Deipnosophistae

There is the polypus, declined πολύπους, πολύποδος; at least this is the way the Attic writers use the word, and so does Homer:—

1. As when a polypus (πουλύποδος in the genitive) is dragged from out his lair:

keeping the analogy to the noun ποὺς, from which it is de- rived. But in the accusative case we find the form πολύπουν, just as we ʼἀλκίνουν and οἰδίπουν. Aeschylus, too, has the form τρίπουν, as an epithet of a caldron, in his Athamas, from ποὺς, as if it were a simple noun like νοῦς. But the form πώλυπος is Aeolic. For the Attics always say πολύπους. Aristophanes, in his Dædalus, says—

1. When then I had this polypus (πουλύπους) and cuttle-fish.

And in another place he says—

1. He put before me a polypus (πουλύπουν).

And in another place he has—

1. They are the blows of a polypus press'd tight.

And Alcæus says, in his Adulterous Sisters,—

1. The man's a fool and has the mind of a polypus (πουλύποδος).

But Ameipsias, in his Glutton, says—

1. I want, it seems, a heap of polypi (πουλύπων).

And Plato, in his Boy, writes—

1. First of all you like the polypodes (τοὺς πουλύποδας).

Alcæus in another passage says—

1. I myself eat like any polypus (πουλύπους).

But others use the accusative case πολύποδα, in strict analogy with ποὺς, ποδὸς, ποδὶ, πόδα. Eupolis, in his Demi, has—

1. The man's a fellow-citizen of mine,
2. A very polypus in disposition.

Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesome Things, says—

The molluscous fish are calculated to give pleasure, and to excite the amorous propensities; especially the polypi (οἱ πολύποδες).

And Aristotle relates that the polypus has eight feet, of which the two highest and the two lowest are the smallest, and those in the middle are the largest; and they have also two feelers, with which they bring their food to their mouth. And they have their eyes placed above their two upper feet; and their mouth and teeth are between their feet. And when the polypus is dissected, he has a brain divided into two parts; and what is called his ink is not black, like the cuttle-fish, but of a reddish colour, in that part of him which is called the poppy; but the poppy lies above the stomach, like a bladder: and it has no intestines, like other fish. But for food it uses at times the flesh of small shell-fish, and casts the shells outside its body; by which the hunters know where to find it. And it propagates its species by becoming intertwined with the female, and is a long time about it, because it is destitute of blood: and it ejects its young through the orifice which is called the spiracle, which is the only passage for its body; and it lays eggs in clusters, like bunches of grapes.

They say, also, that the polypus, when it is in want of food, will eat even itself. And among those who relate this fact is Pherecrates the comic poet; for he, in the play entitled The Countryman, says—

1. They live on green anthrysca, and on bracana,
2. And snails and slugs. And when they're very hungry,
3. Then, like the polypus, they e'en at night
4. Nibble their fingers.

And Diphilus, in his Merchant, says—

1. A polypus with all his feelers
2. And limbs unhurt; whose wicked tooth
3. Has not devour'd himself, my friend,
4. Is ready for our supper.

But all this is a mistake; for the fact is, that he is pursued by the congers, and has his feet hurt in that manner. And it is said that if any one strews salt over his hole, he immediately comes out. It is also affirmed, that when he flies in alarm, he changes his colour, and becomes like the places in which he conceals himself. As also Theognis of Megara says, in his Elegies—

1. Remark the tricks of that most wary polypus,
2. Who always seems of the same colour and hue
3. As is the rock near which he lies.

And Clearchus makes a similar statement in the second book of his treatise on Proverbs, where he quotes the following lines, without saying from whose writings they come—

1. My son, my excellent Amphilochus,
2. Copy the shrewd device o' the polypus,
3. And make yourself as like as possible
4. To those whose land you chance to visit.

