Deipnosophistae

But, since we have mentioned the Rhodian histories, I myself am now going to tell you something about fish, from the account given of the beautiful Rhodes, which that delightful writer Lynceus says is full of excellent fish. Ergias the Rhodian, then, in his Account of his own Country, having first made mention of the Phoenicians, who inhabited the island, says—"That Phalanthus, and his friends, having a very strong city in Ialysus, called Achaia, and being very economical of their provisions, held out for a long time against Iphiclus, who besieged them. For they had also a prophecy given them by some oracle, that they should keep the place till crows became white, and till fish were seen in their goblets. They therefore, expecting that these things would never happen, prosecuted the war with less vigour. But Iphiclus, having heard from some one of the oracles of the Phœnicians, and having waylaid a highly-trusted adherent of Phalanthus, whose name was Larcas, as he was going for water, and having entered into a covenant with him, caught some fish at the spring, and putting them into the ewer, gave them to Larcas, and bade him carry the water back, and pour it into the goblet from which he was used to pour out wine for Phalanthus: and he did so. And Iphiclus also caught some crows, and smeared them over with gypsum, and let them fly again. But when Phalanthus saw the crows, he went to his goblet; and when he saw the fish there, he considered that the place no longer belonged to him and his party, and so he sent a herald to Iphiclus, demanding permission to retire, with all his troops, under the protection of a treaty, And when Iphiclus agreed to this, Phalanthus devised the follow-

ing contrivance. Having slain some victims, and taken out the entrails, he endeavoured to put in some silver and gold, and so to carry it away. But when Iphiclus percieved this, he prevented it. And when Phalanthus alleged against him the oath which he had taken, when he swore to allow them to take away whatever they had in their bellies, he met them with a counter device, giving them vessels to go away in, but taking away the rudders, and the oars, and the sails, saying that he had sworn to give them boats, and nothing further. And as the Phœnicians were in great perplexity, they buried a great deal of their riches underground, marking the places where they buried it, that at some future time they might come and take it up again; but they left a great deal for Iphiclus. And so, when the Phœnicians had left the place in this manner, the Greeks became masters of it.” And Polyzelus has given the same account, in his History of Rhodian Affairs; and says—

That the only people who knew the secret about the fishes and the crows were Phaces and his daughter Dorcia; and she, being beloved by Iphiclus, and having come to an agreement to marry him through the intervention of her nurse, persuaded the man who brought the water to bring the fish and put them into the goblet; and she herself whitewashed the crows, and let them go.

And Creophylus, in his Annals of the Ephesians, says—

Those who colonized Ephesus, being much perplexed for want of a place where they could settle, sent at last to the oracle, and asked where they should build themselves a city; and he told them to build a city in that place which a fish should show them, and to which a wild boar should guide them. Accordingly, it is said that some fishermen were breakfasting at the spot where the fountain called Hypeleus now is, and where the harbour is which is called the sacred harbour; and that one of the fish leaped up with a burning cinder sticking to him, and fell on some of the refuse; and that by this means a thicket was set on fire, in which there happened to be a wild boar; and he, being disturbed by the fire ran for some distance up the mountain which is called th Rough Mountain, and at last was transfixed by javelins, and fell where the temple of Minerva now stands. And the Ephesians, having crossed over from the island, occupied that for twenty-one years, and in the twenty-second year they founded Trachea and the towns around Coressus, and erected a temple

v.2.p.570

to Diana in the market-place, and one to the Pythian Apollo overlooking the harbour.

