[164:1] It is not quite clear what the blunder was, for ἀνυπόστατος means irresistible. Aretæus uses the word for "unsubstantial," which is perhaps what Athenæus means to say Pompeianus called Rome.
[164:2] I have followed Casaubon's advice in not attempting to translate this letter, who "marvels that interpreters have endeavoured to translate it, for what can wasting time be, if this is not?" And Schweighaeuser says that he will not attempt to explain it further, lest he should seem to be endeavouring to appear wiser than Apollo.
[169:1] Hesiod.
[183:1] It seems certain that there is some great corruption in this and the preceding sentence.
[188:1] Ἀῤῥηφόροι. At Athens, two maidens chosen in their seventh year, who carried the peplos, and other holy things, ἄῤῥητα, of Pallas in the Scirrophoria. Others write it ἐρση- or ἐῤῥηφόροι, which points to Ἔρση, a daughter of Cecrops, who was worshipped along with Pallas. Liddell and Scott, Gr. Lex. in voc.
[190:1] There is no classical authority for ἐξελεύθερος; though Demosthenes has ἐξελευθερικὸς, relating to a freedman.
[192:1] The beginning of this fragment of Hesiod is given up as hopelessly corrupt by the commentators; and there is probably a great deal of corruption running through the whole of it.
[193:1] The text here is so corrupt as to be quite unintelligible.
[199:1] The Balearic Isles.
[201:1] ἡ γλῶσσ' ὀμῶμοχ', ἡ δὲ φρὴν ἀνώμοτος. Eur. Hip. 763.
[203:1] κρατὴρ, from κεράννυμι, to mix.
BOOK IV.
1. Hippolochus the Macedonian, my friend Timocrates, lived in the time of Lynceus and Douris of Samos, pupils of Theophrastus[210:1] the Eresian. And he had made a bargain with Lynceus, as one may learn from his letters, that if ever he was present at any very expensive banquet, he would relate to him the whole of the preparations which were made; and Lynceus in return made him the same promise. And there are accordingly some letters of each of them on the subject of banquets; in which Lynceus relates the banquet which was given at Athens by Lamia the Attic female flute-player to King Demetrius, surnamed Poliorcetes, (and Lamia was the mistress of Demetrius.) And Hippolochus reports the marriage feast of Caranus the Macedonian. And we have also met with other letters of Lynceus, written to the same Hippolochus, giving an account of the banquet of King Antigonus, when he celebrated the Aphrodisian festival at Athens, and also that given by King Ptolemy. And I will show you the very letters themselves. But as the letter of Hippolochus is very scarce, I will run over to you the principal things which are contained in it, just for the sake of conversation and amusement at the present time.
2. In Macedonia, then, as I have said, Caranus made a marriage feast; and the guests invited were twenty in number. And as soon as they had sat down, a silver bowl was given to each of them as a present. And Caranus had previously crowned every one of them, before they entered the dining-room, with a golden chaplet, and each chaplet was valued at five pieces of gold. And when they had emptied [211]the bowls, then there was given to each of the guests a loaf in a brazen platter of Corinthian workmanship, of the same size; and poultry, and ducks, and besides that, pigeons, and a goose, and quantities more of the same kind of food heaped up abundantly. And each of the guests taking what was set before him, with the brazen platter itself also, gave it to the slaves who waited behind him. Many other dishes of various sorts were also served up to eat. And after them, a second platter was placed before each guest, made of silver, on which again there was placed a second large loaf, and on that geese, and hares, and kids, and other rolls curiously made, and doves, and turtledoves, and partridges, and every other kind of bird imaginable, in the greatest abundance. Those also, says Hippolochus, we gave to the slaves; and when we had eaten to satiety, we washed our hands, and chaplets were brought in in great numbers, made of all sorts of flowers from all countries, and on each chaplet a circlet of gold, of about the same weight as the first chaplet. And Hippolochus having stated after this that Proteas, the descendant of that celebrated Proteas the son of Lanice, who had been the nurse of Alexander the king, was a most extraordinary drinker, as also his grandfather Proteas, who was the friend of Alexander, had been; and that he pledged every one present, proceeds to write as follows:—
