Deipnosophistae

Athenaeus of Naucratis

Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.

When all this had been said about this nice dish of fish, one of the cynics coming late in the evening said, "My friends, are we, too, keeping a fast, as if this were the middle day of the Thesmophoria, since we are now fasting like cestres For, as Diphilus says, in his Lemnian Women—

  1. These men have supp'd, but I, wretch that I am,
  2. Shall be a cestreus through th' extreme of fasting.
And Myrtilus answering, said—
  1. But stand in order—
as the Hedychares of Theopompus says—
  1. hungry band of cestres,
  2. You who are fed, like geese, on vegetables.
For you shall not take a share of any of these things before either you, or your fellow-pupil Ulpian, tell me why the cestreus is the only fish which is called the faster. And Ulpian said,—It is because he never takes any living bait; and when he is caught, it is neither effected by any meat nor by any living animal; as Aristotle tells us, when he says
perhaps his being hungry makes him lazy;
and also that
when he is frightened he hides his head, as if by so doing he concealed his whole body.
But Plato, in his Holidays, says—
  1. As I was going out I met a fisherman,
  2. And he was bringing me some cestres, and
  3. He brought me all those worthless starving fish.
But do you tell me, O you Thessalian wrestler, Myrtilus! why it is that fish are called by the poets ἔλλοπεσ? And he said,—It is because they are voiceless; but some insist upon it that, by strict analogy, the word ought to be ἴλλοπες, because they are deprived of voice: for the verb ἴλλεσθαι
v.2.p.484
means to be deprived, and ὄψ means voice.[*](Schweighaeuser thinks that something has dropped out of the text here; and proposes to insert, And Ulpian said. ) And are you ignorant of this, when you are an ἔλλοψ yourself? But I, as the wise Epicharmus says, when this dog makes me no answer,—
  1. Am by myself enough well to reply
  2. To what two men have lately said before me.
And I say that they are called ἔλλοπες from being covered with scales, [the word coming from the same root, and being equivalent to λεπιδωτός]. But I will tell you (though that is not a question which has been asked) why the Pythagoreans, who do touch other living creatures, though sparingly, and who allow themselves even to sacrifice some, absolutely abstain altogether from fish alone. Is it because of their silence for they think silence a very divine quality. Since, then, you, O you Molossian dogs, are always silent, but are still not Pythagoreans, we will now go on to the rest of the discussion about fish.

There is a fish called the coracinus. The coracini, which are caught at sea, says Icesius, contain but little nourishment; but they are easily secreted, and have a moderate supply of good juice. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that

it happens to nearly all fish to have a rapid growth, and this is the case, in no small degree, with the coracinus; and he lays his eggs close to the land, in places full of weeds and moss.
But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Similitudes, says that the blacktail and the coracinus are much alike. But Numenius, in his Treatise on the Art of Fishing, says—
  1. It easily would attract the spotted coracinus.
And perhaps the æoliæ mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Muses, may be the same as coracini. For Epicharmus says—
  1. Aeoliæ, plotes, cynoglossi too.
But, in his Hebe's Marriage, he speaks of the æoliæ as a different fish; for he says—
  1. There there were mussels, and the alphastic fish,
  2. And coracini like to coriander seed,
  3. Aeoliæ, plotes too, and the cynoglossi.
But Euthydemus, in his essay on Cured Fish, says that the coracinus is by many people called the saperda. And Hera-
v.2.p.485
cleon the Ephesian has said much the same thing; and so has Philotimus, in his Cookery Book. But that the saperdas and the coracinus are both called the platistacus is affirmed by Parmeno the Rhodian, in the first book of his Culinary Doctrine. But Aristophanes, in his Telmessians, uses the expression
black-finned coracini.

Pherecrates also uses the word in its diminutive form, in his Forgetful Man, where he says—

  1. Being with your κορακινίδια and μαινίδια.
And Amphis says, in his Ialemus—
  1. Whoever eats a sea-born coracinus
  2. When he may have a grayling, is a fool.
But the coracini of the Nile are very sweet and delicious in their flesh, as those who have tried them know; and they have got their name from continually moving their eyes (διὰ τὸ τὰς κόρας κινεῖν), and never ceasing. But the Alexandrians call them plataces, which is, more correctly speaking, the name of the whole genus.

There is also a fish called the cyprinus, or carp. He also, as Aristotle tells us, is a carnivorous and gregarious fish; and he has his tongue, not in the lower part of the mouth, but in the upper part. But Dorion, mentioning him in his list among the lake and river fish, writes thus:

A scaly fish, whom some people call the cyprinus.

