Deipnosophistae

And concerning the instrument called the tripod (this also is a musical instrument) the before-mentioned Artemo writes as follows—

And that is how it is that there are many instruments, as to which it is even uncertain whether they ever existed; as, for instance, the tripod of Pythagoras of Zacynthus. For as it was in fashion but a very short time, and as, either because the fingering of it appeared exceedingly difficult, or for some other reason, it was very soon disused, it has escaped the notice of most writers altogether. But the instrument was in form very like the Delphian tripod, and it derived its name from it; but it was used like a triple harp. For its feet stood on some pedestal which admitted of being easily turned round, just as the legs of movable chairs are made; and along the three intermediate spaces between the feet, strings were stretched; an arm being placed above each, and tuning-pegs, to which the strings were attached, below. And on the top there was the usual ornament of the vase, and of some other ornaments which were attached to it; all which gave it a very elegant appearance; and it emitted a very powerful sound. And Pythagoras divided the three harmonies with reference to three countries,—the Dorian, the Lydian, and Phrygian. And he himself sitting on a chair made on the same principles and after the same pattern, putting out his left hand so as to take hold of the instrument, and using the plectrum in his other hand, moved the pedestal with his foot very easily, so as to use whichever side of the instrument he chose to begin with; and then again turning to the other side he went on playing, and then he changed to the third side. And so rapidly did the easy movement of the pedestal, when touched by the foot, bring the various sides under his hand, and so very rapid was his fingering and execution, that if a person had not seen what was being done, but had judged only by his ear, he would have fancied that he was listening to three harp-players

v.3.p.1019

all playing on different instruments. But this instrument, though it was so greatly admired, after his death rapidly fell into disuse.

Now the system of playing the harp without any vocal accompaniment, was, as Menechmus informs us, first introduced by Aristonicus the Argive, who was a contemporary of Archilochus, and lived in Corcyra. But Philochorus, in the third book of his Atthis, says—-" Lysander the Sicyonian harp-player was the first person who ever changed the art of pure instrumental performance, dwelling on the long tones, and producing a very rich sound, and adding also to the harp the music of the flute; and this last addition was first introduced by Epigonus; and taking away the jejuneness which existed in the music of those who played the harp alone without any vocal accompaniment, he first introduced various beautiful modifications[*](The Greek word is χρώματα: As a technical term in Greek music, χρῶμα was a modification of the simplest or diatonic music; but there were also χρώματα as further modifications of all the three common kinds (diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic). Liddell and Scott, in voc. Smith, Diet. Gr. and Rom. Ant. v. Music, p. 625 a, calls them χρόαι, and says there were six of them; one in the enharmonic genus, often called simply ἁρμονία; two in the diatonic, 1st, διάτονον σίντονον, or simply διάτονον, the same as the genus; 2d, διάτονον μαλακάν: and three in the chromatic, 1st, χρῶμα τονιαῖον, or simply χρῶμα, the same as the genus; 2d, χρῶμα ἡμιόλιον; 3d, χρῶμα μαλακόν. V. loc. ) on that instrument; and he played on the different kinds of harp called iambus and magadis, which is also called συριγμός. And he was the first person who ever attempted to change his instrument while playing. And afterwards, adding dignity to the business, he was the first person to institute a chorus. And Menæchmus says that Dion of Chius was the first person who ever played on the harp an ode such as is used at libations to the honour of Bacchus. But Timomachus, in his History of Cyprus, says that Stesander the Samian added further improvements to his art, and was the first person who at Delphi sang to his lyre the battles narrated in Homer, beginning with the Odyssey. But others say that the first person who ever played amatory strains on his harp was Amiton the Eleuthernæan, who did so in his own city, whose descendants are all called Amitores.

But Aristoxenus says that just as some men have composed parodies on hexameter verses, for the sake of exciting a

laugh; so, too, others have parodied the verses which were sung to the harp, in which pastime Œnopas led the way. And he was imitated by Polyeuctus the Achæan, and by Diodes of Cynætha. There have also been poets who have composed a low kind of poems, concerning whom Phænias the Eresian speaks in his writings addressed to the Sophists; where he writes thus:—

Telenicus the Byzantian, and also Argas, being both authors of low poems, were men who, as far as that kind of poetry could go, were accounted clever. But they never even attempted to rival the songs of Terpander or Phrynis.

And Alexis mentions Argas, in his Man Disembarked, thus—

1. A. Here is a poet who has gained the prize
2. In choruses.
3. B. What is his style of poetry?
4. A. A noble kind.
5. B. How will he stand comparison
6. With Argas
7. A. He's a whole day's journey better.

And Anaxandrides, in his Hercules, says—

1. For he appears a really clever man.
2. How gracefully he takes the instrument,
3. Then plays at once. . . . .
4. When I have eaten my fill, I then incline
5. To send you off to sing a match with Argas,
6. That you, my friend, may thus the sophists conquer.

But the author of the play called the Beggars, which is attributed to Chionides, mentions a certain man of the name of Gnesippus as a composer of ludicrous verses, and also of merry songs; and he says—

1. I swear that neither now Gnesippus, nor
2. Cleomenes with all his nine-string'd lyre,
3. Could e'er have made this song endurable.