3. "And while we were now all amusing ourselves with agreeable trifling, some flute-playing women and musicians, and some Rhodian players on the sambuca come in, naked as I fancied, but some said that they had tunics on. And they having played a prelude, departed; and others came in in succession, each of them bearing two bottles of perfume, bound with a golden thong, and one of the cruets was silver and the other gold, each holding a cotyla,[211:1] and they presented them to each of the guests. And then, instead of supper, there was brought in a great treasure, a silver platter with a golden edge of no inconsiderable depth, of such a size as to receive the entire bulk of a roast boar of huge size, which lay in it on his back, showing his belly uppermost, stuffed with many good things. For in the belly there were roasted thrushes, and paunches, and a most countless number of figpeckers, and the yolks of eggs spread on the top, and oysters, and [212]periwinkles. And to every one of the guests was presented a boar stuffed in this way, nice and hot, together with the dish on which he was served up. And after this we drank wine, and each of us received a hot kid, on another platter like that on which the boar had been served up, with some golden spoons. Then Caranus seeing that we were cramped for the want of room, ordered canisters and bread-baskets to be given to each of us, made of strips of ivory curiously plaited together; and we were very much delighted at all this, and applauded the bridegroom, by whose means we were thus enabled to preserve what had been given to us. Then chaplets were again brought to us, and another pair of cruets of perfume, one silver and one gold, of the same weight as the former pair. And when quiet was restored, there entered some men, who even in the Potfeast[212:1] at Athens had borne a part in the solemnities, and with them there came in some ithyphallic dancers, and some jugglers, and some conjuring women also, tumbling and standing on their heads on swords, and vomiting fire out of their mouths, and they, too, were naked.
4. And when we were relieved from their exhibition, then we had a fresh drink offered to us, hot and strong, and Thasian, and Mendæan, and Lesbian wines were placed upon the board, very large golden goblets being brought to every one of us. And after we had drunk, a glass goblet of two cubits in diameter, placed on a silver stand, was served up, full of roast fishes of every imaginable sort that could be collected. And there was also given to every one a silver breadbasket full of Cappadocian loaves; some of which we ate and some we delivered to the slaves behind us. And when we had washed our hands, we put on chaplets; and then again we received golden circlets twice as large as the former ones, and another pair of cruets of perfume. And when quiet was restored, Proteas leaping up from his couch, asked for a cup to hold a gallon; and having filled it with Thasian wine, and having mingled a little water with it, he drank it off, saying—
And Caranus said—"Since you have been the first to drink, do you be the first also to accept the cup as a gift; and this [213]also shall be the present for all the rest who drink too." And when this had been said, at once nine of the guests rose up snatching at the cups, and each one trying to forestall the other. But one of those who were of the party, like an unlucky man as he was, as he was unable to drink, sat down and cried because he had no goblet; and so Caranus presented him with an empty goblet. After this, a dancing party of a hundred men came in, singing an epithalamium in beautiful tune. And after them there came in dancing girls, some arranged so as to represent the Nereids, and others in the guise of the nymphs.
5. And as the drinking went on, and the shadows were beginning to fall, they opened the chamber where everything was encircled all round with white cloths. And when these curtains were drawn, the torches appeared, the partitions having been secretly removed by mechanism. And there were seen Cupids, and Dianas, and Pans, and Mercuries, and numbers of statues of that kind, holding torches in silver candlesticks. And while we were admiring the ingenuity of the contrivance, some real Erymanthean boars were brought round to each of the guests on square platters with golden edges, pierced through and through with silver darts. And what was the strangest thing of all was, that those of us who were almost helpless and stupefied with wine, the moment that we saw any of these things which were brought in, became all in a moment sober, standing upright, as it is said. And so the slaves crammed them into the baskets of good omen, until the usual signal of the termination of the feast sounded. For you know that that is the Macedonian custom at large parties.
