The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 2 (of 3)

1. AND when the Banquet was now finished, the cynics, thinking that the festival of the Phagesia was being celebrated, were delighted above all things, and Cynulcus said,—While we are supping, O Ulpian, since it is on words that you are feasting us, I propose to you this question,—In what author do you find any mention of the festivals called Phagesia, and Phagesiposia? And he, hesitating, and bidding the slaves desist from carrying the dishes round, though it was now evening, said,—I do not recollect, you very wise man, so that you may tell us yourself, in order that you may sup more abundantly and more pleasantly. And he rejoined,—If you will promise to thank me when I have told you, I will tell you. And as he agreed to thank him, he continued;—Clearchus, the pupil of Aristotle, but a Solensian by birth, in the first book of his treatise on Pictures, (for I recollect his very expressions, because I took a great fancy to them,) speaks as follows:—"Phagesia—but some call the festival Phagesiposia—but this festival has ceased, as also has that of the Rhapsodists, which they celebrated about the time of the Dionysiac festival, in which every one as they passed by sang a hymn to the god by way of doing him honour." This is what Clearchus wrote. And if you doubt it, my friend, I, who have got the book, will not mind lending it to you. And you may learn a good deal from it, and get a great many questions to ask us out of it. For he relates that Callias the Athenian composed a Grammatical Tragedy, from which Euripides in his Medea, and Sophocles in his Œdipus, derived their choruses and the arrangement of their plot.

2. And when all the guests marvelled at the literary accomplishments of Cynulcus, Plutarch said,—In like manner there used to be celebrated in my own Alexandria a Flagon-bearing festival, which is mentioned by Eratosthenes in his treatise entitled Arsinoe. And lie speaks as follows:—"When Ptolemy was instituting a festival and all kinds of sacrifices, and especially those which relate to Bacchus, Arsinoe asked the man who bore the branches, what day he was celebrating now, and what festival it was. And when he replied, 'It is called the Lagynophoria; and the guests lie down on beds and so eat all that they have brought with them, and every one drinks out of his own flagon which he has brought from home;' and when he had departed, she, looking towards us, said, 'It seems a very dirty kind of party; for it is quite evident that it must be an assembly of a mixed multitude, all putting down stale food and such as is altogether unseasonable and unbecoming.' But if the kind of feast had pleased her, then the queen would not have objected to preparing the very same things herself, as is done at the festival called Choes. For there every one feasts separately, and the inviter only supplies the materials for the feast."

3. But one of the Grammarians who were present, looking on the preparation of the feast, said,—In the next place, how shall we ever be able to eat so large a supper? Perhaps we are to go on "during the night," as that witty writer Aristophanes says in his Æolosicon, where however his expression is "during the whole night." And, indeed, Homer uses the preposition διὰ in the same way, for he says—

He lay within the cave stretch'd o'er the sheep (διὰ μήλων);

where διὰ μήλων means "over all the sheep," indicating the size of the giant. And Daphnus the physician answered him; Meals taken late at night, my friend, are more advantageous for everybody. For the influence of the moon is well adapted to promote the digestion of food, since the moon has putrefying properties; and digestion depends upon putrefaction. Accordingly victims slain at night are more digestible; and wood which is cut down by moonlight decays more rapidly. And also the greater proportion of fruits ripen by moonlight.

4. But since there were great many sorts of fish, and those very different both as to size and beauty, which had been served up and which were still being constantly served up for the guests, Myrtilus said,—Although all the different dishes which we eat, besides the regular meal, are properly called by one generic name, ὄψον, still it is very deservedly that on account of its delicious taste fish has prevailed over everything else, and has appropriated the name to itself; because men are so exceedingly enamoured of this kind of food. Accordingly we speak of men as ὀψοφάγοι, not meaning people who eat beef (such as Hercules was, who ate beef and green figs mixed together); nor do we mean by such a term a man who is fond of figs; as was Plato the philosopher, according to the account given of him by Phanocritus in his treatise on the Glorious: and he tells us in the same book that Arcesilas was fond of grapes: but we mean by the term only those people who haunt the fish-market. And Philip of Macedon was fond of apples, and so was his son Alexander, as Dorotheus tells us in the sixth book of his history of the Life and Actions of Alexander. But Chares of Mitylene relates that Alexander, having found the finest apples which he had ever seen in the country around Babylon, filled boats with them, and had a battle of apples from the vessels, so as to present a most beautiful spectacle. And I am not ignorant that, properly speaking, whatever is prepared for being eaten by the agency of fire is called ὄψον. For indeed the word is either identical with ἐψὸν, or else perhaps it is derived from ὀπτάω, to roast.