There is also the tench.

The tench is very juicy,
as Icesius says,
exceedingly attractive to the palate, very easily secreted, not very nutritious, nor is the juice which they give very wholesome. But, in delicacy of flavour, the white kind is superior to the black. But the flesh of the green tench is more dry, and devoid of fat; and they give a much smaller quantity of juice, and what they do give is thinner. Still they are more nutritious, on account of their size.
Diodes says that those which are found in rocky situations are very tender. But Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, calls them, not κώβιοι, but κῶθοι.
  1. A char or tench (κῶθος) of mighty size and bold.

And Sophron, in his Countryman, speaks of

The cothons, who bathe in mud;
and perhaps it was from the name of this fish that he called the son of his Tunny-catcher, in the play, Cothonias. But it is the Sicilians who call the tench κώθων, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us, in his book on
v.2.p.486
Dialects; and Apollodorus confirms the statement, in his treatise on the Modest and Temperate Man. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, names the tench, calling it κώβιος:—
  1. The turtle with their sting behind, and then the tender tench.
And Antiphanes, in his Timon, praising the tench, tells us in what places they are to be found in the greatest perfection, in these lines:—
  1. I come, but I have been to great expense
  2. In buying viands for this marriage feast.
  3. I've bought a pennyworth of frankincense
  4. To offer to the gods and all the goddesses,
  5. And to the heroes I will offer cakes.
  6. But when I bid that rascally house-breaking
  7. Seller of fish to add a dainty dish,
  8. I'll throw you in,
    says he, "the borough itself,
  9. For they are all Phalericans." The rest
  10. I do believe were selling our Otrynicans.[*](The burgh of Otryna was one of the most obscure ones, while the Phaleric burgh was one of those of the highest reputation.)
Menander, in his Ephesians, says—
  1. A. There was a fishmonger not long ago,
  2. Who asked four whole drachmas for his tench.
  3. B. A mighty price indeed.
And Dorion mentions river tench also, in his book on Fishes.

There is also a fish called the cuckoo-fish. Epicharmus says—

  1. And the beauteous cuckoos
  2. Which we split in twain,
  3. Then we roast and season them,
  4. And then with pleasure eat them.
And Dorion says that one ought to roast them, first having split them down the back; and, having seasoned them with herbs, and cheese, and spice, and assafœtida, and oil, then one ought to turn them round, and oil them on the other side, and then to sprinkle them with a little salt; and, when one has taken them from the fire, to moisten them with vinegar. But Numenius gives it the epithet of red, from the facts of the case, saying—
  1. Eating sometimes the cuckoo red, sometimes
  2. A few pempherides, or else a lizard.

There is also a fish called the carcharias (or sharp-

v.2.p.487
toothed dog). And Archestratus, whom we may call the Hesiod or Theognis of Epicures, speaks of this fish; for Theognis himself was not indifferent to luxury, as he admits, speaking of himself in these words:—
  1. But when the sun, driving his coursers fleet
  2. With solid hoofs along the heavenly road,
  3. Guides them at mid-day in the centre path,
  4. Then let us eat whate'er our heart may prompt,
  5. And gratify our appetite with dainties.
  6. Then let a Spartan maid with rosy hands,
  7. Bring water, and fresh garlands for our brows.
Nor indeed was that wise man indifferent to the charms of boys; at all events, he speaks thus on the subject:—
  1. O Academus, would you now but sing
  2. A tuneful hymn, while in the midst should stand
  3. A beauteous boy, in flower of his youth,
  4. A prize for you and me to combat for,
  5. Then you should know how far the mule excels the ass.
And Archestratus, in these beautiful suggestions of his, exhorts his friends in this way—
  1. In fair Torone's town 'tis best to cook
  2. The hollow entrails of the sharp-tooth'd dog.
  3. Then strew the fish with cummin, sparing be
  4. Of salt, then roast him, and add nothing else
  5. Saving some sea-green oil. Then when 'tis done,
  6. Serve him up with some little seasoning.
  7. And if you boil a part of it within
  8. The hollow of some flat dish, then add
  9. No water, add no wine-made vinegar,
  10. But pour on oil alone, and cummin dry,
  11. And add what fragrant herbs the garden gives.
  12. Then put the saucepan on the ashes hot,
  13. And boil it; let no flame too quickly burn,
  14. And stir it often lest the meat should catch,
  15. And spoil your dinner so, before you know it.
  16. 'Tis but few mortals know this wondrous food;
  17. And those who have thick stupid heavy souls,,
  18. Refuse to taste it, but are all alarm'd,
  19. Because they say this dog's a cannibal,
  20. And feeds on human flesh. But there is not
  21. A fish that swims which does not like man's flesh
  22. If he can only chance to come across it.
There is a part of this fish which the Romans cal thursio, and which is very delicious, and much sought for as an article of luxury.

