Athenaeus, Deipnosophists

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§ 4.50 When Cynulcus failed to get applause after these words, in a burst of temper he said, “Mr. Toastmaster, these gentlemen have no hunger, being troubled with word-diarrhoea, or they ridicule what has been said about lentil soup, having in mind what Pherecrates has said in Corianno:'A. Come, give me a place on the couch; slave, bring forth a table, and a cup, and something to eat, to make the drinking sweeter. B. Here's a cup for you, a table, and some lentils. A. No lentils for me, by Zeus; I don't like them. If one eats them, his breath smells bad.' I say, then, since for this reason these wise men are wary of lentils, at least let some bread be given to me and with it anything that is not too expensive; on the contrary, if so be that you have but the far-famed lentil soup, or the so called'conch.'” They all laughed, especially at the mention of “conch,” but he continued: [160a] “Fellow-diners, you are illiterate; you never read books which alone can educate those who are eager for the good; I mean the books of Satire by Timon, disciple of Pyrrhon. For he it is who also mentions'conch' in the second book of his Satires, in these words:'I like not the barley-cake of Teos, nor the spiced gravy of the Lydians; but in the vulgar and squalid conch my Greek poverty finds all its overflowing luxury.' For though the barley-cakes of Teos are excellent, like those of Eretria (to judge from Sopater, in The Suitors of Bacchis; he says:'We sped to Eretria, city of white barley-meal'), Timon prefers the conch to them and to the Lydian spiced gravy as well.”
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§ 4.51 In reply to this our noble host Larensis himself spoke: “Fellow Dogs, who... in the words of the Iocasta of the comic poet Strattis; she says, in the play entitled Phoenician Women:'I wish to give you two some wise advice; when you make lentil-soup don't pour in perfume.' And Sopater also, whom you have just quoted, recalls the proverb in Spirit-Raising thus:' Odysseus of Ithaca is here; as the saying goes, the perfume is in the soup. Have courage, my soul!' Clearchus, of the Peripatetic School, in his work on Proverbs, includes the phrase'perfume in the lentil-soup' as a proverb, which is mentioned also by my ancestor, Varro, surnamed the Menippean. And most of the Roman grammarians, not having been conversant with many Greek poets and historians, do not know where Varro took the verse from. You, Cynulcus (since you delight in this name, never mentioning the one by which your mother called you at birth), in my opinion are'mighty fine and tall,' in the words of your friend Timon, but are not aware that'conch' has found mention in Epicharmus long before in his Holiday and Islands, and also in the comic poet Antiphanes, who used a diminutive form for the word in Marriage:'a little bit of conch (conchion for conchos) and a slice of sausage cut off besides.'” (160D) Thereupon Magnus took the floor and said: “Our altogether excellent Larensis has answered this glutton' dog' concerning'conch' keenly and well. But I will follow The Celts of the Paphian Sopater:'Among them it is the custom, whenever they win any success in battle, to sacrifice their captives to the gods; so I, imitating the Celts, have vowed to the heavenly powers that I shall burn three of those counterfeit dialecticians on the altar. Look you! Having heard that you diligently choose philosophy and philology and that you have stoical endurance, I am going to make a test of your doctrines first by smoking them; then, if I see one of you during the roasting pulling up his leg, he shall be sold to a Zenonian master for export, as one who knows not Wisdom.'
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§ 4.52 For I will say to them frankly: if you, my philosopher, really love independence, why do you not emulate those Pythagoreans concerning whom [161a] Antiphanes, in Memorials, has these lines?'Some wretched Pythagorists chanced to be eating salt-wort in the ravine, and, moreover, collecting poor bits of it in their bags.' And in the real Bag, as it is entitled, Antiphanes says:'First of all, like a devotee of Pythagoras, he eats nothing that has life, but takes a sooty piece of barley-cake, the largest possible for a ha'penny, and chews that.' And Alexis in Men of Tarentum:'A. The devotees of Pythagoras, we hear, eat neither fish nor anything else that has life, and they are the only ones who drink no wine. B. Yes, but Epicharides devours dogs, and he is a Pythagorean. A. Of course, after he has killed one, for then it no longer has life!' And going on Alexis says:' A. Pythagorean subtleties, and fine-spun discourses, and disputations nicely polished nurture those fellows, but their daily food is this: one loaf of simple bread for each, a cup of water. That's all! B. It's prison fare that you tell of. Can it be that all these wise men live like that, and suffer such misery? A. These men live in luxury compared to others. Don't you know that Melanippides is a disciple, and Phaon, Phyromachus, and Phanus, who dine every four days on one half-pint of barley-meal?' And in The Lady Devotee of Pythagoras:'A. Their entertainment will be dried figs and olive-cakes and cheese; for to offer these in sacrifice is the Pythagoreans' custom. B. So help me Zeus, good sir, that is the finest ”meat" there is.' And after a little:'They had to put up with sparse diet, dirt, cold, silence, gloom, and going without a bath.'
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§ 4.53 “But you, my philosophers, practise nothing of this regimen; on the contrary — and this is the most vexatious of all — you babble about things you know nothing of, and as eaters pretending decorum, you put in your mouthfuls in the way described so pleasantly by Antiphanes. For he says in The Restorer of Runaways:'Decorously putting in a mouthful — making his hand small to be sure in front, but full inside, as the women do — he ate it all up, fully and fattily.' According to this same poet, speaking in The Bumble-Bee, he might have purchased for a shilling'the foods which suit you, garlic, cheese, onions, capers — all that for a shilling.' Aristophon in The Pythagorean Discipline:'In the name of the gods, do we really think that those Pythagorean disciples, born in the old days, willingly went dirty or wore old clothes because they wanted to? It is no such thing, in my opinion. Rather, they did it from necessity, possessing not so much as a penny, and having found a good excuse for their frugality, they fixed standards fit for the poor. For just set before them fish or meat; if they don't eat them up, and their own fingers too, I am willing to be strung up a dozen times.' [162a] It is not a bad time to recall the epigram, written in your honour, which Hegesander of Delphi has cited in the sixth book of his Commentaries:'Sons-of-eyebrow-raisers, noses-fixed-in beards, beards-bag-fashion-trimmed, and casserole-pilferers too, cloaks-over-shoulders-slinging, barefoot-shambling-with-eyes-cast down, night birds secretly-feeding, night-sinners in deceit, puny lad-deceivers and silly-babblers of sought-syllables, wise-in-their-vain-conceits, degenerate-sons of seekers-after-good.'
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§ 4.54 Archestratus of Gela, in his Gastrology — this, by the way, is the only epic poem which you wise men like; the only Pythagorean rule you observe is the rule of silence, which you practise only because of your incapacity for discourse; furthermore, you like the Art of Love by the Cynic Sphodrias, you like the recitals on love given by Protagorides, and the Convivial Dialogues of that noble sage Persaeus, compiled from the memoirs of Stilpo and Zeno. In these, that the banqueters may not fall asleep, questions are raised such as, How should the toasts be ordered? At what hour should the beautiful boys and girls be introduced into the symposium, and when should they be allowed to practise their coquetry, and when should they be sent packing for showing contempt? And then, again, concerning new entrees and kinds of bread, and, among other topics, all that the philosopher son of Sophroniscus has said with some particularity on the subject of kisses. For Persaeus ever turned his mind to these subjects; but having been entrusted by Antigonus with the citadel of Corinth, as Hermippus says, he was ejected when in his cups even from Corinth itself, being out-generalled by Aratus of Sikyon — he who before that had hotly insisted, in his Dialogues addressed to Zeno, that the wise man would under all circumstances prove to be a good general as well, the noble'slave' of Zeno having established this contention by his deeds alone! For Bion the Borysthenite, when he saw a bronze statue of him on which was inscribed' Persaeus, slave of Zeno, of the town of Citium,' remarked wittily that the engraver of the inscription had made a mistake; for (he said) it should read thus:' Persaeus of Zeno -Slavia.' For he was, as a matter of fact, a slave of Zeno, as Nicias of Nicaea records in his Inquiry Concerning Philosophers, and Sotion of Alexandria in his Successions. I have come across two volumes of this wise treatise of Persaeus bearing this title, Convivial Dialogues.
