Deipnosophistae

Matron, in his Parodies, speaks of animals being fattened for food, and birds also, in these lines—

1. Thus spake the hero, and the servants smiled,
2. And after brought, on silver dishes piled,
3. Fine fatten'd birds, clean singed around with flame,
4. Like cheesecakes on the back, their age the same.

And Sopater the farce-writer speaks of fattened sucking-pigs in his Marriage of Bacchis, saying this—

1. If there was anywhere an oven, there
2. The well-fed sucking-pig did crackle, roasting.

But Aeschines uses the form δελφάκιον for δέλφαξ in his Alcibiades, saying,

Just as the women at the cookshops breed sucking-pigs (δελφάκια).

And Antiphanes, in his Physiognomist, says—

1. Those women take the sucking-pigs (δελφάκια),
2. And fatten them by force;

And in his Persuasive Man he says—

1. To be fed up instead of pigs (δελφακίων).

Plato, however, has used the word δέλφαξ in the masculine gender in his Poet, where he says—

1. Leanest of pigs (δέλφακα ῥαιότατον).

And Sophocles, in his play called Insolence, says—

1. Wishing to eat τὸν δέλφακα.

And Cratinus, in his Ulysseses, has the expression—

1. Large pigs (δέλφακας μεγάλους).

But Nicochares uses the word as feminine, saying—

1. A pregnant sow (κύουσαν δέλφακα);

And Eupolis, in his Golden Age, says—

1. Did he not serve up at the feast a sucking-pig (δέλφακα),
2. Whose teeth were not yet grown, a beautiful beast (καλὴν)?

And Plato, in his Io, says—

1. Bring hither now the head of the sucking-pig (τῆς δέλφακος).

Theopompus, too, in his Penelope, says—

1. And they do sacrifice our sacred pig (τὴν ἱερὰν δέλφακα).

Theopompus also speaks of fatted geese and fatted calves in the thirteenth hook of his History of Philip, and in the eleventh book of his Affairs of Greece, where he is speaking of the temperance of the Lacedæmonians in respect of eating, writing thus—

And the Thasians sent to Agesilais, when he arrived, all sorts of sheep and well-fed oxen; and beside this, every kind of confectionery and sweetmeat. But Agesilaus took the sheep and the oxen, but as for the confectionery and sweetmeats, at first he did not know what they meant, for they were covered up; but when he saw what they were, he ordered the slaves to take them away, saying that it was not the custom of the Lacedæmonians to eat such food as that. But as the Thasians pressed him to take them, he said, Carry them to those men (pointing to the Helots) and give them to them; saying that it was much better for those Helots to injure their health by eating them than for himself and the Lacedæmonians whom he had with him.

And that the Lacedæmonians were in the habit of treating the Helots with great insolence, is related also by Myron of Priene, in the second book of his History of Messene, where he says—

They impose every kind of insulting employment on the Helots, such as brings with it the most extreme dishonour; for they compel them to wear caps of dogskin, and cloaks also of skins; and every year they scourge them without their having committed any offence, in order to present their ever thinking of emancipating themselves from slavery. And besides all this, if any of them ever appear too handsome or distinguished-looking for slaves, they impose death as the penalty, and their masters also are fined for not checking them in their growth and fine appearances. And they give them each a certain piece of land, and fix a portion which they shall invariably bring them in from it.

The verb χηνίζω, to cackle like a goose (χὴν), is used and applied to those who play on the flute. Diphilus says in his Synoris—

1. ʼἐχήνισας,,—this noise is always made
2. By all the pupils of Timotheus.

And since there is a portion of a fore-quarter of pork which is called πέρνα placed before each of us, let us say Something about it, if any one remembers having seen the

word used anywhere. For the best πέρναι are those from Cisalpine Gaul: those from Cibyra in Asia are not much inferior to them, nor are those from Lycia. And Strabo mentions them in the third book of his Geography, (and he is not a very modern author). And he says also, in the seventh[*](There is probably some great corruption here; for Posidonius was a contemporary of Cicero.) book of the same treatise, that he was acquainted with Posidonius the Stoic philosopher, of whom we have often spoken as a friend of Scipio who took Carthage. And these are the words of Strabo—

In Spain, in the province of Aquitania, is the city Pompelo, which one may consider equivalent to Pompeiopolis, where admirable πέρναι are cured, equal to the Cantabrian hams.

