Deipnosophistae

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.

The Syrian being convicted by these arguments, and being a good deal annoyed, said—But I see here on the table some pistachio nuts (ψιττάκια); and if you can tell me what author has ever spoken of them, I will give you, not ten golden staters, as that Pontic trifler has it, but this goblet. And as Democritus made no reply, he said, But since you cannot answer me, I will tell you; Nicander of Colophon, in his Theriacans, mentions them, and says—

1. Pistachio nuts (ψιττάκια) upon the highest branches,
2. Like almonds to the sight.

The word is also written βιστάκια,, in the line—

1. And almond-looking βιστάκια were there.

And Posidonius the Stoic, in the third book of his History, writes thus: "But both Arabia and Syria produce the peach, and the nut which is called βιστάκιον; which bears a fruit in bunches like bunches of grapes, of a sort of tawny white, long shaped, like tears, and the nuts lie on one another like berries. But the kernel is of a light green, and it is less juicy than the pine-cone, but it has a more pleasant smell. And the brothers who together composed the Georgics, write thus, in the third book—

There is also the ash, and the turpentine tree, which the Syrians call πιστάκια.

And these people spell the word πιστάκια with a π, but Nicander writes it φιττάκια, and Posidonius βιστάκια.

And when he had said this, looking round on all those

who were present, and being praised by them, he, said,—But I mean also to discuss every other dish that there is on the table, in order to make you admire my varied learning. And first of all I will speak of those which the Alexandrians call κόνναρα and παλίουροι. And they are mentioned also by Agathocles of Cyzicus, in the third book of his History of his Country; where he says: "But after the thunderbolt had struck the tomb, there sprung up from the monument a tree which they call κόνναρον. And this tree is not at all inferior in size to the elm or the fir. And it has great numbers of branches, of great length and rather thorny; but its leaf is tender and green, and of a round shape. And it bears fruit twice a year, in spring and autumn. And the fruit is very sweet, and of the size of a phaulian olive, which it resembles both in its flesh and in its stone; but it is superior in the good flavour of its juice. And the fruit is eaten while still green; and when it has become dry they make it into paste, and eat it without either bruising it or softening it with water, but taking it in very nearly its natural state. And Euripides, in the Cyclops, speaks of—

1. A branch of paliurus.

Eur. Cycl. 393.

But Theopompus, in the twenty-first book of his History of Philip, mentions them, and Diphilus, the physician of Siphnus, also speaks of them, in his treatise on What may be eaten by People in Health, and by Invalids. But I have mentioned these things first, my good friends, not because they are before us at this moment, but because in the beautiful city of Alexandria, I have often eaten them as part of the second course, and as I have often heard the question as to their names raised there, I happened to fall in with a book here in which I read what I have now recounted to you.

And I will now take the pears (ἄπιον), which I see before me, and speak of them, since it is from them that the Peloponnesus was called ʼἀπία, [*](This is the name given to the Peloponnesus by Homer,— ἐξ ʼαπίης γαίης—Il. iii. 49,— where Damm says the name is derived from some ancient king named Apis; but he adds that the name ʼἀπία is also used merely a meaning distant (γῆν ἀπὸ ἀφεστῶσαν καὶ ἀλλοδάπην), as is plain from what Ulysses says of himself to the Phæacians— καὶ γὰρ ἔγω ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἔνθαδʼ ἱκάνω.τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης..Odyss. vii. 25. ) because plants of the pear-

tree were abundant in the country, as Ister tells us, in his treatise on the History of Greece. And that it was customary to bring up pears in water at entertainments, we learn from the Breutias of Alexis, where we read these lines—

1. A. Have you ne'er seen pears floating in deep water
2. Served up before some hungry men at dinner?
3. B. Indeed I have, and often; what of that?
4. A. Does not each guest choose for himself, and eat
5. The ripest of the fruit that swims before him?
6. B. No doubt he does.

But the fruit called ἁμαμηλίδες are not the same as pears, as some people have fancied, but they are a different thing, sweeter, and they have no kernel. Aristomenes, in his Bacchus, says—

1. Know you not how the Chian garden grows
2. Fine medlars

And Aeschylides too, in the third book of his Georgics, shows us that it is a different fruit from the pear, and sweeter. For he is speaking of the island Ceos, and he expresses himself thus,—

The island produces the very finest pears, equal to that fruit which in Ionia is called hamamelis; for they are free from kernels, and sweet, and delicious.

But Aethlius, in the fifth book of his Samian Annals, if the book be genuine, calls them homomelides. And Pamphilus, in his treatise on Dialects and Names, says,

The epimelis is a species of pear.

Antipho, in his treatise on Agriculture, says that the phocides are also a kind of pear.

Then there are pomegranates. And of pomegranates some kinds are said to be destitute of kernels, and some to have hard ones. And those without kernels are mentioned by Aristophanes in his Farmers; and in his Anagyrus he says—

1. Except wheat flour and pomegranates.

He also speaks of them in the Gerytades; and Hermippus, in his Cercopes, says—

1. Have you e'er seen the pomegranate's kernel in snow?

And we find the diminutive form ῥοΐδιον, like βοΐδιον.

