Deipnosophistae

And among other things Plato says that Chærephon asked the Pythian priestess whether any one was wiser than Socrates? and that she replied, No one. But Xenphon does not agree with all this; but says—

For when Dhærephon once asked at Delphi about me, Apollo replied, in the presence of many witnesses, that no man was either more just or more temperate than I was.

And how can it be either reasonable or probable that Socrates, who confessed that he knew nothing, should allege that he had been called the wisest of all men by God who knows everything? For if knowing nothing be wisdom, then to know everything must be folly. And what was the need of Chaerephon bothering the god, and asking him about Socrates? for he himself might have been believed in his own case, saying that he was not wise. For he must be a stupid man who would put such a question to the god, as if he were to ask him such a question as this, Whether any wool is softer than the Attic wool; or, Whether there are any more powerful nations than the Bactrians and the Medes; or, Whether any one has a more complete pug-nose than Socrates. For people who ask such questions as these have a very neat slap in the face given them by the god, as when a man asked him (whether it is a fable of Aesop's or of some one else),

1. O mighty son of Leto and of Jove,
2. Tell me by what means I may rich become:

he, ridiculing him, answered—

1. If you acquire all the land that lies
2. Between the tow'rs of Sicyon and Corinth.

But indeed, no one even of the comic poets has said such things as Plato has said about Socrates, neither that he was the son of a very fierce-looking nurse, nor that Xantippe was an ill-tempered woman, who even poured slops over his head; nor that Alcibiades slept with him under the same cloak; and yet this must have been divulged with boisterous laughter by Aristophanes, as he was present at the banquet according to Plato's account; for Aristophanes would never have suppressed such a circumstance as that, which would have given such a colour to the charge that he corrupted the youth.

Aspasia, indeed, who was the clever preceptress of Socrates in rhetoric, in these verses which are attributed to her, which Herodicus the Cratetian has quoted, speaks thus—

1. As. O Socrates, most clearly do I see
2. How greatly you're inflamed by tender love
3. For the young son of Clinias and Dinomache;
4. But if you wish to prosper list to me,
5. And do not scoff at my advice, but follow it,
6. And it shall be the better for your suit.
7. Soc. I when I heard your speech was so o'erjoy'd
8. That straightway sweat did overflow each limb;
9. And tears unbidden pour'd forth from my eyes.
10. As. Restrain yourself, and fill your mind with strains
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11. Such as the Muse who conquers men will teach you,
12. And you will charm him by your dulcet songs.
13. They the foundation lay of mutual love.
14. And thus will you o'ercome him, fettering
15. His mind with gifts with which his ears are charm'd

The admirable Socrates then goes a hunting, having the Milesian woman for his tutor in love. But he himself is not hunted, as Plato says, having nets spread for him by Alcibiades. And indeed, he laments without ceasing, being, as I suppose, unsuccessful in his love. For Aspasia, seeing in what a condition he was, says—

1. Why weep you, my dear Socrates? does love
2. For that impracticable boy which dwells
3. Within thy breast, and shoots from out his eyes,
4. So far thy heart subdue? Did I in vain
5. Engage to make him docile to thy suit

And that he really did love Alcibiades Plato shows plainly in the Protagoras, although he was now little less than thirty years of age; for he speaks in this manner,

'Whence are you come from, O Socrates? It seems to me you are come from your pursuit of Alcibiades's beauty. And, indeed, the man, when I saw him the other day, appeared to me to be a handsome man; a man, indeed, O Socrates, as he may well be called, just as much so as we are; and he has a firmly grown beard.' ' Well, what of that? are not you an admirer of Homer, who said that the most beautiful season of life was that of a young man who began to have a beard? And that is just the age of which Alcibiades is now.'

