Deipnosophistae

Athenaeus of Naucratis

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

And I do not think it unseasonable myself, since I

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have mentioned the harp-player Stratonicus, to say some- thing also concerning his readiness in repartee. For when he was teaching people to play the harp, and as he had in his school nine statues of the nine Muses, and one of Apollo, and had also two pupils, when some one asked him how many pupils he had, he said,
Gods and all, twelve.
And once when he had travelled to Mylassa, and saw thee a great number of temples, but very few citizens, standing in the middle of the forum, he cried out—
  1. ʼἀκούετε ναοί.[*](This was a parody on the first words of the crier's usual proclama- ion,—ʼἀκούετε λαοὶ,—Hear, O people. ναοὶ means temples.)
And Macho has recorded some memorials of him in these lines;—
  1. Once Stratonicus travell'd down to Pella,
  2. And having heard from many men before
  3. That the baths of that city were accustom'd
  4. To give the bathers spleen; and finding, too,
  5. That many of the youths did exercise
  6. Before the fire, who preserved their colour
  7. And vigour of their body unimpair'd;
  8. He said that those who told him so were wrong.
  9. But finding afterwards, when he left the bath,
  10. A man whose spleen was twice his belly's size,—
  11. This man,
    said he, "appears to me here now
  12. To sit and keep the garments of the men
  13. Who go to bathe, and all their spleens beside,
  14. That all the people may have room enough."
  15. A miserable singer once did give
  16. A feast to Stratonicus and his friends,
  17. And, while the cup was freely going round,
  18. Exhibited his art to all the company.
  19. And as the feast was rich and liberal,'
  20. Poor Stratonicus, wearied with the song,
  21. And having no one near him he could speak to,
  22. Knock'd down his cup, and asked for a larger.
  23. And when he'd drunk full many a draught, he made
  24. A last libation to the glorious sun,
  25. And then composed himself to sleep, and left
  26. The rest to fortune. Presently more guests
  27. Came, as good luck would have it, to the singer,
  28. To feast with him; still Stratonicus slept,
  29. Heavy with wine; and when they ask'd him why
  30. A man so much accustom'd to drink wine
  31. Had been so soon o'ercome by drink this day,
  32. This treacherous, cursed singing man,
    said he,
  33. "Treated me like a bullock in a stall;
  34. For first he fed me up, and then he kill'd me."
  35. v.2.p.550
  36. Once Stratonicus to Abdera went,
  37. To see some games which there were celebrated;
  38. And seeing every separate citizen
  39. Having a private crier to himself,
  40. And each of them proclaiming a new moon
  41. Whene'er he pleased, so that the criers were
  42. Quite out of all proportion to the citizens,
  43. He walk'd about on tiptoes through the city,
  44. Looking intently on the ground beneath.
  45. And when some stranger ask'd him what had happen'd
  46. To his feet, to make him look so gravely at them:—
  47. He said, "I'm very well all over, friend,
  48. And can run faster to an entertainment
  49. Than any parasite; but I'm in fear
  50. Lest I should tread by hazard on some κῆρυξ, [*](κῆρυξ means, not only a crier, but also a prickly instrument of torture.)
  51. And pierce my foot with its spikes and lame myself."
  52. Once, when a wretched flute-player was preparing
  53. To play the flute at a sacred festival,
  54. Let us have only sounds of omen good,
  55. Said Stratonicus; "let us pour libations
  56. And pray devoutly to the mighty gods."
  57. There was a harper, and his name was Cleon,
  58. But he was nick-named Ox; he sang most vilely
  59. Without th' accompaniment of the lyre.
  60. When Stratonicus heard him, then he said,
  61. "I've often heard of asses at the lyre,
  62. But now I see an ox in the same case."
  63. The harper Stratonicus once had sail'd
  64. To Pontus, to see king Berisadæs.
  65. And when he'd staid in Pontus long enough,
  66. He thought he would return again to Greece.
  67. But when the king refused to let him go,
  68. They say that Stratonicus said to him—
  69. Why, do you mean to stay here long yourself?
  70. The harper Stratonicus once was staying
  71. Some time at Corinth; when an aged woman
  72. One day stood looking at him a long time,
  73. And would not take her eyes off: then said he,
  74. "Tell me, I pray you, in God's name, good mother,
  75. What is 't you wish, and why you look thus on me?"
  76. I marvell'd,
    said she, "how 'twas your mother
  77. Held you nine months, without her belly bursting,
  78. While this town can't endure you one whole day."
  79. Fair Biothea, Nicotheon's wife,
  80. Once at a party with a handmaid fair
  81. Made some strange noise; and after that, by chance,
  82. She trod upon a Sicyonian almond.
  83. Then Stratonicus said,
    The noise is different.
  84. But when night came, for this heedless word,
  85. He wash'd out his free-speaking in the sea.
  86. v.2.p.551
  87. Once, when at Ephesus, as rumour goes,
  88. A stupid harper was exhibiting
  89. One of his pupils to a band of friends;
  90. Stratonicus, who by chance was present, said,
  91. "He cannot make himself a harp-player,
  92. And yet he tries to teach the art to others."

