ABSTRACT

Vida's poem on the cultivation of silkworms is only one example of several Latin poems that deal with crops and cultural assets from the East, which found their way into Europe and enriched the lifestyles and menus of the upper class. Europeans not only dressed in silk and consumed citrus fruits, tea, and coffee, but also reflected upon them in art, music, and contemporary literature. The literary treatment of Eastern goods and luxury food in Latin is a very specific, European way of encountering the East. A European god had the idea to create civilization. Civilization and culture, although brought to perfection by the Chinese, have deep European roots. The Chinese fulfill the plan of a European god; they are thus, in a way, eastern Europeans- a status that also allows tea to be acceptable to European palates.