But most philosophers are of such a disposition that they are more inclined to evil speaking than the Comic writers. Since both Aeschines, the pupil of Socrates, in his Telauges, attacks Critobulus the son of Crito. as an ignorant man, and one who lives in a sordid manner; and he attacks Telauges himself for wearing a cloak borrowed of a clothes' cleaner by the day for half an obol; and for being girt about with a skin, and for having his sandals fastened with rotten pieces of string. And as for Lysias the orator he laughs immoderately at him; and in his Aspasia, he calls Hipponicus, the son of Callias, a blockhead; and taking all the women of Ionia in a lump he calls them lascivious and covetous. But his Callias dwells upon the quarrel of Callias with his own father, and the absurd jokes of the sophist Prodicus and

Anaxagoras. For he says that Prodicus had Theramenes for a pupil to finish his education; and that the other had Philoxenus, the son of Eryxis, and Ariphrades, the brother of Arignotus, the harp-player, wishing from the notorious impurity of life of the men who have been named and their general want of respectability and intemperance to leave the sort of education they received from their tutors to be inferred. But in his Axiochus he runs Alcibiades down with great bitterness, as a drunkard, and a man always running after other men's wives.

But Antisthenes, in the second of his treatises called Cyrus, abusing Alcibiades, says that he is a breaker of the laws, both with respect to women and with respect to every other part of his conduct in life; for he says that he had intrigued with a mother, and daughter, and sister, after the fashion of the Persians. And his Political Dialogue runs down the whole of the Athenian demagogues: and his Archelaus attacks Gorgias, the rhetorician; and his Aspasia attacks Xanthippus and Paralus, the sons of Pericles. For, as for one of them, he says that he is a companion of Archestratus, who is no better than a frequenter of houses of the worst possible fame; and the other he calls an acquaintance and intimate friend of Euphemus, who abused every one he met with vulgar and ill-mannered abuse. And nicknaming Plato Satho, in a witless and vulgar manner, he published a dialogue against him, to which he gave the same name as its title.

For these men believe that there is no such thing as an honest counsellor, or a conscientious general, or a respectable sophist, or a poet worth listening to, or a reasonable people: but Socrates, who spent his time in loose houses with the flute-playing women of Aspasia, and who was always chatting with Piston the armourer, and who gave lessons to Theodote the courtesan, how she ought to make the most of her lovers, as Xenophon tells us in the second book of his Memorabilia, is the only wise man according to them; for they represent him as giving Theodote such rules as neither Nico the Samian, nor Callistrate the Lesbian, nor Philænis the Leucadian, nor even Pythonicus the Athenian, were ever acquainted with as charms to conciliate affection. And yet those people paid much attention to such things. And time would fail me if I were to be inclined to quote the attacks which philosophers

have made on people; for, as the same Plato says, a regular crowd of Gorgons and Pegasi, and other monsters, keeps flowing in upon me in immense numbers, and of preposterous appearance, so that I will keep silence.

When Masurius had said this, and when all had admired his wisdom, after silence was restored Ulpian said,— You seem to me, O guests, to be overwhelmed with impetuous speeches which come upon you unexpectedly, and to be thoroughly soaked in unmixed wine;—

1. For a man drinking wine, as a horse does water,
2. Speaks like a Scythian, not knowing even koppa,
3. But voiceless, lies immersed in a cask,
4. And sleeps as if he'd drunk medicinal poppy;

as says Parmeno the Byzantian. Have you been all turned into stone by the before-mentioned Gorgons? Concerning whom, that there really have been some animals who were the causes of men being turned into stone, Alexander the Myndian speaks at length, in the second book of his History of Beasts, saying—