And Clearchus, in the second book of his treatise on Friendship, says,—

Stratonicus the harp-player, whenever he wished to go to sleep, used to order a slave to bring him something to drink; 'not,' says he, 'because I am thirsty now, but that I may not be presently.'
And once, at Byzantium, when a harp-player had played his prelude well, but had made a blunder of the rest of the performance, he got up and made proclamation,
That whoever would point out the harp-player who had played the prelude should receive a thousand drachmæ.
And when he was once asked by some one who were the wickedest people, he said,
That in Pamphylia, the people of Phaselis were the worst; but that the Sidetæ were the worst in the whole world.
And when he was asked again, according to the account given by Hegesander, which were the greatest barbarians, the Bœotians or the Thessalians, he said,
The Eleans.
And once he erected a trophy in his school, and put this inscription on it—
Over the bad harpplayers.
And once, being asked by some one which was the safer kind of vessel, the long one or the round one,—
Those,
quoth he,
are the safest which are in dock.
And once he made a display of his art at Rhodes, and no one applauded; on which he left the theatre, and when he had got into the air he said,
When you fail to give what costs you nothing, how can I expect any solid pay from you?
Let the Eleans,
said he,
celebrate gymnastic contests, and let the Corinthians establish choral, and the Athenians theatrical exhibitions; and if any one of them does anything wrong, let the Lacedæmonians be scourged,
—jesting upon the public scourgings exhibited in that city, a Charicles relates, in the first book of his treatise on the Cit Contests. And when Ptolemy the king was talking with him in an ambitious kind of way about harp-playing,
Te sceptre,
said he,
Oking, is one thing, and the plectrum another;
as Capito the epic poet says in the fourth book of his Commentaries addressed to Philopappus. And once being invited to hear a flute-player, after he had heard him, he said—
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  1. The father granted half his prayer,
  2. The other half denied.
And when some one asked him which half he granted, he said,
He granted to him to play very badly, and denied him the ability to sing well.
And once, when a beam fell down and slew some wicked man,
O Men,
said he,
I think (δοκῶ) there are gods; and if not, there are beams (δόκοι).

Also, after the before-mentioned witticisms of Stratonicus, he put down besides a list of these things following.

Stratonicus said once to the father of Chrysogonus, when he was saying that he had everything at home in great abundance, for that he himself had undertaken the works, and that of his sons, one could teach[*](There is meant here to be a pun on διδάσκω, which means to teach, and also to exhibit a play. ) and another play the flute;

You still,
said Stratonicus,
want one thing.
And when the other asked him what that was,
You want,
said he,
a theatre in your house.
And when some one asked him why he kept travelling over the whole of Greece, and did not remain in one city, he said—
That he had received from the Muses all the Greeks as his wages, from whom he was to levy a tax to atone for their ignorance.
And he said that Phaon did not play harmony,[*](There is an allusion here to Harmonia the wife of Cadmus.) but Cadmus. And when Phaon pretended to great skill on the flute, and said that he had a chorus at Megara,
You are joking,
said he;
for you do not possess anything there, but you are possessed yourself.
And he said—
That he marvelled above all things at the mother of Satyrus the Sophist, because she had borne for nine months a man whom no city in all Greece could bear for nine days.
And once, hearing that he had arrived in Ilium at the time of the Ilian games,
There are,
said he,
always troubles in Ilium.
And when Minnacus was disputing with him about music, he said—
That he was not attending to what he said, because he had got in above his ankles.
At another time he said of a bad physician—
That he made those who were attended by him go to the shades below the very day they came to him.
And having met one of his acquaintances, when he saw his sandals carefully sponged, he pitied him as being badly off, pretending to think that he would never have had his sandals so well sponged if he had not sponged them himself. And as it was a very mixed
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race of people who lived at Teichius, a town in the Milesian territory, when he saw that all the tombs about were those of foreigners,
Let us begone, O boy,
said he;
or all the strangers, as it seems, die here, and none of the citizens.
And when Zethus the harper was giving a lecture upon music, he said that he was the only person who was utterly unfit to discuss the subject of music, inasmuch as he had chosen the most unmusical of all names, and called himself; Zethus[*](Zethus was the name of the brother of Amphion.) instead of Amphion. And once, when he was teaching some Macedonian to play on the harp, being angry that he did nothing as he ought, he said,
Go to Macedonia.

