Deipnosophistae

And Alexis, in his Caldron, shows plainly that cookery is an art practised by free-born men; for a cook is represented in that play as a citizen of no mean reputation; and those who have written cookery books, such as Heraclides and Glaucus the Locrian, say that the art of cookery is one in which it is not even every free-born man who can become eminent. And the younger Cratinus, in his play called the Giants, extols this art highly, saying—

1. A. Consider, now, how sweet the earth doth smell,
2. How fragrantly the smoke ascends to heaven:
3. There lives, I fancy, here within this cave
4. Some perfume-seller, or Sicilian cook.
5. B. The scent of both is equally delicious.

And Antiphanes, in his Slave hard to Sell, praises the Sicilian cooks, and says—

1. And at the feast, delicious cakes,
2. Well season'd by Sicilian art.

And Menander, in his Spectre, says—

1. Do ye applaud,
2. If the meat's dress'd with rich and varied skill.

But Posidippus, in his Man recovering his Sight, says—

1. I, having had one cook, have thoroughly learnt
2. All the bad tricks of cooks, while they compete
3. With one another in their trade. One said
4. His rival had no nose to judge of soup
5. With critical taste; that other had
6. A vicious palate; while a third could never
7. (If you'd believe the rest) restrain his appetite,
8. Without devouring half the meat he dress'd.
9. This one loved salt too much, and that one vinegar;
10. One burnt his meat; one gorged; one could not stand
11. The smoke; a sixth could never bear the fire.
12. At last they came to blows; and one of them,
13. Shunning the sword, fell straight into the fire.

And Antiphanes, in his Philotis, displaying the cleverness of the cooks, says—

1. A. Is not this, then, an owl? B. Aye, such as I
2. Say should be dress'd in brine. A. Well; and this pike
3. B. Why roast him whole. A. This shark? B. Boil him in sauce.
4. A. This eel? B. Take salt, and marjoram, and water.
5. A. This conger? B. The same sauce will do for him.
6. A. This ray? B. Strew him with herbs. A. Here is a slice
7. Of tunny. B. Roast it. A. And some venison. B. Roast it.
8. A. Then here's a lot more meat. B. Boil all the rest.
9. A. Here's a spleen. B. Stuff it. A. And a nestis. B. Bah!
10. This man will kill me.

And Baton, in his Benefactors, gives a catalogue of celebrated cooks and confectioners, thus—

1. A. Well, O Sibynna, we ne'er sleep at nights,
2. Nor waste our time in laziness: our lamp
3. Is always burning; in our hands a book;
4. And long we meditate on what is left us
5. By—B. Whom? A. By that great Actides of Chios,
6. Or Tyndaricus, that pride of Sicyon,
7. Or e'en by Zopyrinus. B. Find you anything?
8. A. Aye, most important things. B. But what? The dead . . .

And such a food now is the μύμα, which I, my friends, am bringing you; concerning which Artemidorus, the pupil of Aristophanes, speaks in his Dictionary of Cookery, saying that it is prepared with meat and blood, with the addition also of a great deal of seasoning. And Epænetus, in his treatise on Cookery, speaks as follows:—

One must make μύμα of every kind of animal and bird, cutting up the tender parts of the meat into small pieces, and the bowels and

v.3.p.1059

entrails, and pounding the blood, and seasoning it with vinegar, and roasted cheese, and assafœtida, and cummin-seed, and thyme (both green and dry), and savory, and coriander-seed (both green and dry), and leeks, and onions (cleaned and toasted), and poppy-seed, and grapes, and honey, and the pips of an unripe pomegranate. You may also make this μύμα of fish.