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§ 4.55 ” Ctesibius of Chalcis, the friend of Menedemus, was once asked by somebody, according to Antigonus of Carystus in his Lives, what advantage he had gained from philosophy. He replied,'Dinners without paying my share.' Wherefore Timon somewhere addressed him in these words,'Dinner-crazed, with the eyes of a fawn, but with a heart unmoved!' Now Ctesibius could hit the nail on the head and provoke laughter by his wit, [163a] consequently he was always being invited to dinners; not like you, Cynic, who have never won the favour of the Muses, to say nothing of the Graces. At any rate, Virtue avoids you and those like you, and takes her seat by the side of Pleasure, as Mnasalces of Sikyon phrases it in epigrammatic verses:'I, unhappy Virtue, have taken my seat here beside Pleasure, my curly locks shorn in direst disgrace, my soul caught in the meshes of heavy grief, because insane Joy has been preferred to me.' And the comic poet Baton says in The Murderer:'I summon hither the philosophers who are sober, who never give themselves a single good thing, who look for the wise man in their walks and talks, as for one who has run away. Man accursed, why, when you have the money to pay, do you stay sober? Why do such injury to the gods? Why, fellow, have you deemed money more precious than yourself or than it is by nature? You are a dead loss to the community if you drink water; for you wrong the farmer and the merchant. But I, when I drink wine to the full, make their profits good. Yet you carry about your jug from early morning, looking to see if there is oil in it; whence one would think that you carry about a water-clock, not a jug!'
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§ 4.56 “As I was saying, Cynulcus: Archestratus, whom you worship, for your belly's sake, on a par with Homer —'and there is nothing more voracious than that,' to quote your friend Timon — writes as follows an account of the shark:'Nay, not many mortals know of this heavenly viand or consent to eat it — all those mortals, that is, who possess the puny soul of the booby-bird and are smitten with palsy because, as they say, the creature is a man-eater. But every fish loves human flesh if it can get it. Wherefore it is the simple duty of all who talk such foolishness to betake themselves to vegetables, and going over to the philosopher Diodorus, to live abstemiously like Pythagoreans in his company.' Now this Diodorus was an Aspendian by birth, and though he was reputed to be a Pythagorean, he lived in the manner of you Cynics, wearing his hair long, and going dirty and bare-footed. Hence some have even thought that this habit of wearing long hair was Pythagorean, having been promulgated by Diodorus, as Hermippus says. And Timaeus of Tauromenium, in the ninth book of his Histories, writes about him thus:' Diodorus, the Aspendian by birth, introduced the eccentric mode of life, and pretended that he had consorted as a disciple with the Pythagoreans; to him Stratonicus dispatched a messenger, bidding the man as he departed to report his commands ”to that henchman of Pythagoras who keeps the Stoa crowded with people marvelling at his beast-robed madness and insolence."' Sosicrates, too, in the third book of The Succession of Philosophers, records that Diodorus adopted the wearing of a long beard, put on a worn cloak, and grew long hair, introducing this practice as an innovation in order to gratify a kind of vanity, [164a] since the Pythagoreans before his time always dressed in white clothing and made use of baths, ointments, and the customary mode of hair-cut.
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§ 4.57 Now if, my philosophers, you really love independence and cheap things to eat, why do you come here where you have not even been invited? Is it as though you had come into a prodigal's house to learn how to make a list of cooking utensils? Or to recite the Cephalion of Diogenes? For, in the words of the Cedalion of Sophocles, ye are'rogues from the whipping-post and the rack, devourers of other men's goods.' But that you philosophers always have your minds on dinners when you ought to ask for something in the way of Cynic food to eat up or devour (for it were not lawful for me'to use pleasing terms'), is plain from what Alexis tells in the play entitled Linus. He imagines Heracles as being educated in the house of Linus and as having been bidden to select from a large number of books lying beside him and read. So he picked up a book on cookery and held it in both hands very carefully. Linus speaks:'Go up and take whatever book from there you wish; then looking very carefully at the titles, quietly and at your leisure, you shall read. Orpheus is there, Hesiod, tragedies, Choerilus, Homer, Epicharmus, histories of all sorts. For thus shall you show the bent of your nature. HER. This is the one I shall take. LI. Tell me first what it is. HER. Cookery, as the title declares. LI. You are a philosopher, that's very plain; for, paying no attention to all these other writings, you have picked the treatise of Simus. DHER. Simus, who's he? LI. A very talented fellow. At present he is keen for tragedy, and of all actors he is much the best cook, in the opinion of those who hire him, but of cooks he is the best actor... LIN. The fellow has a morbid hunger. HER. Say what you like of me. I am hungry, let me tell you!'"
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§ 4.58 After Magnus had recited these quotations in order, Cynulcus addressed the philosophers present: “As Cratinus said in The Archilochi (Satirists):'You have seen what sort of insults that Thasian pickle barks at us — how neatly and speedily he got his revenge without delay. He is not like the blind talking uselessly to the deaf, let me tell you.' For, oblivious of the court before whom he delivers the display of his clever iambics, and impelled by his native desire to satisfy his belly and his love of jesting, he gives us a recital of wild songs and'lays discordantly piped and cymbals struck untimely.' And after these nice exhibitions of poor taste he goes about from house to house looking to see where brilliant dinners are preparing, outdoing the poor devil Chaerephon of Athens, of whom Alexis says in The Refugee:' Chaerephon is always inventing some trick; in fact, at this very moment he is trying to get himself dinners for which he pays nothing. For where crockery is exposed for cooks to hire, there he goes, at earliest dawn, and takes his stand; and if he sees it being let out for an entertainment, [165a] he learns from the cook who the entertainer is, and if he can but find the front door open wide, he is the first to enter.' And this man, like our noble Magnus, does not hesitate to undertake foreign travel to gratify his appetite; so says the same Alexis in Dying Together:'To get a dinner Chaerephon went uninvited to Corinth; yes, by this time he is flying overseas; so pleasant a thing it is to eat others' food.' And Theopompus said in Odysseus:'The saying of Euripides is not half bad — the really fortunate man dines on others' food.'”
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§ 4.59 When, then, all had laughed at this, Ulpian spoke: “That word for'jesting' — where did these solecistic voluptuaries get it?” Cynulcus answered him: “Why,'you well-seasoned pig,' the comic poet Phrynichus, in Ephialtes, mentions jesting in these lines:'Of all the jobs we now have to do, the hardest is to protect oneself from them. For they have a kind of sting in their fingers, the flower of man-haters' prime. When they go about the market-place they always speak suavely to all; but when they are seated on the benches, there they tear great scratches in those to whom they speak so suavely, and with one consent deride them.' But the expression,'use pleasing terms,' is employed by Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound:'Thou shalt know that this is verily so, nor is it in me to use pleasing terms.'” Again Ulpian said: “What, my friends, are the utensils used by cooks?” For they had mentioned these as worthy of notice in the account of the Arcadian dinners. “And where is that word'prodigal's house'? I know indeed of some notorious prodigals. One is mentioned by Alexis in The Woman of Cnidus:'That scamp Diodorus, in only two years, has made a football of his patrimony, so rashly has he chewed up all that he had.' And in Phaedrus he says:'Slowly indeed, yes, by the sun slowly, you say! That little Epicharides in five days has made a football of his patrimony, so rashly and speedily has he squeezed it up into a ball.'