And the author of the Helots says—

1. He is a man who sings the ancient songs
2. Of Alcman, and Stesichorus, and Simonides;

(he means to say Gnesippus):

1. He likewise has composed songs for the night,
2. Well suited to adulterers, with which
3. They charm the women from their doors, while striking
4. The shrill iambyca or the triangle.

And Cratinus, in his Effeminate Persons, says—

1. Who, O Gnesippus, e'er saw me in love
2. I am indignant; for I do think nothing
3. Can be so vain or foolish as a lover.

. . . . . . .and he ridicules him for his poems; and in his Herdsmen he says—

1. A man who would not give to Sophocles
2. A chorus when he asked one; though he granted
3. That favour to Cleomachus, whom I
4. Should scarce think worthy of so great an honour,
5. At the Adonia.

And in his Hours he says—

1. Farewell to that great tragedian
2. Cleomachus, with his chorus of hair-pullers,
3. Plucking vile melodies in the Lydian fashion.

But Teleclides, in his Rigid Men, says that he was greatly addicted to adultery. And Clearchus, in the second book of his Amatory Anecdotes, says that the love-songs, and those, too, which are called the Locrian songs, do not differ in the least from the compositions of Sappho and Anacreon. Moreover, the poems of Archilochus, and that on fieldfares, attributed to Homer, relate to some division or other of this passion, describing it in metrical poetry. But the writings of Asopodorus about love, and the whole body of amorous epistles, are a sort of amatory poetry out of metre.

When Masurius had said this, the second course, as it is called, was served up to us; which, indeed, was very often offered to us, not only on the days of the festival of Saturn,[*](The Saturnalia originally took place on the 19th of December; in the time of Augustus, on the 17th, 18th, and 19th: but the merrymaking in reality appears to have lasted seven days. Horace speaks of the licence then permitted to the slaves:— "Age, libertate Decembri,Quando ita majores vuluerunt, utere—narra."—Sat. ii. 7. 4. —Vide Smith, Gr. Lat. Ant.) when it is the custom of the Romans to feast their slaves, while they themselves discharge the offices of their slaves. But this is in reality a Grecian custom. At all events, in Crete, at the festival of Mercury, a similar thing takes place, as Carystius tells us in his Historic Reminiscences; for then, while the slaves are feasting, the masters wait upon them as if they were the servants: and so they do at Trœzen in the month Geræstius. For then there is a festival which lasts for many days, on one of which the slaves play at dice in common with the citizens, and the masters give a banquet to the slaves, as Carystius himself tells us. And Berosus, in the first book of his History of Babylon, says that on the sixteenth day of the month Lous, there is a great festival celebrated in

Babylon, which is called Sakeas; and it lasts five days: and during those days it is the custom for the masters to be under the orders of their slaves; and one of the slaves puts on a robe like the king's, which is called a zoganes, and is master of the house. And Ctesias also mentions this festival in the second book of his History of Persia. But the Coans act in an exactly contrary manner, as Macareus tells us in the third book of his History of Cos. For when they sacrifice to Juno, the slaves do not come to the entertainment; on which account Phylarchus says—

1. Among the Sourii, the freemen only
2. Assist at the holy sacrifice; none else
3. The temples or the altars dare approach;
4. And no slave may come near the sacred precincts.

But Baton of Sinope, the orator, in his treatise on Thessaly and Hæmonica, distinctly asserts that the Roman Saturnalia are originally a very Greek festival, saying that among the Thessalians it is called Peloria. And these are his words:—

When a common festival was being celebrated by all the Pelasgi, a man whose name was Pelorus brought news to Pelasgus that there had been some violent earthquakes in Hæmonia, by which the mountains called Tempe had been rent asunder, and that the water of the lake had burst through the rent, and was all falling into the stream of the Peneus; and that all the country which had formerly been covered by the lake was now laid open, and that, as the waters were now drained off, there were plains visible of wondrous size and beauty. Accordingly, Pelasgus, on hearing this statement, had a table loaded with every delicacy set before Pelorus; and every one else received him with great cordiality, and brought whatever they had that was best, and placed it on the table before the man who had brought this news; and Pelasgus himself waited on him with great cheerfulness, and all the rest of the nobles obeyed him as his servants as often as any opportunity offered. On which account, they say that after the Pelasgi occupied the district, they instituted a festival as a sort of imitation of the feast which took place on that occasion; and, sacrificing to Jupiter Pelor, they serve up tables admirably furnished, and hold a very cordial and friendly assembly, so as to receive every foreigner at the banquet, and to set free all the prisoners, and to make their servants sit down and feast with

v.3.p.1023

every sort of liberty and licence, while their masters wait on them. And, in short, even to this day the Thessalians celebrate this as their chief festival, and call it Peloria.

Very often, then, as I have said, when such a dessert as this is set before us, some one of the guests who were present would say—

1. Certainly, second thoughts are much the best;
2. For what now can the table want? or what
3. Is there with which it is not amply loaded?
4. 'Tis full of fish fresh from the sea, besides
5. Here's tender veal, and dainty dishes of goose,
6. Tartlets, and cheesecakes steep'd most thoroughly
7. In the rich honey of the golden bee;

as Euripides says in his Cretan Women: and, as Eubulus said in his Rich Woman—

1. And in the same way everything is sold
2. Together at Athens; figs and constables,
3. Grapes, turnips, pears and apples, witnesses,
4. Roses and medlars, cheesecakes, honeycombs,
5. Vetches and law-suits; bee-strings of all kinds,
6. And myrtle-berries, and lots for offices,
7. Hyacinths, and lambs, and hour-glasses too,
8. And laws and prosecutions.

