Book III.—Epitome.
CALLIMACHUS the grammarian said that a great book was equivalent to a great evil. With respect to Ciboria, or Egyptian beans, Nicander says in his Georgics—
You may sow the Egyptian bean, in order in summer[p. 122] But when Nicander speaks of “roots,” he means the things which are called by the Alexandrians colocasia; as he says elsewhere—
To make its flowers into garlands; and when the ciboria
Have fallen, then give the ripe fruit to the youths
Who are feasting with you, into their hands, as they have been a long time
Wishing for them; but roots I boil, and then place on the table at feasts.
Have peel'd the beans, and cut up the colocasia.Now there is at Sicyon a temple to the Colocasian Minerva. There is also a kind of cup called κιβώριον.1
Theophrastus, in his book on Plants, writes thus: "The bean in Egypt grows in marshes and swamps; and its stalk is in length, when it is at the largest, about four cubits; but in thickness, it is as thick as one's finger: and it is like a long reed, only without joints. But it has divisions within, running through the whole of it, like honeycombs. And on this stalk is the head and the flower, being about twice the size of a poppy; and its colour is like that of a rose, very full coloured; and it puts forth large leaves. But the root is thicker than the thickest reed, and it has divisions like the stalk. And people eat it boiled, and roasted, and raw. And the men who live near the marshes eat it very much. It grows, too, in Syria and in Cilicia, but those countries do not ripen it thoroughly. It grows, too, around Torone in Chalcidice, in a marsh of moderate size, and that place ripens it, and it brings its fruit to perfection there. But Diphilus the Siphnian says, "The root of the Egyptian bean, which is called colocasium, is very good for the stomach, and very nutritious, but it is not very digestible, being very astringent; and that is the best which is the least woolly. But the beans which are produced by the plant called ciborium, when they are green are indigestible, not very nutritious, easily pass through one, and are apt to cause flatulence; but when they are dry they are, not so flatulent. And from the genuine ciborium there is a flower which grows which is made into garlands. And the Egyptians call the flower the lotus; but the Naucratitans tell me, says Athenæus, that its name is the melilotus: and it is of that flower that the melilotus garlands are made, which are very fragrant, and which have a cooling effect in the summer season.
But Phylarchus says, "that though Egyptian beans had never been sown before in any place, and had never produced [p. 123] fruit if any one had by chance sown a few, except in Egypt, still, in the time of Alexander the king, the son of Pyrrhus, it happened that some sprung up near the river Thyamis in Thesprotia in Epirus, in a certain marsh in that district; and for two years continuously they bore fruit and grew; and that on this Alexander put a guard over them, and not only forbade any one to pick them, but would not allow any one to approach the place: and on this the marsh dried up; and for the future it not only never produced the abovementioned fruit, but it does not appear even to have furnished any water. And something very like this happened at Aedepsus. For at a distance from all other waters there was a spring sending forth cold water at no great distance from the sea; and invalids who drank this water were greatly benefited: on which account many repaired thither from great distances, to avail themselves of the water. Accordingly the generals of king Antigonus, wishing to be economical with respect to it, imposed a tax to be paid by those who drank it: and on this the spring dried up. And in the Troas in former times all who wished it were at liberty to draw water from the Tragasæan lake; but when Lysimachus became ruler there, and put a tax on it, that lake, too, disappeared: and as he marvelled at this, as soon as he remitted the tribute and left the place free, the water came again.
With respect to Cucumbers.—There is a proverb—
Eat the cucumber, O woman, and weave your cloak.And Matron says, in his Parodies—
And I saw a cucumber, the son of the all-glorious Earth,And Laches says—
Lying among the herbs; and it was served up on nine tables.2
But, as when cucumber grows up in a dewy place,Now the Attic writers always use the word σίκυον as a word of three syllables. But Alcæus uses it as a dissyllble, σίκυς; for he says, δάκῃ τῶν σικύων from the nominative σίκυς, a word [p. 124] like στάχυς, στάχυος. And Phrynichus uses the word σικύδιον as a diminutive, where he says—
εντραγεῖν σικύδιον, to eat a little cucumber.
[From this point are the genuine words of Athenœus.]3
I will send radishes and four cucumbers.And Phrynichus too used the word σικύδιον as a diminutive, in his Monotropus; where he says, κἀντραγεῖν σικύδιον.
But Theophrastus says that there are three kinds of cucumbers, the Lacedæmonian, the Scytalian, and the Bœotian; and that of these the Lacedæmonian, which is a watery one, is the best; and that the others do not contain water. “Cucumbers too,” says he, “contain a more agreeable and wholesome juice if the seed be steeped in milk or in mead before it is sown;” and he asserts in his book on the Causes of Plants, that they come up quicker if they are steeped either in water or milk before they are put in the ground. And Euthydemus says, in his treatise on Vegetables, that there is one kind of cucumber which is called δρακοντίας. But Demetrius Ixios states, in the first book of his treatise on Etymologies, that the name σίκυον is derived ἀπὸ τοῦ σεύεσθαι καὶ κιεῖν, from bursting forth and proceeding; for that it is a thing which spreads fast and wide. But Heraclides of Tarentum calls the cucumber ἡδύγαιον, which means growing in sweet earth, or making the earth sweet, in his Symposium. And Diocles of Carystos says that cucumber, if it is eaten with the sium in the first course, makes the eater uncomfortable; for that it gets into the head as the radish does; but that if it is eaten at the end of supper it causes no [p. 125] uncomfortable feelings, and is more digestible; and that when it is boiled it is moderately diuretic. But Diphilus says— “The cucumber being a cooling food is not very manageable, and is not easily digested or evacuated; besides that, it creates shuddering feelings and engenders bile, and is a great preventive against amatory feelings.” But cucumber grow in gardens at the time of full moon, and at that time they grow very visibly, as do the sea-urchins.
With respect to Figs.-The fig-tree, says Magnus, (for I will not allow any one to take what I have to say about figs out of my mouth, not if I were to be hanged for it, for I am most devilishly fond of figs, and I will say what occurs to me;) "the fig-tree, my friends, was the guide to men to lead them to a more civilized life. And this is plain from the fact that the Athenians call the place where it was first discovered The Sacred Fig; and the fruit from it they call hegeteria, that is to say, “the guide,” because that was the first to be discovered of all the fruits now in cultivation. Now there are many species of figs;—there is the Attic sort, which Antiphanes speaks of in his Synonymes; and when he is praising the land of Attica, he says—
A. What fruits this land produces!And Isistrus, in his “Attics,” says that it was forbidden to export out of Attica the figs which grew in that country, in order that the inhabitants might have the exclusive enjoyment of them. And as many people were detected in sending them away surreptitiously, those who laid informations against them before the judges were then first called sycophants. And Alexis says, in his “The Poet”—
Superior, O Hipponicus, to the world.
What honey, what bread, what figs!
Hipp. It does, by Jove!
Bear wondrous figs.
The name of sycophant is one which doesAnd Philomnestus, in his treatise on the Festival of Apollo at Rhodes, which is called the Sminthian festival, says—"Since the sycophant got his name from these circumstance, because [p. 126] at that time there were fines and taxes imposed upon figs and oil and wine, by the produce of which imposts they found money for the public expenses; they called those who exacted these fines and laid these informations sycophants, which was very natural, selecting those who were accounted the most considerable of the citizens.
Of right apply to every wicked person;
For figs when added to a name might show
Whether the man was good and just and pleasant
But now when a sweet name is given a rogue,
It makes us doubt why this should be the case.
And Aristophanes mentions the fig, in his “Farmers;” speaking as follows:—
I am planting figs of all sorts except the Lacedæmonian,But he called it small because it was not a large plant. But Alexis, in his “Olynthian,” mentioning the Phrygian figs, says—
For this kind is the fig of an enemy and a tyrant:
And it would not have been so small a fruit if it had not been a great hater of the people.
And the beautiful fig,And of those figs which are called φιβάλεοι, mention is made by many of the comic writers; and Pherecrates, in his “Crapatalli,” says—
The wonderful invention of the Phrygian fig,
The diine object of my mother's care.
O my good friend, make haste and catch a fever,And Teleclides, in his Amphictyons, says—
And then alarm yourself with no anxiety,
But eat Phibalean figs all the summer;
And then, when you have eaten your fill, sleep the whole of the midday;
And then feel violent pains, get in a fever, and holloa.
How beautiful those Phibalean figs are!They also call myrtle-berries Phibalean. As Antiphanes does in his “Cretans”—
. . . . . But first of allEpigenes too mentions Chelidonian figs, that is, figs fit for swallows, in his Bacchea—
I want some myrtle-berries on the table,
Which I may eat when e'er I counsel take;
And they must be Phibalean, very fine,
Fit for a garland.
Then, in a little while, a well-fill'd basketAnd Androtion, or Philippus, or Hegemon, in the Book of the Farm, gives a list of these kinds of figs, saying—"In the [p. 127] plain it is desirable to plant specimens of the Chelidonian fig, of the fig called Erinean, of the Leukerinean, and of the Phibalean; but plant the Oporobasilis, the queen of autumn, everywhere; for each kind has some useful qualities; and, above all, the pollarded trees, and the phormynian, and the double bearers, and the Megarian, and the Lacedæmonian kinds are desirable, if there is plenty of water.
Of dry Chelidonian figs is brought in.
Lynceus, too, mentions the fig-trees which grow in Rhodes, in his Epistles; instituting a comparison between the best of the Athenian kinds and the Rhodian species. And he writes in these terms:—“But these fig-trees appear to vie with Lacedæmonian trees of the same kind, as mulberries do with figs; and they are put on the table before supper, not after supper as they are here, when the taste is already vitiated by satiety, but while the appetite is still uninfluenced and unappeased.” And if Lynceus had tasted the figs which in the beautiful Rome are called καλλιστρούθια, as I have, he would have been by far more long-sighted than ever his namesake was. So very far superior are those figs to all the other figs in the whole world. Other kinds of figs grown near Rome are held in high esteem; and those called the Chian figs, and the Libianian; those two named the Chalcidic, and the African figs; as Herodotus the Lycian bears witness, in his treatise on Figs.
But Parmeno the Byzantine, in his Iambics, speaks of the figs which come from Canæ, an Aeolian city, as the best of all: saying—
I am arrived after a long voyage, not having broughtAnd that the figs from Caunus, a city of Caria, are much praised, is known to all the world. There is another sort of fig, called the Oxalian, which Heracleon the Ephesian makes mention of, and Nicander of Thyatira, quoting what is mentioned by Apollodorus of Carystus, in his play, called the Dress-seller with a Dowry;" where he says—
A valuable freight of Canæan figs.
Moreover, all the wineFigs also grow in the island of Paros, (for those which are [p. 128] called by the Parians αἱμώνια are a different fig from the common one, and are not what I am alluding to here; for the αἱμώνια are the same with those which are called Lydian figs; and they have obtained this name on account of their red colour, since αἷμα means blood, and they are mentioned by Archilochus, who speaks in this manner:—
Was very sour and thin, so that I felt
Ashamed to see it; for all other farms
In the adjacent region bear the figs
Ycleped Oxalian; and mine bears vines.
Never mind Paros, and the figs which growBut these figs are as far superior to the ordinary run of figs which are grown in other places as the meat of the wild boar is superior to that of all other animals of the swine tribe which are not wild.
Within that marble island, and the life
Of its seafaring islanders.
The λευκερινεὸς is a kind of fig-tree; and perhaps it is that kind which produces the white figs; Hermippus mentions it in his Iambics, in these terms—
There are besides the Leucerinean figs.And the figs called ἐρινεοὶ, or ἐρινοῖ, are mentioned by Euripides in his “Sciron”—
Or else to fasten him on the erinean boughs.And Epicharmus says, in his Sphinx,—
But these are not like the erinean figs.And Sophocles, in his play entitled “The Wedding of Helen,” by a sort of metaphor, calls the fruit itself by the name of the tree; saying—
A ripe ἐρινὸς is a useless thingAnd he uses the masculine gender here, saying πέπων ἔρινος, instead of πέπον ἔρινον. Alexis also says in his “Caldron”—
For food, and yet you ripen others by
Your conversation.
And why now need we speak of people whoNow the tree, the wild fig, from which the fruit meant by the term ἔρινα comes, is called ἐρινὸς, being a masculine noun. Strattis says, in his Troilus—
Sell every day their figs in close pack'd baskets,
And constantly do place those figs below
Which are hard and bad; but on top they range
The ripe and beautiful fruit. And then a comrade,
As if he'd bought the basket, gives the price;
The seller, putting in his mouth the coin,
Sells wild figs (ἔρινα) while he swears he's selling good ones.
Have you not perceived a wild fig-tree near her?[p. 129] And Homer says—
There stands a large wild fig-tree flourishing with leaves.And Amerias says, that the figs on the wild fig-trees are called ἐρίνακαι.
Hermonax, in his book on the Cretan Languages, gives a catalogue of the different kinds of figs, and speaks of some as ἁμάδεα and as νικύλεα; and Philemon, in his book on Attic Dialects, says, that some figs are called royals, from which also the dried figs are called βασιλίδες, or royal; stating besides, that the ripe figs are called κόλυτρα. Seleucus, too, in his Book on Dialects, says that there is a fruit called γλυκυσίδη, being exceedingly like a fig in shape: and that women guard against eating them, because of their evil effects; as also Plato the comic writer says, in his Cleophon. And Pamphilus says, that the winter figs are called Cydonæa by the Achæans, saying, that Aristophanes said the very same thing in his Lacedæmonian Dialects. Hermippus, in his Soldiers, says that there is a kind of fig called Coracean, using these words—
Either Phibalean figs, or Coracean.Theophrastus, in the second book of his treatise on Plants, says that there is a sort of fig called Charitian Aratean. And in his third book he says, that in the district around the Trojan Ida, there is a sort of fig growing in a low bush, having a leaf like that of the linden-tree; and that it bears red figs, about the size of an olive, but rounder, and in its taste like a medlar. And concerning the fig which is called in Crete the Cyprian fig, the same Theophrastus, in his fourth book of his History of Plants, writes as follows:— "The fig called in Crete the Cyprian fig, bears fruit from its stalk, and from its stoutest branches; and it sends forth a small leafless shoot, like a little root, attached to which is the fruit. The trunk is large, and very like that of the white poplar, and its leaf is like that of the elm. And it produces four fruits, according to the number of the shoots which it puts forth. Its sweetness resembles that of the common fig; and within it resembles the wild fig: but in size it is about equal to the cuckoo-apple.
Again, of the figs called prodromi, or precocious the same Theophrastus makes mention in the third book of his Causes of Plants, in this way—“When a warm and damp and soft [p. 130] air comes to the fig-tree, then it excites the germination, from which the figs are called prodromi.” And proceeding further, he says—“And again, some trees bear the prodromi, namely, the Lacedæmonian fig-tree, and the leucomphaliac, and several others; but some do not bear them.” But Seleucus, in his book on Languages, says that there is a kind of fig called προτερικὴ, which bears very early fruit. And Aristophanes, in his Ecclesiazusæ, speaks of a double-bearing fig-tree—
Take for a while the fig-tree's leavesAnd Antiphanes says, in his Scleriæ—
Which bears its crop twice in the year.
'Tis by the double-bearing fig-tree there below.But Theopompus, in the fifty-fourth book of his Histories, says—“At the time when Philip reigned about the territory of the Bisaltæ, and Amphipolis and Græstonia of Macedon, when it was the middle of spring, the fig-trees were loaded with figs, and the vines with bunches of grapes, and the olive-trees, though it was only the season for them to be just pushing, were full of olives. And Philip was successful in all his undertakings.” But in the second book of his treatise on Plants, Theophrastus says that the wild fig also is double-bearing; and some say that it bears even three crops in the year, as for instance, at Ceos.
Theophrastus also says, that the fig-tree if planted among squills grows up faster, and is not so liable to be destroyed by worms: and, in fact, that everything which is planted among squills both grows faster and is more sure to be vigorous. And in a subsequent passage Theophrastus says, in the second book of his Causes—“The fig called the Indian fig, though it is a tree of a wonderful size, bears a very small fruit; and not much of it; as if it had expended all its strength in making wood.” And in the second book of his History of Plants, the philosopher says—“There is also another kind of fig in Greece, and in Cilicia and Cyprus, which bears green figs; and that tree bears a real fig, σῦκον, in front of the leaf, and a green fig, ὄλυνθος, behind the leaf. And these green figs grow wholly on the wood which is a year old, and not on the new wood.” And this kind of fig-tree produces the green fig ripe and sweet, very different from the green fig which we have; and it grows to a much greater size than the genuine fig. And the time when it is in season is not long [p. 131] after the tree has made its wood. And I know, too, that there are many other names of fig-trees; there are the Royal, and the Fig Royal, and the Cirrocæladian, and the Hyladian, and the Deerflesh, and the Lapyrian, and the Subbitter, and the Dragon-headed, and the White-faced, and the lack-faced, and the Fountain fig, and the Mylaic, and the Asclonian.
Tryphon also speaks of the names of figs in the second book of his History of Plants, and says that Dorion states, in his book of the Farm, that Sukeas, one of the Titans, being pursued by Jupiter, was received in her bosom as in an asylum by his mother Earth; and that the earth sent forth that plant as a place of refuge for her son; from whom also the city Sukea in Cilicia has its name. But Pherenicus the epic poet, a Heraclean by birth, says that the fig-tree (συκῆ) is so called from Suke the daughter of Oxylus: for that Oxylus the son of Orius, having intrigued with his sister Hamadryas, had several children, and among them Carya (the nut-tree), Balanus (the acorn-bearing oak), Craneus (the cornel-tree), Orea (the ash), Aegeirus (the poplar), Ptelea (the elm), Am- pelus (the vine), Suke (the fig-tree): and that these daughters were all called the Hamadryad Nymphs; and that from them many of the trees were named. On which account Hipponax says—
The fig-tree black, the sister of the vine.And Sosibius the Lacedæmonian, after stating that the fig-tree was the discovery of Bacchus, says that on this account the Lacedæmonians worship Bacchus Sukites. But the people of Naxus, as Andriscus and Aglaosthenes related, state that Bacchus is called Meilichius, because of his gift of the fruit of the fig-tree: and that on this account the face of the god whom they call Bacchus Dionysus is like a vine, and that of the god called Bacchus Meilichius is like a fig. For figs are called μείλιχα by the Naxians.
Now that the fig is the most useful to man of all the fruits which grow upon trees is sufficiently shown by Herodotus the Lycian, who urges this point at great length, in his treatise on Figs. For he says that young children grow to a great size if they are fed on the juice of figs. And Pherecrates, who wrote the Persæ, says—
If any one of us, after absence, sees a fig,[p. 132] as if there were no ordinary medicinal power in the fig. And Herodotus, the most wonderful and sweet of all writers, says in the first book of his Histories, that figs are of the greatest good, speaking thus:—“O king, you are preparing to make war upon men of this character, who wear breeches of leather, and all the rest of their garments are made of leather; and they eat not whatever they fancy, but what they have, since they have but a rough country; moreover they do not, by Jove, use wine, but they drink water; they have no figs to eat, nor any other good thing.” And Polybius of Megalopolis, in the twelfth book of his Histories, says—“Philip, the father of Perseus, when he overran Asia, being in want of provisions, took figs for his soldiers from the Magnesians, as they had no corn. On which account, too, when he became master of Myus, he gave that place to the Magnesians in return for their figs.” And Ananius, the writer of Iambics, says—
He will apply it like a plaster to his children's eyes:
He who should shut up gold within his house,
And a few figs, and two or three men,
Would see how far the figs surpass the gold.
