In the archaic Greek imagination, gods do not eat like humans: they feed on ambrosia and nectar, while the smoke of offerings and poured libations rise to them. The structure of the human meal that honors them revolves around the *spondê* (libation poured before every meal), the *sîtos* (the staple food — barley *maza*, bread), the *opson* (what one eats with: olives, cheese, figs), and the *tragêmata* (sweets and fruits at the end of the banquet, during the symposion). For an Oceanid linked to waters, to Atlas and the rainy Hyades, everything begins and ends with water, milk, and honey poured.

Greek honey (thyme from Hymettus, heather from the islands) is the closest mortal taste to divine nectar: it binds, it preserves, it is offered. Associated with pure spring water — the domain of the Oceanids — it marks this entire table, from the poured cup to the drizzled cake.