The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, by C. D. Yonge.

because the tunny cannot see well out of his left eye, as Aristotle has said. Menander, in his Fishermen, says—

And the disturbed and muddy sea which breeds
The largest tunnies.

And in Sophron we find the word θυννοθήρας (a hunter of [476] tunnies); but the same fish which is usually called θύννος, the Attic writers call θυννίς.

67. But as to the thunnis, Aristotle says that this is the female, differing from the male thunnus in having a fin under the belly, the name of which fin is the "ather." But in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, he again distinguishes the thunnis from the thunnus; saying, that "in the summer, about the month Hecatombæon, it drops something like a bag, in which there are a great number of small eggs." And Speusippus, in the second book of his Similitudes, distinguishes the thunnis from the thunnus; and so does Epicharmus, in his Muses. But Cratinus, in his Pluti, says—

For I'm a thunnis, a melænas, or
A thunnus, orphos, grayling, eel, or sea-dog.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the thunnis is a gregarious fish, and also a migratory one. But Archestratus, who is so fond of petty details, says—

And then the thunna's tail, which I call thunnis,
That mighty fish, whose home's Byzantium.
Cut it in slices, and then roast it all
With accurate care, strewing on nought but salt,
Most thinly spread; then sprinkle a little oil;
Then eat it hot, first dipping it in brine.
Or if you like to eat them dry they're good;
Like the immortal gods in character,
And figure too; but if you once forget,
And vinegar add to them, then you spoil them.

And the middle slices take
Of the choice Byzantian tunny,
And let them be neatly hidden
Under leaves from beet-root torn.

Antiphanes also praises the tail of the thunnis, in his Couris, where he says—

And some of these iambics may be found in the Acestria, and also in the Countryman, or Butalion. And Hipponax, as Lysanias quotes him in his treatise on the Iambic Poets, says—

For one of them with rapid extravagance
Feasting each day on tunnies and on cheese-cakes,
Like any eunuch of rich Lampsacus,
Ate up his whole estate. So that he now
Is forced to work and dig among the rocks,
Eating poor figs, and small stale loaves of barley,
Food fit for slaves.

68. There is also a fish called the hippurus, or horsetail. Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that the hippuri lay eggs, and that these are small at first, but come to a great size, like those of the lamprey; and that they bring forth their young in the spring. But Dorion, in his book upon Fish, says that the hippurus is also called the coryphæna. But Icesius calls it the hippuris; and Epicharmus also mentions them in his Hebe's Wedding, saying—

The sharp-nosed needle-fish,
And the hippurus, and bright chrysophrys.

But Numenius, in his treatise on the Art of Fishing, speaking of the nature of the fish, says that it keeps continually leaping out of the water; on which account it is also called the Tumbler. And he uses the following expressions about it:—

Or the great synodons, or tumbler hippurus.

Th' hippurus of Carystus is the best,
And indeed all Carystian fish are good.

69. There is another fish called the horse; and perhaps it is the same which Epicharmus calls the hippidion, or little horse, when he says—

The coracinus colour'd like a crow,
Fat, well-fed fish; the smooth hippidion,
The phycæ, and the tender squill . . .

The char, the mighty tench of size enormous,
The channus, and the eel; and he who roves
By night, the wary pitynus; the mussel,
The horse-fish, or the sea-green corydulis.

The hyca, or the horse-fish, or the one
Which they do call the thrush.

70. There is a fish, too, called the ioulis, concerning which Dorion says, in his treatise on Fishes, "Recollect that if you boil the ioulis, you must do it in brine; and if you roast them, you must roast them with marjoram." And Numenius says—

And ne'er neglect the medicine which keeps off
To a great degree the greedy fish ioulis,
And scolopendrus that doth poison dart.

But the same writer calls them ioulus, and the entrails of the earth, in the following lines:—

Moreover do not then the bait forget,
Which on the highest hills that fringe the shore
Shall soon be found. And they are called iouli,
Black, eating earth—the entrails of the earth;
Or the long-footed grasshopper, what time
The sandy rocks are sprinkled with the foam
Of the high-rising tide. Then dig them up,
And stow them carefully within your bag.

71. There are also fish called κίχλη, the sea-thrush, and κόσσυφος, the sea-blackbird. The Attic writers call the first κίχλη, with an η; and the reason is as follows:—All the feminine nouns which end in λα have another λ before the λα; as Σκύλλα, σκίλλα, κόλλα, βδέλλα, ἅμιλλα, ἅμαλλα: but those which end in λη do not require a λ to precede the λη; as ὁμίχλη, φύτλη, γενέθλη, αἴγλη, τρώγλη, and, in like manner, τρίγλη. Cratinus says—

Suppose a man had eaten a red mullet (τρίγλην),
Would that alone prove him an epicure?

And Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesomes, says, "Those fish which are called rocky fish have tender flesh; such as the sea-blackbird, the sea-thrush, the perch, the tench, the phyca, the alphesticus." But Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing—

[479] The sea-born race of grayling or of orphus,
The black-flesh'd blackbird, or the dainty sea-thrush
Sporting beneath the waves.

Bambradones, sea-thrushes, and sea-hares;
And the bold dragon fish.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on What concerns Animals, says, "And the fishes with black spots, like the sea-blackbird; and the fishes with variegated spots, like the sea-thrush." But Pancrates the Arcadian, in his Works of the Sea, says that the sea-thrush is called by many names:—

Add now to these the sea-thrush red, which they
Who seek to snare the wary fish with bait
Do call the saurus, and th' æolias,
Add too th' orphiscus with his large fat head.

The scarus or the thrush with many names.

72. There is also the sea-boar and the cremys. Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, says, "But some fish have no teeth and smooth skins, like the needle-fish; and some have stony heads, like the cremys; and some are harsher, with rough skins, like the sea-boar; and some are marked down the back with two lines, like the seserinus; and some are marked with many lines and with red spots, like the salpe." And both Dorion and Epænatus mention the sea-boar; and Archestratus says—

But when you go to Acta's favour'd land,
If you by chance should see a rich sea-boar,
Buy it at once, and let it not escape you,
Not if you buy it at its weight in gold;
Else will the indignation of the gods
O'erpower you; for 'tis the flower of nectar.
But 'tis not all men who can be allow'd
To eat this dainty, no, nor e'en to see it;
Unless they take a strongly-woven mesh
Of marsh-bred rush, and hold it in their hands,
Well used to ply the floats with rapid mind.
And with these dainties you must offer up,
Thrown on the ground, some gifts of lamb and mutton.

73. There is also the harp-fish. Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, or on Fish, says, "The harp-fish has serrated teeth, is a fish of solitary habits, he lives on seaweed; he has a [480]very loose tongue, and a white and broad heart." Pherecrates, in his Slave-Tutor, says—

The harp-fish is a good fish; be you sure
To buy him when you can. He really is good;
But, I by Phœbus swear, this does perplex me
Exceedingly which men do say, my friend,
That there is secret harm within this harp-fish.

There were hyænides,
And fine buglossi, and the harp-fish too.

And Apollodorus has said that, on account of his name, he was considered to be sacred to Apollo. And Callias, or Diocles, whichever was the author of the play, says in the Cyclops—

A roasted harp-fish, and a ray,
And the head of a well-fed tunny.

I counsel you always to boil a harp-fish
If he is white and full of firmish meat;
But if he's red and also no great size,
Then it were best, when you have prick'd him o'er
With a new sharpen'd knife, to roast him gently.
Sprinkle him then with oil and plenteous cheese,
For he does like to see men liberal,
And is himself intemperate.

74. There is also the cordylus. Aristotle calls this fish an amphibious animal, and says that it dies if it is dried by the sun. But Numenius, in his book on the Art of Fishing, calls it the courylus:—

All things are ready. First I strip the thighs
Of courylus, or pirene, and treat too
In the same way the marine grasshopper.

Mussels, sea-horses, or the sea-green cordylis.

75. There is also a fish called cammorus. Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe, says—

Then after this there are boaces and
Smarides, anchovies, also cammori.

And Sophron, in his Female Farces, mentions them. But they are a species of squill, and this name was given them by the Romans.

76. There is also a fish called the carcharias. Numenius of Heraclea, in his Art of Fishing, says—

[481] At times you may too a carcharias catch,
At times a psamathis who loves the surf.

And Sophron, in his Tunny-hunter, says, "But if your stomach happens to have swallowed a carcharias." But Nicander the Colophonian, in his essay on Dialects, says that the carcharias is also called the lamias and the squill.

77. There is also the cestreus. Icesius says, "Of the fish which are called by one general name of leucisci there are many sorts; for some are called cephali, and some cestres, and some chellones, and some myxini. But the cephali are the best both in flavour and juiciness; the next to them are those called the cestres; the myxini are inferior to either. But the worst of all are the chellones, which are called bacchi; and they are all full of wholesome juice, not very nutritious, but very digestible." And Dorion, in his essay on Fish, mentions the sea cestreus, but does not approve of the river one. And the sea cestreus he subdivides into two species—the cephalus and the nestis. But the cestreus, which is like the sea-urchin about the head, he calls sphondylus. And he says "that the cephalinus differs from the cephalus, and that this last is also called the blepsias." But Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, "But of the different kinds of cestreus, the chellones begin to be pregnant in the month Poseideon; so does the sargus and the fish called the myxus; and so does the cephalus: and they go thirty days with young. But some of the cestres are not generated by copulation, but are produced by the slime and the sand."