Now after this long conversation, all of a sudden there was heard all over the city the music of flutes and the noise of cymbals, and also a great crash of drums, with singing at the same time. And it happened to be the time of a festival which used formerly to be called the Parilia, but which is now called the Romana, in honour of the temple built to the Fortune of the City, by that most excellent and accomplished sovereign Hadrian. And all the inhabitants of Rome (and all the foreigners sojourning in the city) every year keep that day as a remarkable one. Accordingly, Ulpian said,—My friends, what is this?—

1. Is it a supper or a marriage feast
2. For certainly there is no picnic held now.

And when some one replied that every one in the city was dancing (using the verb βαλλίζω) in honour of the goddess, —My fine fellow, said Ulpian, laughing, what Greek in the world ever called this dancing βαλλισμόσ? You should have said κωμάζουσιν or χορεύουσιν, or, at all events, some word in common use; but you have bought us a name out of the Subura,

1. And spoilt the wine by pouring in this water.'

And Myrtilus said—But I will prove to you, my dear Epitimæus,[*](From ἐπιτιμάω, to rebuke.) that the word is a genuine Greek word; for you, who want to stop every one's mouth, have not succeeded in convicting any one of ignorance, but have proved yourself to be emptier than a snake's cast-off skin. Epicharmus, my most excellent gentlemen, in his Theori, speaks of the βαλλισμὸς, and Italy is no great way from Sicily. Accordingly, in that play, the public ambassadors, surveying the offerings at Pytho, and mentioning each one separately, speak as follows:—

1. Here there are brazen caldrons, brazen goblets,
2. And spits. And then to see the men with spits
3. And flutes, too, dancing (βαλλίζοντες), what a sight it was!

And Sophron, in his play which is entitled Nymphoponus, says—

1. Then he did take it, and proceeded onwards;
2. The rest did follow dancing (ἐβάλλιζον).

And again he says—

1. Dancing (βαλλίζοντες) they filled the entrance room with dung.

And Alexis, in his Curis, says—

1. And now I see a multitude of men
2. Hastening to a feast, as if a goodly company
3. Were here invited. May it be my luck
4. To keep out of your way, my revellers,
5. After your dancing (βαλλισμὸς) and your feasting both
6. Have gone off well and are quite finish'd.
7. For I should never bear my robe off safely,
8. Unless my wings had grown.

I know, too, that the word is found in other places, and when I recollect the exact passage, I will bring it forward.

But we have a right to ask of you, who have quoted to us these lines out of Homer,

1. But say, you joyful troop so gaily drest,
2. Is this a bridal or a friendly feast?—

in what respect the different sorts of feasts, which he calls εἰλαπίνη and ἔρανος, differ from one another? But, since you are silent, I will tell you; for, as the poet of Syracuse says,—

1. I by myself am equal to the task
2. Which formerly it took two men to answer.

The ancients used to call sacrifices, and the more splendid kind of preparations, εἰλάπιναι; and those who partook of them they used to call εἰλαπινασταί. But those feasts they called ἔρανοι, the materials for which were contributed by all who joined in them; and this name was derived from all the guests being friendly together (ἀπὸ τοῦ συνερᾷν) and contributing. And this same ἔρανος is also called θίασος, and those who partake of it are called ἐρανισταὶ and συνθιαῶται. The crowd, also, which follows Bacchus in his festivals is called θίασος, as Euripides says—

1. I see three thiasi of women coming.

And they gave them the name θίασος from the word θεός;— and, indeed, the Lacedæmonian form of the word θεὸς is σιός. And the word εἰλαπίνη is derived from the preparation and expense gone to for such purposes; for being destructive and extravagant is called λαφύττειν καὶ λαπάζειν, from which words the poets have used the word ἀλαπάζω for to destroy, And the plunder which is carried off after the sacking of a city they call λάφυρα. And accordingly Aeschylus and Eripides have given to the more luxurious banquets the name of εἰλάπιναι, from the verb λαπάζω. There is also a verb, λάπτω, which means to digest one's food, and to become relaxed (λαγαρὸς) by becoming empty. And from this word λαγαρὸς we get the word λαγὼν (the flank), and also λάγανον (a thin, broad cake); and from the word λαπάττω we get λαπάρα (the loins). And the verb λαφύττω means, with great freedom and abundance to evacuate and erupt oneself. And the word δαπανάω (to spend) is derived from δάπτω; and δάπτω is akin to δαψιλής; on which account we find the verbs δάπτω and δαρδάπτω applied to those who eat in a voracious and savage manner. Homer says—

