Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
- BOOK 14 (excerpts)
Translated by C.D.Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green. Transliterated Greek words are shown in dark red. Links to further information are shown in blue.
Click on the # symbols to go to lists of other ancient sources which refer to the same events.
[1.] [613] Most people, my friend Timocrates, call Dionysus frantic, because those who drink too much unmixed wine become uproarious:
To copious wine this insolence you owe,
And much your betters wine can overthrow.
The great Eurytion, when this frenzy stung,
Peirithous' roofs with frantic riot rung:
Boundless the Centaur raged, till one and all
The Lapiths rose and dragged him from the hall. [ Homer, Od_21'293 ]
For when the wine has penetrated down into the body, as Herodotus says [ 1.212 ], bad and furious language is apt to rise to the surface. And Clearchus the comic poet says in his Corinthians-
If all the men who to get drunk are apt,
Had everyday a headache before they drank
The wine, there is not one would drink a drop:
But as we now get all the pleasure first,
Then after we drink, we lose the whole delight
In the sharp pain which follows.And Xenophon [ Ages_5.1 ] represents Agesilaus
as insisting that a man ought to shun drunkenness equally with madness, and immoderate gluttony as much as idleness. But we, as we are not of the class who drink to excess, nor of the number of those who are in the habit of being intoxicated by midday, have come rather to this literary entertainment; for Ulpianus, who is always finding fault, reproved some one just now who said, I am not drunk (ἔξοινος), saying,- Where do you find that word ἔξοινος? But he rejoined,- Why, in Alexis, who, in his play called the New Settler, says-
He did all this when drunk (ἔξοινος).[2.] But as, after the discussion by us of the new topics which arise,
our liberal entertainer Larensis is every day constantly introducing different kinds of music, and also jesters and buffoons, let us have a little talk about them. Although I am aware that Anacharsis the Scythian, when on one occasion jesters were introduced in his company, remained without moving a muscle of his countenance; but afterwards, when a monkey was brought in, he burst out laughing, and said, "Now this fellow is laughable by his nature, but man is only so through practice." And Euripides, in his Melanippe in Chains, has said-
But many men, from the wish to raise a laugh,
Practise sharp sayings; but those sorry jesters
I hate who let loose their unbridled tongues
[614] Against the wise and good; nor do I class them
As men at all, but only as jokes and playthings.
[But women ...]
Tend their homes at ease, and gather up
Good store of wealth to keep within their houses.And Parmeniscus of Metapontum, as Semus tells us in the fifth book of his History of Delos, a man of the highest consideration both as to family and in respect of his riches, having gone down to the cave of Trophonius, after he had come up again, was not able to laugh at all. And when he consulted the oracle on this subject, the Pythian priestess replied to him-
You're asking me, you laughless man,
About the power to laugh again;
If you with reverence to her come.So, on this, he hoped that when he returned to his country he should be able to laugh again; but when he found that he could laugh no more now than he could before, he considered that he had been deceived; till, by some chance, he came to Delos; and as he was admiring everything he saw in the island, he came into the temple of Leto, expecting to see some very superb statue of the mother of Apollo; but when he saw only a wooden shapeless figure, he unexpectedly burst out laughing. And then, comparing what had happened with the oracle of the god, and being cured of his infirmity, he honoured the goddess greatly.
[3.]
And yet we labour much.
But Palamedes first, and Rhadamanthys,
Sought those who bring no other contribution,
But say amusing things.Xenophon also, in his Symposium [ 1.11 ], mentions jesters; introducing Philippus, of whom he speaks in the following manner:- "But Philippus the jester, having knocked at the door, told the boy who answered, to tell the guests who he was, and that he was desirous to be admitted; and he said that he came provided with everything which could qualify him for supping at other people's expense.