And Caranus, who had begun drinking in small goblets, ordered the slaves to bring round the wine rapidly. And so we drank pleasantly, taking our present liquor as a sort of antidote to our previous hard drinking. And while we were thus engaged, Mandrogenes the buffoon came in, the descendant, as is reported, of that celebrated Strato the Athenian, and he caused us much laughter. And after this he danced with his wife, a woman who was already more than eighty years of age. And at last the tables, to wind up the whole entertainment, were brought in. And sweetmeats in plaited baskets made of ivory were distributed to every one. [214]And cheesecakes of every kind known, Cretan cheesecakes, and your Samian ones, my friend Lynceus, and Attic ones, with the proper boxes, or dishes, suitable to each kind of confection. And after this we all rose up and departed, quite sobered, by Jove, by the thoughts of, and our anxiety about, the treasures which we had received.
But you who never go out of Athens think yourself happy when you hear the precepts of Theophrastus, and when you eat thyme, and salads, and nice twisted loaves, solemnizing the Lenæan festival, and the Potfeast at the Anthesteria. But at the banquet of Caranus, instead of our portions of meat, we carried off actual riches, and are now looking, some for houses, and some for lands, and some of us are seeking to buy slaves."
6. Now if you consider this, my friend Timocrates, with which of the Greek feasts that you ever heard of do you think this banquet, which has just been described to you, can be compared? When even Antiphanes the comic writer jokingly said in the Œnomaus, or perhaps it is in the Pelops—
Eaters of salads, do? where you may get
Four scanty chops or steaks for one small penny.
But among the ancestors of our nation
Men roasted oxen, deer, and lambs entire,
And last of all the cook, outdoing all
His predecessors, set before the king
A roasted camel, smoking, hump and all.
And Aristophanes, in his Acharnians, extolling the magnificence of the barbarians, says—
| A. | Then he received me, and to dinner ask'd me, And set before us whole fat oxen roasted. |
| B. | Who ever saw a roasted ox? The braggart! |
| A. | I'll take my oath he likewise put on table A bird three times as burly as Cleonymus; Its name, I well remember, was Th' Impostor. |
And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, ridiculing the feast made at the marriage of Iphicrates when he married the daughter of Cotys king of the Thracians, says—
7.
You will ask us all to a supper,
Not to such as that in Thrace,
Given by Iphicrates—
Though, indeed, they say that
Was a very noble feast.
[215] For that all along the market
Purple carpets there were spread
To the northern corner;
And a countless host of men
With dirty hands and hair uncomb'd
Supped on butter. There were too,
Brazen goblets, large as cisterns,
Holding plenty for a dozen
Of the hardest drinkers known.
Cotys, too, himself was there,
Girt around, and bearing kindly
Rich soup in a gold tureen;
Tasting all the brimming cups,
So as to be the first to yield
Of all the guests t' intoxication.
There was Antigenides
Delighting all with his soft flute,
Argas sung, and from Acharnæ
Cephisodotus struck the lyre,
Celebrating Lacedæmon
And the wide land of the Heraclidæ,
And at other times they sung
Of the seven-gated Thebes,
Changing thus their strain and theme.
Large was the dowry which 'tis said
Fell to the lucky bridegroom's share:
First, two herds of chestnut horses,
And a herd of horned goats,
A golden shield, a wide-neck'd bowl,
A jar of snow, a pot of millet,
A deep pit full of leeks and onions,
And a hecatomb of polypi.
This they say that Cotys did,
King of Thrace, in heartfelt joy
At Iphicrates's wedding.
But a finer feast by far
Shall be in our master's houses;
For there's nothing good or fine
Which our house does stand in need of.
There is scent of Syrian myrrh,
There is incense, there is spice;
There are delicate cakes and loaves,
Cakes of meal and polypi,
Tripe, and fat, and sausages,
Soup, and beet, and figs, and pease,
Garlic, various kinds of tunnies,
Ptisan, pulse, and toast and muffins,
Beans, and various kinds of vetches,
Honey, cheese, and cheesecakes too,
Wheat, and nuts, and barley-groats,
Roasted crabs, and mullets boil'd,
[216] Roasted cuttle-fish, boil'd turbot,
Frogs, and perch, and mussels too,
Sharks, and roach, and gudgeons too,
Fish from doves and cuckoos named,
Plaice, and flounders, shrimps, and rays.
