Deipnosophistae

And Aristophon, in his Physician, says—

1. I wish now to inform him
2. What is my disposition.
3. If any one gives a dinner,
4. I'm always to be found,
5. So that the young men scoffing
6. Because I come in first
7. Do call me gravy soup.
8. Then if there be occasion
9. To check a drunken guest,
10. Or turn him out by force,
11. You'd think I were Antæus;
12. Or must a door be forced?
13. I butt like any ram;
14. Or would you scale a ladder?
15. I'm Capaneus, and eager
16. To climb like him to heaven.
17. Are blows to be endured?
18. A very anvil I;
19. Or Telamon or Ajax,
20. If wounds are to be given;
21. While as a beauty-hunter
22. E'en smoke itself can't beat me.[*](It is said to have been a proverb among the Greek women, Smoke follows the fairest. )

And in his Pythagorean he says—

1. For being hungry, and yet eating nothing,
2. He is a Tithymallus or Philippides;
3. For water-drinking he's a regular frog;
4. For eating thyme and cabbages, a snail;
5. For hating washing he's a pig; for living
6. Out in the open air, a perfect blackbird;
7. For standing cold and chattering all the day,
8. A second grasshopper; in hating oil
9. He's dust; for walking barefoot in the morning,
10. A crane; for passing sleepless nights, a bat.

And Antiphanes says in his Ancestors—

1. You know my ways;
2. That there's no pride in me, but I am just
3. Like this among my friends: a mass of iron
4. To bear their blows, a thunderbolt to give them;
5. Lightning to blind a man, the wind to move one;
6. A very halter, if one needs be choked;
7. An earthquake to heave doors from off their hinges;
8. A flea to leap quick in; a fly to come
9. And feast without a formal invitation;
10. Not to depart too soon, a perfect well.
11. I'm ready when I'm wanted, whether it be
12. To choke a man or kill him, or to prove
13. A case against him. All that others say,
14. Those things I am prepared at once to do.
15. And young men, mocking me on this account,
16. Do call me whirlwind—but for me, I care not
17. For such light jests. For to my friends I prove
18. A friend in deeds, and not in words alone.

But Diphilus in his Parasite, when a wedding-feast is about to take place, represents the parasite as speaking thus—

1. Do you not know that in the form of curse
2. These words are found, If any one do fail
3. To point the right road to a traveller,
4. To quench a fire; or if any one spoil
5. The water of a spring or well, or hinders
6. A guest upon his way when going to supper?

And Eubulus says in his Œdipus—

1. The man who first devised the plan of feasting
2. At other folk's expense, must sure have been
3. A gentleman of very popular manners;
4. But he who ask'd a friend or any stranger
5. To dinner, and then made him bear his share,
6. May he be banish'd, and his goods all seized.

And Diodorus of Sinope, in his Orphan Heiress, has these expressions, when speaking of a parasite, and they are not devoid of elegance—

1. I wish to show and prove beyond a doubt
2. How reputable, and how usual too,
3. This practice is; a most divine contrivance.
4. Other arts needed not the gods to teach them;
5. Wise men invented them; but Jove himself
6. Did teach his friends to live as parasites,
7. And he confessedly is king o' the gods.
8. For he does often to men's houses come,
9. And cares not whether they be rich or poor;
10. And wheresoe'er he sees a well-laid couch,
11. And well-spread table near, supplied with all
12. That's good or delicate, he sits him down,
13. And asks himself to dinner, eats and drinks,
14. And then goes home again, and pays no share.
15. And I now do the same. For when I see
16. Couches prepared, and handsome tables loaded,
17. And the door open to receive the guests,
18. I enter in at once, and make no noise,
19. But trim myself, behaving quietly,
20. To give no great annoyance to my neighbour,
21. And then, when I have well enjoy'd the whole
22. That's set before me, and when I have drunk
23. Of delicate wines enough, I home return,
24. Like friendly Jupiter. And that such a line
25. Was always thought respectable and honest,
26. I now will give you a sufficient proof.
27. This city honours Hercules exceedingly,
28. And sacrifices to him in all the boroughs,
29. And at these sacred rites it ne'er admits
30. The common men, or parasites, or beggars;
31. But out of all the citizens it picks
32. Twelve men of all the noblest families,
33. All men of property and character;
34. And then some rich men, imitating Hercules,
35. Select some parasites, not choosing those
36. Who are the wittiest men, but who know best
37. How to conciliate men's hearts with flattery;
38. So that if any one should eat a radish,
39. Or stinking shad, they'd take their oaths at once
40. That he had eaten lilies, roses, violets;
41. And that if any odious smell should rise,
42. They'd ask where you did get such lovely scents.
43. So that because these men behave so basely,
44. That which was used to be accounted honourable,
45. Is now accounted base.

