Athenaeus, Deipnosophists

§ 15.50.60 X. I'll wreathe my sword in myrtle bough, The sword that laid the tyrant low, When patriots, burning to be free, To Athens gave equality. XI. Harmodius, hail! though reft of breath, Thou ne'er shalt feel the stroke of death, The happy heroes' isles shall be The bright abode allotted thee. XII. I'll wreathe the sword in myrtle bough, The sword that laid Hipparchus low, When at Athena's adverse fane He knelt, and never rose again. XIII. While Freedom's name is understood, You shall delight the wise and good; You dared to set your country free, And gave her laws equality.

§ 15.50.80 XIV. Learn, my friend, from Admetus' story, All worthy friends and brave to cherish; But cowards shun when danger comes, For they will leave you alone to perish. XV. Ajax of the ponderous spear mighty son of Telamon, They call you bravest of the Greeks, next to the great Achilles, Telamon came first, and of the Greeks the second man Was Ajax, and with him there came invincible Achilles.

§ 15.50.90 XVI. Would that I were an ivory lyre, Struck by fair boys to great Iacchus' taste; Or golden trinket pure from fire, Worn by a lady fair, of spirit chaste. XVII. Drink with me, and sport with me, Love with me, wear crowns with me, Be mad with me when I am moved with rage, And modest when I yield to counsels sage. XVIII. A scorpion'neath every stone doth lie, And secrets usually hide treachery. XIX. A sow one acorn has, and wants its brother; And I have one fair maid, and seek another. XX. A wanton and a bath-keeper both cherish the same fashion, Giving the worthless and the good the self-same bath to wash in. XXI. Give Cedon wine, O slave, and fill it up, If you must give each worthy man a cup.

§ 15.50.111 XXII. Alas! Leipsydrium, you betray A host of gallant men, Who for their country many a day Have fought, and would again. And even when they fell, their race In their great actions you may trace. XXIII. The man who never will betray his friend, Earns fame of which nor earth nor heaven shall see the end.

§ 15.50.118 Some also call that a scolium which was composed by Hybrias the Cretan; and it runs thus — XXIV. I have great wealth, a sword, and spear, And trusty shield beside me here; With these I plough, and from the vine Squeeze out the heart-delighting wine; They make me lord of everything. But they who dread the sword and spear, And ever trusty shield to bear, Shall fall before me on their knees, And worship me whene'er I please, And call me mighty lord and king.

§ 15.51 After this, Democritus said; — But the song which was composed by that most learned writer, Aristotle, and addressed to Hermias of Atarneus, is not a paean, as was asserted by Demophilus, who instituted a prosecution against the philosopher, on the ground of impiety (having been suborned to act the part of accuser by Eurymedon, who was ashamed to appear himself in the business). And he rested the charge of impiety on the fact of his having been accustomed to sing at banquets a paean addressed to Hermias. But that this song has no characteristic whatever of a paean, but is a species of scolium, I will show you plainly from its own language — O virtue, never but by labour to be won, First object of all human life, For such a prize as thee There is no toil, there is no strife, Nor even death which any Greek would shun; Such is the guerdon fair and free, And lasting too, with which thou dost thy followers grace, — Better than gold, Better than sleep, or e'en the glories old Of high descent and noble race. For you Zeus's mighty son, great Hercules, Forsook a life of ease; For you the Spartan brothers twain Sought toil and danger, following your behests With fearless and unwearied breasts. Your love it was that fired and gave To early grave Achilles and the giant son Of Salaminian Telamon. And now for you Atarneus' pride, Trusting in others' faith, has nobly died; But yet his name Shall never die, the Muses' holy train Shall bear him to the skies with deathless fame, Honouring Zeus, the hospitable god, And honest hearts, proved friendship's blest abode.

