In Athens, the meal is thought of as two complementary parts: sitos, the grain portion (barley or wheat) that satisfies hunger and serves as the base, and opson, the accompaniment (vegetables, cheese, olives, fish) that enhances the bread. The evening meal, deipnon, is taken seated or reclining; in wealthy families like the Alcmaeonids, it may extend into the symposion, where men drink wine always mixed with water while conversing. Women eat separately, in the gynaeceum that Agariste manages. Sweets are not a separate dessert: honey, figs, and fresh cheese punctuate the meal or nourish the gods through offerings.

Thyme honey harvested on Mount Hymettus, southeast of Athens, is the treasure of Attica: fragrant, almost resinous, it sweetens barley cakes, binds altar cakes, and softens wine. In an Alcmaeonid house near the sanctuaries, it is the ingredient that connects the table of the living to that of the gods.