Deipnosophistae

Athenaeus of Naucratis

Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.

And Timocles has spoken in general terms of parasites in his Boxer, when he calls them ἐπισίτιοι, in these words—

You will find here some of the parasites (ἐπισίτιοι)
Who eat at other men's tables till they burst,
That you might say they give themselves to athletes
To act as quintain sacks.

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And Pherecrates, in his Old Women, says—

A. But you, my friend Smicythion, will not
Get your food (ἐπισιτίζομαι) quicker.
B. Who, I pray, is this?
A. I bring this greedy stranger everywhere,
As if he were my hired slave or soldier.

For those men are properly called ἐπισίτιοι who do any service for their keep. Plato says, in the fourth book of his treatise on Politics,

And the ἐπισίτιοι do these things, who do not, as others do, receive any wages in addition to their food.

And Aristophanes says, in his Storks—

For if you prosecute one wicked man,
Twelve ἐπισίτιοι will come against you,
And so defeat you by their evidence.

And Eubulus says, in his Dædalus—

He wishes to remain an ἐπισίτιος
Among them, and will never ask for wages.

And Diphilus, in his Synoris (and Synoris is the name of a courtesan), mentioning Euripides (and Euripides is the name given to a particular throw on the dice), and punning on the name of the poet, says this at the same time about parasites:—

A. You have escaped well from such a throw.
S. You are right witty.
A. Well, lay down your drachma.
S. That has been done: how shall I throw Euripides?
A. Euripides will never save a woman.
See you not how he hates them in his tragedies?
But he has always fancied parasites,
And thus he speaks, you'll easily find the place:
"For every rich man who does not feed
At least three men who give no contribution,
Exile deserves and everlasting ruin."
S. Where is that passage?
A. What is that to you
'Tis not the play, but the intent that signifies.

And in the amended edition of the same play, speaking of a parasite in a passion, he says—

Is then the parasite angry? is he furious?
Not he; he only smears with gall the table,
And weans himself like any child from milk.

And immediately afterwards he adds—

A. Then you may eat, O parasite.
B. Just see
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How he disparages that useful skill.
A. Well, know you not that all men rank a parasite
Below a harp-player

And in the play, which is entitled The Parasite, he says—

A surly man should never be a parasite.

And Menander, in his Passion, speaking of a friend who had refused an invitation to a marriage feast, says—

This is to be a real friend; not one
Who asks, What time is dinner? as the rest do.
And, Why should we not all at once sit down?
And fishes for another invitation
To-morrow and next day, and then again
Asks if there's not a funeral feast to follow.

And Alexis in his Orestes, Nicostratus in his Plutus, Menander in his Drunkenness, and in his Lawgiver, speak in the same way; and Philonides, in his Buskins, says—

I being abstinent cannot endure
Such things as these.

But there are many other kindred nouns to the noun παράσιτος: there is ἐπίσιτος, which has already been mentioned; and οἰκόσιτος, and σιτόκουρος, and αὐτόσιτος; and besides these, there is κακόσιτος and ὀλιγόσιτος: and Anaxandrides uses the word οἰκόσιτος in his Huntsmen—

A son who feeds at home (οἰκόσιτος) is a great comfort.

And a man is called οἰκόσιτος who serves the city, not for hire, but gratis. Antiphanes, in his Scythian, says—

The οἰκόσιτος quickly doth become
A regular attendant at th' assembly.

And Menander says, in his Ring—

We found a bridegroom willing to keep house (οἰκόσιτος)
At his own charges, for no dowry seeking.

And in his Harp-player he says—

You do not get your hearers there for nothing (οἰκοσίτους).

Crates uses the word ἐπισίτιος in his Deeds of Daring, saying—

He feeds his messmate (ἐπισίτιον) while he shivers thus
In Megabyzus' house, and he will have
Food for his wages.

And he also uses the word in a peculiar sense in his Women dining together, where he says—

It is a well-bred custom not to assemble
A crowd of women, nor to feast a multitude;
But to make a domestic (οἰκοσίτους) wedding feast.

