The Techne of Nutrition in Ancient Greek Philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_29_4Keywords:
Nutrition, Hippocrates, On Regimen, Plato Gorgias, Opsopoia, EmpedoclesAbstract
The preparation of food and nutrition is a pervasive techne in the classical Greek world. Indeed, food technology may be a defining characteristic of humanity (Levi-Strauss, 1964). We begin with a glimpse of a tension in the use of the word techne in relation to the preparation of food in Plato’s Gorgias 462d-e. Turning to the Presocratics, we discern three distinct perspectives on food, those of Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and the treatise Regimen (ΠεÏὶ Διαίτης). In Regimen, we find an anticipation of the distinctions made by Plato in the Gorgias passage, and trace some of the implications in what we may call the “food technology” of this treatise that manages to be both philosophical and technically informative.
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References
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CLARK, G. (2014). Porphyry. On Abstinence from Killing Animals. London/New York, Bloomsbury.
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DELATTE, A. (1955). Le Cycéon, breuvage habitual des mystères d’Éleusis. Paris, Belles Lettres.
DOMBROWSKI, D. A. (1984). The Philosophy of Vegetarianism. Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press.
DYE, J. (1999). Explaining Pythagorean Abstinence from Beans. Available online at Internet Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20140126011358/http://users.ucom.net/~vegan/beans.htm.
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FRANKLIN, L. (2005). Techne and Teleology in Plato’s Gorgias. Apeiron 38, n. 4, p. 229-256.
GARNSEY, P. (1999). Food and Society in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
GENTRY, H. (1969). The Origin of the Common Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. Economic Botany 23, n. 1, p. 55-69.
GRAHAM, D. W. (2010). The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy. The Complete Fragments and Selected Testimonies of the Major Presocratics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
GRANT, M. (trans.) (2002). Galen. On Food and Diet. London/New York, Routledge.
GRIFFITH, R. D. (2007). Maza, ‘Barley-Cake’. Glotta 83, p. 83-88.
HEHN, V. (1888). The Wanderings of Plants and Animals from their First Home. Ed. J. S. Stallybrass. London, Swan Sonneschein.
HILL, J. (1812). The family herbal. Or, An account of all those English plants, which are remarkable for their virtues, and of the drugs which are produced by vegetables of other countries; with their descriptions and their uses, as proved by experience. Bungay, C. Brightly and T. Kinnersley.
HORT, A. (trans.) (1916). Theophrastus Enquiry into Plants. 2 vols. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 70 & 79; Referred to in this essay as HP [Historia Plantarum])
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JOUANNA, J. (2012). Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen. Leiden, Brill.
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OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2012). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 8: Book 15, General Indexes. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 519).
OSBORNE, C. (2007). Dumb Beasts and Dead Philosophers. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
PARRY, R. (2012). “Empedocles”. In: ZALTA, E. N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Fall 2012 Edition. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/empedocles/.
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PLASTIRA-VALKANOU, M. (1998). Medicine and Fine Cuisine in Plato’s Gorgias. L’Antiquité Classique 67, p. 195-201.
PLOCHMANN, G. K. (1988). A Friendly Companion to Plato’s Gorgias. Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press.
POWELL, O. (trans.) (2003). Galen. On the Properties of Foodstuffs (De alimentorum facultatibus). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
SALLARES, R. (1991). The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World. Ithaca, Cornell University Press.
SERMAMOGLOU-SOULMAIDI, G. (2017). The Refutation of Polus in Plato’s Gorgias Revisited. Apeiron 50, n. 3, p. 277-310.
SISKO, J. E. (2006). Cognitive Circuitry in the Pseudo-Hippocratic ‘Peri Diaites’ and Plato’s ‘Timaeus’. Hermathena 180, p. 5-17.
SISKO, J. E. (2010a). Anaxagoras Betwixt Parmenides and Plato. Philosophy Compass 5, n. 6, p. 432-442.
SISKO, J. E. (2010b). Anaxagoras on Matter, Motion, and Multiple Worlds. Philosophy Compass 5, n. 6, p. 443-454.
SKIADAS, P.; LASCARATOS, J. (2001). Dietetics in ancient Greek philosophy: Plato’s concepts of healthy diet. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 55, n. 7, p. 532-537.
SPENCER, C. (1995). The Heretic’s Feast: A History of Vegetarianism. Hanover, University Press of New England.
