Deipnosophistae

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,
v.3.p.1063
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."

And the Gods know that I first found all this out in the beautiful city of Alexandria, having got possession of the treatise of Menodotus, in which I showed to many people the passage in Anacreon which is the subject of discussion. But Hephæstion, who is always charging every one else with thefts, took this solution of mine, and claimed it as his own, and published an essay, to which he gave this title,

Concerning the Osier Garland mentioned by Anacreon.

And a copy of this essay we lately found at Rome in the possession of the antiquary Demetrius. And this compiler Hephæstion behaved in the same way to our excellent friend Adrantus. For after he had published a treatise in five books, Concerning those Matters in Theophrastus in his books on Manners, which are open to any Dispute, either as to their Facts, or the Style in which they are mentioned; and had added a sixth book Concerning the Disputable Points in the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle; and in these books had entered into a long dissertation on the mention of Plexippus by Antipho the tragic poet, and had also said a good deal about Antipho himself; Hephæstion, I say, appropriated all these books to himself, and wrote another book, Concerning the Mention of Antipho in the Memorabilia of Xenophon, not having added a single discovery or original observation of his own, any more than he had in the discussion on the Osier Garland. For the only thing he said that was new, was that Phylarchus, in the seventh book of his Histories, mentioned this story about the osier, and knew nothing of the passage of Nicænetus, nor of that of Anacreon; and he showed that he differed in some respects from the account that had been given by Menodotus.

But one may explain this fact of the osier garlands more simply, by saying that Megisthes wore a garland of osier because there was a great quantity of those trees in the place where he was feasting; and therefore he used it to bind his

temples. For the Lacedæmonians at the festival of the Promachia, wear garlands of reeds, as Sosibius tells us in his treatise on the Sacrificial Festivals at Lacedæmon, where he writes thus:

On this festival the natives of the country all wear garlands of reeds, or tiaras, but the boys who have been brought up in the public school follow without any garland at all.

But Aristotle, in the second book of his treatise on Love Affairs, and Ariston the Peripatetic, who was a native of Ceos, in the second book of his Amatory Resemblances, say that

The ancients, on account of the headaches which were produced by their wine-drinking, adopted the practice of wearing garlands made of anything which came to hand, as the binding the head tight appeared to be of service to them. But men in later times added also some ornaments to their temples, which had a kind of reference to their employment of drinking, and so they invented garlands in the present fashion. But it is more reasonable to suppose that it was because the head is the seat of all sensation that men wore crowns upon it, than that they did so because it was desirable to have their temples shaded and bound as a remedy against the headaches produced by wine.

They also wore garlands over their foreheads, as the sweet Anacreon says—

1. And placing on our brows fresh parsley crowns,
2. Let's honour Bacchus with a jovial feast.

They also wore garlands on their breasts, and anointed them with perfume, because that is the seat of the heart. And they call the garlands which they put round their necks ὑποθυμιάδες, as Alcæus does in these lines—

1. Let every one twine round his neck
2. Wreathed ὑποθυμιάδες of anise.

And Sappho says—

1. And wreathed ὑποθυμιάδες
2. In numbers round their tender throats.

And Anacreon says—

1. They placed upon their bosoms lotus flowers
2. Entwined in fragrant ὑποθυμιάδες.

Aeschylus also, in his Prometheus Unbound, says distinctly—

1. And therefore we, in honour of Prometheus,
2. Place garlands on our heads, a poor atonement
3. For the sad chains with which his limbs were bound.

And again, in the play entitled the Sphinx, he says-

1. Give the stranger a στέφανος (garland), the ancient στέφος,—
2. This is the best of chains, as we may judge
3. From great Prometheus.

But Sappho gives a more simple reason for our wearing garlands, speaking as follows—

1. But place those garlands on thy lovely hair,
2. Twining the tender sprouts of anise green
3. With skilful hand; for offerings of flowers
4. Are pleasing to the gods, who hate all those
5. Who come before them with uncrowned heads.

