Since the dawn of time, human ingenuity has been particularly applied to everything relating to the world of nutrition. And today we pay homage to this work of ingenuity on 'gastronomic questions' by telling us about one of the least practical fruits of this work, but certainly among the most beautiful.
We write about a quick image, a delicate poetic sketch, present in the tenth book of the Odyssey. It is the description of a banquet that Ulysses encounters, protagonist of the work, on his long journey back to his homeland, Ithaca, after the battle won by the Greeks against the city of Troy.
Not just any banquet, a divine banquet.
We must, if we want to follow the poet Homer (traditionally considered the author of the Odyssey [https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questione_omerica]), try to imagine the great navigator Ulysses and his crew back at sea in search of the right route home after having taken a considerable risk, being torn to pieces by the Cyclops Polyphemus, a monstrous giant with only one eye.
After dodging the Cyclopean wrath, Ulysses lands on an island that is far more welcoming than the previous one. It is the island of the god Aeolus.
Ulysses and his men approach the palace. The god appears to the weary navigators sitting at the table, together with his wife and children, twelve, six males and six females.
Here are the verses that tell of the banquet, translated for the benefit of all by Ippolito Pindemonte in the nineteenth century:
These [the children, ed.] sit between their father every day
Dear, and the august mother, at a table
Of various delicate bee loads.
All the palace, while the day shines,
It breathes fragrances and resonates with harmonies.
Dapi is plural of dape, poetic form for food or viand. Aeolus and his family therefore feast every day until the evening at a table full of varied and delicate foods.
We do not focus on the beauty of the verses but on the characteristics of the banquet and, first of all, on the unusual duration. The banquet is in fact practically infinite, it is interrupted only in the evening and starts again the following day.
It is easy to understand that it must be very special so as not to bore the guests. And in a few verses the poet does not fail to underline its superb quality. Fragrances and harmonies constantly spread throughout the palace which we imagine, given its more than regal owner.
We could say that Homer teaches us in a few lines how to prepare a truly special meal. The ingredients are simple, at least to say: delicious cuisine, varied dishes, location exceptional, inviting aromas, a general one atmosphere of elegance but also 'family's'.
This short scene can be considered a sort of good omen for all restaurateurs.
In short, Eolo is an exceptional host. In fact, the poet says that the god of the winds welcomed his guest with great magnanimity:
This was the country, this was the proud one
Roof, in which me for a whole month
Eolo treated with the kindest ways.
Furthermore, Aeolus also gives Ulysses a skin containing the various winds, enough to bring the Homeric hero and his entire crew back to their homeland. A precious gift that, yes, we really cannot ask of modern restaurateurs.
Everything seems to be going for the best except that - unfortunate - Ulysses once departed is seized by a deep sleep which makes him neglect his task as guardian of the precious gift. Even such a gift can be ruined by careless hands. In fact, the sailors, believing that the waterskin contained gold and silver, opened the gift carelessly and prematurely.
Let's try to imagine the stormy scene: the winds are unleashed all together, making the sea furious and pushing the vessel along random courses just when the much desired Ithaca was now close.
Ulysses' ship, whipped by the wind, lands again on the island of Aeolus from which it had recently set sail. Ulysses gathers courage and presents himself before the god again. He finds Aeolus still busy, naturally, feasting:
I sent myself to the superb mansion of Aeolus;
And between the sweet wife, and the dear children
I found him feasting.
But this time the god, angry at the misuse that Ulysses has made of his gift, is less courteous and, with great discomfort for Ulysses but great advantage for the plot, drives the travellers, on this occasion more foolish than unfortunate, from his island.
They will land first in the city of the Lestrigoni, from which few will return, and then to the sorceress Circe, who will prepare a much worse banquet for our brave men.
But that's another story….
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