The Nomades in Libya (where it is born) call the animal named the Gorgon, 'The Looking-down:' and it is as most people say, conjecturing from its skin, something like a wild sheep; but as some say, it is like a calf. And they say that it has such a breath that it destroys every one who meets it; and that it has a mane let down from its forehead over its eyes, and when it has shaken it aside, which it does with difficulty by reason of it weight, and then looks out through it, it slays the man who is beheld by it, not by its breath, but by some natural violence which proceeds from its eyes. And it was discovered in this way: Some of the soldiers of Marius, in his expedition against Jugurtha, having beheld the Gorgon, thought because it held its head down, and moved slowly, that it was a wild sheep, and in consequence they rushed upon it, intending to kill it with the swords which they had about them; but it, being disturbed, shaking aside the mane which hung down over its eyes, immediately caused the death of those who were rushing upon it. And when others again and again did the same thing, and lost their lives by so doing, and when all ho proceeded against it were invariably killed, some of the soldiers inquired the nature of the animal from the natives; and by the command of Marius some Nomad horsemen laid an

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ambush against it from a distance, and shot it with darts, and returned to the camp, bringing the dead monster to the general.

And that this account is the true one, the skin and the expedition of Marius both prove. But the statement made by the historian is not credible, namely, that there are in Libya some oxen which are called Opisthonomi,[*](῎ὄπισθε, behind; νέμω, to feed.) because they do not advance while feeding, but feed constantly returning backwards, for their horns are a hindrance to their feeding in the natural manner, inasmuch as they are not bent upwards, as is the case with all other animals, but they bend downwards and overshadow the eyes; for this is incredible, since no other historian testifies to such a circumstance.

When Ulpian had said this, Laurentius bearing witness to the truth of his statement, and adding something to his speech, said, that Marius sent the skins of these animals to Rome, and that no one could conjecture to what animal they belonged, on account of the singular appearance which they presented; and that these skins were hung up in the temple of Hercules, in which the generals who celebrate a triumph give a banquet to the citizens, as many poets and historians of our nation have related. You then, O grammarians, as the Babylonian Herodicus says, inquiring into none of these matters—

1. Fly ye to Greece along the sea's wide back,
2. Pupils of Aristarchus, all more timid
3. Than the pale antelope, worms hid in holes,
4. Monosyllabic animals, who care
5. For σφὶν, and σφῶιν, and for μὶν, and νὶν,
6. This shall be your lot, grumblers—but let Greece
7. And sacred Babylon receive Herodicus.

For, as Anaxandrides the comic writer says—

1. 'Tis sweet when one has plann'd a new device,
2. To tell it to the world. For those who are
3. Wise for themselves alone have, first of all,
4. No judge to criticize their new invention.
5. And envy is their portion too: for all,
6. That seems to be commended by its novelty,
7. Should be imparted freely to the people.

And when this conversation had terminated, most of the guests took their departure secretly, and so broke up the party.

TragedyFishmongersMisconduct of FishmongersUse of particular WordsUse of Silver PlateSilver PlateGolden TrinketsUse of Gold in different CountriesParasitesGynæconomiParasitesFlatterers of DionysiusFlatterers of KingsFlattery of the AtheniansFlatterersThe Tyrants of ChiosThe Conduct of PhilipFlatterers and ParasitesThe MariandyniSlavesDrimacusCondition of SlavesSlavesBanquetsThe Effects

SINCE you ask me every time that you meet me, my friend Timocrates, what was said by the Deipnosophists, thinking that we are making some discoveries, we will remind you of what is said by Antiphanes, in his Poesy, in this manner—

1. In every way, my friends, is Tragedy
2. A happy poem. For the argument
3. Is, in the first place, known to the spectators,
4. Before one single actor says a word.
5. So that the poet need do little more
6. Than just remind his hearers what they know.
7. For should I speak of Œdipus, at once
8. They recollect his story—how his father
9. Was Laius, and Jocasta too his mother;
10. What were his sons', and what his daughters' names,
11. And what he did and suffer'd. So again
12. If a man names Alcmæon, the very children
13. Can tell you how he in his madness slew
14. His mother; and Adrastus furious,
15. Will come in haste, and then depart again;
16. And then at last, when they can say no more,
17. And when the subject is almost exhausted,
18. They lift an engine easily as a finger,
19. And that is quite enough to please the theatre.
20. But our case is harder. We are forced
21. T' invent the whole of what we write; new names,
22. Things done before, done now, new plots, new openings,
23. And new catastrophes. And if we fail in aught,
24. Some Chremes or some Phido hisses us.
25. While Peleus is constrain'd by no such laws,
26. Nor Teucer.