And Axionicus, in his Chalcidian, says—]

1. When first I wish'd to play the parasite
2. With that Philoxenus, while youth did still
3. Raise down upon my cheeks, I learnt to bear
4. Hard blows from fists, and cups and dishes too,
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5. And bones, so great that oftentimes I was
6. All over wounds; but still it paid me well,
7. For still the pleasure did exceed the pain.
8. And even in some sort I did esteem
9. The whole affair desirable for me.
10. Is a man quarrelsome, and eager too
11. To fight with me? I turn myself to him;
12. And all the blame which he does heap upon me,
13. I own to be deserved; and am not hurt.
14. Does any wicked man call himself good?
15. I praise that man, and earn his gratitude.
16. To day if I should eat some boiled fish
17. I do not mind eating the rest to-morrow.
18. Such is my nature and my principle.

But Antidotus, in his play which is entitled Protochorus, introduces a man resembling those who in the Museum of Claudius still practise their sophistries; whom it is not even creditable to remember; and he represents him speaking thus—

1. Stand each one in your place, and listen to me,
2. Before I write my name, and take my cloak.
3. If any question should arise to day
4. About those men who live as parasites,
5. I have at all times much esteem'd their art,
6. And from my childhood have inclined to learn it.

And among the parasites these men are commemorated by name: Tithymallus, who is mentioned by Alexis in his Milesian Woman, and in his Ulysses the Weaver. And in his Olynthians he says—

1. This is your poor man, O my darling woman;
2. This is the only class, as men do say,
3. Who can put death to flight. Accordingly
4. This Tithymallus does immortal live.

And Dromon in his P???altria says—

1. A. I was above all things ashamed when I
2. Found that I was again to have a supper
3. For which I was to give no contribution.
4. B. A shameful thing, indeed. Still you may see
5. Our Tithymallus on his way, more red
6. Than saffron or vermilion; and he blushes,
7. As you may guess, because he nothing pays.

And Timocles, in his Centaur or Dexamenus, says—

1. Calling, him Tithymallus, parasite.

And in his Caunians he says—

1. A. Will any other thing appear? Be quick,
2. For Tithymallus has return'd to life,
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3. Who was quite dead, now that he well has boil'd
4. Eightpennyworth of lupin seed.
5. B. For he
6. Could not persist in starving himself, but only
7. In drinking wine at other men's expense.

And in his Epistles he says—

1. Alas me, how I am in love! ye gods!
2. Not Tithymallus did so long to eat,
3. Nor Cormus ever to steal another's cloak,
4. Nor Nilus to eat cakes, nor Corydus
5. To exercise his teeth at other's cost.

And Antiphanes says in his Etrurian—

1. A. For he will not assist his friends for nothing.
2. B. You say that Tithymallus will be rich,
3. For as I understand you, he will get
4. Sufficient pay, and a collection suitable
5. From those within whose doors he freely sups.