And when he saw the shrine of some hero splendidly adorned, close to a cold and worthless bathing-house, when he came out, having had a very bad bath,

I do not wonder,
said he,
that many tablets are dedicated here; for every one of the bathers naturally offers one, as having been saved from drowning.
And at another time he said—,
In Aenus there are eight months of cold and four of winter.
At another time he said,
that the people of Pontus had come out of a great sea
—as though he had said (great) trouble. And he called the Rhodians White Cyrenæans, and the city he called the City of Suitors; and Heraclea he called the Man- Corinth; and Byzantium he called the Arm-pit of Greece; and the Leucadians were Stale Corinthians; and the Ambraciotes he called Membraciotes. And when he had gone out of the gates of Heraclea, and was looking round him, when some one asked him what he was looking at, he said that
he was ashamed of being seen, as if he were coming out of a brothel.
And once, seeing two men bound in the stocks, he said—
This is suited to the disposition of a very insignificant city, not to be able to fill such a place as this.
And once he said to a man who professed to be a musician, but who had been a gardener before, and who was disputing with him about harmony,—
  1. Let each man sing the art in which he's skilled.
And once at Maronea, when he was drinking with some people, he said,—
That he could tell in what part of the city he was, if men led him through it blindfold;
and then when they did so lead him, and asked him where he was,
Near the eating-house,
said he, because all Maronea seemed
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a mere eating-house. And once, when he was sitting next to Telephanes, and he was beginning to blow the flute, he said,
Higher, like men who belch.
And when the bathing-man in Cardia brought him some bad earth and salt water to cleanse himself with, he said that he was being besieged both by land and sea.

And when he had conquered his competitors at Sicyon, he set up a trophy in the temple of Aesculapius, and wrote upon it,

Stratonicus, conqueror of those who played badly on the harp.
And when some one had sung, he asked what tune he had been singing; and when he said that it was an air of Carcinus,[*](καρκῖνος is also Greek for a crab.)
More like that,
said he,
than the air of a man.
He also said, on another occasion, that there was no spring at Maronea, only heat. And once at Phaselis, when the bathing-man was wrangling with his boy about the money, (for the law was that foreigners should pay more for bathing than natives,)
Oh, you wretched boy!
said he,
you have almost made me a citizen of Phaselis, to save a halfpenny.
And once, when a person was praising him in hopes to get something by it, he said,
that he himself was a greater beggar.
And once, when he was teaching in a small town, he said,
This is not a city (πόλις), but hardly one (μόλις).
And once, when he was at Pella, he came to a well, and asked whether it was fit to drink; and when those who were drawing water from it said,
At all events we drink it;
Then,
said he,
I am sure it is not fit to drink:
for the men happened to be very sallow-looking. And when he had heard the poem of Timotheus, on the subject of Semele in Labour, he said,
But if she had brought forth an artisan, and not a god, what sounds would she have uttered!

And when Polyidas was giving himself airs, because his pupil Philotas had beaten Timotheus, he said,

That he wondered at his being so ignorant as not to know that he makes decrees, and Timotheus laws.
And he said to Areus the harp-player, who was annoying him,
Play to the crows.
[*](ψάλλʼ ἐς κόρακας, parodying the common execration, βάλλʼ ἐς κόρακας. ) And once he was at Sicyon, when a leather-dresser was abusing him, and he said to the leather-dresser (νακοδέψης),
O you κακόδαιμον νακόδαιμον.
And Stratonicus himself, beholding the Rhodians dissolved in luxury, and drinking only warm drinks, said,
that there were white Cyrenæans.
And he
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called Rhodes itself the City of the Suitors,[*](Alluding to the intemperance of the suitors of Pen lope, as de- scribed in the Odyssey.) thinking that they were in no respect different from the Cyrenæans in debauchery, but only in complexion; and also because of the devotion to pleasure of the inhabitants, he compared Rhodes itself to the city of the Suitors.

And Stratonicus was, in all these elaborate witticisms, an imitator of Simonides the poet, as Ephorus tells us in the second book of his treatise on Inventions; who says that Philoxenus of Cythera was also a great studier of the same pursuit. And Phænias the Peripatetic, in the second book of his treatise on Poets, says—

Stratonicus the Athenian appears to have been the first person who introduced the system of playing chords into the simple harp-playing; and he was the first man who ever took pupils in music, and who ever composed tables of music. And he was also a man of no small brilliancy as a wit.
He says also that he was eventually put to death by Nicocles, the King of the Cyprians, on account of the freedom of his witticisms, being compelled to drink poison, because he had turned the sons of the king into ridicule.

But I marvel at Aristotle, whom these wise men, my excellent Democritus, are so incessantly speaking of and praising, (and whose writings you also esteem highly, as you do those of the other philosophers and orators,) on account of his great accuracy: and I should like to know when he learnt, or from what Proteus or Nereus who came up from the depths he found out, what fish do, or how they go to sleep, or how they live: for all these things he has told us in his writings, so as to be, in the words of the comic poets,

