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72. ἐγκέφαλοι χοίρειοι. τούτων ἡμᾶς ἐσθίειν οὐκ [p. 286] εἴων οἱ φιλόσοφοι, φάσκοντες τοὺς αὐτῶν μεταλαμβάνοντας ‘ ἶσον καὶ κυάμων τρώγειν κεφαλῶν τε’ οὐ ‘ τοκήων’ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων βεβήλων, οὐδένα γοῦν τῶν ἀρχαίων βεβρωκέναι διὰ τὸ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἁπάσας σχεδὸν ἐν αὐτῷ εἶναι. Ἀπολλόδωρος δ᾽ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος οὐδ᾽ ὀνομάζειν τινὰ τῶν παλαιῶν φησιν ἐγκέφαλον καὶ Σοφοκλέα γοῦν ἐν Τραχινίαις ποιήσαντα τὸν Ἡρακλέα ῥιπτοῦντα τὸν Λίχαν ἐς θάλασσαν οὐκ ὀνομάσαι ἐγκέφαλον, ἀλλὰ λευκὸν μυελόν, ἐκκλίνοντα τὸ μὴ ὀνομαζόμενον:

κόμης δὲ λευκὸν μυελὸν ἐκραίνει, μέσου
κρατὸς διασπαρέντος αἵματός θ᾽ ὁμοῦ,
καίτοι τἄλλα διαρρήδην ὀνομάσαντα. καὶ Εὐριπίδης δὲ τὴν Ἑκάβην θρηνοῦσαν εἰσαγαγὼν τὸν Ἀστυάνακτα ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ῥιφέντα φησί:

δύστηνε, κρατὸς ὥς σ᾽ ἔκειρεν ἀθλίως
τείχη πατρῷα, Λοξίου πυργώματα,
ὃν πόλλ᾽ ἐκήπευσ᾽ ἡ τεκοῦσα βόστρυχον
φιλήμασὶν τ᾽ ἔδωκεν : ἔνθεν ἐκγελᾷ
ὀστέων ῥαγέντων φόνος, ἵν᾽: αἰσχρὰ μὴ λέγω.
ἔχει δὲ ἐπίστασιν ἡ τῶν ποιημάτων τούτων ἐκδοχή. καὶ γὰρ Φιλοκλῆς τε ἐγκέφαλόν φησιν

οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐγκέφαλον ἔσθων λίποι,
καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης:

ἀπολέσαιμ᾽ ἂν ἐγκεφάλου θρίω δύο,
καὶ ἄλλοι. λευκὸν οὖν ἂν εἴη μυελὸν εἰρηκὼς Σοφοκλῆς ποιητικῶς, Εὐριπίδης δὲ τὸ τῆς προσόψεως [p. 288] εἰδεχθὲς καὶ αἰσχρὸν οὐχ αἱρούμενος ἐναργῶς ἐμφανίσαι ἐδήλωσεν ὡς ἐβούλετο. ὅτι δ᾽ ἱερὸν ἐνόμιζον τὴν κεφαλὴν δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτῆς ὀμνύειν καὶ τοὺς γινομένους ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς πταρμοὺς προσκυνεῖν ὡς ἱερούς. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὰς συγκαταθέσεις βεβαιοῦμεν τῇ ταύτης ἐπινεύσει, ὡς καὶ ὁ Ὁμηρικὸς Ζεύς φησιν

εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε τοι κεφαλῇ ἐπινεύσομαι.

Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. with an English Translation by. Charles Burton Gulick. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1927. 1.

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