Accordingly, when Pontianus was about to say something about each of the dishes of the second course,—We will not, said Ulpian, hear you discuss these things until you have spoken about the sweetmeats (ἐπιδορπίσματα). And Pontianus replied:—Cratinus says that Philippides has given this name to the τραγήματα, in his Miser, where he says—

1. Cheesecakes, ἐπιδορπίσματα, and eggs,
2. And sesame; and were I to endeavour
3. To count up every dish, the day would fail me.

And Diphilus, in his Telesias, says—

1. τράγημα, myrtle-berries, cheesecakes too,
2. And almonds; so that with the greatest pleasure
3. I eat the second course (ἐπιδορπίζομαι).

And Sophilus, in his Deposit, says—

1. 'Tis always pleasant supping with the Greeks;
2. They manage well; with them no one cries out—
3. Here, bring a stronger draught; for I must feast
4. With the Tanagrian; that there, lying down,
5. * * * * *

And Plato, in his Atlanticus, calls these sweetmeats μεταδόρπια; saying—

And at that time the earth used to produce all sorts of sweet-smelling things for its inhabitants; and a great

v.3.p.1024

deal of cultivated fruit, and a great variety of nuts; and all the μεταδόρπια which give pleasure when eaten.

But Tryphon says that formerly before the guests entered the supper-room, each person's share was placed on the table, and that afterwards a great many dishes of various kinds were served up in addition; and that on this account these latter dishes were called ἐπιφορήματα. But Philyllius, in his Well-digger, speaking of the second course, says—

1. Almonds, and nuts, and ἐπιφορήματα.

And Archippus, in his Hercules, and Herodotus, in the first book of his History, have both used the verb ἐπιδορπίζομαι for eating after supper. And Archippus also, in his Hercules Marrying, uses the word ἐπιφορήματα; where he says—

1. The board was loaded with rich honey-cakes
2. And other ἐπιφορήματα.

And Herodotus, in the first book of his History, says—

They do not eat a great deal of meat, but a great many ἐπιφορήματα.

But as for the proverbial saying,

The ἐπιφόρημα of Abydos,

that is a kind of tax and harbour-due; as is explained by Aristides in the third book of his treatise on Proverbs. But Dionysius, the son of Tryphon, says—

Formerly, before the guests came into the banqueting-room, the portion for each individual was placed on the table, and afterwards a great many other things were served up in addition (ἐπιφέρεσθαι); from which custom they were called ἐπιφορήματα.

And Philyllius, in his Well-digger, speaks of what is brought in after the main part of the banquet is over, saying—

1. Almonds, and nuts, and ἐπιφορήματα.

But Plato the comic poet, in the Menelaus, calls them ἐπιτραπεζώματα, as being for eatables placed on the table (ἐπὶ ταῖς τραπέζαις), saying—

1. A. Come, tell me now,
2. Why are so few of the ἐπιτραπεζώματα
3. Remaining?
4. B. That man hated by the gods
5. Ate them all up.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on Drunkenness, says that sweetmeats (τραγήματα) used to be called by the ancients τρωγάλια; for that they come in as a sort of second course. But it is Pindar who said—

1. And τρώγαλον is nice when supper's over,
2. And when the guests have eaten plentifully.

And he was quite right. For Euripides says, when one looks on what is served up before one, one may really say—

1. You see how happily life passes when
2. A man has always a well-appointed table.

And that among the ancients the second course used to have a great deal of expense and pains bestowed on it, we may learn from what Pindar says in his Olympic Odes, where he speaks of the flesh of Pelops being served up for food:—

1. And in the second course they carved
2. Your miserable limbs, and feasted on them;
3. But far from me shall be the thought profane,
4. That in foul feast celestials could delight.

Pind. Ol. i. 80

And the ancients often called this second course simply τράπεζαι, as, for instance, Achæus in his Vulcan, which is a satyric drama, who says,—

1. A. First we will gratify you with a feast;
2. Lo! here it is.
3. B. But after that what means
4. Of pleasure will you offer me?
5. A. We'll anoint you
6. All over with a richly-smelling perfume.
7. B. Will you not give me first a jug of water
8. To wash my hands with!
9. A. Surely; the dessert (τράπεζα)
10. Is now being clear'd away.

And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, says—

1. Bring water for the hands; clear the dessert.

Ar. Vespæ, 121

And Aristotle, in his treatise on Drunkenness, uses the term δεύτεραι τράπεζαι, much as we do now; saying,—

We must therefore bear in mind that there is a difference between τράγημα and βρῶμα, as there is also between ἔδεσμα and τρωγάλιον. For this is a national name in use in every part of Greece, since there is food (βρῶμα) in sweetmeats (ἐντραγήμασι), from which consideration the man who, first used the expression δευτέρα τράπεζα,, appears to have spoken with sufficient correctness. For the eating of sweetmeats (τραγηματισμὸς) is really an eating after supper (ἐπιδορπισμὸς); and the sweetmeats are served up as a second supper.