Antiphanes also mentions the pomegranates with the hard kernels in his Bœotia—

1. I bade him bring me from the farm pomegranates
2. Of the hard-kernell'd sort.

And Epilycus, in his Phoraliscus, says—

1. You are speaking of apples and pomegranates.

Alexis also, in his Suitors, has the line—

1. He took the rich pomegranates from their hands.

But Agatharchides, in the nineteenth book of his History of Europe, tells us that the Bœotians call pomegranates not ῥοιαὶ but σίδαι, speaking thus:—

As the Athenians were disputing with the Bœotians about a district which they called Sidæ, Epaminondas, while engaged in upholding the claims of the Bœotians, suddenly lifted up in his left hand a pomegranate which he had concealed, and showed it to the Athenians, asking them what they called it, and when they said ῥοιὰ, But we,' said he, ' call it σίδη..' And the district bears the pomegranate-tree in great abundance, from which it originally derived its name. And Epaminondas prevailed.

And Menander, in his Heauton-Timorumenos, called them ῥοΐδια, in the following lines—

1. And after dinner I did set before them
2. Almonds, and after that we ate pomegranates.

There is, however, another plant called sida, which is something like the pomegranate, and which grows in the lake Orchomenus, in the water itself; and the sheep eat its leaves, and the pigs feed on the young shoots, as Theophrastus tells us, in the fourth book of his treatise on Plants; where he says that there is another plant like it in the Nile, which grows without any roots.

The next thing to be mentioned are dates. Xenophon, in the second book of his Anabasis, says—

And there was in the district a great deal of corn, and wine made of the dates, and also vinegar, which was extracted from them; but the berries themselves of the date when like what we see in Greece, were set apart for the slaves. But those which were destined for the masters were all carefully selected, being of a wonderful size and beauty, and their colour was like amber. And some they dry and serve up as sweetmeats; and the wine made from the date is sweet, but it produces headache.

And Herodotus, in his first book, speaking of Babylon says,—

There are palm-trees there growing over the whole plain, most of them being very fruitful; and they make bread, and wine, and honey of them. And they manage the tree in the same way as the fig-tree. For those palm-trees which they call the males they take, and bind their fruit to the other palm-trees which bear dates, in order that the insect which lives in the fruit of the male palm may get into the date and ripen it,

v.3.p.1042

and so prevent the fruit of the date-bearing palm from being spoilt. For the male palm has an insect in each of its fruits, as the wild fig has.

And Polybius of Megalopolis, who speaks with the authority of an eye-witness, gives very nearly the same account of the lotus, as it is called, in Libya, that Herodotus here gives of the palm-tree; for he speaks thus of it:

And the lotus is a tree of no great size, but rough and thorny, and its leaf is green like that of the rhamnus, but a little thicker and broader. And the fruit at first resembles both in colour and size the berries of the white myrtle when full grown; but as it increases in size it becomes of a scarlet colour, and in size about equal to the round olives; and it has an exceedingly small stone. But when it is ripe they gather it. And some they store for the use of the servants, bruising it and mixing it with groats, and packing it into vessels. And that which is preserved for freemen is treated in the same way, only that the stones are taken out, and then they pack that fruit also in jars, and eat it when they please. And it is a food very like the fig, and also like the palm-date, but superior in fragrance. And when it is moistened and pounded with water, a wine is made of it, very sweet and enjoyable to the taste, and like fine mead; and they drink it without water; but it will not keep more than ten days, on which account they only make it in small quantities as they want it. They also make vinegar of the same fruit.

And Melanippides the Melian, in his Danaides, calls the fruit of the palm-tree by the name of φοίνιξ, mentioning them in this manner:—

They had the appearance of inhabitants of the shades below, not of human beings; nor had they voices like women; but they drove about in chariots with seats, through the woods and groves, just as wild beasts do, holding in their hands the sacred frankincense, and the fragrant dates (φοίνικας), and cassia, and the delicate perfumes of Syria.

[*](This fragment is full of corruptions. I have adopted the reading and interpretation of Casaubon.)

And Aristotle, in his treatise on Plants, speaks thus:—

The dates (φοίνικες) without stones, which some call eunuchs and others ἀπύρηνοι..

Hellanicus has also called the fruit φοίνιξ, in his Journey to the Temple of Ammon, if at least. the book be a genuine one; and so has Phormus the comic poet, in his Atalantæ. But concerning those that are called the Nicolaan dates, which are imported from Syria, I can give you this information; that they received this name from Augustus the emperor, because he was exceedingly fond of the fruit, and because Nicolaus of Damascus, who was his friend, was constantly sending him presents of it. And this Nicolaus was a philosopher of the Peripatetic School, and wrote a very voluminous history.