5. Since then there are a great many different kinds of fish which we eat at different seasons, my most admirable Timocrates, (for, as Sophocles says—

The tails not fawning on their mistress, but beating against the dish. And as Achæus says in his Fates—

I will now recapitulate to you what the Deipnosophists said about each: for each of them brought to the discussion of the subject some contribution of quotation from books; though I will not mention the names of all who took part in the conversation, they were so numerous.

Amphis says in his Leucas—

And that you may find it easy to remember what was said, I will arrange the names in alphabetical order. For as Sophocles, in his Ajax Mastigophorus, called fish ἐλλοὶ, saying—

one of the company asked whether any one before Sophocles ever used this word; to whom Zoilus replied,—But I, who am not a person ὀψοφαγίστατοϛ [exceedingly fond of fish], (for that is a word which Xenophon has used in his Memorabilia, where he writes, "He is ὀψοφαγίστατοϛ and the greatest fool possible,") am well aware that the man who wrote the poem Titanomachia [or the Battle of the Giants], whether he be Eumelus the Corinthian, or Arctinus, or whatever else his name may chance to have been, in the second book of his poem speaks thus—

And Sophocles was very fond of the Epic Cycle, so that he composed even entire plays in which he has followed the stories told in their fables.

6. Presently when the tunnies called Amiæ were put on the table, some one said,—Aristotle speaks of this fish, and says that they have gills out of sight, and that they have very sharp teeth, and that they belong to the gregarious and carnivorous class of fishes: and that they have a gall of equal extent with their whole intestines, and a spleen of corresponding proportions. It is said also that when they are hooked, they leap up towards the fisherman, and bite through the line and so escape. And Archippus mentions them in his play entitled the Fishes, where he says—

And Epicharmus in his Sirens says—

And Aristotle, inquiring into the etymology of the name, says that they were called amiæ, παρὰ τὸ ἅμα ἰέναι ταῖς παραπλησίαις (from their going in shoals with their companions of the same kind). But Icesius, in his treatise on the Materials of Food, says that they are full of a wholesome juice, and tender, but only of moderate excellency as far as their digestible properties go, and not very nutritious.

7. But Archestratus,—that writer so curious in all that relates to cookery,—in his Gastrology (for that is the title of the book as it is given by Lycophron, in his treatise on Comedy, just as the work of Cleostratus of Tenedos is called Astrology), speaks thus of the amia:—

8. But this Archestratus was so devoted to luxury, that he travelled over every country and every sea, with great diligence, wishing, as it seems to me, to seek out very carefully whatever related to his stomach; and, as men do who write Itineraries and Books of Voyages, so he wishes to relate everything with the greatest accuracy, and to tell where every kind of eatable is to be got in the greatest perfection; for this is what he professes himself, in the preface to his admirable Book of Precepts, which he addresses to his companions, Moschus and Cleander; enjoining them, as the Pythian priestess says, to seek

And Chrysippus, a man who was a genuine philosopher, and a thorough man at all points, says that he was the teacher of Epicurus, and of all those who follow his rules, in everything which belongs to pleasure, which is the ruin of everything. For Epicurus says, without any concealment, but speaking with a loud voice, as it were, "For I am not able to distinguish what is good if you once take away the pleasure arising from sweet flavours, and if you also take away amatory pleasures." For this wise man thinks that even the life of the intemperate man is an unimpeachable one, if he enjoys an immunity from fear, and also mirth. On which account also the comic poets, running down the Epicureans, attack them as mere servants and ministers of pleasure and intemperance.

9. Plato, in his Joint Deceiver, representing a father as indignant with his son's tutor, makes him say—

And in his play entitled the Homicide, the same Plato, laughing at one of those gentle philosophers, says—

And Hegesippus, in his Philetairi, says—

10. But the Epicureans are not the only men who are addicted to pleasure; but those philosophers are so too who belong to what are called the Cyrenaic and the Mnesistratean sects; for these men delight to live luxuriously, as Posidonius tells us. And Speusippus did not much differ from them, though he was a pupil and a relation of Plato's. At all events, Dionysius the tyrant, in his letters to him, enumerating all the instances of his devotion to pleasure, and also of his covetousness, and reproaching him with having levied contributions on numbers of people, attacks him also on account of his love for Lasthenea, the Arcadian courtesan. And, at the end of all, he says this—"Whom do you charge with covetousness, when you yourself omit no opportunity of amassing base gain? For what is there that you have been ashamed to do? Are you not now attempting to collect contributions, after having paid yourself for Hermeas all that he owed?"