And when Magnus had said all this about figs, Daphnus the physician said: Philotimus, in the third book of his treatise on Figs, says, "There is a great deal of difference between the various kinds of figs when fresh; both in their sorts, and in the times when each is in season, and in their effects; not but what one may lay down some general rules, and say that the juicy ones and those which are full ripe are quickly dissolved and are digested more easily than any other fruit whatever, nor do they interfere with the digestion of other sorts of food; and they have the ordinary properties of all juicy food, being glutinous and sweet, and slightly nitrous in taste. And they make the evacuations more copious and fluid, and rapid and wholly free from discomfort; and they also diffuse a saltish juice, having a good deal of harshness, when they are combined with anything at all salt. They are very quickly dissolved by the digestion, because, though many heavy things may be taken into the stomach, we still after a short time feel as if we had become excessively empty: but this could not have happened if the figs had remained in the stomach, and were not immediately dissolved. And figs are dissolved more easily than any other [p. 133] fruit; as is proved not only by the fact that though we eat a great many times as great a quantity of figs as of all other fruits put together, we still never feel inconvenienced by them; and even if we eat a quantity of figs before dinner, and then eat as much of other things as if we had never touched them, we still feel no discomfort. It is plain, therefore, that if we can manage both them and the rest of our food, they must be easily digested; and that is why they do not interfere with the digestion of the rest of our food. “Figs, then, have the qualities which I have mentioned. That they are glutinous and rather salt is proved by their being sticky and cleansing the hands; and we see ourselves that they are sweet in the mouth. And it certainly needs no arguments to prove that our evacuations after eating them take place without any convulsions or trouble, and that they are more numerous and more rapid and more easy in consequence. And they do not go through any great decomposition in the stomach, which arises not from their being indigestible, but because we drink while eating them, without waiting for the action of the stomach to soften them, and also because they pass through the stomach so quickly. And they generate a salt juice in the stomach, because it has been already shown that they contain something of nitre in them: and they will make that food taste rather salt and harsh which is combined with them. For salt increases the briny taste of anything, but vinegar and thyme increase the harsh qualities of food.”
Now Heraclides the Tarentine asks this question; “Whether it is best to drink warm water or cold after the eating of figs?”And he says, that those who recommend the drinking of cold water do so because they have an eye to such a fact as this,—that warm water cleanses one's hands more quickly than cold; on which account it is reasonable to believe that food in the stomach will be quickly washed away by warm water. And with respect to figs which are not eaten, warm water dissolves their consistency and connexion, and separates them into small pieces; but cold coagultes and consolidates them. But those who recommend the drinking of cold water say, the taking of cold water bears down by its own weight the things which are heavy on the stomach; (for figs do not do any extraordinary good to the stomach, since they [p. 134] heat it and destroy its tone; on which account some people always drink neat wine after them;) and then too it quickly expels what is already in the stomach. But after eating figs, it is desirable to take an abundant and immediate draught of something or other; in order to prevent those things from remaining in the stomach, and to move them into the lower parts of the bowels.
Others however say, that it is not a good thing to eat figs at midday; for that at that time they are apt to engender diseases, as Pherecrates has said in his Crapatalli. And Aristophanes, in his Proagon, says—
But once seeing him when he was sick in the summer,And Eubulus says, in his Sphingocarion—
In order to be sick too himself, eat figs at midday.
No doubt it was; for I was sick, my friend,And Nicophon says, in the Sirens—
From eating lately figs one day at noon.
But if a man should eat green figs at noon,
And then go off to sleep; immediately
A galloping fever comes on him, accursed,
And falling on him brings up much black bile.
Diphilus of Siphnos says, that of figs some are tender, and not very nutritious, but full of bad juice, nevertheless easily secreted, and rising easily to the surface; and that these are more easily managed than the dry figs; but that those which are in season in the winter, being ripened by artificial means, are very inferior: but that the best are those which are ripe at the height of the summer, as being ripened naturally; and these have a great deal of juice; and those which are not so juicy are still good for the stomach, though somewhat heavy. And the figs of Tralles are like the Rhodian: and the Chian, and all the rest, appear to be inferior to these, both in the quality and quantity of their juice. But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Eatables, says— “But with respect to whatever of these fruits are eaten raw, such as pears, and figs, and Delphic apples, and such fruits, one ought to watch the opportunity when they will have the juice which they contain, neither unripe on the one hand, nor tainted on the other; nor too much dried up by the season.” But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the fifteenth book of the Trojan Preparation, says, that those who never eat figs have [p. 135] the best voices. At all events, he says, that Hegesianax the Alexandrian, who wrote the Histories, was originally a man with a very weak voice, and that he became a tragedian and a fine actor, and a man with a fine voice, by abstaining from figs for eighteen years together. And I know too that there are some proverbs going about concerning figs, of which the following are samples:—
Figs after fish, vegetables after meat.
Figs are agreeable to birds, but they do not choose to plant them.
Apples are an universal fruit. Mnesitheus the Athe- nian, in his treatise on Eatables, calls them Delphian apples; but Diphilus says, that “those apples which are green and which are not yet ripe, are full of bad juice, and are bad for the stomach; but are apt to rise to the surface, and also to engender bile; and they give rise to diseases, and produce sensations of shuddering. But of ripe apples, he says, that the sweet ones are those with most juice, and that they are the most easily secreted, because they have no great inflammatory qualities. But that sharp apples have a more disagreeable and mischievous juice, and are more astringent. And that those which have less sweetness are still pleasant to the palate when eaten; and, on account of their having some strengthening qualities, are better for the stomach. And moreover, that of this fruit those which are in season in the summer have a juice inferior to the others; but those which are ripe in the autumn have the better juice. And that those which are called ὀρβίκλατα, have a good deal of sweetness combined with their invigorating properties, and are very good for the stomach. But those which are called σητάνια, and also those which are called πλατώνια, are full of good juice, and are easily secreted, but are not good for the stomach. But those which are called Mordianian are very excellent, being produced in Apollonia, which is called Mordius; and they are like those which are called ὀρβίκλατα, But the Cydonian apples, or quinces, some of which are called στρούθια, are, as a general rule, better for the stomach than any other kind of apple, most especially when they are full ripe.” But Glaucides asserts that the best of all fruits which grow upon trees are the Cydonian apples, and those which are called phaulia, and strouthia. And Philotimus, in his third [p. 136] book, and also in his tenth book of his treatise on Food, says— "Of apples, those which come in season in spring are by far more indigestible than pears, whether they are both unripe, or whether they are both ripe. But they have the properties of juicy fruits; the sharp apples, and those which are not yet ripe, resembling those pears which have a harsher taste and which are in a certain degree sour; and they diffuse over the body a juice which is said to be corrosive. And, as a general rule, apples are not so digestible as pears; on which account those who are less addicted to eating them are less troubled with indigestions, and those who are most fond of them are the most liable to such inconvenience. But, as I said before, a corrosive juice is engendered by them, as is stated by Praxagoras, and as is shown by the fact that those things which are not digested will have the juice thicker. (And I have already said that, as a general rule, apples are less digestible than pears.) And the harsh and sour apples are in the habit of engendering thicker juices. But of those apples which are in season in the winter, the Cydonian give out the more bitter juices, and those called strouthian give out juice more sparingly; though what they do give out is not so harsh tasted, and is more digestible." But Nicander of Thyatira says, that the Cydonian apples themselves are called στρούθεια; but he says this out of ignorance. For Glaucides asserts plainly enough that the best of all fruits which grow on trees are the Cydonian apples and those called phaulian and strouthian.
Stesichorus also mentions the Cydonian apples, in his Helena, speaking thus:
Before the king's most honour'd throne,Alcman mentions them too. And Cantharus does so like- wise, in the Tereus; where he says—
I threw Cydonian apples down;
And leaves of myrrh, and crowns of roses,
And violets in purple posies.
Likening her bosom to Cydonian apples.And Philemon, in his Clown, calls Cydonian apples strouthia. And Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that apples by their sweet fragrance can blunt the efficacy of even deadly poisons. At all events, he says, that some Phariacan poison having been cast into a chest still smelling from [p. 137] having had some of these apples stored away in it, lost all its effect, and preserved none of its former power, but was mixed and given to some people who were plotted against, but that they escaped all harm. And that afterwards it was ascertained, by an investigation and examination of the man who had sold the poison; and that he felt sure that it arose from the fact of the apples having been put away in the chest.
Hermon, in his Cretan Dialects, says that Cydonian apples are called κοδύμαλα. But Polemo, in the fifth book of the treatise against Timæus, says that some people affirm that the κοδύμαλον is a kind of flower. But Alcman asserts that it is the same as the στρούθιον apple, when he says, “less than a κοδύμαλον.” And Apollodorus and Sosibius understand the Cydonian apple by κοδύμαλον. But that the Cydonian apple differs from the στρούθιον, Theophrastus has asserted clearly enough in the second book of his History. Moreover, there are excellent apples grown at Sidus, (that is, a village in the Corinthian territory,) as Euphorion or Archytas says, in the poem called “The Crane:” —
Like a beautiful apple which is grown on the clayey banksAnd Nicander mentions them in his Transformed, in this manner:—
Of the little Sidus, refulgent with purple colour.
And immediately, from the gardens of Sidoeis or PleistusAnd that Sidus is a village of the Corinthian territory, Rhianus assures us, in the first book of the Heraclea; and Apollodorus the Athenian confirms it, in the fifth book On the Catalogue of the Ships. But Antigonus the Carystian says, in his Antipater—
He cut green apples, and imitated the appearance of Cadmus.
More dear to me was he than downy apples
Of purple hue, in lofty Corinth growing.
And Teleclides mentions the Phaulian apples, in his Amphictyons, in these terms:—
O men, in some things neat, but yet in othersAnd Theopompus also speaks of them, in the Theseus. But Androtion, in his Book of the Farm, says, that some apple-trees are called φαύλιαι, and others στρούθιαι; “for,” says he, “the apple does not fall from the footstalk of the strouthian apple-tree.” And that others are called spring-trees, or Lace- [p. 138] dæmonian, or Siduntian, or woolly. But I, my friends, admire above all others the apples which are sold at Rome, which are called the Mattianian; and which are said to be brought from a certain village situated on the Alps near Aquileia. And the apples which grow at Gangra, a city of Paphlagonia, are not much inferior to them. But that Bacchus was the discoverer of the apple we have the testimony of Theocritus the Syracusan, who writes thus:—
More fallen than phaulian apples!
Guarding the apples in the bosom of Bacchus;But Neoptolemus the Parian testifies himself, in his Dionysias, that the apple was discovered by Bacchus, as were all other fruits which grow on trees. There is a fruit called epimelis; which is, says Pamphilus, a description of pear. But Timachides asserts, in the fourth book of The Banquet, that it is an apple, the same as that called the apple of the Hesperides. And Pamphilus asserts that at Lacedæmon they are set before the gods; and that they have a sweet smell, but are not very good to eat; and are called the apples of the Hesperides. At all events, Aristocrates, in the fourth book of his Affairs of Lacedæmon, says, “And besides that apples, and those which are called Hesperides.”
And having on his head a poplar garland,
The silv'ry tree, sacred to Theban Hercules.
Walnuts are next to be mentioned.—Theophrastus, in the second book of his History of Plants, speaking of those whose fruit is not visible, says this among other things:— “Since the beginning of all the greater fruits is visible, as of the almond, the nut, the date, and other fruits of the same kind; except the walnut, in which that is not at all the case; and with the exception also of the pomegranate and of the female pear.” But Diphilus of Siphnos, in his book about What should be eaten by People when Sick and by People in Health," says—“The fruit called the Persian apple or peach, and by some the Persian cuckoo-apple, is moderately juicy, but is more nutritious than apples.” But Philotimus, in the second and third books of his treatise on Food, says that the Persian nut or walnut is more oily and like millet, and that being a looser fruit, when it is pressed it yields a great quantity of oil. But Aristophanes the grammarian, in his Lacedæmonian Dialects, says that the Lacedæmonians call the cuckoo-apples Persian bitter apples; and that some people call them ἄδρυα. [p. 139]
The Citron was next mentioned.—And with respect to this fruit there was a great discussion among the Deipnosophists, as to whether there is any mention made of it by the ancients. For Myrtilus said, proposing, as it were, to send us who made the inquiry to feed among the wild goats, that Hegesander the Delphian, in his Memorials, does make mention of this fruit; but that he did not recollect the exact words: and Plutarch, contradicting him, said,—But I indeed contend, that Hegesander never mentions the citron at all, for I read through the whole of his Memorials for the express purpose of seeing whether he did or no; since some other of our companions also asserted positively that he did, trusting to some scholastic commentaries of a man whom he considered respectable enough. So that it is time for you, my good friend Myrtilus, to seek for some other witness. But Aemilianus said, that Jobas the king of the Mauritanians, a man of the most extensive learning, in his History of Libya, does mention the citron, saying that it is called among the Libyans the Hesperian apple, and that they were citrons which Hercules carried into Greece, and which obtained the name of golden apples on account of their colour and appearance. But the fruit which is called the apples of the Hesperides, is said to have been produced by Terra, on the occasion of the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, according to the statement of Asclepiades, in the sixtieth book of his History of the Affairs of Egypt. On this, Democritus, looking towards the speakers, said,—If, indeed, Jobas asserts any of these things, let him take pleasure in his Libyan books, and in the nonsense of Hanno. But I repeat the assertion, that the name citron does not occur in the old authors. But the fruit which is described by Theophrastus the Eresian, in his Histories of Plants, is described in such a manner as to compel me to believe that he intended the citron by what he said.
For that philosopher says, in the fourth book of his History of Plants—“The Median territory, and like wise the Persian, has many other productions, and also the Perian or Median apple. Now, that tree has a leaf very like and almost exactly the same as that of the bay-tree, the arbutus, or the nut: and it has thorns like the prickly-pear, or blackthorn, smooth but very sharp and strong. And the fruit is not good to eat, but is very fragrant, and so too are [p. 140] the leaves of the tree. And if any one puts one of the fruits among his clothes, it keeps them from the moth. And it is useful when any one has taken poison injurious to life; for when given in wine it produces a strong effect on the bowels, and draws out the poison. It is serviceable also in the way of making the breath sweet; for if any one boils the inner part of the fruit in broth or in anything else, and then presses it in his mouth and swallows it, it makes his breath smell sweet. And the seed is taken out and is sown in spring in square beds, being very carefully cultivated; and then it is watered every fourth or fifth day; and when it has grown up it is again transplanted the next spring into a place where the ground is soft, and well-watered, and not very thin. And it bears fruit every year; some of which are fit to be gathered, and some are in flower, and some are becoming ripe at the same time. And those of the flowers which have a stem like a distaff projecting out of the centre are sure to produce good seed; but those which have no such stem are unproductive.” And in the first book of the same treatise he says the same thing about the distaff, and about the flowers which are productive. And I am induced by these things, my mates, and by what Theophrastus says of the colour and smell and leaves of the fruit, to believe that the fruit meant by him is the citron; and let no one of you marvel if he says that it is not good to eat; since until the time of our grandfathers no one was used to eat it, but they put it away as a treasure in their chests along with their clothes.
But that this plant really did come from that upper country into Greece, one may find asserted in the works of the Comic poets, who, speaking of its size, appear to point out the citron plainly enough. Antiphanes says, in his Bœotian—
A. 'Tis silly to say a word about roast meat[p. 141] And Eriphus, in his Melibœa, quotes these selfsame Iambics of Antiphanes, and then proceeds in his own words:—
To men who're ne'er content. But now, my girl,
Just take these apples.
B. They are fine to look at.
A. Indeed they are, and good too, O ye gods!
For this seed has arrived not long ago
In Athens, coming from the mighty king.
B. I thought it came from the Hesperides;
For there they say the golden apples grow.
A. They have but three.
B. That which is very beautiful
Is rare in every place, and so is dear.
B. I thought, I swear by Dian, that they cameAnd if any one is able to contradict this, and to show that these descriptions are not meant to apply to the fruit which we now call the citron, let him bring forward some clearer testimonies.
From out the garden of the Hesperides,
For they, they say, do keep the golden apples.
A. They have but three.
B. That which is very beautiful
Is rare in every place, and so is dear.
A. I'll sell you these now for a single penny,
And even that I'll put down in the bill.
B. Are they not pomegranates? how fine they are!
A. Fine! yes—they say that Venus did herself
Plant this the parent tree in Cyprus, where it stands.
Take it, my dear Berbeias.
B. Thank you kindly.
A. Take also these three; they are all I had.
However, Phænias the Eresian compels us to entertain the idea that, perhaps, the name may be meant for cedron, as from the cedar-tree. For, in the fifth book of his treatise on Plants, he says that the cedar has thorns around its leaves; and that the same is the case with the citron is visible to everybody. But that the citron when eaten before any kind of food, whether dry or moist, is an antidote to all injurious effects, I am quite certain, having had that fact fully proved to me by my fellow-citizen, who was entrusted with the government of Egypt. He had condemned some men to be given to wild beasts, as having been convicted of being malefactors, and such men he said were only fit to be given to beasts. And as they were going into the theatre appropriated to the punishment of robbers, a woman who was selling fruit by the wayside gave them out of pity some of the citron which she herself was eating, and they took it and ate it, and after a little while, being exposed to some enormous and savage beasts, and bitten by asps, they suffered no injury. At which the governor was mightily astonished. And at last, examining the soldier who had charge of them, whether they had eaten or drunk anything, when he learnt of him that some citron had been given to them without any evil design; on the next day he ordered some citron to be given o some of them again, and others to have none given to them And [p. 142] those who eat the citron, though they were bitten, received no injury, but the others died immediately on being bitten. And this result being proved by repeated experiments, it was found that citron was an antidote to all sorts of pernicious poison. But if any one boils a whole citron with its seed in Attic honey, it is dissolved in the honey, and he who takes two or three mouthfuls of it early in the morning will never experience any evil effects from poison.
Now if any one disbelieves this, let him learn from Theopompus the Chian, a man of the strictest truth and who expended a great deal of money on the most accurate investigation of matters to be spoken of in his History. For he says, in the thirty-eighth book of his History, while giving an account of Clearchus, the tyrant of the Heracleans who were in Pontus, that he seized violently upon a number of people and gave a great many of them hemlock to drink.—“And as,” says he, “they all knew that he was in the habit of compelling them to pledge him in this liquor, they never left their homes without first eating rue: for people who have eaten this beforehand take no harm from drinking aconite,— a poison which, they say, has its name from growing in a place called Aconæ, which is not far from Heraclea.” When Democritus had said this they all marvelled at the efficacy of citron, and most of them ate it, as if they had had nothing to eat or drink before. But Pamphilus, in his Dialects, says that the Romans call it not κίτριον, but κίτρον.
And after the viands which have been mentioned there were then brought unto us separately some large dishes of oysters, and other shell-fish, nearly all of which have been thought by Epicharmus worthy of being celebrated in his play of the Marriage of Hebe, in these words:—
Come, now, bring all kinds of shell-fish;[p. 143]
Lepades, aspedi, crabyzi, strabeli, cecibali,
Tethunachia, balani, porphyryæ, and oysters with closed shells,
Which are very difficult to open, but very easy to eat;
And mussels, and anaritæ, and ceryces, and sciphydria,
Which are very sweet to eat, but very prickly to touch;
And also the oblong solens. And bring too the black
Cockle, which keeps the cockle-hunter on the stretch.
Then too there are other cockles, and sand-eels,
And periwinkles, unproductive fish,
Which men entitle banishers of men,
But which we gods call white and beautiful.
And in the Muses it is written—
There is the cockle, which we call the tells;Perhaps he means that fish which is called the tellina, and which the Romans call the mitlus,—a fish which Aristophanes the grammarian names in his treatise on the Broken Scytale, and says that the lepas is a fish like that which is called the tellina. But Callias of Mitylene, in his discussion of the Limpet in Alcæus, says that there is an ode in Alcæus of which the beginning is—
Believe me, that is most delicious meat.
O child of the rock, and of the hoary sea;and at the end of it there is the line—
Of all limpets the sea-limpet most relaxes the mind.But Aristophanes writes the line with the word tortoise instead of limpet. And he says that Dicearchus made a great blunder when he interpreted the line of limpets; and that the children when they get them in their mouths sing and play with them, just as idle boys among us do with the fish which we call tellina. And so, too, Sopater, the compiler of Comicalities, says in his drama which is entitled the Eubulotheombrotus:—
But stop, for suddenly a certain soundAnd in another place Epicharmus, in his Pyrrha and Prometheus, says—
Of the melodious tellina strikes my ears.
Just look now at this tellina, and beholdAnd in Sophron cockles are called melœnides.
This periwinkle and this splendid limpet.
For now melænides will come to us,And in the play which is called “The Clown and the Fisherman,” they are called the cherambe. And Archilochus also mentions the cherambe: and Ibycus mentions the periwinkle. And the periwinkle is called both ἀναρίτης and ἀνάρτας. And the shell being something like that of a cockle, it sticks to the rocks, just as limpets do. But Herodas, in his Coadjutrixes, says—
Sent from a narrow harbour.