§ 15.52 Now I don't know whether any one can detect in this any resemblance to a paean, when the author expressly states in it that Hermias is dead, when he says — And now for you Atarneus' pride, Trusting in others' faith, has nobly died. Nor has the song the burden, which all paeans have, of Io Paean, as that song written on Lysander the Spartan, which really is a paean, has; a song which Duris, in his book entitled The Annals of the Samians, says is sung in Samos. That also was a paean which was written in honour of Craterus the Macedonian, of which Alexinus the logician was the author, as Hermippus the pupil of Callimachus says in the first book of his Essay on Aristotle. And this song is sung at Delphi, with a boy playing the lyre as an accompaniment to it. The song, too, addressed to Agemon of Corinth, the father of Alcyone, which the Corinthians sang, contains the burden of the paean. And this burden, too, is even added by Polemo Periegetes to his letter addressed to Aranthius. The song also which the Rhodians sing, addressed to Ptolemy the first king of Egypt, is a paean: for it contains the burden Io Paean, as Gorgon tells us in his essay on the Sacrifices at Rhodes. And Philochorus says that the Athenians sing paeans in honour of Antigonus and Demetrius, which were composed by Hermippus of Cyzicus, on an occasion when a great many poets had a contest as to which could compose the finest paean, and the victory was adjudged to Hermocles. And, indeed, Aristotle himself, in his Defence of himself from this accusation of impiety, (unless the speech is a spurious one,) says — “For if I had wished to offer sacrifice to Hermias as an immortal being, I should never have built him a tomb as a mortal; nor if I had wished to make him out to be a god, should I have honoured him with funeral obsequies like a man.”

§ 15.53 When Democritus had said this, Cynulcus said;; — Why do you remind me of those cyclic poems, to use the words of your friend Philo, when you never ought to say anything serious or important in the presence of this glutton Ulpian? For he prefers lascivious songs to dignified ones; such, for instance, as those which are called Locrian songs, which are of a debauched sort of character, such as — Do you not feel some pleasure now? Do not betray me, I entreat you. Rise up before the man comes back, Lest he should ill-treat you and me.'Tis morning now, dost thou not see The daylight through the windows? And all Phoenicia is full of songs of this kind; and he himself, when there, used to go about playing on the flute with the men who sing colabri. And there is good authority, Ulpian, for this word κόλαβροι. For Demetrius the Scepsian, in the tenth book of his Trojan Array, speaks thus: — “ Ctesiphon the Athenian, who was a composer of the songs called κόλαβροι, was made by Attalus, who succeeded Philetaerus as king of Pergamus, judge of all his subjects in the Aeolian district.” And the same writer, in the nineteenth book of the same work, says that Seleucus the composer of merry songs was the son of Mnesiptolemus, who was an historian, and who had great interest with that Antiochus who was surnamed the Great. And it was very much the fashion to sing this song of his — I will choose a single life, That is better than a wife; Friends in war a man stand by, While the wife stays at home to cry.

§ 15.54 And after this, looking towards Ulpian, he said; — But since you are out of humour with me, I will explain to you what the Syrbenaean chorus is. And Ulpian said; — Do you think, you wretch, that I am angry at what you say, or even that I pay the least attention to it, you shameless hound? But since you profess to teach me something, I will make a truce with you, not for thirty, but for a hundred years; only tell me what the Syrbenaean chorus is. Then, said he, Clearchus, my good friend, in the second book of his treatise on Education, writes thus — “There remains the Syrbenaean chorus, in which every one is bound to sing whatever he pleases, without paying the least attention to the man who sits in the post of honour and leads the chorus. And indeed he is only a more noisy spectator.” And in the words of Matron the parodist — For all those men who heroes were of old, Euboeus, and Hermogenes, and Philip, Are dead, and in the houses of Hades; But Cleonicus has a life secure From all th' attacks of age; he's deeply skill'd In all that bards or theatres concerns; And even now he's dead, great Proserpine Allows his voice still to be heard on earth. But you, even while you are alive, ask questions about everything, but never give information on any subject yourself. And he replied, who....? while the truce between us lasts.

§ 15.55 And Cynulcus said; — There have been many poets who have applied themselves to the composition of parodies, my good friend; of whom the most celebrated was Euboeus of Paros, who lived in the time of Philip; and he is the man who attacked the Athenians a great deal. And four books of his Parodies are preserved. And Timon also mentions him, in the first book of his Silli. But Polemo, in the twelfth book of his Argument against Timaeus, speaking of the men who have written parodies, writes thus — “And I should call Boeotus and Euboeus, who wrote parodies, men of great reputation, on account of their cleverness in sportive composition, and I consider that they surpass those ancient poets whose followers they were.