And when this man had thus hammered on not only this dish but our ears also, another slave came in, bringing in a dish called ματτύη. And when a discussion arose about this, and when Ulpian had quoted a statement out of the Dictionary of Cookery by the before-mentioned Artemidorus relating to it, Aemilianus said that a book had been published by Dorotheus of Ascalon, entitled, On Antiphanes, and on the dish called Mattya by the Poets of the New Comedy, which he says is a Thessalian invention, and that it became naturalized at Athens during the supremacy of the Macedonians. And the Thessalians are admitted to be the most extravagant of all the Greeks in their manner of dressing and living; and this was the reason why they brought the Persians down upon the Greeks, because they were desirous to imitate their luxury and extravagance. And Cratinus speaks of their extravagant habits in his treatise on the Thessalian Constitution. But the dish was called ματτύη (as Apollodorus the Athenian affirms in the first book of his treatise on Etymologies), from the verb μασάομαι (to eat); as also are the words μαστίχη (mastich) and μάζα (barley-cake). But our own opinion is that the word is derived from μάττω, and that this is the verb from which μάζα itself is derived, and also the cheese-pudding called by the Cyprians μαγίς; and from this, too, comes the verb ὑπερμαζάω, meaning to be extravagantly luxurious. Originally they used to call this common ordinary food made of barley-meal μάζα, and preparing it they called μάττω. And afterwards, varying the necessary food in a luxurious and superfluous manner, they derived a word with a slight change from the form μάζα, and called every very costly kind of dish ματτύη; and preparing such dishes they called ματτυάζω, whether it were fish, or poultry, or herbs, or beasts or sweetmeats. And this is plain from the testimony of Ale is, quoted by Artemidorus; for Alexis, wishing to show the great luxuriousness of the way in which this dish was prepared, added the verb λέπομαι. And the whole extract runs thus, being

out of a corrected edition of a play which is entitled De- metrius:—

1. Take, then, this meat which thus is sent to you;
2. Dress it, and feast, and drink the cheerful healths,
3. λέπεσθε, ματτυάζετε.

But the Athenians use the verb λέπομαι for wanton and unseemly indulgence of the sensual appetites.

And Artemidorus, in his Dictionary of Cookery, explains ματτύη as a common name for all kinds of costly seasonings; writing thus—

There is also a ματτύης (he uses the word in the masculine gender) made of birds. Let the bird be killed by thrusting a knife into the head at the mouth; then let it be kept till the next day, like a partridge. And if you choose, you can leave it as it is, the wings on and with its body plucked.

Then, having explained the way in which it is to be seasoned and boiled, he proceeds to say—

Boil a fat hen of the common poultry kind, and some young cocks just beginning to crow, if you wish to make a dish fit to be eaten with your wine. Then taking some vegetables, put them in a dish, and place upon them some of the meat of the fowl, and serve it up. But in summer, instead of vinegar, put some unripe grapes into the sauce, just as they are picked from the vine; and when it is all boiled, then take it out before the stones fall from the grapes, and shred in some vegetables. And this is the most delicious ματτύης that there is.

Now, that ματτύη, or ματτύης, really is a common name for all costly dishes is plain; and that the same name was also given to a banquet composed of dishes of this sort, we gather from what Philemon says in his Man carried off:—

1. Put now a guard on me, while naked, and
2. Amid my cups the ματτύης shall delight me.

And in his Homicide he says—

1. Let some one pour us now some wine to drink,
2. And make some ματτύη quick.

But Alexis, in his Pyraunus, has used the word in an obscure sense:—

1. But when I found them all immersed in business,
2. I cried,—Will no one give us now a ματτύη?

as if he meant a feast here, though you might fairly refer the word merely to a single dish. Now Machon the Sicyonian is one of the comic poets who were contemporaries of Apollodorus of Carystus, but he did not exhibit his comedies at Athens, but in Alexandria; and he was an excellent poet, if ever there was one, next to those seven[*](Who these seven first-class authors were, whether tragedians or comic poets, or both, or whether there was one selection of tragic and another of comic poets, each classed as a sort of Pleias Ptolemæi Philadelphi ætate nobilitata, is quite uncertain.) of the first class. On which account, Aristophanes the grammarian, when he was a very young man, was very anxious to be much with him. And he wrote the following lines in his play entitled Ignorance:—

1. There's nothing that I'm fonder of than ματτύη;
2. But whether 'twas the Macedonians
3. Who first did teach it us, or all the gods,
4. I know not; but it must have been a person
5. Of most exalted genius.

And that it used to be served up after all the rest of the banquet was over, is plainly stated by Nicostratus, in his Man expelled. And it is a cook who is relating how beautiful and well arranged the banquet was which he prepared; and having first of all related what the dinner and supper were composed of, and then mentioning the third meal, proceeds to say—

1. Well done, my men,—extremely well! but now
2. I will arrange the rest, and then the ματτύη;
3. So that I think the man himself will never
4. Find fault with us again.