THUMIGE, C. (2017). Review of BARTOS, H. (2015). Philosophy and Dietetics in the Hippocratic On Regimen: A Delicate Balance of Health. Isis 108, n. 1, p. 171-172.
VERIVAKI, M. (2008). Amaranth Vlita and Black Nightshade. Organically Greek. Available at: http://organicallycooked.blogspot.com/2008/06/amaranth-vlita-and-black-nightshade.html.
WASSON, R. G.; RUCK, C.; HOFFMANN, A. (1978). The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries. New York/London, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
WILKINS, J. (2017). Review of BARTOS, H. (2015). Philosophy and Dietetics in the Hippocratic On Regimen: A Delicate Balance of Health. The Classical Review 67, n. 2, p. 349-351.
ZEYL, D. J. (trans.) (1997). Plato. Gorgias. In: COOPER, J. (ed.) Plato. Complete Works. Indianapolis, Hackett.
CLARK, G. (2014). Porphyry. On Abstinence from Killing Animals. London/New York, Bloomsbury.
CURD, P. (2007). Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. Fragments and Testimonia. Toronto, University of Toronto Press.
CURD, P. (2015). “Anaxagoras”. In: ZALTA, E. N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Winter 2015 Edition. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2015/entries/anaxagoras/.
DALBY, A. (2003). Food in the Ancient World from A to Z. London/New York, Routledge.
DAVIDSON, J. (1997). Courtesans & Fishcakes: The consuming passions of classical Athens. New York, St. Martin’s Press.
DELATTE, A. (1955). Le Cycéon, breuvage habitual des mystères d’Éleusis. Paris, Belles Lettres.
DOMBROWSKI, D. A. (1984). The Philosophy of Vegetarianism. Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press.
DYE, J. (1999). Explaining Pythagorean Abstinence from Beans. Available online at Internet Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20140126011358/http://users.ucom.net/~vegan/beans.htm.
EDELSTEIN, L. (1967). The Relation of Ancient Philosophy to Medicine. In: TEMKIN, O.; TEMKIN, C. L. (eds.). Ancient Medicine. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. 349-366.
FRANKLIN, L. (2005). Techne and Teleology in Plato’s Gorgias. Apeiron 38, n. 4, p. 229-256.
GARNSEY, P. (1999). Food and Society in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
GENTRY, H. (1969). The Origin of the Common Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. Economic Botany 23, n. 1, p. 55-69.
GRAHAM, D. W. (2010). The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy. The Complete Fragments and Selected Testimonies of the Major Presocratics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
GRANT, M. (trans.) (2002). Galen. On Food and Diet. London/New York, Routledge.
GRIFFITH, R. D. (2007). Maza, ‘Barley-Cake’. Glotta 83, p. 83-88.
HEHN, V. (1888). The Wanderings of Plants and Animals from their First Home. Ed. J. S. Stallybrass. London, Swan Sonneschein.
HILL, J. (1812). The family herbal. Or, An account of all those English plants, which are remarkable for their virtues, and of the drugs which are produced by vegetables of other countries; with their descriptions and their uses, as proved by experience. Bungay, C. Brightly and T. Kinnersley.
HORT, A. (trans.) (1916). Theophrastus Enquiry into Plants. 2 vols. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 70 & 79; Referred to in this essay as HP [Historia Plantarum])
HUFFMAN, C. (2014). “Pythagoras”. In: ZALTA, E. N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Summer 2014 Edition. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/pythagoras/.
JACOB, C. (2013). The Web of Athenaeus. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
JOLY, R. (1984). Hippocrate. Du Regime. Berlin, Akademie Verlag.
JONES, W. H. S. (1931). Hippocrates with an English Translation. Vol. 4: Nature of Man, Regimen in Health, Humours, Aphorisms, Regimen 1-3. Dreams. Heracleitus: On the Universe. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 150)
JOUANNA, J. (2012). Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen. Leiden, Brill.
KIRK, G. S.; RAVEN, J. E.; SCHOFIELD, M. (1984). The Presocratic Philosophers. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
KOUVROULAKI, M. (2010). Triticum Dicoccum. History of Greek Food. A buffet of Greek food history & food stories. Available at: https://1historyofgreekfood.wordpress.com/tag/triticum-dicoccum/.