Corydus also was one of the most notorious parasites. And he is mentioned by Timocles, in his The Man who Rejoices at Misfortunes of others, thus—

1. To see a well-stock'd market is a treat
2. To a rich man, but torture to a poor one.
3. Accordingly once Corydus, when he
4. Had got no invitation for the day,
5. Went to buy something to take home with him.
6. And who can cease to laugh at what befel him?—
7. The man had only fourpence in his purse;
8. Gazing on tunnies, eels, crabs, rays, anchovies,
9. He bit his lips till the blood came in vain;
10. Then going round,

    How much is this?

    said he—
11. Then frighten'd at the price, he bought red herrings.

And Alexis, in Demetrius or Philetærus, says—

1. I fear to look at Corydus in the face,
2. Seeming so glad to dine with any one;
3. But I will not deny it; he's the same,
4. And never yet refused an invitation.

And in his Nurse he says—

1. This Corydus who has so often practised
2. His jokes and witticisms, wishes now
3. To be Blepæus, and he's not far wrong,
4. For mighty are the riches of Blepæus.

And Cratinus the younger in his Titans says—

1. Beware of Corydus the wary brassfounder;
2. Unless you make your mind up long before
3. To leave him nothing. And I warn you now
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4. Never to eat your fish with such a man
5. As Corydus; for he's a powerful hand,
6. Brazen, unwearied, strong as fire itself.

But that Corydus used to cut jokes, and was fond of being laughed at for them, the same Alexis tells to in his Poets—

1. I have a great desire to raise a laugh,
2. And to say witty things, and gain a fame
3. Second alone to that of Corydus.

And Lynceus the Samian repeats several of his sayings, and asserts that his proper name was Eucrates. And he writes thus concerning him—

Eucrates, who was called Corydus, when he was once feasting with some one whose house was in a very shabby condition, said, 'A man who sups here ought to hold up the house with his left hand like the Caryatides.

But Philoxenus, who was surnamed Pternocopis, when it happened to be mentioned that thrushes were very dear, and that too while Corydus was present, who was said formerly to have prostituted himself—

I,

said he,

can recollect when a lark (κόρυδος) only cost an obol.

(And Philoxenus too was a parasite, as Axionicus has stated in his Chalcidian. But the statement is thoroughly proved.) Menander too mentions him in his Cecryphalus, calling him Pternocopis only. And Machon the comic writer mentions him.—But Machon was either a Corinthian or Sicyonian by birth, living, however, in my own city of Alexandria; and he was the tutor of Aristophanes the grammarian, as far as comedy went. And he died in Alexandria, and an inscription to the following effect is placed upon his tomb—

1. Bring, O light dust, the conqueror's ivy wreath
2. To Machon, who shall live beyond the tomb,
3. Machon the comic poet; for you hold
4. No dirty drone, but you embrace at last
5. A worthy relic of antique renown
6. These words from the old bard himself might flow,
7. City of Cecrops; even by the Nile
8. Is found at times a plant to all the Muses dear.

And surely this is equivalent to a statement that he was an Alexandrian by birth. However that may be, Machon mentions Corydus in these terms—

1. A messmate once ask'd Eucrates (Corydus)
2. On what terms he and Ptolemy did stand.
3. I'm sure, said he, I cannot tell myself:
4. For oft he drenches me like any doctor;
5. But never gives me solid food to eat.

And Lynceus, in the second book of his treatise on Menander, says the men who got a reputation for saying witty things were Euclides the son of Smicrinus, and Philoxenus called Pternocopis. And of them Euclides did at times say apophthegms not unworthy of being written down and recollected but in all other matters he was cold and disagreeable. Bt Philoxenus did not particularly excel in short curt sayings, but still whatever he said, whether in the way of gossip, or of a bitter attack on any of his companions, or of relation of occurrences, was full of pleasant and witty conversation. And yet it happened that Euclides was not very popular, but that Philoxenus was loved and respected by every one.