Sticking to the rocks as a periwinkle.And Aeschylus, in his Persæ, says—
Who has plunder'd the islands producing the periwinkle?[p. 144]
And Homer makes mention of the oyster.
Diodes the Carystian, in his treatise on the Whole- somes, says that the best of all shell-fish, as aperient and diuretic food, are mussels, oysters, scallops, and cockles. And Archippus says, in his poem called “Fishes,” —
With limpets and sea-urchins and escharæ,And Diocles says that the strongest of all shell-fish are cockles, purple-fish, and ceryces. But concerning ceryces Archippus says this—
And with periwinkles and cockles.
The ceryx, ocean's nursling, child of purple.But Speusippus, in the second book of his Similarities, says that ceryces, purple-fish, strabeli, and cockles, are all very nearly alike. And Sophocles makes mention of the shellfish called strabeli in his Camici, in these words:—
Come now, my son, and look if we may findAnd again Speusippus enumerates separately in regular order the cockle, the periwinkle, the mussel, the pinna, the solens; and in another place he speaks of oysters and limpets. And Araros says, in his Campylion—
Some of the nice strabelus, ocean's child.
These now are most undoubted delicacies,And Sophron says, in his Mimi—
Cockles and solens; and the crooked locusts
Spring forth in haste like dolphins.
A. What are these long cockles, O my friend,And Cratinus also speaks of the pinna in his Archilochi—
Which you do think so much of?
B. Solens, to be sure.
This too is the sweet-flesh'd cockle, dainty food,
The dish much loved by widows.
She indeed like pinnas and sea oysters.And Philyllius, or Eunicus, or Aristophanes, in the Cities, says—
A little polypus, or a small cuttle-fish,But Agiastos, and Dercylus, in his Argolici, call the strabeli ἀστράβηλοι; speaking of them as suitable to play upon like a trumpet. [p. 145]
A crab, a crawfish, oysters, cockles,
Limpets and solens, mussels and pinnas;
Periwinkles too, from Mitylene take;
Let us have two sprats, and mullet, ling,
And conger-eel, and perch, and black fish.
But you may find cockles spoken of both in the masculine and feminine gender. Aristophanes says, in his Babylonians—
They all gaped on each other, and were likeAnd Teleclides, in his Hesiodi, says, “Open a cocle (κόγχη);” and Sophron, in his Actresses, says—
To cockles (κόγχαι) roasted on the coals.
And then the cockles (κόγχαι) as at one comma dBut Aeschylus uses the word κόγχος in the masculine gender, in his Glaucus Pontius, and says—
All yawned on us, and each display'd its flesh.
Cockles (κόγχοι) muscles, oysters.And Aristonymus, in his Theseus, says—
There was a cockle (κόγχος) and other fish too drawn from the seaAnd Phrynichus uses the word in the same way in his Satyrs. But Icesius, the Erasistratean, says that some cockles are rough, and some royal; and that the rough have a disagreeable juice, and afford but little nourishment, and are easily digested; and that people who are hunting for the purple-fish use them as bait: but of the smooth ones those are best which are the largest, in exact proportion to their size. And Hegesander, in his Memorials, says that the rough cockles are called by the Macedonians coryci, but by the Athenians crii.
At the same time, and by the same net.
Now Icesius says that limpets are more digestible than those shell-fish which have been already mentioned; but that oysters are not so nutritious as limpets, and are filling, but nevertheless are more digestible. But of mussels, the Ephesian ones, and those which resemble them, are, as to their juicy qualities, superior to the periwinkles, but inferior to the cockles; but they have more effect as diuretics than as aperients. But some of them are like squills, with a very disagreeable juice, and with put any flavour; but there is a kind which is smaller than they are, and which are rough outside, which are more diuretic, and full of a more pleasant juice than the kind which resembles squills: but they are less nutritious, by reason of their sizes, and also because their nature is inferior. But the necks of [p. 146] the ceryces are exceedingly good for the stomach, and are not so nutritious as mussels and cockles and periwinkles; but for people who have a weak stomach, and who do not easily expel the food into the cavity of the bowels, they are useful, inasmuch as they do not easily turn on the stomach. For those things which are confessedly digestible are, on the contrary, very unwholesome for people of such a constitution, being very easily inclined to turn on the stomach, because they are tender and easily dissolved. On which account the bags containing their entrails are not suited to vigorous stomachs, but they are very good for those whose bowels are in a weak state. But what are more nutritious than the others, and far nicer in taste, are the entrails of the purple-fish; though they certainly are somewhat like the squill. For indeed all shellfish are of the same character; but the purple-fish and the solen have this peculiar characteristic, that if they are boiled they yield a thick juice. But the necks of the purple-fish, when boiled by themselves, are exceedingly good for bringing the stomach into a good condition. And Posidippus speaks of them in his Locrians in these terms:—
It is time now to eat eels and crabs,
Cockles, and fresh sea-urchins, and fish sounds,
And pinnas, and the necks of fish, and mussels.
Balani, if they are of the larger sort, are easily digested, and are good for the stomach. But otaria (and they are produced in the island called Pharos, which is close to Alexandria) are more nutritious than any of the before-mentioned fish, but they are not easily secreted. But Antigonus the Carystian, in his book upon Language, says that this kind of oyster is called by the Aeolians the Ear of Venus. Pholades are very nutritious, but they have a disagreeable smell; but common oysters are very like all these sorts of shell-fish, and are more nutritious. There are also some kinds which are called wild oysters; and they are very nutritious, but they have not a good smell, and moreover they have a very indifferent flavour. But Aristotle, in his treatise about Animals, says, "Oysters are of all the following kinds: there are the pinna, the mussel, the oyster, the cteis, the solen, the cockle, the limpet, the small oyster, the balanus. And of migratory fish there are the purple-fish, the sweet purple-fish, the sea-urchin, the strobelus. Now the cteis has a rough shell, marked in streaks; [p. 147] but the oyster has no streaks, and a smooth shell. The pinna has a smooth mouth; but the large oyster has a vide mouth, and is bivalve, and has a smooth shell. But the limpet is univalve, and has a smooth shell; and the mussel has a united shell. The solen and balanus are univalve, and have a smooth shell; and the cockle is a mixture of both kinds. Epænetus also says, in his Cookery Book, that the interior part of the pinna is called mecon. But in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, Aristotle says, “The purple-fish are born about spring, and the ceryces at the end of the winter. And altogether,” says he, “all shell-fish appear in the spring to have what are called eggs; and in the autumn, too, except those kinds of sea-urchins which are good to eat. And these fish indeed have eggs in the greatest number at those seasons, but they are never without them; and they have them in the greatest numbers at the time of full moon, and in the warm weather, with the exception of those fish which are found in the Euripus of the Pyrrhæans; for they are best in the winter, and they are small, but full of eggs. And nearly all the cockle tribe appear to breed in like manner at about the same season.”
And continuing the subject, the philosopher says again, “The purple-fish therefore being all collected together in the spring at the same place, make what is called melicera. And that is something like honeycomb, but not indeed so elegant, but it is as if a great number of the husks of white vetches were fastened together; and there is no open passage in any of them: nor are the purple-fish born of this melicera, but they, and nearly all other shell-fish, are produced Of mud and putrefaction; and this is, as it were, a kind of purification both for them and for the purple-fish, for they too make this melicera. And when they begin to make it, they emit a sort of sticky mass, from which those things grow which resemble husks. All these are eventually separated, and they drop blood on the ground. And in the place where hey do so, there are myriads of little purple-fish born, adhering to one another in the ground, and the old purple-fish are caught while carrying them. And if they are caught before they have produced their young, they sometimes produce them in the very pots in which they are caught when collected together in them, and the young look like a bunch of grapes. [p. 148] And there are many different kinds of purple-fish; and some of them are of large size, like those which are found near Segeum and near Lesteum; and some are small, like those which are found in the Euripus, and around Caria. And those in the gulfs are large and rough, and most of them are of a black colour, but some of them are rather red; and some of the large ones even weigh a mina. But those which are found on the shore and around the coasts are of no great size, but are of a red colour: and again, those in the waters exposed to the north wind are black, and those in the waters exposed to the south wind are generally red.”
But Apollodorus the Athenian, in his Commentaries on Sophron, having first quoted the saying, “More greedy than a purple-fish,” says that it is a proverb, and that some say that it applies to the dye of purple; for that whatever that dye touches it attracts to itself, and that it imbues everything which is placed near it with the brilliancy of its colour: but others say that it applies to the animal. “And they are caught,” says Aristotle, "in the spring; but they are not caught during the dog-days, for then they do not feed, but conceal themselves and bury themselves in holes; and they have a mark like a flower on them between the belly and the throat. The fish called the ceryx has a covering of nearly the same sort as all the other animals of the snail kind from its earliest birth; and they feed by putting out what we call their shell from under this covering. And the purple-fish has a tongue of the size of a finger or larger, by which it feeds; and it pierces even shell-fish, and can pierce its own shell. But the purple-fish is very long-lived; and so is the ceryx: they live about six years, and their growth is known by the rings in their shell. But cockles, and cheme-cockles, and solens, and periwinkles, are born in sandy places.
But the pinnæ spring from the bottom of the sea. And they have with them a fish called the pinnophylax, or guard of the pinna, which some call καρίδιος, and others καρκίνιος; and if they lose him, they are soon destroyed. But Pamphilus the Alexandrian, in his treatise on Names, says that he is born at the same time with the pinna. But Chrysippus the Solensian, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Beautiful and Pleasure, says, “The pinna and the guard of the pinna assist one another, not being able to remain apart. [p. 149] Now the pinna is a kind of oyster, but the guard of the pinna is a small crab: and the pinna having opened its shell, remains quiet, watching the fish who are coming towards it; but the guard of the pinna, standing by when anything comes near, bites the pinna, so as to give it a sort of sign; and the pinna being bitten, closes its shell, and in this manner the two share together what is caught inside the pinna's shell. But some say that the guard is born at the same time as the pinna, and that they originate in one seed.” And again, Aristotle says, “All the fish of the oyster kind are generated in the mud,—oysters in slimy mud, cockles in sandy mud, and so on; but the small oyster and the balanus, and other fish which come near the surface, such as limpets and periwinkles, are born in the fissures of the rocks. And some fish which have not shells are born in the same way as those which have shells,—as the sea-nettle, the sponge, and others, —in the crevices of the rocks.”
Now, of the sea-nettle there are two kinds, For some live in hollows, and are never separated from the rocks; but some live on smooth and level ground, and do separate themselves from what they are attached to, and move their quarters. But Eupolis, in the Autolycus, calls the κνίδη, or sea-nettle, ἀκαλήφη. And Aristophanes, in his Phœnissæ, says—
Know that pot-herbs first were given,and in his Wasps he uses the same word. And Pherecrates, in his Deserters, says—
And then the rough sea-nettles (ἀκάληφαι);
I'd rather wear a crown of sea-nettles (ἀκάληφαι).And Diphilus the Siphnian, a physician, says, “But the sea-nettle (ἀκαλήφη) is good for the bowels, diuretic, and a strengthener of the stomach, but it makes those who collect them itch violently, unless they anoint their hands beforehand. And it is really injurious to those who hunt for it; by whom it has been called ακαλήφη, by a slight alteration of its original name. And perhaps that is the reason why the plant the nettle has had the same name given to it. For it was named by euphemism on the principle of antiphrasis,— for it is not gentle and ἁπαλὴ τῇ ἀφῇ, tender to the touch, but very rough and disagreeable.” Philippides also mentions [p. 150] the sea-nettle (calling it ἀκαλήφη) in his Amphiaraus, speaking as follows:—
He put before me oysters and sea-nettles and limpets.And it is jested upon in the Lysistrata of Aristophanes—-
But, you most valiant of the oyster race,for the τῆθος and the ὄστρεον are the same. And the word τῆθος is here confused in a comic manner with τήθη, a grandmother, and with μητὴρ, a mother.
Offspring of that rough dam, the sea-nettle;
And concerning the rest of the oyster tribe, Diphilus says this: “Of the thick chemæ, those of smaller size, which have tender flesh, are called oysters, and they are good for the stomach, and easily digested. But the thick ones, which are called royal chemæ by some people, and which are also called the huge chemæ are nutritious, slow to be digested, very juicy, good for the stomach; and especially do these qualities belong to the larger ones. Of tellinæ there are numbers in Canopus, and they are very common at the place where the Nile begins to rise up to the higher ground. And the thinnest of these are the royal ones, and they are digest- ible and light, and moreover nutritious. But those which are taken in the rivers are the sweetest. Mussels, again, are moderately nutritious, and are digestible and diuretic. But the best are the Ephesian kind; and of them those which are taken about the end of autumn. But the female mussel is smaller than the male, and is sweet and juicy, and moreover nutritious. But the solens, as they are called by some, though some call them αὖλοι and δόνακες, or pipes, and some, too, call them ὄνυχες, or claws, are very juicy, but the juice is bad, and they are very glutinous. And the male fish are striped, and not all of one colour; but they are very wholesome for people affected with the stone, or with any complaint of the bladder. But the female fish is all of one colour, and much sweeter than the male: and they are eaten boiled and fried; but they are best of all when roasted on the coals till their shells open.” And the people who collect this sort of oyster are called Solenistæ, as Phænias the Eresian relates in his book which is entitled, The Killing of Tyrants by way of Punishment; where he speaks as follows:—“Philoxenus, who was called the Solenist, became a tyrant from having been a de- magogue. In the beginning he got his livelihood by being [p. 151] a fisherman and a hunter after solens; and so having made a little money; he advanced, and got a good property.” —“Of the periwinkle the white are the most tender, and they have no disagreeable smell, and have a good effect on the bowels; but of the black and red kinds the larger are exceedingly nice to the taste, especially those that are caught in the spring. And as a general rule all of them are good for the stomach, and digestible, and good for the bowels, when eaten with cinnamon and pepper.” Archippus also makes mention of them in his Fishes—
With limpets and with sea-urchins, and escharæ,But the fish called balani, or acorns, because of their resemblance to the acorn of an oak, differ according to the places where they are found. For the Egyptian balani are sweet, tender, delicious to the taste, nutritious, very juicy indeed, diuretic, and good for the bowels; but other kinds have a salter taste. The fish called ὤτια, or ears, are most nutritious when fried; but the pholades are exceedingly pleasant to the taste, but have a bad smell, and an injurious juice.
With needle-fishes, and with periwinkles.
“Sea-urchins are tender, full of pleasant juice, with a strong smell, filling, and apt to turn on the stomach; but if eaten with sharp mead, and parsley, and mint, they are good for the stomach, and sweet, and full of pleasant juice. But the sweet-tasted are the red ones, and the apple-coloured, and the thickest, and those which if you scrape their flesh emit a milky liquid. But those which are found near Cephalenia and around Icaria, and in the Adriatic are—at least many of them are—rather bitter; but those which are taken on the rock of Sicily are very aperient to the bowels.” But Aristotle says that there are many kinds of sea-urchins: one of which is eaten, that, namely, in which is found what are called eggs. But the other two kinds are those which are called Spatangi, and those which are called Brysæ: and Sopron mentions the spatangi, and so does Aristophanes in his Olcades, using the following language:—
Tearing up, and separating, and lickingAnd Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe, speaks o the sea-urchins, and says— [p. 152]
My spatange from the bottom.
Then came the crabs, sea-urchins, and all fishAnd Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twenty-sixth book of his Trojan Preparation, says that a Lacedæmonian once being invited to a banquet, when some sea-urchins were put before him on the table, took one, not knowing the proper manner in which it should be eaten, and not attending to those who were in the company to see how they ate it. And so he put it in his mouth with the skin or shell and all, and began to crush the sea-urchin with, his teeth; and being exceedingly disgusted with what he was eating, and not perceiving how to get rid of the roughness of the taste, he said, “O what nasty food! I will not now be so effeminate as to eject it, but I will never take you again.” But the sea-urchins, and indeed the whole echinus tribe, whether living on land or sea, can take care of and protect themselves against those who try to catch them, putting out their thorns, like a sort of palisade. And to this Ion the Chian bears testimony in his Phœnix or in his C$aneus, saying—
Which know not how to swim in the briny sea,
But only walk on foot along the bottom.
But while on land I more approve the conduct
Of the great lion, than the dirty tricks
Of the sea-urchin; he, when he perceives
The impending onset of superior foes,
Rolls himself up, wrapped in his cloak of thorns,
Impregnable in bristly panoply.
“Of limpets,” says Diphilus, "some are very small, and some are like oysters. But they are hard, and give but little juice, and are not very sharp in taste. But they have a pleasant flavour, and are easily digested; and when boiled they are particularly nice. But the pinnæ are diuretic, nutritious, not very digestible, or manageable. And the ceryces are like them; the necks of which fish are good for the stomach, but not very digestible; on which account they are good for people with weak stomachs, as being strengthening; but they are difficult to be secreted, and they are moderately nutritious. Now the parts of them which are called the mecon, which are in the lower part of their bellies, are tender and easily digested; on which account they also are good for people who are weak in the stomach. But the purple-fish are something between the pinna and the ceryx; [p. 153] the necks of which are very juicy, and very pleasant to the palate; but the other parts of them are briny, and yet sweet, and easily digestible, and mix very well with other food. But oysters are generated in rivers, and in lakes, and in the sea. But the best are those which belong to the sea, when there is a lake or a river close at hand: for they are full of pleasant juice, and are larger and sweeter than others: but those which are near the shore, or near rocks, without any mixture of mud or water, are small, harsh, and of pungent taste. But the oysters which 'are taken in the spring, and those which are taken about the beginning of the summer, are better, and full, and have a sort of sea taste, not unmixed with sweetness, and are good for the stomach and easily secreted; and when boiled up with mallow, or sorrel, or with fish, or by themselves, they are nutritious, and good for the bowels.
But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says—"Oysters, and cockles, and mussels, and similar things, are not very digestible in their meat, because of a sort of saline moisture which there is in them, on which account, when eaten raw, they produce an effect on the bowels by reason of their saltness. But when boiled they get rid of all, or at all events of most, of their saltness, which they infuse into the water which boils them. On which account, the water in which any of the oyster tribe are boiled is very apt to have a strong effect in disordering the bowels. But the meat of the oysters when boiled, makes a great noise when it has been deprived of its moisture. But roasted oysters, when any one roasts them cleverly, are very free from any sort of inconvenience; for all the evil properties are removed by fire; on which account they are not as indigestible as raw ones, and they have all the moisture which is originally contained in them dried up; and the is the moisture which has too great an effect in relaxing the bowels. But every oyster supplies a moist and somewhat in digestible kind of nourishment, and they are not at all good as diuretics. But the sea-nettle, and the eggs of sea-urchins, and such things as that, give a moist nourishment, though not in any great quantity; but they have a tendency to relax the bowels, and they are diuretic.
Nicander the Colophonian, in his book on the Farm, enumerates all the following kinds of oysters— [p. 154]
And all the oysters which the foaming brineAnd Archestratus says, in his Gastronomy—
Beneath its vasty bosom cherishes,
The periwinkle, whilk, pelorias,
The mussel, and the slimy tellina,
And the deep shell which makes the pinna's hole.
Aenus has mussels fine, Abydus tooAnd Philyllius, or whoever is the author of the book called The Cities, says, “Chemæ, limpets, solens, mussels, pinnas and periwinkles from Methymna:” but ὄστρειον was the only form of the name for all these fish among the ancients. Cratinus says in his Archilochi—
Is famous for its oysters; Parium produces
Crabs, the bears of the sea, and Mitylene periwinkles;
Ambracia in all kinds of fish abounds,
And the boar-fish sends forth: and in its narrow strait
Messene cherishes the largest cockles.
In Ephesus you shall catch chemæ, which are not bad,
And Chalcedon will give you oysters. But may Jupiter
Destroy the race of criers, both the fish born in the sea,
And those wretches which infest the city forum;
All except one man, for he is a friend of mine,
Dwelling in Lesbos, abounding in grapes; and his name is Agatho.
