafs from the East. Popular spices from Southeast Asia like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamon only start showing up very late in antiquity, and even then only in limited quantities for use as medicines, perfumes, and embalming ingredients. Sugar was not used for cooking but was reserved exclusively for medicinal purposes. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and vanilla were all absent, and distilled spirits would not be developed for many centuries to come.

The focus of our foodways display is an interpretation of the food hoplites might have eaten while ‘on campaign’ in the Classical era. With some exceptions, food supply was generally not centrally coordinated or provided. A hoplite normally served as his own quartermaster. When Athens mustered its cohorts to mobilize, the standing order was to bring “three days’ sítion (‘provisions’).” Primarily this took the form of barley. Though unleavened bread or cakes might be taken along, more often it was brought as unground grain or meal. In the case of the former, the grain was milled in the field to be turned into mâza, a rustic cake or flat bread made from coarsely-ground barley that first was roasted before being mixed with water and cooked on a baking stone or right on the embers of a fire. For added flavor and binding, a little olive oil might have been added. Alternatively, the barley meal could be left as a soft doughy dumpling, mash or porridge. A hoplite would have enjoyed a little local wine to slosh it down with.

To supplement this food, the hoplite could have brought along a wedge of hard cheese, with olives, spring onions, garlic, thyme, salt, pulses or dried fruit and nuts. For protein, fish (often salted or smoked) was brought along to be boiled or stewed as an ôpson. All of these food items could be easily transported and were less prone to spoiling. These rations were usually carried in a haversack or small basket, from which emitted the pungent aromas of onions and dried fish. A slave or servant might accompany the hoplite to act as his personal sherpa. Otherwise, the provisions were carried in carts or wagons. If a campaign was more extended, as they tended to be in the Peloponnesian War, the hoplite would have had to purchase his food from local markets or from farmers. If he was in enemy territory though, he might have simply plundered it. 

And although armies were normally accompanied by a small herd of sacrificial beasts, most ancient Greeks were already accustomed to the lack of meat in their diet. Only a shortage of grain represented a serious hardship. If a hoplite did find some meat in his meal, it was as a supplement to the barley provisions and not a substitute for it. If he were lucky, perhaps he or a comrade would manage to hunt a little wild game, or acquire some fowl, along the march or near the camp.