But Alexis, in his Trophonius, mentions a certain Moschion, a parasite, calling him

a messmate of every one,

and saying—

1. Then comes Moschion,
2. Who bears the name of messmate in the world.

And in his Pancratiast, Alexis, giving a regular catalogue of the dinner hunters, says—

1. A. First then there was Callimedon the crab;
2. Then Cobion, and Corydus, and Cyrebion,
3. Scombrus and Semidalis.
4. B. Hercules!
5. This is a list of dishes, not of guests.[*](The preceding names are the names of eatables, in the genitive case, though here used as nominatives, for persons; κώβιον means a sort of tench; κόρυδος (as has been said before), a lark; κυρήβια are husks, bran; σκόμβρος is the generic name for the tunny fish; σεμίδαλις is fine wheat flour, semilago.)

But Epicrates was nicknamed Cyrebion, and he was the son-in-law of Aeschines the orator, as Demosthenes tells us in the oration about the False Embassy. And Anaxandrides, in his Ulysses, mentions such epithets as these, which the Athenians used to affix to people out of joke; saying—

1. For ye are always mocking one another;
2. I know it well. And if a man be handsome
3. You call him Holy Marriage . . . .
4. If a man be a perfect dwarf, a mannikin,
5. You call him Drop. Is any one a dandy?
6. He is called Ololus; you know an instance.
7. Does a man walk about all fat and heavy,
8. Like Democles? you call him Gravy Soup.
9. Does any one love dirt? his name is Dust.
10. Does any one bedaub his friends with flattery?
v.1.p.382
11. They call him Dingey. Does one want a supper?
12. He is the fasting Cestrinus; and if
13. One casts one's eye upon a handsome youth,
14. They dub one Ceenus, or The Manager.
15. Does one in joke convey a lamb away?
16. They call one Atreus: or a ram? then Phrixus:
17. Or if you take a fleece, they name you Jason.

And he mentions Chærephon the parasite in the passage which precedes this. But Menander mentions him likewise in the Cecryphalus: and in his Anger he says—

1. The man does not differ the least from Chærephon,
2. Whoever he may be. He once was ask'd to supper
3. At four o'clock, and so he early rose,
4. And measuring the shadow on the dial
5. By the moon's light, he started off and came
6. To eat his supper at the break of day.

And in his Drunkenness he says—

1. That witty fellow Chærephon delay'd me,
2. Saying that he should make a marriage feast
3. The twenty-second of the month, that then
4. He might dine with his friends the twenty-fourth,
5. For that the goddess's affairs were prospering.

And he mentions him also in his Man-woman, or the Cretan. But Timocles in his Letters mentions him especially as having attached himself as a parasite to Demotion, who was an intemperate man—

1. But Demotion was one who spared for nothing,
2. Thinking his money never could run dry,
3. But dinners gave to all who liked to come.
4. And Chærephon, that wretchedest of men,
5. Treated his house as though it were his own.
6. And yet is not this a most shameful thing,
7. To take a branded slave for a parasite
8. For he's a perfect clown, and not in want.

And Antiphanes says in his Scythian—

1. Let us go now to sup, just as we are,
2. Bearing our torches and our garlands with us;
3. 'Twas thus that Chærephon, when supperless,
4. Used to manœuvre for an invitation.

And Timotheus says in his Puppy—

1. Let us start off to go to supper now,
2. 'Tis one of twenty covers as he told me;
3. Though Chærephon perhaps may add himself.

And Apollodorus the Carystian, in his Priestess, says—

1. They say that Chærephon all uninvited
2. Came to the wedding feast of Ophelas,
v.1.p.383
3. Thrusting himself in in unheard-of fashion.
4. For carrying a basket and a garland
5. When it was dark, he said that he had come
6. By order of the bride, bringing some birds,
7. And on this pretext he did get his supper.

And in his Murdered Woman he says—

1. I Mars invoke, and mighty Victory,
2. To favour this my expedition.
3. I also call on Chærephon—but then
4. He's sure to come, e'en if I call him not.