Like the pinna or the oyster (ὄστρειον).And Epicharmus says, in his Marriage of Hebe—
Oysters which have grown together.Where he uses the same form ὄστρειον. But afterwards the form ὄστρεον like ὄρνεον began to be used. Plato, in his Phædrus, says, “bound together like oysters” (ὄστρεον). And in the tenth book of his Politia, he says, “oysters (ὄστρεα) stuck together;” “oysters (ὄστρεα) and seaweed.” But the peloris, or giant mussel, were so named from the word πελώριος, vast. For it is much larger than the cheme, and very different from it. But Aristotle says that they are generated in the sand. And Ion the Chian mentions the chema, in his Epidemiæ, and perhaps the shell-fish got the name of χήμη παρὰ τὸ κεχῃνέναι, from opening their mouths."
But concerning the oysters which are grown in the Indian Ocean; (for it is not unreasonable to speak of them, on account of the use of pearls;) Theophrastus speaks in his treatise on Precious Stones, and says, “But among the stones which are much admired is that which is called the pearl, being transparent in its character; and they make very [p. 155] expensive necklaces of them. They are found in an oyster which is something like the pinna, only less. And in size the pearl resembles a large fish's eye.” Androsthenes, too, in his Voyage along the Coast of India, writes in thee terms— "But of strombi, and chærini, and other shell-fish, there are many different varieties, and they are very different from the shell-fish which we have. And they have the purple-fish, and a great multitude of other kinds of oysters. There is also one kind which is peculiar to those seas, which the natives call the berberi, from which the precious stone called the pearl comes. And this pearl is very expensive in Asia, being sold in Persia and the inland countries for its weight in gold. And the appearance of the oyster which contains it is much the same as that of the cteis oyster, only its shell is not indented, but smooth and shaggy. And it has not two ears as the cteis oyster has, but only one. The stone is engendered in the flesh of the oyster, just as the measles are in pork. And it is of a very golden colour, so as mot easily to be distinguished from gold when it is put by the side of it; but some pearls are of a silvery appearance, and some are completely white like the eyes of fish. But Chares of Mitylene, in the seventh book of his Histories of Alexander, Says—“There is caught in the Indian sea, and also off the coast of Armenia, and Persia, and Susiana, and Babylonia, a fish very like an oyster; and it is large and oblong, containing within the shell flesh which is plentiful and white, and very fragrant, from which the men pick out white bones which they call the pearl. And they make of them necklaces and chains for the hands and feet, of which the Persians are very fond, as are the Medes and all Asiatics, esteeming them as much more valuable than golden ornaments.”
But Isidorus the Characene, in his Description of Parthia, says, that "in the Persian sea there is an island where a great number of pearls are found; on which account there are quantities of boats made of rushes all about the island, from which men leap into the sea, and die down twenty fathoms, and bring up two shells. And they say that when there is a long continuance of thunder-storms, and heavy falls of rain, then the pinna produces most young, and then, too, the greatest quantity of pearls is engendered, and those, too, of the finest size and quality. In the winter [p. 156] the pinna is accustomed to descend into chambers at the very bottom of the sea; but in summer they swim about all night with their shells open, which they close in the day-time: and as many as stick to the crags, or rocks, throw out roots, and remaining fixed there, they generate pearls. But they are supported and nourished by something which adheres to their flesh: and this also sticks to the mouth of the cockle, having talons and bringing it food: and it is something like a little crab, and is called the guardian of the pinna. And its flesh penetrates through the centre of the cockleshell, like a root: and the pearl being generated close to it, grows through the solid portion of the shell, and keeps growing as long as it continues to adhere to the shell. But when the flesh gets under the excrescence, and cutting its way onwards, gently separates the pearl from the shell, then when the pearl is surrounded by flesh, it is no longer nourished so far as to grow at all; but the flesh makes it smoother, and more transparent, and more pure. And so, too, the pinna, which lives at the bottom, engenders the most transparent sort of pearl; and it produces them also very pure and of large size. But that which keeps near the surface, and is constantly rising, is of a smaller size and a worse colour, because it is affected by the rays of the sun. But those who hunt for pearls are in danger when they hastily put their hand into the opening of the shell, for immediately the fish closes its shell, and very often their fingers are sawn off; and sometimes they die immediately. But all those who put in their hand sideways easily draw off the shells from the rock. And Menander makes mention of Emeralds also, in his Little Boy–
There must be an emerald and a sardonyx.And the word for emerald is more correctly written μάραγδος, without a ς. For it is derived from the verb μαρμαίρω, to glisten, because it is a transparent stone.
After this conversation some dishes were set on the table, full of many kinds of boiled meat: feet, and head, and ears, and loins; and also entrails, and intestines, and tongues; as is the custom at the places which are called boiled meat shops at Alexandria. For, O Ulpian, the word ἑφθοπώλιον, a boiled meat shop, is used by Posidippus, in his Little Boy. And again, while they were inquiring who had ever [p. 157] named any of these dishes, one of the party said, Aristo- phanes mentions entrails as things which are eatable, in his Knights—
I say that you are selling tripe and paunchesAnd presently after he adds—
Which to the revenue no tithe have paid.
Why, my friend, hinder me from washing my paunches,And again he says—
And from selling my sausages? Why do you laugh at me?
But I, as soon as I have swallow'd downAnd again he says—
A bullock's paunch, and a dish of pig's tripe,
And drunk some broth, won't stay to wash my hands,
But will cut the throats of the orators, and will confuse Nicias.
But the Virgin Goddess born of the mighty FatherAnd Cratinus, in his Pluti, mentions jawbones of meat—
Gives you some boiled meat, extracted from the broth,
And a slice of paunch, and tripe, and entrails.
Fighting for a noble jawbone of beef.And Sophocles, in the Amycus, says—
And he places on the table tender jawbones.And Plato, in his Timæus, writes, “And he bound up some jawbones for them, so as to give the appearance of a whole face.” And Xenophon says, in his book on Horsemanship, “A small jawbone closely pressed.” But some call it, not σιαγὼν, but ὑαγὼν, spelling the word with a v, saying that it is derived from the word ὑς. Epicharmus also speaks of tripe, χορδαὶ as we call it, but he calls it ὄρυαι, having given one of his plays the title of Orya. And Aristophanes, in his Clouds, writes—
Let them prepare a dish of tripe, for meAnd Cratinus, in his Pytina, says—
To set before these wise philosophers.
How fine, says he, is now this slice of tripe.And Eupolis speaks of it also, in his Goats. But Alexis, either in his Leucadia or in his Runaways, says—
Then came a slice and good large help of tripe.And Antiphanes, in his Marriage, says—
Having cut out a piece of the middle of the tripe.[p. 158]
And as for feet, and ears, and even noses of beasts, they are all mentioned by Alexis, in his Crateua or the Physic-seller. And I will adduce a slight proof of that presently, which contains a good many of the names about which we are inquiring. Theophilus says, in his Pancratiast—
A. There are here near three minas' weight of meatAnd Anaxilas says, in his Cooks—
Well boiled.
B. What next
A. There is a calf's nose, and
A heel of bacon, and four large pig's-feet.
B. A noble dish, by Hercules!
A. And three calves-feet.
A. I would much rather roast a little fish,And Anaxilas says, in the Circe—
Than here repeat whole plays of Aeschylus.
B. What do you mean by little fish Do you intend
To treat your friends as invalids? 'Twere better
To boil the extremities of eatable animals,
Their feet and noses.
For having an unseemly snout of pig,And in the Calypso—
My dear Cinesias.
Then I perceived I bore a swine's snout.Anaxandrides has mentioned also ears in the Satyrus. And Axionicus says, in his Chalcis—
I am making soup,And Aristophanes says, in his Proagon—
Putting in well-warm'd fish, and adding to them
Some scarce half-eaten fragments; and the pettitoes
Of a young porker, and his ears; the which I sprinkle
With savoury assafœtida; and then
I make the whole into a well-flavour'd sausage,
A meat most saleable. Then do I add a slice
Of tender tripe; and a snout soak'd in vinegar.
So that the guests do all confess, the second day
Has beaten e'en the wedding-day itself.
Wretch that I am, I've eaten tripe, my son:And Pheretrates says, in his Trifles—
How can I bear to see a roasted snout?
Is not this plainly now a porker's snout?And there is a place which is called ῾πύγχος, or Snout, near Stratos, in Aetolia, as Polybius testifies, in the sixth book of his Histories. And Stesichorus says, in his Boar Hunting—
To hide the sharpened snout beneath the earth.[p. 159] And we have already said that the word ῥύγχος properly applies only to the snout of a swine; but that it is sometimes used for the nose of other animals, Archipphus has proved, saying in jest, in his Second Amphitryon, of the human face—
And this, too, though you have so long a nose (ῥύγχος).And Araros says, in his Adonis—
For the god turns his nose towards us.
And Aristophanes makes mention of the extremities of animals as forming a common dish, in his Aeolosicon—
And of a truth, plague take it, I have boil'dAnd in his Gerytades he says—
Four tender pettitoes for you for dinner.
Pig's pettitoes, and bread, and crabs.And Antiphanes says, in his Corinthia—
A. And then you sacrifice a pig's extremitiesBut Callimachus testifies that, in reality, a pig is sacrificed to Venus; or perhaps it is Zenodotus who says so in his Historic Records, writing thus, “The Argives sacrifice a pig to Venus, and the festival at which this takes place is called Hysteria.” And Pherecrates says, in his Miners—
To Venus,—what a joke!
B. That is your ignorance;
For she in Cyprus is so fond of pigs,
O master, that she drove away the herd
Of swine from off the dunghill where they fed,
And made the cows eat dirt instead of them.
But whole pig's feet of the most tender flavourAnd Alexis says, in his Dice Players—
Were placed at hand in dishes gaily adorned,
And boil'd ears, and other extremities.
But when we had nearly come to an end of breakfast,And he says again, in his Pannuchis or in his Wool-waavers—
And eaten all the ears and pettitoes.
This meat is but half roasted, and the fragmentsAnd Pherecrates also speaks of boiled feet, in his Slave-master—
Are wholly wasted; see this conger eel,
How badly boiled; and as for the pettitoes,
They now are wholly spoilt.
A. Tell us, I pray you now then, how the supperAnd Antiphanes says, in his Parasite—
Will be prepared.
B. Undoubtedly I will.
[p. 160] In the first place, a dish of well-minced eel;
Then cuttle-fish, and lamb, a slice of rich
Well-made black pudding; then some pig's feet boil'd;
Some liver, and a loin of mutton,
And a mighty number of small birds; and cheese
In honey steep'd, and many a slice of meat.
A. The well-warm'd legs of pigs.'And Ecphantides says, in his Satyrs—
B. A noble dish,
I swear by Vesta.
A. Then some boiled cheese
Bubbled upon the board.
It is no great hardship, if it must be so,And Aristophanes speaks of tongue as a dish, in his Tryers, ill the following words—
To buy and eat the boil'd feet of a pig.
I've had anchovies quite enough; for I
Am stretch'd almost to bursting while I eat
Such rich and luscious food. But bring me something
Which shall take off the taste of all these dainties.
Bring me some liver, or a good large slice
Of a young goat. And if you can't get that,
Let me at least have a rib or a tongue,
Or else the spleen, or entrails, or the tripe
Of a young porker in last autumn born;
And with it some hot rolls.
Now when all this conversation had taken place on these subjects, the physicians who were present would not depart without taking their share in it. For Dionysiocles said, Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his book about Comestibles, has said, “The head and feet of a pig have not a great deal in them which is rich and nutritious.” And Leonidas writes, "Demon, in the fourth book of his Attica, says that Thymœtes, his younger brother, slew Apheidas, who was king of Athens, he himself being a bastard, and usurped the kingdom. And in his time, Melanthus the Messenian was banished from his country, and consulted the Pythia as to where he should dwell: and she said wherever he was first honoured by gifts of hospitality, when men set before him feet and a head for supper. And this happened to him at Eleusis; for as the priestesses happened at the time to be solemnizing one of their national festivals, and to have con- [p. 161] sumed all the meat, and as nothing but the head and feet of the victim were left, they sent them to Melanthius.
Then a paunch4 was brought in, which may be looked upon as a sort of metropolis, and the mother of the sons of Hippocrates, whom I know to have been turned into ridicule by the comic poets on account of their swinish disposition. And Ulpian, looking upon it, said,—Come now, my friends, whom does the paunch lie with? For we have now been minding the belly long enough, and it is time for us now to have some real conversation. And as for these cynics, I bid them be silent, now that they have eaten abundantly, unless they like to gnaw some of the cheeks, and heads, and bones, which no one will grudge their enjoying like dogs, as they are; for that is what they are, and what they are proud of being called.
The remnants to the dogs they're wont to throw,Euripides says, in his Cretan Women. For they wish to eat and drink everything, never considering what the divine Plato says in his Protagoras, “That disputing about poetry, is like banquets of low and insignificant persons. For they, because they are unable in their drinking parties to amuse one another by their own talents, and by their own voices and conversation, by reason of their ignorance and stupidity, make female flute-players of great consequence, hiring at a high price sounds which they cannot utter themselves, I mean the music of flutes, and by means of this music they are able to get on with one another. But where the guests are gentlemanly, and accomplished, and well educated, you will not see any flute-playing women, or dancing women, or female harpers, but they are able themselves to pass the time with one another agreeably, without all this nonsense and trifling, by means of their own voices, speaking and hearing one another in turn with all decency, even if they drink a great deal of wine.” And this is what all you Cynics do, O Cynulcus; you drink, or rather you get drunk, and then, like flute-players and dancing-women, you prevent all the pleasure of conversation: “living,” to use the words of the same Plato which he utters in his Philebus, “not the life of a man, but of some mollusk, or of some other marine animal which has life in a shell-encased body.” [p. 162]
And Cynulcus, being very angry, said,—You glutton of a man, whose god is your belly, you know nothing else yourself, nor are you able to keep up an uninterrupted conversation, nor to recollect any history, nor to begin anything which may tend to throw a charm on any discussion. But you have been wasting all the time with questions of this sort, “Is there such and such a statement? Is there not? Has such and such a thing been said? Has it not been said?” And you attack and examine closely everything which occurs in anything which is said, collecting all your thorns—living continually
As if among thistles, or plants of rough borage—-never collecting any sweet flowers. Are you not the person who call that which is called by the Romans strena, being so named in accordance with some national tradition, and which is accustomed to be given to friends, epinomis? And if you do this in imitation of Plato, we should be glad to learn it; but if you find that any one of the ancients has ever spoken in such a manner, tell us who it is who has. For I know that there is some part of a trireme which is called epinomis, as Apollonius states in his treatise on what relates to Triremes. Are not you the man who called your new stout cloak, which had never yet been used by you, (for the proper name of it, my friend, is really φαινόλης,) useless? saying—“My slave Leucus, give me that useless cloak.” And once going to the bath, did not you say to a man who asked you, Whither now? I am going, said you, ἀπολούμενος (pronouncing the word as if it meant to kill yourself rather than to bathe). And that very day your beautiful garment was purloined from you by some bath robbers; so that there was great laughter in the bath, at this useless cloak being hunted for. At another time too, O my dear friends, (for the plain truth shall be told you,) he tripped against a stone and dislocated his knees. And when he was cured he again came into public: and when men asked him, What is the matter, O Ulpian? he said it was a black eye. And I (for I was with him at the time) being then unable to restrain my laughter, got anointed under the eyes with some thick ointment by a physician who was a friend of mine, and then said to those who asked me, What is the matter with you, that I had hurt my leg.
There is also another imitator of the same wisdom, [p. 163] Pompeianus the Philadelphian; a man not destitute of shrewdness, but still a terrible wordcatcher: and he, conversing with his servant, calling him by name with a loud voice, said—“Strombichides, bring me to the gymnasium those intolerable slippers (he used the word ἀφορήτους, intending it to mean what he had never worn) and my useless (he used the word ἄχρηστος, by which he meant which he had never used) cloak. For I, as soon as I have bound up my beard, shall address my friends. For I have got some roast fish. And bring me a cruet of oil. For first of all we will be crushed (he used the word συντριβησόμεθον, meaning to say we will rub ourselves well), and then we will be utterly destroyed (his word was ἀπολούμεθον, and he meant to say we will have a bath).” And this same sophist, in the month of February, as the Romans call it, (and Juba the Mauritanian says that this month has its name5 from the terrors caused by the spirits under the earth, and from the means used to get rid of those fears, at which season the greatest severity of winter occurs, and it is the custom of them to offer libations for many days to those who are dead:) in the month of February, I say, he said to one of his friends—“It is a long time since you have seen me, because of the heat.” And when the festival of the Panathenæa was being celebrated, during which the courts of justice do not assemble, he said— “This is the birthday of the virgin goddess Minerva,” (but he pronounced the word ἀλέκτορος, as if he had meant of the cock of Minerva,) “and this day is unjust,” (for he [p. 164] called it ἄδικος, though he meant the word to have the sense of being a holiday for the courts of law). And once he called a companion of ours who came back from Delphi without having received an answer from the god, ἄχρηστον, (which never means anything but useless, but he used the word for unanswered). And once when he was making a public display of his eloquence, and going through a long panegyric on the Queen of cities, he said, Most admirable is the Roman dominion, and ἀνυπόστατος (he meant irresistible).6
Such now, my friends, are Ulpian's companions, the sophists; men who call even the thing which the Romans call miliarium, that is to say, a vessel designed to prepare boiling water in, ἰπνολέβης, an oven-kettle; being manufac- turers of many names, and far outrunning by many para-sangs the Sicilian Dionysius: who called a virgin μένανδρος (from μένω and ἀνὴρ), because she is waiting for a husband; and a pillar μενεκράτης (from μένω and κράτος), because it remains and is strong. And a javelin he called βαλλάντιον, because (ἄντιον βάλλεται) it is thrown against something; and mouse-holes he called μυστήρια, mysteries, (from τηρεῖν τοὺς μῦς because they keep the mice. And Athanis, in the first book of his History of the Affairs of Sicily, says that the same Dionysius gave an ox the name of γαρότας; and a pig he called ἴακχος. And Alexarchus was a man of the same sort, the brother of Cassander, who was king of Macedonia, who built the city called Uranopolis. And Heraclides Lembus speaks concerning him in the seventh book of his Histories, and says, “Alexarchus, who founded the city Uranopolis, imported many peculiar words and forms of speaking into the language: calling a cock ὀρθροβόας, or he that crows in the morn; and a barber βροτοκέρτης, or one who cuts men; and a drachm he called ἀργυρὶς, a piece of silver; and a chœnix he called, ἡμεροτροφὶς, what feeds a man for a day; and a herald he called ἀπύτης, a bawler. And once he wrote a letter to the magistrates of the Cassandrians in this form:7—᾿αλέξαρχος ὁ μάρμων πρόμοις [p. 165] γαθεῖν. τοὺς ἡλιοκρεῖς οἰῶν οἶδα λιποῦσα θεωτῶν ἔργων κρατήτορας μορσίμῳ τύχᾳ κεκυρωμένας θεοῦ πόγαις χυτλώσαντες αὐτοὺς, καὶ φύλακας ὀριγένεις.” But what that letter means think that even the Pythian Apollo himself could hardly tell. For, as Antiphanes says, in his Cleophanes,—
What is it then to be a tyrant, (or
What would you call pursuing serious things,)
In the Lyceum with the sophists; by Jove,
They are but thin and hungry joyless men.
And say the thing does not exist if now
It is produced; for that is not as yet,
Nor can already be produced, which now
Is caused afresh. Nor if it did exist
Before, can it be now made to exist.
For there is nothing which has no existence.
And that which never yet has taken place,
Is not as if it had, since it has not.
For it exists from its existence; but
If there is no existence, what is there
From which it can exist? The thing's impossible;
And if it's self-existent, it will not
Exist again. And one perhaps may say,
Let be; whence now can that which has no being
Exist, what can become of it? What all this means
I say that e'en Apollo's self can't tell.
