As I was working through the early lines of The Illiad, I came to these lines:
ἢ εἰ δή ποτέ τοι κατὰ πίονα μηρί’ ἔκηα
ταύρων ἠδ’ αἰγῶν, τόδέ μοι κρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·
I had to smile as I had to interrupt my work in order to turn the chicken thighs on the grill.
Homeric heroes would never eat chicken (or fish, unless there was nothing else to eat). Red meat only! For the most part they didn’t live long enough for heart disease to catch up with them.
I realized the difference at the time it happened. However, I did not call Apollo’s attention to it!
Menelaus is stranded on a desert island with his men, when she encounters a goddess. The men are already desperate with hunger to the point that they go fishing!
ἥ μ’ οἴῳ ἔρροντι συνήντετο νόσφιν ἑταίρων·
αἰεὶ γὰρ περὶ νῆσον ἀλώμενοι ἰχθυάασκον
γναμπτοῖσ’ ἀγκίστροισιν, ἔτειρε δὲ γαστέρα λιμός.
(4.363 ff.)