And Diphilus says, in his Men conducting Helen—

1. O thou who rulest, patroness and queen,
2. Over this holy spot of sacred Brauron,
3. Bow-bearing daughter of Latona and Jove,
4. As the tragedians call you; who alone
5. Have power to do and say whate'er they please.

But Timocles the comic writer, asserting that tragedy is

useful in many respects to human life, says in his Women celebrating the Festival of Bacchus—

1. My friend, just hear what I'm about to say.
2. Man is an animal by nature miserable;
3. And life has many grievous things in it.
4. Therefore he has invented these reliefs
5. To ease his cares; for oft the mind forgets
6. Its own discomforts while it soothes itself
7. In contemplation of another's woes,
8. And e'en derives some pleasure and instruction.
9. For first, I'd have you notice the tragedians;
10. What good they do to every one. The poor man
11. Sees Telephus was poorer still than he,
12. And bears his own distress more easily.
13. The madman thinks upon Alcmæon's case.
14. Has a man weak sore eyes? The sons of Phineus
15. Are blind as bats. Has a man lost his child
16. Let him remember childless Niobe.
17. He's hurt his leg; and so had Philoctetes.
18. Is he unfortunate in his old age?
19. Œneus was more so. So that every one,
20. Seeing that others have been more unfortunate,
21. Learns his own griefs to bear with more content.

And we accordingly, O Timocrates, will restore to you the relics of the feast of the Deipnosophists, and will not give them, as Cothocides the orator said, meaning to ridicule Demosthenes, who, when Philip gave Halonnesus to the Athenians, advised them

not to take it if he gave it, but only if he restored it.

And this sentence Antiphanes jested upon in his Neottis, where he ridicules it in this manner—

1. My master has received (ἀπέλαβεν) as he took (ἔλαβεν)
2. His patrimonial inheritance.
3. How would these words have pleased Demosthenes!

And Alexis says, in his Soldier—

1. A. Receive this thing.
2. B. What is it
3. A. Why the child
4. Which I had from you, which I now bring back.
5. B. Why? will you no more keep him?
6. A. He's not mine.
7. B. Nor mine.
8. A. But you it was who gave him me.
9. B. I gave him not.
10. A. How so?
11. B. I but restored him.
12. A. You gave me what I never need have taken.

And in his Brothers he says—

1. A. For did I give them anything? Tell me that.
2. B. No, you restored it, holding a deposit.

And Anaxilas, in his Evandria, says—

1. . . . . Give it not,
2. Only restore it.
3. B. Here I now have brought it.

And Timocles says in his Heroes—

1. A. You bid me now to speak of everything
2. Rather than what is to the purpose; well,
3. I'll gratify you so far.
4. B. You shall find
5. As the first fruits that you have pacified
6. The great Demosthenes.
7. A. But who is he?
8. B. That Briareus who swallows spears and shields;
9. A man who hates all quibbles; never uses
10. Antithesis nor trope; but from his eyes
11. Glares terrible Mars.

According, therefore, to the above-mentioned poets, so we, restoring but not giving to you what followed after the previous conversation, will now tell you all that was said afterwards.

