Aphrodite at the table

The ancient Greek meal revolves around the *sitos* (the cereal base: barley flatbread *maza*, wheat bread) accompanied by the *opson* (what "enhances" it: cheese, figs, olives, fish). Then, once the tables are cleared, comes the time for the *tragemata* — sweets with honey, dried fruits, and wine mixed with water, shared during the symposium. For a goddess of love and beauty, it is precisely these sweet, fragrant foods offered in sacrifice that make up her world: honey cakes placed on the altar, wedding quinces, sesame of the nuptials.