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§ 4.60 And Ctesippus also, the son of Chabrias, went so far in his prodigality that, to indulge his pleasures, he actually sold the stones of his father's monument, on which Athens had spent a thousand drachmas. At any rate, Diphilus says in Worshippers of the Dead: ”If, Phaedimus, Ctesippus, son of Chabrias, had not happened to be a friend, I should have proposed a law not unuseful, in my opinion, — that his father's monument should be some day completed, one stone at a time each year, each large enough to fill a cart, and very cheap material too, say I.' Timocles in Satyrs of the People says:'No longer does even Ctesippus, son of Chabrias, shave three times a day, [166a] bright spark among the ladies, but not among true men.' And Menander says this about him in Temperament:'And yet, wife, I too was once a young man, but in those days I did not bathe five times a day. Now I do. I did not own a fine cloak either. Now I do. Nor did I have perfume. Now I have. And I will have my hair dyed, yes, Zeus be my witness, I will pluck myself smooth, and in a little while I will become Ctesippus and not a man, and then, like him, I will eat up the very stones, every one of them; at any rate I won't eat my land and nothing else.' It may be, then, that on account of this great extravagance and licentiousness Demosthenes omitted naming him in the speech On Exemptions. Men who have devoured their inheritances ought to be punished in the way described in Menander's Skipper:'O dearest mother earth, how very reverend a possession, and beyond price, art thou in the eyes of sensible men! For it were only right, of course, that anyone who had inherited an ancestral estate and then devoured it should from that time on for ever sail the seas, and never so much as set foot on land, that he might thus come to see how good a thing he had inherited but failed to save.'
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§ 4.61 "A prodigal named Pythodelus is mentioned by Axionicus in The Etruscan thus:'Here comes Pythodelus, surnamed the Dancer, and close at his heels behind him comes reeling that clever girl, Bastinado-fig.' And Anaxandrides holds up Polyeuctus to ridicule in Tereus. He says:'A. You shall bear the name Rooster. — B. Why, in the name of the hearth goddess? Is it because I have eaten up my father's property, as the noble Polyeuctus did? A. No, of course not; it's because you, a male, have been pecked to pieces by females.' Theopompus, in the tenth book of his Philippica (though some deny the authenticity of the last part, dealing with the popular leaders at Athens ) — says that the popular leader Eubulus was a prodigal. The language he used is as follows:'To such an extent has he outdone the people of Tarentum in extravagance and greed, that whereas they were intemperate simply in the matter of banquets, he has made a constant practice of spending even the revenues of Athens to hire mercenaries. But Callistratus, he continues, the son of Callicrates, likewise a popular leader, though he was intemperate in personal indulgence, was careful of the public interests.' And recording the history of Tarentum in the fifty-second book of his Histories he writes as follows:'The city of Tarentum offers sacrifices of oxen and holds public banquets nearly every month. The mass of common people is always busy with parties and drinking-bouts. And the Tarentines have a saying of some such purport as this, that whereas the rest of the world, in their devotion to work and their preoccupation with various forms of industry, are always preparing to live, they themselves, with their parties and their pleasures, do not put off living, but live already.'
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§ 4.62 “Concerning the extravagance and mode of life of Philip and his companions Theopompus wrote the following in the forty-ninth book of his Histories: [167a]'After Philip had become possessor of a large fortune he did not spend it fast. No! He threw it outdoors and cast it away, being the worst manager in the world. This was true of his companions as well as himself. For to put it unqualifiedly, not one of them knew how to live uprightly or to manage an estate discreetly. He himself was to blame for this; being insatiable and extravagant, he did everything in a reckless manner, whether he was acquiring or giving. For as a soldier he had no time to count up revenues and expenditures. Add to this also that his companions were men who had rushed to his side from very many quarters; some were from the land to which he himself belonged, others were from Thessaly, still others were from all the rest of Greece, selected not for their supreme merit; on the contrary, nearly every man in the Greek or barbarian world of a lecherous, loathsome, or ruffianly character flocked to Macedonia and won the title of ”companions of Philip." And even supposing that one of them was not of this sort when he came, he soon became like all the rest, under the influence of the Macedonian life and habits. It was partly the wars and campaigns, partly also the extravagances of living that incited them to be Ruffians, and live, not in a law-abiding spirit, but prodigally and like highwaymen.'
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§ 4.63 " Duris, in the seventh book of his Macedonian History, speaking of Pasicyprus, king of Cyprus, and his prodigality, writes the following:'After the siege of Tyre, Alexander, in dismissing Pnytagoras, gave him among other presents a fortress which he himself had asked for. This fortress the reigning king Pasicyprus had before this been compelled by his extravagance to sell for fifty talents to Pygmalion of Citium; along with the fortress went his kingdom too. Pasicyprus took the money and passed his old age in Amathus.' Another spendthrift of this sort, according to Demetrius of Skepsis, was Aethiops of Corinth, who is mentioned by Archilochus. For, pleasure-loving and lacking self-control, he, when sailing with Archias to Sicily at the time when Archias was going to found Syracuse, sold to his messmate for a honey-cake the share which he had drawn by lot and was to have in Syracuse.
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§ 4.64' Demetrius, the grandson of Demetrius of Phalerum,' as Hegesander says,'went to such extremes of prodigality that he kept Aristagora of Corinth as his mistress and lived sumptuously. And when the Areopagites summoned him before them and bade him live a better life, he replied, “But I am living as becomes a man of breeding as it is. For I have a mistress who is very fair, I have never wronged any man, I drink Chian wine, and in all other respects I contrive to satisfy myself, since my private revenues are sufficient for these purposes; I do not, as some of you do, live as a venal judge or adulterer.” Thereupon he designated by name some who made a practice of these things. And when King Antigonus heard this, he made him a judge. At the Panathenaea, as hipparch, he reared beside the Hermae an ikrion (platform) for Aristagora higher than the Hermae; and at Eleusis, at the time of the Mysteries, he placed a throne for her beside the anaktoron, after threatening that any who should try to prevent him would be sorry for it.'
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§ 4.65 [168a] “That all prodigals, and persons who did not live according to their means, were in ancient times summoned before the Areopagites and punished by them, is recorded by Phanodemus and Philochorus and several others. For example, they sent for the philosophers, Menedemus and Asclepiades, when they were young and poor, and asked them how it was that though they spent all their days in leisurely association with the philosophers, and possessed no property, yet they were in such good bodily condition; and they told the judges to summon a certain miller. When he arrived he deposed that every night they came to his mill and ground, receiving, both together, two drachmas; and in admiration the Areopagites rewarded them with 200 drachmas. Again, the people of Abdera summoned Democritus to trial in court on the charge of having squandered his patrimony; but when he had read them his great Order of the Universe and told them about things in Hades, he explained that he had spent all on these researches, and was acquitted.
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§ 4.66 Those, however, who are not prodigal in this sense, in the words of Amphis,'Drink every day throughout the day,' with temples badly shaken by the unmixed wine; or, as Diphilus says,'carrying three heads, like an Artemision.''They are enemies of their own property,' as Satyrus says in his work On Characters,'trampling down their fields, pillaging their houses, looting their funds, looking not to what has been spent but to what is going to be spent, not to what will be left over but to what will not be left over; in their youth squandering too soon the provision for their old age, delighting in a mistress, not in mates, and in wine, not in the company at wine.' And Agatharchides of Cnidus, in the twenty-eighth book of his European History, says:'The Ephors in Sparta debarred Gnosippus, since he had proved to be a prodigal, from associating with the young men.' Among the Romans it is recalled, as Poseidonius says in the forty-ninth book of his Histories, that a certain Apicius had outdone the whole world in prodigality. This Apicius is the man who caused the banishment of Rutilius, who had published his History of Rome in the Greek language. Concerning an Apicius who also was notorious for prodigality, we have spoken in the first book.
