Ancient Greece is now very well known for its progressive ideology. It had democracy, and famous philosophers with names like Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates lived there. Little did those philosophers know, however, that it was food that allowed them to think well. Léon Wiszina, a modern-day French philosopher, had a hypothesis that the quality of the food one eats affects how philosophically one thinks. He brought together 500 philosophers and served them all gourmet meals, they had many discussions and thoughts to share, and his hypothesis was proven. (Newsweek, 8. May 2000, p. 8)

But what really did these people eat? The ancient Greeks had a diet that consisted of a vast variety of foods. The main foods, which were also readily available, were barley, wheat, and fish.

In ancient Greece, what one ate depended on the economic class that one belonged to. Ordinary citizens, the middle and lower classes, had a different diet than the royalty and nobility, the upper class. The diet of ordinary citizens consisted of porridge, made up of either wheat or barley, fish, and ground pine nuts. It was on a rare occasion that they had a meal that included meat. On the other hand, members of the upper class had a diet that consisted of almost anything that can be imagined. They ate fish, beef, veal, pork, and venison. Lamb, wild boar, ostrich, peacock, and duck were also very popular foods among members of the upper class.

The ancient Greeks also were very advanced in the process of keeping their food fresh. They ordered ice and snow from the Alps and put it into large rooms. These ice rooms were then filled with all of the perishable food that they had. This ancient refrigerator enabled the Greeks to keep their favorite foods fresh for several days or even weeks. Some of the other foods that were very popular among the ancient Greeks were mushrooms, mullet, and lampreys. Each of these foods was not native to Greece, though, so they had to be imported from other countries throughout Europe.

Throughout history the Greeks have been one of the most interesting and influential people on today's society. From the times of the early Greek philosophers, Greece has always had a rich and prosperous culture. Over the times, though, Greece had changed in many ways. But there is still one thing that has remained the same since Greece's earliest times: the importance of its food.