as Telephanes tells us in his treatise On the City. And their reputation for amusing qualities was so great, that Philippus the Macedonian heard of it, and sent them a talent to engage them to write out their witticisms and send them to him. And the fact of this king having been a man who was very fond of jokes is testified to us by Demosthenes the orator in his Philippics [ Olynth_2'19 ]. Demetrius Poliorcetes was a man very eager for anything which could make him laugh, as Phylarchus tells us in the sixth book of his History [ Fr_12 ]. And he it was who said, "that the palace of Lysimachus was in no respect different from a comic theatre;
for that there was no one there with a name longer than two syllables;" (meaning to laugh at Bithys and Paris, who had more influence than anybody with Lysimachus, and at some others of his friends;) "but that his own friends were Peucestes, and Menelaus, and Oxythemis." But when Lysimachus heard this, he said,- "I, however, never saw a prostitute on the stage in a tragedy;" referring to Lamia the female flute-player. [615] And when this was reported to Demetrius, he rejoined,- "But the prostitute who is with me, lives in a more modest manner than the Penelope who is with him."
[4.] And we have mentioned before this that Sulla, the general of the Romans, was very fond of anything laughable. # And Lucius Anicius, who was also a general of the Romans, after he had subdued the Illyrians, and brought with him Genthius the king of the Illyrians as his prisoner, with all his children, when he was celebrating his triumphal games at Rome, did many things of the most laughable character possible, as Polybius relates in his thirtieth book [ 30.22 ]:-
[5.] Now when Ulpianus had said thus much, and when all were laughing at the idea of this exhibition of Anicius, a discussion arose about travelling acrobats (πλάνοι). And the question was asked, Whether there was any mention of these men in any of the ancient authors? for of the jugglers (θαυματοποιοὶ) we have already spoken [ 1.20'a ]: and Magnus said, Dionysius of Sinope, the comic poet, in his play entitled The Namesakes, mentions Cephisodorus the πλάνος in the following terms-
A πλάνος, named Cephisodorus, who
Devoted all his life to this pursuit;
And he, whenever to a hill he came,
Ran straight up to the top; but then descending
Came slowly down, and leaning on a pole.And Nicostratus also mentions him in his Syrian-
They say the πλάνος Cephisodorus once
Most wittily stationed in a narrow lane
A crowd of men with bundles in their arms,
So that no one else could pass that way at all.[616] There was also a man named Pantaleon, who is mentioned by Theognetus, in his Slave devoted to his Master-
Pantaleon himself did none deceive (ἐπλάνα)
Save only foreigners, and those, too, such
As never had heard of him: and often he,
After a drunken revel, would pour forth
All sorts of jokes, striving to raise a laugh
By his unceasing chattering.And Chrysippus the philosopher in the fifth book of his treatise On Honour and Pleasure, writes thus of Pantaleon:- "But Pantaleon the πλάνος, when he was at the point of death, deceived every one of his sons separately,
[6.] And our party was not deficient in men fond of raising a laugh by jesting speeches. And respecting a man of this kind, Chrysippus subsequently, in the same book, writes as follows:- "Once when a man fond of jests was about to be put to death by the executioner, he said that he wished to die like the swan, singing a song; and when he gave him leave, he ridiculed him."
You are starting trouble, introducing this vomiting woman (τήνδ' ἐμοῦσαν)
ordered him to be put in a cage (γαλεάγρα) and carried about like a wild beast, and fed; and he punished him in this way till he died. But if you, O Ulpianus, raise a question about the word γαλεάγρα, it occurs in Hypereides the orator; and the passage you may find out for yourself.
The mountain was in labour; Zeus
Was greatly frightened: lo! a mouse was born.
And Agesilaus hearing of this, and being indignant at it, said, "I will one day prove a lion to you." So afterwards, when the Egyptians revolted (as Theopompus relates, and Lyceas of Naucratis confirms the statement in his History of Egypt), Agesilaus refused to cooperate with him, and, in consequence, Tachos lost his kingdom, and fled to the Persians.* * * * *
[12.] [620]
[13.] And the men called hilarodists (whom some people at the present day call simodists, as Aristocles tells us in his first book On Choruses, because Simus of Magnesia was the most celebrated of all the poets of joyous songs,) frequently come to our attention.
The ionicologus recites the poems of Sotades, and what before his time were called Ionic poems, such as those of Alexander the Aetolian, and Pyres the Milesian, and Alexas, and other poets of the same kind; and [this reciter] is also called cinaedologus.