I know too that Simonides the poet, somewhere or other, has called Jupiter ᾿αρίσταρχος, (meaning ἄριστος ἄρχων, best of rulers;) and Aeschylus calls Pluto ᾿αγησίλαος, (from ἄγειν τὸν λαὸν, collecting the people;) and Nicander the Colophonian called the asp, the animal, ἰοχέαιρα, poisonous, (from ἰὸς, poison, and χέω, to emit; though the word is usually applied to Diana in the sense of shooting arrows, because ἰὸς also means an arrow.) And it is on account of these tricks and others like them that the divine Plato, in his Politics, after having said that some animals live on the dry land, and others in the water, and also, that there are some classes which are fed on dry food, others on moist food, and others which graze, giving the names of ξηροβατικὰ and ὑγροβατικὰ, and again, of ξηροτροφικὰ, ὑγροτροφικὰ and ξηρονομικὰ to the different minds of animals, according as they live on the land, or in the water, or in the air—adds, by way of exhortation to those manufacturers of names to guard against novelty, the following sentence, word for word:—“And if you take care not to appear too anxious in making new names you will continue to old [p. 166] age with a greater reputation for prudence.” But I know that Herodes Atticus, a rhetorician, named the piece of wood which was put through his wheels when he was going in his chariot down steep places, τροχοπέδης, (as a fetter to the wheels.) Although Simaristus, in his Synonymes, had already given this piece of wood the name of ἐποχλεὺς, or the drag. And Sophocles the poet, in some one of his works, called a guardian a bolt, saying—
Be of good cheer, I am a mighty boltAnd, in another place, he has given an anchor the name of ἰσχὰς or the holder, because it κατέχει, holds the ship—
To keep this fear away from you.
And the sailors let out the holder of the ship.And Demades the orator said that Aegina was the “eyesore of the Peiræus,” and that Samos was “a fragment broken off from the city.” And he called the young men “the spring of the people;” and the wall he called “the garment of the city;” and a trumpeter he entitled “the common cock of the Athenians.” But this word-hunting sophist used all sorts of' far more far-fetched expressions. And whence, O Ulpian, did it occur to you to use the word κεχορτασμένος for satiated, when κορέω is the proper verb for that meaning, and χορτάζω means to feed?
In reply to this Ulpian said with a cheerful laugh,— But do not bark at me, my friend, and do not be savage with me, putting on a sort of hydrophobia, especially now that this is the season of the dog-days. You ought rather to fawn upon and be gentle towards your messmates, lest we should institute a festival for dog killing, in the place of that one which is celebrated by the Argives. For, my most sagacious gentleman, χορτάζομαι is used by Cratinus in his Ulysseses in this way:—
You were all day glutting yourselves with white milk.And Menander, in his Trophonius, uses the word χορτασθεὶς in the same sense. And Aristophanes says in his Gerytades—
Obey us now, and glut us with your melodies.And Sophocles in his Tyro has—
And we received him with all things which satisfy (πάγχοοτα).And Eubulus in his Dolon—
I, O men, have now been well-satisfied (κεχόρτασμαι),And Sophilus says in his Phylarchus—
And I am quite well filled; so that I could
[p. 167] With all my energy but just contrive
To fasten on my sandals.
There will be an abundant deal of eating.And Amphis says in his Uranus—
I see the prelude to it;-I shall surely be
Most fully satisfied; indeed, my men,
I swear by Bacchus I feel proud already.
Sating herself till eve with every dainty.Now these statements, O Cynulcus, I am able to produce without any preparation; but to-morrow, or the day after, for that (ἔνη) is the name which Hesiod gave to the third day, I will satiate you with blows, if you do not tell me in whose works the word κοιλιοδαίμων, Belly-god, is to be found. And as he made no answer,—-But, indeed, I myself will tell you this, O Cynic, that Eupolis called flatterers this, in his play of the same name. But I will postpone any proof of this statement until I have paid you the blows I owe you.
And so when every one had been well amused by these jokes,—But, said Ulpian, I will also give you now the statement about paunches which I promised you. For Alexis, in his play which is entitled Ponticus, jesting in a comic manner, says that Callimedon the orator, who was surnamed the Crab (and he was one of those who took part in the affairs of the state in the time of Demosthenes the orator)-
Every one is willing to die for his country (πάτρας):And Callimedon was a man very notorious for his fondness for dainties. And Antiphanes also speaks of launches in his Philometor, using these words—
And for a boiled paunch (μήτρας) Callimedon,
The dauntless crab, would very probably
Dare to encounter death.
While the wood has pith in it (ἔμμητρον) it puts forth shoots.And Euphron says in his Paradidomena—
There is a metropolis but no patropolis.
Some men sell paunches (μῆτραι), a delicious food.
Metras, the Chian, is dear to the people.
But my master having prepared a paunch[p. 168] And Dioxippus in his Antipornoboscus—
Set it before Callimedon; and when he ate it
It made him leap with joy; from which he earn'd
The name of crab.
What food doth he delight in! Dainty is he!And in his Historiographer, he says—
Most dainty in his eating, paunches, sausages!
Amphides burst in the porch and made himself a way in;And Eubulus says in his Deucalion—
Holding up two paunches fine, See for what I'm paying,
Said he, and send me all you have, or all that you can find me.
Liver, and tripe, and entrails, aye, and paunches.
But Lynceus the Samian, the friend of Theophrastus, was acquainted with the use of paunches when eaten with Cyrenaic sauce. And accordingly, writing an account of the Banquet of Ptolemy, he says:—“A certain paunch having been brought round in vinegar and sauce.” Antiphanes, too, mentions this sauce in his Unhappy Lovers, speaking of Cyrene—
I sail back to the self-same harbour whenceAnd how much better a paunch of a castrated animal is, Hipparchus, who wrote the book called The Aegyptian Iliad, tells us in the following words—
We previously were torn; and bid farewell
To all my horses, friends, and assafœtida,
And two horse chariots, and to cabbages,
And single-horses, and to salads green,
And fevers, and rich sauces.
But above all I do delight in dishesAnd Sopater says in his Hippolytus—
Of paunches and of tripe from gelded beasts,
And love a fragrant pig within the oven.
But like a beauteous paunch of gelded pigAnd in his Physiologus he says—
Well boil'd and white, and basted with rich cheese.
'Tis not a well boil'd slice of paunch of pigAnd in his Silphæ he says—
Holding within a sharp and biting gravy.
That you may eat a slice of boil'd pig's paunch,
Dipping it in a bitter sauce of rue.
But the ancients were not acquainted with the fashion of bringing on paunches, or lettuces, or anything of the sort, before dinner, as is done now. At all events Archestratus, the inventor of made dishes, as he calls himself, says that [p. 169] pledges in drinking, and the use of ointments, are introduced after supper—
And always at the banquet crown your headBut Lynceus, describing the banquet given by Lamia, the female flute-player, when she entertained Demetrius Poliorcetes, represents the guests the moment they come to the banquet as eating all sorts of fish and meat; and in the same way, when speaking of the feast given by Antigonus the king, when celebrating the Aphrodisiac festival, and also one given by King Ptolemy, he speaks of fish as the first course; and then meat.
With flowing wreaths of varied scent and hue,
Culling the treasures of the happy earth;
And steep your hair in rich and reeking odours,
And all day long pour holy frankincense
And myrrh, the fragrant fruit of Syria,
On the slow slumb'ring ashes of the fire:
Then, when you drink, let slaves these luxuries bring—
Tripe, and the boiled paunch of well-fed swine,
Well soak'd in cummin juice and vinegar,
And sharp, strong-smelling assafœtida;
Taste, too, the tender well-roast birds, and game,
Whate'er may be in season. But despise
The rude uncivilized Sicilian mode,
Where men do nought but drink like troops of frogs,
And eat no solid seasoning. Avoid them.
And seek the meats which I enjoin thee here.
All other foods are only signs and proofs
Of wretched poverty: the green boil'd vetch,
And beans, and apples, and dried drums of figs.
But praise the cheesecakes which from Athens come;
And if there are none, still of any country
Cheesecakes are to be eaten; also ask
For Attic Honey, the feast's crowning dish—
For that it is which makes a banquet noble.
Thus should a free man live, or else descend
Beneath the earth, and court the deadly realms
Of Tartarus, buried deep beneath the earth
Innumerable fathoms.
But one may well wonder at Archestratus, who has given us such admirable suggestions and injunctions, and who was a guide in the matter of pleasure to the philosopher Epicurus, when he counsels us wisely, in a manner equal to that of the bard8 of Ascra, that we ought not to mind some people, but only attend to him; and he bids us eat such [p. 170] and such things, differing in no respect from the cook in Damoxenus the comic writer, who says in his Syntrophi—
A. You see me here a most attentive pupil
Of Epicurus, wisest of the Greeks,
From whom in two years and ten months or less,
I scraped together four good Attic talents.
B. What do you mean by this I pray thee, tell me,
Was he a cook, my master That is news.
A. Ye gods! and what a cook! Believe me, nature
Is the beginning and the only source
Of all true wisdom. And there is no art
At which men labour, which contains more wisdom.
So this our art is easy to the man
Who has drunk deep of nature's principles;
They are his guides: and therefore, when you see
A cook who is no scholar, nor has read
The subtle lessons of Democritus,
(Aye and he must remember them besides,)
Laugh at him as an ass; and if you hire one
Who knows not Epicurus and his rules,
Discharge him straightway. For a cook must know,
(I speak the words of sober truth, my friend,)
How great the difference is in summer time
Between the glaucisk of the winter-season;
He must know all the fish the Pleiades
Bring to us at their setting; what the solstice,
Winter and summer, gives us eatable—
For all the changes and the revolutions
Are fraught with countless evil to mankind,
Such changes do they cause in all their food.
Dost thou not understand me? And remember,
Whatever is in season must be good.
B. How few observe these rules.
A. From this neglect
Come spasms, and the flatulence which ill
Beseems a politic guest;-but all the food
I give my parties, wholesome is, and good,
Digestible and free from flatulence.
Therefore its juice is easily dissolved,
And penetrates the entire body's pores.
B. Juice, say you? This is not known to Democritus.
A. But all meats out of season make the eater
Diseased in his joints.
B. You seem to me,
To have studied too the art of medicine.
A. No doubt, and so does every one who seeks
Acquaintance with his nature's mysteries.
But see now, I do beg you by the gods,
How ignorant the present race of cooks are.
When thus you find them ignorant of the smell
[p. 171] Of all the varied dishes which they dress,
And pounding sesame in all their sauce.
What can be bad enough for such sad blunderers
B. You seem to speak as any oracle.
A. What good can e'er arise, where every quality
Is jumbled with its opposite in kind,
How different so ever both may be?
Now to discern these things is art and skill,
Not to wash dishes nor to smell of smoke.
For I do never enter a strange cook-shop,
But sit within such a distance as enables
My eyes to comprehend what is within.
My friends, too, do the same; I tell them all
The causes and results. This bit is sour,
Away with it; the man is not a cook,
Though he perhaps may be a music master:
Put in some fire; keep an equal heat.
The first dish scarcely suits the rest. Do you
Not see the form of th' art?
B. O, great Apollo!
A. What does this seem to you?
B. Pure skill; high art.
A. Then I no dishes place before my guests
At random; but while all things correspond
I regulate the whole, and will divide
The whole as best may suit, in fours, or fives;
And will consult each separate division-
And satisfy each party. Then again,
I stand afar off and directions give;
Whence bring you that? what shall you mix with this?
See how discordant those two dishes are!
Take care and shun such blunders. That will do.
Thus Epicurus did arrange his pleasures.
Thus wisely did he eat. He, only wise,
Saw what was good and what its nature was.
The Stoics seek in vain for such discoveries,
And know not good nor what the nature may be
Of good; and so they have it not; nor know
How to impart it to their friends and guests.
Enough of this. Do'st not agree with me?
B. Indeed i do, all things are plain to me.
Plato, too, in his Joint Deceiver, introduces the father of a young man in great indignation, on the ground that his son's principles and way of living have been injured by his tutor; and he says—
A. You now have been the ruin of my son,
You wretch, you have persuaded him t' embark
In a course of life quite foreign to his habits
And former inclinations. You have taught him
To drink i' th' morning, quite beyond his wont.
[p. 172] B. Do you blame me that he has learnt to live?
A. Call you this living?
B. So the wise do say:
At all events the all wise Epicurus
Tells us that pleasure is the only good.
A. No doubt, and nobody can entertain
A different opinion. To live well
Must be to rightly live; is it not so?
Tell me, I pray thee, hast thou ever seen
Any philosopher confused with wine?
Or overtaken with those joys of yours
B. Aye, all of them. Those who lift up their brows,
Who look most solemn in the promenades,
And in their daily conversation,
Who turn their eyes away in high disdain
If you put plaice or turbot on their board,
Know for all that the fish's daintiest part.
Seek out the head, the fins; the sound, the roe,
And make men marvel at their gluttony.
And in Antiphanes, in his Soldier or in his Tycho, a man is introduced delivering rules in this way, saying—
Whoever is a mortal man, and thinksAnd he says the same in his Hydria.
This life has any sure possession,
Is woefully deceived. For either taxes
Take off his property; or he goes to law
And loses all he seeks, and all he has:
Or else he's made a magistrate, and bears
The losses they are subject to; or else
The people bid him a choragus be,
And furnish golden garments for a chorus;
And wear but rags himself. Or as a captain
Of some tall ship, he hangs himself; or else
Takes the command, and then is taken prisoner:
Or else, both waking and in soundest sleep,
He's helpless, pillaged by his own domestics.
Nothing is sure, save what a man can eat,
And treats himself to day by day. Nor then,
Is even this too sure. For guests drop in
To eat what you have order'd for yourself.
So not until you've got it 'twixt your teeth
Ought you to think that e'en your dinner's safe.
Now if any one, my friends, were to consider this, he would naturally and reasonably praise the honest Chrysippus, who examined accurately into the nature of Epicurus's philosophy, and said, “That the Gastrology of Archestratus was the metropolis of his philosophy;” which all the epicures of philosophers call the Theogony, as it were, that beautiful [p. 173] epic poem; to whom Theognetus, in his Phasma or in his Miser, says—
My man, you will destroy me in this way;
For you are ill and surfeited with all
The divers arguments of all the Stoics.
"Gold is no part of man, mere passing rime,
Wisdom's his real wealth, solid like ice;
No one who has it ever loses it."
Oh! wretched that I am; what cruel fate
Has lodged me here with this philosopher?
Wretch, you have learnt a most perverted learning;
Your books have turn'd your whole life upside down;
Buried in deep philosophy you talk
Of earth and heaven, both of which care little
For you and all your arguments.
While Ulpian was continuing to talk in this way, the servants came in bearing on some dishes some crabs bigger than Callimedon, the orator, who, because he was so very fond of this food was himself called the Crab. Accordingly, Alexis, in his Dorcis, or the Flatterer, (as also others of the comic poets do,) hands him down, as a general rule, as being most devoted to fish, saying—
It has been voted by the fish-sellers,But the taste of the crab is one which many people have been very much devoted to; as may be shown by many passages in different comedies; but at present Aristophanes will suffice, who in the Thesmophoriazusæ speaks as follows—
To raise a brazen statue to Callimedon
At the Panathenaic festival
In the midst of the fish-market; and the statue
Shall in his right hand hold a roasted crab,
As being the sole patron of their trade,
Which other men neglect and seek to crush.
A. Has any fish been bought? a cuttle-fish,But by broad squills he must have meant what we call astaci, a kind of crab which Philyllius mentions in his Cities. [p. 174] And Archestratus, in that famous poem of his where he never once mentions the crab by the name of κάραβος, does speak of the ἄστακος. As he does also in the following passage—
Or a broad squill, or else a polypus;
Or roasted mullet, or perhaps some beet-root?
B. Indeed there was not.
A. Or a roach or dace?
B. Nothing of such a sort?
A. Was there no black-pudding,
Nor tripe, nor sausage, nor boar's liver fried,
No honeycomb, no paunch of pig, no eel,
No mighty crab, with which you might recruit
The strength of women wearied with long toil
But passing over trifles, buy an astacus,And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, shows plainly that the ἄστακος spoken of by Archestratus is the same as the κάραβος, speaking as follows—
Which has long hands and heavy too, but feet
Of delicate smallness, and which slowly walks
Over the earth's face. A goodly troop there are
Of such, and those of finest flavour, where
The isles of Lipara do gem the ocean:
And many lie in the broad Hellespont.
There are astaci and colybdaenæ, both equipp'd
With little feet and long hands, both coming under
The name of κάραβος.
But the carabi, and astaci, and also carides or squills, are each a distinct genus. But the Athenians spell the name ἄστακος with an ο, ὄστακος, just as they also write ὀσταφίδας. But Epicharmus in his Earth and Sea says—
κᾀστακοὶ γαμψώνυχοι.And Speusippus, in the second book of his Similarities, says that of soft-shelled animals the following are nearly like one another. The coracus, the astacus, the nymphe, the arctus, the carcinus, and the pagurus. And Diocles the Carystian says, “Carides, carcini, carabi, and astaci, are pleasant to the taste and diuretic.” And Epicharmus has also mentioned the colybdæna in the lines I have quoted above; which Nicander calls the beauty of the sea; but Heraclides in his Cookery Book gives that name to the caris. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says, "Of soft-shelled animals the carabi, the astaci, the carides, and others of the same sort, are propagated like quadrupeds; and they breed at the beginning of spring; as indeed is no secret to anybody; but at times they breed when the fig begins to ripen. Now carabi are found in rough and rocky places; but astaci in smooth ground; neither kind in muddy places: on which account there are astaci produced in the Hellespont and about Thasos; and carabi off Cape Sigeum and Mount Athos. But the whole race of crabs is long-lived. But Theophrastus, in his book on Animals who dive in Holes, [p. 175] says that the astaci and carabi and carides all cast off their old age.
But concerning carides, Ephorus mentions in his first book that there is a city called Carides near the island of Chios; and he says that it was founded by Macar and those of his companions who were saved out of the deluge which happened in the time of Deucalion; and that to this very day the place is called Carides. But Archestratus, the inventor of made dishes, gives these recommendations—
But if you ever come to Iasus,But Araros in his Campylion has used the word καρῖδα with the penultima circumflexed and long—
A city of the Carians, you shall have
A cars of huge size, but rare to buy.
Many there are where Macedon is wash'd
By the deep sea, and in Ambracia's gulf.
The strangely bent carides did leap forthAnd Eubulus says in his Orthane—
Like dolphins into the rope-woven vessel.
Iput a carid (καρῖδα) down and took it up again.Anaxandrides says in his Lycurgus—
And he plays with little carids (καριδάριον),And the same poet says in his Pandarus—
And little partridges, and little lettuces;
And little sparrows, and with little cups,
And little scindaries, and little gudgeons.
If you don't stoop, my friend, you'll upright be.And in his Cerkios he says—
But she is like a carid (καριδόω) in her person;
Bent out, and like an anchor standing firm.
I'll make them redder than a roasted carid (καρῖδος).And Eubulus says in his Grandmothers—
And carids (καρῖδες) of the humpback'd sort.And Ophelion says in his Callæschrus—
There lay the crooked carids (καρῖδες) on dry ground.And in his Ialemus we find—
And then they danced as crooked limbed carides (καρῖδες）But Eupolis, in his Goats, uses the word with the penultima short, (καρι̣̣̣δες), thus—
Dance on the glowing embers.
Once in Phæacia I ate carides (καρίδας).[p. 176] And again in his People he says—
Having the face of a tough thick-skinn'd carid (καρίδος).
Now the carides were so called from the word κόρα, head. For the head takes up the greater part of them. But the Attic writers also use the word short in the same manner, in analogy with the quantity of κάρα, it being, as I said, called cars because of the size of its head; and so, as γραφὶς is derived from γραφὴ, and βολὶς from βολὴ, in like manner is καρὶς from κάρα. But when the penultima is made long the last syllable also is made long, and then the word is like ψηφὶς, and κρηπὶς, and τευθίς. But concerning these shell-fish, Diphilus the Siphnian writes, “Of all shell-fish the caris, and astacus, and carabus, and carcinus, and lion, being all of the same genus, are distinguished by some differences. And the lion is larger than the astacus; and the carabi are called also grapsæi; but they are more fleshy than the carcini; but the carcinus is heavy and indigestible.” But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says, “Carabi and carcini and carides, and such like; these are all indigestible, but still not nearly so much so as other fish: and they are better and more wholesome roast than boiled.” But Sophron in his Gynæcea calls carides courides, saying—
Behold the dainty courides, my friend.And Epicharmus in his Land and Sea says—
And see these lobsters; see how red they are,
How smooth and glossy is their hair and coats.
And red-skinned courides.And in his Logos and Logina he spells the word κωρίδες with an ω—
Oily anchovies, crooked corides.And Simonides says—
Beet-root with thunnies, and with gudgeons corides.