a wonder to fools;
for he says that the ceryx, and indeed that the whole race of shell-fish, are propagated without copulation; and that the purple-fish and the ceryx are longlived. For how could he know that the purple-fish lives six years? and how could he know that the viper takes a long time to propagate his species? or that of all its tribe the longest at that work is the pigeon, the next the œnas, and the quickest is the turtle-dove? And whence did he learn that the horse lives five-and-thirty years, but the mare more than forty? saying, too, that some have lived even seventy-five years. And he also states that from the copulation of lice there are
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born nits; and that from a worm, after its change, there is produced a caterpillar, from which comes the humble-bee, and from that the larva of the silk-worm. And he also says that bees live to six years of age, and that some live even seven years; and he says that neither bee nor wasp have ever been seen in the act of copulation, on which account no one can ever tell whether they are male or female. And from what did he learn that men are inferior to bees? for these latter always preserve an equal condition of life, being subject to no changes, but employing themselves without ceasing in the collection of honey, and doing that without having been taught by any one to do so: but men are inferior to bees, and as full of fancy as bees are of honey: how, then has Aristotle observed all these things? And in his treatise on Long Life, he says that a fly has been seen which had lived six or seven years. But what proof is there of this?

And where did he ever see ivy growing out of a stag's head? And again, owls and night-jars, he says, cannot see by day; on which account they hunt for their food by night, and they do this not during the whole night, but at the beginning of evening. And he says, too, that there are several different kinds of eyes, for some are blue, and some are black, and some are hazel. He says, too, that the eyes of men are of different characters, and that the differences of disposition may be judged of from the eyes; for that those men who have goats' eyes, are exceedingly sharp-sighted, and have the best dispositions. And of others, he says that some men have projecting eyes, and some have eyes deeply set, and some keep a mean between the two: and those whose eyes are deeply set, he says, have the sharpest sight, and those whose eyes project, must have the worst dispositions; and those who are moderate in these respects, are people, says he, of moderate dispositions. There are also some people whose eyes are always winking, and some who never wink at all, and some who do so in a moderate degree: and those who are always winking are shameless[*](Schweigh., referring to the passage here alluded to, (Hist. An. i. 10,) proposes to transpose these characteristics, so as to attribute shamelessness to those who do not wink, and fickleness to those who do.) people, and those who never wink at all are unstable and fickle, and those who wink in a moderate degree have the best disposition.

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He says also that man is the only animal which has its heart on the left side; and that all other animals have it in the middle of the body. And he says that males have more teeth than females; and he affirms that this has been noticed in the case of the sheep, and of the pig, and of the goat. And he says also that there is no fish which has testicles, and there is no fish which has a breast, and no bird ether; but that the only fish which has no gall is the dolphin. There are, however, some, says he, which have no gall in their liver, but they have it near their bowels; as the sturgeon, the synagris, the lamprey, the sword-fish, and the sea-swallow. But the amia has its gall spread over the whole of its entrails: and the hawk and the kite have theirs spread both over their liver and their entrails; but the ægocephalus has his gall both in his liver and in his stomach: and the pigeon, and the quail, and the swallow have theirs, some in their entrails, and some in their stomach.

Moreover, he says that all the molluscous fish, and the shell-fish, and the cartilaginous fish, and all insects, spend a long time in copulation; but that the dolphin and some other fish copulate lying alongside the female. And he says that the dolphins are very slow, but fish in general very quick. Again he says that the lion has very solid bones, and that if they are struck, fire comes from them as from flint stones. And that the dolphin has bones, but no spine; but that cartilaginous fish have both gristle and spine. And of animals he says that some are terrestrial and some aquatic; land that some even live in the fire; and that there are some, which he calls ephemera, which live only one day: and that there are some which are amphibious, such as the river-horse, and the crocodile, and the otter. And that all animals in general have two forefeet, but that the crab has four; and that all the animals which have blood are either without feet t all, or are bipeds, or quadrupeds; and that all the animals which have more than four feet are destitute of blood: n which account every animal which moves, moves by what he calls four tokens,—man by two hands and two feet, a bird by two feet and two wings, an eel and a conger by two fins and two joints. Moreover, some animals have hands, as a man has, and some appear to have hands, as a monkey does; or there is no brute beast which can really give and take, and it is for

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those things that hands are given to men as instruments. Again, some animals have limbs, as a man, an ox, an ass; and some have no limbs, as a serpent, an oyster, the pulmo marinus. There are also many animals which are not always visible, such as those which hide in holes; and those which do not hide in holes are still not always visible, as swallows and cranes.

And though I could repeat to you now a great deal of nonsense which the medicine-seller talked, I forbear to do so, although I know that Epicurus, that most truthful of men, said of him in his letter about Institutions, that he devoted himself to a military life after having squandered his patrimony in gluttony; and that, turning out an indifferent soldier, he then took to selling medicines. Then, when the school of Plato was opened, he says, he changed again, and applied himself to philosophical discussions, and as he was not a man destitute of ability, by little and little he became a speculative philosopher. I know, too, that Epicurus is the only person who ever said this of him; for neither did Eubulides nor Cephisodorus venture to say anything of the kind against the Stagirite, and that, too, though they did write books against him. But in that same letter Epicurus says, that Protagoras also, who became a philosopher from having been a porter and a wood-carrier, was first promoted to be an amanuensis of Democritus; who, wondering at the admirable way in which he used to put the wood together, took him under his eye in consequence of this beginning; and then he began to teach the rudiments of learning in some village, and after that he proceeded on to the study of philosophy. And I now, O fellow feasters, after all this conversation, feel a great desire for something to eat. And when some one said that the cooks were already preparing something, and taking care that the dishes should not be served up cold, on account of the excessive length to which the