Then, besides these dainty fish
There is many another dish,—
Honeycombs and juicy grapes,
Figs and cheesecakes, apples, pears,
Cornels, and the red pomegranate,
Poppies, creeping thyme, and parsley,
Peaches, olives, plums and raisins,
Leeks and onions, cabbages,
Strong smelling assafœtida,
Fennel, eggs, and lentils cool,
And well-roasted grasshoppers,
Cardamums and sesame,
Ceryces, salt, and limpets firm,
The pinna, and the oyster bright,
The periwinkle, and the whelk;
And besides this a crowd of birds,
Doves and ducks, and geese and sparrows,
Thrushes, larks, and jays, and swans,
The pelican, the crane and stork,
Wagtails and ousels, tits and finches;
And to wash all these dainties down
There's wine, both native and imported,
White and red, and sweet and acid,
Still or effervescent.
8. But Lynceus, in his Centaur, ridiculing the Attic banquets, says—
| A. | Yon cook, the man who makes the sacrifice And seeks now to receive me as my host, Is one of Rhodes. And I, the guest invited, Am call'd a citizen of fair Perinthus. And neither of us likes the Attic suppers; For melancholy is an Attic humour; May it be always foreign unto me. They place upon the table a large platter Holding five smaller plates within its space, One full of garlic, while another holds Two boil'd sea-urchins; in the third, a cake; The fourth displays ten cockles to the guest, The last has caviar.—While I eat this, He falls on that: or while he dines on this, I make that other dish to disappear. But I would rather eat up both myself, Only I cannot go beyond my powers; For I have not five mouths, nor twice five lips. True, these detain the eyes with various sights, [217] But looking at them is not eating them: I but appease my eyes and not my belly. What shall I do then? Have you oysters? Give me A plate of them, I beg; and that a large one; Have you some urchins? |
| B. | Here's a dish of them To which you're welcome; this I bought myself, And paid eight obols for it in the market. |
| A. | Put then this dish on table by itself, That all may eat the same at once, and not One half the guests eat one thing, half another. |
But Dromeas the parasite, when some one once asked him, as Hegesander the Delphian relates, whether the banquets in the city or at Chalcis were the best, said that the prelude to the banquets at Chalcis was superior to the whole entertainment in the city, calling the multitudes of oysters served up, and the great variety of fish, the prelude to the banquet.
9. But Diphilus, in his Female Deserter, introduces a cook, and represents him as saying—
| A. | What is the number of the guests invited To this fine marriage feast? And are they all Athenian citizens, or are there some Foreigners and merchants? |
| B. | What is that to you, Since you are but the cook to dress the dinner? |
| A. | It is the first part of my art, O father, To know the taste of those who are to eat. For instance, if you ask a Rhodian, Set a fine shad or lebias before him, Well boil'd and hot, the moment that he enters. That's what he likes; he'll like it better so Than if you add a cup of myrine wine. |
| A. | Well, that idea of shads is not a bad one. |
| B. | Then, if a Byzantine should be your guest, Steep all you offer such a man in wormwood. And let your dishes taste of salt and garlic. For fish are all so plenty in their country, That the men all are full of rheum and phlegm. |
And Menander says, in his Trophonius—
| A. | This feast is for a guest's reception. |
| B. | What guest? whence comes he? for those points, believe me, Do make a mighty difference to the cook. For instance, if some guests from the islands come Who always feed on fish of every sort Fresh from the sea, such men like not salt dishes, But think them make-shifts. Give such men their food Well-season'd, forced, and stuff'd with choicest spices. But if you ask a guest from Arcady [218] He is a stranger to the sea, and loves Limpets and shell-fish;—but the rich Ionian Will look at nought but Lydian luxuries, Rich, stimulating, amatory meats. |
10. The ancients used food calculated to provoke the appetite, as for instance salt olives, which they call colymbades: and accordingly Aristophanes says, in his Old Age—
Or tender maidens, firm as well-cured olives?
