The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 41

_B._ In three of them I've good Megarian groats.

_A._ Do they not say Thessalian are the best?

_B._ I also have some similago fetch'd From the far distant land Phnicia.

But the same play is also attributed to Alexis, though in some few places the text is a little different. And, again, Alexis says, in his play called The Wicked Woman--

There's a large parcel of Thessalian groats.

But Aristophanes, in his Daitaleis, calls soup ???d???, saying--

He would boil soup, and then put in a fly, And so would give it you to drink.

He also speaks of similago; and so, though I do not remember his exact words, does Strattis, in his Anthroporaistes, or Man-destroyer. And so does Alexis, in his Isostasium. But Strattis uses se?d???d?? as the genitive case, in these words--

Of these two sorts of gentle semidalis.

The word ?d?sata is used by Antiphanes, in his Twins, where he says--

Many nice eatables I have enjoy'd, And had now three or four most pleasant draughts; And feel quite frisky, eating as much food As a whole troop of elephants.

So now we may bring this book to an end, and let it have its termination with the discussions about eatables; and the next book shall begin the description of the Banquet.

Do not do so, O Athenaeus, before you have told us of the Macedonian banquet of Hippolochus.--Well, if this is your wish; O Timocrates, we will prepare to gratify it.

FOOTNOTES:

[122:1] This was a Latin word for a cup. Horace says--

Obliviosi levia Ma.s.sici Ciboria exple.

[123:1] This is parodied from--

?a? ??t??? e?d?? ?a??? ?????d??? ????

?e????? ?? dap?d? ?d' ?p' ???e? ?e?t? p??e??a:

translated by Pope:

There t.i.tyus large, and long in fetters bound, O'erspreads nine acres of infernal ground.

[124:1] The whole of the first two books of the genuine work of Athenaeus are lost; as also is the beginning of the third book; and a good deal of the last. What has been translated up to this point is an epitome or abridgement made by some compiler whose name is unknown. Casaubon states that he is ignorant of the name of this compiler; but is sure that he lived five hundred years before his own time, and before Eustathius; because Eustathius sometimes uses his epitome in preference to the original work. But even before this abridgement was made the text had become exceedingly corrupt, according to the statement of the compiler himself.--See Bayle, Dict. voc. _Athenaeus_.

[161:1] The pun in the original cannot be preserved in a translation.

The Greek word for paunch is ?t?a.

163-1] Ovid gives the following derivation of the name February:

Februa Romani dixere piamina patres, Nunc quoque dant verbo plurima signa fidem Pontifices ab rege petunt et Flamine lanas, Queis veteri lingua Februa nomen erat.

Quaeque capit lictor domibus purgamina certis Torrida c.u.m mica farra vocantur idem.

Nomen idem ramo qui caesus ab arbore pura Casta sacerdotum tempora fronde tegit.

Ipse ego Flaminicam poscentem Februa vidi; Februa poscenti pinea virga data est.

Denique quodcunque est quo pectora nostra piamur.

Hoc apud intonsos nomen habebat avos.

Mensis ab his dictus, secta quia pelle Luperci Omne solum l.u.s.trant, idque piamen habent.

Aut quia placatis sunt tempora pura sepulchris.

Tunc c.u.m ferales praeteriere dies.--_Ov. Fasti_, ii. 19.

(See Ovid, vol. i. p. 46, Bohn's Cla.s.sical Library.)

[164:1] It is not quite clear what the blunder was, for ???p?stat?? means irresistible. Aretaeus uses the word for "unsubstantial," which is perhaps what Athenaeus means to say Pompeia.n.u.s 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] ????f????. At Athens, two maidens chosen in their seventh year, who carried the peplos, and other holy things, ????ta, of Pallas in the Scirrophoria. Others write it ??s?- or ????f????, which points to ??s?, a daughter of Cecrops, who was wors.h.i.+pped along with Pallas. Liddell and Scott, Gr. Lex. _in voc._

[190:1] There is no cla.s.sical authority for ??e?e??e???; though Demosthenes has ??e?e??e?????, 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] ? ???ss' ????', ? d? f??? ????t??. Eur. Hip. 763.

[203:1] ??at??, from ?e??????, 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 Cara.n.u.s 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 princ.i.p.al things which are contained in it, just for the sake of conversation and amus.e.m.e.nt at the present time.

2. In Macedonia, then, as I have said, Cara.n.u.s 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 Cara.n.u.s 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 the bowls, then there was given to each of the guests a loaf in a brazen platter of Corinthian workmans.h.i.+p, of the same size; and poultry, and ducks, and besides that, pigeons, and a goose, and quant.i.ties 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 figp.e.c.k.e.rs, and the yolks of eggs spread on the top, and oysters, and 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 Cara.n.u.s 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 Mendaean, 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 gla.s.s 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--

He who drinks most will be the happiest.