He pierced forbidden fruit with deadly sting.
But when he had sailed from Alexandria (as Hegesander, in his Reminiscences, relates), and thought that he had escaped all danger, Patrocles, the general of Ptolemaeus, caught him in the island of Caunus. Patrocles shut him up in a leaden vessel, and carried him into the open sea and drowned him. And here is an example of Sotades' poetry:
And he, opening the door which leads from the back-side,
Sent forth vain thunder from a leafy cave,
Such as a mighty ploughing ox might utter.* * * * *
[29.] [630]
* * * * *
[37.] [635]
I hold my magadis and sing,
Striking loud the twentieth string,
O Leucaspis.But Poseidonius [ Fr_107 ] asserts that Anacreon mentions three kinds of melodies,
The sweet responsive lyre
Which long ago the Lesbian bard,
Terpander, did invent, sweet ornament
To the luxurious Lydian feasts, when he
Now the pectis and the magadis are the same instrument, as Aristoxenus tells us, and Menaechmus the Sicyonian too, in his treatise On Artists. And this latter author says that Sappho, who is more ancient than Anacreon, was the first person to use the pectis. Now, that Terpander is more ancient than Anacreon, is evident from the following considerations:- Terpander was the first man who ever got the victory at the Carneian games, as Hellanicus tells us in his Victors at the Carneia, which he wrote in verse and in prose.
The first establishment of the Carneia took place in the twenty-sixth Olympiad [ 676-673 B.C. ],
[38.] [636] However, Diogenes the tragic poet represents the pectis as differing from the magadis; for in his Semele he says-
And now I hear the turban-wearing women,
Votaries of the Asiatic Cybele,
The wealthy Phrygians' daughters, loudly sounding
With drums, and bull-roarers, and brazen-clashing
Cymbals, their hands each striking in concert,
Pour forth a wise and healing hymn to the gods.
Likewise the Lydian and the Bactrian maids
Who dwell beside the Halys, loudly worship
The Tmolian goddess Artemis, who loves
The laurel shade of the thick leafy grove,
Raising responsive tunes upon the magadis,
While flutes in Persian manner neatly joined
Accompany the chorus.And Phillis of Delos, in the second book of his treatise On Music, also asserts that the pectis is different from the magadis. And his words are these- "There are the phoenix, the pectis, the magadis, the sambuca, the iambyca, the triangles, the clepsiambus, the scindapsus, and the nine-string." For, he says that "the lyre to which they sang iambics, they called the iambyca, and the instrument to which they sang them in such a manner as to vary the metre a little, they called the clepsiambus,
[39.] There were also some instruments besides those which were blown into, and those which were used with different strings, which gave forth only sounds of a simple nature, such as the castanets (κρέμβαλα), which are mentioned by Dicaearchus, in his essay On the Manners and Customs of Greece, where he says, that formerly certain instruments were in very frequent use, in order to accompany women while dancing and singing;
Artemis, now my mind will have me utter
A pleasing song in honour of your deity,
While this my comrade strikes with nimble hand
The well-gilt brazen-sounding castanets.And Hermippus, in his play called The Gods, gives the word for rattling the castanets, κρεμβαλιάζειν, saying-
And beating down the limpets from the rocks,
They make a noise like castanets (κρεμβαλιάζουσι).
[40.] But Artemon, in the first book of his treatise On the Dionysiac System, as he calls it, says that Timotheus the Milesian appears to many men to have used an instrument of more strings than were necessary, namely, the magadis, on which account he was chastised by the Lacedaemonians as having corrupted the ancient music. And when some one was going to cut away the superfluous strings from his lyre,
And put away the magadis.And Sophocles, in his Thamyras, says-
And well-compacted lyres and magadides,
And other highly-polished instruments,
From which the Greeks do make the sweetest sounds.But Telestes, in his dithyrambic poem, called Hymenaeus, says that the magadis was an instrument with five strings, using the following expressions-
And each a different strain awakens,-
One struck the loud horn-sounded magadis,
And in the five-fold number of tight strings
Moved his hand to and fro most rapidly.I am acquainted, too, with another instrument which the Thracian kings use in their banquets, as Nicomedes tells us in his essay on Orpheus.