And in other places Aristotle says, "The cestreus is a fish with serrated teeth, but he does not eat other fishes; and, indeed, he is in no respect carnivorous. But of these fish there are several kinds—the cephalus, the chellon, and the pheræus. And the chellon feeds close to land, but the pheræus does not; and they use the following food—the pheræus uses the mucus which proceeds from itself, and the chellon eats slime and sand. It is said, also, that the spawn of the cestreus is not eaten by any other fish, just as the cestreus also eats no other fish." But Euthydemus the Athenian, in his treatise on Cured Fish, says that the spheneus and the dactyleus are both different species of cestres; and also that there is a species which are called cephali, because they have very large heads. And those which are called spheneus,[481:1] are called so because [482]they are thin and four-cornered; and the dactyleis are not so thick as two fingers. But the most excellent of the cestres are those which are caught near Abdera, as Archestratus has told us; and the second-best are those which come from Sinope.

78. But the cestres are called by some writers plotes, as Polemo says, in his treatise on the Rivers in Sicily. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, gives them this name—

Æolians, and plotes, and cynoglossi.
There also were sciathides.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Dispositions and Way of Living of Animals, says that "the cestres live even if they are deprived of their tails. But the cestreus is eaten by the pike, and the conger is eaten by the turbot." And there is an often-quoted proverb, "The cestreus is fasting," which is applied to men who live with strict regard to justice, because the cestreus is never carnivorous. Anaxilas, in his Morose Man, attacking Maton the Sophist for his gluttony, says—

Maton seized hold of a large cestreus' head,
And ate it all. But I am quite undone.

Buy if you can a cestreus which has come
From the sea-girt Ægina; then you shall
For well-bred men be fitting company.

The cestreus leaps for joy.

79. But that the nestes are a kind of cestreus, Archippus tells us, in his Hercules Marrying:—

Nestes cestres, cephali.

But all the other soldiers which you have
Are hungry (νήστεις) cestres.

So I a nestis cestreus now run home.

Midas then is a cestreus—see, he walks
Along the city fasting (νῆστις).

I bought me now a nestis cestreus roasted
Of no great size.

Is there within a colony of man cestres?
For that they all are νήστιδες you know.

He usually goes supperless about,
Like a cestrinus nestis.

Who has been drown'd 'tis now four days ago,
Leading the life of a sad nestis cestreus.

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

These men have supp'd, but I, wretch that I am,
Shall be a cestreus through th' extreme of fasting.

But stand in order—

hungry band of cestres,
You who are fed, like geese, on vegetables.

For you shall not take a share of any of these things before either you, or your fellow-pupil Ulpian, tell me why the cestreus is the only fish which is called the faster. And Ulpian said,—It is because he never takes any living bait; and when he is caught, it is neither effected by any meat nor by any living animal; as Aristotle tells us, when he says "perhaps his being hungry makes him lazy;" and also that "when he is frightened he hides his head, as if by so doing he concealed his whole body." But Plato, in his Holidays, says—

As I was going out I met a fisherman,
And he was bringing me some cestres, and
He brought me all those worthless starving fish.

But do you tell me, O you Thessalian wrestler, Myrtilus! why it is that fish are called by the poets ἔλλοπες? And he said,—It is because they are voiceless; but some insist upon it that, by strict analogy, the word ought to be ἴλλοπες, because they are deprived of voice: for the verb ἴλλεσθαι [484]means to be deprived, and ὄψ means voice.[484:1] And are you ignorant of this, when you are an ἔλλοψ yourself? But I, as the wise Epicharmus says, when this dog makes me no answer,—

Am by myself enough well to reply
To what two men have lately said before me.

And I say that they are called ἔλλοπες from being covered with scales, [the word coming from the same root, and being equivalent to λεπιδωτός]. But I will tell you (though that is not a question which has been asked) why the Pythagoreans, who do touch other living creatures, though sparingly, and who allow themselves even to sacrifice some, absolutely abstain altogether from fish alone. Is it because of their silence? for they think silence a very divine quality. Since, then, you, O you Molossian dogs, are always silent, but are still not Pythagoreans, we will now go on to the rest of the discussion about fish.