And Machon the comic writer says—

1. Once Chærephon a lengthen'd journey took
2. Out of the city to a wedding feast,
3. And on his way met Diphilus the poet,
4. Who greeted him—"Take my advice, O Cheerephon,
5. And fasten four stout nails to your two cheeks;
6. Lest, while you shake your head in your long journey,
7. You should put both your jaws quite out of joint.

And in another place he says—

1. Chærephon once was purchasing some meat,
2. And when the butcher was by chance, he says,
3. Cutting him out a joint with too much bone,
4. He said, O butcher, don't weigh me that bone.
5. Says he, The meat is sweet, indeed men say
6. The meat is always sweetest near the bone.
7. But Chærephon replied, It may be sweet,
8. But still it weighs much heavier than I like.

And Callimachus attributes to Chærephon a certain treatise, in the list which he gives entitled, A Catalogue of all sorts of Things. And he writes thus:—

Those who have written about feasts:—Chærephon in his Cyrebion;

and then he quotes the first sentence—

Since you have often written to me;

and says that the work consisted of three hundred and seventy-five lines. And that Cyrebion was a parasite has been already mentioned.

Machon also mentions Archephon the parasie, and says—

1. There was a parasite named Archephon,
2. Who, having sail'd from Attica to Egypt,
3. Was ask'd by Ptolemy the king to supper.
4. Then many kinds of fish which cling to rocks
5. Were served up, genuine crabs, and dainty limpets;
6. And last of all appear'd a large round dish
7. With three boil'd tench of mighty size, at which
8. The guests all marvell'd; and this Archephon
9. Ate of the char, and mackerel, and mullets,
v.1.p.384
10. Till he could eat no longer; when he never
11. Had tasted anything before more tender
12. Than sprats and worthless smelts from the Phalerum;
13. But from the tench he carefully abstain'd.
14. And this did seem a most amazing thing,
15. So that the king inquired of Alcenor,
16. Whether the man had overlook'd the tench.
17. The hunchback said; No, quite the contrary,
18. He was the first to see them, Ptolemy,
19. But still he will not touch them, for this fish
20. Is one he holds in awe; and he's afraid
21. And thinks it quite against his country's rules
22. That he, while bringing nothing to the feast,
23. Should dare to eat a fish which has a vote.

And Alexis in his Wine-Bibber introduces Stratius the parasite as grumbling at the man who gives him his dinner, and speaking thus—

1. I'd better be a parasite of Pegasus,
2. Or the Boreade, or whoever else
3. Is faster still, than thus to Demeas
4. Eteobutades, the son of Laches,
5. For he is not content to walk, but flies.

And a little afterwards he says—

1. A. Oh Stratius, dost thou love me?
2. B. Aye, I do
3. More than my father, for he does not feed me;
4. But you do give the best of dinners daily.
5. A. And do you pray the gods that I may live
6. B. No doubt I do; for how should I myself
7. Live if misfortune happen'd unto you?

And Axionicus the comic poet, in his Etrurian, mentions Gryllion the parasite in these words—

1. They cannot now make the excuse of wine,
2. As Gryllion was always used to do.

And Aristodemus, in the second book of his Memoranda or Laughable Things, gives the following list of parasites— Sostratus the parasite of Antiochus the king, Evagoras the Hunchback, parasite of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and Phormio parasite of Seleucus. And Lynceus the Samian, in his Apophthegms, says—"Silanus the Athenian, when Gryllion the parasite of Menander the satrap was passing by in a superb robe, and accompanied by a great number of attendants, being asked who he was, said,

He is a jaw worthy of Menander.

But Chærephon the parasite, coming once to a wedding feast without being invited, and sitting down the last of all, when the gynæconomi had counted those who were invited, and desired him to depart as having made the number of guests to exceed the legitimate number of thirty, said, 'Count us over again, and begin with me.'