But Dicæarchus, in the first book of his Descent to the Cave of Trophonius, speaks thus:

There was also the δευτέρα τράπεζα, which was a very expensive part of a banquet, and there were also garlands, and perfumes, and burnt frankincense, and all the other necessary accompaniments of these thing.

Eggs too often formed a part of the second course, as did hares and thrushes, which were served up with the honey-cakes; as we find mentioned by Antiphanes in the Leptiniscus, where he says,—

1. A. Would you drink Thasian wine?
2. B. No doubt, if any one
3. Fills me a goblet with it.
4. A. Then what think you
5. Of almonds?
6. B. I feel very friendly to them,
7. They mingle well with honey.
8. A. If a man
9. Should bring you honied cheesecakes?
10. B. I should eat them,
11. And swallow down an egg or two besides.

And in his Things resembling one another, he says,—

1. Then he introduced a dance, and after that he served up
2. A second course, provided well with every kind of dainty.

And Amphis, in his Gynæcomania, says,—

1. A. Did you e'er hear of what they call a ground[*](βίος ἀληλεσμένος, a civilised life, in which one uses ground corn, and not raw fruits.—Liddell and Scott in voc. ἀλέω. ) life?
2. . . . . . . . . 'tis clearly
3. Cheesecakes, sweet wine, eggs, cakes of sesame,
4. Perfumes, and crowns, and female flute-players.
5. B. Castor and Pollux! why you have gone through
6. The names of all the dozen gods at once.

Anaxandrides, in his Clowns, says,—

1. And when I had my garland on my head,
2. They brought in the dessert (ἡ τράπεζα), in which there were
3. So many dishes, that, by all the gods,
4. And goddesses too, I hadn't the least idea
5. There were so many different things i' th' house;
6. And never did I live so well as then.

Clearchus says in his Pandrosus,—

1. A. Have water for your hands:
2. B. By no means, thank you;
3. I'm very comfortable as I am.
4. A. Pray have some;
5. You'll be no worse at all events. Boy, water!
6. And put some nuts and sweetmeats on the table.

And Eubulus, in his Campylion, says,—

1. A. Now is your table loaded well with sweetmeats.
2. B. I am not always very fond of sweetmeats.

Alexis, too, says in his Polyclea, (Polyclea was the name of a courtesan,)—

1. He was a clever man who first invented
2. The use of sweetmeats; for he added thus
3. A pleasant lengthening to the feast, and saved men
4. From unfill'd mouths and idle jaws unoccupied.

And in his Female Likeness (but this same play is attributed also to Antidotus) he says,—

1. A. I am not one, by Aesculapius!
2. To care excessively about my supper;
3. I'm fonder of dessert.
4. B. 'Tis very well.
5. A. For I do hear that sweetmeats are in fashion,
6. For suitors when they're following . . .
7. B. Their brides,—
8. A. To give them cheesecakes, hares, and thrushes too,
9. These are the things I like; but pickled fish
10. And soups and sauces I can't bear, ye gods!

But Apion and Diodorus, as Pamphilus tells us, assert that the sweetmeats brought in after supper are also called ἐπαίκλεια.

Ephippus, in his Ephebi, enumerating the different dishes in fashion for dessert, says,—

1. Then there were brought some groats, some rich perfumes
2. From Egypt, and a cask of rich palm wine
3. Was broach'd. Then cakes and other kinds of sweetmeats,
4. Cheesecakes of every sort and every name;
5. And a whole hecatomb of eggs. These things
6. We ate, and clear'd the table vigorously,
7. For we did e'en devour some parasites.

And in his Cydon he says,—

1. And after supper they served up some kernels,
2. Vetches, and beans, and groats, and cheese, and honey,
3. Sweetmeats of various kinds, and cakes of sesame,
4. And pyramidical rolls of wheat, and apples,
5. Nuts, milk, hempseed too, and shell-fish,
6. Syrup, the brains of Jove.

Alexis too, in his Philiscus, says,—

1. Now is the time to clear the table, and
2. To bring each guest some water for his hands,
3. And garlands, perfumes, and libations,
4. Frankincense, and a chafing-dish. Now give
5. Some sweetmeats, and let all some cheesecakes have.

And as Philoxenus of Cythera, in his Banquet, where he mentions the second course, has spoken by name of many of the dishes which are served up to us, we may as well cite his words:—

And the beautiful vessels which come in first, were brought in again full of every kind of delicacy, which mortals

v.3.p.1028

call τράπεζαι, but the Gods call them the Horn of Amalthea. And in the middle was placed that great delight of mortals, white marrow dressed sweet; covering its face with a thin membrane, like a spider's web, out of modesty, that one might not see . . . . . in the dry nets of Aristæus . . . . And its name was amyllus . . . . . . . . . . which they call Jupiter's sweetmeats . . . . Then he distributed plates of . . . . very delicious . . . . . . and a cheesecake compounded of cheese, and milk, and honey . . . almonds with soft rind . . . . and nuts, which boys are very fond of; and everything else which could be expected in plentiful and costly entertainment. And drinking went on, and playing at the cottabus, and conversation . . . . . . . It was pronounced a very magnificent entertainment, and every one admired and praised it.