feast of words
had been carried, for that no one could eat cold dishes, Cynulcus said,—But I, like the Milcon of Alexis, the comic poet, can eat them even if they are not served up warm—
  1. For Plato teaches us that what is good,
  2. Is everywhere on all occasions good;
  3. Can you deny this? and that what is sweet
  4. Is always sweet, here, there, and ev'rywhere.
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And it was not without some cleverness that Sphærus, who was a fellow-pupil with Chrysippus in the school of Cleanthes, when he had been sent for to Alexandria by king Ptolemy; when on one occasion birds made of wax were served up at a banquet, and he was putting out his hand to take some, but was stopped by the king, who told him that he was assenting to a sham; very appropriately answered,—'That he did not agree that they were birds at all, but only that it was probable that they might be birds; and that an opinion which could be confirmed by the perception, is superior to that which is merely probable; for that the one cannot be incorrect, but that what is probable may turn out Contrary to what was expected." And so it could not be a bad thing if some waxen dishes were brought round to us too, according to our perceptive opinions, so that we might be beguiled at least by the sight of them, and so escape talking on for ever.

And when they were now on the point of sitting down to eat again, Daphnus bade them stop, quoting this iambic out of the Mammacythus or Auri of Metagenes—

  1. As when we're feasting anywhere,
  2. Then we all talk and argue faster.
And indeed, said he, I say that the discussion about fish is still defective in some points, since the sons of Aesculapius (such as Philotimus I mean, in his essay on Food, and Mnesitheus the Athenian, and Diphilus the Siphnian) hare said a good deal about fishes, of which we have as yet taken no notice. For Diphilus, in his work entitled A Treatise on Food fit for People in Health and Invalids, says,—"Of sea-fish, those which keep to the rocks are easily digested, and juicy, and purgative, and light, but not very nutritious; but those which keep in the deep water are much less digestible, very nutritious, but apt to disagree with one. Now, of the fish which keep to the rocks, the phycen and the phycis are very tender little fish, and very digestible; but the perch, which is like them, varies a little as to the places in which it is found. And the tench resembles the perch; but the smaller tench and the white ones are tender, juicy, and digestible; but the green ones (and they are also called caulinæ) are dry, and devoid of juice. The channæ also have tender meat, put still they are harder than the perch. Then there is the scarus, which has tender flesh, not very firm, sweet, light, digestible,
v.2.p.560
not apt to disagree with one, and good for the stomach. But the fresh ones are less popular than the others, because they hunt the sea-hares and feed on them, owing to which their entrails are apt to produce cholera morbus. And the fish which is called ceris is tender, good for the bowels, and good for the stomach; but its juice has fattening and purgative qualities. The orphus, which some write ὀρφὸς, and some ὀρφὼς, is very full of a pleasant juice, glutinous, indigestible, very nutritious, diuretic. But the parts near his head are glutinous and digestible; but the more fleshy parts are indigestible and heavy, and the part towards the tail is the tenderest part; and he is a fish apt to generate phlegm, and indigestible. The sphyrenæ are more nutritious than the congers; and the eel caught in lakes is not so nice as the sea-eel, but it is more nutritious. The chrysophrys is very like the melanurus; and the sea-scorpions, which are found in the deep sea, and are of a tawny colour, are more nutritious than those which are found in marshes, or than the large ones which are taken on the shores.

"But the sparus is harsh-tasted, tender, with no unpleasant smell, good for the stomach, diuretic, and not indigestible; but when he is fried he is indigestible. The mullet is good for the stomach, very astringent, of very firm flesh, not very digestible, apt to bind the bowels, especially when it is broiled; but when it is fried in a frying-pan, then it is heavy and indigestible; and, as a general rule, the whole tribe of mullets has the property of causing secretions of blood. The synodon and the charax are of the same kind, but the charax is the better of the two. The phagrus is found both in the river and in the sea; but that which is found in the sea is the best. The capriscus is called also the mussel; but it has a strong smell, and very hard meat, and it is more indigestible than the citharus; but its skin is very pleasant to the taste. The needle-fish, or belone, and it is also called the ablennes, is indigestible and moist, but good for the bowels. The thrissa, and those of the same kind, such as the chalcis and the eretimis, are very digestible. The cestreus is found in the sea, and in rivers, and in lakes. And this fish, says he, is also called the oxyrhynchus; but the one which is taken in the Nile is called the coracinus. And the black kind is smaller than the white, and when boiled it is not so good as when it is roasted; for when roasted it is good for