11. And about Epicurus, Timon, in the third book of his Silli, speaks as follows:—

For, on account of his stomach, and of the rest of his sensual pleasures, the man was always flattering Idomeneus and Metrodorus. And Metrodorus himself, not at all disguising this admirable principle of his, says, somewhere or other, "The fact is, Timocrates, my natural philosopher, that every investigation which is guided by principles of nature, fixes its ultimate aim entirely on gratifying the stomach." For Epicurus was the tutor of all these men; who said, shouting it out, as I may say, "The fountain and root of every good is the pleasure of the stomach: and all wise rules, and all superfluous rules, are measured alike by this standard." And in his treatise on the Chief Good, he speaks nearly as follows: "For I am not able to understand what is good, if I leave out of consideration the pleasures which arise from delicately-flavoured food, and if I also leave out the pleasures which arise from amatory indulgences; and if I also omit those which arise from music, and those, too, which are derived from the contemplation of beauty and the gratification of the eyesight." And, proceeding a little further, he says, "All that is beautiful is naturally to be honoured; and so is virtue, and everything of that sort, if it assists in producing or causing pleasure. But if it does not contribute to that end, then it may be disregarded.

12. And before Epicurus, Sophocles, the tragic poet, in his Antigone, had uttered these sentiments respecting pleasure—

And Philetærus says, in his Huntress,—

And the same poet says, in his Œnopion,—

13. And Apollodorus the Carystian, in his Stirrer-up of Law-suits, says—

And, presently afterwards, he says—

14. The poets say that that ancient hero, Tantalus, was also greatly devoted to pleasure. At all events, the author of the book called The Return of the Atridæ says "that he, when he had arrived among the gods, and had begun to live among them, had leave given him by Jupiter to ask for whatever he wished; and that he, being a man quite insatiable in the gratification of his appetites, asked that it might be granted to him to indulge them to their full extent, and to live in the same manner as the gods. And that Jupiter was indignant at this request, and, according to his promise, fulfilled his prayer; but still, that he might not enjoy what he had before him, but be everlastingly tormented, he hung a stone over his head, on account of which he should be unable to get at any of the things which he had before him." Some of the Stoics also were addicted to this kind of pleasure. At all events, Eratosthenes the Cyrenean, who was a pupil of Ariston the Chian, who was one of the sect of the Stoics, in his treatise which is entitled Ariston, represents his master as subsequently being much addicted to luxury, speaking as follows: "And before now, I have at times discovered him breaking down, as it were, the partition wall between pleasure and virtue, and appearing on the side of pleasure." And Apollophanes (and he was an acquaintance of Ariston), in his Ariston (for he also wrote a book with that title), shows the way in which his master was addicted to pleasure. And why need we mention Dionysius of Heraclea? who openly discarded his covering of virtue, and put on a robe embroidered with flowers, and assumed the name of The altered Man; and, although he was an old man, he apostatized from the doctrines of the Stoics, and passed over to the school of Epicurus; and, in consequence, Timon said of him, not without some point and felicity—

15. Apollodorus the Athenian, in the third book of his treatise on a Modest and Prudent Man, which is addressed to those whom he calls Male Buffoons, having first used the expression, "more libidinous than the very Inventors themselves (ἄλφησται)," says, there are some fish called ἄλφησται, being all of a tawny colour, though they have a purple hue in some parts. And they say that they are usually caught in couples, and that one is always found following at the tail of the other; and therefore, from the fact of one following close on the tail of the other, some of the ancients call men who are intemperate and libidinous by the same name. But Aristotle, in his work on Animals, says that this fish, which he calls alphesticus, has but a single spine, and is of a tawny colour. And Numenius of Heraclea mentions it, in his treatise on Fishing, speaking as follows:—

And Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe, says—

Mithæcus also mentions it in his Culinary Art.

16. There is another fish called Anthias, or Callicthys; and this also is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe:—

And Ananius speaks as follows:—

And I have quoted this piece of Ananius at length, thinking that it might give some suggestions to the present race of Epicures.