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And the word σιτόκουρος is used by Alexis, in his Woman sitting up all Night or the Weavers—

You will be but a walking bread-devourer (σιτόκουρος)

And Menander calls a man who is useless, and who lives to no purpose, σιτόκουρος, in his Thrasyleon, saying—

A lazy ever-procrastinating fellow,
A σιτόκουρος, miserable, useless,
Owning himself a burden on the earth.

And in his Venal People he says—

Wretch, you were standing at the door the while,
Having laid down your burden; while, for us,
We took the wretched σιτόκουρος in.

And Crobylus used the word αὐτόσιτος (bringing one's own provisions), in The Man hanged—

A parasite αὐτόσιτος, feeding himself,
You do contribute much to aid your master.

And Eubulus has the word κακόσιτος (eating badly, having no appetite), in his Ganymede—

Sleep nourishes him since he's no appetite (κακόσιτος).

And the word ὀλιγόσιτος (a sparing eater) occurs in Phrynichus, in his The solitary Man—

What does that sparing eater (ὀλιγόσιτος) Hercules there?

And Pherecrates, or Strattis, in his Good Men—

How sparingly you eat, who in one day
Swallow the food of an entire trireme.

When Plutarch had said all this about parasites, Democritus, taking up the discourse, said, And I myself, 'like wood well-glued to wood,' as the Theban poet has it, will say a word about flatterers.

For of all men the flatterer fares best,

as the excellent Menander says. And there is no great difference between calling a man a flatterer and a parasite. Accordingly, Lynceus the Samian, in his Commentaries, gives the name of parasite to Cleisophus, the man who is universally described as the flatterer of Philip, the king of the Macedonians (but he was an Athenian by birth, as Satyrus the Peripatetic affirms, in his Life of Philip). And Lynceus says—

Cleisophus, the parasite of Philip, when Philip rebuked him for being continually asking for something, replied, 'I am very forgetful.' Afterwards, when Philip had given him a wounded horse, he sold him; and when, after a time, the king
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asked him what had become of him, he answered, ' He was sold by that wound of his.' And when Philip laughed at him, and took it good-humouredly, he said, 'Is it not then worth my while to keep you?'

And Hegesander the Delphian, in his Commentaries, makes this mention of Cleisophus:—

When Philip the king said that writings had been brought to him from Cotys, king of Thrace, Cleisophus, who was present, said, 'It is well, by the gods.' And when Philip said, But what do you know of the subjects mentioned in these writings?' he said, 'By the great Jupiter, you have reproved me with admirable judgment.'

But Satyrus, in his Life of Philip, says,

When Philip lost his eye, Cleisophus came forth with him, with bandages on the same eye as the king; and again, when his leg was hurt, he came out limping, along with the king. And if ever Philip ate any harsh or sour food, he would contract his features, as if he, too, had the same taste in his mouth. But in the country of the Arabs they used to do these things, not out of flattery, but in obedience to some law; so that whenever the king had anything the matter with any one of his limbs, the courtiers pretended to be suffering the same inconvenience: for they think it ridiculous to be willing to be buried with him when he dies, but not to pay him the compliment of appearing to be subject to the same sufferings as he is while alive, if he sustains any injury.

But Nicolaus of Damascus,—and he was one of the Peripatetic school,—in his very voluminous history (for it consisted of a hundred and forty-four books), in the hundred and eleventh book says, that Adiatomus the king of the Sotiani (and that is a Celtic tribe) had six hundred picked men about him, who were called by the Gauls, in their national language, Siloduri—which word means in Greek, Bound under a vow.

And the king has them as companions, to live with him and to die with him; as that is the vow which they all take. In return for which, they also share his power, and wear the same dress, and eat the same food; and they die when he dies, as a matter of absolute necessity, if the king dies of any disease; or if he dies in war, or in any other manner. And no one can even say that any of them has shown any fear of death, or has in the least sought to evade it when the king is dead.