And in his Cook he says—

1. Thrium and candylus he never saw,
2. Or any of the things which make a ματτύη.

And some one else says—

1. They brought, instead of a ματτύη, some paunch,
2. And tender pettitoes, and tripe, perhaps.

But Dionysius, in his Man shot at with Javelins (and it is a cook who is represented speaking), says—

1. So that sometimes, when I a ματτύη
2. Was making for them, in haste would bring
3. (More haste worse speed) . . . . . [*](This passage is abandoned as corrupt by Schweighauser.)

Philemon, also, in his Poor Woman—

1. When one can lay aside one's load, all day
2. Making and serving out rich μάττυαι.

But Molpis the Lacedæmonian says that what the Spartans call ἐπαίκλεια, that is to say, the second course, which is served up when the main part of the supper is over, is called μάττυαι by other tribes of Greece. And Menippus the Cynic, in his book called Arcesilaus, writes thus:—

There was a drinking party formed by a certain number of revellers, and a Lacedæmonian woman ordered the ματτύη to be served up; and immediately some little partridges were brought in, and some roasted geese, and some delicious cheesecakes.

But such a course as this the Athenians used to call ἐπιδόρπισμα, and the Dorians ἐπάϊκλον; but most of the Greeks called it τὰ ἐπίδειπνα.

And when all this discussion about the ματτύη was over, they thought it time to depart; for it was already evening. And so we parted.

The CottabusGarlandsDyesPerfumesLibationsScoliaParodiesTorches.

1. E'en should the Phrygian God enrich my tongue
2. With honey'd eloquence, such as erst did fall
3. From Nestor's or Antenor's lips,
[*](This is one of the fragments of unknown plays of Euripides.)

as the all-accomplished Euripides says, my good Timocrates—

1. I never should be able

to recapitulate to you the numerous things which were said in those most admirable banquets, on account of the varied nature of the topics introduced, and the novel mode in which they were continually treated. For there were frequent discussions about the order in which the dishes were served up, and about the things which are done after the chief part of the supper is over, such as I can hardly recollect; and some one of the guests quoted the following iambics from The Lacedæmonians of Plato—

1. Now nearly all the men have done their supper;
2. 'Tis well.—Why don't you run and clear the tables
3. But I will go and straight some water get
4. For the guests' hands; and have the floor well swept;
5. And then, when I have offer'd due libations,
6. I'll introduce the cottabus. This girl
7. Ought now to have her flutes all well prepared,
8. Ready to play them. Quick now, slave, and bring
9. Egyptian ointment, extract of lilies too,
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10. And sprinkle it around; and I myself
11. Will bring a garland to each guest, and give it;
12. Let some one mix the wine.—Lo! now it's mix'd
13. Put in the frankincense, and say aloud,

14. Now the libation is perform'd.

    [*](The original text here is very corrupt, and the meaning uncertain.) The guests
15. Have deeply drunk already; and the scolium
16. Is sung; the cottabus, that merry sport,
17. Is taken out of doors: a female slave
18. Plays on the flute a cheerful strain, well pleasing
19. To the delighted guest; another strikes
20. The clear triangle, and, with well-tuned voice,
21. Accompanies it with an Ionian song.

And after this quotation there arose, I think, a discussion about the cottabus and cottabus-players. Now by the term ἀποκοτταβίζοντες, one of the physicians who were present thought those people were meant, who, after the bath, for the sake of purging their stomach, drink a full draught of wine and then throw it up again; and he said that this was not an ancient custom, and that he was not aware of any ancient author who had alluded to this mode of purging. On which account Erasistratus of Julia, in his treatise on Universal Medicine, reproves those who act in this way, pointing out that it is a practice very injurious to the eyes, and having a very astringent effect on the stomach. And Ulpian addressed him thus—

1. Arise, Machaon, great Charoneus calls.

[*](This is parodied from Homer, Iliad, iv. 204,— ῎ὄρσʼ, ʼασκληπιάδη, καλέελ κρείων ʼαγαμέμνων. ) For it was wittily said by one of our companions, that if there were no physicians there would be nothing more stupid than grammarians. For who is there of us who does not know that this kind of ἀποκοτταβισμὸς was not that of the ancients? unless you think that the cottabus-players of Ameipsias vomited. Since, then, you are ignorant of what this is which is the subject of our present discussion, learn from me, in the first place, that the cottabus is a sport of Sicilian invention, the Sicilians having been the original contrivers of it, as Critias the son of Callæschrus tells us in his Elegies, where he says—

1. The cottabus comes from Sicilian lands,
2. And a glorious invention I think it,
3. Where we put up a target to shoot at with drops
4. From our wine-cup whenever we drink it.