17. But Aristotle, in his treatise on the Habits of Animals, says—"They say that wherever the anthias is found, there is no beast or fish of prey ever seen; and accordingly the collectors of sponge use him as a guide, and dive boldly wherever he is found, and call him the sacred fish." And Dorion also mentions him in his book on Fishes, saying, "Some call the anthias by the name of callicthys, and also by that of callionymus and ellops." And Icesius, in his treatise on Materials, says that he is called wolf by some authors, and by others callionymus: and that he is a fish of very solid meat, and full of delicious juice, and easy of digestion; but not very good for the stomach. But Aristotle says that the callicthys is a fish with serrated teeth, carnivorous and gregarious. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, enumerates the ellops among the fishes, but passes over the callicthys or callionymus in silence as being identical with it; and of the ellops he speaks thus,—

And the same poet says, subsequently—

But Dorion, in his treatise on Fish, says that the anthias and the callicthys are different fish; and also that the callionymus is not the same as the ellops.

18. But what is the fish which is called the Sacred fish? The author of the Telchinian History, whether it was Epimenides the Cretan, or Teleclides, or any one else, says,—"What are called the sacred fish, are dolphins and pompili." But the pompilus is a very amorous animal; as being sprung himself, at the same time with Venus, from heavenly blood. And Nicander, in the second book of his Œtaica, says—

And Alexander the Ætolian, in his Crica, if indeed it is a genuine poem, says—

And Pancrates the Arcadian, in his work entitled "Works of the Sea," having first said—

proceeds to say, "that the pompilus is not held in great esteem by Neptune only, but also by those gods who occupy Samothrace. At all events that some old fisherman once threatened to punish this fish, when the golden age still flourished among men; and his name was Epopeus, and he belonged to the island of Icarus. He therefore was one day fishing with his son, and they had no luck in their fishing, and caught nothing but pompili, and so did not abstain from eating them, but he and his son ate every one of them, and not long afterwards they suffered for their impiety; for a whale attacked the ship, and ate up Epopeus in the sight of his son." And Pancrates states, "that the pompilus is an enemy to the dolphin; and even the dolphin does not escape with impunity when he has eaten a pompilus, for he becomes unable to exert himself and tremulous when he has eaten him; and so he gets cast on shore, and is eaten himself by the gulls and cormorants; and he is sometimes, when in this state, caught by men who give themselves up to hunting such large fish. And Timachides the Rhodian mentions the pompili in the ninth book of his Banquet, and says—

And Erinna, or whoever it was who composed the poem which is attributed to her, says—

19. And Apollonius the Rhodian or Naucratian, in his History of the foundation of Naucratis, says, "Pompilus was originally a man; and he was changed into a fish, on account of some love affair of Apollo's. For the river Imbrasus flows by the city of the Samians,—

They say then that Apollo fell in love with her and endeavoured to ravish her; and that she having crossed over to Miletus at the time of some festival of Diana, when the endeavour was about to be made to carry her off, being afraid of such an attempt being made, and being on her guard, entreated Pompilus, who was a seafaring man and a friend of her father, to conduct her safe back again to her own country, saying this,—

And they say that he led her down to the shore, and conducted her safely across the sea: and that Apollo appeared and carried off the maiden, and sunk the ship with stones, and metamorphosed Pompilus into a fish of the same name, and that he made

20. But Theocritus the Syracusan, in his poem entitled Berenice, calls the fish which is called leucus the sacred fish, speaking thus—

But Dionysius, who was surnamed the Iambic, in his treatise on Dialects, writes thus—"We have heard accordingly an Eretrian fisherman, and many other fishermen, too, of other countries, call the pompilus the sacred fish. Now the pompilus is a sea fish, and is very commonly seen around ships, being something like the tunny called pelamys. However, some one spoken of by the poet catches this fish;—

Unless, indeed, there be any other kind which is likewise called the sacred fish. But Callimachus in his Galatea calls the chrysophrys the sacred fish, where he says—

But in his Epigrams the same poet says—

But some understand by the term sacred fish, one let go and dedicated to the god, just as people give the same name to a consecrated ox. But others consider that sacred is here only equivalent to great, as Homer speaks of

And some think that it is only called ἰερὸϛ as ἱέμενοϛ πρὸϛ τὸν ῥοῦν (going down stream)."

21. But Clitarchus, in the seventh book of his treatise on Dialects, says—"The nautical people call the pompilus the sacred fish, because it conducts ships out of the open sea into harbour, on which account it is called πόμπιλοϛ from πέμπω, being the same fish as the chrysophrys." And Eratosthenes in his Mercury says—

Now after all this discussion of ours about fish, the excellent Ulpian may ask why Archestratus, speaking in those excellent suggestions of his of the cured fish on the Bosphorus, says—

What is the fish, which he says it is not proper to mention in poetry?