The comic poet Aristomenes, in his Bacchus, speaks of meat cured by being sprinkled with salt, saying—

1. I put before you now this salted meat.

And in his Jugglers he says—

1. The servant always ate some salted crab.

But since we have here

fresh cheese (τρόφαλις), the glory of fair Sicily,

let us, my friends, also say something about cheese (τυρός). For Philemon, in his play entitled The Sicilian, says—

1. I once did think that Sicily could make
2. This one especial thing, good-flavour'd cheese;
3. But now I've heard this good of it besides,
4. That not only is the cheese of Sicily good,
5. But all its pigeons too: and if one speaks
6. Of richly-broider'd robes, they are Sicilian;
7. And so I think that island now supplies
8. All sorts of dainties and of furniture.

The Tromilican[*](There is a dispute whether this word ought to be written Tromilican or Stromilican. The city of Tromilea is mentioned nowhere else.) cheese also has a high character, respecting which Demetrius the Scepsian writes thus in his second book of the Trojan Array—"Tromilea is a city of Achaia, near which a delicious cheese is made of goat's milk, not to be compared with any other kind, and it is called Tromilican. And Simonides mentions it in his Iambic poem, which begins thus—

1. You're taking wondrous trouble beforehand,
2. Telembrotus:

and in this poem he says—

1. And there is the fine Achaian cheese,
2. Called the Tromilican, which I've brought with me.

And Euripides, in his Cyclops, speaks of a harsh-tasted cheese, which he calls ὀπίας τυρὸς, being curdled by the juice (ὀπὸς) of the fig-tree—

1. There is, too, τυρὸς ὀπίας, and Jove's milk.

Eur. Cycl. 136.

But since, by speaking in this way of all the things which are now put on the table before us, I am making the Tromilican cheese into the remains of the dessert, I will not continue this topic. For Eupolis calls the relics of sweetmeats (τραγημάτων) and confectionery ἀποτραγήματα. And ridiculing a man of the name of Didymias, he calls him the ἀποτράγημα of a fox, either because he was little in person, or as being cunning and mischievous, as Dorotheus of Ascalon says. There are also thin broad cheeses, which the Cretans call females, as Seleucus tells us, which they offer up at certain sacrifices. And Philippides, in his play called the Flutes, speaks of some called πυρίεφθαι (and this is a name given to those made of cream), when he says—

1. Having these πυρίεφθαι, and these herbs.

And perhaps all such things are included in this Macedonian term ἐπιδειπνίδες.. For all these things are provocatives to drinking.

Now, while Ulpian was continuing the conversation in this way, one of the cooks, who made some pretence to learn- ing, came in, and proclaimed μύμα. And when many of us were perplexed at this proclamation, (for the rascal did not show what it was that he had,) he said;—You seem to me, O guests, to be ignorant that Cadmus, the grandfather of Bacchus, was a cook. And, as no one made any reply to this, he said; Euhemerus the Coan, in the third book of his Sacred History, relates that the Sidonians give this account, that Cadmus was the cook of the king, and that he, having taken Harmonia, who was a female flute-player and also a slave of the king, fled away with her.—

1. But shall I flee, who am a freeman born

For no one can find any mention in any comedy of a cook being a slave, except in a play of Posidippus. But the introduction of slaves as cooks took place among the Macedonians first, who adopted this custom either out of insolence or on account of the misfortunes of some cities which had been reduced to slavery. And the ancients used to call a cook who was a native of the country, Mæson; but if he was a foreigner, they called him Tettix. And Chrysippus the philosopher thinks the name μαίσων is derived from the verb μασάομαι, to eat; a cook being an ignorant man, and the slave of his appetite; not knowing that Mæson was a comic actor, a Megarian by birth, who invented the mask which was called μαίσων, from him; as Aristophanes of Byzantium tells us, in his treatise on Masks, where he says that he invented a mask for a slave and also one for a cook. So that it is a deserved compliment to him to call the jests which suit those characters μαισωνικά.

For cooks are very frequently represented on the stage as jesting characters; as, for instance, in the Men selecting an Arbitrator, of Menander. And Philemon in one of his plays says—

1. 'Tis a male sphinx, it seems, and not a cook,
2. That I've brought home; for, by the gods I swear,
3. I do not understand one single word
4. Of all he says; so well provided is he
5. With every kind of new expression.