There is also the pike. These, as Aristotle reports, are a solitary and carnivorous fish; and they have a bony

v.2.p.488
tongue, adhering to the mouth, and a triangular heart. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, he says that they bring forth their young, like the cestres and chrysophryes do, chiefly in those places where rivers fall into the sea; and they bring forth in winter, and they also bring forth twice in the season. But Icesius says that the pike is very juicy, and not very nutritious; and that it is also not very easily secreted; but for delicacy of flavour it is accounted the very first of fish. And this fish has his name, λάβραξ, from his voracity (λαβρότης). It is said, also, that in shrewdness he is superior to other fish, being very ingenious at devising means to save himself; on which account, Aristophanes the comic poet says—
  1. The pike, the wisest of all fish that swim.
And Alcæus the lyric poet says that he swims very high in the water. But the wise Archestratus says—
  1. Take the large cestris cephalus from Gæson,
  2. When you do come to fair Miletus' city.
  3. Take too the pike, the offspring of the gods.
  4. For in those waters both these fish are best.
  5. Such is the natural character of the place.
  6. But there are many places where they grow
  7. More fat and large; in famous Calydon,
  8. And in the opulent Ambracia,
  9. And at the Bolbe lake; but there they want
  10. The fragrant fat which here surrounds their belly;
  11. Nor have they such a pungent taste, my friend.
  12. Those which I speak of are most admirable.
  13. Take them and roast them without scaling them,
  14. Soften with salt, and serve them up with brine.
  15. And let no Syracusan, no Italian
  16. Break in upon you while you dress this dish:
  17. For they have no idea of dressing fish,
  18. But spoil them all by seasoning them with cheese,
  19. By sprinkling them with too much vinegar,
  20. And strongly scented assafœtida.
  21. They are good cooks enough to dress the vile
  22. Fish which they take while clinging to the rocks;
  23. And there are many kinds of season'd dishes
  24. Which they can dress quite well enough; but they
  25. Have no idea of dressing good fish plain.

And Aristophanes, in his Knights, speaks of the pike taken in the neighbourhood of Miletus as surpassingly good, when he speaks thus:—

  1. But you shall not disturb me thus
  2. Feasting on Milesian pike.
v.2.p.489
And in his Lemnian Women he says—
  1. He would not buy a pike's head, nor a locust:
speaking because the brain of the pike is a great delicacy, as is also that of the sea-grayling. And Eubulus, in his Muses, says—
  1. Do not be too expensive, still not mean,
  2. Whate'er you do; not for decency's sake.
  3. Get some small cuttle-fish, or squids, some nestis,
  4. Some small fry of the polypus, some tripe,
  5. And beestings and black-puddings; get besides
  6. A noble head of the Milesian pike.
But the Gæson, which is mentioned by Archestratus, means the lake Gæsonis, which is between Priene and Miletus, con- nected with the sea, as Neanthes of Cyzicus tells us in the sixth book of his Hellenics. But Ephorus, in his fifth book, says that the Gæson is a river near Priene, which flows into the lake Gæsonis, And Archippus, in his Fishes, mentioning the pike, says—
  1. Hermes th' Egyptian is the greatest rogue
  2. Of all the fishmongers; he skins by force
  3. The sharks and rhinos, and takes out the entrails
  4. Of the Milesian pikes, before he sells them.

There is also a fish called the latus; and Archestratus says that the best fish of this kind is that which is taken off the coast of Italy, and he speaks thus concerning them:—

  1. Near the well-treed Italia's verdant shores,
  2. Fierce Scylla's strait the famous latus breeds,
  3. Most marvellous of dainties.
But the lati which are found in the river Nile grow to such a size that they weigh more than two hundred pounds; and this fish is exceedingly white, and very delicious, dress it whatever way you choose. And it is like the fish called the glanis, which is found in the Danube. The Nile produces also many other kinds of fish, and they are all very delicious; but especially does it produce all the different coracini (for the are many different kinds of this fish). It also produces the fish called the mæotes, which are mentioned by Archippus, in his Fishes, in these words:—
  1. Mæotæ, and saperdæ, likewise glanides.
And this fish is found in great numbers in Pontus; and they derive their name from the Palus Mæotis. But the following, as far as I can recollect, from having been a long time absent
v.2.p.490
from the country, are the names of the chief fish found in the Nile. The sweetest of all is the ray; then there is the sea-pig, the snub-nose, the phagrus, the oxyrhynchus, the allabes, the silurus, the synodontis, the elecoris, the eel, the thrissa, the abramis, the blind-fish, the scaly-fish, the bellows-fish, and the cestreus. And there are also a great number of others.