[41.] And concerning the instrument called the tripod (this also is a musical instrument) the before-mentioned Artemon writes as follows- "And that is how it is that there are many instruments, as to which it is even uncertain whether they ever existed;
[42.] Now the system of playing the harp without any vocal accompaniment, was, as Menaechmus informs us, first introduced by Aristonicus the Argive, who was a contemporary of Archilochus, and lived in Corcyra. But Philochorus, in the third book of his Atthis [ Fr_23 ], says- "Lysander the Sicyonian harp-player was the first person who ever changed the art of pure instrumental performance, dwelling on the long tones, and producing a very rich sound, and adding also to the harp the music of the flute; and this last addition was first introduced by Epigonus; [638] and taking away the jejuneness which existed in the music of those who played the harp alone without any vocal accompaniment, he first introduced various beautiful modifications on that instrument; and he played on the different kinds of harp called iambyca and magadis, and the so-called syrigmus. And he was the first person who ever attempted to change his instrument while playing. And afterwards, adding dignity to the business, he was the first person to institute a chorus [of players]. And Menaechmus says that Dion of Chios was the first person who ever played on the harp an ode such as is used at libations to the honour of Dionysus. Timomachus, in his History of Cyprus, says that Stesander the Samian added further improvements to his art, and was the first person who at Delphi sang to the accompaniment of his lyre the battles narrated by Homer, beginning with the Odyssey.
Aristoxenus says that just as some men have composed parodies on hexameter verses, for the sake of exciting a laugh; so, too, others have parodied the verses which were sung to the harp, in which pastime Oenopas led the way. And he was imitated by Polyeuctus the Achaean, and by Diocles of Cynaetha. There have also been poets who have composed indecent songs, concerning whom Phaenias of Eresus speaks in his writings Against the Sophists, where he writes thus:-
(A) Here is a poet who has gained the prize
In choruses.
(B) What is his style of poetry ?
(A) A noble kind.
(B) How will he stand comparison
With Argas?
(A) He's a whole day's journey better.And Anaxandrides, in his Heracles, says-
How gracefully he takes the instrument,
Then plays at once . . .
When I have eaten my fill, I then incline
To send you off to sing a match with Argas,
That you, my friend, may thus the sophists conquer.* * * * *
[53.] [645] There was also a kind [of cake] called diaconium. Pherecrates says-
He was so greedy that he ate a whole
Diaconium up, besides an amphiphon.But the amphiphon was a kind of cheesecake consecrated to Artemis, having figures of lighted torches round it. Philemon, in his Beggar, or Woman of Rhodes, says-
Artemis, mistress dear, I bring you now
This amphiphon, and these libations holy.Diphilus also mentions it in his Hecate. Philochorus [ Fr_86 ] also mentions the fact of its being called amphiphon, and of its being brought into the temples of Artemis, and also to the crossroads, on the day when the moon is overtaken at its setting
There is the basynias too. Semus, in the second book of his History of Delos, says- "In the island of Hecate, the Delians sacrifice to Iris, offering her the cheesecakes called basyniae; and this is a cake of wheat-flour, and suet, and honey, boiled up together: and what is called κόκκωρα consists of a fig and three nuts."
There are also cheesecakes called strepti and neēlata. Both these kinds are mentioned by Demosthenes the orator, in his Speech in defence of Ctesiphon concerning the Crown [ 260 ].
There are also epichyta. Nicochares, in his Handicrafts-men, says-
And rolls, a toasted bun, and honeyed cheesecakes,
Moulded cakes (ἐπιχύτοι), barley-gruel, and common cheesecakes,
Barley-cakes (δενδαλίδες), and fried bread.But Pamphilus says that the epichyton is the same kind of cheesecake as that which is called attanites. And Hipponax mentions the attanites in the following lines-
Not eating hares or woodcocks,
Nor mingling small fried loaves with cakes of sesame,
Nor dipping fried cakes (ἀττανίται) in honeycombs.