This, then, is the description given by Philoxenus of Cythera, whom Antiphanes praises in his Third-rate Performer, where he says—

1. Philoxenus now does surpass by far
2. All other poets. First of all he everywhere
3. Uses new words peculiar to himself;
4. And then how cleverly doth he mix his melodies
5. With every kind of change and modification!
6. Surely he is a god among weak men,
7. And a most thorough judge of music too,
8. But poets of the present day patch up
9. Phrases of ivy and fountains into verse,
10. And borrow old expressions, talking of
11. Melodies flying on the wings of flowers,
12. And interweave them with their own poor stuff.

There are many writers who have given lists of the different kinds of cheesecakes, and as far as I can recollect, I will mention them, and what they have said. I know, too, that Callimachus, in his List of Various Books, mentions the treatises on the Art of Making Cheesecakes, written by Aegimius, and Hegesippus, and Metrobius, and also by Phætus. But I will communicate to you the names of cheesecakes which I myself have been able to find to put down, not treating you as Socrates was treated in the matter of the cheesecake which was sent to him by Alcibiades; for Xanthippe took it and trampled upon it, on which Socrates laughed, and said,

At all events you will not have any of it yourself.

(This story is related by Antipater, in the first book of his essay on Passion.) But I, as I am fond of cheesecakes, should have been very sorry to see that divine cheesecake so injuriously treated. Accordingly, Plato the comic poet ren- tions cheesecakes in his play called The Poet, where he says—

1. Am I alone to sacrifice without
2. Having a taste allow'd me of the entrails,
3. Without a cheesecake, without frankincense?

Nor do I forget that there is a village, which Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twelfth book of his Trojan Array, tells us bears the name of πλακοῦς (cheesecake); and he says that it is six stadia from Hypoplacian Thebes.[*](This was a Thebes in Asia, so called by Homer (Iliad, ii. 397), as being at the foot of a mountain called Placia, or Placos.)

Now, the word πλακοῦς ought to have a circumflex in the nominative case; for it is contracted from πλακόεις, as τυροῦς is from τυρόεις, and σησαμοῦς from σησαμόεις.. And it is used as a substantive, the word ἄρτος (bread) being understood.

Those who have lived in the place assure us that there are capital cheesecakes to be got at Parium on the Hellespont; for it is a blunder of Alexis, when he speaks of them as coming from the island of Paros. And this is what he says in his play called Archilochus:—

1. Happy old man, who in the sea-girt isle
2. Of happy Paros dwell'st—a land which bears
3. Two things in high perfection; marble white,
4. Fit decoration for th' immortal gods,
5. And cheesecakes, dainty food for mortal men.

And Sopater the farce-writer, in his Suitors of Bacchis, testifies that the cheesecakes of Samos are extraordinarily good; saying,—

1. The cheesecake-making island named Samos.

Menander, in his False Hercules, speaks of cheesecakes made in a mould:—

1. It is not now a question about candyli,
2. Or all the other things which you are used
3. To mix together in one dish-eggs, honey,
4. And similago; for all these things now
5. Are out of place. The cook at present's making
6. Baked cheesecakes in a mould; and boiling groats
7. To serve up after the salt-fish,—and grapes,
8. And forced-meat wrapp'd in fig-leaves. And the maid,
9. Who makes the sweetmeats and the common cheesecakes,
10. Is roasting joints of meat and plates of thrushes.

And Evangelus, in his Newly-married Woman, says—

1. A. Four tables did I mention to you of women,
2. And six of men; a supper, too, complete—
3. In no one single thing deficient;
v.3.p.1030
4. Wishing the marriage-feast to be a splendid one.
5. B. Ask no one else; I will myself go round,
6. Provide for everything, and report to you.
7. . . . . . As many kinds of olives as you please;
8. For meat, you've veal, and sucking-pig, and pork,
9. And hares—
10. A. Hear how this cursed fellow boasts!
11. B. Forced-meat in fig-leaves, cheese, cheesecakes in moulds-
12. A. Here, Dromo!
13. B. Candyli, eggs, cakes of meal.
14. And then the table is three cubits high;
15. So that all those who sit around must rise
16. Whene'er they wish to help themselves to anything,

There was a kind of cheesecake called ἄμης. Antiphanes enumerates

1. ἄμητες, ἄμυλοι;

and Menander, in his Supposititious Son, says—

1. You would be glad were any one to dress
2. A cheesecake (ἄμητα) for you.

But the Ionians, as Seleucus tells us in his Dialects, make the accusative case ἄμην; and they call small cheesecakes of the same kind ἀμητίσκοι. Teleclides says—

1. Thrushes flew of their own accord
2. Right down my throat with savoury ἀμητίσκοι.

There was also a kind called διακόνιον:—

1. He was so greedy that he ate a whole
2. Diaconium up, besides an amphiphon.

But the ἀμφιφῶν was a kind of cheesecake consecrated to Diana, having figures of lighted torches round it. Philemon, in his Beggar, or Woman of Rhodes, says—

1. Diana, mistress dear, I bring you now
2. This amphiphon, and these libations holy.

Diphilus also mentions it in his Hecate. Philochorus also mentions the fact of its being called ἀμφιφῶν, and of its being brought into the temples of Diana, and also to the places where three roads meet, on the day when the moon is overtaken at its setting by the rising of the sun; and so the heaven is ἀμφιφῶς, or all over light.