1. Him the fierce dogs and hungry vultures tore (κατέδαψαν).

But the word εὐωχία (a luxurious feast) is derived not from ὀχὴ, which means nutriment, but from everything going on well (ἀπὸ τοῦ εὖ ἔχειν) in such a banquet, in which those who assemble honour the deity, and give themselves up to mirth and relaxation; and from this relaxation (ἀπὸ τοῦ μεθιέναι) they call wine μέθυ, and the god who gave them wine they call Methymnaeus, and Lyæus, and Evius, and Icius; just as also they call a man who is not sullen-looking and morose ἱλαρός; on which account, too, they pray the deity to be propitious (ἵλεως), uttering the ejaculation ἰὴ, ἰή. And from this again they call the place where they do this ἱερόν. And that they meant very nearly the same thing by ἵλεως and ἱλαρός is plain from the language used by Ephippus, in his play entitled Traffic; for he is speaking of a courtesan, and he says—

1. Then too, when any one is out of humour,
2. When he comes in she flatters him discreetly,
3. And kisses him, not pressing his mouth hard
4. Like some fierce enemy; but just billing towards him
5. Like some fond sparrow; then she sings and comforts him,
6. And makes him cheerful (ἱλαρὸς) and dispels all clouds
7. From off his face, and renders him propitious (ἵλεως).

But the ancients, who represented the gods under the form of men, arranged all their festivals on a similar principle; for, seeing that it is not possible to divert men from an eagerness for pleasure, but that it is useful and expedient to accustom them to enjoy themselves with moderation and in an orderly manner, they set apart certain times, and, sacrificing first to the gods, they in this way permitted them relaxation and enjoyment, in order that every one, thinking that the gods had come among them, and were present at the

firstfruits and libations, might enjoy himself with order and decency. Accordingly Homer says—

1. There, too, was Pallas to partake the feast:

and Neptune, too, is represented thus—

1. The monarch of the main, a heavenly guest,
2. In Ethiopia graced the genial feast,
3. There on the world's extremest verge, revered
4. With hecatombs and prayer in pomp preferr'd,
5. Distant he lay:[*](Hom. Odyss. i. 22.)—

and of Jupiter he says—

1. The sire of gods and all the ethereal train
2. On the warm limits of the furthest main
3. Now mix with mortals, nor disdain to grace
4. The feast of Ethiopia's blameless race.[*](Hom. Iliad, i. 424.)

And if a man of more mature age, and devoted to wise and virtuous pursuits, is present, they are ashamed to say or do anything indecorous; as also Epicharmus says, somewhere or other:—

1. But when their aged superiors are present,
2. Young men should silent be.

Therefore, considering that the gods were near to them, they celebrated their festivals in an orderly and temperate man- ner; on which account it was not the fashion of the ancients to lie at their meals, but, as Homer says,—

1. Feasting they sate;

nor were they accustomed to drink to the extent of drunkenness—

1. But when they'd eaten thus, and drank their fill,
2. Each to his room retired, not dreaming ill.

But the men of modern times, pretending to be sacrificing to the gods, and inviting their friends and nearest kinsmen to the sacrifice, vent imprecations on their children, and abuse their wives, and treat their slaves with indignity, and threaten the multitude, almost verifying the line of Homer:—

1. But now with speed let's take a short repast,
2. And well refresh'd to bloody conflict haste.

Nor do they ever give a thought to what has been said by the poet who wrote the poem entitled Chiron, whether it is Pherecrates, or Nicomachus, the teacher of rhythm, or whatever else his name may have been:—

1. When you have ask'd a friend to come to supper,
2. Do not be angry when you see him come;
3. That is the part of an unworthy man;
4. But give yourself to happy thoughts of joy,
5. And study to amuse your friend and guest.

