--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is…" description: "\"In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is extremely ritualized; high-status individuals even get a better cut of meat.\" — Jami Attenberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png" --- # In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is extremely ritualized… ![“In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is extremely ritualized; high-status individuals even get a better cut of meat.” quote by Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png) > “In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is extremely ritualized; high-status individuals even get a better cut of meat.” [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Feasts in The Odyssey are highly ritualized, giving elite guests better portions. **In simple terms:** High‑status people get privileged food at ancient banquets. Key Takeaway Recognize subtle class dynamics. Themes social hierarchy ritual food culture Mood analytical critical Type observational cultural When to use this quote - dinner parties - corporate events - family gatherings - cultural festivals Key Concepts anthropology class studies Questions to Reflect On - How do modern events reflect status differences? - Can you make gatherings more egalitarian? A Different Perspective Rituals can also foster inclusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) [Cut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cut/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Every](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every/) [Extremely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremely/) [Extremely Ritualized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremely-ritualized-735704/) [Feast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feast/) [Feast Extremely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feast-extremely-735706/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get/) [Individuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individuals/) [Meat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meat/) [Odyssey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odyssey/) [Odyssey Feast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odyssey-feast-735702/) ## Related quotes > [“Where we sail and anchor our heart fill up the multitude odyssey paving to the coming home of our soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-hopes/where-we-sail-and-anchor-our-heart-fill-up-the-multitude-odyssey/) [Angelica Hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-hopes/) > [No encounter occured that day, and I was glad of it; I took out of my pocket a little Homer I had not opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/no-encounter-occured-that-day-and-i-was-glad-of-it-i-took-out-of-my/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [There is no way, absolutely no way, that I would want people to stop reading the 'Odyssey.' But I want them to read it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-no-way-absolutely-no-way-that-i-would-want-people-to-stop/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [The right sort of gossip is a charming and stimulating thing. The Odyssey itself is simply glorious gossip, and the same may be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-buckrose/the-right-sort-of-gossip-is-a-charming-and-stimulating-thing-the/) [J. E. Buckrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-buckrose/) > [I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-read-the-odyssey-because-it-was-the-story-of-a-man-who-returned/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [If you take 2001: A Space Odyssey as an example of somebody who creates a new language in film by what he was able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-modine/if-you-take-2001-a-space-odyssey-as-an-example-of-somebody-who/) [Matthew Modine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-modine/) > [“And so my Odyssey begins...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vardan-partamyan/and-so-my-odyssey-begins/) [Vardan Partamyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vardan-partamyan/) > [Every great literature has always been allegorical - allegorical of some view of the whole universe. The 'Iliad' is only great because all life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/every-great-literature-has-always-been-allegorical-allegorical-of/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The book of 'The Hobbit' was given to me to read by a friend of my mother when I was about 12 years old:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-stevens/the-book-of-the-hobbit-was-given-to-me-to-read-by-a-friend-of-my/) [Conan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-stevens/) > [Poems are language turned into art; sound and sense matter; they can be as long or longer than The Odyssey or as short or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/campbell-mcgrath/poems-are-language-turned-into-art-sound-and-sense-matter-they-can-be/) [Campbell McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/campbell-mcgrath/) > [“The Odyssey was written by Homer, or another Greek of the same name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-odyssey-was-written-by-homer-or-another-greek-of-the-same-name/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [What do you think you're doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-aaronovitch/what-do-you-think-you-re-doing/) [Ben Aaronovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-aaronovitch/) > ['The Odyssey' is a great poem to refugee-dom... Odysseus is not entirely a refugee... he's somebody who's blown off course. The entire book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/the-odyssey-is-a-great-poem-to-refugee-dom-odysseus-is-not-entirely-a/) [Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/) > [The Iliad is only great because all life is a battle, The Odyssey because all life is a journey, The Book of Job because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-iliad-is-only-great-because-all-life-is-a-battle-the-odyssey/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My odyssey to become an astronaut kind of started in grad school, and I was working, up at MIT, in space robotics-related work; human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-massimino/my-odyssey-to-become-an-astronaut-kind-of-started-in-grad-school-and/) [Michael J. Massimino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-massimino/) ## More by Jami Attenberg > [I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-just-think-structure-can-make-a-book-feel-so-much-bigger-it-s-the/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [“And she was funny and beautiful and she liked the same books, the same music, and she wanted everything I did, was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/and-she-was-funny-and-beautiful-and-she-liked-the-same-books-the-same/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Most of my writer friends are women, and they're all extremely talented, so of course I think the state of contemporary fiction for women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/most-of-my-writer-friends-are-women-and-they-re-all-extremely/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I'm not really interested in writing or reading about people who are nice and easy. I like the problem children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-m-not-really-interested-in-writing-or-reading-about-people-who-are/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [“mostly I have found myself resisting their sadness when I have so much of my own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/mostly-i-have-found-myself-resisting-their-sadness-when-i-have-so/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [You write a book, and after 50 pages you think it's about one thing, and then you write another hundred and you realize it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/you-write-a-book-and-after-50-pages-you-think-it-s-about-one-thing/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Do you often find yourself uttering the phrase, 'I feel like I should go?' You do not need to go. You are busy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/do-you-often-find-yourself-uttering-the-phrase-i-feel-like-i-should/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [We've all got flesh. I've just got a little more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/we-ve-all-got-flesh-i-ve-just-got-a-little-more/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/in-the-wintertime-i-like-macaroni-and-cheese/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [“We listen to NPR for the first two hours on the road, the strange comfort of bad news reported in reasonable tones,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/we-listen-to-npr-for-the-first-two-hours-on-the-road-the-strange/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I am not one of those people who string their exes along. Instead, I run and hide: under the covers, behind my computer screen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-am-not-one-of-those-people-who-string-their-exes-along-instead-i/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [When I was growing up in Chicago, my family and I used to go to a local chain, Hackney's, for burgers and their French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/when-i-was-growing-up-in-chicago-my-family-and-i-used-to-go-to-a/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I remember being banned from other houses as a younger child during the winter holiday season; I was the only one who didn't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-remember-being-banned-from-other-houses-as-a-younger-child-during/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Sometimes, things are just exercises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/sometimes-things-are-just-exercises/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I've just always written, and always considered myself a writer. I wrote my first story when I was five. There was nothing else I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-ve-just-always-written-and-always-considered-myself-a-writer-i/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) [Explore all 147 Jami Attenberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) ## More Better quotes > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [Everybody has their cliques, and I was very shy. I'm still very shy. Music opened up doors. I would get to my choir class,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-fonsi/everybody-has-their-cliques-and-i-was-very-shy-i-m-still-very-shy/) [Luis Fonsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-fonsi/) > [You can't force people to feel in a certain way, and the sooner you understand that,the better. I feel everything has its way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidharth-malhotra/you-can-t-force-people-to-feel-in-a-certain-way-and-the-sooner-you/) [Sidharth Malhotra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidharth-malhotra/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [The bigger the canvas, the better I do. I'm not so good at understated, kitchen-sink kinds of parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/the-bigger-the-canvas-the-better-i-do-i-m-not-so-good-at-understated/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [The Little you Give !! The Better it Gets !!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-stanyer/the-little-you-give-the-better-it-gets/) [Mario Stanyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-stanyer/) > [A strong, durable Puerto Rican economy will leave the island better prepared to handle future natural disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/a-strong-durable-puerto-rican-economy-will-leave-the-island-better/) [Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/) > [In my first 100 days as Ontario's Minister of Transportation, I found a willing municipal partner in the City of Toronto that shares our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-mulroney/in-my-first-100-days-as-ontario-s-minister-of-transportation-i-found/) [Caroline Mulroney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-mulroney/) > [It hasn't been a conscious thing, like, 'I don't want to listen to a bunch of dudes,' but I genuinely like music by women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soccer-mommy/it-hasn-t-been-a-conscious-thing-like-i-don-t-want-to-listen-to-a/) [Soccer Mommy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soccer-mommy/) > [Life is going to hit you some line drives, and sometimes you'll have to think fast. However, it's better to think first than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bytheway/life-is-going-to-hit-you-some-line-drives-and-sometimes-you-ll-have/) [John Bytheway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bytheway/) > [I like to collaborate with other people for studio recordings because I believe collaboration, in any form, makes music better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-barlow/i-like-to-collaborate-with-other-people-for-studio-recordings-because/) [Lou Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-barlow/) > [Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/absolutely-you-can-improve-and-become-better-at-toughness-it-s-a/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [Not having drops and not taking plays off, if I do that it will make everyone around me better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demaryius-thomas/not-having-drops-and-not-taking-plays-off-if-i-do-that-it-will-make/) [Demaryius Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demaryius-thomas/) > [Cara Delevingne and I took an eyebrow selfie. We both have prominent eyebrows, but hers are much better than mine. Maybe we should do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-poulter/cara-delevingne-and-i-took-an-eyebrow-selfie-we-both-have-prominent/) [Will Poulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-poulter/) > [I never really look at it past one year. I look at last year and my whole goal is to be a better player…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-williams/i-never-really-look-at-it-past-one-year-i-look-at-last-year-and-my/) [Trent Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-williams/) [Browse all 17,085 Better quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is extremely ritualized; high-status individuals even get a better cut of meat.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jami Attenberg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely-ritualized-high-status/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Better" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely-ritualized-high-status/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6eb/jami-attenberg-2877_better_in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely_2468566.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is extremely ritualized; high-status individuals even get a better cut of meat.” — Jami Attenberg", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jami Attenberg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In 'The Odyssey,' every feast is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely-ritualized-high-status/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/in-the-odyssey-every-feast-is-extremely-ritualized-high-status/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```