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§ 4.67 ” Diogenes of Babylon in his work on Noble Birth says that there was not a man in Athens who did not hate Phocus, the son of Phocion; and whenever one met Phocus he would say to him,'O you disgrace to your family!' For he spent all his ancestral estate in prodigality, and then began to toady to the one in charge of Munichia, for which he was again castigated by all. And once, when donations, over and above taxes, were being subscribed, he came forward also in person before the assembly and said,'I myself donate'; and all the Athenians with one consent cried out,'Yes, to profligacy.' Phocus was also a drink-lover. At any rate, he once won in a horse race at the Panathenaea; and when his father entertained his companions with a banquet, the company, on arriving at the dinner, found the preparations elaborate; and as they came in there were brought to them vessels for washing the feet, filled with spiced wine. [169a] When his father saw them, he called to Phocus and said,'Make your comrade stop spoiling your victory!' I know of many other prodigal men besides, but I leave you to inquire into the history of them all excepting Callias the son of Hipponicus, whose story is known even to the slaves who attend schoolboys. But if you have anything to say on the other subjects which I have propounded for discussion before anyone else,'I hold the portals of my ears spread open wide.' Wherefore speak. For I again ask about the expressions which Magnus used,'to eat up and devour.'" And Aemilianus said: “You have the word'prodigals' house' in Strattis, who says in Chrysippus:'If a body isn't going to have time even to relieve himself, or go to a prodigal's house, or when someone meets him, to stop and say a single word!'”
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§ 4.68 Cooking utensils are enumerated by Anaxippus in The Harp-singer thus: “Bring a soup ladle, a dozen skewers, a meat hook, mortar, small cheese scraper, skillet, three bowls, a skinning knife, four cleavers. First bring, won't you, you abomination in the eyes of the gods, the small kettle and the things from the soda-shop. Late again, are you? Bring also the axe and the rack of frying-pans.” The pot used for boiling is called caccabe by Aristophanes in Women who get the Best Places, thus: “A. Put the pot on the fire. — B. What, the teacher's?” Also in Men of Dinnerville: “And bring the pot from there.” Antiphanes in The Pro- Theban: “We now have everything; for the creature which bears the same name as our lady inside, Boeotian'eel,' is tightly enveloped in the hollow depths of the pot (caccabe); it's getting hot, rising high, stewing and spluttering.” But in Euthydicus Antiphanes calls the pot batanion: “after that, sliced octopus stewed in pots (batania).” So Alexis in Asclepiocleides: “With such natural aptitude have I learned in Sicily to make fancy dishes, that I cause the feasters now and then to push their teeth into the pots for very joy.” But Antiphanes has patanion, spelled with p, in Marriage: “Pots (patania), a beet, silphium, boilers, lamps, coriander, onions, salt, olive-oil, a bowl.” Philetaerus in Oinopion: “Let this cook Potter advance!” And again: “Methinks Potter will have more pupils than Victor.” In The Parasite Antiphanes also has this: “A. Following this another will come, large, filling the table, well-born — B. Whom are you talking about? — A. A creature from Carystus, gigantic, seething. — FB. Well, aren't you going to tell me? Get on! — A. Caccabus I mean; you, perhaps, would call him Casserole. — B. Do you think it makes any difference to me whether people like to call it Caccabus or Sittybus, provided that I know that you are talking about a pot?” But Eubulus, in Ion, has both forms, batania and patania, in these lines: “Bowls, and basins (batania) too, and kettles, casseroles, and patens (patania), sounding in various tones, and — I couldn't begin to tell you if I began to tell.”
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§ 4.69 [170a] Alexis has made his own list of seasonings in The Melting-pot as follows: “A. No excuses for me here! No'I haven't got any'! — B. Well, tell me what you need. I will get everything. — A. All right. Then first go and get sesame seeds. — B. But I have them in the house. — A. A mashed raisin, some fennel, aniseed, mustard, kale, silphium, dried coriander, sumach, cummin, capers, marjoram, horn-onion, garlic, thyme, sage, must, hart-wort, rue, leek.” Another list is in The Vigil, or Toilers; he represents a cook as saying: “I'll have to run round and round and shout for anything I may need. You will demand of me your dinner just as soon as you arrive? But I have, as it happens, no vinegar, no anise, no marjoram, no fig-leaves, no oil, no almonds, no garlic, no must, horn-onion, bulb, fire, cummin, salt, egg, wood, kneading-trough, frying-pan, well-rope — I have not seen cistern or well. There is no wine jar, and I stand here all in vain, knife in hand, and what's more, my loins girt up for action.” And in The Love-lorn Lass: “First of all put some marjoram at the bottom of a large casserole, over that the liqueur, diluted with vinegar in just measure, colouring it with must and silphium; then whip it vigorously.” To “eat up” is used by Telecleides thus in The Prytanes: “Eating up a little cheese.” Eupolis has the aorist of the verb in The Taxiarchs: “To eat up nothing, but merely chew an onion and three salted olives.” And Aristophanes in Plutus: “in the old days, such was his poverty, he would eat up anything.”
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§ 4.70 (170d) Different from the cooks were the so called “table-makers.” What these men were called in for is plainly shown by Antiphanes in The Immigrant: “I went and hired in addition this table-maker, who will wash the dishes, get the lamps ready, prepare the libations, and do everything else which it is his business to do.” We may, however, ask whether the “table-server” is the same as the “table-maker.” For King Juba, in Similarities, says that “table-server” and the person called by the Romans structor are one and the same, citing lines from a play by Alexander entitled The Drinking-bout: “For tomorrow I must secure a flute-girl; I will get a'table-maker' and a caterer. This is what my master sent me from the country for.” They used to call table-maker the man who took care of the tables and the correct serving of the dinner in general. Philemon in Butting In: “You have no oversight in the kitchen; a table-maker is appointed to serve.” They used to call the viands placed upon the table (trapeza) epitrapezomata. Plato in Menelaus: [171a] “How little is left over of the things upon the table! ” They used also to call the man who purchased the food “marketer” (agorastes), though today we call him “obsonator”; thus Xenophon, in the second book of Memorabilia, has these words: “Should we consent to take a servant and a marketer of this quality for nothing?” But in Menander's Phanium it has a more general sense: “He was a thrifty and moderate purchaser.” Aristophanes has the form opsones for “marketer” in Masters of the Frying- Pan, in these lines: “How that marketer seems to be delaying our luncheon!” Cratinus used a verb meaning “to buy dainties besides” in The Cleobulinas..., and Alexis has a verb “buy in the market beside,” in Dropides. Those who give the summons to come to the king's table, as Pamphilus says, are called “table-men,” from eleon, which means “meat-table.” But Artemidorus names them “dinner-summoners.”
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§ 4.71 He further says that they used to call the foretasters “eaters,” because they ate before the king to ensure his safety. But in our day the “eater” has become the superintendent of the entire service; his office was distinguished and honourable. Chares, at any rate, in the third book of his Histories says that Ptolemy Soter was appointed “eater” for Alexander. Perhaps also the man whom Romans today call “foretaster” was he whom Greeks in the old days used to name protenthes, as Aristophanes has it in the earlier edition of the Clouds, in these lines: “ Strepsiades: How is it, then, that the magistrates don't accept these pledges on the first day of the month, instead of on the last? Pheidippides: Why, I fancy they are subject to the same weakness as the foretasters — in their desire to grab the pledges as early as possible, they'foretaste' them by a whole day.” Pherecrates also mentions foretasters in Savages: “Do not wonder; for we are foretasters, though you do not know it.” And Philyllius in Heracles: “Shall I tell you then, so please you, who I am? I am one of the foretasters, and my name is Dorpia (eve of the festival).” I also find a decree passed at Athens in the archonship of Cephisodorus [323/2 BCE], in which the “foretasters” are a kind of college, exactly like the order called Parasitoi. It runs thus: “On the motion of Phocus, in order that the Council may celebrate the Apaturia in company with all other Athenians according to ancestral practice, be it decreed by the Council that its members be dismissed during those days on which all the other officials entitled to a holiday are celebrating, for five days beginning with the day on which the Foretasters begin the celebration.” That the ancients used to have also the foretasters called progeustae Xenophon tells us in the work entitled Hieron, or The Tyrant's Character: “The tyrant lives in distrust even of food and drink; why, instead of being the first to offer the gods the consecrating morsel, they bid their serving-men take a taste first because of their suspicion that even in this rite they may eat or drink something harmful.” And Anaxilas says in Calypso: [172a] “First, the old woman will be the foretaster of your wine.”
