Archestratus facts for kids
Archestratus was an ancient Greek poet from Sicily. He lived around the middle of the 300s BCE. People knew him as the "Daedalus of tasty dishes." This means he was very skilled at finding and describing delicious food.
Archestratus wrote a funny and helpful poem called Hedypatheia. This name means "Life of Luxury." In his poem, he gave advice to people who loved food. He told them where to find the best dishes all around the Mediterranean Sea.
About His Famous Poem
Archestratus's poem was a bit like a guide to good eating. It was written in a style that made fun of older, serious poets. Most of his poem focused on different kinds of fish. But he also wrote about appetizers and wine.
How People Saw His Work
His poem was quite well-known in ancient times. Other writers and thinkers mentioned it. These included the comic poet Antiphanes and famous philosophers like Aristotle. Most of the time, these mentions were not very positive. They thought Archestratus's poem might encourage people to be too focused on food.
What Remains of His Work
Today, we only have parts of Archestratus's poem. There are 62 small pieces, or "fragments," that survived. We know about these fragments because another writer named Athenaeus quoted them in his book Deipnosophistae.
A Roman poet named Ennius later translated or copied Archestratus's poem into Latin. However, Ennius's version has not survived to our time.
See also
In Spanish: Arquéstrato para niños
