The Pleasures of the Table

Gastronomy from ancient days to modern times — the feasts of Greece and Rome, the great chefs and their schools, the literature of the table, and Ellwanger's own views on the aesthetics of dinner-giving.

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Cookery Among the Ancients: Homer

The reader who would penetrate further into the mysteries of Grecian cookery may be referred with advantage to Homer's repast of Ulysses at the home of Eumæus, Athenæus's "Marriage of Caranus," and Barthélemy's "Feast of Dinias." But Homer's fare which he allowed his heroes was, with few exceptions, extremely simple. Although he mentions many kinds of wine, he praises moderation, and never represents either fish or game as being put upon the table, but "viands of simple kind and wholesome sort," such as were calculated to render man vigorous in body and mind, the meat being all roasted and chiefly beef.

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