81. There is a fish called the coracinus. The coracini, which are caught at sea, says Icesius, contain but little nourishment; but they are easily secreted, and have a moderate supply of good juice. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that "it happens to nearly all fish to have a rapid growth, and this is the case, in no small degree, with the coracinus; and he lays his eggs close to the land, in places full of weeds and moss." But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Similitudes, says that the black-tail and the coracinus are much alike. But Numenius, in his Treatise on the Art of Fishing, says—

It easily would attract the spotted coracinus.

And perhaps the æoliæ mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Muses, may be the same as coracini. For Epicharmus says—

Æoliæ, plotes, cynoglossi too.

But, in his Hebe's Marriage, he speaks of the æoliæ as a different fish; for he says—

There there were mussels, and the alphastic fish,
And coracini like to coriander seed,
Æoliæ, plotes too, and the cynoglossi.

But Euthydemus, in his essay on Cured Fish, says that the coracinus is by many people called the saperda. And [485]Heracleon the Ephesian has said much the same thing; and so has Philotimus, in his Cookery Book. But that the saperdas and the coracinus are both called the platistacus is affirmed by Parmeno the Rhodian, in the first book of his Culinary Doctrine. But Aristophanes, in his Telmessians, uses the expression "black-finned coracini."

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

Being with your κορακινίδια and μαινίδια.

Whoever eats a sea-born coracinus
When he may have a grayling, is a fool.

But the coracini of the Nile are very sweet and delicious in their flesh, as those who have tried them know; and they have got their name from continually moving their eyes (διὰ τὸ τὰς κόρας κινεῖν), and never ceasing. But the Alexandrians call them plataces, which is, more correctly speaking, the name of the whole genus.

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

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

A char or tench (κῶθος) of mighty size and bold.

And Sophron, in his Countryman, speaks of "The cothons, who bathe in mud;" and perhaps it was from the name of this fish that he called the son of his Tunny-catcher, in the play, Cothonias. But it is the Sicilians who call the tench κώθων, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us, in his book on [486]Dialects; and Apollodorus confirms the statement, in his treatise on the Modest and Temperate Man. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, names the tench, calling it κώβιος:—

The turtle with their sting behind, and then the tender tench.

And Antiphanes, in his Timon, praising the tench, tells us in what places they are to be found in the greatest perfection, in these lines:—

I come, but I have been to great expense
In buying viands for this marriage feast.
I've bought a pennyworth of frankincense
To offer to the gods and all the goddesses,
And to the heroes I will offer cakes.
But when I bid that rascally house-breaking
Seller of fish to add a dainty dish,
"I'll throw you in," says he, "the borough itself,
For they are all Phalericans." The rest
I do believe were selling our Otrynicans.[486:1]

And the beauteous cuckoos
Which we split in twain,
Then we roast and season them,
And then with pleasure eat them.

And Dorion says that one ought to roast them, first having split them down the back; and, having seasoned them with herbs, and cheese, and spice, and assafœtida, and oil, then one ought to turn them round, and oil them on the other side, and then to sprinkle them with a little salt; and, when one has taken them from the fire, to moisten them with vinegar. But Numenius gives it the epithet of red, from the facts of the case, saying—

Eating sometimes the cuckoo red, sometimes
A few pempherides, or else a lizard.

85. There is also a fish called the carcharias (or [487]sharp-toothed dog). And Archestratus, whom we may call the Hesiod or Theognis of Epicures, speaks of this fish; for Theognis himself was not indifferent to luxury, as he admits, speaking of himself in these words:—

But when the sun, driving his coursers fleet
With solid hoofs along the heavenly road,
Guides them at mid-day in the centre path,
Then let us eat whate'er our heart may prompt,
And gratify our appetite with dainties.
Then let a Spartan maid with rosy hands,
Bring water, and fresh garlands for our brows.

Nor indeed was that wise man indifferent to the charms of boys; at all events, he speaks thus on the subject:—

O Academus, would you now but sing
A tuneful hymn, while in the midst should stand
A beauteous boy, in flower of his youth,
A prize for you and me to combat for,
Then you should know how far the mule excels the ass.

And Archestratus, in these beautiful suggestions of his, exhorts his friends in this way—

In fair Torone's town 'tis best to cook
The hollow entrails of the sharp-tooth'd dog.
Then strew the fish with cummin, sparing be
Of salt, then roast him, and add nothing else
Saving some sea-green oil. Then when 'tis done,
Serve him up with some little seasoning.
And if you boil a part of it within
The hollow of some flat dish, then add
No water, add no wine-made vinegar,
But pour on oil alone, and cummin dry,
And add what fragrant herbs the garden gives.
Then put the saucepan on the ashes hot,
And boil it; let no flame too quickly burn,
And stir it often lest the meat should catch,
And spoil your dinner so, before you know it.
'Tis but few mortals know this wondrous food;
And those who have thick stupid heavy souls,
Refuse to taste it, but are all alarm'd,
Because they say this dog's a cannibal,
And feeds on human flesh. But there is not
A fish that swims which does not like man's flesh
If he can only chance to come across it.