But now men utterly forget all these rules, and they recollect only the lines which follow them, which are all written in imitation of the Great Eoæ which are attributed to Hesiod, and which are also meant as a parody on his great work, Works and Days:—

1. When any of us does celebrate
2. A sacrifice, and bids his friends to th' feast,
3. Still, if he come, we're vex'd and look askance,
4. And wish him to depart without delay.
5. And he his want of welcome soon perceives
6. And reassumes his shoes; when some one rises
7. Of the surrounding revellers, and says,
8. "Here, my friend, do not go; why won't you drink.
9. Take off your shoes." And then the host again
10. Is angry with the guest who calls him back,
11. And quotes some scraps of poetry against him,—
12. "Remember, always speed the parting guest,
13. And when a man is sleeping let him rest."
14. Do not we in this manner oft behave
15. When feasting those we choose to call our friends?

And, moreover, we add this:—

1. Let not a numerous party vex your mind,
2. For more are pleased, and the cost's near the same.

And when we are sacrificing to the gods, we spend as little as possible upon our sacrifices, and give them the most ordinary presents; as the admirable Menander tells us, in his Drunkenness:—

1. We don't do other things as we perform
2. Our duties to the gods. We sacrifice
3. One sheep scarce worth ten or a dozen drachmæ;
4. But for our flute-women, our perfumes rich,
5. Our harpers, Thasian and Mendæan wine,
6. Eels, cheese, and honey to regale ourselves,
7. We do not a whole talent think too much.
8. 'Tis very well to spend a dozen drachmæ
9. When we are sacrificing to the gods,
10. But if you much curtail that slight expense,
11. Are you not thus dishonouring the gods?
12. I, if I were a god, would ne'er allow
13. A scanty loin of beef to load my altars,
14. Unless an eel were also sacrificed,
15. So that Callimedon might die of rage.

And the ancients call some feasts ἐπιδόσιμα, that is to say, given into the bargain,—the same which the Alexandrians call ἐξ ἐπιδομάτων. Alexis, at all events, in his Woman at the Well, says—

1. A. And now the master here has sent a slave
2. To bring to me a jar of his own wine.
3. B. I understand; this is ἐπιδόσιμος,
4. A gift into the bargain, as a makeweight;
5. I praise the wise old woman.

And Crobylus, in his Supposititious Son, says—

1. A. Laches, I come to you; proceed.
2. B. Which way?
3. A. How can you ask? Why, to my mistress, who
4. Has a feast ἐπιδόσιμος prepared;
5. And in her honour only yesterday
6. You made the guests drink down twelve glasses each.

The ancients, also, were acquainted with the banquets which are now called dole-basket banquets; and Pherecrates mentions them in his Forgetful Man, or the Sea, saying—

1. Having prepared a small dole-basket supper
2. He went away to Ophela.

And this clearly points to the dole-basket supper, when a man prepares a supper for himself, and then puts it in a basket, and goes off to sup with some one. And Lysias has used the word σύνδειπνον for a banquet, in his speech against Micinus, on his trial for murder; for he says that he had been invited to a σύνδειπνον: and Plato says—

Those who had made a σύνδειπνον:

and Aristophanes, in his Gerytades, says—

1. Praising great Aeschylus in his σύνδειπνα,

on which account some people wish to write the title of Sophocles's play in the neuter gender, σύνδειπνον. Some people also use the expression συναγώγιμα δεῖπνα, picnic feasts; as Alexis does, in his Man fond of Beauty, or the Nymphs, where he says—

1. Come, sit you down, and call those damsels in;
2. We've got a picnic here, but well I know
3. That your's is but a skin-flint disposition.

And Ephippus says, in his Geryones,—

1. They also celebrate a picnic feast.

They also use the verb συνάγω for to drink with on another, and the noun συναγώγιον for a drinking party. Menander, in his Angry Woman, says—

1. And for this reason now they drink (συνάγουσι) alone:

and presently afterwards he says—

1. And so they ended the entertainment (συναγώγιον).

And probably the συναγώγιον is the same as that which was also called τὸ ἀπὸ συμβολων δεῖπνον. But what the συμβολαὶ, or contributions, are, we learn from Alexis, in his Woman who has taken Mandragora, where he says—

1. A. I'll come and bring my contributions now.
2. B. How, contributions?
3. A. The Chalcidians
4. Call fringes, alabaster, scent boxes,
5. And other things of that kind, contributions.