There is also the glycinas: this is a cheesecake in fashion among the Cretans, made with sweet wine and oil, as Seleucus tells us in his Dialects.
There is also the empeptas. The same author speaks of this as a cheesecake made of wheat, hollow and well-shaped, like those which are called crepides; being rather a kind of casing into which they put those cheesecakes which are really made with cheese.
* * * * *
[61.] [649]
Pistachio nuts (ψιττάκια) upon the highest branches,
Like almonds to the sight.The word is also written βίστακια, in the line-
And almond-like pistachios (βίστακια) were there.And Poseidonius the Stoic, in the third book of his History [ Fr_3 ], writes thus: "But both Arabia and Syria produce the peach, and the nut which is called pistachio (βιστάκιον); which bears a fruit in bunches like bunches of grapes, of a sort of tawny white, long shaped, like tears, and the nuts lie on one another like berries. But the kernel is of a light green, and it is less juicy than the pine-cone, but it has a more pleasant smell."
* * * * *
[67.] [652]
Then came in figs, the emblem of fair Athens,
And bunches of sweet thyme.And Lynceus, in his letter to the comic poet, Poseidippus, says-
(A) They celebrate the praise of myrtle-berries,
Of honey, of the Propylaea, and of figs;
(B) And the Propylaea?
(A) Yet have I found nothing
Which to a woodcock can for taste compare.In which lines we must take notice of the mention of the woodcock. But Philemon, in his treatise On Attic Names, says that "the most excellent dried figs are those called aegalides; and that Aegila is the name of a deme in Attica, which derives its name from a hero called Aegilus;
Barley cakes, cheesecakes, and Teithrasian figs.But dried figs were so very much sought after by all men, (for really, as Aristophanes says- "There's really nothing nicer than dried figs;") that even Amitrochates, the king of the Indians, wrote to Antiochus, entreating him (it is Hegesander who tells this story) to buy and send him some sweet wine, [653] and some dried figs, and a sophist; and that Antiochus wrote to him in answer, "The dried figs and the sweet wine we will send you; but it is not lawful for a sophist to be sold in Greece." The Greeks were also in the habit of eating dried figs roasted, as Pherecrates proves by what he says in the Coriannō, where we find-
But pick me out some of those roasted figs.And a few lines later he says-
Will you not bring me here some black dried figs ?
Do you understand ? Among the Mariandyni,
That barbarous tribe, they call these black dried figs
Their pots.
[68.] That the word βότρυς is common for a bunch of grapes is known to every one; and Crates, in the second book of his Attic Dialect, uses the word σταφυλή, although it appears to be a word of Asiatic origin; saying that in some of the ancient hymns the word σταφυλή is used for βότρυς, as in the following line-
Thick hanging with the dusky grapes (σταφυλῇσι ) themselves.And that the word σταφυλή is used by Homer is known to every one. But Plato, in the eighth book of his Laws [ 844'd ], uses both βότρυς and σταφυλή, where he says-
But let us not postpone this till to-morrow,
Still less till the day after.When the philosopher says γενναῖα, he means εὐγενῆ, generous, as Archilochus also uses the word-
Come hither, you are generous (γενναῖος);
or, perhaps, he means ἐπιγεγενημένα; that is to say, grafted. For Aristotle speaks of grafted pears, and calls them ἐπεμβολάδες.
But take these grapes (βότρυς), and in neat wine pound them,
And pour upon them many cups of water.
Then make him eat them when well steeped in wine.And the poet, who is the author of the Chiron, which is generally attributed to Pherecrates, says-
And myrtle-berries, pastry, too, and grapes
Well steeped in wine; and marrow.And that every sort of autumn fruit was always plentiful at Athens, Aristophanes testifies in his Seasons. Why, then, should that appear strange which Aethlius the Samian asserts in the fifth book of his Samian Chronicles, where he says, "The fig, and the grape, and the medlar, and the apple, and the rose grow twice a-year"? [654] And Lynceus, in his letter to Diagoras, praising the Nicostrateian grape, which grows in Attica, and comparing it to the Rhodian grapes, says, "As rivals of the Nicostrateian grapes they grow the Hipponeian grape; which after the month Hecatombaeon (like a good servant) has constantly the same good disposition towards its masters."
