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Food topics are important in the epic discourse. In the Odyssey these topics unfold as a semiotic system associated to the alternatives of the narration, the development of the issues and the fate of the characteres. Gastronomic scenes describe the diverse functions of food and beverages, constitute a sign of humanity and indicators of the relation between actors and their social status. F. Hartog proposes that the poem could be read as narrative anthropology. In this perspective the gastronomic issue functions as a symbolic operator in the odysseic task of surveying the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]