And Philemon, in his Follower, or Sauce, says—
| A. | What did you think, I pray, of that boil'd fish? |
| B. | He was but small; do'st hear me? And the pickle Was white, and much too thick; there was no smell Of any spice or seasoning at all, So that the guests cried out,—How pure your brine is! |
They also eat common grasshoppers and the monkey grasshopper as procreatives of the appetite. Aristophanes says, in his Anagyrus—
Catching them with a reed, and cercopes?[218:1]
But the cercope is a little animal like a grasshopper or prickly roach, as Speusippus tells us in the fourth book of his Similitudes; and Epilycus mentions them in his Coraliscus. And Alexis says in his Thrason—
A greater chatterer than you, O woman,
Nor jay, or nightingale, or dove, or grasshopper.
And Nicostratus says, in his Abra—
Holding an urchin, and some sauce and capers,
A cheesecake, fish, and onions in rich stuffing.
11. And that they used to eat, for the sake of encouraging the appetite, rape dressed with vinegar and mustard, is plainly stated by Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, where he says—
It's grown in garden beds, both long and stiff;
One sort they wash and dry in the north wind,
A friend to winter and to idle servants:
Then it revives when soak'd in water warm.
Cut thou the roots of rape, and gently scrape
[219] The not yet juiceless rind in shavings thin;
Then dry them in the sun a little while,
Then dip them in hot water, and in brine,
And pack them closely; or at other times
Pour in new wine and vinegar, half and half,
Into one vessel, and put salt on the top.
And often 'twill be well to pound fresh raisins,
And add them gently, scattering in some seeds
Of biting mustard; and some dregs of vinegar,
To reach the head and touch the vigorous brain:
A goodly dish for those who want a dinner.
And Diphilus or Sosippus, in the Female Deserter, says—
I think, too, we've some fig-tree juice, my boy.
In these I'll press the meat as tight as may be;
And some dried herbs I'll spread around the dish;
For of all condiments these do most surely
The body's sensitive parts and nerves excite.
They drive away unpleasant heaviness,
And make the guests sit down with appetite.
12. And Alexis, in his Tarentines, when speaking of their banquets, says that the Athenians used to dance at their drinking parties—
| A. | For this now is a common native practice. At the divine and all-accomplish'd Athens. They all rise up and dance together when The first sweet scent of wine doth reach their nostrils. |
| B. | You tell me of a strange and novel custom. |
| A. | So you would say, indeed, if unexpected You on a sudden dropp'd in at a feast; And beardless boys are sure to meet with favour; But when I see that rogue Theodotus, Or some impure and cheating parasite, Affecting nice and delicate airs, such loathing Does seize me, that I'd gladly seize the man, And nail him to the vilest cross. |
And Antiphanes, in his Carians, with reference to the Attic fashion of dancing, turns one of the sophists into ridicule, as dancing at a banquet, in the following verses—
Waving his hands, no signs of shame he shows;
He who was lecturing us on Heraclitus,
The only master of Theodectes' school,
The spouter of Euripides's proverbs.
And it will not be foreign to the subject to quote here what is said by Eriphus the comic poet, in his Œolus—
That old men seek for wine to make them dance,
Spite of their age, against their will, my father.
And Alexis, in the play entitled Isostasium, says—
For some excuse to dance. There was the name
Of meat and vegetables; fish, and crabs,
Gudgeon and tench, and similago fine.
13. But Matron the parodist, says Plutarch, has given a very agreeable account of an Attic banquet; and as it is very rare I will not scruple, my friends, to repeat it to you—
Given by Xenocles, O Muse, resound;[220:1]
For when at Athens he his cards sent round,
I went invited, hungry as a hound.
What loaves I saw, how large, how round, how fine,[220:2]—
So white, on them alone one well might dine!
Boreas, enamour'd of the well-baked train,
Gazed on them fondly;[220:3] while along the plain
The stately Xenocles survey'd the ground,
And placed the guests the goodly board around.
Near him the parasite Chærephoon stood,
And like a cormorant gazed upon the food,[220:4]
Ever at other's cost well pleased to eat:
Meanwhile the cooks prepared the dainty treat,
The skilful cooks, to whom is given all sway
The sumptuous feast to quicken or delay.
Then all the rest the herbs and greens did seize,
But me the solid meats did rather please;
Rich oysters guarded in their solid shell,
While to Phœnician-brine I said farewell;
And threw away the urchin's tasteless meat,
Which rattled falling at the servant's feet,
Loud as the waves the rocky shore which flout,[220:5]
While they in fun the prickly spines pull'd out.