And the same Clearchus says that, in olden time, about Trœzen, it was considered impious to try to catch either the polypus, which was called sacred, or that one which was called the rower. And it was contrary to law to eat either that or the sea-tortoise. But the polypus is a fish very apt to decay, and also very stupid; for it goes towards the hand of the people who are pursuing it: and sometimes even

when it is pursued, it does not attempt to get out of the way. Their females waste away after laying their eggs, and get powerless; by reason of which they are easily taken. And sometimes they have been seen leaving the sea, and going on dry land, especially towards any rough or rugged ground; for they shun smooth places: and of all plants they especially delight in the olive, and they are often found embracing the trunk of an olive with their feelers. They have also been discovered clinging to such fig-trees as grow near the seashore, and eating the figs, as Clearchus tells us, in his treatise on those Animals which live in the Water. And this also is a proof that they are fond of the olive,—that if any one drops a branch of this tree down into the sea, in a place where there are polypi, and holds it there a little time, he without any trouble draws up as many polypi as he pleases, clinging to the branch. And all their other parts are exceedingly strong, but their neck is weak.

It is also said that the male has something corresponding to the parts of generation of one of his arms, in which there are his two large feelers; and that it is a limb full of nerves, sticking to the arm all along as far as the middle. But, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, Aristotle says—

The polypus propagates his species in the winter, and brings forth in the spring; and it lies in its hole for about two months: and it is a very prolific animal. But the male differs from the female, both in having a longer head, and also in having what the fishermen call its parts of generation in one of its feelers. And when it brings forth, it sits on its eggs, on which account it is worse to eat at that season; and the polypus lays its eggs either in its bed, or in any potsherd, or hollow place or vessel of that sort. And after fifty days, the little polypi come forth out of the egg in immense numbers, like young spiders. But the female polypus sometimes sits upon the eggs, and sometimes clings to the mouth of the bed, holding on with one of its feelers.

Theophrastus, in his treatise on those Animals which change their Colour, says that the polypus generally becomes like only to those places which are rocky, doing this both out of fear and for the sake of protecting itself. But, in his book on those Animals which live on dry Land, he says that the polypi are not fond of sea-water. But, in his treatise on those Things which are different according to the Differences of their Situation, Theophrastus says that there are no polypi about the Hellespont; for that that sea is cold, and not very salt, and that both these circumstances are unfavourable to the polypus.

But the fish called the nautilus,

says Aristotle,

is not a polypus, though it resembles a polypus in its feelers. And the back of the nautilus is covered with a shell; and it rises up out of the bottom of the sea, having its shell upon its back, in order that it may not catch the water. But when it has turned round, then it sails on, putting up two of its feelers, which have a thin membrane growing between them, just as the feet of some birds are which have a membrane of skin between their toes. And their other two feelers they let down into the sea, instead of rudders; but when they see anything coming towards them, then out of fear they draw in those feet, and fill themselves with salt water, and so descend to the bottom as rapidly as possible.

But, in his treatise on Animals and Fishes, he says—

Of the polypi there are two sorts; one, that which changes its colour, the other the nautilus.

Now, on this nautilus there is an epigram quoted of Callimachus of Cyrene, which runs thus:—

1. I was a shell, O Venus Zephyritis,[*](Venus Zephyritis was the name under which Arsinoe was worshipped; and the next line refers to the custom of the maidens on the occasion of their marriage making a sportive offering of their toys to Venus. Arsinoe was the wife and sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus.)
2. Now I'm the pious offering of Selena,
3. The gentle nautilus. When balmy winds
4. Breathe soft along the sea, I hold my course,
5. Stretching my sails on their congenial yards.
6. Should calm, the placid goddess, still the waves,
7. I row myself along with nimble feet,
8. So that my name suits rightly with my acts.
9. Now have I fallen on the Iulian shore,
10. To be a pleasant sport to Arsinoe.
11. No more shall Halcyons' dew-besprinkled eggs,
12. My dainty meal, lie thick within my bed
13. As formerly they did, since here I lie.
14. But give to Cleinias's daughter worthy thanks;
15. For she does shape her conduct honestly,
16. And from Aeolian Smyrna doth she come.