And Dicæarchus the Messenian, the pupil of Aristotle, in his treatise on Alcæus, says that the word λατάγη is also a Sicilian noun. But λατάγη means the drops which are left in the bottom after the cup is drained, and which the players used to throw with inverted hand into the κοτταβεῖον. But Clitarchus, in his treatise on Words, says that the Thessalians and Rhodians both call the κότταβος itself, or splash made by the cups, λατάγη.

The prize also which was proposed for those who gained the victory in drinking was called κότταβος, as Euripides shows us in his Œneus, where he says—

1. And then with many a dart of Bacchus' juice,
2. They struck the old man's head. And I was set
3. To crown the victor with deserved reward,
4. And give the cottabus to such.

The vessel, too, into which they threw the drops was also called κότταβος, as Cratinus shows in his Nemesis. But Plato the comic poet, in his Jupiter Ill-treated, makes out that the cottabus was a sort of drunken game, in which those who were defeated yielded up their tools[*](Casaubon says these tools (σκευάρια) were the κρηπῖδες (boots) and κότυλος (small cup) mentioned in the following iambics.) to the victor. And these are his words—

1. A. I wish you all to play at cottabus
2. While I am here preparing you your supper.
3. * * * * * * * *
4. Bring, too, some balls to play with, quick,-some balls,
5. And draw some water, and bring round some cups.
6. B. Now let us play for kisses.[*](This line, and one or two others in this fragment, are hopelessly corrupt.) A. No; such games
7. I never suffer.
8. I challenge you all to play the cottabus,
9. And for the prizes, here are these new slippers
10. Which she doth wear, and this your cotylus.
11. B. A mighty game! This is a greater contest
12. Than e'en the Isthmian festival can furnish.

There was a kind of cottabus also which they used to call κάτακτος, that is, when lamps are lifted up and then let down again. Eubulus, in his Bellerophon, says—

1. Who now will take hold of my leg below?
2. For I am lifted up like a κοτταβεῖον.

And Antiphanes, in his Birthday of Venus, says—

1. A. This now is what I mean; don't you perceive
2. This lamp's the cottabus: attend awhile;
3. The eggs, and sweetmeats, and confectionery
4. Are the prize of victory. B. Sure you will play
v.3.p.1065
5. For a most laughable prize. How shall you do?
6. A. I then will show you how: whoever throws
7. The cottabus direct against the scale (πλάστιγξ),
8. So as to make it fall——B. What scale? Do you
9. Mean this small dish which here is placed above?
10. A. That is the scale—he is the conqueror.
11. B. How shall a man know this? A. Why, if he throw
12. So as to reach it barely, it will fall
13. Upon the manes,[*](The manes was a small brazen figure.) and there'll be great noise.
14. B. Does manes, then, watch o'er the cottabus,
15. As if he were a slave?

And in a subsequent passage he says—

1. B. Just take the cup and show me how 'tis done.
2. A. Now bend your fingers like a flute-player,
3. Pour in a little wine, and not too much,
4. Then throw it. B. How? A. Look here; throw it like this
5. B. O mighty Neptune, what a height he throws it!
6. A. Now do the same. B. Not even with a sling
7. Could I throw such a distance. A. Well, but learn.

For a man must curve his hand excessively before he can throw the cottabus elegantly, as Dicæarchus says; and Plato intimates as much in his Jupiter Ill-treated, where some one calls out to Hercules not to hold his hand too stiff, when he is going to play the cottabus. They also called the very act of throwing the cottabus ἀπʼ ἀγκύλης, because they curved (ἀπαγκυλόω) the right hand in throwing it. Though some say that ἀγκύλη, in this phrase, means a kind of cup. And Bacchylides, in his Love Poems, says—

1. And when she throws ἀπʼ ἀγκύλης,
2. Displaying to the youths her snow-white arm.

And Aeschylus, in his Bone Gatherers, speaks of ἀδκυλητοὶ κότταβοι, saying—

1. Eurymachus, and no one else, did heap
2. No slighter insults, undeserved, upon me;
3. For my head always was his mark at which
4. To throw his cottabus . . . . .[*](The text here is corrupt, and is printed by Schweighauser— τοῦ δʼ ἀγκυλητοῦ κόσσαβός ἐστι σκοπὸςʼἐκτεμὼν ἡβῶσα χεὶρ ἀφίετο, which is wholly unintelligible; but Schweighauser gives an emended reading, which is that translated above.)