There is a part of this fish which the Romans call thursio, and which is very delicious, and much sought for as an article of luxury.

86. There is also the pike. These, as Aristotle reports, are a solitary and carnivorous fish; and they have a bony [488]tongue, adhering to the mouth, and a triangular heart. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, he says that they bring forth their young, like the cestres and chrysophryes do, chiefly in those places where rivers fall into the sea; and they bring forth in winter, and they also bring forth twice in the season. But Icesius says that the pike is very juicy, and not very nutritious; and that it is also not very easily secreted; but for delicacy of flavour it is accounted the very first of fish. And this fish has his name, λάβραξ, from his voracity λαβρότης. It is said, also, that in shrewdness he is superior to other fish, being very ingenious at devising means to save himself; on which account, Aristophanes the comic poet says—

The pike, the wisest of all fish that swim.

And Alcæus the lyric poet says that he swims very high in the water. But the wise Archestratus says—

Take the large cestris cephalus from Gæson,
When you do come to fair Miletus' city.
Take too the pike, the offspring of the gods.
For in those waters both these fish are best.
Such is the natural character of the place.
But there are many places where they grow
More fat and large; in famous Calydon,
And in the opulent Ambracia,
And at the Bolbe lake; but there they want
The fragrant fat which here surrounds their belly;
Nor have they such a pungent taste, my friend.
Those which I speak of are most admirable.
Take them and roast them without scaling them,
Soften with salt, and serve them up with brine.
And let no Syracusan, no Italian
Break in upon you while you dress this dish:
For they have no idea of dressing fish,
But spoil them all by seasoning them with cheese,
By sprinkling them with too much vinegar,
And strongly scented assafœtida.
They are good cooks enough to dress the vile
Fish which they take while clinging to the rocks;
And there are many kinds of season'd dishes
Which they can dress quite well enough; but they
Have no idea of dressing good fish plain.

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

But you shall not disturb me thus
Feasting on Milesian pike.

He would not buy a pike's head, nor a locust:

speaking because the brain of the pike is a great delicacy, as is also that of the sea-grayling. And Eubulus, in his Muses, says—

Do not be too expensive, still not mean,
Whate'er you do; not for decency's sake.
Get some small cuttle-fish, or squids, some nestis,
Some small fry of the polypus, some tripe,
And beestings and black-puddings; get besides
A noble head of the Milesian pike.

But the Gæson, which is mentioned by Archestratus, means the lake Gæsonis, which is between Priene and Miletus, connected with the sea, as Neanthes of Cyzicus tells us, in the sixth hook of his Hellenics. But Ephorus, in his fifth book, says that the Gæson is a river near Priene, which flows into the lake Gæsonis. And Archippus, in his Fishes, mentioning the pike, says—

Hermes th' Egyptian is the greatest rogue
Of all the fishmongers; he skins by force
The sharks and rhinès, and takes out the entrails
Of the Milesian pikes, before he sells them.

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

Near the well-treed Italia's verdant shores,
Fierce Scylla's strait the famous latus breeds,
Most marvellous of dainties.

But the lati which are found in the river Nile grow to such a size that they weigh more than two hundred pounds; and this fish is exceedingly white, and very delicious, dress it in whatever way you choose. And it is like the fish called the glanis, which is found in the Danube. The Nile produces also many other kinds of fish, and they are all very delicious; but especially does it produce all the different coracini (for there are many different kinds of this fish). It also produces the fish called the mæotes, which are mentioned by Archippus, in his Fishes, in these words:—

A.	The man who's country bred likes not to eat Food from the sea extracted; unless indeed It comes quite close in shore. Such as some conger, Some ray, or tunny's . . .
B.	Which part of the tunny?
A.	The lower part.
B.	Well, you may eat that safely.
A.	All other fish I reckon cannibals.
B.	Do not you eat those fish with the ugly backs?
A.	Which?
B.	The fat eels which haunt Copais' lake.
[477]A.	Aye, like a ploughman. For indeed I have A farm not far from that most dainty lake. But I impeach the eels now of desertion, For none at all were there the other day.

A.	And I will seek the forum, there to find Some one to take my work.
B.	I wish you would, You would all have less time to follow me, Like any hungry (νῆστις) cestreus.

A.	There was a fishmonger not long ago, Who asked four whole drachmas for his tench.
B.	A mighty price indeed.