And that it was a custom for the officers called gynæconomi[*](We know little more of the gynæconomi, or γυναικόκοσμοι as they were also called, than what is derived from this passage. It appears probable that they existed from the time of Solon; though the duties here attributed to them may not have formed a part of their original business. Vide Smith, Diet. Ant. in voc.) to superintend the banquets, and to examine into the number of those who had been invited, and see whether it was in accordance with the law, we may learn from Timocles in his Litigious Man, where he says—

1. Open the doors at once, that we may be
2. More in the light against the gynæconomus
3. Shall enter and begin to count the guests,
4. As he is bound to do by this new law,
5. A marvellous statute. It were better far
6. That he should ask who are without a dinner.

And Menander says in his Cecryphalus—

1. Knowing that by some new law lately passed,
2. The cooks who minister at marriage feasts
3. Have given in their names and are enroll'd
4. In the books of the gynæconomi,
5. So that they may the number learn of those
6. Who are invited, lest a man should feast
7. More than the legal number.

And Philochorus, in the seventh book of his history of the Affairs of Attica, says—The gynæconomi used, in conjunction with the judges of the Areopagus, to examine the parties in private houses, and at marriage feasts, and at all other festivals and sacrifices.

And Lynceus records the following sayings of Corydus:—

Once when a courtesan whose name was Gnome was supping with Corydus, the wine ran short, on which he desired every one to contribute two obols; and said that Gnome should contribute whatever the people thought fit. And once when Polyctor the harp-player was eating lentil porridge, and had got a stone between his teeth, ' O you unhappy man!' said Corydus, 'even a lentil strikes you. '

And perhaps he is the same person whom Machon mentions; for he says—

1. It seems that once a wretched harp-player,
2. Being about to build himself a house,
3. Begg'd of a friend to lend him a few stones;
4. And many more will I repay, he said,
5. When I've display'd my art to all the people.

And once, when somebody said to Corydus that he sometimes kissed the neck, and the breasts, and even the navel (ὀμφαλὸς) of his wife,

That is very wrong,

said he;

for even Hercules went from Omphale to Hebe.

And when Phyromachus dipped a piece of bread into some lentil porridge, and upset the dish, he said that it was right that he should be fined, because he did not know how to eat properly, though he professed to. And once, at Ptolemy's table, when a ragout was carried round to the guests, but was finished before it came to him—

O Ptolemy,

said he,

am I drunk, or am I right in thinking that these dishes are carried round

And when Chærephon the parasite said that he was unable to stand much wine, he rejoined,

No, nor stand what is put into the wine either.

And once, when at some entertainment Chærephon rose up from supper quite naked—

O Chærephon,

said he,

you are just like a bottle, so that we can see how nearly full you are.

And when Demosthenes received that goblet from Harpalus—

This man,

said he,

who calls other men hard drinkers, has himself swallowed a large cup.

And, as he was in the habit of bringing dirty loaves to supper, once, when somebody else brought some which were blacker still, he said,

that he had not brought loaves, but the shades of loaves.

And Philoxenus the parasite, who was surnamed Pternocopis, once was dining with Python, and olives (ἐλάαι) were put on the table, and after a little while a dish of fish was brought; and he, striking the dish, said—

1. μάστιξεν δʼ ἐλαᾷν.

And once, at supper, when the man who had invited him had set loaves of black bread before him, he said,

Do not give me too many, lest you should darken the room.

And Pausimachus said of a certain parasite who was maintained by an old woman,

That the man who lived with the old woman fared in exactly the contrary manner to the old woman her-

v.1.p.387

self; for that he was always large.

And he is the man of whom Machon writes in this manner:–

1. They say that Moschion the water drinker
2. Once, when he was with friends in the Lyceum,
3. Seeing a parasite who was used to live
4. Upon a rich old woman, said to him,
5. "My friend, your fate is truly marvellous;
6. For your old dame does give you a big belly."

And the same man, hearing of a parasite who was maintained by an old woman, and who lived in habits of daily intimacy with her, said—

1. Nothing is strange henceforth, she brings forth nothing,
2. But the man daily doth become big-bellied.

And Ptolemy, the son of Agesarchus, a native of Megalopolis, in the second book of his history of Philopator, says that men to dine with the king were collected from every city, and that they were called jesters.