Now, that he who succeeded in throwing the cottabus properly received a prize, Antiphanes has shown us in a passage already quoted. And the prize consisted of eggs, sweetmeats, and confectionery. And Cephisodorus, in his Trohonius, and Callias or Diocles, in the Cyclopes, (whichever of the two is the author,) and Eupolis, and Hermippus, in his Iambics, prove the same thing.

Now what is called the κατακτὸς cottabus was something of this kind. There is a high lamp, having on it what is called the Manes, on which the dish, when thrown down, ought to fall; and from thence it falls into the platter which lies below, and which is struck by the cottabus. And there was room for very great dexterity in throwing the cottabus. And Nicochares speaks of the Manes in his Lacedæmonians.

There is also another way of playing this game with a platter. This platter is filled with water, and in it there are floating some empty saucers, at which the players throw their drops out of their cups, and endeavour to sink them. And he who has succeeded in sinking the greatest number gains the victory. Ameipsias, in his play entitled The Men playing at the Cottabus or Mania, says—

1. Bring here the cruets and the cups at once,
2. The foot-pan, too, but first pour in some water.

And Cratinus, in his Nemesis, says—

1. Now in the cottabus I challenge you,
2. (As is my country's mode,) to aim your blows
3. At the empty cruets; and he who sinks the most
4. Shall, in my judgment, bear the palm of victory.

And Aristophanes, in his Feasters, says—

1. I mean to erect a brazen figure,
2. That is, a cottabeum, and myrtle-berries.

And Hermippus, in his Fates, says—

1. Now soft cloaks are thrown away,
2. Every one clasps on his breastplate,
3. And binds his greaves around his legs,
4. No one for snow-white slippers cares;
5. Now you may see the cottabus staff
6. Thrown carelessly among the chaff;
7. The manes hears no falling drops;
8. And you the πλάστιγξ sad may see
9. Thrown on the dunghill at the garden door.

And Achæus, in his Linus, speaking of the Satyrs, says—

1. Throwing, and dropping, breaking, too, and naming (λέγοντες),
2. O Hercules, the well-thrown drop of wine!

And the poet uses λέγοντες here, because they used to utter the names of their sweethearts as they threw the cottabi on the saucers. On which account Sophocles, in his Inachus, called the drops which were thrown, sacred to Venus—

1. The golden-colour'd drop of Venus
2. Descends on all the houses.

And Euripides, in his Pleisthenes, says—

1. And the loud noise o' the frequent cottabus
2. Awakens melodies akin to Venus
3. In every house.

And Callimachus says—

1. Many hard drinkers, lovers of Acontius,
2. Throw on the ground the wine-drops (λατάγας) from their cups.

There was also another kind of way of playing at the cottabus, in the feasts which lasted all night, which is mentioned by Callippus in his Festival lasting all Night, where he says—

1. And he who keeps awake all night shall have
2. A cheesecake for his prize of victory,
3. And kiss whoe'er he pleases of the girls
4. Who are at hand.

There were also sweetmeats at these nocturnal festivals, in which the men continued awake an extraordinary time dancing. And these sweetmeats used to be called at that time χαρίσιοι, from the joy (χαρὰ) of those who received them. And Eubulus, in his Ancylion, mentions them, speaking as follows—

1. For he has long been cooking prizes for
2. The victors in the cottabus.

And presently afterwards he says—

1. I then sprang out to cook the χαρ́σιος.

But that kisses were also given as the prize Eubulus tells us in a subsequent passage—

1. Come now, ye women, come and dance all night,
2. This is the tenth day since my son was born;
3. And I will give three fillets for the prize,
4. And five fine apples, and nine kisses too.

But that the cottabus was a sport to which the Sicilians were greatly addicted is plain from the fact that they had rooms built adapted to the game; which Dicæarchus, in his treatise on Alcæus, states to have been the case. So that it was not without reason that Callimachus affixed the epithet of Sicilian to λάταξ. And Dionysius, who was surnamed the Brazen, mentions both the λάταγες and the κότταβοι in his Elegies, where he says—

1. Here we, unhappy in our loves, establish
2. This third addition to the games of Bacchus,
v.3.p.1068
3. That the glad cottabus shall now be play'd
4. In honour of you, a most noble quintain—
5. All you who here are present twine your hands,
6. Holding the ball-shaped portion of your cups,
7. And, ere you let it go, let your eyes scan
8. The heaven that bends above you; watching well
9. How great a space your λάταγες may cover.