But Theopompus says, in the forty-fourth book of his

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Histories, that Philip appointed Thrasydæus the Thessalian tyrant over all those of his nation, though a man who had but little intellect, but who was an egregious flatterer. But Arcadion the Achæan was not a flatterer, who is mentioned by the same Theopompus, and also by Duris in the fifth book of his History of Macedonian Affairs. Now this Arcadion hated Philip, and on account of this hatred voluntarily banished himself from his country. And he was a man of the most admirable natural abilities, and numbers of clever sayings of his are related. It happened then once, when Philip was sojourning at Delphi, that Arcadion also was there; and the Macedonian beheld him and called him to him, and said, How much further, O Arcadion, do you mean to go by way of banishment? And he replied—

Until I meet with men who know not Philip.

But Phylarchus, in the twenty-first book of his History, says that Philip laughed at this, and invited Arcadion to supper, and that in that way he got rid of his enmity. But of Nicesias the flatterer of Alexander, Hegesander gives the following account:—

When Alexander complained of being bitten by the flies and was eagerly brushing them off, a man of the name of Nicesias, one of his flatterers who happened to be present, said, —Beyond all doubt those flies will be far superior to all other flies, now that they have tasted your blood.

And the same man says that Cheirisophus also, the flatterer of Dionysius, when he saw Dionysius laughing with some of his acquaintances, (but he was some way off himself, so that he could not hear what they were laughing at,) laughed also. And when Dionysius asked him on what account he, who could not possibly hear what was said, laughed, said—I feel that confidence in you that I am quite sure that what has been said is worth laughing at.

His son also, the second Dionysius, had numerous flatterers, who were called by the common people Dionysiocolaces. And they, because Dionysius himself was not very sharp sighted, used to pretend while at supper not to be able to see very far, but they would touch whatever was near them as if they could not see it, until Dionysius himself guided their hands to the dishes. And when Dionysius spat, they would often put out their own faces for him to spit upon: and then

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licking off the spittle and even his vomit, they declared that it was sweeter than honey. And Timæus, in their twenty-second book of his Histories, says that Democles the flatterer of the younger Dionysius, as it was customary in Sicily to make a sacrifice from house to house in honour of the nymphs, and for men to spend the night around their statues when quite drunk, and to dance around the goddesses—Democles neglecting the nymphs, and saying that there was no use in attending to lifeless deities, went and danced before Dionysius. And at a subsequent time being once sent on an embassy with some colleagues to Dion, when they were all proceeding in a trireme, he being accused by the rest of behaving in a seditious manner in respect of this journey, and of having injured the general interests of Dionysius, when Dionysius was very indignant, he said that differences had arisen between himself and his colleagues, because after supper they took a pæan of Phrynichus or Stesichorus, and some of them took one of Pindar's and sang it; but he, with those who agreed with him, went entirely through the hymns which had been composed by Dionysius himself. And he undertook to bring forward undeniable proof of this assertion. For that his accusers were not acquainted with the modulation of those songs, but that he on the contrary was ready to sing them all through one after the other. And so, when Dionysius was pacified, Democles continued, and said,

But you would do me a great favour, O Dionysius, if you were to order any one of those who knows it to teach me the paean which you composed in honour of Aesculapius; for I hear that you have taken great pains with that.

And once, when some friends were invited to supper by Dionysius, Dionysius coming into the room, said,

O, my friends, letters have been sent to us from the generals who have been despatched to Naples;

and Democles interrpting him, said,

By the gods, they have done well, O Dionysius.

And he, looking upon him, said,

But how do you know whether what they have written is in accordance with my expectation or the contrary?

And Democles replied,

By the gods, you have properly rebuked me, O Dionysius.

Timæus also affirms that there was a man named Satyrus, who was a flatterer of both the Dionysii.

