Opson facts for kids

Opson (pronounced OP-son) was a very important part of meals in Ancient Greece. It referred to the 'relish' or side dish that went along with the main part of the meal, which was called sitos (SEE-tos). Sitos was usually a staple food like wheat or barley.

Think of opson like the side dishes you might have with your main meal today, similar to Banchan in Korean cuisine or Okazu in Japanese cuisine.

Because opson was often the tastiest part of the meal, some ancient Greek thinkers worried that people might eat too much of it! They even made up a word, opsophagia, to describe the bad habit of someone who ate too much opson with their sitos.

What Counts as Opson?

Anything that added flavor to the main staple food could be called opson, even something as simple as salt. However, the word was most often used for the most popular and prized side dish: fish!

In fact, a smaller version of the word opson, called opsarion, is where the modern Greek word for fish, psari, comes from. So, when ancient writers talked about an opsophagos (someone who loved opson), they almost always meant someone who was crazy about seafood!

Opson as a Prepared Dish

Sometimes, opson could also mean a 'prepared dish' in general. The famous philosopher Plato thought the word came from an old Greek verb meaning 'to boil', but he was probably mistaken.

Self-Control and Opson

In ancient Greece, people really valued self-control. Because of this, eating too much opson (opsophagia) became a topic that moralists (people who thought about right and wrong) and satirists (people who made fun of bad habits) would talk about.

See also

In Spanish: Opson para niños