After this, Ulpian demanded a larger goblet to drink out of quoting these lines out of the same collection of Elegies—

1. Pouring forth hymns to you and me propitious,
2. Let us now send your ancient friend from far,
3. With the swift rowing of our tongues and praises,
4. To lofty glory while this banquet lasts;
5. And the quick genius of Phæacian eloquence
6. Commands the Muses' crew to man the benches.

For let us be guided by the younger Cratinus, who says in his Omphale—

1. It suits a happy man to stay at home
2. And drink, let others wars and labours love.

In answer to whom Cynulcus, who was always ready for a tilt at the Syrian, and who never let the quarrel drop which he had against him, now that there was a sort of tumult in the party, said-What is this chorus of Syrbenians?[*](See below, c. 54.) And I myself also recollect some lines of this poetry, which I will quote, that Ulpian may not give himself airs as being the only one who was able to extract anything about the cottabus out of those old stores of the Homeridæ—

1. Come now and hear this my auspicious message,
2. And end the quarrels which your cups engender;
3. Turn your attention to these words of mine,
4. And learn these lessons. . . . . . . . .

which have a clear reference to the present discussion. For I see the servants now bringing us garlands and perfumes. Why now are those who are crowned said to be in love when their crowns are broken? For when I was a boy, and when I used to read the Epigrams of Callimachus, in which this is one of the topics dilated on, I was anxious to understand this point. For the poet of Cyrene says—

1. And all the roses, when the leaves fell off
2. From the man's garlands, on the ground were thrown.

So now it is your business, you most accomplished man, to explain this difficulty which has occupied me these thousand years, O Democritus, and to tell me why lovers crown the doors of their mistresses.

And Democritus replied—But that I may quote some of the verses of this Brazen poet and orator Dionysius, (and he was called Brazen because he advised the Athe- nians to adopt a brazen coinage; and Callimachus mentions the oration in his list of Oratorical Performances,) I myself will cite some lines out of his Elegies. And do you, O Theodorus, for this is your proper name—

1. Receive these first-fruits of my poetry,
2. Given you as a pledge; and as an omen
3. Of happy fortune I send first to you
4. This offering of the Graces, deeply studied,—
5. Take it, requiting me with tuneful verse,
6. Fit ornament of feasts, and emblem of your happiness.

You ask, then, why, if the garlands of men who have been crowned are pulled to pieces, they are said to be in love." Is it, since love takes away the strict regularity of manners in the case of lovers, that on this account they think the loss of a conspicuous ornament, a sort of beacon (as Clearchus says, in the first book of his Art of Love) and signal, that they to whom this has happened have lost the strict decorum of their manners? Or do men interpret this circumstance also by divination, as they do many other things? For the ornament of a crown, as there is nothing lasting in it, is a sort of emblem of a passion which does not endure, but assumes a specious appearance for a while: and such a passion is love. For no people are more careful to study appearance than those who are in love. Unless, perhaps, nature, as a sort of god, administering everything with justice and equity, thinks that lovers ought not to be crowned till they have subdued their love; that is to say, till, having prevailed upon the object of their love, they are released from their desire. And accordingly, the loss of their crown we make the token of their being still occupied in the fields of love. Or perhaps Love himself, not permitting any one to be crowned in opposition to, or to be proclaimed as victor over himself, takes their crowns from these men, and gives the perception of this to others, indicating that these men are subdued by him: on which account all the rest say that these men are in love. Or is it because that cannot be loosed which has never been bound, but love is the chain of some who wear crowns, (for no one else who is bound is more anxious about being crowned than a lover,) that men consider that the loosing of the garland is a sign of love, and therefore say that these men are in love? Or is it because very often lovers, when they have been crowned, often out of agitation as it should seem, allow their crowns to fall to pieces, and so we argue backwards, and attribute this passion to all whom we see in this predicament; thinking that their crown never would have come to pieces, if they had not been in love? Or is it because these loosings happen only in the case of men bound or men in love; and so, men thinking that the loosing of the garland is the loosing also of those who are bound, con- sider that such men are in love? For those in love are bound, unless you would rather say that, because those who are in love are crowned with love, therefore their crown is not of a lasting kind; for it is difficult to put a small and ordinary kind of crown on a large and divine one. Men also crown the doors of the houses of the objects of their love, either with a view to do them honour, as they adorn with crowns the vestibule of some god to do him honour: or perhaps the offering of the crowns is made, not to the beloved objects, but to the god Love. For thinking the beloved object the statue, as it were, of Love, and his house the temple of Love, they, under this idea, adorn with crowns the vestibules of those whom they love. And for the same reason some people even sacri- fice at the doors of those whom they love. Or shall we rather say that people who fancy that they are deprived, or who really have been deprived of the ornament of their soul, consecrate to those who have deprived them of it, the orna- ment also of their body, being bewildered by their passion, and despoiling themselves in order to do so? And every one who is in love does this when the object of his love is present, but when he is not present, then he makes this offering in the public roads. On which account Lycophronides has re- presented that goatherd in love, as saying—