There came th' anchovy of Phaleric race
Holding a dirty veil before its face,[220:6]
Friend of the Triton, to the Cyclops dear;
Which the wave breeds beneath its weedy bed,
The gristly turbot, and the mullet red.
First in the fray on them I laid my hand,
And called on Phœbus, by his slave to stand;
But when Stratocles, scorning fear, I saw
Hold in his hand the mullet's luscious jaw,
[221] I seized it too, and while it came apart,
Quick with the dainty bit rejoiced my heart.
There, too, the silver-footed Thetis came,
The fair-hair'd cuttle-fish, the mighty dame,
Fairest of Nereus' daughters, none but she
Of fish can both with black and white agree.[221:1]
There, too, the conger, Tityos of the main,
Lay on nine tables and o'erspread the plain.[221:2]
Next came the eel, who charm'd the mighty Jove,
And soften'd his stern soul to tender love.
So mighty that two wrestlers, of the days
Of old Astyanax, could scarcely raise
Her from the ground and place her on the board,
Nine fathoms long, and full nine cubits broad.
Up stairs, down stairs the busy cooks did haste,
While more fresh dishes on the board they placed.
Next forty large black pots appear'd in view,
And forty platters from Eubœa too.
Then various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,
In shape of cuttle-fish flew through the air.
The shining perch, the black tail next appear'd;
A mortal fish to join immortals dared.
Alone, apart in discontented mood,
A gloomy dish, the sullen tunny stood;[221:3]
For ever sad with proud disdain he pined,
And the lost arms for ever stung his mind.
The shark, to masons and upholders dear,
Good nurse of youth, though rough its skin appear;[221:4]
Nor do I know on earth a nicer food,
Though what came next is very near as good,
A roasted cestreas; nor alone it lay,
For twelve fine sargi came the self-same way.[221:5]
And a dark amias, of every sea
Who knows the depths, great Neptune's comrade he.
And squills the minstrels of Olympian Jove,
Whom none to look at, all to taste of, love.
The chrysophrys, for shining beauty famed,
The crab's hard shell refusing to be tamed.
All these, and many more besides, I saw
Crush'd in each hungry guest's devouring jaw.
The royal sturgeon led the second band,
Towards whom, though nearly full, I stretch'd my hand;
He like ambrosia to my senses look'd,
Which I had always thought for gods alone was cook'd.
Then came a lamprey, large and richly fed,
As when he seeks the dragon's daughter's bed.
And next, (the goddesses such sandals wear,)
Of mighty soles a firm and well-match'd pair.
[222] Then the sea thrushes young and fierce, who dive
Mid the deep rocks and tear their prey alive.
The sargus, mormyrus, hippurus, spar,
The shad, the gale; so countless fishes are.
The feast to view the guests' eyes joyful beam'd,
And all the house with the rich odour steam'd.
The host bade all sit down: myself, I thought
This woman's food, and something solid sought.
Large in the centre lay a vacant space,
Which herbs and salads did with verdure grace.
Then a sea blackbird came, a morsel nice,
And disappear'd, devoured in a trice.
Then came a ham, t' its foes a helpless prey,
And while it lasted none could keep away.
But when the feast was o'er I wept with sorrow
To think I could not eat on till to-morrow,
But must fall back on barley-meal and cheese.
Then came some ducks from Salamis, sacred isle,
Borne by the cook, who with a cheerful smile,
Marshall'd them where the Athenian phalanx stood;
And Chærephon survey'd the various food,
That he might know to choose and eat the best;
Then like a lion leapt he on the feast,[222:1]
And seized a mighty leg of turkey hot,
To make his supper when he home had got.
Then groats which Vulcan made into a cake,
And in Attic pan full thirteen months did bake
But when our wish for food was satisfied,
We wash'd our hands in ocean's foaming tide;
One beauteous slave came round with rich perfume,
Another garlands strew'd around the room.
Then foam'd around old Bacchus' rosy tide,
And each guest merrily with his fellow vied.
