Satire In The Odyssey

It is likely that, because of a lack of archeological evidence, the modern understanding of Roman diet is based on ancient literature. Horace's second satire of his second book discusses the virtues of living in moderation, especially in respect to food. He claims that this is not his own teaching, but that he is reporting the teaching of the country farmer Ofellus (Horace 2.2; 3). From this satire, it is known that Ofellus was a farmer who lived modestly and had his farm taken away (Horace 2.2; 132-133). Because he was happy living with little while he had his farm, he did not lose his source of happiness when his farm was taken away from him (Horace 2.2; 125-128). This teaching is Epicurean in that he seeks happiness, but not through bodily …show more content…
"Hunger is the best sauce," a phrase attributed to Socrates, predates and summarizes Ofellus's first teaching that "bread and salt will calm down your growing stomach perfectly well" and that people must "earn their sauce" (Horace 2.2; 17-20). While hunger may make cheap food taste better, these lines are misleading in that they can suggest that poor Romans did not use sauce or cook and prepare their meals to taste better. Bread and salt are a reference to the diet of the poorest of Romans, so he is teaching that the simplest, poorest of diets can be as satisfying as the most lavish of diets. Because of this, it would make sense that most Romans, especially the working and poorer Romans, would live only grain and salt to save money. Yet archeological evidence suggests that working Romans ate a far more varied diet than …show more content…
In his view, food is meant to sustain life and has no more purpose and so he considers it a waste of money to buy the more beautiful, colorful, and exotic foods. As for wanting peacock, which is far more expensive than chicken or pork, Ofellus asks, "cooked, does it keep its beauty?" (Horace 2.2; 28). After being prepared, the colorful feathers are gone and the peacock provides no more nutrition than chicken so it is a waste of money. Ofellus does allow for better food on the occasion that the host is entertaining guests or there is a celebration. If the best food is enjoyed too often, expensive food will start to become bland and nothing will satisfy the over-indulged consumer as "…the man whom excess has made bloated and pale will not be capable of enjoying oysters and parrotfish [a rare and expensive fish in Italy] or the exotic ptarmigan [possibly a bird from the Alps]" (Muecke 25, 119). The importance of moderation has been taught throughout time, but may have been misinterpreted here to suggest a diet with little to no enjoyment. Horace also relates a teaching of Ofellus that has influenced the modern thought that the diet of poor Romans was dull and unvaried. According to Ofellus, the practice of mixing foods, such as boiled with roasted or sweet with bitter, upsets the stomach (Horace 2.2; 75-77). This teaching against variation within meals also goes against the archeological evidence discussed later, but serves

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