1. I consecrate this rose to you,
2. A beautiful idea;
3. This cap, and eke these sandals too,
4. And this good hunting-spear:
5. For now my mind is gone astray,
6. Wandering another way,
7. Towards that girl of lovely face,
8. Favourite of ev'ry Grace."

Moreover, that most divine writer Plato, in the seventh book of his Laws, proposes a problem having reference to crowns, which it is worth while to solve; and these are the words of the philosopher:—

Let there be distributions of apples and crowns to a greater and a lesser number of people, in such a way that the numbers shall always be equal.

These are the words of Plato. But what he means is something of this sort. He wishes to find one number of such a nature that, if divided among all who come in to the very last, it shall give an equal number of apples or crowns to every one. I say, then, that the number sixty will fulfil these conditions of equality in the case of six fellow-feasters; for I am aware that at the beginning we said that a supper party ought not to consist of more than five. But we are as numerous as the sand of the sea. Accordingly the number sixty, when the party is completed to the number of six guests, will begin to be divided in this manner. The first man came into the banqueting room, and received sixty garlands. He gives to the second who comes in half of them; and then each of them have thirty. Then when a third comes in they divide the whole sixty, so that each of them may have twenty. Again, they divide them again in like manner at the entrance of a fourth guest, so that each has fifteen; and when a fifth comes in they all have twelve a-piece. And when the sixth guest arrives, they divide them again, and each individual has ten. And in this way the equal division of the garlands is accomplished.

When Democritus had said this, Ulpian, looking towards Cynulcus, said—

1. To what a great philosopher has Fate
2. Now join'd me here!

As Theognetus the comic poet says, in his Apparition,—

1. You wretched man, you've learnt left-handed letters,
2. Your reading has perverted your whole life;
3. Philosophising thus with earth and heaven,
4. Though neither care a bit for all your speeches.

For where was it that you got that idea of the Chorus of the Syrbenians? What author worth speaking of mentions that musical chorus? And he replied:—My good friend, I will not teach you, unless I first receive adequate pay from you; for I do not read to pick out all the thorns out of my books as you do, but I select only what is most useful and best worth hearing. And at this Ulpian got indignant, and roared out these lines out of the Suspicion of Alexis—

1. These things are shameful, e'en to the Triballi;
2. Where they do say a man who sacrifices,
3. Displays the feast to the invited guests,
4. And then next day, when they are hungry all,
5. Sells them what he'd invited them to see.

And the same iambics occur in the Sleep of Antiphanes. And Cynulcus said:—Since there have already been discussions about garlands, tell us, my good Ulpian, what is the meaning of the expression,

The garland of Naucratis,

in the beautiful poet Anacreon. For that sweet minstrel says—

1. And each man three garlands had:
2. Two of roses fairly twined,
3. And the third a Naucratite.

And why also does the same poet represent some people as crowned with osiers? for in the second book of his Odes, he says—

1. But now full twice five months are gone
2. Since kind Megisthes wore a crown
3. Of pliant osier, drinking wine
4. Whose colour did like rubies shine.

For to suppose that these crowns were really made of osiers is absurd, for the osier is fit only for plaiting and binding. So now tell us about these things, my friend, for they are worth understanding correctly, and do not keep us quibbling about words.