Then came into us these servants, bringing a great quantity of sea fish and lake fish on silver platters, so that we marvelled at the wealth displayed, and at the costliness of the entertainment, which was such that he seemed almost to have engaged the Nereids themselves as the purveyors. And one of the parasites and flatterers said that Neptune was sending fish to our Neptunian port, not by the agency of those who at Rome sell rare fish for their weight in money; but that some were imported from Antium, and some from Terracina, and some from the Pontian islands opposite, and some from Pyrgi; and that is a city of Etruria. For the fishmongers in Rome are very little different from those who used to be turned into ridicule by the comic poets at Athens, of whom Antiphanes says, in his Young Men—

1. I did indeed for a long time believe
2. The Gorgons an invention of the poets,
3. But when I came into the fish-market
4. I quickly found them a reality.
5. For looking at the fish women I felt
6. Turn'd instantly to stone, and was compelled
7. To turn away my head while talking to them.
8. For when I see how high a price they ask,
9. And for what little fish, I'm motionless.

And Amphis says in his Impostor—

1. 'Tis easier to get access to the general,
2. And one is met by language far more courteous,
3. And by more civil answer from his grace,
4. Than from those cursed fishfags in the market.
5. For when one asks them anything, or offers
6. To buy aught of them, mute they stand like Telephus,
7. And just as stubborn; ('tis an apt comparison,
8. For in a word they all are homicides;)
9. And neither listen nor appear to heed,
10. But shake a dirty polypus in your face;
11. Or else turn sulky, and scarce say a word,
12. But as if half a syllable were enough,
13. Say

    se'n s'lings this,

    this turb't eight'n-pence.

14. This is the treatment which a man must bear
15. Who seeks to buy a dinner in the fish-market.

And Alexis says in his Apeglaucomenos—

1. When I behold a general looking stern,
2. I think him wrong, but do not greatly wonder,
3. That one in high command should think himself
4. Above the common herd. But when I see
5. The fishmongers, of all tribes far the worst,
6. Bending their sulky eyes down to the ground,
7. And lifting up their eyebrows to their foreheads,
8. I am disgusted. And if you should ask,

9. Tell me, I pray you, what's this pair of mullets?

10. Tenpence.

    Oh, that's too much; you'll eightpence take

11. Yes, if you'll be content with half the pair.

12. Come, eightpence; that is plenty.

    "I will not
13. Take half a farthing less: don't waste my time."
14. Is it not bitter to endure such insolence?

And Diphilus says in his Busybody—

1. I used to think the race of fishmongers
2. Was only insolent in Attica;
3. But now I see that like wild beasts they are
4. Savage by nature, everywhere the same.
5. But here is one who goes beyond his fellows,
6. Nourishing flowing hair, which he doth call
7. Devoted to his god-though that is not the reason,
8. But he doth use it as a veil to hide
9. The brand which marks his forehead. Should you ask him,
10. What is this pike's price? he will tell you

    tenpence;

11. Not say what pence he means; then if you give him
12. The money, he will claim Aegina's coinage;
13. While if you ask for change, he'll give you Attic.
14. And thus he makes a profit on both sides.

And Xenarchus says in his Purple—

1. Poets are nonsense; for they never say
2. A single thing that's new. But all they do
3. Is to clothe old ideas in language new,
4. Turning the same things o'er and o'er again,
5. And upside down. But as to fishmongers,
6. They're an inventive race, and yield to none
7. In shameless conduct. For as modern laws
8. Forbid them now to water their stale fish,
9. Some fellow, hated by the gods, beholding
10. His fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel,
11. And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinks
12. He's had enough, he falls, and seems to faint,
13. And lies like any corpse among his baskets.
14. Some one calls out for water; and his partner
15. Catches a pail, and throws it o'er his friend
16. So as to sprinkle all his fish, and make
17. The world believe them newly caught and fresh.

And that they often do sell fish which is dead stinking is proved by what Antiphanes says in his Adulterers, as follows—

1. There's not on earth a more unlucky beast
2. Than a poor fish, for whom 'tis not enough
3. To die when caught, that they may find at once
4. A grave in human stomachs; but what's worse,
5. They fall into the hands of odious fishmongers,
6. And rot and lie upon their stalls for days;
7. And if they meet with some blind purchaser,
8. He scarce can carry them when dead away;
9. But throws them out of doors, and thinks that he
10. Has through his nose had taste enough of them.