KOUVROULAKI, M. (2012). Mixing the kykeon. History of Greek Food. A buffet of Greek food history & food stories. Available at: https://1historyofgreekfood.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/mixing-the-kykeon/.
KREMEZI, A. (1997). Paximadia. WALKER, H. (ed.). Food on the Move. Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 1996. Totnes, Prospect Books, p. 208-211.
LEVI-STRAUSS, C. (1964). Le Cru et le Cuit. Paris, Plon.
LEWIS, D. (1991). Parts of Classes. Oxford, Blackwell.
LIDDELL, H. G.; SCOTT, R.; JONES, H. S. (1968). A Greek-English Lexicon. With a Revised Supplement. Oxford, Oxford University Press. (LSJ)
MARMODORO, A. (2017). Everything in Everything in Anaxagoras’ Metaphysics. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
MAURO, L. (2017). The Philosophical Origins of Vegetarianism: Greek Philosophers and the Animal World. Relations 5, n. 1, p. 13-26.
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2006a). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 1: Books 1-3.106e. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 204).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2006b). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 2: Books 3.106e-5. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 208).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2007). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 3: Books 6-7. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 224).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2008). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 4: Books 8-10.420e. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 235).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2009). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 5: Books 10.420e-11. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 274).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2010). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 6: Books 12-13.594b. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 327).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2011). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 7: Books 13.594b-14. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 345).
OLSON, S. D. (trans.) (2012). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae). Vol 8: Book 15, General Indexes. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library 519).
OSBORNE, C. (2007). Dumb Beasts and Dead Philosophers. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
PARRY, R. (2012). “Empedocles”. In: ZALTA, E. N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Fall 2012 Edition. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/empedocles/.
PATZIA, M. (2019 [accessed]). “Anaxagoras (c.500-428 B.C.E.)”. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available at: https://www.iep.utm.edu/anaxagor/. Accessed 09/12/2019.
PLASTIRA-VALKANOU, M. (1998). Medicine and Fine Cuisine in Plato’s Gorgias. L’Antiquité Classique 67, p. 195-201.
PLOCHMANN, G. K. (1988). A Friendly Companion to Plato’s Gorgias. Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press.
POWELL, O. (trans.) (2003). Galen. On the Properties of Foodstuffs (De alimentorum facultatibus). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
SALLARES, R. (1991). The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World. Ithaca, Cornell University Press.
SERMAMOGLOU-SOULMAIDI, G. (2017). The Refutation of Polus in Plato’s Gorgias Revisited. Apeiron 50, n. 3, p. 277-310.
SISKO, J. E. (2006). Cognitive Circuitry in the Pseudo-Hippocratic ‘Peri Diaites’ and Plato’s ‘Timaeus’. Hermathena 180, p. 5-17.
SISKO, J. E. (2010a). Anaxagoras Betwixt Parmenides and Plato. Philosophy Compass 5, n. 6, p. 432-442.
SISKO, J. E. (2010b). Anaxagoras on Matter, Motion, and Multiple Worlds. Philosophy Compass 5, n. 6, p. 443-454.
SKIADAS, P.; LASCARATOS, J. (2001). Dietetics in ancient Greek philosophy: Plato’s concepts of healthy diet. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 55, n. 7, p. 532-537.
SPENCER, C. (1995). The Heretic’s Feast: A History of Vegetarianism. Hanover, University Press of New England.
THUMIGE, C. (2017). Review of BARTOS, H. (2015). Philosophy and Dietetics in the Hippocratic On Regimen: A Delicate Balance of Health. Isis 108, n. 1, p. 171-172.
VERIVAKI, M. (2008). Amaranth Vlita and Black Nightshade. Organically Greek. Available at: http://organicallycooked.blogspot.com/2008/06/amaranth-vlita-and-black-nightshade.html.
WASSON, R. G.; RUCK, C.; HOFFMANN, A. (1978). The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries. New York/London, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
WILKINS, J. (2017). Review of BARTOS, H. (2015). Philosophy and Dietetics in the Hippocratic On Regimen: A Delicate Balance of Health. The Classical Review 67, n. 2, p. 349-351.
ZEYL, D. J. (trans.) (1997). Plato. Gorgias. In: COOPER, J. (ed.) Plato. Complete Works. Indianapolis, Hackett.
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2020-03-28
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Preus, A. (2020). The Techne of Nutrition in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Revista Archai, (29), e02904. https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_29_4
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