Posidippus also wrote this epigram on the same Venus which is worshipped in Zephyrium:—

1. Oh, all ye men who traffic on the streams,
2. Or on the land who hold a safer way,
v.2.p.501
3. Worship this shrine of Philadelphus' wife,
4. Venus Arsinoe, whom Callicrates,
5. The naval leader, first did firmly place
6. On this most beautiful Zephyrian shore.
7. And she will on your pious voyage smile,
8. And amid storms will for her votaries
9. Smooth the vex'd surface of the wide-spread sea.

Ion the tragedian also mentions the polypus, in his Phœnix, saying,—

1. I hate the colour-changing polypus,
2. Clinging with bloodless feelers to the rocks.

Now the different species of polypus are these: the eledone, the polypodine, the bolbotine, the osmylus; as both Aristotle and Speusippus teach us. But, in his book on Animals and their Properties, Aristotle says that the polypus, the osmylus, the eledone, the cuttle-fish, and the squid, are all molluscous. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

1. A polypus, a cuttle-fish, and quickly-moving squid,
2. A foul-smelling bolbitine, and chattering old woman.

And Archestratus says—

1. The Carian and the Thasian polypi
2. Are far the best; Corcyra too can breed
3. Fish of large size and very numerous.

But the Dorians spell the word with an ω, πωλύπους; as, for instance, Epicharmus. Simonides too has the expression, πώλυπον διζήμενος. But the Attics spell the word πολύπους, with an o: and it is a cartilaginous fish; for χονδρώδης and σελαχώδης have the same meaning;—

1. The polypodes and the dog-shark.

Moreover, all the fish belonging to the species of the cuttlefish are called molluscous. But the whole tribe of . . . is cartilaginous.

There is also a fish called the pagurus; and it is mentioned by Timocles or Xenarchus, in his Purple, thus—

1. But I, as being a skilful fisherman,
2. Have carefully devised all sorts of arts
3. To catch those vile paguri, enemies
4. To all the gods and all the little fishes.
5. And shall I not without delay beguile
6. An old buglossus? That would be well done.

There is also the pelamys. Phrynichus mentions it in his Muses; and Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says the pelamydes and the tunnies

breed in the Black Sea, but not anywhere else. Sophocles also mentions them, in his Shepherds:—

1. There, too, the foreign pelamys does winter,
2. The stranger from the Hellespont. For she
3. Doth come with many of her kind in summer
4. To these cool waters of the Bosphorus.

Then there is the perch. He also is mentioned by Diodes; and Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one another, says that the perch, the canna, and the phycis are all nearly alike. And Epicharmus says—

1. The comaris, the sea-dog, and the cestra
2. And variegated perch.

And Numenius, in his treatise on the Art of Fishing, says—

1. At one time perch, and at another strophades,
2. Which keep around the rocks. The phycis too,
3. Th' alphestes, and the red-flesh'd scorpion.

There is also the phycis. This also is mentioned by Epichar- mus, in his Hebe's Wedding; and by Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one another; and by Numenius: all whose testimonies are at hand. Aristotle, in his book upon Animals and their Properties, says that the phycis is surrounded with prickles and spotted. But the perch is marked with lines, and with bars running in an oblique direction. And there is a proverb also,

The perch follows the black-tail.

We have also the needle-fish. This also is mentioned by Epicharmus, who says—

1. The oxyrhynchi, and the needle-fish,
2. And the hippuri.

But Dorion, in his work on Fish, says—

The belone, which they also call the needle-fish.

Aristotle too, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, calls this fish the belone. But, in his book on Animals and their Properties, or else in his work on Fishes, he calls it the needle-fish; and says that it has no teeth. And Speusippus calls it the belone.

There is also the rhine. Dorion, in his book on Fishes, says that the rhinos are best at Smyrna; and that all the cartilaginous fish are especially good in the gulf of Smyrna. And Archestratus says—

1. And the far-famed Miletus does produce
2. All cartilauginous fish in high perfection,
v.2.p.503
3. But first of all one ought to take account
4. Both of the rhina and leiobatus,
5. Known for his spacious back. Still before all
6. Give me a roasted crocodile to eat,
7. Fresh from the oven, a most dainty dish
8. For all the children of Ionia.