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§ 4.72 Again, the men of earlier times called those who made cakes, and especially those who made the large flat-cakes, “artisans.” Menander, in Sham Heracles, scolding the cooks because they undertake matters which are none of their business, says: “Cook, in my eyes you are very obnoxious.'How many tables are we going to set?' It's the third time, already, that you have asked that. We are including for the sacrifice one little pig; but whether we shall set up eight tables or only one, what difference does that make to you? Serve the dinner today! You haven't any rich titbits to make, nor the kind of sauces which you usually mix in it, consisting of honey, sifted flour, and eggs; no, for nowadays things are completely turned round. It is the cook who makes cakes in moulds, bakes flat-cakes, boils groats and serves them after the salt-fish, and then a dish in fig-leaves and some grapes. Meanwhile the ”artisan," a woman, posted to rival him, roasts bits of meat and thrushes as if for dessert; and as a consequence the guest expecting “dinner” has dessert to eat, but after anointing himself and putting on a wreath he again eats a “dinner” of honey-cakes — with thrushes!" That the duties of their office had been separate, the “artisans” looking after the cakes while the cooks saw to the preparation of fish and meat, is clearly shown by Antiphanes in Chrysis thus: “Four flute-girls have to be paid, and a dozen cooks and artisans, who demand honey by the bowl-ful.” Menander in The Artisan: “A. What does this mean, slave? Zeus is my witness, you have come forth with bustling briskness. DB. Ay, for we have creations to create, and so we the whole night long have lain sleepless; even now there is very much still unfinished on our hands.” Seleucus says that Panyassis was the first to mention cakes in the account which he gives of human sacrifice among the Egyptians; he says that upon the victims they placed many cakes, “and many nestling fowls,” although even before him Stesichorus or Ibycus, in the poem entitled The Games, had said that presents were brought to the maiden, “sesame cakes, groats, oil-and honey cakes, other sweet cakes, and yellow honey.” To show that this poem is by Stesichorus, the poet Simonides is a very competent witness, for he, in telling the story of Meleager, says: “Who at point of spear overcame all the warriors, driving them beyond the eddying Anaurus out of Iolcus, rich in grapes. For thus did Homer and Stesichorus sing to the folk.” Indeed, Stesichorus has this verse in the poem just cited, The Games: “For Amphiaraus won in leaping, but Meleager with the javelin.”
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§ 4.73 I am not unaware, either, of what Apollodorus of Athens has said concerning the people of Delos, that they used to supply the services of cooks and “table-makers” to all who came to Delos for the sacred rites, and that they had names derived from their functions, such as Barley-Witches and Rounders; [173a] because throughout the day during the festivals, as Aristophanes says, they moulded barley-cakes and offered them, as to women, kneaded round. And even to this day some of them are called Porcellians, or Rammers, or Kitchen-folk, or Sesames, or Kitchen-bucks, or Meat-boys, or Fish-slingers, while of the women some are called Cummin-blows, while all share the common name of Table-dodgers, because they have to dodge among meat-trays (eleoi) as they serve the food during the festivals. Now the eleos is the cook's table. Homer: “When, then, he had roasted and placed upon trays.” Hence Polycraton of Rhenaea, the son of Crithon, when he brought suit against them did not name them Delians, but brought charges against the “commonwealth of table-dodgers.” And even the law of the Amphictyons requires that water shall be supplied by “table-dodgers,” meaning the “table-makers” and servants of that sort. Criton the comic poet, in The Busybody, calls the Delians “parasites of the god” in these lines: “He, causing a Phoenician skipper, master of a mighty purse, to give up his voyage, and compelling him to bring two ships to anchor, wanted to go from Peiraeus to Delos, because he had heard that that was the one place in all the world which was reputed to possess three blessings for a parasite — a market well supplied with delicacies, a throng of idlers from all parts, and the Delians the very parasites of the god.”
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§ 4.74 Achaeus of Eretria, in the satyric play Alcmeon, calls the people of Delphi “spiced-gravy-makers” in these lines: “I am sick of looking at spiced-gravy-makers,” inasmuch as after trimming the meat of sacrifice they cooked it and served it with spiced sauces. And having regard to that Aristophanes also said: “But thou, Phoebus, who dost whet most numerous knives of the Delphians, and dost teach thy ministers betimes.” And in the lines which follow Achaeus says: “Who is he that remains hiding low, you who bear the same name with Sarre cleavers?” The chorus of satyrs, in fact, deride the Delphians for their assiduous devotion to sacrifices and festivities. And Semos, in the fourth book of the History of Delos, says that “to the Delphians who came to Delos the Delians furnished salt, vinegar, oil, fuel, and bedding.” And Aristotle (or Theophrastus ), speaking in his Commentaries of the Magnesians who dwell on the Maeander river, says that they are colonists from Delphi, and represents them as offering the same services to any foreigners who come among them. He says: “The Magnesians who dwell beside the Maeander river are consecrated to the god, being colonists of Delphi, and they offer to travellers shelter, salt, oil, and vinegar; also a lamp, beds, bedding, and tables.” Demetrius of Skepsis, in the sixteenth book of his Trojan Battle-order, says that in Laconia, beside the road called “ Hyacinth,” there is a shrine of the heroes Matton ("Kneader") and Ceraon ("Mixer") which has been set up by the slaves who make the barley-cakes and mix the wine at the public mess. [174a] The same authority, in the twenty-fourth book of the same work, records a hero Daites ("Feaster") honoured among the Trojans, who is mentioned by Mimnermus. And in Cyprus, Hegesander of Delphi says, Zeus is worshipped under the title “Companion at the Feast” and “Entrail-slicer.”
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§ 4.75 While many remarks of this nature were still being made, there was heard from a neighbouring house the sound of a water-organ; it was very sweet and joyous, so that we all turned our attention to it, charmed by its tunefulness. And Ulpian, with a glance at the musician Alceides, said, “Do you hear, maestro, that beautiful harmony which has lured us all, completely beguiled you its music? It is not like the'single-pipe' so common among you Alexandrians, which causes pain to the listeners rather than any musical delight.” And Alceides says: “And yet that instrument, the water-organ, whether belonging to the class of string or wind instruments, as you choose, is the invention of one of our own Alexandrians, a barber by trade; and his name was Ctesibius. Aristocles relates this, speaking in some such fashion as this in his work On Choruses:'The question is debated whether the water-organ belongs to the wind or the stringed instruments. Now Aristoxenus, to be sure, does not know of it; but it is said that Plato imparted a slight hint of its construction in having made a time-piece for use at night which resembled a water-organ, being a very large water-clock. And in fact the water-organ does look like a water-clock. Therefore it cannot be regarded as a stringed instrument or a percussion instrument, but perhaps may be described as a wind instrument, since wind is forced into it by the water. For the pipes are set low in water, and as the water is briskly agitated by a boy, air is released in the pipes through certain valves which fit into the pipes from one side of the organ to the other, and a pleasant sound is produced. The organ is shaped like a round altar, and is said to have been invented by Ctesibius, a barber who lived there in Aspendia during the reign of the second Euergetes (Ptolemy VIII); and they say that he became very famous; he, indeed, even taught his wife Thais.' Tryphon, in the third book On the Use of Terms (the treatise has to do with pipes and instruments), says that Ctesibius the engineer wrote an account of the water-organ. I am not sure whether he is mistaken in the name. Aristoxenus, it is true, prefers string and percussion instruments to wind instruments, alleging that wind instruments are too easy; for, he says, many persons, like shepherds, can play the flute and the Pan's pipe without having been taught.