There is also a kind of shark, called the leiobatus, whose other name is the rhine; and he is a white-fleshed fish, as Epænetus tells us in his Cookery Book. Plato says, in his Sophists—

  1. The galeus, the leiobatus, the eel.

There is also the lamprey. Theophrastus, in the fifth book of his treatise on those Animals which can live on dry Land, says that the eel and the lamprey can exist for a long time out of the water, because they have very small gills, and so receive but very little moisture into their system. But Icesius affirms that they are not less nutritious than the eel, nor even, perhaps, than the conger. And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that from the time that they are little they grow very rapidly, and that they have sharp serrated teeth; and that they keep on laying small-sized eggs every season of the year. But Epicharmus, in his Muses, calls them not σμύραινα, but μύραινα, without the ς; speaking in this way of them:—

  1. No congers fat were wanting, and no lampreys (μύραιναι).
And Sophron, too, spells the word in the same manner. But Plato or Cantharus, in his Alliance, spells the word with the ς, saying—
  1. The ray, the lamprey (σμύραινα) too, is here.
Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the river lampreys have only one spine, like the kind of cod which is called gallarias. But Andreas, in his treatise on Poisonous Animals, says that those lampreys which are produced by a cross with the viper have a poisonous bite, and that that kind is less round than the other, and is variegated. But Nicander, in his Theriacus, says—
  1. That is a terrible deed the lamprey does,
  2. When oft its teeth it gnashes and pursues
  3. Th' unhappy fishermen, and drives them headlong
  4. Out of their boats in haste, when issuing forth
  5. From the deep hole in which it long has lain:
  6. v.2.p.491
  7. If that the tale is true that it admits
  8. The poisonous viper's love, when it deserts
  9. Its pastures 'neath the sea, for food on land.
But Andreas, in his treatise on Things which are believed erroneously, says that it is quite a mistake to suppose that the lamprey ever breeds with the viper when it comes on marshy ground; for that vipers do not themselves feed in marshes, as they are fond rather of sandy and desert places. But Sostratus, in his books on Animals (and there are two books of his on this subject, and with this title), agrees with those who assert that the lamprey and the viper do breed together.

There is another kind of eel also, called the myrus. But the myrus, as Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, differs from the lamprey; this latter being a variegated fish, and less powerful than the other; while the myrus is a fish of one uniform colour, and strong, and its whole colour is like that of the wryneck, and it has teeth both within and without. And Dorion says, that the myrus has no small bones running through its flesh, but that it is in every part eatable, and exceedingly soft; and that there are two kinds of it, for some are black, and some are of rather a fiery colour, but those which are dark are best. And Archestratus, the voluptuary philosopher, say—

  1. Between th' Italian and Sicilian shore,
  2. Where the strait parts them with its narrow waves,
  3. Whenever that most dainty fish is caught
  4. Which men the lamprey call, be sure to buy it;
  5. For in those waters'tis the best of food.

There is a fish, too, called the mænis, or sprat; and Icesius says that they are more juicy than the tench, but that they are inferior in delicacy of flavour, and also in the extent to which they facilitate the secretions of the stomach. But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things similar to one another, says that both the boax and the smaris resemble the sprat; and these two fishes, are mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Earth and Sea, in the following manner:—

  1. When you see many boaces and smarides.
And Epænetus, in his Cookery Book, says,
The smaris, which some people call cynoseuna.
But Antiphanes, in his Coun- tryman, or Butalion, calls the sprats the food of Hecate, on
v.2.p.492
account of their diminutive size; and the following is the passage:—
  1. A. Why, I did think that all these monstrous fish
  2. Were cannibals.
  3. B. What can you mean, my friend?
  4. A. Why, cannibals: so how would any man eat them?
  5. B. That's true. But these are food of Hecate,
  6. Which he is speaking of, just sprats and mullets.
There is also one kind which is called the leucomænis, or white sprat, which some people call the boax. Poliochus, in his Corinthiastes, says—
  1. Let no man, in God's name I beg, persuade you,
  2. Come when he will or whence, so to mistake
  3. As to call leucomænides boaces.

