Opsophagos
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Opsophagos
''Opsophagos'' () was a type of ancient Greek person who exhibited a seemingly uncontrollable desire for ''opson,'' or relishes. The vice of the ''opsophagos'' was ''opsophagia'', for which the closest English equivalent is ''gourmandise''. However, because fish/seafood was considered by far the most desirable ''opson'', an ''opsophagos'' in ancient Greek literature is almost always a man obsessed with fish or seafood. Tales of infamous ''opsophagoi'' (plural form) focussed on men who took their gourmandise to extreme levels, training their bodies in various ways to be able to consume massive quantities of fish immediately after they had been prepared, ensuring that they would have the fish to themselves, since they would be too hot for others to even touch, let alone eat. These tales of men with heat-resistant throats and padded fingertips were likely fictional, but they served as reminders to all who heard them that letting the pleasure-driven body overcome the rational soul was ...
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Opson
''Opson'' () and ''sitos'' (σίτος) are an important division in Ancient Greek cuisine, Ancient Greek foodways. Opson is the 'relish' that complements the sitos; sitos is the staple food part of the meal, i.e. grains like wheat or barley, and pulses like chickpeas and fava beans. Although any kind of complement to the Staple food, staple, even salt, could be categorized as ''opson'', the term was also commonly used to refer to the most esteemed kind of relish: fish. Hence a diminutive of ''opson'', ''opsarion'' (ὀψάριον), provides the modern Greek word for fish: Medieval Greek, ''psari'' (ψάρι). ''Opson'' can also be used to mean 'prepared dish' (plural ''opsa''). Morality Because it was considered the more pleasurable part of any meal, ''opson'' was the subject of some anxiety among ancient Greek moralists, who coined the term ''opsophagos, opsophagia'' to describe the vice of those who took too much ''opson'' with their ''sitos''. The central focus of Greek pers ...
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Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek Dark Ages, Dark Ages (), the Archaic Greece, Archaic or Homeric Greek, Homeric period (), and the Classical Greece, Classical period (). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athens, fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and Ancient Greek philosophy, philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Homeric Greek, Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek. From the Hellenistic period (), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regar ...
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Eleans
Elis () or Eleia (; ; Elean: ; ) is an ancient district in Greece that corresponds to the modern regional unit of Elis. Elis is in southern Greece on the Peloponnese, bounded on the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messenia, and west by the Ionian Sea. Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, the ''polis'' "city-state" of Elis controlled much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities; many inhabitants of Elis were Perioeci—autonomous free non-citizens. Perioeci, unlike other Spartans, could travel freely between cities. Thus the polis of Elis was formed. The local form of the name was Valis, or Valeia, and its meaning, in all probability was, "the lowland" (compare with the word "valley"). In its physical constitution Elis is similar to Achaea and Arcadia; its mountains are mere offshoots of the Arcadian highlands, and its principal rivers are fed by Arcadian springs. According to Strabo, the first settle ...
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Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He is considered to be the most beautiful god and is represented as the ideal of the ''kouros'' (ephebe, or a beardless, athletic youth). Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as ''Apulu''. As the patron deity of Delphi (''Apollo Pythios''), Apollo is an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Pythia, Delphic Oracle and also the deity of ritual purification. His oracles were often consulted for guidance in various matters. He was in general seen as the god who affords help and wards off e ...
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Ancient Greek Cuisine
Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality for most, reflecting agricultural hardship, but a great diversity of ingredients was known, and wealthy Greeks were known to celebrate with elaborate meals and feasts. The cuisine was founded on the "Mediterranean triad" of cereals, olives, and grapes, which had many uses and great commercial value, but other ingredients were as important, if not more so, to the average diet: most notably legumes. Research suggests that the agricultural system of ancient Greece could not have succeeded without the cultivation of legumes. Modern knowledge of ancient Greek cuisine and eating habits is derived from textual, archeological, and artistic evidence. Meals In the Homeric epics of the Iliad and Odyssey, three meals are mentioned. # Ariston (ἄριστον) # Dorpon (δόρπον) or Dorpos (δόρπος) # Deipnon (δεῖπνον) Ariston was the early meal, while dorpon was the late meal. Deipnon could be either, without re ...
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Culture-bound Syndromes
In medicine and medical anthropology, a culture-bound syndrome, culture-specific syndrome, or folk illness is a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that are considered to be a recognizable disease only within a specific society or culture. There are no known objective biochemical or structural alterations of organ (anatomy), body organs or functions, and the disease is not recognized in other cultures. The term ''culture-bound syndrome'' was included in the fourth version of the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), which also includes a list of the most common culture-bound conditions (DSM-IV: Appendix I). Its counterpart in the framework of ICD-10 (Chapter V) is the ''culture-specific disorders'' defined in Annex 2 of the ''Diagnostic criteria for research''.
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