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§ 4.76 All this, Ulpian, I have to tell you concerning the water-organ. Yes, I may add that the Phoenicians, according to Xenophon, used'gingras' pipes, which were only nine inches long, and gave forth a tone high-pitched and plaintive. These are used also by the Carians in their songs of mourning; unless, to be sure, Caria was also called Phoenicia, examples for which may be found in Corinna and in Bacchylides. Pipes were called gingri by the Phoenicians, and were associated with the laments for Adonis; [175a] for you Phoenicians call Adonis Gingras, as Democleides records. The gingras pipes are mentioned by Antiphanes in The Physician, Menander in The Carian Wailing-woman, and Amphis in Dithyrambus; his words are as follows:'A. But I like the gingras, that most clever device. B. But what is the gingras? A. A new invention of mine, which, to be sure, I have never yet displayed in the theatre, though it has already come into fashion at Athenian symposia. B. Why don't you introduce it to the mob? A. Because I am waiting for a very enterprising tribe to adopt it. For I am sure that it will revolutionize everything with the trident of applause.' And Axionicus in Lover of Euripides:'For both have such a morbid passion for the lyrics of Euripides, that everything else in their eyes seems the wail of a scrannel (gingras) pipe and a mighty bore.'
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§ 4.77 ”How much better, wisest Ulpian, this water-organ is than the so called nablas, which the parodist Sopater, in the play entitled The Portal, says is likewise an invention of Phoenicians. These are his words:'Nor has the deep-toned thrum of the Sidonian nablas passed from the strings.' And in The Slavey of Mystacus he says:'In the articulation of its lines the nablas is not pretty; fixed in its ribs is lifeless lotus wood, which gives forth a breathing music. None was ever stirred to hail with cries of evoe! the melodious band of pleasure.' Philemon in The Fancy Man:'A. We ought to have with us, Parmenon, a flute-girl, or a nablas. P. And what is the nablas? A. You don't know, lunatic? P. Not I, by Zeus. A. What can you mean? You don't know a nablas? Then you don't know what anything good is. Don't you even know what a sambuca-player is?' “As for the instrument called the'triangle' Juba, in the fourth book of his History of the Stage, says that it is a Syrian invention, as is also the so called'lyre- Phoenician'... and the'sambuca.' But this last instrument Neanthes of Cyzicus, in Book I of his Annals, says was the invention of Ibycus, the well-known poet of Rhegium, as the'barbiton' was an invention of Anacreon. Since you run down us Alexandrians as being unmusical, and continually name the'single-pipe' as widely used in our country, listen now to what I can tell you offhand about it.
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§ 4.78 Juba, in the before-mentioned history, says that the Egyptians call the'single-pipe' an invention of Osiris, just as they do the cross-flute which is called the photinx; for the mention of this also I will cite a distinguished authority. It is true, to be sure, that the photinx is a pipe which is peculiar to our country; but the'single-pipe' is mentioned thus by Sophocles in Thamyras:'Gone are the strains of the plucked harp strings, gone the lyres and the single-pipes in which erstwhile we had delight; Ares, who tars and burns, now desolates our shrines.' And Araros in The Birth of Pan:'He snatched up a single-pipe straightway, you can't conceive how deftly, and began to leap with light step.' [176a] Anaxandrides in The Treasure:'Picking up a single-pipe I began to play the hymeneal song.' And in The Cup-bearer:'A. What have you done with my single-pipe, you Syrian? B. Single-pipe? What do you mean? A. The reed.' Sopater in Bacchis:'He sounded the strain from the single-pipe.' ” Protagorides of Cyzicus, in the second book of his work On the Games at Daphne, says:'He has laid fingers to every instrument, one after the other — castanets, tambourine, pandura, and on the sweet single-pipe he hums again the sweetest scales.' And Poseidonius, the philosopher of the Stoa, narrating the story of the war between the Apameans and Larisaeans, in the third book of his Histories writes the following:'They grasped daggers and small lances covered with rust and dirt; they put on hats with visors, which afforded shade, but did not prevent breathing at the throat; they carried with them drinking-horns full of wine and food of every variety, and beside these lay small flutes and single-pipes, implements of revel, not of battle.' (But I am not ignorant that Amerias of Macedon in his Dialect Dictionary says that the single-pipe is called'tityrine.')
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§ 4.79 So now you have, good Ulpian, the authority for the word photinx; and that the'single-piper' was what is today called'reed-piper' is plainly attested by what Hedylus says in the following lines of epigrammatic verse:'Beneath this mound Theon dwells, he of the single-pipe, the sweet flute-player, the charmer who accompanied the mimes on the stage. When blind with age he had even a son, Scirpalus, whom when a babe he called Scirpalus, son of Ready-hand, as he sang at his nativity; for he bore this name to signify the skill of his hands. So piped he the drunken bagatelles of the Muses sung by Glauce, or the tune of the Stutterer who delights in the drinking of unmixed wine, or of Cotalus or Pacalus. Nay, then, of Theon the reed-piper say, Farewell, Theon!' Precisely, then, as they call persons who play on a reed-pipe (calamus) calamaulae, so do they call those who play on the rappa, which is also a reed, rappaulae, as Amerias of Macedon tells us in his Dialect Dictionary. “I would have you know, most noble Ulpian, that there is no record in history of other people more musical than the Alexandrians, and I am not speaking merely of singing to the harp, for even the humblest layman among us, even one who has never learned his ABC, is so familiar with that, that he can immediately detect the mistakes which occur in striking the notes; no, even when it comes to pipes, they are most musical; not merely the pipes called'virginal' and'child' but also those called'virile,' which again are called'complete' and'super-complete,' also the pipes used to accompany harps, as well as the'finger'-pipes. And these are not all; for the pipes called'elymi,' which are mentioned by Sophocles in Niobe and in The Tambourine-Players, are none other, as we hear, than the' Phrygian' pipes with which also the Alexandrians are well acquainted. They know, too, of the pipes with two holes, of those again of middle size, and of those called'low-bore.' The'elymi' pipes are mentioned also by Callias in Shackled. [177a] Juba says that they are an invention of Phrygians, and that they are also called'staff'-pipes, being like the staff in thickness. Cyprians used them as well, says the younger Cratinus in Theramenes. I know also of those called half-holed, about which Anacreon says:'Who hath directed his desire toward lovely youth, and dances to the strains of tender half-hole pipes?' These are shorter than the'complete' pipes. Aeschylus, at any rate, in a figure of speech says in Ixion:'The half-holed' (that is, the smaller)'is easily engulfed by the great.' They are the same as those called'child' pipes, which are not adapted to the public games, but are used at dinner-parties; that is why Anacreon calls them'tender.'