There is also the melanurus, or black-tail; and concerning this fish Numenius says, in his Art of Fishing:—

  1. The scorpion or melanurus black,
  2. The guide and leader of the perch,
But Icesius says that he is very like the sargus, but that he is inferior to the latter in the quantity and quality of his juice, and also in delicacy of flavour; but that he is rather exciting food, and very nutritious. And Epicharmus mentions him in his Hebe's Marriage:—
  1. There were sargini, there were melanuri.
Aristotle too, in his treatise on Animals, writes thus: "There are some fish which have barred or spotted tails, among which are the melanuri, and the sargi or sardine; and they have many lines on their skin, dark lines. But Speusippus affirms, in the second book of his treatise on Things similar to one another, that the fish called psyrus resembles the melanurus; but Numenius calls the psyrus, psorus, with an o, saying—
  1. The psorus, or the salpe, or the dragon-fish
  2. Which haunts the shore.

There is also a fish called the mormyrus, a most nutritious fish, as Icesius says. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, calls it the myrmes, unless, at least, he means a different fish by this name. But his expression is—

  1. The sea-swallow, the myrmes too,
  2. And they are larger than the colias tunny.
But Dorion, in his book upon Fishes, calls them mormylus, with a λ. But Lynceus of Samos, in his treatise on the Art of buying Fish, which he addressed to some friend of his, who
v.2.p.493
was very difficult to please when making his purchases, says, "But it is not a useless plan, with reference to men who are obstinate, and who will not abate their price, when you are standing by to disparage their fish, quoting Archstratus (who wrote the book called The voluptuous Life), or some other poet, and repeating this verse:—
  1. The mormyrus that haunts the pebbly shore,
  2. Is a bad, good-for-nothing, worthless fish.
And again you may quote—
  1. Buy an amia in the autumn . . . .
'But now 'tis spring.' And again you may proceed, if it should be the proper season—
  1. How good the cestreus is when winter comes.
'But now,' you will say, ' it is summer.' And you will go on in this way for some time; and in this way you will drive away a good many of those who are standing about, and who might become purchasers. So when you have done this, you will by this means compel the man to take whatever price you choose to give."

There is also the torpedo. Plato, or Cantharus, says, in the Alliance—

  1. A boil'd torpedo is delicious food.
But Plato the Philosopher says, in the Meno,
You seem very much to resemble the sea-torpedo; for that fish causes any one who comes near it to become torpid.
And an allusion to the name occurs also in Homer, where he says—
  1. His hand was torpid (νάρκησε) at the wrist.
But Menander, in his Phanus, uses the termination a, and says—
  1. A certain torpor (νάρκα) creeps o'er all my skin;
though no one of the ancient writers ever used this form of the word. But Icesius says that it is a fish without much nutriment or much juice in it, but that it has some cartilaginous sort of substance diffused all over it, very good for the stomach. And Theophrastus, in his book on Animals which live in Holes, says that the torpedo works its way underground because of the cold. But in his treatise on Poisonous Animals, and on Animals which sting, he says that the torpedo can send the power which proceeds from it through wood, and through harpoons, so as to produce torpor in those
v.2.p.494
who have them in their hands. But Clearchus the Solensian has explained the cause of this in his treatise on Torpor; but, since his explanation is rather a long one, I do not recollect his exact words, but will refer you to the treatise itself.

But the torpedo, says Aristotle, is one of the cartilaginous and viviparous fish; and, to provide itself with food, it hunts after little fish, touching them, and causing them all to become torpid and motionless. And Diphilus of Laodicea, in his essay on the Theriaca of Nicander, says that it is not every part of the animal which produces this torpor, but only some particular parts of it; and he says that he has arrived at this fact by a long series of experiments. But Archestratus speaks of–

  1. A bold torpedo done in oil and wine,
  2. And fragrant herbs, and some thin grated cheese.
Alexis, in his Galatea, says—
  1. I counsel you to season well and stuff
  2. Torpedos whole, and then to roast them thoroughly.
And in his Demetrius he says—
  1. Then I took a torpedo, calculating
  2. If my wife touch'd it with her tender fingers
  3. That they would get no hurt from its backbone.