And Posidonius of Apamea, in the twenty-third book of his histories, says, "The Celtæ, even when they make war, take about with them companions to dine with them, whom they call parasites. And these men celebrate their praises before large companies assembled together, and also to private individuals who are willing to listen to them: they have also a description of people called Bards, who make them music; and these are poets, who recite their praises with songs. And in his thirty-fourth book, the same writer speaks of a man whose name was Apollonius, as having been the parasite of Antiochus surnamed Grypus, king of Syria. And Aristodemus relates that Bithys, the parasite of king Lysimachus, once, when Lysimachus threw a wooden figure of a scorpion on his cloak, leaped up in a great fright; but presently, when he perceived the truth, he said,

I, too, will frighten you, O king!—give me a talent.

For Lysiachus was very stingy. And Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the twenty-second book of his history of Europe, says that Anthemocritus the pancratiast was the parasite of Aristomachus, the tyrant of the Argives.

And Timocles has spoken in general terms of parasites in his Boxer, when he calls them ἐπισίτιοι, in these words—

1. You will find here some of the parasites (ἐπισίτιοι)
2. Who eat at other men's tables till they burst,
3. That you might say they give themselves to athletes
4. To act as quintain sacks.

And Pherecrates, in his Old Women, says—

1. A. But you, my friend Smicythion, will not
2. Get your food (ἐπισιτίζομαι) quicker.
3. B. Who, I pray, is this?
4. A. I bring this greedy stranger everywhere,
5. As if he were my hired slave or soldier.

For those men are properly called ἐπισίτιοι who do any service for their keep. Plato says, in the fourth book of his treatise on Politics,

And the ἐπισίτιοι do these things, who do not, as others do, receive any wages in addition to their food.

And Aristophanes says, in his Storks—

1. For if you prosecute one wicked man,
2. Twelve ἐπισίτιοι will come against you,
3. And so defeat you by their evidence.

And Eubulus says, in his Dædalus—

1. He wishes to remain an ἐπισίτιος
2. Among them, and will never ask for wages.

And Diphilus, in his Synoris (and Synoris is the name of a courtesan), mentioning Euripides (and Euripides is the name given to a particular throw on the dice), and punning on the name of the poet, says this at the same time about parasites:—

1. A. You have escaped well from such a throw.
2. S. You are right witty.
3. A. Well, lay down your drachma.
4. S. That has been done: how shall I throw Euripides?
5. A. Euripides will never save a woman.
6. See you not how he hates them in his tragedies?
7. But he has always fancied parasites,
8. And thus he speaks, you'll easily find the place:
9. "For every rich man who does not feed
10. At least three men who give no contribution,
11. Exile deserves and everlasting ruin."
12. S. Where is that passage?
13. A. What is that to you
14. 'Tis not the play, but the intent that signifies.

And in the amended edition of the same play, speaking of a parasite in a passion, he says—

1. Is then the parasite angry? is he furious?
2. Not he; he only smears with gall the table,
3. And weans himself like any child from milk.

And immediately afterwards he adds—

1. A. Then you may eat, O parasite.
2. B. Just see
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3. How he disparages that useful skill.
4. A. Well, know you not that all men rank a parasite
5. Below a harp-player

And in the play, which is entitled The Parasite, he says—

1. A surly man should never be a parasite.

And Menander, in his Passion, speaking of a friend who had refused an invitation to a marriage feast, says—

1. This is to be a real friend; not one
2. Who asks, What time is dinner? as the rest do.
3. And, Why should we not all at once sit down?
4. And fishes for another invitation
5. To-morrow and next day, and then again
6. Asks if there's not a funeral feast to follow.