But Polemo says, in his writings which are addressed to Timæus, that Mæson was indeed a Megarian, but from Megara in Sicily, and not from Nisæa. And Posidippus speaks of slaves as cooks, in his Woman Shut out, where he says—

1. Thus have these matters happen'd: but just now,
2. While waiting on my master, a good joke
3. Occurr'd to me; I never will be caught
4. Stealing his meat.

And, in his Foster Brothers, he says—

1. A. Did you go out of doors, you who were cook?
2. B. If I remain'd within I lost my supper.
3. A. Let me then first . . . . B. Let me alone, I say;
4. I'm going to the forum to sacrifice:
5. A friend of mine, a comrade too in art,
6. Has hired me.

And there was nothing extraordinary in the ancient cooks being experienced in sacrifices. At all events, they usually managed all marriage feasts and sacrifices. On which account Menander, in his Flatterer, introduces a cook, who on the fourth day of the month had been ministering in the festival of Aphrodite Pandemus, using the following language—

1. Now a libation. Boy, distribute round
2. The entrails. Whither are you looking now?
3. Now a libation—quick! you Sosia, quick!
v.3.p.1055
4. Quick! a libation. That will do; now pour.
5. First let us pray to the Olympian gods,
6. And now to all the Olympian goddesses:
7. Meantime address them; pray them all to give
8. Us safety, health, and all good things in future,
9. And full enjoyment of all present happiness.
10. Such shall be now our prayers.

And another cook, in Simonides, says—

1. And how I roasted, how I carved the meat,
2. You know: what is there that I can't do well?

And the letter of Olympias to Alexander mentions the great experience of cooks in these matters. For, his mother having been entreated by him to buy him a cook who had experience in sacrifices, proceeds to say,

Accept the cook Pelignas from your mother; for he is thoroughly acquainted with the manner in which all your ancestral sacrifices, and all the mysterious rites, and all the sacred mysteries connected with the worship of Bacchus are performed, and every other sacrifice which Olympias practises he knows. Do not then disregard him, but accept him, and send him back again to me at as early a period as possible.

And that in those days the cook's profession was a respectable one, we may learn from the Heralds at Athens.

For these men used to perform the duties of cooks and also of sacrificers of victims,

as Clidemus tells us, in the first book of his Protogony; and Homer uses the verb ῥέζω, as we use θύω; but he uses θύω as we do θυμιάω, for burning cakes and incense after supper. And the ancients used also to employ the verb δράω for to sacrifice; accordingly Clidemus says,

The heralds used to sacrifice (ἕδρων) for a long time slaying the oxen, and preparing them, and cutting them up, and pouring wine over them. And they were called κήρυκες from the hero Ceryx; and there is nowhere any record of any reward being given to a cook, but only to a herald.

For Agamemnon in Homer, although he is king, performs sacrifices himself; for the poet says—

1. With that the chief the tender victims slew,
2. And in the dust their bleeding bodies threw;
3. The vital spirit issued at the wound,
4. And left the members quivering on the ground.

Homer, Iliad, iii. 292.

And Thrasymedes the son of Nestor, having taken an axe, slays the ox which was to be sacrificed, because Nestor himself was not able to do so, by reason of his old age; and his other

brothers assisted him; so respectable and important was the office of a cook in those days. And among the Romans, the Censors,—and that was the highest office in the whole state,—clad in a purple robe, and wearing crowns, used to strike down the victims with an axe. Nor is it a random assertion of Homer, when he represents the heralds as bringing in the victims, and whatever else had any bearing on the ratification of oaths, as this was a very ancient duty of theirs, and one which was especially a part of their office—

1. Two heralds now, despatch'd to Troy, invite
2. The Phrygian monarch to the peaceful rite;

and again—

1. Talthybius hastens to the fleet, to bring
2. The lamb for Jove, th' inviolable king.

Homer, Iliad, iii. 116.

And, in another passage, he says—

1. A splendid scene! Then Agamemnon rose;
2. The boar Talthybius held; the Grecian lord
3. Drew the broad cutlass, sheath'd beside his sword.

Homer, Iliad, xix. 250.