But the Argives, as Hegesander tells us in his Commentaries, (the following are his exact words)—

The Argives call the contributions towards an entertainment which are brought by the revellers, χῶν; and each man's share they call αἶσα.

And now, since this book also has come to a not unsuitable end, my good friend Timocrates, let us stop our discussion at this point, lest any one should think that we were formerly fishes ourselves, as Empedocles says that he was; for that great natural philosopher says—

1. For I myself have been a boy, a girl,
2. A bush, a bird, and fish which roams the sea.

The words τακερὸς and σίναπι The word πάροψις TurnipsCabbage LeeksPoultryAnaxandridesPigsCooksUse of particular WordsLearned CooksCooksUse of particular WordsMade DishesPheasantsThe PorphyrionPartridgesThe Bustard SparrowsQuailsPigeonsDucksSucklingsAttic form of Nouns in ως LoinsHaresThe word σύαγρος DinnersCookery ChamæleonBean SoupSoapTowels

1. But now let each becalm his troubled breast,
2. Wash, and partake serene the friendly feast;
3. While to renew these topics we delay
4. Till Heaven's revolving lamp restores the day,

both to you and me, O Timocrates. For when some hams were brought round, and come one asked whether they were tender, using the word τακερὸς,—In what author does τακερὸς occur? said Ulpian: and is there any authority, too, for calling mustard σίναπι instead of νᾶπυ? For I see that that condiment is being brought round in the dishes with the hams. And I see that the word κωλεὸς, a ham, is now used in the masculine gender, and not in the feminine only, as our Attic writers use it. At all events, Epicharmus, in his Megarian Woman, says—

1. Sausages, cheese, and hams (κωλεοὶ), and artichokes,
2. But not a single thing that's eatable:

and in his Cyclops he says—

1. Pig's tripe is good, by Jove, and so is ham (κωλεός).

And learn this now from me, O you wise man, that Epicharmus, in this last passage, uses χορδὴ for what, in every other place, he calls ὀρύα, tripe. And I see, too, that salt is used in seasoning in other dishes; but of salt which is not seasoned the Cynics are full, among whom we find, in the Corycus of Antiphanes, another Cynic saying—

1. Of delicacies which the sea produces,
2. We have but one, but that is constant, salt;
3. And then[*](The fragment here given appears to be hopelessly corrupt.) . . . . . .

I see, too, that brine is mingled with vinegar; and I know, too, that now some of the inhabitants of Pontus prepare the pickle which they call oxygarum, or vinegar pickle, by itself.

Zoilus replied to this, and said-Aristophanes, my good friend, in his Lemnian Woman, has used the word τακερὸς for delicate, saying—

1. Lemnus producing good and delicate (τακεροὺς) beans:

and Pherecrates, in his Crapatalli, says—

1. To make the vetches delicate (τυκερούς):

and Nicander the Colophonian has used the word σίναπι in his Theriacans, where he said—

1. A brazen cucumber and mustard too (σίνηπυ);

and in his Georgics he writes—

1. The biting pungent seed of mustard (σινήπυος);

and again he says—

1. Cardamum and the plant which stings the nose,
2. The black-leav'd mustard (σίνηπυ).

And Crates, in his treatise on the Attic Dialect, introduces Aristophanes as saying—

1. He looked mustard (σίναπυ) and drew down his brows,

as Seleucus quotes it, in his books on Hellenism. But it is a line out of the Knights, and it ought to be read thus—

1. κἄβλεψε νάπυ, not καὶ βλέπε σινάπυ:

for no Attic writer ever used the form σίναπυ, although there is a reason for each form. For νάπυ may be said, as if it were νάφυ, because it has no φύσις, or growth. Fr it is ἀφυὲς and little, like the anchovy, which is called ἀφύη, and is called σίναπυ, because it injures the eyes (σίνεται τοὺς ὦπας) by its smell, as the onion has the name of κρόμμυον, because it makes us wink our eyes (ὅτι τὰς κόρας μύομεν). And Xenarchus the comic writer says, in his Scythians—