After this conversation there were brought in some dishes of fried liver; wrapped up in what is called the caul, or ἐπίπλοον, which Philetærus in his Tereus calls ἐπιπλοῖον. And Cynulcus looking on said,—Tell us, O wise Ulpian, whether there is such an expression anywhere as ' liver rolled up." And he replied,—I will tell you if you will first show me [p. 177] in whose works the word ἐπίπλους is used for the fat and the membrane which covers it. So as they were thus prepared for the discussion, Myrtilus said, The word ἐπίπλους is used by Epicharmus in the Bacchæ—
And wrapping up the bread in the ἐπίπλοος.And again, in his Theari, he says—
Around the loins and ἐπίπλους.And Ion of Chios, in his Epidemiæ, says—
Having wrapp'd it up in the ἐπίπλους.So here, my friend Ulpian, you have plenty of authority for your ἐπίπλους. And you may wrap yourself up in it and burn yourself, and so release us from all these investigations. And, indeed, you ought to bear your own testimony to a liver having been prepared in this way; since you mentioned before, when we were inquiring about ears and feet, what Alexis said in his Crateua, or the Female Druggist. And the whole quotation is serviceable for many purposes, and since you at the moment fail to recollect it, I myself will repeat it to you. The Comedian says this—
First, then, I saw a man whose name was Nereus;
With noble oysters laden; an aged man,
And clad in brown sea-weed. I took the oysters
And eke some fine sea-urchins; a good prelude
To a rich banquet daintily supplied.
When they were done, next came some little fish,
Still quivering as if they felt a fear
Of what should now befal them. Courage, said I,
My little friends, and fear no harm from me;
And to spare them I bought a large flat glaucus.
Then a torpedo came; for it did strike me,
That even if my wife should chance to touch it
She from its shock would surely take no harm.
So for my frying-pan I've soles and plaice,
Carides, gudgeons, perch, and spars, and eels,
A dish more varied than a peacock's tail.
Slices of meat, and feet, and snouts, and ears,
And a pig's liver neatly wrapp'd in caul.
For by itself it looks too coarse and livid.
No cook shall touch or e'er behold these dainties;
He would destroy them all. I'll manage them
Myself; with skill and varied art the sauce
I will compound, in such a tasty way
That all the guests shall plunge their very teeth
[p. 178] Into the dish for joy and eagerness;
And the recipes and different modes of dressing
I am prepared to teach the world for nothing,
If men are only wise enough to learn.
But that it was the fashion for liver to be wrapped up in a caul is stated by Hegesander the Delphian in his Memorials, where he says that Metanira the courtesan, having got a piece of the lungs of the animal in the liver which was thus wrapped up, as soon as she had unfolded the outer coat of fat and seen it, cried out—
I am undone, the tunic's treacherous foldsAnd perhaps it was because of its being in this state that Crobylus the comic poet called the liver modest; as Alexis also does in his Pseudypobolemæus, speaking as follows— Take the stiff feelers of the polypus, And in them you shall find some modest liver, And cutlets of wild goats, which you shall eat. But Aristophanes uses the diminutive form ἡπάτιον in his Tagenistæ, and so does Alcæus in the Palæstra, and Eubulus in his Deucalion. And the first letter of ἧπαρ and ἡπάτιον must be aspirated. For a synalœpha is used by Archilochus with the aspirate; when he says—
Have now entangled me to my destruction.
For you do seem to have no gall ἐφ᾽ ἥπατι (in your liver).There is also a fish which is called ἥπατος, which Eubulus himself mentions in his Lacedæmonians or Leda, and says that it has no gall in it—
You thought that I'd no gall; but spoke to meBut Hegesander, in his Memorials, says, that the hepatos has in its head two stones, like pearls in brilliancy and colour, and in shape something like a turbot.
As if I'd been a ἥπατος: but I
Am rather one of the melampyx class.
But Alexis speaks of fried fish in his Demetrius, as he does also in the before-mentioned play. And Eubulus says, in his Orthane—
Now each fair woman walks about the streets,I have also eaten cuttle-fish fried. But Nicostratus or Philetærus says, in the Antyllus—I never again will venture to eat cuttle-fish which has been dressed in a frying-pan. But Hegemon, in his Philinna, introduces men eating the roe fried, saying—
Fond of fried fish and stout Triballian youths.
Then there is beet-root and canary-grass
Mix'd up in forcemeat with the paunch of lamb,
Which leaps within one's stomach like a colt
Scarce broken to the yoke. Meanwhile the bellows
[p. 179] Waken the watchful hounds of Vulcan's pack,
And stir the frying-pan with vapours warm.
The fragrant steam straight rises to the nose,
And fills the sense with odours.
Then comes the daughter of the bounteous Ceres,
Fair wheaten flour, duly mash'd, and press'd
Within the hollow of the gaping jaws,
Which like the trireme's hasty shock comes on,
The fair forerunner of a sumptuous feast.
Go quickly, buy of them that polypus,
And fry the roe, and give it us to eat.
Ulpian was not pleased at this; and being much vexed, he looked at us, and repeating these iambics from the Orthanus of Eubulus, said—
How well has Myrtilus, cursed by the gods,For certainly I well know that he never ate any of these things at his own expense; and I heard as much from one of his own servants, who once quoted me these iambics from the Pornoboscus of Eubulus—
Come now to shipwreck on this frying-pan.
My master comes from Thessaly; a manBut as the young man was well educated, and that not by Myrtilus, but by some one else, when I asked him how he fell in with the young Myrtilus, he repeated to me these lines from the Neottis of Antiphanes—
Of temper stern; wealthy, but covetous;
A wicked man; a glutton; fond of dainties,
Yet sparing to bestow a farthing on them.
While still a boy, bearing my sister company,
I came to Athens, by some merchant brought;
For Syria was my birthplace. There that merchant
Saw us when we were both put up for sale,
And bought us, driving a most stingy bargain.
No man could e'er in wickedness surpass him;
So miserly, that nothing except thyme
Was ever bought by him for food, not e'en
So much as might have fed Pythagoras.
While Ulpian went on jesting in this manner, Cynulcus cried out—I want some bread; and when I say bread (ἄρτος） [p. 180] I do not mean Artus king of the Messapians, the Messapians, I mean, in Iapygia, concerning whom there is a treatise among Polemo's works. And Thucydides also mentions him, in his seventh book, and Demetrius the comic writer speaks of him in the drama entitled Sicily, using the following language—
From thence, borne on by the south wind, we cameBut this is not the time for speaking of that Artus, but of the other, which was discovered by Ceres, surnamed Sito (food), and Simalis. For those are the names under which the Goddess is worshipped by the Syracusans, as Polemo himself reports in his book about Morychus. But in the first book of his treatise addressed to Timæus, he says, that in Scolus, a city of Bœotia, statues are erected to Megalartus (the God or Goddess of great bread), and to Megalomazus (the God or Goddess of abundant corn). So when the loaves were brought, and 'on them a great quantity of all kinds of food, looking at them, he said—
Across the sea to the Italian shore,
Where the Messapians dwelt; and Artus there,
The monarch of the land, received us kindly,
A great and noble host for foreigners.
What numerous nets and snares are set by menas Alexis says in his play, The Girl sent to the Well. And so now let us say something about bread.
To catch the helpless loaves;
But Pontianus anticipating him, said; Tryphon of Alexandria, in the book entitled the Treatise on Plants, mentions several kinds of loaves; if I can remember them accurately, the leavened loaf, the unleavened loaf, the loaf made of the best wheaten flour, the loaf made of groats, the loaf made of remnants (and this he says is more digestible than that which is made only of the best flour), the loaf made of rye, the loaf made of acorns, the loaf made of millet. The loaf made of groats, said he, is made of oaten groats, for groats are not made of barley. And from a peculiar way of baking or roasting it, there is a loaf called ipnites (or the oven loaf) which Timocles mentions in his Sham Robbers, where he says—
And seeing there a tray before me full[p. 181] There is another kind called escharites (or the hearth-loaf), and this is mentioned by Antidotus in the Protohorus—
Of smoking oven-loaves, I took and ate them.
I took the hot hearth-loaves, how could I help it?And Crobylus says, in his Strangled Man—
And dipp'd them in sweet sauce, and then I at them.
I took a platter of hot clean hearth-loaves.And Lynceus the Samian, in his letter to Diagoras, comparing the eatables in vogue at Athens with those which were used at Rhodes, says—“And moreover, while they talk a great deal about their bread which is to be got in the market, the Rhodians at the beginning and middle of dinner put loaves on the table which are not at all inferior to them; but when they have given over eating and are satisfied, then they introduce a most agreeable dish, which is called the hearth-loaf, the best of all loaves; which is made of sweet things, and compounded so as to be very soft, and it is made up with such an admirable harmony of all the ingredients as to have a most excellent effect; so that often a man who is drunk becomes sober again, and in the same way a man who has just eaten to satiety is made hungry again by eating of it.” There is another kind of loaf called tabyrites, of which Sopater, in his Cnidia, says—The tabyrites loaf was one which fills the cheeks. There was also a loaf called the achæinas. And this loaf is mentioned by Semus, in the eighth book of his Delias; and he says that is made by the women who celebrate the Thesmophoria. They are loaves of a large size. And the festival is called Megalartia, which is a name given to it by those who carry these loaves, who cry—“Eat a large achæinas, full of fat.” There is another loaf called cribanites, or the pan-loaf. This is mentioned by Aristophanes, in his Old Age. And he introduces a woman selling bread, complaining that her loaves have been taken from her by those who have got rid of the effects of their old age—
A. What was the matter?[p. 182] There is another loaf called the encryphias, or secret loaf. And this is mentioned by Nicostratus, in his Hierophant, and Archestratus the inventor of made dishes, whose testimony I will introduce at the proper season. There is a loaf also called dipyrus, or twice-baked. Eubulus says, in his Ganymede—
B. My hot loaves, my son.
A. Sure you are mad?
B. My nice pan-loaves, my son,
So white, so hot. . . . . .
And nice hot twice-baked loaves.And Alcæus says, in his Ganymede—
A. But what are dipyri, or twice-baked loaves?There is another loaf, called laganum. This is very light, and not very nutritious; and the loaf called apanthracis is even less nutritious still. And Aristophanes mentions the laganum in his Ecclesiazusæ, saying—
B. Of all loaves the most delicate.
The lagana are being baked.And the apanthracis is mentioned by Diocles the Carystian, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesomes, saying— “The apanthracis is more tender than the laganum: and it appears that it is made on the coals, like that called by the Attic writers encryphias, which the Alexandrians consecrate to Saturn, and put them in the temple of Saturn for every one to eat who pleases.”
And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, and in his Muses (and this play is an emendation of the former one), thus enumerates the different kinds of loaves—“The panloaf, the homorus, the statites, the encris, the loaf made of meal, the half loaf,” which Sophron also mentions in his Female Actors, saying—
Pan-loaves and homori, a dainty mealAnd I know, my friends, that the Athenians spell this word with a ρ, writing κρίβανον and κριβανίτης; but Herodotus, in the second book of his history, writes it with a λ, saying κλιβάνῳ διαφανεῖ. And so Sophron said—
For goddesses, and a half-loaf for Hecate.
Who dresses suet puddings or clibanites,And the same writer also speaks of a loaf which he calls πλακίτης, saying in his Gynæcea—
Or half-loaves here?
He feasted me till night with placite loaves.Sophron also mentions tyron bread, or bread compounded with cheese, saying in the play called the Mother-in-law— [p. 183]
I bid you now eat heartily,And Nicander of Colophon, in his Dialects, calls unleavened bread δάρατος. And Plato the comic writer, in his Long Night, calls large ill-made loaves Cilician, in these words—
For some one has just giv'n a tyron loaf,
Fragrant with cheese, to all the children.
Then he went forth, and bought some loaves, no niceAnd in the drama entitled Menelaus, he calls some loaves Agelæi, or common loaves. There is also a loaf mentioned by Alexis, in his Cyprian, which he calls autopyrus—
Clean rolls, but dirty huge Cilicians.
Having just eaten autopyrus bread.And Phrynichus, in his Poastriæ, speaks of the same loaves, calling them autopyritæ, saying—
With autopyrite loaves, and sweeten'd cakesAnd Sophocles makes mention of a loaf called orindes, in his Triptolemus, which has its name from being made of rice (ὄρυζα), or from a grain raised in Aethiopia, which resembles sesamum. Aristophanes also, in his Tagenistæ, or the Fryers, makes mention of rolls called collabi, and says—
Of well-press'd figs and olives.
Each of you take a collabus.And in a subsequent passage he says—
Bring here a paunch of pig in autumn born,And these rolls are made of new wheat, as Philyllius declares in his Auge—
With hot delicious collabi.
Here I come, bearing in my hands the offspringThere is also a kind of loaf called maconidæ, mentioned by Aleman, in his fifteenth book, in these terms—“Tere were seven coaches for the guests, and an equal number of tables of maconidæ loaves, crowned with a white tablecoth, and with sesamum, and in handsome dishes.” Chrysocolla are a food made of honey and flax.9 [p. 184] There is also a kind of loaf called collyra, mentioned by Aristophanes in his Peace—
Of three months' wheat, hot doughy collabi,
Mixed with the milk of the grass-feeding cow.
A large collyra, and a mighty lumpAnd in his Holcades he says—
Of dainty meat upon it.
And a collyra for the voyagers,
Earn'd by the trophy raised at Marathon.'
There is a loaf also called the obelias, or the penny loaf, so called because it is sold for a penny, as in Alexandria; or else because it is baked on small spits. Aristophanes, in his Farmers, says—
Then perhaps some one bakes a penny loaf.And Pherecrates, in his Forgetful Man, says—
Olen, now roast a penny roll with ashes,And the men who in the festivals carried these penny rolls on their shoulders were called ὀβελιαφόροι. And Socrates, in his sixth book of his Surnames, says that it was Bacchus who invented the penny roll on his expeditions. There is a roll called etnites, the same which is also named lecithites, according to the statement of Eucrates. The Messapians call bread πανὸς, and they call satiety πανία, and those things which give a surfeit they call πάνια; at least, those terms are used by Blæsus, in his Mesotriba, and by Archilochus, in his Telephus, and by Rhinthon, in his Amphitryon. And the Romans call bread panis. Nastus is a name given to a large loaf of leavened bread, according to the statement of Polemarchus and Artemidorus. But the Heracleon is a kind of cheesecake. And Nicostratus says, in his Sofa—
But take care, don't prefer it to a loaf.
Such was the size, O master, of the nastus,The name of bread among the Ionians was cnestus, as Artemidorus the Ephesian states in his Memorials of Ionia. Thronus was the name of a particular kind of loaf, as it is stated by Neanthes of Cyzicus, in the second book of his Grecian History, where he writes as follows—“But Codrus [p. 185] takes a slice of a loaf of the kind called thronus, and a piece of meat, such as they give to the old men.'” There is, among the Elians, a kind of loaf baked on the ashes which they call bacchylus, as Nicander states in the second book of his treatise on Dialects. And Dihilus mentions it in his Woman who went Astray, in these words—
A large white loaf. It was so deep, its top
Rose like a tower quite above its basket.
Its smell, when that the top was lifted up,
Rose up, a fragrance not unmix'd with honey
Most grateful to our nostrils, still being hot.
To bring loaves baked on ashes, strain'd through sieves.The thing called ἀποπυρίας is also a kind of roll; and that also is baked on the ashes; and by some it is called ζυμίτης, or leavened. Cratinus, in his Effeminate People—
First of all I an apopyrias have—
And Archestratus, in his Gastronomy, thus speaks of flour and of rolls—
First, my dear Moschus, will I celebrateThe epicure Archestratus says this; and he counsels us to have a Phœnician or Lydian slave for a baker; for he was not ignorant that the best makers of loaves come from Cappadocia. And he speaks thus–
The bounteous gifts of Ceres the fair-hair'd.
And cherish these my sayings in thy heart.
Take these most excellent things,—the well-made cake
Of fruitful barley, in fair Lesbos grown,
On the circumfluous hill of Eresus;
Whiter than driven snow, if it be true
That these are loaves such as the gods do eat,
Which Mercury their steward buys for them.
Good is the bread in seven-gated Thebes,
In Thasos, and in many other cities,
But all compared with these would seem but husks,
And worthless refuse. Be you sure of this.
Seek too the round Thessalian roll, the which
A maid's fair hand has kneaded, which the natives
Crimmatias call; though others chondrinus.
Nor let the Tegean son of finest flour,
The fine encryphias be all unpraised.
Athens, Minerva's famous city, sends
The best of loaves to market, food for men;
There is, besides, Erythra, known for grapes,
Nor less for a white loaf in shapely pan,
Carefully moulded, white and beautiful,
A tempting dish for hungry guests at supper.
Take care, and keep a Lydian in thy house,[p. 186]
Or an all-wise Phoenician; who shall know
Your inmost thoughts, and each day shall devise
New forms to please your mind, and do your bidding.
Antiphanes also speaks of the Athenian loaves as pre- eminently good, in his Omphale, saying—
For how could any man of noble birthThis is that Thearion the celebrated baker, whom Plato makes mention of in the Gorgias, joining him and Mithæcus in the same catalogue, writing thus. “Those who have been or are skilful providers for the body you enumerated with great anxiety; Thearion the baker, and Mithæcus who wrote the treatise called the Sicilian Cookery, and Sarambus the innkeeper, saying that they were admirable providers for the body, the one preparing most excellent loaves of bread, and the other preparing meat, and the other wine.” And Aristophanes, in the Gerytades and Aeolosicon, speaks in this manner—
Ever come forth from this luxurious house,
Seeing these fair-complexion'd wheaten loaves
Filling the oven in such quick succession,
And seeing them, devise fresh forms from moulds,
The work of Attic hands; well-train'd by wise
Thearion to honour holy festivals.
I come now, having left the baker's shop,And Eubulus makes mention of Cyprian loaves as exceedingly good, in his Orthane, using these words—
The seat of good Thearion's pans and ovens.
'Tis a hard thing, beholding Cyprian loaves,And Ephippus, in his Diana, makes mention of the κολλίκιοι loaves (and they are the same as the κόλλαβοι) in these terms—
To ride by carelessly; for like a magnet
They do attract the hungry passengers.
Eating the collix, baked in well-shaped pan,Aristophanes also says, in his Acharnensians—
By Alexander's Thessalian recipe.
All hail, my collix-eating young Bœotian.
When the conversation had gone on this way, one of the grammarians present, whose name was Arrian, said— This food is as old as the time of Saturn, my friends; for we are not rejoicing in meal, for the city is full of bread, nor in all this catalogue of loaves. But since I have fallen in with another treatise of Chrysippus of Tyana, which is entitled a treatise on the Art of Making Bread; and since I have had experience of the different recipes given in it at the houses [p. 187] of many of my friends, I will proceed to say something my- self also on the subject of loaves. The kind of loaf which is called ἀρτοπτίκινος, differs in some respect from that made in a pan, and from that made in an oven. But if you make it with hard leaven, it will be bright and nice, so tat it may be eaten dry; but if it be made with a looser leaven, then it will be light but not bright. But the loaf which s made in a pan, and that which is made in an oven, require a softer kind of leaven. And among the Greeks there is a kind of bread which is called tender, being made up with a little milk and oil, and a fair quantity of salt; and one must make the dough for this bread loose. And this kind of loaf is called the Cappadocian, since tender bread is made in the greatest quantities in Cappadocia. But the Syrians call loaves of this kind λαχμὴ; and it is the best bread made in Syria, because it can be eaten hot; and it is like a flower. But there is also a loaf called boletinus, from being made like a mushroom, and the kneading-trough is smeared with poppies plastered over the bottom of it, on which the dough is placed, and by this expedient it is prevented from sticking to the trough while the leaven is mixed in. But when it is put in the oven, then some groats are spread under on a tile, and then the bread is put on it, and it gets a most beautiful colour, like cheese which has been smoked. There is also a kind of bread called strepticias, which is made up with a little milk, and pepper and a little oil is added, and sometimes suet is substituted. And a little wine, and pepper, and milk, and a little oil, or sometimes suet, is employed in making the cake called artolaganum. But for making the cakes called capuridia tracta, you mix the same ingredients that you do for bread, and the difference is in the baking.