But as he made no reply, and pretended to be considering the matter, Democritus said:—Aristarchus the gram- marian, my friend, when interpreting this passage, said that the ancients used to wear crowns of willow. But Tenarus says that the willow or osier is the rustics' crown. And other interpreters have said many irrelevant things on the subject. But I, having met with a book of Menodotus of Samos, which is entitled, A Record of the things worth noting at Samos, found there what I was looking for; for he says that "Admete, the wife of Eurystheus, after she had fled from Argos, came to Samos, and there, when a vision of Juno had appeared to her, she wishing to give the goddess a reward because she had arrived in Samos from her own home in safety, undertook the care of the temple, which exists even to this day, and which had been originally built by the Leleges and the Nymphs. But the Argives hearing

of this, and being indignant at it, persuaded the Tyrrhenians by a promise of money, to employ piratical force and to carry off the statue,—the Argives believing that if this were done Admete would be treated with every possible severity by the inhabitants of Samos. Accordingly the Tyrrhenians came to the port of Juno, and having disembarked, immediately applied themselves to the performance of their undertaking. And as the temple was at that time without any doors, they quickly carried off the statue, and bore it down to the seaside, and put it on board their vessel. And when they had loosed their cables and weighed anchor, they rowed as fast as they could, but were unable to make any progress. And then, thinking that this was owing to divine interposition, they took the statue out of the ship again and put it on the shore; and having made some sacrificial cakes, and offered them to it, they departed in great fear. But when, the first thing in the morning, Admete gave notice that the statue had disappeared, and a search was made for it, those who were seeking it found it on the shore. And they, like Carian barbarians, as they were, thinking that the statue had run away of its own accord, bound it to a fence made of osiers, and took all the longest branches on each side and twined them round the body of the statue, so as to envelop it all round. But Admete released the statue from these bonds, and purified it, and placed it again on its pedestal, as it had stood before. And on this account once every year, since that time, the statue is carried down to the shore and hidden, and cakes are offered to it: and the festival is called τονεὺς, because it happened that the statue was bound tightly (συντόνως) by those who made the first search for it.

"But they relate that about that time the Carians, being overwhelmed with superstitious fears, came to the oracle of the god at Hybla, and consulted him with reference "O these occurrences; and that Apollo told them that they must give a voluntary satisfaction to the god of their own accord, to escape a more serious calamity,—such as in former times Jupiter had inflicted upon Prometheus, because of his theft of the fire, after he had released him from a most terrible captivity. And as he was inclined to give a satisfaction which should not cause him severe pain, this was what the god

imposed upon him. And from this circumstance the use of this kind of crown which had been shown to Prometheus got common among the rest of mankind who had been benefited by him by his gift of fire: on which account the god enjoined the Carians also to adopt a similar custom,—to use osiers as a garland, and bind their heads with the branches with which they themselves had bound the goddess. And he ordered them also to abandon the use of every other kind of garland except that made of the bay-tree: and that tree he said he gave as a gift to those alone who are employed in the service of the goddess. And he told them that, if they obeyed the injunctions given them by the oracle, and if in their banquets they paid the goddess the satisfaction to which she was entitled, they should be protected from injury: on which account the Carians, wishing to obey the commands laid on them by the oracle, abolished the use of those garlands which they had previously been accustomed to wear, but permitted all those who were employed in the service of the goddess still to wear the garland of bay-tree, which remains in use even to this day.

"Nic$enetus also, the epic poet, appears to make some allusion to the fashion of wearing garlands of osier in his Epigrams. And this poet was a native of Samos, and a man who in numberless passages shows his fondness for mentioning points connected with the history of his country. And these are his words:—

1. I am not oft, O Philotherus, fond
2. Of feasting in the city, but prefer
3. The country, where the open breeze of zephyr
4. Freshens my heart; a simple bed
5. Beneath my body is enough for me,
6. Made of the branches of the native willow (πρόμαλος),
7. And osier (λύγος), ancient garland of the Carians,—
8. But let good wine be brought, and the sweet lyre,
9. Chief ornament of the Pierian sisters,
10. That we may drink our fill, and sing the praise
11. Of the all-glorious bride of mighty Jove,
12. The great protecting queen of this our isle.

But in the selines Nicænetus speaks ambiguously, for it is not quite plain whether he means that the osier is to make his bed or his garland; though afterwards, when he calls it the ancient garland of the Carians, he alludes clearly enough to what we are now discussing. And this use of osiers to make into garlands, lasted in that island down to the time of Polycrates, as we may conjecture. At all events Anacreon says—

1. But now full twice five months are gone
2. Since kind Megisthes wore a crown
3. Of pliant osier, drinking wine
4. Whose colour did like rubies shine."