1. This evil is no longer evil; so
2. My daughter is corrupted by the stranger.

And that exquisite writer, Aristophanes, mentions salt and vinegar, saying, in the place where he speaks of Sthenelus the tragedian,—

1. A. How can I swallow Sthenelus's words?
2. B. By soaking them in vinegar or white salt.

We then, my good friend, have gone along with you in these inquiries. But we have a right to expect an answer from you, in what author the word παροψὶς is used for a vessel. For when speaking of some victuals of various sorts, which were carefully dressed, and of some other things of this sort, I am aware that Plato, in his Festivals, has used the following expressions—

1. Whence barley-cakes might be got, and παροψίδες.

And again, in his Europa, speaking at considerable length of some exquisite dish, he has used the following expressions among others—

1. A. The woman is asleep;
2. B. I am aware
3. That she is doing nothing.
4. A. The παροψίδες
5. Are all awake; and there is not a thing
6. More calculated to give pleasure always.
7. B. But where are these παροψίδες, I pray you?

And in the passage immediately following, he uses the word παροψὶς, as if it were equivalent to παροψώνημα, a delicacy; and in his Phaon he says—

1. Other men's things are like παροψίδες,
2. They please a short time, and are quickly spent.

1. And Aristophanes, in his Dædalus, says—
2. All women have one set of principles,
3. And have a lover, like a παροψὶς, ready.

So when Ulpian made no reply,—But I, said Leonidas, have a right to speak, since I have been silent a long time. But as Evenus the Parian says—

1. Many men make a point of contradicting
2. On every subject equally; but care not
3. Whether they rightly contradict or not.
v.2.p.579
4. But for such men there's an old answer fitting,

5. That may be your opinion, this is mine.

6. But with good arguments one may persuade
7. The wise with ease: for always men of sense
8. Do prove, the easiest pupils.

And my excellent friend Myrtilus,—for I have taken the words out of your mouth, Antiphanes,—in his Bœotian, has used this word παροψὶς for a vessel, where he says—

1. After she has invited you to supper,
2. She sets before you a παροψὶς full of . . . .

And Alexis, in his Hesione, says—

1. But when he saw two men well loaded with
2. The table and conveying it in-doors,
3. Groaning beneath a number of παροψίδες,
4. Looking no more at me, he said . . . .

And the man who was the author of the plays which are attributed to Magnes, says in his first Bacchus—

1. These things are now παροψίδες of ill to me.

And Achæus, in his Aethon, a satyric drama, says—

1. And let these savoury boil'd and roasted meats
2. On the παροψίδες be carved in pieces.

And Sotades the comic writer says, in his Man wrongly Ransomed—

1. I a παροψὶς seem to Crobylus.
2. Him he devours alone, but me he takes
3. But as a seasoning to something else.

But the word is used in an ambiguous sense by Xenophon, in the first book of his Cyropædia. For the philosopher says,

They brought him παροψίδας, and condiments of all sorts, and food of all kinds.

And in the works of the author of Chiron, which is usually attributed to Pherecrates, the word παροψὶς is used for seasoning; and not, as Didymus, in his treatise on Words used in a Corrupted Sense, asserts, for a vessel. For he says—

1. By Jove, as παροψίδες are praised or blamed
2. Because of the way in which they flavour meat,
3. So Caletas esteems these people nothing.

And Nicophon, in his Sirens, says—

1. Others may fight the παροψὶς for their seat.

And Aristophanes says, in his Dædalus,—

1. All women have one set of principles,
2. And have a lover, like a παροψὶς, ready.

And Plato says, in his Festivals,—

1. Whence barley-cakes may be got, and παροψίδες.

But he is speaking here of cooking and seasoning onions. But the Attic writers, O my Syri-Attic friend Ulpian, use ἔμβαμμα also in this sense; as Theopompus says, in his Peace:—

1. Bread's a good thing; but flattery and tricks,
2. When added as a seasoning (ἔμβαμμα) to bread,
3. Are odious as can be.