22. Anchovies must be next considered. And, indeed, Aristonymus uses the word in the singular number, in his Shivering Sun—

But of the anchovies there are many kinds, and the one which is called aphritis[1] is not produced from roe, as Aristotle says, but from a foam which floats upon the surface of the water, and which collects in quantities when there have been heavy rains. There is also another kind called cobitis, and that is produced from some little worthless gudgeons which are generated in the sand; and from this anchovy itself another kind is produced, which is called the encrasicholus. There is also another anchovy which is the offspring of the sprat; and another which comes from the membras; and another still which comes from the small cestris, which is engendered in the sand and slime. But of all these kinds the aphritis is the best. But Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, speaks of a fish called the cobites, as good boiled, and also of the spawn of the atherina; and atherina is the name of a fish; and some also call the triglitis an anchovy. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, enumerates the anchovies among the shrimps or membrades; making a distinction between this and what is called the seed. And Icesius says, "Of the anchovy, there is one sort which is white and very thin and frothy, which some people also call the cobitis. And there is another which is not so clean as that, and which is larger; but the clean and thin one is the better of the two." And Archestratus the contriver of delicate dishes, says,—

23. But Clearchus the Peripatetic, in his treatise on Proverbs, speaks of the anchovy, and says—"Because they want very little fire for the frying-pan, Archestratus recommends people to put them into a pan which is already hot, and to take them off as soon as they hiss. And they are done, and begin to hiss in a moment, like oil; on which account it is said, 'Anchovy, look at the fire.'" And Chrysippus the philosopher, in his treatise on the Things which deserve to be sought for their own Sakes, says, "The anchovy which is found in the sea at Athens, men despise on account of its abundance, and say that it is a poor man's fish; but in other cities they prize it above everything, even where it is far inferior to the Attic anchovy. Moreover some people," says he, "endeavour to rear the Adriatic fowls in this place, which are much less useful than our own kinds, inasmuch as they are smaller. But the people in the Adriatic, on the contrary, send for our breed from hence." Hermippus, too, uses the word ἀφύη in the singular number, in his Demotæ, where he says,—

And Callias, in his Cyclops, says—

And Aristonymus, in his Shivering Sun, says—

But Aristophanes uses the diminutive form, and calls them ἀφύδια in his Friers, saying—

24. But Lynceus the Samian, in his letter to Diagoras, praising the Rhodian anchovies, and comparing many of the productions of Attica to those of Rhodes, says—"We may compare to the anchovies of Phalerum those which are called the Æniatides, and you may compare the ellops and the orphus with the glauciscus; and with the Eleusinian plaice and turbot, and whatever other fish there may be among them enjoying a reputation higher than that of Cecrops, Rhodes has the fox fish to compare." But the author of the Delight of Life, exhorts the man who is unable to purchase enough to satisfy his appetite, to get fish to eat by robbery, rather than go without it. But Lynceus calls Archestratus an epicure, who in that much celebrated poem of his speaks thus of the shark:—

25. The acharnus is mentioned by Callias in his Cyclops—

26. The ray, roach, or sea-frog may also be mentioned. They are mentioned under the two former names by Aristotle in his treatise on Animals, where he classes them under the head of cartilaginous fish. And Eupolis, in his Flatterers, says—

And Epicharmus says, in his Marriage of Hebe—

And in his Megarian Woman he writes—

And Sannyrion says, in his Laughter—

And Aristotle in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that the following are cartilaginous fish; the ray, the turtle, the sea-cow, the lamprey, the sea-eagle, the sea-frog, and the whole of the shark tribe. But Sophron in his Farces, gives one fish the name of botis, saying, "The cestres eat the botis," though it is possible that he may be speaking of some herb. But with respect to the sea frog, the wise Archestratus gives us the following advice in his Apophthegms—

And concerning the ray, he says—

And Ephippus the comic poet, in his play called Philyra, (now Philyra is the name of a courtesan), says—

27. There are also fish called boaxes. Aristotle, in his treatise entitled Concerning Animals or Fish, says, "The following animals are marked on the back; the boax and others—the following are marked transversely, the kind of tunny-fish called colias." And Epicharmus in his Marriage of Hebe, speaks thus—

And Numenius, in his Art of Fishing, calls them boeces, saying—

But Speusippus and the rest of the Attic writers call them boaces. Aristophanes in his play called The Women who occupy Tents, says—