§ 15.55.13 Now, the invention of this kind of poetry we must attribute to Hipponax the Iambic poet. For he writes thus, in his Hexameters, — Muse, sing me now the Eurymedontiad, That great Charybdis of the sea, who holds A sword within his stomach, never weary With eating. Tell me how the votes may pass Condemning him to death, by public judgment, On the loud-sounding shore of the barren sea. Epicharmus of Syracuse also uses the same kind of poetry, in a small degree, in some of his plays; and so does Cratinus, a poet of the old Comedy, in his Eunidae, and so also does his contemporary, Hegemon of Thasos, whom they used to call Lentil.

§ 15.55.24 For he writes thus — And when I Thasos reach'd they took up filth, And pelted me therewith, by which aroused Thus a bystander spoke with pitiless heart: — O most accursed of men, who e'er advised you To put such dirty feet in such fine slippers? And quickly I did this brief answer make: —'Twas gain that moved me, though against my will, (But I am old;) and bitter penury; Which many Thasians also drives on shipboard, Ill-manner'd youths, and long-ruin'd old men: Who now sing worthless songs about the place. Those men I join'd when fit for nothing else; But I will not depart again for gain, But doing nothing wrong, I'll here deposit My lovely money among the Thasians: Lest any of the Grecian dames at home Should be enraged when they behold my wife Making Greek bread, a poor and scanty meal. Or if they see a cheesecake small, should say, — ” Philion, who sang the'Fierce Attack' at Athens, Got fifty drachmas, and yet this is all That you sent home." — While I was thinking thus, And in my mind revolving all these things, Pallas Athena at my side appeared, And touch'd me with her golden sceptre, saying, “O miserable and ill-treated man, Poor Lentil, haste thee to the sacred games.” Then I took heart, and sang a louder strain.

§ 15.56 “ Hermippus also, the poet of the old Comedy, composed parodies. But the first writer of this kind who ever descended into the arena of theatrical contests was Hegemon, and he gained the prize at Athens for several parodies; and among them, for his Battle of the Giants. He also wrote a comedy in the ancient fashion, which is called Philinna. Euboeus also was a man who exhibited a good deal of wit in his poems; as, for instance, speaking about the Battle of the Baths, he said — They one another smote with brazen ἐγχείῃσι, [as if ἐγχεία,, instead of meaning a spear, were derived from ἐγχέω, to pour in.] And speaking of a barber who was being abused by a potter on account of some woman, he said — But seize not, valiant barber, on this prize, Nor thou Achilles..... And that these men were held in high estimation among the Sicilians, we learn from Alexander the Aetolian, a composer of tragedies, who, in an elegy, speaks as follows: — The man whom fierce Agathocles did drive An exile from his land, was nobly born Of an old line of famous ancestors, And from his early youth he lived among The foreign visitors; and thoroughly learnt The dulcet music of Mimnermus' lyre, And follow'd his example; — and he wrote, In imitation of great Homer's verse, The deeds of cobblers, and base shameless thieves, Jesting with highly-praised felicity, Loved by the citizens of fair Syracuse. But he who once has heard Boeotus' song, Will find but little pleasure in Euboeus.”

§ 15.57 After all this discussion had been entered into on many occasions, once when evening overtook us, one of us said, — Boy, bring a light (λύχνειον). But some one else used the word λυχνεὼς, and a third called it λοφνίας, saying hat that was the proper name for a torch made of bark; another called it πανός; and another φανός. — This one used the word λυχνοῦχος, and that one λύχνος. Some one else again said ἐλάνη, and another said ἕλαναι, insisting on it that that was the proper name for a lamp, being derived frome ἕλη,, brightness; and urging that Neanthes used this word in the first book of his History of Attalus. Others, again, of the party made use of whatever other words they fancied; so that there was no ordinary noise; while all were vying with one another in adducing every sort of argument which bore upon the question. For one man said that Silenus, the dictionary-maker, mentioned that the Athenians call lamps φανοί. But Timachidas of Rhodes asserts that for φανός, the word more properly used is δέλετρον, being a sort of lantern which young men use when out at night, and which they themselves call ἕλαναι. But Amerias for φανὸς uses the word γράβιον. And this word is thus explained by Seleucus: — "γράβιον is a stick of ilex or common oak, which, being pounded and split, is set on fire, and used to give light to travellers. Accordingly Theodoridas of Syracuse, in his Centaurs, which is a dithyrambic poem, says — The pitch dropp'd down beneath the γράβια, As if from torches. Strattis also, mentions the γράβια in his Phoenician Women."