And in his Friend of the Thebans he say—

1. Is it not quite a shame, that if a man
2. Has fresh-caught fish to sell, he will not speak
3. To any customer without a frown
4. Upon his face, and language insolent
5. And if his fish are stale, he jokes and laughs-
6. While his behaviour should the contrary be;
7. The first might laugh, the latter should be shamed.

And that they sell their fish very dear we are told by Alexis in his Pylæan Women—

1. Yes, by Minerva, I do marvel at
2. The tribe of fishmongers, that they are not
3. All wealthy men, such royal gains they make.
4. For sitting in the market they do think it
5. A trifling thing to tithe our properties;
6. But would take all at one fell swoop away.

And the same poet says in his play entitled the Caldron—

1. There never was a better lawgiver
2. Than rich Aristonicus. For he now
3. Does make this law, that any fishmonger
4. Who puts a price upon his fish, and then
5. Sells it for less, shall be at once dragg'd off
6. And put in prison; that by their example
7. The rest may learn to ask a moderate price,
8. And be content with that, and carry home
9. Their rotten fish each evening; and then
10. Old men, old women, boys, and all their customers,
11. Will buy whatever suits them at fair price.

And a little further on he says—

1. There never has, since Solon's time, been seen
2. A better lawgiver than Aristonicus.
3. For he has given many different laws,
4. And now he introduces this new statute,
5. A golden statute, that no fishmonger
6. Should sell his fish while sitting, but that all
7. Shall stand all day i' the market. And he says
8. Next year he will enact that they shall sell
9. Being hung up; for so they will let off
10. Their customers more easily, when they
11. Are raised by a machine like gods in a play.

And Antiphanes, in his Hater of Wickedness, displays their rudeness and dishonesty, comparing them to the greatest criminals who exist among men, speaking as follows—

1. Are not the Scythians of men the wisest?
2. Who when their children are first born do give them
3. The milk of mares and cows to drink at once,
4. And do not trust them to dishonest nurses,
5. Or tutors, who of evils are the worst,
6. Except the midwives only. For that class
7. Is worst of all, and next to them do come
8. The begging priests of mighty Cybele;
9. And it is hard to find a baser lot-
10. Unless indeed you speak of fishmongers,
11. But they are worse than even money-changers,
12. And are in fact the worst of all mankind.

And it was not without some wit that Diphilus, in his Merchant, speaks in this manner of fish being sold at an exorbitant price—

1. I never heard of dearer fish at any time.
2. Oh, Neptune, if you only got a tenth
3. Of all that money, you would be by far
4. The richest of the gods! And yet if he,
5. The fishmonger I mean, had been but civil,
6. I would have given him his price, though grumbling;
7. And, just as Priam ransom'd Hector, I
8. Would have put down his weight to buy the conger.

And Alexis says in his Grecian Woman—

1. Living and dead, the monsters of the deep
2. Are hostile to us always. If our ship
3. Be overturn'd, they then at once devour
4. Whatever of the crew they catch while swimming:
5. And if they're caught themselves by fishermen,
6. When dead they half undo their purchasers;
7. For with our whole estate they must be bought,
8. And the sad purchaser comes off a beggar.

And Archippus, in his play called the Fish, mentions one fishmonger by name, Hermæus the Egyptian, saying—

1. The cursedest of all fish-dealers is
2. Hermæus the Egyptian; who skins
3. And disembowels all the vilest fish,
4. And sells them for the choicest, as I hear.

And Alexis, in his Rich Heiress, mentions a certain fishmonger by name, Micio.

