Twenty-first-century westerners frequently like to imagine that the ancient Greeks and Romans were “just like us.” The truth, however, is that, if a person from twenty-first-century Europe, the U.S., or Canada were transported back in time to classical Athens in the fifth century BCE, they would find themself in a culture drastically different from their own in more ways than most people today appreciate.
Notably, although ancient Greek cuisine bore some similarities to modern Greek cuisine and southern European cuisine more generally, it also bore some striking differences. For instance, many twenty-first-century westerners will be surprised to learn that the ancient Greeks frequently ate insects—specifically cicadas and grasshoppers, which they apparently regarded as a delicious snack.
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