v.2.p.561
the stomach and good for the bowels. The salpe is hard- fleshed, and unpleasant to the taste, but the best are those which are caught at Alexandria, and those which are taken in the autumn. For it is white, full of moisture, and free from any unpleasant smell. The gryllus is like the eel in appearance, but it is not nice to the taste. The sea-hawk is harder than the sea-cuckoo, but in other respects they are much alike. The uranoscopus, and also the fish called agus, which is also called the callionymus, are heavy fish. The boax, when boiled, is very digestible, giving out a very wholesome juice, and is good for the stomach; and that which is broiled on the coals is sweeter and more tender. The bacchus is full of abundant and agreeable and wholesome juice, and is very nutritious. The sea-goat is not very agreeable as to its juice, not very digestible, and has a disagreeable smell. The sea-sparrow and the buglossus are both nutritious and palatable, and the turbot is like them. The sea-grayling, the cephalus, the cestreus, the myxinus, and the colon are all much alike as to their eatable properties; but the cestreus is inferior to the cephalus, the myxinus is worse, and the colon is the least good of all.

"The thynnis and the thynnus are both heavy and nutritious; but the fish which is called the Acarnanian is sweet, very exciting, very nutritious, and easily secreted. The anchovy is heavy and indigestible, and the white kind is called the cobitis; and the hepsetus, a little fish, if of the same genus.

"Of cartilaginous fish, the sea-cow is fleshy, but the shark is superior to that,—that kind, I mean, which is called the asterias. But the alopecias, or sea-fox, is in taste very like the land animal, from which circumstance, indeed, it has its name. The ray is a very delicate fish to the taste; but the stellated ray is tenderer still, and full of excellent juice; but the smooth ray is less wholesome for the stomach, and has an unpleasant smell. But the torpedo, which is hard of digestion, is in the parts below the head very tender, and good for the stomach, and, moreover, very digestible, but its other parts are not so; and the small ones are the best, especially when they are plain boiled. The rhine, which is one of th cartilaginous class, is very digestible and light; but those of the largest size are the most nutritious; and, as a general rule,

v.2.p.562
all the cartilaginous fish are apt to create flatulence, and are fleshy, and difficult of digestion, and if they are eaten in any quantity, they are bad for the eyes. The cuttlefish, when boiled, is tender, palatable, and digestible, and also good for the stomach; but the juice which comes from it has the property of making the blood thin, and is apt to cause secretions by hemorrhoids. The squid is more digestible, and is nutritious, especially the small-sized one; but when boiled they are harder, and not palatable. The polypus promotes amativeness, but it is hard and indigestible; and those of the largest size are the most nutritious, and when they are much boiled, they have a tendency to fill the stomach with liquid, and they bind the bowels. And Alexis, in his Pamphila, points out the useful properties of the polypus, speaking as follows,—
  1. But if you are in love, O Cteson,
  2. What is more useful than these fish I bring?
  3. Ceryces, cockles, (onions too, are here,)
  4. The mighty polypus, and good-sized turbot.
The pelamys also is very nutritious and heavy, it is also diuretic, and very indigestible; but when cured like the callubium, it is quite as good for the stomach, and it has a tendency to make the blood thin; and the large kind is called the synodontis. The sea-swallow, or chelidonias, is also something like the pelamys, but harder; and the chelidon is like the polypus, and emits juice which purifies the complexion, and stirs up the blood. The orcynus is a fish who delights in the mud; and the larger kind is like the chelidonias in hardness, but the lower part of its abdomen and its collar-bone are palatable and tender; but those which are called costæ, when cured and salted, are a middling fish. The xanthias has rather a strong smell, and is tenderer than the orcynus.
These are the statements of Diphilus.

But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Eatables, says,—"The larger breed of fishes are called by some sectile, and by others sea-fish; as, for instance, the chrysophrys, the sea-grayling, and the phagrus. And these are all difficult of digestion, but when they are digested they supply a great deal of nourishment. And the whole class of scaly fish, such as the thynni, the scombri, the tunnies, the congers, and all of those kinds, are also gregarious. But those which are not seen

v.2.p.563
by themselves, nor in large shoals, are the most digestible, such as the congers, and the carcharie, and fish of that kind. But the gregarious kinds of fish of that sort are very pleasant to the palate, for they are fat; but they are heavy, ad difficult of digestion, on which account they are very good for curing; and, indeed, these kinds make the best cured fish of all; they are also very good roasted, for by that process their fatty parts are got rid of. But those kinds which are skinned before they are dressed, as a general rule, are those fish which have a rough outside to their skin, not of scales, but such as rays and rhino have. And all these kinds are easily divided into small pieces, but they have not a sweet smell. And they supply the body with plenty of moist nourishment, and of all boiled fish they have the greatest effect on the bowels; but when they are roasted they are not so good. And the whole class of molluscous fish, such as polypi and cuttlefish, and others like them, are very indigestible, on which account they are very serviceable in exciting the amatory passions. They are also calculated to cause flatulence; and the time of indulgence in amatory pleasures requires a flatulent habit of body. All these fish are better when boiled. For their juices are injurious, and you may see what juices they emit when they are washed; and the boiling extracts all these juices from their flesh. For as the heat which is applied in boiling is a gradual one, and conjoined with moisture, there is, as it were, a sort of washing of them. But when they are roasted, that dries up the moisture, and moreover, as their flesh is hard by nature, it is natural that it should be made more so in this way.

