Deipnosophistae

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."