There is next the scarus, or char. Aristotle says that this fish has serrated teeth, and is a solitary fish, and carnivorous; and that it has a small mouth, and a tongue which does not adhere closely to the mouth, and a triangular heart of a whitish colour and with three lobes; and that its gall and spleen are black, and that of its gills one is double and one single; and that it alone of all fish chews the cud. And that it delights in seaweed for food, on which account the fishermen use seaweed as a bait to catch it with. And it is in season in the summer. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

1. We fish for spari, and for scari too,
2. Whose very dung may not be thrown away.

But Seleucus of Tarsus, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the scarus is the only fish which never sleeps; by reason of which it is not easily caught, even by night. But this may be the case on account of its timid nature. And Archestratus says, in his Gastronomy,—

1. Seek now a scarus, fresh from Ephesus,
2. And in the winter season eat a mullet
3. Caught in the waves of sandy Teichioussa,
4. A village of Miletus, near the Carians,
5. The crooked-footed Carians.

And in another part he says—

1. Wash and then roast the mighty scarus which
2. Comes from the sea that laves Chalcedon's walls:
3. That too is good which near Byzantium swims,
4. With back as broad as a large oval shield.
5. Take him and cook him whole as I shall tell you.
6. Sprinkle him o'er with oil and grated cheese,
7. Then place him in the oven hanging up,
8. So as to escape the bottom, and then roast him,
9. And sprinkle him with salt and cummin seed
10. Well mix'd together; and again with oil,
11. Pouring out of your hand the holy stream.

Nicander of Thyatira says that there are two kids of scari; and that one is called the onias, and the other the ælous.

Then there is the sparus. Icesius says that this is a more juicy fish than the sprat, and more nutritious than most other fish. And Epicharmus says, in his Hebe's Wedding,—

1. Neptune then arives himself
2. Laden with most beauteous nets
3. In the boats of fair Phœnicia,
4. Then we all do spari catch,
5. And scari too, that sacred fish,
6. Whose very dung may not be thrown away.

And Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing,—

1. The sparus or the hycas fond of company.

And Dorion mentions this fish, in his treatise on Fishes.

There is also the scorpion. Diodes, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesome Things, addressed to Plistarchus, says—

Of fresh fish, the following have drier meat: the scorpions, the sea-cuckoo, the sea-sparrow, the sargi, and the rough-tail. But the mullet is not so dry as these are; for all fish which keep near the rocks have softer flesh.

And Icesius says—

There are two kinds of scorpion; one of which lives in the sea, and the other in marshes. And the one which lives in the sea is red, but the other is rather black. But the sea-mullet is superior to the other, both in taste and in nutritious qualities. But the scorpions have purging qualities, are easy of secretion, very juicy, and very nutritious; for they are a cartilaginous fish.

The scorpion brings forth its young twice a-year, as Aristotle tells us, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals. But Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing,—

1. The phycides, the alphestes, and besides
2. The red-flesh'd scorpion, and the black-tail quick,
3. Which guides the perch all through the stormy sea.

But that he is a fish which has the power of stinging, Aristotle tells us, in his book about Fishes or Animals. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, says that the scorpion is a variegated fish:—

1. The variegated scorpion, the grayling,
2. The fat and well-fed lizards.

The scorpion is a solitary fish, and feeds on seaweed. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, Aristotle speaks of scorpions and scorpides in different places; but it is uncertain whether he means the same fish; because we ourselves have often eaten the scorpæna and the scorpion, and there is no one who does not know that both their juice and their meat are quite different. But Archestratus, that skilful cook, in his Golden Words, tells us—

1. When you're at Thasos buy a scorpion,
2. But let him not be longer than one cubit;
3. Avoid the larger sizes.

Then there is the scombrus, or tunny, which is mentioned by this name by Aristophanes, in his Gerytades. Icesius says that that species of tunny called scombrus is smaller in size, but more nutritious, than the species called colias; and also more juicy, though not more easily digested. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, mentions them thus:—

1. Sea-swallows, and mormyri, both of which
2. Are larger than the coliæ and the scombri,
3. But less than those whose name is thynnides.