Then the dessert was served; the juicy pear,
The apple and pomegranate too were there.
The grape, the nurse of Bacchus, and the plum,
And fig, and medlar on the table come.
But I ate nought, I was so full before,
Till I that lovely child of Ceres saw,
A large sweet round and yellow cake; how then
Could I from such a dish, my friends, abstain?
Had I ten mouths, aye, and as many hands,
A brazen stomach within brazen bands,[222:2]
They all would on that lovely cake have sprung.
And so the feast of Stratocles I've sung.
14. And Alexis, in his Men running together, ridiculing the Attic banquets, says—
The cleverest in their art in all the city.
For he who a Thessalian would invite,
Must never stint his fare in Attic fashion,
Nor practise over strict economy;
But have in all things a well-order'd feast.
And the Thessalians are truly fond of eating; as Eriphus says in his Light-armed Soldier, thus—
Nor any feast of sumptuous Thessalians,
Whose habits well I know.
And the author, whoever he was, of the play called The Beggars, which is ascribed to Chionides, says that the Athenians, when they place a banquet for Castor and Pollux in their Prytaneum, serve up on the tables cheese and barley-cakes, and olives which have fallen, and leeks, for the sake of reminding people of the ancient manner of living. And Solon enjoins them to serve up barley-cakes to those who eat in the prytaneum: and besides that, to place bread on the table at festivals, in imitation of Homer; for he, too, when collecting the chiefs around Agamemnon, says—
And Chrysippus, in the fourth book of his treatise on Beauty and Pleasure, says—"But at Athens they say that two festivals are celebrated there (neither of them of great antiquity), one at the Lyceum and one in the Academy, and when the confectioner had brought into the Academy a dish for some other purpose, all those who were offering sacrifice at once broke the dish, because something had been introduced which did not belong to the city, and everything which came from afar ought to have been kept away. And that the cook at the Lyceum having prepared some salt-fish in order to serve up a dish of it, was scourged as a man who used his invention in a very wicked manner." And Plato, in the second book of his Republic, represents his new citizens as feasting, and writes—"You make your men feast without any second course, says he. You say the truth, I replied; I forgot that they will have a second course—namely, salt, and olives, and cheese, and onions; and besides, they will boil such vegetables as are found in the fields; and moreover, we shall serve up some sweetmeats to them,—figs, and beans, and vetches. They shall roast myrtle-berries too and [224] beech-acorns at the fire, drinking moderately all the time. And in this manner they shall pass their lives in peace, growing old, as it is probable they will, in the enjoyment of good health, and transmit a good constitution to their posterity."
15. We must next speak of the Lacedæmonian banquets. Now Herodotus, in the ninth book of his Histories, speaking of the preparation of Mardonius, and mentioning the banquets of the Lacedæmonians, says—"Xerxes, when fleeing from Greece, left all his equipment to Mardonius. And when Pausanias beheld the appointments of Mardonius's tent, and his tent itself all furnished with gold and silver and embroidered curtains, he ordered the bakers and confectioners to prepare him a supper exactly as they had been in the habit of preparing for Mardonius. And when they had done as they were commanded, Pausanias, beholding the couches of gold and silver all ready laid and covered, and the silver tables, and the superb banquet which was prepared, marvelling at what he saw, by way of ridicule ordered his own slaves to prepare a banquet in the Lacedæmonian fashion. But when it was made ready, Pausanias laughed, and sent for all the generals of the Greeks; and when they were come he showed them both the banquets which were prepared before him, and said: O Greeks, I have assembled you, because I was desirous to exhibit to you the folly of the general of the Medes; who, while he was used himself to live in the manner which you behold, came against us who are in the habit of living in the hard way which you see here."
And some say that a citizen of Sybaris, who was staying at Sparta, and who dined at their Phiditia, said—"It is natural enough for the Lacedæmonians to be the bravest of men; for any man in his senses would rather die ten thousand times over, than live in such a miserable way as this."
16. And Polemo, in his treatise on the Wicker Carriage mentioned by Xenophon, says "that Cratinus in his Pluti, mentioning the feast which is called by the Lacedæmonians Copis, speaks as follows—