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§ 4.80 I know of other kinds of pipes as well — the'tragic,' the pipes used by women impersonating men, and the pipes used for accompanying a harp, which are mentioned by Ephorus in Inventions and Euphranor the Pythagorean in his book On Pipes, and again Alexis also... in his own work On Pipes. The reed-pipe is called'tityrine' among the Dorians of Italy, as Artemidorus, the disciple of Aristophanes, records in the second book of his Doric Dialect,'The magadis is a pipe.' And again:'That named magadis can produce at the same moment a high and a low tone, as Anaxandrides says in The Drill-Sergeant:'With my magadis I will babble to you something at once soft and loud.”' But the so called'lotus'-pipes are what the Alexandrians call'photinges'; they are made of lotus, as it is called, which is a wood that grows in Libya. Juba says that the pipe made from fawn's legs is an invention of Thebans. Tryphon says that the pipes called'ivory' were bored by Phoenicians. “But I know that the'magadis' is also a stringed instrument like the'kithara,''lyra,' or'barbiton.' The epic poet Euphorion, in his treatise on the Isthmian Games, says that'the persons now called nablas-players, panduristae, and sambuca-players use no newly invented instrument; for the'baromos' and the'barbiton,' which Sappho and Anacreon mention, the'magadis,' the'triangles,' and'sambucas' are old. In Mitylene, at any rate, one of the Muses is portrayed by Lesbothemis holding a sambuca.' Aristoxenus calls foreign all stringed instruments bearing the name of'phoenix,''pectis,''magadis,''sambuca,''triangle,''clepsiamb,''scindapsus' and the'nine-stringed,' as it is called. Plato, in the third book of The Republic says:' We shall not, then,” said I, “require an instrument of many strings or one on which all the musical modes can be played in our songs and lyrics.” “Plainly not,” said he. [183a] “As for triangles, then, and pectides, and all instruments which have many strings and can be played in many modes....”
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§ 4.81'The'scindapsus' is an instrument with four strings, as the parodist Matron says in these lines:'And they hung it not to the peg on which lay outspread the tetrachord scindapsus of the woman who knew not the distaff. Theopompus, the epic poet of Colophon, also mentions it in the poem called Little Chariot:'Holding in his arms a mighty lyre-like scindapsus, made of withes from the lusty willow.' And Anaxilas in The Harp-maker:'I used to make barbiti, trichords, pectides, citharas, lyres, scindapsi.' Sopater, in the play entitled The Slavey of Mystacus, says that the'pectis' has two strings; his words are:'And the two-stringed pectis, which boasts a barbaric muse, has somehow been placed in thy hand.' Epicharmus mentions airs for the harp (pariambides) in Periallus thus:' Semele dances; and one skilled in the cithara pipes for them harp airs in Accompaniment; and she makes merry as she listens to the loud crackle of the tones.' " Alexander of Cythera, as Juba says, perfected the'psaltery' with a larger number of strings, and since in his old age he lived in the city of Ephesus, he dedicated this invention, as the most ingenious product of his skill, in the temple of Artemis. Juba also mentions the'lyre- Phoenician' and the'epigoneum,' which today, although it has been re-fashioned into an upright psaltery, still preserves the name of the man who brought it into use. Epigonus was by birth an Ambraciot, but by adoption he was a citizen of Sikyon. Being very talented, he could play on the harp with the bare hand without a plectrum. I say then, that the Alexandrians are well acquainted with all these instruments before mentioned, as well as with the pipes, and they are skilled in their use; I will myself give you an exhibition with any of the instruments with which you wish to test me, although there are many other persons in my country more musical than I.
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§ 4.82 My fellow-citizen Alexander (he has lately died) gave a public recital with the instrument called the triangle, and sent all Rome into such a state of music-madness that most Romans can repeat his tunes. This'triangle' is mentioned by Sophocles in The Mysians thus:'Oft resounds the Phrygian triangle, and with answering strains the harmony of the Lydian pectis sings'; also in Thamyras. So Aristophanes in The Men of Dinnerville, Theopompus in Penelope. Eupolis in The Dyers says:'Who nicely beats the tambourine and sounds the strings of the triangle.' The so called'pandura' is mentioned by Euphorion, as has already been said, and by Protagorides in the second book of The Games at Daphne. Pythagoras, he who wrote on the Red Sea, [184a] says that the Troglodytes make the pandura out of the white mangrove which grows in the sea. Horns and trumpets are an invention of the Etruscans. Metrodorus of Chios, in his Trojan History says that Marsyas invented the Pan's-pipe ('syrinx') and played it in Celaenae, since his predecessors had piped on one reed only. And Euphorion the epic poet, in his work on Lyric Poets, says that Hermes invented the one-reeded syrinx (though some record that Seuthes and Rhomnaces the Maedi were the inventors), Silenus the many-reeded syrinx, and Marsyas the one which is fastened by wax.
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§ 4.83 “This you have, O word-chaser Ulpian, from the lips of us Alexandrians who have devoted ourselves to the study of'single-pipes.' You, indeed, are not aware that Menecles, the historian of Barca, and again Andron of Alexandria, in his Chronicles, record that the Alexandrians were the teachers of all Greeks and barbarians at a time when the entire system of general education had broken down by reason of the continually recurring disturbances which took place in the period of Alexander's successors. I say, then, a rejuvenation of all culture was again brought about in the reign of the seventh Ptolemy who ruled over Egypt, the king who received from the Alexandrians appropriately the name of Malefactor. For he murdered many of the Alexandrians; not a few he sent into exile, and filled the islands and towns with men who had grown up with his brother — philologians, philosophers, mathematicians, musicians, painters, athletic trainers, physicians, and many other men of skill in their profession. And so they, reduced by poverty to teaching what they knew, instructed many distinguished men.
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§ 4.84 But all Greeks of the olden time were devoted to music; wherefore even flute-playing was very popular. Chamaeleon of Heracleia, at any rate, in the Hortatory Tract, as it is entitled, says that all Lacedemonians and Thebans learned to play on the pipes, as did also the Heracleots of Pontus in his time, as well as the most distinguished Athenians — Callias the son of Hipponicus and Critias the son of Callaeschrus. Duris, in his work on Euripides and Sophocles, says that Alcibiades learned flute-playing from no ordinary teacher, but from Pronomus, who had acquired very great repute. Aristoxenus, also, says that Epaminondas of Thebes learned to play the flute in the schools of Olympiodorus and Orthagoras. Many even of the Pythagoreans were devoted to flute-playing, as Euphranor, Archytas, Philolaus, and not a few others. In fact Euphranor has left a treatise on pipes; likewise also Archytas. And Aristophanes, in The Men of Dinnerville, makes clear the interest in this subject when he says:'I am one who have been worn flabby by the use of pipes and harps; and now you bid me go dig?' Phrynichus in The Incubus:'Surely you never taught this fellow to play the harp and pipes?' And Epicharmus says in The Muses that even Athena played the'enoplic' on the pipes for the Dioscuri. Ion, in Phoenix or Caeneus, calls the pipe a cock, in these words: [185a]'And upon that the pipe, a cock, crowed forth its Lydian hymn.' But in Sentinels he calls the cock and Idaean Pan's pipe, in these words:'And the Pan's pipe, Idaean cock, surges forth.' In the second Phoenix the same Ion says:'Playing a loud and deep-voiced pipe, with tripping metre,' meaning the Phrygian thereby; for it is deep and grave, and hence they tie the piece of horn to it, answering to the mouthpiece of trumpets.” Upon this, let the present book come to its close, friend Timocrates, since it has taken on sufficient length.
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§ 5.1 [1a] BOOK V (185) Now, since we, Timocrates, have exhausted in what has gone before so much talk on the subject of symposia, though we have omitted the most useful elements of them, I mean those things which the divine Homer introduced by the way, I will now bring to mind also what was said on these matters by the most excellent Masurius. For to adopt the words of the noble Agathon, “Thus do we render our avocation a vocation, but contrive to make our vocation an avocation.” Be that as it may, the poet, speaking of Menelaus, says: “him they found giving a marriage-feast to many kinsmen in his hall for his son and his blameless daughter;” since it is the established custom to hold symposia in connexion with the wedding ceremony, partly to honour the gods of marriage, and partly to serve as a kind of public witness to the union. As for the symposium which is tendered to strangers, the king of Lycia teaches what the nature of it will be when he gives munificent welcome to Bellerophon: “Nine days he received him as his guest, and nine oxen did he butcher.”