“But anchovies of all kinds, and membrades, and trichides, and all the other little fish which we eat backbones and all, make the digestion flatulent, and give a good deal of moist nutriment. And so, as the digestion is unequal, the flesh being digested with great rapidity, and the bones dissolving slowly, for the anchovies are very bony of themselves, the digestion of the one part hinders the digestion of the other, and so flatulence arises from the digestion, ad moisture comes from the quantity of nourishment. They are better when they are boiled, but still they have very unequal effects on the bowels. The fish which keep close to the rocks, such as tench, and scorpions, and sea-sparrows, and others of the same kind, supply a dry kind of nourishment to our bodies, but

v.2.p.564
they are light and nutritious, and are easily digested, and leave nothing behind them, and are not apt to cause flatulence. And every kind of fish is more digestible when dressed simply, and especially those which keep near the rocks have a better flavour when dressed plainly. And the species which is called soft-fleshed is like them, namely, the sea-thrush, the sea-blackbird, and others which resemble them. And these contain more moisture than the others, and with respect to refreshing the strength of those who eat them, they have more efficacy. And if any one wishes to produce an effect upon his bowels, he should eat them boiled; but if he is in good health, then he will find them nutritious roasted. And as diuretic food they are equally useful cooked either way.

But the places of the sea where rivers and lakes fall into it, and also those where there are large bays and gulfs of the sea, are those where all the fish are more juicy, and more full of fat. They are also more palatable when caught in those places, but less nutritious and less digestible. And on the shore where it is exposed to the open sea, and where it is unprotected, then the fishes found there are for the most part hard and thin, beaten by the continued action of the waves. But where the sea is deep close in shore and less exposed to violent winds, especially if there are any cities near, then there is the greatest number of fish, and they are equally excellent in respect of pleasantness of flavour and ease of digestion, and also in the nourishment which they afford to the body. But of sea fish those are the most indigestible and the heaviest which migrate at certain seasons from the sea to the lakes and rivers; such as the cestreus; and as a general rule that is the character of every fish which can live in both salt and fresh water. But of those which live wholly in rivers and lakes, the river fish are the best; for the water of lakes is more apt to putrefy. And, again, of river fish those are the best which are found in the most rapid rivers; and especially the trout; for those are never found except where the river is rapid and cold, and they are far superior to all other river fish in their digestible properties.

This now, my friends, is my contribution, and I have brought you the wholesomest food with which it was in my power to provide you. For, as you may read in the Parasite of Antiphanes,—

v.2.p.565
  1. For I have never taken any great trouble
  2. In buying fish; * *
  3. * * * * *
  4. * * So that others from rich banquets coming
  5. Should blame the gluttonous surfeits of their friends.
And, indeed, I myself am not so violently fond of fish as the man in the Butalion of the same poet. (And that play is an amended edition of one of the Countryman's characters.) And he says—
  1. A. And I to-day will give a feast to all of you;
  2. And take you money now, and buy the supper.
  3. B. Yes; for unless I've money I should hardly
  4. Know how to buy discreetly. But i' the first place,
  5. Tell me what food, what dishes you prefer.
  6. A. All kinds of food.
  7. B. But tell me separately.
  8. First now, should you approve of any fish?
  9. A. A fishmonger came once into the country
  10. With a good basketfull of sprats and triglides,
  11. And, by Jove, greatly he pleased all of us.
  12. B. Well, tell me then, should you now like some fish?
  13. A. Indeed I should, if they were very little.
  14. For all large fish I always fancy cannibals.
  15. B. What can you mean, my friend?
  16. A. Why, cannibals;—
  17. How can a man eat fish which eat up men!
  18. B. 'Tis plain enough that it is Helen's food
  19. This fellow means, just sprats and triglides.
And in his Countryman he also calls sprats and triglides the food of Hecate. And Ephippus too, disparaging small fish, in his Philyra, speaks as follows—
  1. A. My father, would you like to go to market
  2. And buy some fish for me
  3. B. What shall I buy?
  4. A. Some grown up fish, my father, no small babies.
  5. B. Do not you yet know all the worth of money?