And Alexis in his Orestes, Nicostratus in his Plutus, Menander in his Drunkenness, and in his Lawgiver, speak in the same way; and Philonides, in his Buskins, says—

1. I being abstinent cannot endure
2. Such things as these.

But there are many other kindred nouns to the noun παράσιτος: there is ἐπίσιτος, which has already been mentioned; and οἰκόσιτος, and σιτόκουρος, and αὐτόσιτος; and besides these, there is κακόσιτος and ὀλιγόσιτος: and Anaxandrides uses the word οἰκόσιτος in his Huntsmen—

1. A son who feeds at home (οἰκόσιτος) is a great comfort.

And a man is called οἰκόσιτος who serves the city, not for hire, but gratis. Antiphanes, in his Scythian, says—

1. The οἰκόσιτος quickly doth become
2. A regular attendant at th' assembly.

And Menander says, in his Ring—

1. We found a bridegroom willing to keep house (οἰκόσιτος)
2. At his own charges, for no dowry seeking.

And in his Harp-player he says—

1. You do not get your hearers there for nothing (οἰκοσίτους).

Crates uses the word ἐπισίτιος in his Deeds of Daring, saying—

1. He feeds his messmate (ἐπισίτιον) while he shivers thus
2. In Megabyzus' house, and he will have
3. Food for his wages.

And he also uses the word in a peculiar sense in his Women dining together, where he says—

1. It is a well-bred custom not to assemble
2. A crowd of women, nor to feast a multitude;
3. But to make a domestic (οἰκοσίτους) wedding feast.

And the word σιτόκουρος is used by Alexis, in his Woman sitting up all Night or the Weavers—

1. You will be but a walking bread-devourer (σιτόκουρος)

And Menander calls a man who is useless, and who lives to no purpose, σιτόκουρος, in his Thrasyleon, saying—

1. A lazy ever-procrastinating fellow,
2. A σιτόκουρος, miserable, useless,
3. Owning himself a burden on the earth.

And in his Venal People he says—

1. Wretch, you were standing at the door the while,
2. Having laid down your burden; while, for us,
3. We took the wretched σιτόκουρος in.

And Crobylus used the word αὐτόσιτος (bringing one's own provisions), in The Man hanged—

1. A parasite αὐτόσιτος, feeding himself,
2. You do contribute much to aid your master.

And Eubulus has the word κακόσιτος (eating badly, having no appetite), in his Ganymede—

1. Sleep nourishes him since he's no appetite (κακόσιτος).

And the word ὀλιγόσιτος (a sparing eater) occurs in Phrynichus, in his The solitary Man—

1. What does that sparing eater (ὀλιγόσιτος) Hercules there?

And Pherecrates, or Strattis, in his Good Men—

1. How sparingly you eat, who in one day
2. Swallow the food of an entire trireme.

When Plutarch had said all this about parasites, Democritus, taking up the discourse, said, And I myself, 'like wood well-glued to wood,' as the Theban poet has it, will say a word about flatterers.

1. For of all men the flatterer fares best,

as the excellent Menander says. And there is no great difference between calling a man a flatterer and a parasite. Accordingly, Lynceus the Samian, in his Commentaries, gives the name of parasite to Cleisophus, the man who is universally described as the flatterer of Philip, the king of the Macedonians (but he was an Athenian by birth, as Satyrus the Peripatetic affirms, in his Life of Philip). And Lynceus says—

Cleisophus, the parasite of Philip, when Philip rebuked him for being continually asking for something, replied, 'I am very forgetful.' Afterwards, when Philip had given him a wounded horse, he sold him; and when, after a time, the king

v.1.p.391

asked him what had become of him, he answered, ' He was sold by that wound of his.' And when Philip laughed at him, and took it good-humouredly, he said, 'Is it not then worth my while to keep you?'

And Hegesander the Delphian, in his Commentaries, makes this mention of Cleisophus:—

When Philip the king said that writings had been brought to him from Cotys, king of Thrace, Cleisophus, who was present, said, 'It is well, by the gods.' And when Philip said, But what do you know of the subjects mentioned in these writings?' he said, 'By the great Jupiter, you have reproved me with admirable judgment.'