When speaking of hams, they use the two forms κωλῆ and κωλήν. Eupolis, in his Autolycus, says—

1. The legs and hams (κῳλῆες) out of the soup.

And Euripides, in his Sciron, says—

1. Nor hams (κωλῆνες) of kids.

But the word κωλῆ is contracted from κωλέα, as συκῆ from συκέα, λεοντῆ from λεοντέα; so κωλῆ from κωλέα. Aristophanes, in his second Plutus, says—

1. Alas the ham (κωλῆς) which I have just devour'd!

And in his Daitaleis he says—

1. And the fat hams (κωλαὶ) of tender little pigs
2. And dainty tit-bits swift to fly.

And in his Storks he says—

1. The heads of lambs, the hams (κωλὰς) of kids.

And Plato, in his Griffins, says—

1. Fish, and hams (κωλὰς), and sausages.

And Ameipsias, in his Connus, says—

1. The ham (κωλῆ) from off the victim, and the ribs,
2. And the left side o' th' head are usually given.

And Xenophon, in his book on Hunting, says—

The ham (κωλῆ) is fleshy, and the loins moist.

And Xenophanes the Colophonian, in his Elegies, says—

1. For having sent a ham (κωλῆ) of kid, you won
2. A mighty leg of carefully fatted bull,
3. An honourable present for a man,
4. Whose glory shall pervade all Greece, and never
5. Cease while the poets and the songs of Greece
6. Survive in memory and the mouths of men.

And as immediately after this a great quantity of food of all sorts was brought in, we will just mention those dishes which seem most worthy of being remembered; for there

was a great quantity of birds, and of geese, and also of young birds (which some people call πίποι), and of pigs, and of those highly-esteemed birds the pheasants. And after I have told you about the vegetables, I will then enumerate to you the other dishes also.

First of all, there were turnips; and Apellas in his treatise on the Cities in Peloponnesus, says that turnips are called γαστέρες by the Lacedæmonians: and Nicander the Colophonian, in his Dialects, says that among the Bœotians it is cabbages which are called γαστέρες, and that turnips are called in Bœotia ζεκελτίδες. But Amerias and Timachidas affirm that it is gourds which are called ζακελτίδες. And Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things resembling one another, says—

The radish, the turnip, the rape, and the nasturtium all resemble each other.

But Glaucus, in his Cookery Book, spells the word ῥάφυς (rape) with the lene π,—ῥάπυς. But these vegetables have nothing else like them, unless, indeed, it be the plant which we call bounias: but Theophrastus does not use the name of bounias, but calls it a sort of male turnip; and perhaps the plant which he means is the bounias. And Nicander, in his Georgics, mentions the bounias—

1. Sow turnips on a well-roll'd field, that they
2. May grow as large as the flat dish that holds them,
3. * * * *
4. . . . . . For there are two kinds
5. Which from the radish spring: one long, one firm,
6. Both seen in well-till'd beds in kitchen gardens.

And the turnips which grow on the banks of the Cephisus are mentioned by Cratis, in his Orators, thus—

1. And wholly like the turnips of Cephisus.

But Theophrastus says that there are two kinds of turnips, the male and the female, and that they both come from the same seed; but Posidonius the Stoic philosopher, in the twenty-seventh book of his Histories, concerning Dalmatia, says that there are some turnips which grow without any cultivation, and also some carrots that grow wild. But Diphilus the physician, of Siphnos, says—

The turnip has attenuating properties, and is harsh and indigestible, and moreover is apt to cause flatulence: but the vegetable called bounias is superior to that; for it is sweeter in taste and

v.2.p.582

more digestible, in addition to being wholesome for the sto- mach and nutritious. But the turnip,

he says,

when roasted, is more easily digested, but in this state it attenuates the blood still more.

This vegetable is mentioned by Eubulus, in his Ancylion, where he says—

1. I bring this turnip to be roasted now.

And Alexis, in his Enthusiast, says—

1. I speak to Ptolemy, roasting slices of turnip.

But the turnip, when pickled, is more attenuating in its effects than when boiled, especially when it is pickled with mustard, as Diphilus says.

