Το περιστέρι.
Name - Origin
Pigeon
Functional and symbolic role
There is no clear information on the consumption of pigeons at that time, nor whether they were wild or domesticated. According to sources, however, there were many pigeons in Cyprus and they were even associated with worshipping the goddess Aphrodite (Michaelides 2008, 24).
Additional information and bibliography
Athenaeus quotes a passage from Antiphanes' work «Ομόπατροι» (Homopatrioi - People With The Same Father) in which he states that Cyprus has more pigeons than any other country (Athenaeus, Dipnosophistae 14.655b, 12-13).
Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 14.655b in: Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, Loeb Classical Library, v. 6, Gulick C. B. (translation) (1980), Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Michaelides D. (1998), "The Food in Ancient Cyprus", Food and the Traveller-Migration, Immigration, Tourism and Ethnic group, Lysaght P. (ed.), Intercollege Press, Nicosia.
Natassa Charalambous, Argyro Xenophontos
