Deipnosophistae

That the word βότρυς is common for a bunch of grapes is known to every one; and Crates, in the second book of his Attic Dialect, uses the word σταφυλὴ, although it appears to be a word of Asiatic origin; saying that in some of the ancient hymns the word σταφυλὴ. is used for βότρυς, as in the following line:—

1. Thick hanging with the dusky grapes (σταφυλῆσι) themselves.

And that the word σταφυλὴ is used by Homer is known to every one. But Plato, in the eighth book of his Laws, uses both βότρυς and σταφυλὴ, where he says—

Whoever tastes wild fruit, whether it be grapes (βοτρύων) or figs, before the time of the vintage arrives, which falls at the time of the rising of Arcturus, whether it be on his own farm, or on any one else's land, shall be fined fifty sacred drachmas to be paid to Bacchus, if he plucked them off his own land; but a mina

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if he gather them on a neighbour's estate; but if he take them from any other place, two-thirds of a mina. But whoever chooses to gather the grapes (τὴν σταφυλὴν), which are now called the noble grapes, or the figs called the noble figs, if he gather them from his own trees, let him gather them as he pleases, and when he pleases; but if he gathers them from the trees of any one else without having obtained the leave of the owner, then, in accordance with the law which forbids any one to move what he has not placed, he shall be invariably punished.

These are the words of the divine Plato; but I ask now what is this noble grape (γενναῖα), and this noble fig that he speaks of? And you may all consider this point while I am discussing the other dishes which are on the table. And Masurius said—

1. But let us not postpone this till to-morrow,
2. Still less till the day after.

When the philosopher says γενναῖα, he means εὐγενῆ,, gene- rous, as Archilochus also uses the word—

1. Come hither, you are generous (γενναῖος);

or, perhaps, he means ἐπιγεγενημένα; that is to say, grafted. For Aristotle speaks of grafted pears, and calls them ἐπεμβολάδες. And Demosthenes, in his speech in defence of Ctesiphon, has the sentence,

gathering figs, and grapes (βότρυς), and olives.

And Xenophon, in his (Economics, says,

that grapes (τὰς σταφυλὰς) are ripened by the sun.

And our ancestors also have been acquainted with the practice of steeping grapes in wine. Accordingly Eubulus, in his Catacollomenos, says—

1. But take these grapes (βότρυς), and in neat wine pound them.
2. And pour upon them many cups of water.
3. Then make him eat them when well steep'd in wine.

And the poet, who is the author of the Chiron, which is generally attributed to Pherecrates, says—

1. Almonds and apples, and the arbutus first,
2. And myrtle-berries, pastry, too, and grapes
3. Well steep'd in wine; and marrow.

And that every sort of autumn fruit was always plentiful at Athens, Aristophanes testifies in his Horæ. Why, then, should that appear strange which Aethlius the Samian asserts in the fifth book of his Samian Annals, where he says,

The fig, and the grape, and the medlar, and the apple, and the rose grow twice a-year?

And Lynceus, in his letter to Diagoras, praising the Nicostratian grape, which grows in Attica, and comparing it to the Rhodiacan, says,

As rivals of the Nicostratian grapes they grow the Hipponian grape; which after the month Hecatombæon (like a good servant) has constantly the same good disposition towards its masters.

But as you have had frequent discussions about meats, and birds, and pigeons, I also will tell you all that I, after a great deal of reading, have been able to find out in addition to what has been previously stated. Now the word περιστέριον (pigeon), may be found used by Menander in his Concubine, where he says—

1. He waits a little while, and then runs up
2. And says—

   I've bought some pigeons (περιστέρια) for you.

And so Nicostratus, in his Delicate Woman, says—

1. These are the things I want,—a little bird,
2. And then a pigeon (περιστέριον) and a paunch.

And Anaxandrides, in his Reciprocal Lover, has the line—

1. For bringing in some pigeons (περιστέρια) and some sparrows.

And Phrynichus, in his Tragedians, says—

1. Bring him a pigeon (περιστέριον) for a threepenny piece.

Now with respect to the pheasant, Ptolemy the king, in the twelfth book of his Memorabilia, speaking of the palace which there is at Alexandria, and of the animals which are kept in it, says,

They have also pheasants, which they call τέταροι, which they not only used to send for from Media, but they also used to put the eggs under broody hens, by which means they raised a number, so as to have enough for food; for they call it very excellent eating.

Now this is the expression of a most magnificent monarch, who confesses that he himself has never tasted a pheasant, but who used to keep these birds as a sort of treasure. But if he had ever seen such a sight as this, when, in addition to all those which have been already eaten, a pheasant is also placed before each individual, he would have added another book to the existing twenty-four of that celebrated history, which he calls his Memorabilia. And Aristotle or Theophrastus, in his Commentaries, says,

In pheasants, the male is not only as much superior to the female as is usually the case, but he is so in an infinitely greater degree.

But if the before-mentioned king had seen the number of peacocks also which exists at Rome, he would have fled to his sacred Senate, as though he had a second time been

driven out of his kingdom by his brother. For the multitude of these birds is so great at Rome, that Antiphanes the comic poet, in his Soldier or Tychon, may seem to have been inspired by the spirit of prophecy, when he said—

1. When the first man imported to this city
2. A pair of peacocks, they were thought a rarity,
3. But now they are more numerous than quails;
4. So, if by searching you find one good man,
5. He will be sure to have five worthless sons.

And Alexis, in his Lamp, says—

1. That he should have devour'd so vast a sum!
2. Why if (by earth I swear) I fed on hares' milk
3. And peacocks, I could never spend so much.

