''Opsophagos'' was a type of

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

person who exhibited a seemingly uncontrollable desire for ''

opson ''Opson'' ( el, ὄψον) is an important category in Ancient Greek foodways. First and foremost ''opson'' refers to a major division of ancient Greek food: the 'relish' that complements the ''sitos'' (σίτος) the staple part of the meal, i ...

'' or relishes. The vice of the ''opsophagos'' was ''opsophagia'', for which the closest English equivalent is ''gourmandise''. However, because fish/seafood was considered by far the most desirable ''opson'', an ''opsophagos'' in ancient Greek literature is almost always a man obsessed with fish or seafood. Tales of infamous ''opsophagoi'' (plural form) focussed on men who took their gourmandise to extreme levels, training their bodies in various ways to be able to consume massive quantities of fish immediately after they had been prepared, ensuring that they would have the fish to themselves, since they would be too hot for others to even touch, let alone eat. These tales of men with heat-resistant throats and padded fingertips were likely fictional, but they served as reminders to all who heard them that letting the pleasure-driven body overcome the rational soul was not the way to become an ideal human. One could enjoy fish, but one had to be careful not to take this enjoyment too far and become an ''opsophagos''.

References

* Culture-bound syndromes Eating disorders {{AncientGreece-stub