There is the basynias too. Semus, in the second book of the Deliad, says—

In the island of Hecate, the Delians sacrifice to Iris, offering her the cheesecakes called basyniæ; and this is a cake of wheat-flour, and suet, and honey, boiled up together: and what is called κόκκωρα consists of a fig and three nuts.

There are also cheesecakes called strepti and neëlata. Both;

these kinds are mentioned by Demosthenes the orator, in his Speech in Defence of Ctesiphon concerning the Crown.

There are also epichyta. Nicochares, in his Handicraftsmen, says—

1. I've loaves, and barley-cakes, and bran, and flour,
2. And rolls, obelias, and honey'd cheesecakes,
3. Epichyti, ptisan, and common cheesecakes,
4. Dendalides, and fried bread.

But Pamphilus says that the ἐπίχυτος is the same kind of cheesecake as that which is called ἀττανίτης. And Hipponax mentions the ἀττανίτης in the following lines:—

1. Not eating hares or woodcocks,
2. Nor mingling small fried loaves with cakes of sesame,
3. Nor dipping attanite in honeycombs,

There is also the creïum. This is a kind of cheesecakes which, at Argos, is brought to the bridegroom from the bride; and it is roasted on the coals, and the friends of the bride- groom are invited to eat it; and it is served up with honey, as Philetas tells us in his Miscellanies.

There is also the glycinas: this is a cheesecake in fashion among the Cretans, made with sweet wine and oil, as Seleucus tells us in his Dialects.

There is also the empeptas. The same author speaks of this as a cheesecake made of wheat, hollow and well-shaped, like those which are called κρηπῖδες; being rather a kind of paste into which they put those cheesecakes which are really made with cheese.

There are cakes, also, called ἐγκρίδες. These are cakes boiled in oil, and after that seasoned with honey; and they are mentioned by Stesichorus in the following lines:—

1. Groats and encrides,
2. And other cakes, and fresh sweet honey.

Epicharmus, too, mentions them; and so does Nicophon, in his Handicraftsmen. And Aristophanes, in his Danaides, speaks of a man who made them in the following words:—

1. And not be a seller of encrides (ἐγκριδοπώλης).

And Pherecrates, in his Crapatalli, says—

1. Let him take this, and then along the road
2. Let him seize some encrides.

There is the ἐπικύκλιος, too. This is a kind of cheesecake in use among the Syracusans, under this name; and it is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Earth and Sea.

There is also the γοῦρος;; and that this, too, is a kind of cheesecake we learn from what Solon says in his Iambics:—

1. Some spend their time in drinking, and eating cakes,
2. And some eat bread, and others feast on γοῦροι
3. Mingled with lentils; and there is no kind
4. Of dainty wanting there, but all the fruits
5. Which the rich earth brings forth as food for men
6. Are present in abundance.

There are also cribanæ; and κριβάνης is a name given by Alcman to some cheesecakes, as Apollodorus tells us. And Sosibius asserts the same thing, in the third book of his Essay on Alcman; and he says they are in shape like a breast, and that the Lacedæmonians use them at the banquets of women, and that the female friends of the bride, who follow her in a chorus, carry them about when they are going to sing an encomium which has been prepared in her honour.

There is also the crimnites, which is a kind of cheesecake made of a coarser sort of barley-meal (κρίμνον), as Iatrocles tells us in his treatise on Cheesecakes.

Then there is the staitites; and this, too, is a species of cheesecake made of wheaten-flour and honey. Epicharmus mentions it in his Hebe's Wedding; but the wheaten-flour is wetted, and then put into a frying-pan; and after that honey is sprinkled over it, and sesame, and cheese; as Iatrocles tells us.

There is also the charisius. This is mentioned by Aristophanes in his Daitaleis, where he says—

1. But I will send them in the evening
2. A charisian cheesecake.

And Eubulus, in his Ancylion, speaks of it as if it were plain bread:—

1. I only just leapt out,
2. While baking the charisius.

Then there is the ἐπίδαιτρον, which is a barley-cake, made like a cheesecake, to be eaten after supper; as Philemon tells us in his treatise on Attic Names.

There is also the nanus, which is a loaf made like a cheesecake, prepared with cheese and oil.

There are also ψώθια, which are likewise called ψαθύρια. Pherecrates, in the Crapatalli, says—

1. And in the shades below you'll get for threepence
2. A crapatallus, and some ψώθια.

But Apollodorus the Athenian, and Theodorus, in his treatise on the Attic Dialect, say that the crumbs which are knocked off from a loaf are called ψώφια,, which some people also call ἀττάραγοι.

Then there is the ἴτριον. This is a thin cake, made of sesame and honey; and it is mentioned by Anacreon thus:—

1. I broke my fast, taking a little slice
2. Of an ἴριον; but I drank a cask of wine.

And Aristophanes, in his Acharnians, says—

1. Cheesecakes, and cakes of sesame, and ἴτρια.

And Sophocles, in his Contention, says—

1. But I, being hungry, look back at the ἴτρια.

There is mention made also of ἄμοραι. Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says that cakes of honey are called ἄμοραι; and they are made by a regular baker.

