« Du prince au berger, tout homme a son content de fromage... » Odyssée, 4, 87-88

Résumé En Fr

Along with other dairy products cheese was a staple of the ancient Greek diet and yet there has been no systematic study of its use by the ancient Greeks. It has not received the kind of attention which has been given to the role of meat, wine, oil and cereals in ancient Greece. One of the reasons for this neglect is that dairy products leave very few traces that can be studied by the archeologist. Perhaps another reason is the fact that cheese is not held in high regard in the ancient texts. It is depicted as a food suitable only for barbarians, it is the subject of much derision in comedy and it is portrayed as a very modest offering worthy of a rustic god. The Greeks do acknowledge that cheese is an indispensable item in their diet and that it allows them to do without meat, but they always maintain an ambivalent attitude towards it. Even the medical writers are suspicious of it and describe it as a heavy foodstuff that can overheat the body, even if only used as a condiment. This discrepancy between daily usage and the literary imagination merits investigation.

Le fromage, base, avec les autres produits laitiers, de l'alimentation grecque, ne fait pas l'objet d'étude systématique comme le vin et la viande, l'huile et les céréales. Il est vrai qu'il n'a guère laissé de traces dans l'archéologie. Il est vrai aussi que les textes anciens, même s'ils insistent sur l'importance de ce produit qui permet de se passer de viande, en font le plus souvent un aliment digne des barbares, un déclencheur de rire dans les comédies, une humble offrande aux dieux rustiques. La médecine aussi se méfie de ce produit, jugé lourd et échauffant, même lorsqu'il est utilisé comme simple assaisonnement. Raison de plus pour étudier de plus près ce décalage entre vie quotidienne et imaginaire.