So when the mighty sophist of Rome had enunciated these precepts of Aristarchus, Cynulcus said—O Ceres, what a wise man! It is not without reason that the admirable Blepsias has pupils as the sand of the sea in number, and has amassed wealth from this excellent wisdom of his, beyond all that was acquired by Gorgias or Protagoras. So that I am afraid, by the goddesses, to say whether he himself is blind, or whether those who have entrusted his pupils to him have all but one eye, so as scarcely to be able to see, nume- [p. 188] rous as they are. Happy are they, or rather blessed ought I to call them, whose masters treat them to such divine lectures. And in reply to this Magnus, a man fond of the table, and very much inclined to praise this grammarian to excess, because of the abundance of his learning, said—But ye—
Men with unwashen feet, who lie on the ground,as Eubulus says—did not your father Diogenes, once when he was eagerly eating a cheesecake at a banquet, say to some one who put the question to him, that he was eating bread excellently well made? But as for you, you
You roofless wanderers, all-devouring throats,
Feasting on other men's possessions,
Stranglers of dishes of white paunches,as the same poet, Eubulus, says, you keep on speaking without ever giving place to others; and you are never quiet until some one throws you a crust or a bone, as he would do to a dog. How do you come to know that cubi (I do not mean those which you are continually handling) are a kind of loaf, square, seasoned with anise, and cheese, and oil, as Heraclides says in his Cookery Book? But Blepsias overlooked this kind, as also he did the thargelus, which some call the thalysius. But Crates, in the second book of his treatise on the Attic Dialect, says that the thargelus is the first loaf made after the carrying home of the harvest. The loaf made of sesame he had never seen, nor that which is called anastatus, which is made for the Arrephori.10 There is also a loaf called the pyramus, made of sesame, and perhaps being the same as the sesamites. But Trypho mentions all these different kinds in the first book of his treatise on Plants, as he also does those which are called thiagones. And these last are loaves made for the gods in Aetolia. There are also loaves called dramices and araxis among the Athamanes.
And the writers of books on dialects give lists of the names of different loaves. Seleucus speaks of one called dramis, which bears this name among the Macedonians; and of another called daratus by the Thessalians. And he speaks of the etnites, saying that it is the same as the lecithites, [p. 189] that is to say, made of the yolks of eggs and of pulse. And he says that the loaf called ἐρικίτης, has its name from being made of wheat crushed (ἐρηριγμένος), and not sifted, and of groats. And Amerias speaks of a loaf called xeropyrites, made of pure wheat, and nothing else; and so does Tima- chidas. But Nicander says that thiagones is the name given by the Aetolians to those loaves which are made for the gods. The Egyptians have a bread which is rather bitter, which they call cyllastis. And Aristophanes speaks of it in his Danaides, saying—
Mention the cyllastis and the petosiris.Hecatæus, too, and Herodotus mention it; and so does Phanodemus, in the seventh book of his Attic History. But Nicander of Thyatira says, that it is bread made of barley which is called cyllastis by the Egyptians. Alexis calls dirty loaves phæi, in his Cyprian, saying—
A. Then you are come at last?Of well-baked loaves enough—
B. Scarce could I find
A. A plague upon you;And Seleucus says that there is a very closely made hot bread which is called blema. And Philemon, in the first book of his Oracles, “Useful Things of Every Kind,” says—that bread made of unsifted wheat, and containing the bran and everything, is called πυρνός. He says, too, that there are loaves which are called blomilii, which have divisions in them, which the Romans call quadrati. And that bread made of bran is called brattime, which Amerias. and Timachidas call euconon or teuconon. But Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says that there is a kind of loaf which is called spoleus, which is only eaten by relations when assembled together.
But what now have you got?
B. I bring with me
Sixteen, a goodly number; eight of them
Tempting and white, and just as many phæi.
Now you may find barley-cakes mentioned in his writings by Tryphon, and by many other authors. Among the Athenians it is called phystes, not being too closely kneaded. There is also the cardamale, and the berx, and the tolype, and the Achilleum; and perhaps that is a cake which is made of the Achillean barley. Then there is the [p. 190] thridakina, so named from lettuce, the œnutta, so called from wine; the melitutta, from honey; and the crinon, the name of which is derived from the lily, which last is also the name of a choral dance, mentioned by Apollophanes, in the Dalis. But the cakes called thridaciscæ by Alcman, are the same as the Attic thridacinæ. But Alcman speaks thus—
The thridacisca, and the cribanotus.And Sosibius, in the third book of his essay on Alcman, says, that cribana is a name given to a peculiar kind of cheesecake, in shape like a breast. But the barley cake, which is given in sacrifices to be tasted by the sacrificers, is called hygea. And there is also one kind of barley cake which is called by Hesiod amolgsæa.
The amolgæan cake of barley made,And he calls it the cake of the shepherds, and very strengthening. For the word ἀμολγὸς means that which is in the greatest vigour. But I may fairly beg to be excused from giving a regular list (for I have not a very unimpeachable memory) of all the kinds of biscuits and cakes which Aristomenes the Athenian speaks of in the third book of his treatise on Things pertaining to the Sacred Ceremonies. And we ourselves were acquainted with that man, though we were young, and he was older than we. And he was an actor in the Old Comedy, a freedman of that most accomplished king Adrian, and called by him the Attic partridge. And Ulpian said—By whom is the word freedman (ἀπελεύθερος） ever used? And when some one replied that there was a play with that title—namely, the Freedman of Phrynichus, and that Menander, in his Beaten Slave, had the word freedwoman (ἀπελευθέρα), and was proceeding to mention other instances; he asked again—What is the difference between ἀπελεύθερος11 and ἐξελεύθερος. However, it was agreed upon to postpone this part of the discussion for the present.
And milk of goats whose stream is nearly dry.
And Galen, when we were just about to lay hands on the loaves, said—We will not begin supper until you have heard what the sons of the Asclepiadæ have said about loaves, and cheesecakes, and meal, and flour. Diphilus the Siphnian, [p. 191] in his treatise on What is Wholesome to be eaten by People in Health and by Invalids, says, “Loaves made of wheat are by far more nutritious and by far more digestible than those made of barley, and are in every respect superior to them; and the next best are those which are made of similago; and next to those come the loaves made of sifted flour, and next to them those called syncomisti, Which are made of unsifted meal;—for these appear to be more nutritious.” But Philistion the Locrian says “that the loaves made of similago are superior to those made of groats, as far as their strengthening properties go; and next to them he ranks loaves made of groats, then those made of sifted flour. But the rolls made of bran give a much less wholesome juice, and are by far less nutritious. And all bread is more digestible when eaten hot than cold, and it is also more digestible then, and affords a pleasanter and more wholesome juice; nevertheless, hot bread is apt to cause flatulence, though it is not the less digestible for that; while cold bread is filling and indigestible. But bread which is very stale and cold is less nutritious, and is apt to cause constipation of the bowels, and affords a very unpleasant juice. The bread called encryphiasis is heavy and difficult of digestion, because it is not baked in an equal manner; but that which is called ipnites and caminites is indigestible and apt to disagree with people. That called escharites, and that which is fried, is more easily secreted because of the admixture of oil in it, but is not so good for the stomach, on account of the smell which there is about it. But the bread called 'the clibanites' has every possible good quality; for it gives a pleasant and wholesome juice, and is good for the stomach, and is digestible, and agrees exceedingly well with every one, for it never clogs the bowels, and never relaxes them too much.” But Andreas the physician says that there are loaves in Sicily made of the sycamine, and that those who eat them lose their hair and become bald. Mnesitheus says “that wheat-bread is more digestible than barley-bread, and that those which are made with the straw in them are exceedingly nutritious; for they are the most easily digested of all food. But bread which is made of rye, if it be eaten in any quantity, is heavy and difficult of digestion; on which account those who eat it do not keep their health,” But you should know that corn [p. 192] which has not been exposed to the fire, and which has not been ground, causes flatulence, and heaviness, and vertigo, and headache.
After all this conversation it seemed good to go to supper. And when the Uraeum was carried round, Leonidas said, “Euthydemus the Athenian, my friends, in his treatise on Pickles, says that Hesiod has said with respect to every kind of pickle— * * * * * * *12
Some sorrily-clad fishermen did seekNow these verses appear to me to be the work of some cook rather than of that most accomplished Hesiod; for how is it possible for him to have spoken of Parium or Byzantium, and still more of Tarentum and the Bruttii and the Campanians, when he was many years more ancient than any of these places or tribes? So it seems to me that they are the verses of Euthydemus himself.” And Dionysiocles said, "Whoever wrote the verses, my good Leonidas, is a matter which you all, as being grammarians of the highest reputation, are very capable of deciding. But since the discussion is turning upon pickles and salt fish, concerning which I recollect a proverb which was thought deserving of being quoted by Charchus the Solensian,—
To catch a lamprey; men who love to haunt
The Bosporus's narrow strait, well stored
With fish for pickling fit. They cut their prey
In large square portions, and then plunge them deep
Into the briny tub: nor is the oxyrhyncus
A kind to be despised by mortal man;
Which the bold sons of ocean bring to market
Whole and in pieces. Of the noble tunny
The fair Byzantium the mother is,
And of the scombrus lurking in the deep,
And of the well-fed ray. The snow-white Paros
Nurses the colius for human food;
And citizens from Bruttium or Campania,
Fleeing along the broad Ionian sea,
Will bring the orcys, which shall potted be,
And placed in layers in the briny cask,
Till honour'd as the banquet's earliest course.
For old salt-fish is fond of marjoram.[p. 193] I too myself will say a word on the subject, which is not unconnected with my own art.
Diodes the Carystian, in his treatise on the Wholesomes, as it is entitled, says, “Of all salt-fish which are destitute of fat, the best is the horæum; and of all that are fat, the best is the tunny-fish.” But Icesius says, “that neither the pelamydes nor the horæa are easily secreted by the stomach; and that the younger tunnies are similar in most respects to the cybii, but that they have a great superiority over those which are called horæa.” And he says the same of the Byzantine horæa, in comparison with those which are caught in other places. And he says “that not only the tunnies, but that all other fish caught at Byzantium is superior to that which is caught elsewhere.” To this Daphnus the Ephesian added,—Archestratus, who sailed round the whole world for the sake of finding out what was good to eat, and what pleasures he could derive from the use of his inferior members, says—
And a large slice of fat Sicilian tunny,But that epicure Archestratus has omitted to enumerate the pickle-juice called elephantine, which is spoken of by Crates the comic poet, in his Samians; who says of it—
Carefully carved, should be immersed in brine.
But the saperdes is a worthless brute,
A delicacy fit for Ponticans
And those who like it. For few men can tell
How bad and void of strengthening qualities
Those viands are. The scombrus should be kept
Three days before you sprinkle it with salt,
Then let it lie half-pickled in the cask.
But when you come unto the sacred coast,
Where proud Byzantium commands the strait,
Then take a slice of delicate horeum,
For it is good and tender in those seas.
A sea-born turtle in the bitter wavesBut that the elephantine pickle of Crates was very celebrated Aristophanes bears witness, in his Thesmophoriazusæ, in these words— [p. 194]
Bears in its skin the elephantine pickle;
And crabs swift as the wind, and thin-wing'd pike,
13* * * * *
Sure comic poetry is a mighty food;
Listen to Crates, he will tell you, how
The elephantine pickle, easily made,
Is dainty seas'ning; many other jokes
Of the same kind he utter'd.
And there was another kind, which Alexis calls raw pickle, in his Apeglaucomenos. And the same poet, in his Wicked Woman, introduces a cook talking about the preparation of salt-fish and pickled fish, in the following verses:—
I wish now, sitting quiet by myself,And, in his Apeglaucomenos, a man being asked for his contribution to the feast, says—
To ponder in my mind some dainty dishes;
And also to arrange what may be best
For the first course, and how I best may flavour
Each separate dish, and make it eatable.
Now first of all the pickled horæum comes;
This will but cost one penny; wash it well,
Then strew a large flat dish with seasoning,
And put in that the fish. Pour in white wine
And oil, then add some boil'd beef marrow-bones,
And take it from the fire, when the last zest
Shall be by assafœtida imparted.
A. Indeed you shall not half a farthing draw
From me, unless you name each separate dish.
B. That reasonable is.
A. Well, bring a slate
And pencil; now your items.
B. First, there is
Raw pickled fish, and that will fivepence cost.
A. What next
B. Some mussels, sevenpence for them.
A. Well, there's no harm in that. What follows next
B. A pennyworth of urchins of the sea.
A. Still I can find no fault.
B. The next in order
Is a fine dish of cabbage, which you said . . .
A. Well, that will do.
B. For that I paid just twopence.
A. What was't I said. . .
B. A cybium for threepence.
A. But are you sure you've nought embezzled here?
B. My friend, you've no experience of the market;
You know not how the grubs devour the greens.
A. But how is that a reason for your charging
A double price for salt-fish?
B. The greengrocer}
Is also a salt-fishmonger; go and ask him.
[p. 195] A conger, tenpence.
A. That is not too much.
What next?
B. I bought a roast fish for a drachma.
A. Bah! how he runs on now towards the end,
As if a fever had o'ertaken him.
B. Then add the wine, of which I bought three gallons
When you were drunk, ten obols for each gallon.
And Icesius says, in the second book of hi treatise on the Materials of Nourishment, that pelamydes are a large kind of cybium. And Posidippus speaks of the cybium, in his Transformed. But Euthydemus, in his treatise on Salt Fish, says that the fish called the Delcanus is so named from the river Delcon, where it is taken; and then, when pickled and salted, it is very good indeed for the stomach. But Dorion, in his book on Fishes, calls the leptinus the lebianus, and says, "that some people say that is the same fish as the delcanus; and that the ceracinus is called by man people the saperdes; and that the best are those which come from the Palus Mæotis. And he says that the mullet which are caught about Abdera are excellent; and next to them, those which are caught near Sinope; and that they, when pickled and salted, are very good for the stomach. But those, he says, which are called mulli are by some people called agnotidia, and by some platistaci, though they are all the same fish; as also is the chellares. For that he, being but one fish, has received a great variety of names; for that he is called a bacchus, and an oniscus, and a chellares. And those of the larger size are called platistaci, and those of riddle size mulli, and those which are but small are called agnotidia. But Aristophanes also mentions the mulli, in his Holcades—
Scombri, and coliæ, and lebii,
And mulli, and saperdæ, and all tunnies.
When Dionysiocles was silent upon this, Varus the grammarian said,—But Antiphanes the poet, also, in his Deucalion, mentions these kinds of pickled salt-fish, where he says—
If any one should wish for caviarAnd in his Parasite he says— [p. 196]
From mighty sturgeon, fresh from Cadiz' sea;
Or else delights in the Byzantine tunny,
And courts its fragrance.
Caviar from the sturgeon in the middle,And Nicostratus or Philetærus, in his Antyllus, says—
Fat, white as snow, and hot.
Let the Byzantine salt-fish triumph here,And a little further on, he proceeds—
And paunch from Cadiz, carefully preserved.
But, O ye earth and gods! I found a man,After this Ulpian, looking upon Plutarch, chimed in,—It seems to me that no one, in all that has been said, has included the Mendesian fish, which are so much fancied by you gentlemen of Alexandria; though I should have thought that a mad dog would scarcely touch them; nor has any one mentioned the hemineri or half-fresh fish, which you think so good, nor the pickled shads. And Plutarch replied,— The heminerus, as far as I know, does not differ from the half-pickled fish which have been already mentioned, and which your elegant Archestratus speaks of; but, however, Sopater the Paphian has mentioned the heminerus, in his Slave of Mystacus, saying—
An honest fishmonger of pickled fish,
Of whom I bought a huge fish ready scaled,
Cheap at a drachma, for two oboli.
Three days' hard eating scarcely would suffice
That we might finish it; no, nor a fortnight,
So far does it exceed the common size.
He then received the caviar from a sturgeonAnd the same man includes the Mendesian in his list—
Bred in the mighty Danube, dish much prized,
Half-fresh, half-pickled, by the wandering Scythians.
A slightly salt Mendesian in season,And all those who have tried, know that these dishes are by far more delicate and agreeable than the vegetables and figs which you make such a fuss about. Tell us now also, whether the word τάριχος is used in the masculine gender by the Attic writers; for we know it is by Epicharmus.
And mullet roasted on the glowing embers.
And while Ulpian was thinking this over with himself, Myrtilus, anticipating him, said,—Cratinus, in his Dionysalexander, has— I will my basket fill with Pontic pickles, (where he uses τάριχοι as masculine;) and Plato, in his Jupiter Illtreated, says— [p. 197]
All that I have amounts to this,And Aristophanes says, in his Daitaleis—
And I shall lose my pickled fish (ταρίχους).
I'm not ashamed to wash this fine salt-fish (τὺν τάριχον τουτονὶ),And Crates says, in his Beasts—
From all the evils which I know he has.
And you must boil some greens, and roast some fishBut the noun is formed in a very singular manner by Hermippus, in his Female Bread-Sellers—
And pickled fish likewise, (τοὺς ταρίχους,) and keep your hands
From doing any injury to us.
And fat pickled fish (τάριχος πίονα).And Sophocles says, in his Phineus—
A pickled corpse (νεκρὸς τάριχος) Egyptian to behold.Aristophanes has also treated us to a diminutive form of the word, in his Peace—
Bring us some good ταρίχιον to the fieldsAnd Cephisodorus says, in his Pig—
Some middling meat, or some ταρίχιον.And Pherecrates, in his Deserters, has—
The woman boil'd some pulse porridge, and lentils,Epicharmus also uses the word in the masculine gender, ὁ τάριχος. And Herodotus does the same in his ninth book; where he says—“The salt-fish (οἱ τάριχοι) lying on the fire, leaped about and quivered.” And the proverbs, too, in which the word occurs, have it in the masculine gender:—
And so awaited each of us, and roasted
Besides an orphan small ταρίχιον.
Salt-fish (τάριχος) is done if it but see the fire.But the Attic writers often use it as a neuter word; and the genitive case, as they use it, is τοῦ ταρίχους. Chionids says, in his Beggars—
Salt-fish (τάριχος) when too long kept loves marjoram.
Salt-fish (τάριχος) does never get its due from men.
Will you then eat some pickled fish (τοῦ ταρίχους), ye ods!And the dative is ταρίχει, like ξίφει—
Beat therefore now upon this pickled fish (τῷ ταρίχει τῷδε).And Menander uses it τάριχος, in the accusative case, in his Man selecting an Arbitrator—
I spread some salt upon the pickled fish (ἐπὶ τὸ τάριχος).[p. 198] But when the word is masculine the genitive case does not end with ς.
The Athenians were so fond of pickled fish that they enrolled as citizens the sons of Chærephilus the seller of salt-fish; as Alexis tells us, in his Epidaurus, when he says—
For 'twas salt-fish that made AtheniansAnd when Timocles once saw them on horseback, he said that two tunny-fish were among the Satyrs. And Hyperides the orator mentions them too. And Antiphanes speaks of Euthynus the seller of pickled fish, in his Couris, in these terms:—
And citizens of Chærephilus's sons.
And going to the salt-fish seller, himAnd Alexis, in his Hippiscus, and again in his Soraci, makes mention of Phidippus; and he too was a dealer in salt-fish—
I mean with whom I used to deal, there wait for me;
And if Euthynus be not come, still wait,
And occupy the man with fair excuses,
And hinder him from cutting up the fish.
There was another man, Phidippus hight,
A foreigner who brought salt-fish to Athens.
And while we were eating the salt-fish and getting very anxious to drink, Daphnus said, holding up both his hands,— Heraclides of Tarentum, my friends, in his treatise entitled The Banquet, says, "It is good to take a moderate quantity of food before drinking, and especially to eat such dishes as one is accustomed to; for from the eating of things which have not been eaten for a long time the wine is apt to be turned sour, so as not to sit on the stomach, and many twinges and spasms are often originated. But some people think that these also are bad for the stomach; I mean, all kinds of vegetables and salted fish, since they possess qualities apt to cause pangs; but that glutinous and invigorating food is the most wholesome,—being ignorant that a great many of the things which assist the secretions are, on the contrary, very good for the stomach; among which is the plant called sisarum, (which Epicharmus speaks of, in his Agrostinus, and also in his Earth and Sea; and so does Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on the Wholesomes;) and asparagus and white beet, (for the black beet is apt to check the secretions,) and cockles, and solens, and sea mussels, and chemæ, and periwinkles, and perfect pickles, and salt-fish, which are void of [p. 199] smell, and many kinds of juicy fishes. And it is good that, before the main dinner, there should be served up what is called salad, and beet-root, and salt-fish, in order that by having the edge of our appetite taken off we may go with less eagerness to what is not equally nutritious. But at the beginning of dinner it is best to avoid abundant draughts; for they are bad as generating too great a secretion of humous in the body. “But the Macedonians, according to the statement of Ephippus the Olynthian, in his treatise Concerning the Burial of Alexander and Hephæstion, had no notion of moderation in drinking, but started off at once with enormous draughts before eating, so as to be drunk before the first course was off the table, and to be unable to enjoy the rest of the banquet.”