There is the ταγηνίτης, too; which is a cheesecake fried in oil. Magnes, or whoever it was that wrote the comedies which are attributed to him, says in the second edition of his Bacchus—

1. Have you ne'er seen the fresh ταγήνιαι hissing,
2. When you pour honey over them?

And Cratinus, in his Laws, says—

1. The fresh ταγηνίας, dropping morning dew.

Then there is the ἔλαφος.. This is a cheesecake made on the festival of Elaphebolia, of wheat-flour, and honey, and sesame.

The ναστὸς is a kind of cheesecake, having stuffing inside it.

χόρια are cakes made up with honey and milk.

The ἀμορβίτης is a species of cheesecake in fashion among the Sicilians. But some people call it παισά. And among the Coans it is called πλακούντιον,, as we are informed by Iatrocles.

Then there are the σησαμίδες, which are cakes made of honey, and roasted sesame, and oil, of a round shape. Eupolis, in his Flatterers, says—

1. He is all grace, he steps like a callabis-dancer,
2. And breathes sesamides, and smells of apples.

And Antiphanes, in his Deucalion, says—

1. Sesamides, or honey-cheesecakes,
2. Or any other dainty of the kind.

And Ephippus, in his Cydon, also mentions them in a passage which has been already quoted.

Then there are μύλλοι. Heraclides the Syracusan, in his treatise on Laws, says, that in Syracuse, on the principal day of the Thesmophorian festival, cakes of a peculiar shape are made of sesame and honey, which are called μύλλοι throughout all Sicily, and are carried about as offerings to the goddesses. There is also the echinus. Lynceus the Samian, in his epistle to Diagoras, comparing the things which are considered dainties in Attica with those which are in esteem at Rhodes, writes thus:

They have for the second course a rival to the fame of the ἄμης in a new antagonist called the ἐχῖνος, concerning which I will speak briefly; but when you come and see me, and eat one which shall be prepared for you in the Rhodian mariner, then I will endeavour to say more about it.

There are also cheesecakes named κοτυλίσκοι. Heracleon of Ephesus tells us that those cheesecakes have this name which are made of the third part of a chœnix of wheat.

There are others called χοιρίναι, which are mentioned by Iatrocles in his treatise on Cheesecakes; and he speaks also of that which is called πυραμοῦς, which he says differs from the πυραμίς, inasmuch as this latter is made of bruised wheat which has been softened with honey. And these cheesecakes are in nightly festivals given as prizes to the man who has kept awake all night.

But Chrysippus of Tyana, in his book called the Art of Making Bread, enumerates the following species and genera of cheesecakes:—

The terentinum, the crassianum, the tutianum, the sabellicum, the clustron, the julianum, the apicia- num, the canopicum, the pelucidum, the cappadocium, the hedybium, the maryptum, the plicium, the guttatum, the montianum. This last,

he says, "you will soften with sour wine, and if you have a little cheese you may mash the montianum up half with wine and half with cheese, and so it will be more palatable. Then there is the clustrum curia- num, the clustrum tuttatum, and the clustrum tabonianum. There are also mustacia made with mead, mustacia made with sesame, crustum purium, gosgloanium, and paulianum.

The following cakes resembling cheesecakes,

he says,

are really made with cheese:—the enchytus, the scriblites, the subityllus. There is also another kind of subityllus made of groats. Then there is the spira; this, too, is made with cheese. There are, too, the lucuntli, the argyrotryphema, the libos, the

v.3.p.1035

cercus, the æxaphas, the clustroplacous. There is also,

says Chrysippus, "a cheesecake made of rye. The phthois is made thus:—Take some cheese and pound it, then put it into a brazen sieve and strain it; then put in honey and a hemina[*](The ἡμίνα was equal to a κοτύλη, and held about half a pint.) of flour made from spring wheat, and beat the whole together into one mass.

"There is another cake, which is called by the Romans catillus ornatus, and which is made thus:—Wash some lettuces and scrape them; then put some wine into a mortar and pound the lettuces in it; then, squeezing out the juice, mix up some flour from spring wheat in it, and allowing it to settle, after a little while pound it again, adding a little pig's fat and pepper; then pound it again, draw it out into a cake, smoothe it, and cut it again, and cut it into shape, and boil it in hot oil, putting all the fragments which you have cut off into a strainer.

"Other kinds of cheesecakes are the following:—the ostra- cites, the attanites, the amylum, the tyrocoscinnm. Make this last thus:—Pound some cheese (τῦρον) carefully, and put it into a vessel; then place above it a brazen sieve (κόσκινον) and strain the cheese through it. And when you are going to serve it up, then put in above it a sufficient quantity of honey. The cheesecakes called ὑποτυρίδες are made thus:—Put some honey into some milk, pound them, and put them into a vessel, and let them coagulate; then, if you have some little sieves at hand, put what is in the vessel into them, and let. the whey run off; and when it appears to you to have coagulated thoroughly, then take up the vessel in which it is, and transfer it to a silver dish, and the coat, or crust, will be uppermost. But if you have no such sieves; then use some new fans, such as those which are used to blow the fire; for they will serve the same purpose. Then there is the coptoplacous. And also," says he,

in Crete they make a kind of cheesecake which they call gastris. And it is made thus:— Take some Thasian and Pontic nuts and some almonds, and also a poppy. Roast this last with great care, and then take the seed and pound it in a clean mortar; then, adding the fruits which I have mentioned above, beat them up with boiled honey, putting in plenty of pepper, and make the whole into a soft mass, (but it will be of a black colour because of the poppy;) flatten it and make it into a square

v.3.p.1036

shape; then, having pounded some white sesame, soften that too with boiled honey, and draw it out into two cakes, placing one beneath and the other above, so as to have the black surface in the middle, and make it into a neat shape.