In which lines she enjoins all who offer sacrifice to wear garlands on their heads, as they are beautiful things, and acceptable to the Gods. Aristotle also, in his Banquet, says,

We never offer any mutilated gift to the Gods, but only such as are perfect and entire; and what is full is entire, and crowning anything indicates filling it in some sort. So Homer says—

1. The slaves the goblets crown'd with rosy wine;

Iliad, i. 470.

And in another place he says—

1. But God plain forms with eloquence does crown.

Odyss. viii. 170.

That is to say, eloquence in speaking makes up in the case of some men for their personal ugliness. Now this is what the στέφανος seems intended to do, on which account, in times of mourning, we do exactly the contrary. For wishing to testify our sympathy for the dead, we mutilate ourselves by cutting our hair, and by putting aside our garlands.

Now Philonides the physician, in his treatise on Ointments and Garlands, says, "After the vine was introduced into Greece from the Red Sea, and when most people had become addicted to intemperate enjoyment, and had learnt to drink unmixed wine, some of them became quite frantic and out of their minds, while others got so stupified as to resemble the dead. And once, when some men were drinking on the sea-shore, a violent shower came on, and broke up the party, and filled the goblet, which had a little wine left in it, with water. But when it became fine again, the men returned to the same spot, and tasting the new mixture, found that their enjoyment was now not only exquisite, but free from any subsequent pain. And on this account, the Greeks

invoke the good Deity at the cup of unmixed wine, which is served round to them at dinner, paying honour to the Deity who invented wine; and that was Bacchus. But when the first cup of mixed wine is handed round after dinner, they then invoke Jupiter the Saviour, thinking him the cause of this mixture of wine which is so unattended with pain, as being the author of rain. Now, those who suffered in their heads after drinking, certainly stood in need of some remedy; and so the binding their heads was what most readily occurred to them, as Nature herself led them to this remedy. For a certain man having a headache, as Andreas says, pressed his head, and found relief, and so invented a ligature as a remedy for headache.

Accordingly, men using these ligatures as assistants in drinking, used to bind their heads with whatever came in their way. And first of all, they took garlands of ivy, which offered itself, as it were, of its own accord, and was very plentiful, and grew everywhere, and was pleasant to look upon, shading the forehead with its green leaves and bunches of berries, and bearing a good deal of tension, so as to admit of being bound tight across the brow, and imparting also a certain degree of coolness without any stupifying smell accompanying it. And it seems to me that this is the reason why men have agreed to consider the garland of ivy sacred to Bacchus, implying by this that the inventor of wine is also the defender of men from all the inconveniences which arise from the use of it. And from thence, regarding chiefly pleasure, and considering utility and the comfort of the relief from the effects of drunkenness of less importance, they were influenced chiefly by what was agreeable to the sight or to the smell. And therefore they adopted crowns of myrtle, which has exciting properties, and which also represses any rising of the fumes of wine; and garlands of roses, which to a certain extent relieve headache, and also impart some degree of coolness; and garlands also of bay leaves, which they think are not wholly unconnected with drinking parties. But garlands of white lilies, which have an effect on, the head, and wreaths of amaracus, or of any other flower or herb which has any tendency to produce heaviness or torpid feelings in the head, must be avoided." And Apollodorus, in his treatise on Perfumes and Garlands,

has said the same thing in the very same words. And this, my friends, is enough to say on this subject.

