''Opsophagos'' () was a type of

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 ...

person who exhibited a seemingly uncontrollable desire for ''

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 ...

,'' 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 not the way to become an ideal human. One could enjoy fish, but one had to be careful not to take this enjoyment too far and become an ''opsophagos''.

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 ...

used the epithet Opsophagos for the god

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, mu ...

.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Elis
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References

* Culture-bound syndromes Eating disorders {{AncientGreece-stub

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