§ 15.58 But that what are now called φανοὶ used to be called λυχνοῦχοι, we learn from Aristophanes, in his Aeolosicon — I see the light shining all o'er his cloak, As from a new λυχνοῦχος. And, in the second edition of the Niobus, having already used the word λυχνοῦχος, he writes — Alas, unhappy man! my λύχνιον's lost; after which, he adds — And, in his play called The Dramas, he calls the same thing λυχνίδιον, in the following lines — But you all lie Fast as a candle in a candlestick (λυχνίδιον). Plato also, in his Long Night, says — The undertakers sure will have λυχνοῦχοι. And Pherecrates, in his Slave Teacher, writes — Make haste and go, for now the night descends, And bring a lantern (λυχνοῦχον) with a candle furnish'd. Alexis too, in his Forbidden Thing, says — So taking out the candle from the lantern (λύχνιον), He very nearly set himself on fire, Carrying the light beneath his arm much nearer His clothes than any need at all required. And Eumedes (or Eumelus), in his Murdered Man.... Epicrates in the the Pitchfork or Ropopole, having said first — A. Take now a pitchfork and a lantern (λυχνοῦχον), adds — B. But I now in my right hand hold this fork, An iron weapon'gainst the monsters of the sea; And this light too, a well-lit horn lantern (λύχνου). And Alexis says, in his Midon — The man who first invented the idea Of walking out by night with such a lantern (λυχνούχου), Was very careful not to hurt his fingers.

§ 15.59 But the same Alexis says, in his Fanatic — I think that some of those I meet will blame For being drunk so early in the day; But yet I pray you where's a lantern (φανὸς) equal To the sweet light of the eternal sun? And Anaxandrides, in his Insolence, says — Will you take your lantern (φανόν) now, and quickly Light me a candle (λύχνον)? But others assert that it is a lamp which is properly called φανός. And others assert that φανὸς means a bundle of matches made of split wood. Menander says, in his Cousins — This φανὸς is quite full of water now, I must not shake (σείω) it, but throw it away (ἀποσείω). And Nicostratus, in his Fellow-Countrymen, says — For when this vintner in our neighbourhood Sells any one some wine, or e'en a φανὸς, Or vinegar, he always gives him water. And Philippides, in his Women Sailing together, says — A. The φανὸς did not give a bit of light. B. Well, then, you wretched man, could not you blow it?

§ 15.60 Pherecrates, in his Crapatalli, calls what we now call λυχνία, λυχνεῖον, in this line — A. Where were these λυχνεῖα made? B. In Etruria. For there were a great many manufactories in Etruria, as the Etrurians were exceedingly fond of works of art. Aristophanes, in his Knights, says — Binding three long straight darts together, We use them for a torch (λυχνείῳ). And Diphilus, in his Ignorance, says — We lit a candle (λύχνον), and then sought a candlestick (λύχνειον). And Euphorion, in his Historic Commentaries, says that the young Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily dedicated, in the prytaneum at Tarentum, a candlestick capable of containing as great a number of candles as there are days in a year. And Hermippus the comic poet, in his Iambics, speaks of — A military candlestick well put together. And, in his play called The Grooms, he says — Here, lamp (λυχνίδιον), show me my road on the right hand. Now, πανὸς was a name given to wood cut into splinters and bound together, which they used for a torch: Menander, in his Cousins, says — He enter'd, and cried out, "πανὸν, πύχνον, λυχνοῦχον, any light — " Making one into many. And Diphilus, in his Soldier, says — But now this, πανὸς is quite full of water. And before them Aeschylus, in his Agamemnon, had used the word πανός, [and Euripides ] in the Ion said this, and also xylolychnouchon. [ two pages ripped out of the ms here, with parts of the contents restored from Pollux etc. ]