But concerning the Naucratite Crown, and what kind of flowers that is made of, I made many investigations, and inquired a great deal without learning anything, till at last I fell in with a book of Polycharmus of Naucratis, entitled On Venus, in which I found the following passage: —

But in the twenty-third Olympiad Herostratus, a fellow-countryman of mine, who was a merchant, and as such had sailed to a great many different countries, coming by chance to Paphos, in Cyprus, bought an image of Venus, a span high, of very ancient workmanship, and came away meaning to bring it to Naucratis. And as he was sailing near the, Egyptian coast, a violent storm suddenly overtook him, and the sailors could not tell where they were, and so they all had recourse to this image of Venus, entreating her to save them. And the goddess, for she was kindly disposed towards the men of Naucratis, on a sudden filled all the space near her with branches of green myrtle, and diffused a most delicious odor over the whole ship, when all the sailors had previously despaired of safety from their violent sea-sickness. And after they had been all very sick, the sun shone out, and they, Seeing the landmarks, came in safety into Naucratis. And Herostratus having disembarked from the ship with his image, and carrying with him also the green branches of myrtle which had so suddenly appeared to him, consecrated it and them in the temple of Venus. And having sacrificed to the gooddess, and having consecrated the image to Venus, and invited all his relations and most intimate friends to a banquet in the temple, he gave every one of them a garland of these branches of myrtle, to which garlands he then gave the name of Naucratite.

This is the account given by Polcharmus; and I myself believe the statement, and believe that the Naucratite garland is no other than one made of myrtle, especially as in Anacreon it is represented as worn with one made of roses. And Philonides has said that the garland made of myrtle acts as a check upon the fumes of wine, and that the one made of roses, in addition to its cooling qualities, is to a certain extent a remedy for headache. And, therefore, those men are only to be laughed at, who say that the Naucratite garland is the wreath made of what is called by the Egyptians biblus, quoting the statement of Theopompus, in the third book of his History of Greece, where he says,

That when Agesilaus the Lacedæmonian arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians sent him many presents, and among them the papyrus, which is used for making garlands.

But I do not know what pleasure or advantage there could be in having a crown made of biblus with roses, unless people who are enamoured of such a wreath as this should also take a fancy to wear crowns of garlic and roses together. But I know that a great many people say that the garland made of the sampsychon or amaracus is the Naucratite garland; and this plant is very plentiful in Egypt, but the myrtle in Egypt is superior in sweetness to that which is found in any other country, as Theophrastus relates in another place.

While this discussion was going on, some slaves came in bringing garlands made of such flowers as were in bloom at the time; and Myrtilus said;—Tell me, my good friend Ulpian, the different names of garlands. For these servants, as is said in the Centaur of Chærephon—

1. Make ready garlands which they give the gods,
2. Praying they may be heralds of good omen.

And the same poet says, in his play entitled Bacchus—

1. Cutting sweet garlands, messengers of good omen.

Do not, however, quote to me passages out of the Crowns of Aelius Asclepiades, as if I were unacquainted with that work; but say something now besides what you find there. For you cannot show me that any one has ever spoken separately of a garland of roses, and a garland of violets. For as for the expression in Cratinus—

1. ναρκισσίνους ὀλίσβους,

that is said in a joke.

And he, laughing, replied,—The word στέφανος was first used among the Greeks, as Semos the Delian tells us in the fourth book of his Delias, in the same sense as the word στέφανος is used by us, which, however, by some people is called στέμμα. On which account, being first crowned with this στέφανος, afterwards we put on a garland of bay leaves; and the word στέφανος itself is derived from the verb στέφω, to crown. But do you, you loquacious Thessalian, think, says he, that I am going to repeat any of those old and hacknied stories? But

because of your tongue (γλῶσσα), I will mention the ὑπογλωττὶς, which Plato speaks of in his Jupiter Ill-treated—

1. But you wear leather tongues within your shoes,
2. And crown yourselves with ὑπογλωττίδες,
3. Whenever you're engaged in drinking parties.
4. And when you sacrifice you speak only words
5. Of happy omen.

And Theodorus, in his Attic Words, as Pamphilus says in his treatise on Names, says, that the ὑπογλωττὶς is a species of plaited crown. Take this then from me; for, as Euripides says,

1. 'Tis no hard work to argue on either side,
2. If a man's only an adept at speaking.