Then there was the cabbage. Eudemus the Athenian, in his treatise on Vegetables, says that there are three kinds of cabbage—the kind called the salt-cabbage, and the smooth-leaved-cabbage, and the parsley-cabbage: and that the salt-cabbage is reckoned the finest of all in respect of its delicacy of taste; and it grows in Eretria, and Cyme, and Rhodes, and also in Cnidos and Ephesus: but the smooth-leaved kind is found in every country; and the parsley-cabbage has its name from the curly nature of its leaves, for it is like parsley, both in that respect and in its general thickness. But Theophrastus writes thus—

But of the, ῥάφανος,—I mean the cabbage,—there is one kind with curly leaves, and another with smooth leaves, and a third which is wild.

And Diphilus the Siphnian says—

The finest and most delicious cabbage grows in Cyme; in Alexandria it is bitter; and the seed which is brought from Rhodes to Alexandria produces sweet cabbage for one year, after which time it degenerates again, from the nature of the soil.

And Nicander, in his Georgics, says—

1. The smooth-leaved cabbage sometimes wild is found,
2. And then the curly many-leaved plants
3. Are often sown in beds; . . . . . . .
4. There is another kind, of reddish colour,
5. Like frogs in drought; some of bad colour too
6. Do come from Cyme, like the dingy soles
7. Which cobblers often sew on worn-out boots;
8. And these the ancients do the Prophets call

But perhaps Nicander calls the cabbage Prophet, as being sacred; since in Hipponax, in his Iambics, we find some such lines as these,—

1. He falling down worshipp'd the seven-leaved cabbage,
2. To which, before she drank the poison'd draught,
3. Pandora brought a cake at the Thargelia.

And Ananius says—

1. And, by the cabbage do I swear, I love thee
2. By far the most of mortal men . . .

And Teleclides, in his Prytanes, uses the oath,

Yes, by the cabbages

and Epicharmus has the same exclamation in his Earth and Sea; and so has Eupolis, in his Dyer; and it appears to have been an Ionian oath: and there is nothing very strange in the fact of some people having sworn by the cabbage, since Zeno the Cittiæan, the founder of the sect of the Stoics, imitating the oath of Socrates,

by the bitch,

was used himself to swear

by the caper,

as Empodus relates in his Memorabilia.

And at Athens the cabbage used to be given to women who had just been delivered, as a sort of medicine, having a tendency to add to their nourishment. Accordingly, Ephippus, in his Geryones, says—

1. What shall next be done?
2. There is no garland now before the doors,
3. No savoury smell strikes on my nostril's edge
4. From Amphidromian festival, in which
5. The custom is to roast large bits of cheese,
6. Such as the Chersonesus furnishes,
7. And then to boil a radish bright with oil,
8. And fry the breasts of well-fed household Iamb,
9. And to pluck pigeons, thrushes too, and finches,
10. And to eat squids and cuttle-fish together,
11. And many polypi with wondrous curls,
12. And to quaff many goblets of pure wine.

And Antiphanes, in his Parasite, speaks of the cabbage as an economical food, in the following lines, where he says—

1. And what these things are, you, my wife, know well;
2. Garlic, and cheese, and cheese-cakes, dainty dishes
3. Fit for a gentleman; no fish cured and salted,
4. No joints of lamb well stuff'd with seasoning,
5. No forced meat of all kinds of ingredients;
6. No high made dishes, fit to kill a man;
7. But they will boil some cabbage sweet, ye gods!
8. And in the dish with it some pulse of pease.

And Diphilus says, in his Insatiable Man,—

1. All sorts of dainties now come round us here,
2. All of their own accord. There's cabbage fresh,
3. Well boil'd in oil; and many paunches, and
4. Dishes of tender meat. No . . . . by Jove,
5. Nor are they like my platters of bruised olives

And Alcæus, in his Palæstra, says—

1. And now she's roasted a large dish of cabbage.

And Polyzelus, in his Birth of the Muses, names cabbages; and says—

1. The close-grown cabbage with its lofty leaves.