There is also the sword-fish. Aristotle says that this fish has its lower jaw short, but its upper one bony, long, and in fact as large as all the rest of the body of the fish; and this upper jaw is what is called the sword; but that this fish has no teeth. And Archestratus says—

  1. But take a slice of sword-fish when you go
  2. To fair Byzantium, and take the vertebrae
  3. Which bend his tail. He's a delicious fish,
  4. Both there and where the sharp Pelorian cape
  5. Juts out towards the sea.
Now, who is then so great a general, or so great a critic in dishes and banquets, as this poet from Gela[*](This is a pun on the similarity of the name Gela to γέλως, laughter, the compound κατάγελως meaning derision. And it is probably bor- rowed from Aristophanes, who says, Acharn. 606:— τοὺς δʼ ἐν καμαρίνῃ κᾀν γέλᾳ κᾀν καταγέλᾳ. ) (or, I should rather say, from Catagela), who, for the sake of his epicurism, sailed through those straits; and who also, for the sake of the same epicurism, investigated the different qualities and juices of each separate part of every fish, as if he had been laying the foundation of some science which was useful to human life?

v.2.p.495

There is also a fish called the orphos (ὄρφως); but the word is also spelt with an ο (ὄρφος), as Pamphilus tells us. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, where he says that the growth of most fish is very rapid, says, “The orphos also grows to a large fish from a little one with great rapidity; but he is a carnivorous fish, with serrated teeth, and of a solitary disposition. And there is this peculirity in him, that it cannot be ascertained what means he has of propagating his species, and that he can live a long time after he has been cut in pieces. He is also one of those fish which bury themselves in holes during the winter season, and he is fond of keeping close to the land, rather than of going into the deep sea; but he does not live more than two years. And Numenius, speaking of this fish, says—

  1. Now with such baits as these it is not hard
  2. To draw the lengthy scorpion from his bed,
  3. Or the rough orphus: for they're easily caught.
And in another place he says—
  1. The grayling, or the sea-born race of orphi,
  2. Or the dark flesh'd sea-blackbird.
But Dorion says that the young orphus is called by some the orphacines. And Archippus says, in his Fishes,—
  1. The orphus came to them, the priest o' the god.
And Cratinus says, in his Ulysses,—
  1. A hot slice of the newly taken orphus.
And Plato, in his Cleophon, says—
  1. For he has brought you here, old dame, to dwell,
  2. A rotten food for orphi and for phagri,
  3. And other gristly boneless fish around.
  1. And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, says—
  2. If a man be inclined to purchase orphi,
  3. And likes to leave alone the membrades.
Now this word ὀρφὼς, in the nominative case singular, is accented with an acute on the ultima by the Attic writers; so Archippus writes the word, in his Fishes, in the lines which I have already quoted; and Cratinus also, in his Uysses, as I have above quoted it, writes—
  1. τέμαχος ὀρφὼ χλιαρόν.

There is also a fish called orcynus. Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the orcyni come from the sea near the Pillars of Hercules to the: waters on our costs; on

v.2.p.496
which account, a great number are taken in the Iberian and Tyrrhenian seas; and that from thence they are dispersed over the rest of the sea. But Icesius says that those which are caught near Cadiz are the fattest, and next to them those which are taken near Sicily. But that those which are taken at any great distance from the Pillars of Hercules have very little fat on them, because they have swum a very great distance. Accordingly, at Cadiz, it is only the shoulders by themselves which are dried and cured; as also it is only the jaws and palate of the sturgeon, and that part which is called the melandryas, which is cured. But Icesius says that the entrails are very rich, and very different in flavour from the other parts; and that the parts about the shoulders are superior even to these.

There is also the cod and the hake. The cod, says Aristotle, in his work on Living Animals, has a large wide mouth like the shark, and he is not a gregarious fish; and he is the only fish which has his heart in his stomach, and in his brain he has stones like millstones. And he is the only fish who buries himself in a hole in the hot weather, when the Dog-star rages; for all others take to their holes in the winter season. And these fish are mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding:—

  1. And there are channel with their large wide mouths,
  2. And cod with their huge bellies.
But the cod is different from the hake, as Dorion tells us, in his work upon Fish, where he writes thus:
The ὄνος (cod), which some call γάδος.
There is also the gallerides, which some call a hake, and some a maxinus. But Euthydemus, in his work on Cured Fish, says,
Some call this fish the bacchus, and some call it the gelaria, and some call it the hake.
But Archestratus says—
  1. Anthedon's famous for its cod, which some
  2. Do call gallerias; there its size is great,
  3. But the flesh spongy, and in many respects
  4. I do not think it good, though others praise it.
  5. But this man likes one thing, and that another.