[69.] But as you have had frequent discussions about meats, and birds, and pigeons, I also will tell you all that I, after a great deal of reading, have been able to find out in addition to what has been previously stated.
He waits a little while, and then runs up
And says- "I've bought some pigeons (περιστέρια) for you."And so Nicostratus, in his Delicate Woman, says-
These are the things I want,- a little bird,
And then a pigeon (περιστέριον) and a paunch.And Anaxandrides, in his Rival in Love, has the line-
For bringing in some pigeons (περιστέρια) and some sparrows.And Phrynichus, in his Tragedians, says-
Bring him a pigeon (περιστέριον) for three obols.Now with respect to the pheasant, Ptolemaeus the king, in the twelfth book of his Commentaries,
[70.] # But if the before-mentioned king [Ptolemaeus] had seen the number of peacocks also which exists at Rome, he would have fled to the sacred senate, as though he had a second time been driven out of his kingdom by his brother.
When the first man imported to this city
A pair of peacocks, they were thought a rarity,
But now they are more numerous than quails;
So also, if you search and find one good man,
He will be sure to have five worthless sons.
That he should have devoured so vast a sum!
Why if (by earth I swear) I fed on hares' milk
And peacocks, I could never spend so much.And that they used to keep them tame in their houses, we learn from Strattis, in his Pausanias, where he says-
Of equal value with your many trifles,
And peacocks, which you breed up for their feathers.And Anaxandrides, in his Melilotus, says-
[655] Is it not a mad idea to breed up peacocks,
When for the same cost one can buy two statues?And Anaxilaus, in his Bird Feeders, says-
Besides all this, tame peacocks, loudly croaking.Menodotus the Samian also, in his treatise On the Treasures in the Temple of the Samian Hera, says: "The peacocks are sacred to Hera; and perhaps Samos may be the place where they were first produced and reared, and from thence it was that they were scattered abroad over foreign countries, in the same way as cocks were originally produced in Persia, and the birds called guinea-fowl (μελεαγρίδες) in Aetolia."
They say that in the city of Heliopolis
The phoenix is produced; the owl in Athens;
Cyprus breeds doves of admirable beauty:
But Hera, queen of Samos, does, they say,
Rear there a golden race of wondrous birds,
The brilliant, beautiful, conspicuous peacock.On which account the peacock occurs on the coins of the Samians.
[71.] But since Menodotus has mentioned the guinea-fowl, we ourselves also will say something on that subject. Clytus the Milesian, a pupil of Aristotle, in the first book of his History of Miletus, writes thus concerning them-
[72.]
On this condition I will be the cook;
Nor shall all Sicily boast that even she
Produced so great an artist as to fish,
Nor Elis either, where I've seen the flesh
Of dainty sucking-pigs well brown'd before
A rapid fire.And Alexis, in his Wicked Woman, says-
A delicate slice of tender sucking-pig,
Bought for three obols, hot, and very juicy,
[656] When it is set before us."But the Athenians," as Philochorus tells us [ Fr_173 ], " when they sacrifice to the Seasons, do not roast, but boil their meat, entreating the goddesses to defend them from all excessive droughts and heats, and to give increase to their crops by means of moderate warmth and seasonable rains. For they argue that roasting is a kind of cookery which does less good to the meat, while boiling not only removes all its rawness, but has the power also of softening the hard parts, and of making all the rest digestible. And it makes the food more tender and wholesome, on which account they say also, that when meat has been once boiled, it ought not to be warmed up again by either roasting or boiling it;
Immediately he caught up some large slices (φλογίδας)
Of smoking roasted boar, and swallowed them.And Archippus, in his Heracles Marrying, says-
The trotters of little pigs, well cooked
In various fashion; slices, too, of bulls
With sharpened horns, and great long steaks of boar,
All roasted (φλογίδες).* * * * *
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