And perhaps it is natural for fishermen to be proud of their skill, even to a greater degree than the most skilful generals. Accordingly, Anaxandrides, in his Ulysses, introduces one of them, speaking in this way of the fisherman's art—

1. The beauteous handiwork of portrait painters
2. When in a picture seen is much admired;
3. But the fair fruit of our best skill is seen
4. In a rich dish just taken from the frying-pan.
5. For by what other art, my friend, do we
6. See young men's appetites so much inflamed?
7. What causes such outstretching of the hands
8. What is so apt to choke one, if a man.
9. Can hardly swallow it? Does not the fish-market
10. Alone give zest to banquets Who can spread
11. A dinner without fried fish, or anchovies,
12. Or high-priced mullet? With what words or charms
13. Can a well-favour'd youth be caught, if once
14. The fisherman's assistance be denied?
15. His art subdues him, bringing to the fish-kettle
16. The heads of well-boil'd fish; this leads him on
17. To doors which guard th' approach to a good dinner,
18. And bids him haste, though nought himself contributing.

And Alexis says this with reference to those who are too anxious as to buying their fish, in his Rich Heiress—

1. Whoever being poor buys costly fish,
2. And though in want of much, in this is lavish,
3. He strips by night whoever he may meet.
4. So when a man is stripp'd thus, let him go
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5. At early morn and watch the fish-market.
6. And the first man he sees both poor and young
7. Buying his eels of Micio, let him seize him,
8. And drag him off to prison by the throat.

And Diphilus, in his Merchant, says that there is some such law as this in existence among the Corinthians—

1. A. This is an admirable law at Corinth,
2. That when we see a man from time to time
3. Purveying largely for his table, we
4. Should ask him whence he comes, and what's his business:
5. And if he be a man of property,
6. Whose revenues can his expenses meet,
7. Then we may let him as he will enjoy himself.
8. But if he do his income much exceed,
9. Then they bid him desist from such a course,
10. And fix a fine on all who disobey.
11. And if a man having no means at all
12. Still lives in splendid fashion, him they give
13. Unto the gaoler.
14. B. Hercules! what a law.
15. A. For such a man can't live without some crime.
16. Dost thou not see? He must rove out by night
17. And rob, break into houses, or else share
18. With some who do so. Or he must haunt the forum,
19. A vile informer, or be always ready
20. As a hired witness. And this tribe we hate,
21. And gladly would expel from this our city.
22. B. And you'd do well, by Jove; but what is that to me?
23. A. Because we see you every day, my friend,
24. Making not moderate but extravagant purchases.
25. You hinder all the rest from buying fish,
26. And drive the city to the greengrocer,
27. And so we fight for parsley like the combatants
28. At Neptune's games on th' Isthmus. . Does a hare
29. Come to the market? it is yours; a thrush
30. Or partridge? all do go the selfsame way.
31. So that we cannot buy or fish or fowl;
32. And you have raised the price of foreign wine.

And Sophilus, in his Androcles, wishes that the same custom prevailed at Athens also, thinking that it would be a good thing if two or three men were appointed by the city to the regulation of the provision markets. And Lynceus the Samian wrote a treatise on purveying against some one who was very difficult to please when making his purchases; teaching him what a man ought to say to those homicidal fishmongers, so as to buy what he wants at a fair rate and without being exposed to any annoyance.

Ulpian again picking out the thorns from what was said, asked—Are we able to show that the ancients used silver vessels at their banquets? and is the word πίναξ a Greek noun? For with reference to the line in Homer—

1. The swineherd served up dishes (πίνακας) of rich meat,[*](Odyss. xvi. 49.)

Aristophanes the Byzantine said that is was a modernism to speak of meats being placed on platters (πίνακες), not being aware that in other places the poet has said—

1. Dishes (πίνακας) of various meats the butler brought.[*](Ib. i. 141.)

I ask also, if any men among the ancients had ever acquired a multitude of slaves, as the men of modern times do: and if the word τήγανον (frying-pan) is ever found, and not the form τάγηνον only. So that we may not fix our whole attention on eating and drinking, like those who from their devotion to their bellies are called parasites and flatterers.