And that they used to keep them tame in their houses, we learn from Strattis, in his Pausanias, where he says—

1. Of equal value with your many trifles,
2. And peacocks, which you breed up for their feathers.

And Anaxandrides, in his Melilotus, says—

1. Is 't not a mad idea to breed up peacocks,
2. When every one can buy his private ornaments?

And Anaxilaus, in his Bird Feeders, says—

1. Besides all this, tame peacocks, loudly croaking.

Menodotus the Samian also, in his treatise on the Treasures in the Temple of the Samian Juno, says:

The peacocks are sacred to Juno; and perhaps Samos may be the place where they were first produced and reared, and from thence it was that they were scattered abroad over foreign countries, in the same way as cocks were originally produced in Persia, and the birds called guinea-fowl (μελεαγρίδες) in Aeolia.

On which account Antiphanes, in his Brothers by the same Father, says—

1. They say that in the city of the Sun
2. The phœnix is produced; the owl in Athens;
3. Cyprus breeds doves of admirable beauty:
4. But Juno, queen of Samos, does, they say,
5. Rear there a golden race of wondrous birds,
6. The brilliant, beautiful, conspicuous peacock.

On which account the peacock occurs on the coins of the Samians.

But since Menodotus has mentioned the guinea-fowl, we ourselves also will say something on that subject. Clytus the Milesian, a pupil of Aristotle, in the first book of his History of Miletus, writes thus concerning them—

All

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around the temple of the Virgin Goddess at Leros, there are birds called guinea-fowls. And the ground where they are bred is marshy. And this bird is very devoid of affection towards its young, and wholly disregards its offspring, so that the priests are forced to take care of them. And it is about the size of a very fine fowl of the common poultry, its head is small in proportion to its body, having but few feathers, but on the top it has a fleshy crest, hard and round, sticking up above the head like a peg, and of a wooden colour. And over the jaws, instead of a beard, they have a long piece of flesh, beginning at the mouth, redder than that of the common poultry; but of that which exists in the common poultry on the top of the beak, which some people call the beard, they are wholly destitute; so that their beak is mutilated in this respect. But its beak is sharper and larger than that of the common fowl; its neck is black, thicker and shorter than that of common poultry. And its whole body is spotted all over, the general colour being black, studded in every part with thick white spots something larger than lentil seeds. And these spots are ring-shaped, in the middle of patches of a darker hue than the rest of the plumage: so that these patches present a variegated kind of appearance, the black part having a sort of white tinge, and the white seeming a good deal darkened. And their wings are all over variegated with white, in serrated,[*](There is probably some corruption here.) wavy lines, parallel to each other. And their legs are destitute of spurs like those of the common hen. And the females are very like the males, on which account the sex of the guinea-fowls is hard to distinguish.

Now this is the account given of guinea-fowls by the Peripatetic philosopher.

Roasted sucking-pigs are a dish mentioned by Epicrates in his Merchant—

1. On this condition I will be the cook;
2. Nor shall all Sicily boast that even she
3. Produced so great an artist as to fish,
4. Nor Elis either, where I 've seen the flesh
5. Of dainty sucking-pigs well brown'd before
6. A rapid fire.

And Alexis, in his Wicked Woman, says—

1. A delicate slice of tender sucking-pig,
2. Bought for three obols, hot, and very juicy,
3. When it is set before us.

But the Athenians," as Philochorus tells us,

when they sacri- fice to the Seasons, do not roast, but boil their meat, entreating the goddesses to defend them from all excessive droughts and heats, and to give increase to their crops by means of moderate warmth and seasonable rains. For they argue that roasting is a kind of cookery which does less good to the meat, while boiling not only removes all its crudities, but has the power also of softening the hard parts, and of making all the rest digestible. And it makes the food more tender and wholesome, on which account they say also, that when meat has been once boiled, it ought not to be warmed up again by either roasting or boiling it; for ally second process removes the good done by the first dressing, as Aristotle tells us. And roast meat is more crude and dry than boiled meat.

But roast meat is called φλογίδες. Accordingly Strattis in his Callippides says, with reference to Hercules—

1. Immediately he caught up some large slices (φλογίδες)
2. Of smoking roasted boar, and swallow'd them.

And Archippus, in his Hercules Marrying, says—

1. The pettitoes of little pigs, well cook'd
2. In various fashion; slices, too, of bulls
3. With sharpen'd horns, and great long steaks of boar,
4. All roasted (φλογίδες).

But why need I say anything of partridges, when so much has already been said by you? However, I will not omit what is related by Hegesander in his Commentaries. For he says that the Samians, when sailing to Sybaris, having touched at the district called Siritis, were so alarmed at the noise made by partridges which rose up and flew away, that they fled, and embarked on board their ships, and sailed away.

Concerning hares also Chamæleon says, in his treatise on Simonides, that Simonides once, when supping with king Hiero, as there was no hare set on the table in front of him as there was before all the other guests, but as Hiero afterwards helped him to some, made this extempore verse—

1. Nor, e'en though large, could he reach all this way.

But Simonides was, in fact, a very covetous man, addicted to disgraceful gain, as we are told by Chamæleon. And accordingly in Syracuse, as Hiero used to send him everything necessary for his daily subsistence in great abundance, Simonides used to sell the greater part of what was sent to him by the king, and reserve only a small portion for his own use. And when some one asked him the reason of his doing so, he said—

In order that both the liberality of Hiero and my economy may be visible to every one.

The dish called udder is mentioned by Teleclides, in his Rigid Men, in the following lines—

1. Being a woman, 'tis but reasonable
2. That I should bring an udder.

But Antidotus uses not the word οὖθαρ, but ὑπογάστριον, in his Querulous Man.