The sargus is another fish. He (as Icesius tells us) is a fish of very exciting and astringent properties, and more nutritious than the melanurus, or blacktail. But Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the sargus is a very cunning fish as respects the catching him:—

1. The rich sea-blackbird, or the thrush who sports
2. Beneath the waves; the sargus too who rushes
3. Now here with sudden movement, and now there,
4. The greatest enemy to the fisher's nets.

And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that the sargus brings forth its young twice in the year; once in the spring and once in the autumn. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

1. The sargus, and the chalcis, and the . . .

But he speaks of the sarginus, or sargus, as an excellent fish, in the following lines—

1. There the sarginus was, the melanurus,
2. And the dear tænia, thin but delicious.

And in a similar manner Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, speaks, calling them sargini and chalcides, on this very account. But the wise Archestratus says—

1. Now when the bright Orion's star doth set,
2. And the fair mother of the vinous grape
3. Doth shed her hair, then take a roasted sargus,
4. Well sprinkled o'er with cheese, of mighty size,
5. Smoking, and soften'd with sharp vinegar.
6. For he is hard by nature. And remember
7. This is the way all hard fish should be cook'd.
v.2.p.506
8. But those whose meat is good and soft by nature,
9. It is enough to sprinkle well with salt,
10. And lightly to anoint with oil. For they
11. Have virtue and delights within themselves.

There is the salpe, too. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

1. The aon, and the phagrus, and the pike,
2. And the dung-eating, bloated, dirty salpe,
3. Which still have a sweet flavour in the summer.

And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that the salpe has young once a-year only, in the autumn; and that his skin is covered with numerous red lines. Moreover, he has serrated teeth, and is a solitary fish. And he says that it is stated by the fishermen that he may be caught with a cucumber, being very fond of that kind of food. And Archestratus says—

1. I always do account the fish call'd salpe
2. A worthless fish. But it is least tasteless
3. When the wheat ripens. And the choicest kinds
4. Are caught at Mitylene.

And Pancrates, in his Works of the Sea, says—

1. There is the salpe too, of the same size,
2. Which the seafaring fishermen do call
3. The ox, because he grinds within his teeth
4. The stout seaweed with which he fills his belly.

He also is a spotted or variegated fish; on which account his friends used to nickname Mnaseas the Locrian (or, as some call him, the Colophonian),—the man who wrote the poem called The Sports,—Salpe, on account of the variety of things in his collection. But Nymphodorus the Syracusan, in his Voyage round Asia, says that it was a Lesbian woman, named Salpe, who wrote the book called The Sports. But Alcimus, in his Affairs of Sicily, says that in Messene, in Sicily, there was a man named Botrys, who was the author of some

Sports

very like those which are attributed to Salpe. But Archippus uses the word in the masculine form, Salpes, saying—

1. The ceryx shouted out,
2. The salpes trumpeted and fetch'd seven obols.

And there is a similar fish produced in the Red Sea, which is called the stromateus; and it has gold-coloured lines running along the whole of his body, as Philo tells us, in his book on Mines.

There is also the synodon and the synagris. They also are mentioned by Epicharmus, when he says—

1. Synagrides, and mazi, and the synodons,
2. With red spots variegated.

And Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, writes the word with an υ, συνόδους; and says—

1. Then the white synodon, and boax, and triccus.

And in another place he says—

1. Fish with these baits then, if you wish to eat
2. The mighty synodon, or diving horsetail.

But Dorion writes the word σινόδους, with an ι; and so does Archestratus, in the following lines:—

1. But try to catch a well-fed sinodon,
2. And you will find the best in narrow straits.
3. All this advice to Cyrus I have given,
4. And now to you, Cleænus, I impart it.

And Antiphanes says, in his Archistrata,—

1. But who would eat an eel, or sinodon's head.