And Hegesander relates that Hiero the tyrant was

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also rather weak in his eyes; and that his friends who supped with him made mistakes in the dishes on purpose, in order to let him set them right, and to give him an opportunity of appearing clearer-sighted than the rest. And Hegesander says that Euclides, who was surnamed Seutlus, (and he too was a parasite,) once when a great quantity of sow-thistles (σόγκος) was set before him at a banquet, said, "Capaneus, who is introduced by Euripides in his Suppliant Women, was a very witty man—

Detesting tables where there was too much pride (ὄγκος).

But those who were the leaders of the people at Athens, says he, in the Chrernonidean war, flattered the Athenians, and said,

that everything else was common to all the Greeks; but that the Athenians were the only men who knew the road which leads to heaven.

And Satyrus, in his Lives, says that Anaxarchus, the Eudæmonical philosopher, was one of the flatterers of Alexander; and that he once, when on a journey in company with the king, when a violent and terrible thunderstorm took place, so as to frighten everybody, said—

Was it you, O Alexander, son of Jupiter, who caused this?

And that he laughed and said—

Not I; for I do not wish to be formidable, as you make me out; you also desire me to have brought to me at supper the heads of satraps and kings.

And Aristobulus of Cassandria says that Dioxippus the Athenian, a pancratiast, once when Alexander was wounded and when the blood flowed, said—

'Tis ichor, such as flows from the blessed gods.

And Epicrates the Athenian, having gone on an embassy to the king, according to the statement of Hegesander, and having received many presents from him, was not ashamed to flatter the king openly and boldly, so as even to say that the best way was not to choose nine archons every year, but nine ambassadors to the king. But I wonder at the Athenians, how they allowed him to make such a speech without bringing him to trial, and yet fined Demades ten talents, because he thought Alexander a god; and they put Evagoras to death, because when he went as ambassador to the king he adored him. And Timon the Phliasian, in the third book of his Silli, says that Ariston the Chian, an acquaintance and pupil of Zeno the Citiean, was a flatterer

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of Persæus the philosopher, because he was a companion of Antigonus the king. But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that Nicesias the flatterer of Alexender, when he saw the king in convulsions from some medicine which he had taken, said—

O king, what must we do when even you gods suffer in this manner?

and that Alexender, scarcely looking up, said—

What sort of gods? I a afraid rather we are hated by the gods.

And in his twenty eighth book the same Phylarchus says that Apollophanes was a flatterer of Antigonus who was surnamed Epitropu, who took Lacedæmon, and who used to say that the forte of Antigonus Alexandrized.

But Euphantus, in the fourth book of his Histories, says that Callicrates was a flatterer of Ptolemy, the third king of Egypt, who was so subtle a flatterer that he not only bore an image of Ulysses on his seal, but that he also gave his children the names of Telegonus and Anticlea. And Polybius, in the thirteenth book of his Histories says that Heraclides the Tarentine was a flatterer of the Philip whose power was destroyed by the Romans; and that, it was he who overturned his whole kingdom. And in his fourteenth book, he says that Philo was a flatterer of Agathocles the son of Œnanthe, and the companion of the king Ptolemy Philopator. And Baton of Sinope relates, in his book bout the tyranny of Hieronymus, that Thraso, who was surnamed Carcharus, was the flatterer of Hieronymus the tyrant of Syracuse, saying that he every day used to drink a great quantity of unmixed wine. But another flatterer, by name Osis, caused Thraso to be put to death by Hieronymus; ad he persuaded Hieronymus himself to assume the diadem, and the purple and all the rest of the royal apparel, which Dionysius the tyrant was accustomed to wear. And Agatharchides, in the thirtieth book of his Histories, says—"Hæresippus the Spartanwas a man of no moderate iniquity, not even putting on any appearance of goodness; but having very persuasive flattering language, and being a very clever man at paying court to the rich as long as their fortune lasted. Such also was Heraclides the Maronite, the flatterer of Seuthes the king of the Thracians, who is mentioned by Xenophon in the seventh book of the Anabasis.