But Diphilus the Siphnian says, “The salt pickles which are made of fish, whether caught in the sea, or in the lake, or in the river, are not very nourishing, nor very juicy; but are inflammatory, and act strongly on the bowels, and are provocative of desire. But the best of them are those Which are made of animals devoid of fat, such as cybia, and horæa, and other kinds like them. And of fat fish, the best are the different kinds of tunny, and the young of the tunny; for the old ones are larger and harsher to the taste; and above all, the Byzantine tunnies are so. But the tunny, says he, is the same as the larger pelamys, the small kind of which is the same as the cybium, to which species the horæum also belongs. But the sarda is of very nearly the same size as the colias. And the scombrus is a light fish, and one which the stomach easily gets rid of; but the colias is a glutinous fish, very like a squill, and apt to give twinges, and has an inferior juice, but nevertheless is nutritious. And the best are those which are called the Amyclæan, and the Spanish, which is also called the Saxitan; for they are lighter and sweeter.” But Strabo, in the third book of his work on Geography, says that near the Islands of Hercules,14 and off the city of Carthagena, is a city named Sexitania, from which the salt-fish above-mentioned derive their name; and there is another city called Scombroaria, so called from the scombri which are caught in its neighbourhood, and of them the best sauce is made. But there are also fish which are called melandryæ, [p. 200] which are mentioned by Epicharmus also, in his Ulysses the Deserter, in this way—
Then there was salt and pickled fish to eat,But the melandrys is the largest description of tunny, as Pamphilus explains in his treatise on Names; and that when preserved is very rich and oily.
Something not quite unlike melandryæ.
“But the raw pickle called omotarichum,” says Diphilus, “is called by some people cetema. It is a heavy sticky food, and moreover very indigestible. But the river coracinus, which some people call the peltes, the one from the Nile, I mean, which the people at Alexandria have a peculiar name for, and call the heminerus, is rather fat, and has a juice which is far from disagreeable; it is fleshy, nutritious, easily digestible, not apt to disagree with one, and in every respect superior to the mullet. Now the roe of every fish, whether fresh or dried and salted, is indigestible and apt to disagree. And the most so of all is the roe of the more oily and larger fish; for that remains harder for a long time, and is not decomposed. But it is not disagreeable to the taste when seasoned with salt and roasted. Every one, however, ought to soak dried and salted fish until the water becomes free from smell, and sweet. But dried sea-fish when boiled becomes sweeter; and they are sweeter too when eaten hot than cold.” And Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says, “Those juices which are salt, and those which are sweet, all have an effect in relaxing the bowels; but those which are sharp and harsh are strongly diuretic. Those too which are bitter are generally diuretic, but some of them also relax the bowels. Those which are sour, however, check the secretions.” And Xenophon, that most accomplished of writers, in his treatise entitled Hiero, or the Tyrant, abuses all such food, and says, “For what, said Hiero, have you never noticed all the multitudinous contrivances which are set before tyrants, acid, and harsh, and sour; and whatever else there can be of the same kind?—To be sure I have, said Simonides, and all those things appeared to me to be very contrary to the natural taste of any man. And do you think, said Hiero, that these dishes are anything else but the fancies of a diseased and vitiated taste; since those who eat with appetite, you [p. 201] well know, have no need of these contrivances and provo- catives.”
After this had been said, Cynulcus asked for some spiced and boiled water to drink; saying that he rust wash down all those salt arguments with sweet drink. And Ulpian said to him with some indignation, and slapping his pillow with his hand,—How long will it be before you leave off your barbarian tricks? Will you never stop till I am force to leave the party and go away, being unable to digest all your absurd speeches? And he replied,—Now that I am at Rome, the Sovereign City, I use the language of the natives habitually; for among the ancient poets, and among those prose writers who pique themselves on the purity of their Greek, you may find some Persian nouns, because of their having got into a habit of using them in conversation. As for instance, one finds mention made of parasangs, and astandæ, and angari (couriers), and a schœnus or perch, which last word is used either as a masculine or feminine noun, and it is a measure on the road, which retains even to this day that Persian name with many people. I know, too, that many of the Attic writers affect to imitate Macedonian expressions, on account of the great intercourse that there was between Attica and Macedonia. But it would be better, in my opinion,
To drink the blood of hulls, and so preferthan to fall into your power. For I could not say, to drink the water of bulls; as to which you do not know what it is. Nor do you know that even among the very best poets and prose writers there are some things said which are not quite allowable. Accordingly Cephisodorus, the pupil of Isocrates the orator, in the third of his treatises addressed to Aristotle, says that a man might find several things expressed incorrectly by the other poets and sophists; as for instance, the expression used by Archilochus, That every man was immodest; and that apophthegm of Theodorus, That a man ought to get all he can, but to praise equality and moderation; and also, the celebrated line of Euripides about the tongue having spoken; and even by Sophocles, the lines which occur in the Aethiopians— [p. 202]
The death of great Themistocles,
These things I say to you to give you pleasure,And in another place the same poet says—
Not wishing to do aught by violence:
And do thou, like wise men, just actions praise,
And keep thy hands and heart from unjust gain.
I think no words, if companied by gain,And in Homer, we find Juno represented as plotting against Jupiter, and Mars committing adultery. And for these sentiments and speeches those writers are universally blamed.
Pernicious or unworthy.
If therefore I have committed any errors, O you hunter of fine names and words, do not be too angry with me; for, according to Timotheus of Miletus, the poet,—
I do not sing of ancient themes,And Antiphanes says, in his Alcestis—
For all that's new far better seems.
Jove's the new king of all the world;
While anciently 'twas Saturn hurl'd
His thunders, and the Heavens ruled;
So I'll no longer be befool'd
With dotard's ancient songs.
Dost thou love things of modern fashion?And I will prove to you, that the ancients were acquainted with the water which is called dicoctas, in order that you may not be indignant again, when I speak of boiled and spiced water. For, according to the Pseudheracles of Pherecrates—
So too does he; for he is well assured
That new devices, though they be too bold,
Are better far than old contrivances.
Suppose a man who thinks himself a geniusBut do not grudge, I entreat you, said Ulpian, to explain to me what is the nature of that Bull's water which you spoke of; for I have a great thirst for such words. And Cynulcus said,—But I pledge you, according to your fancy; you thirst for words, taking a desire from Alexis, out of his Female Pythagorean,
Should something say, and I should contradict him,
Still trouble not yourself; but if you please,
Listen and give your best attention.
A cup of water boil'd; for when fresh-drawnBut it was Sophocles, my friend, who spoke of Bull's water, in his Aegeus, from the river Taurus near Trœzen, in the neighbourhood of which there is a fountain called Hyoëssa. [p. 203]
'Tis heavy, and indigestible to drink.
But the ancients did also at times use very cold water in their draughts before dinner. But I will not tell you, unless you first teach me, whether the ancients were in the habit of drinking warm water at their banquets. For if their cups got their name15 from what took place in reference to them, and if they were set before the guests full of mixed liquors, then they certainly did not contain warm drink, ad were not put on the fire like kettles. For that they were in the habit of drinking warm water Eupolis proves, in his Demi—
Warm for us now the brazen ewer quick,And Antiphanes says, in his Omphale—
And bid the slaves prepare the victims new,
That we may feast upon the entrails.
May I ne'er see a manAnd, in his Anointing Woman, (but this play is attributed to Alexis also,) he says—
'Boiling me water in a bubbling pail;
For I have no disease, and wish for none.
But if I feel a pain within my stomach,
Or round about my navel, why I have
A ring I lately gave a drachma for
To a most skilful doctor.
But if you make our shop notorious,And Plato, in the fourth book of his Polity, says—“Desire in the mind must be much the same as thirst is in the body. Now, a man feels thirst for hot water or for cold; or for much water or for a little; or perhaps, in a word, for some particular drink. And if there be any heat combined with the thirst, then that will give a desire for cold water; but if a sensation of cold be united with it, that will engender a wish for warm water. And if by reason of the violence of the cause the thirst be great, that will give a desire for an abundant draught; but if the thirst be small, then the man will wish for but a small draught. But the thirst itself is not a desire of anything except of the thing itself, namely, drinking. And hunger, again, is not a desire of anything else except food.” And Semus the Delian, in the second book of is Nesias. or treatise on Islands, says that in the island of Cimolus, cold [p. 204] places are prepared by being dug out against the summer, where people may put down vessels full of warm water, and then draw them up again in no respect different from snow. But warm water is called by the Athenians metaceras, a word used by Sophilus, in his Androcles. And Alexis says, in his Locrians—
I swear by Ceres, best of goddesses,
That I will empt the biggest ladle o'er you,
Filling it with hot water from the kettle;
And if I fail, may I ne'er drink free water more.
But the maid-servants pour'd forth water,And Philemon, in his Corinthian Women, uses the same word. And Amphis says, in his Bath—
One pouring boiling water, and the other warm.
One called out to the slaves to bring hot water,
Another shouted for metaceras.
And as the Cynic was proceeding to heap other proofs on these, Pontianus said,—The ancients, my friends, were in the habit also of drinking very cold water. At all events Alexis says, in his Parasite—
I wish to make you taste this icy water,And Hermippus, in his Cercopes, calls water drawn from wells φρεατιαῖον ὕδωρ. Moreover, that men used to drink melted snow too, is shown by Alexis, in his Woman eating Mandragora—
For I am proud of my well, whose limpid spring
Is colder than the Ararus.
Sure is not man a most superfluous plant,And Dexicrates, in the play entitled The Men deceived by Themselves, says—
Constantly using wondrous contradictions.
Strangers we love, and our own kin neglect;
Though having nothing, still we give to strangers.
We bear our share in picnics, though we grudge it,
And show our grudging by our sordidness.
And as to what concerns our daily food,
We wish our barley-cakes should white appear,
And yet we make for them a dark black sauce,
And stain pure colour with a deeper dye.
Then we prepare to drink down melted snow;
Yet if our fish be cold, we storm and rave.
Sour or acid wine we scorn and loathe,
Yet are delighted with sharp caper sauce.
And so, as many wiser men have said,
Not to be born at all is best for man;
The next best thing, to die as soon as possible.
But when I'm drunk I take a draught of snow,[p. 205] And Euthycles, in his Prodigal Men, or The Letter, says—
And Egypt gives me ointment for my head.
He first perceived that snow was worth a price;And that excellent writer Xenophon, in his Memorablia, shows that he was acquainted with the fashion of drinking snow. But Chares of Mitylene, in his History of Alexander, has told us how we are to proceed in order to keep snow when he is relating the siege of the Indian city Petra. For he says that Alexander dug thirty large trenches close to one anther, and filled them with snow, and then he heaped on the snow branches of oak; for that in that way snow would last a long time.
He ought to be the first to eat the honeycombs.
And that they used to cool wine, for the sake of drinking it in a colder state, is asserted by Strattis, in his Psychastæ, or Cold Hunters—
For no one ever would endure warm wine,And Lysippus says, in his Bacchæ—
But on the contrary, we use our wells
To cool it in, and then we mix with snow.
A. Hermon, what is the matter? Where are we?And Diphilus says, in his Little Monument—
B. Nothing 's the matter, only that your father
Has just dropt down into the well to cool himself,
As men cool wine in summer.
Cool the wine quick, O Doris.And Protagoras in the second book of his Comic Histories, relating the voyage of king Antiochus down the river, says something about the contrivances for procuring cold water, in these terms:—“For during the day they expose it to the sun, and then at night they skim off the thickest part which rises to the surface, and expose the rest to the air, in large earthen ewers, on the highest parts of the house, and two slaves are kept sprinkling the vessels with water the whole night. And at daybreak they bring them down, and again they skim off the sediment, making the water very thin, and exceedingly wholesome, and then they immerse the ewers in straw, and after that they use the water, which has become so cold as not to require snow to cool it.” And Anaxilas speaks of water from cisterns, in his Flute Player, using the allowing expressions:—
A. I want some water from a cistern now.[p. 206] And, in a subsequent passage, he says—
B. I have some here, and you are welcome to it.
Perhaps the cistern water is all lost.But Apollodorus of Gela mentions the cistern itself, λακκος, as we call it, in his Female Deserter, saying—
In haste I loosed the bucket of the cistern,
And then that of the well; and took good care
To have the ropes all ready to let down.
Myrtilus, hearing this conversation, said,—And I too, being very fond of salt-fish, my friends, wish to drink snow, according to the practice of Simonides. And Ulpian said,— The word φιλοτάριχος, fond of salt-fish, is used by Antiphanes, in his Omphale, where he says—
I am not anxious for salt-fish, my girl.But Alexis, in his Gynæcocracy, speaks of one man as ζωμοτάριχος, or fond of sauce made from salt-fish, saying—
But the Cilician here, this Hippocles,But what you mean by “according to the practice of Simonides,” I do not know. No; for you do not care, said Myrtilus, to know anything about history, you glutton; for you are a mere lickplatter; and as the Samian poet Asius, that ancient bard, would call you, a flatterer of fat. But Callistratus, in the seventh book of his Miscellanies, says that Simonides the poet, when feasting with a party at a season of violently hot weather, while the cup-bearers were pouring out for the rest of the guests snow into their liquor, and did not do so for him, extemporised this epigram:—
This epicure of salt-fish sauce, this actor.
The cloak with which fierce Boreas clothed the browSo when he had drunk, Ulpian asked him again where the word κνισολοῖχος is used, and also, what are the lines of Asius in which he uses the word κνισοκόλαξ? These, said Myrtilus, are the verses of Asius, to which I alluded:—
Of high Olympus, pierced ill-clothed man
While in its native Thrace; 'tis gentler now,
Caught by the breeze of the Pierian plain.
Let it be mine; for no one will commend
The man who gives hot water to a friend.
Lame, branded, old, a vagrant beggar, next[p. 207] And the word κνισολοῖχος is used by Sophilus, in his Philar- chus, in this passage,—
Came the cnisocolax, when Meles held
His marriage feast, seeking for gifts of soup,
Not waiting for a friendly invitation;
There in the midst the hungry hero stood,
Shaking the mud from off his ragged cloak.
You are a glutton and a fat-licker.And in the play which is entitled, The Men running together, he has used the word κνισολοιχία, in the following lines:—
That pandar, with his fat-licking propensities,Antiphanes too uses the word κνισολοῖχος, in his Bombylium. Now that men drank also sweet wine while eating is proved by what Alexis says in his Dropidas—
Has bid me get for him this black blood-pudding.
The courtesan came in with sweet wine laden,
In a large silver cup, named petachnon,
Most beauteous to behold. Not a flat dish,
Nor long-neck'd bottle, but between the two.
After this a cheesecake was served up, made of milk and sesame and honey, which the Romans call libum. And Cynulcus said,—Fill yourself now, O Ulpian, with your native Chthorodlapsus; a word which is not, I swear by Ceres, used by any one of the ancient writers, unless, indeed, it should chance to be found in those who have compiled histories of the affairs of Phœnicia, such as Sanchoniatho and Mochus, your own fellow-countrymen. And Ulpian said,— But it seems to me, you dog-fly, that we have had quite enough of honey-cakes: but I should like to eat some groats, with a sufficient admixture of the husks and kernels of pinecones. And when that dish was brought-Give me, said he, come crust of bread hollowed out like a spoon; for I will not say, give me a spoon (μύστρον); since that word is not used by any of the writers previous to our own time. You have a very bad memory, my friend, quoth Aemilianus; have you not always admired Nicander the Colophonian, the Epic poet, as a man very fond of ancient authors, and a man too of very extensive learning himself? And indeed, you have already quoted him as having used the word πεπέριον, for pepper. And this same poet, in the first book of his Georgics, speaking of this use of groats, has used also the word μύστρον, saying—
But when you seek to dress a dainty dishIn these words, my fine fellow, Nicander describes to us the way in which they ate groats and peeled barley; bidding the eater pour on it soup made of kid or lamb, or of some poultry or other. Then, says he, pound the grains in a mortar, and having mingled oil with them, stir them up till they boil; and mix in the broth made after this recipe as it gets warm, making it thicker with the spoon; and do not pour in anything else; but take the broth out of the dish before you, so as to guard against any of the more fatty parts boiling over. And it is for this reason, too, that he charges us to keep it close while it is boiling, by putting the lid on the dish; for that barley grains when roasted or heated swell very much. And at last, when it is moderately warm we are to eat it, taking it up in hollow spoons. And Hippolochus the Macedonian, in his letter to Lynceus, in which he gives an account of some Macedonian banquet which surpassed all the feasts which had ever been heard of in extravagance, speaks of golden spoons (which he also calls μύστρα) having been given to each of the guests. But since you, my friend, wish to set up for a great admirer of the ancients, and say that you never use any expressions which are not the purest Attic, what is it that Nicophon says, the poet I mean of the old comedy, in his Cherogastores, or the Men who feed themselves by manual Labour? For I find him too speaking of spoons, and using the word μύστρον, when he says—
Of new-slain kid, or tender house-fed lamb,
Or poultry, take some unripe grains, and pound the
And strew them all in hollow plates, and stir them,
[p. 208] Mingled with fragrant oil. Then pour thereon
Warm broth, which take from out the dish before you,
That it be not too hot, and so boil over.
Then put thereon a lid, for when they're roasted,
The grains swell mightily; then slowly eat them,
Putting them to your mouth with hollow spoon.
Dealers in anchovies, dealers in wine;For who can the μυστριοπῶλαι be, but the men who sell μύστρα? So learning from them, my fine Syrian-Atticist, the use of the spoon, pray eat your groats, that you may not say—
Dealers in figs, and dealers in hides;
Dealers in meal, and dealers in spoons (μυστριοπώλης);
Dealers in books, and dealers in sieves;
Dealers in cheesecakes, and dealers in seeds.
But I am languid, weak for want of food.
And I have been surprised at your not asking where [p. 209] The word χόνδρος, groats, comes from. Whether it is a Me- garian word, or whether it comes from Thessaly, as] Myrtilus does. And Ulpian said,—I will stop eating if you will tell me by whom these Megarian, or Thessalian groats are spoken of. And Aemilianus said,—But I will not refuse you; for seeing a very splendid preparation for supper, I wish that you should arm yourself for the fray, being filled with barley like a game cock; and I wish you to instruct us about the dishes which we are going to partake of. And he, getting out of temper, said,—Whence do you get this word ἐδέσματα? for one has no breathing time allowed one while constantly forced to ask these questions of these late-learned sophists. But, says Aemilianus, I can easily answer you this question; but I will first speak of the word χόνδρος, quoting you these lines of Antiphanes, out of his Antea,—
A. What have you in your baskets there, my friend?But the same play is also attributed to Alexis, though in some few places the text is a little different. And, again, Alexis says, in his play called The Wicked Woman—
B. In three of them I've good Megarian groats.
A. Do they not say Thessalian are the best?
B. I also have some similago fetch'd
From the far distant land Phœnicia.
There's a large parcel of Thessalian groats.But Aristophanes, in his Daitaleis, calls soup χόνδρος, saying—
He would boil soup, and then put in a fly,He also speaks of similago; and so, though I do not remember his exact words, does Strattis, in his Anthroporaistes, or Man-destroyer. And so does Alexis, in his Isostasiu. But Strattis uses σεμιδάλιδος as the genitive case, in these words—
And so would give it you to drink.
Of these two sorts of gentle semidalis.The word ἐδέσματα is used by Antiphanes, in his Twins, where he says—
Many nice eatables I have enjoy'd,So now we may bring this book to an end, and let it have its [p. 210] termination with the discussions about eatables; and the next book shall begin the description of the Banquet. Do not do so, O Athenæus, before you have told us of the Macedonian banquet of Hippolochus.—Well, if this is your wish, O Timocrates, we will prepare to gratify it.
And had now three or four most pleasant draughts;
And feel quite frisky, eating as much food
As a whole troop of elephants.