And in the same poet, in his Spit-bearers, there is a very witty young man who disparages everything connected with the purchase of fish. And he speaks thus—

  1. A. But while you buy, don't disregard economy,
  2. For anything will do.
  3. B. Just tell me how.
  4. A. Don't be expensive, though not mean or stingy;
  5. Whatever you may buy will be enough;
  6. Some squids and cuttle-fish; and should there be
  7. Some lobsters in the market, let's have one—
  8. Some eels will look nice too upon the table—
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  10. Especially if from the Theban lake:
  11. Then let us have a cock, a tender pigeon,
  12. A partridge, and a few such other things;
  13. And if a hare should offer, then secure it.
  14. B. Why how precise you are in your directions!
  15. A. I'd need be, you are so extravagant;
  16. And we are certain to have meat enough.
  17. B. Has anybody sent you any present?
  18. A. No, but my wife has sacrificed the calf
  19. Which from Corone came, and we to-morrow
  20. Shall surely sup on it.
And in Mnesimachus, the Morose Man, in the play of the same name, being a great miser, says to the extravagant young man in the play—
  1. A. I do entreat you, do not lecture me
  2. So very fiercely; do not say so much
  3. About the money; recollect I'm your uncle;
  4. Be moderate, I beg.
  5. B. How can I be
  6. More moderate than I am?
  7. A. At least be briefer,
  8. And don't deceive me; use diminutives;
  9. For fish say fishlings; if you want aught more,
  10. Speak of your bits of dishes; and at least
  11. I shall be ruin'd with a better grace.

But since, as fortune would have it so, in the before quoted lines,—my excellent Ulpian, or you too, O you sons of grammarians, just tell me what was Ephippus's meaning in what I have just repeated, when he said—

  1. The calf
  2. Which from Corone[*](Corone is not a woman's name, as some have fancied; the allusion is to the custom of some beggars, who, pretending to be ashamed to beg for themselves, carried about a talking jackdaw (κορώνη), and professed to be begging only for the use of the bird.) came, and we to-morrow
  3. Shall surely sup on it.
For I think there is here an allusion to some historical fact, and I should like to understand it. And Plutarch said, —There is a Rhodian tale, which, however, I can hardly repeat at the moment, because it is a very long time since I have fallen in with the book in which it occurs. But I know that Phœnix the Colophonian, the Iambic poet, making mention of some men as collecting money for the Jackdaw, speaks as follows—
  1. My friends, I pray you give a handful now
  2. Of barley to the jackdaw, Phœbus' daughter;
  3. v.2.p.567
  4. Or else a plate of wheat; or else a loaf,
  5. A halfpenny, or whatsoe'er you please;
  6. Give, my good friends, whatever you can spare
  7. To the poor jackdaw; e'en a grain of salt;
  8. For willingly she feeds on anything;
  9. And he who salt bestows to-day, to-morrow
  10. May give some honey. Open, boy, the door;
  11. Plutus has heard, and straight a serving maid
  12. Brings out some figs. Gods, let that maiden be
  13. For ever free from harm, and may she find
  14. A wealthy husband of distinguished name:
  15. And may she show unto her aged father
  16. A lusty boy, and on her mother's lap
  17. Place a fair girl, her daughter, to bring up
  18. A happy helpmate for some lucky cousin.
  19. But I, where'er my feet conduct my eyes,
  20. Sing with alternate melody at the gates
  21. Of him who gives, and him who rude denies.
  22. At present I'll leave off, and say no more.
And at the end of this set of iambics he says—
  1. But you, my friends, who have good store at home,
  2. Give something. Give, O king; give you too, housewife.
  3. It is the law that all should give their hand
  4. When the crow begs. And you who know this law,
  5. Give what you please, and it shall be sufficient.
And those people who went about collecting for the jackdaw (κορώνη) were called Coronistæ, as Pamphilus of Alexandria tells us, in his treatise on Names. And the songs which are sung by them are called coronismata, as Agnocles the Rhodian tells us, in his Coronistæ.

There is also another collection made among the Rhodians, the making of which is called χελιδονίζειν; and it is mentioned by Theognis, in the second book of his treatise on the Sacrifices in Rhodes, where he writes thus—"There is a species of collecting which the Rhodians call χελιδονίζειν, which takes place in the month Boedromion. And it derives its name of χελιδονίζειν because the people are accustomed to utter the following song:—

  1. The swallow, the swallow (χελιδών) is come,
  2. Bringing good seasons and a joyful time.
  3. Her belly is white, her back is black.
  4. Bring, oh bring, a cake of figs
  5. Out of your luxurious house,
  6. Bring a cup of wine,
  7. And a dish of cheese,
  8. And a bag of wheat.
  9. v.2.p.568
  10. Those the good swallow will not despise,
  11. Nor a cake of eggs.
  12. Shall we now go, or shall we get something?
  13. Give something, and we'll go; if you give nothing
  14. We will not cease to pester you; we'll force the door
  15. And carry it away, or th' upper lintel,
  16. Or e'en your wife who sits within the house.
  17. She is but little, we shall find her light.
  18. If you give something, let it be worth having.
  19. Open, then, open the door to the swallow,
  20. For we are not old men, but only boys.
And Cleobulus the Lindian was the first man who introduced the custom of this collection, at a time when there was a great want in Lindus of a collection of money.