§ 15.61 Alexis, too, uses the word ξυλολυχνούχου, and perhaps this is the same thing as that which is called by Theopompus ὀβελισκολύχνιον. But Philyllius calls λαμπάδες, δᾷδες. But the λύχνος, or candle, is not an ancient invention; for the ancients used the light of torches and other things made of wood. Phrynichus, however, says — Put out the λύχνον, Plato too, in his Long Night, says — And then upon the top he'll have a candle, Bright with two wicks. And these candles with two wicks are mentioned also by Metagenes, in his Man fond of Sacrificing; and by Philonides in his Buskins. But Clitarchus, in his Dictionary, says that the Rhodians give the name of λοφνὶς to a torch made of the bark of the vine. But Homer calls torches δεταί — The darts fly round him from an hundred hands, And the red terrors of the blazing brands (δεταὶ), Till late, reluctant, at the dawn of day, Sour he departs, and quits th' untasted prey. [Il. xvii. 663] A torch was also called ἑλάνη, as Amerias tells us; but Nicander of Colophon says that ἑλάνη means a bundle of rushes. Herodotus uses the word in the neuter plural, λύχνα, in the second book of his History. Cephisodorus, in his Pig, uses the word λυχναψία, for what most people call λυχνοκαυτία, the lighting of candles. And Cynulcus, who was always attacking Ulpian, said; — But now, my fine supper-giver, buy me some candles for a penny, that, like the good Agathon, I may quote this line of the admirable Aristophanes — Bring now, as Agathon says, the shining torches (πεύκας); and when he had said this — Putting his tail between his lion's feet, he left the party, being very sleepy.

§ 15.62 Then, when many of the guests cried out Io Paean, Pontianus said; — I wish, my friends, to learn from you whether Io Paean is a proverb, or the burden of a song, or what else it is. And Democritus replied; — — Clearchus the Solensian, inferior to none of the pupils of the wise Aristotle, in the first book of his treatise on Proverbs, says that “ Leto, when she was taking Apollo and Artemis from Chalcis in Euboea to Delphi, came to the cave which was called the cave of the Python. And when the Python attacked them, Leto, holding one of her children in her arms, got upon the stone which even now lies at the foot of the brazen statue of Leto, which is dedicated as a representation of what then took place near the Plane-tree at Delphi, and cried out ῞ιε, παῖ; (and Apollo happened to have his bow in hand;) and this is the same as if she had said ῎αφιε, ῞ιε, παῖ, or βάλε, παῖ, Shoot, boy. And from this day ῞ιε, παῖ and ῞ιε, παιὼν arose. But some people, slightly altering the word, use it as a sort of proverbial exclamation to avert evils, and say ἰὴ παιών, instead of ῞ιε, παῖ. And many also, when they have completed any undertaking, say, as a sort of proverb, ἰὴπαιὼν; but since it is an expression that is familiar to us it is forgotten that it is a proverb, and they who use it are not aware that they are uttering a proverb.” But as for what Heraclides of Pontus says, that is clearly a mistake, “That the god himself, while offering a libation, thrice cried out ἵη παιὰν, ἵη παιών.” From a belief in which statement he refers the trimeter verse, as it is called to the god, saying "that each of these metres belongs to the god; because when the first two syllables are made long, ἵη παιὰν, it becomes a heroic verse, but when they are pronounced short it is an iambic, and thus it is plain that we must attribute the iambic to him. And as the rest are short, if any one makes the last two syllables of the verse long, that makes a Hipponactean iambic.

§ 15.63 And after this, when we also were about to leave the party, the slaves came in bringing, one an incense burner, and another.......... For it was the custom for the guests to rise up and offer a libation, and then to give the rest of the unmixed wine to the boy, who brought it to them to drink. Ariphron the Sicyonian composed this Paean to Health — O holiest Health, all other gods excelling, May I be ever blest With thy kind favour, and for all the rest Of life I pray thee ne'er desert my dwelling; For if riches pleasure bring, Or the power of a king, Or children smiling round the board, Or partner honour'd and adored, Or any other joy Which the all-bounteous gods employ To raise the hearts of men, Consoling them for long laborious pain; All their chief brightness owe, kind Health, to you; You are the Graces' spring,'Tis you the only real bliss can bring, And no man's blest when you are not in view,

§ 15.64 They know. — For Sopater the farce-writer, in his play entitled The Lentil, speaks thus — I can both carve and drink Etruscan wine, In due proportion mix'd. These things, my good Timocrates, are not, as Plato says, the sportive conversations of Socrates in his youth and beauty, but the serious discussions of the Deipnosophists; for, as Dionysius the Brazen says, — What, whether you begin or end a work, Is better than the thing you most require?