The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 86

Menander, in his Ephesians, says--

_A._ There was a fishmonger not long ago, Who asked four whole drachmas for his tench.

_B._ A mighty price indeed.

And Dorion mentions river tench also, in his book on Fishes.

84. There is also a fish called the cuckoo-fish. Epicharmus says--

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 a.s.saftida, 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 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 appet.i.te 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 a.s.s.

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 c.u.mmin, 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 c.u.mmin 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 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, ???a?, from his voracity ?a??t??. 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 Alcaeus the lyric poet says that he swims very high in the water. But the wise Archestratus says--

Take the large cestris cephalus from Gaeson, When you do come to fair Miletus' city.

Take too the pike, the offspring of the G.o.ds.

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 a.s.saftida.

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 surpa.s.singly good, when he speaks thus:--

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

And in his Lemnian Women he says--

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 n.o.ble head of the Milesian pike.

But the Gaeson, which is mentioned by Archestratus, means the lake Gaesonis, which is between Priene and Miletus, connected with the sea, as Neanthes of Cyzicus tells us, in the sixth hook of his h.e.l.lenics. But Ephorus, in his fifth book, says that the Gaeson is a river near Priene, which flows into the lake Gaesonis. 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 rhines, 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 sh.o.r.es, 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 maeotes, which are mentioned by Archippus, in his Fishes, in these words:--

Maeotae, and saperdae, likewise glanides.

And this fish is found in great numbers in Pontus; and they derive their name from the Palus Maeotis. But the following, as far as I can recollect, from having been a long time absent from the country, are the names of the chief fish found in the Nile. The sweetest of all is the ray; then there is the sea-pig, the snub-nose, the phagrus, the oxyrhynchus, the allabes, the silurus, the synodontis, the elecoris, the eel, the thrissa, the abramis, the blind-fish, the scaly-fish, the bellows-fish, and the cestreus. And there are also a great number of others.

89. There is also a kind of shark, called the leiobatus, whose other name is the rhine; and he is a white-fleshed fish, as Epaenetus tells us in his Cookery Book. Plato says, in his Sophists--

The galeus, the leiobatus, the eel.

90. There is also the lamprey. Theophrastus, in the fifth book of his treatise on those Animals which can live on dry Land, says that the eel and the lamprey can exist for a long time out of the water, because they have very small gills, and so receive but very little moisture into their system. But Icesius affirms that they are not less nutritious than the eel, nor even, perhaps, than the conger. And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that from the time that they are little they grow very rapidly, and that they have sharp serrated teeth; and that they keep on laying small-sized eggs every season of the year.

But Epicharmus, in his Muses, calls them not s??a??a, but ??a??a, without the s; speaking in this way of them:--

No congers fat were wanting, and no lampreys (??a??a?).

And Sophron, too, spells the word in the same manner. But Plato or Cantharus, in his Alliance, spells the word with the s, saying--

The ray, the lamprey (s??a??a) too, is here.

Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the river lampreys have only one spine, like the kind of cod which is called gallarias. But Andreas, in his treatise on Poisonous Animals, says that those lampreys which are produced by a cross with the Viper have a poisonous bite, and that that kind is less round than the other, and is variegated. But Nicander, in his Theriacus, says--

That is a terrible deed the lamprey does, When oft its teeth it gnashes and pursues Th' unhappy fishermen, and drives them headlong Out of their boats in haste, when issuing forth From the deep hole in which it long has lain: If that the tale is true that it admits The poisonous viper's love, when it deserts Its pastures 'neath the sea, for food on land.

But Andreas, in his treatise on Things which are believed erroneously, says that it is quite a mistake to suppose that the lamprey ever breeds with the viper when it comes on marshy ground; for that vipers do not themselves feed in marshes, as they are fond rather of sandy and desert places. But Sostratus, in his books on Animals (and there are two books of his on this subject, and with this t.i.tle), agrees with those who a.s.sert that the lamprey and the viper do breed together.

91. There is another kind of eel also, called the myrus. But the myrus, as Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, differs from the lamprey; this latter being a variegated fish, and less powerful than the other; while the myrus is a fish of one uniform colour, and strong, and its whole colour is like that of the wryneck, and it has teeth both within and without. And Dorion says, that the myrus has no small bones running through its flesh, but that it is in every part eatable, and exceedingly soft; and that there are two kinds of it, for some are black, and some are of rather a fiery colour, but those which are dark are best. And Archestratus, the voluptuary philosopher says--