These are the recipes of that clever writer on confectionary, Chrysippus.

But Harpocration the Mendesian, in his treatise on Cheesecakes, speaks of a dish which the Alexandrians call παγκαρπία. Now this dish consists of a number of cakes mashed up together and boiled with honey. And after they are boiled, they are made up into round balls, and fastened round with a thin string of byblus in order to keep them together. There is also a dish called πόλτος, which Alcman mentions in the following terms—

1. And then we'll give you poltos made of beans (πυάνιος),
2. And snow-white wheaten groats from unripe corn,
3. And fruit of wax.

But the substantive πυάνιον, as Sosibius tells us, means a collection of all kinds of seeds boiled up in sweet wine. And χῖδρος means boiled grains of wheat. And when he speaks here of waxy fruit, he means honey. And Epicharmus, in his Earth and Sea, speaks thus—

1. To boil some morning πόλτος.

And Pherecrates mentions the cakes called μελικηρίδων in his Deserters, speaking as follows—

1. As one man smells like goats, but others
2. Breathe from their mouths unalloy'd μελικήρας.

And when all this had been said, the wise Ulpian said,—Whence, my most learned grammarians, and out of what library, have these respectable writers, Chrysippus and Harpocration, been extracted, men who bring the names of illustrious philosophers into disrepute by being their namesakes? And what Greek has ever used the word ἡμίνα; or who has ever mentioned the ἄμυλοσ?" And when Laurentius answered him, and said,—Whoever the authors of the poems attributed to Epicharmus were, they were acquainted with the ἡμίνα. And we find the following expressions in the play entitled Chiron—

1. And to drink twice the quantity of cool water,—
2. Two full heminas.

And these spurious poems, attributed to Epicharmus, were, at all events, written by eminent men. For it was Chry- sogonus the flute-player, as Aristoxenus tells us in the eighth book of his Political Laws, who wrote the poem entitled Polity. And Philochorus, in his treatise on Divination, says that it was a man of the name of Axiopistos, (whether he was a Locrian or a Sicyonian is uncertain,) who was the author of the Canon and the Sentences. And Apollodous tells us the same thing. And Teleclides mentions the ἄμυλος in his Rigid Men, speaking thus—

1. Hot cheesecakes now are things I'm fond of,
2. Wild pears I do not care about;
3. I also like rich bits of hare
4. Placed on an ἄμυλος.

When Ulpian had heard this, he said—But, since you have also a cake which you call κοπτὴ, and I see that there is one served up for each of you on the table, tell us now, you epicures, what writer of authority ever mentions this word κοπτή? And Democritus replied-Dionysius of Utica, in the seventh book of his Georgics, says that the sea leek is called κοπτή. And as for the honey-cake which is now served up before each of us, Clearchus the Solensian, in his treatise on Riddles, mentions that, saying—"If any one were to order a number of vessels to be mentioned which resemble one another, he might say,

1. A tripod, a bowl, a candlestick, a marble mortar,
2. A bench, a sponge, a caldron, a boat, a metal mortar,
3. An oil-cruse, a basket, a knife, a ladle,
4. A goblet, and a needle.

And after that he gives a list of the names of different dishes, thus—

1. Soup, lentils, salted meat, and fish, and turnips,
2. Garlic, fresh meat, and tunny-roe, pickles, onions,
3. Olives, and artichokes, capers, truffles, mushrooms.

And in the same way he gives a catalogue of cakes, and sweetmeats, thus—

1. Ames, placous, entiltos, itrium,[*](These are all names of different kinds of cheesecakes which cannot be distinguished from one another in an English translation.)
2. Pomegranates, eggs, vetches, and sesame;
3. Coptè and grapes, dried figs, and pears and peaches
4. Apples and almonds."

These are the words of Clearchus. But Sopater the farce writer, in his drama entitled Pylæ, says—

1. Who was it who invented first black cakes (κοπταὶ)
2. Of the uncounted poppy-seed? who mix'd
3. The yellow compounds of delicious sweetmeats?

Here my excellent cross-examiner, Ulpian, you have autho- rities for κοπτή; and so now I advise you ἀπεσθίειν some. And he, without any delay, took and ate some. And when they all laughed, Democritus said;—But, my fine word-catcher, I did not desire you to eat, but not to eat; for the word ἀπεσθίω is used in the sense of abstaining from eating by Theopompus the comic poet, in his Phineus, where he says—

1. Cease gambling with the dice, my boy, and now
2. Feed for the future more on herbs. Your stomach
3. Is hard with indigestion; give up eating (ἀπέσθιε)
4. Those fish that cling to the rocks; the lees of wine
5. Will make your head and senses clear, and thus
6. You'll find your health, and your estate too, better.

Men do, however, use ἀπεσθίω for to eat a portion of anything, as Hermippus does, in his Soldiers—

1. Alas! alas! he bites me now, he bites,
2. And quite devours (ἀπεσθίει) my ears.