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§ 5.2 For wine seems to possess a power which draws to friendship, by lightly warming and fusing the soul. Hence they did not even ask their guests too soon who they were, but postponed that until later, as though they honored the mere act of hospitality, and not the individual and personal in us. The old lawgivers, providing for the modern dinners, and over and above these the dinners of the sacred bands, the brotherhood dinners, and again those which are called “orgeonic.” [186a] Anyway, there are in the city meetings of many philosophic sects — Diogenists, Antipatrists, so-called, and Panaetiasts. Theophrastus even bequeathed money for a meeting of this character, not — Heaven forbid! — that they should indulge in intemperance when they came together, but that they might carry out with decency and refinement the practices which accord with the idea of the symposium. And every day the presiding magistrates used to assemble parties for the dinner which were decent and salutary for the state. At any rate, it was to a symposium of this kind, Demosthenes says, that report came of the capture of Elateia: “For it was evening, and someone came to the prytanes with the report that Elateia had been captured.” And the philosophers also made it their business to gather young men together and dine in their company with due regard to some fixed standard. At any rate, there were Symposium Laws by Xenocrates of the Academy, and again by Aristotle. The messes at Sparta, and the men's halls among the Cretans, are conducted by the States with all possible care. Wherefore someone has said, not badly: “Friendly comrades should not abstain too long from the symposium; for that is the most delightful way to remember each other.” The philosopher Antipater once held a symposium at which he required all who came to discuss some disputed question of the sophists. — He says that Arcesilaus was invited to a symposium, and having been assigned to a couch with a person who ate voraciously, he was unable to enjoy anything himself; and when one of the company handed food across to him, he said, “Thanks to you, sir; but to Telephus — what I have in mind!” It so happened that the man who ate so greedily was named Telephus. — And Zeno, when one of the gourmands in his company snatched away the upper part of the fish at the very moment when it was set before them, with a sudden twist snatched it away again himself, while he accompanied the action with the quotation: “But Ino, for her part, finished the work on the other side.” And Socrates, seeing a man helping himself immoderately to the relish, said, “Fellow-guests, who is it among you that treats bread like a relish, but a relish like bread?”
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§ 5.3 We will now talk about the Homeric symposia. In these, namely, the poet distinguishes times, persons, and occasions. This feature Xenophon and Plato rightly copied, for at the beginning of their treatises they explain the occasion of the symposium, and who are present. But Epicurus specifies no place, no time; he has no introduction whatever. One has to guess, therefore, how it comes about that a man with cup in hand suddenly propounds questions as though he were discoursing before a class. ( Aristotle says that it is unseemly to arrive at a symposium unbathed and covered with dust.) Then, too, Homer clearly teaches who are to be invited, showing that it is our duty to bid the best men and those who are held in esteem, when he says: “And he summoned the old men, the noble lords of all the Achaeans.” This is not the way which Hesiod prescribes; for he requires that we invite our neighbors too: “Above all summon him who dwells nigh thee.” But really this is the kind of symposium appropriate to Boeotian insensibility, and chimes well with that most man-hating of the proverbs, [187a] “Friends who dwell afar are not friends.” For must it not be absurd that friendship should be determined by position and not by disposition? Well, as I was saying, in Homer, after the drinking “For them the old man, the very first of all, began to weave his counsel;” whereas among those who do not conduct symposia discreetly, “For them the flatterer, the very first of all, began to weave his mockery.” And further, Homer introduces guests who differ in their ages and views of life — Nestor, Ajax, Odysseus — all of whom, speaking generally, strive after excellence, but have set out in specifically diverse paths to find it. Epicurus, on the other hand, introduced none but prophets of atoms, although he had before him these as his models, I mean, the variety of symposia in the Poet, and the charm of Plato and Xenophon as well. Of the last Twelve Tables Plato introduced as disputants the physician Eryximachus, then the poet Aristophanes, then, one after another, men who followed different professions in life; Xenophon, for his part, also interspersed some who followed no profession. Homer, therefore, has done much better in that he sets before us different symposia; for every symposium can be better understood by comparison and contrary with others. For example, in the case of the suitors we find in him the kind of symposium which would take place when lusty young men are given over to carousals and love affairs; while in the case of the Phaeacians, we have something more sedate than that of these young men, and yet full of delight. To this again, he has placed in contrast the symposia which belong to army life, over against those which were conducted more after the manner of civil life, in a sober way. Still again, by contrast, he has distinguished those which have the character of a public feature, from those which represent a gathering of intimate friends. But Epicurus has portrayed solely a symposium of philosophers.
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§ 5.4 Homer has also taught us who need not be invited, but may come of their own accord, by the example of one relative fittingly pointing out the presence of others similarly connected: “Of his own accord came to him Menelaus, good at the cry.” For it is plain that neither a brother, nor parents, nor wife need be invited, nor anyone else whom one holds in equal esteem with these; otherwise it would be cold and unfriendly. And yet some authorities have added a verse which further explains the reason: “For he knew in his heart that his brother was troubled” — as though it were necessary to tell the reason why a brother might come to dinner of his own accord, when the reason which we now give is the probable one. Can he, for example, assert that Menelaus did not know that his brother was giving a feast? Would that not be ridiculous, when the slaughtering of the oxen was in plain singular and known to all? Why then would he have come if he had not known that? Or does he mean — of all things under Heaven! — that Menelaus, knowing that his brother was distracted, excused the omission of the invitation, and, adapting himself to the circumstances, came of his own accord? That would be as if he meant that he had come, though uninvited, in order that they might not look at each other the next morning with suspicion, the one with shame, the other with reproach! On the contrary, it would have been absurd that Agamemnon should forget his brother, especially when it was for his sake that he was at the moment offering sacrifice, and had assumed the conduct of the war as well, and moreover had invited those who were not related to him by birth nor associated with his country. Athenocles of Cyzicus, with a better understanding of the Homeric poetry than Aristarchus, explains to us with greater refinement that Homer passed Menelaus over without mention because he was more closely related in kinship to Agamemnon. And Demetrius of Phalerum declared that the inclusion of the verse, “for he knew in his heart that his brother was troubled,” is awkward and foreign to the poet's style, and imputes meanness to the characters. “For,” says he, “I think that every man of refinement has someone, either relative or friend, to whom he can go when a feast is on without waiting for an invitation.”
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§ 5.5 And Plato, in The Symposium, has this to say on the same subject: “That we,” he says, “may, by an alteration, render null and void the proverb to the effect that'good men go of their own accord to the feast of good men.' For Homer, indeed, may not only have rendered it null and void, but actually outraged it; for he represented Agamemnon as brave in matters of war, but Menelaus as a slack warrior; yet, when Agamemnon was holding a sacrificial feast, he represented the inferior man as going uninvited to the dinner of the better man.” Bacchylides, telling of how Heracles went to the house of Ceyx, says: “He halted at the stone threshold, and they were making ready a feast, and thus spake he:'Of their own accord just mean approach the feasts, heaped high, of good men.'” Now of the proverbs, one says, “Of their own accord brave men go to the feasts of brave men,” the other, “of their own accord brave men go to the feasts of cowards.” But it is without a warrant, at any rate, that Plato thought Menelaus a coward, since Homer calls him “dear to Ares,” and says that he was the only one who performed feats of valor in behalf of Patroclus, and above all others was eager to fight in single combat against Hector, although he was inferior to him in physical strength. And of all who were in the army he was the only one of whom the poet said: “And among them he himself moved, confident in his zeal.” Now if his enemy, who reviled him, called him a “slack warrior,” and Plato on that account assumes that he was really slack, he could not be too quick in ranking Agamemnon also among the poltroons (although Plato himself says that he was brave), seeing that this verse is said of Agamemnon: “Heavy with wine, with the eyes of a dog and the heart of a deer.” The truth is that if a thing is said in Homer, it is not always Homer who says it. How, in fact, could Menelaus be a coward — he the only one to keep Hector away from the body of Patroclus, killing Euphorbus and spoiling him of his arms in the very midst of the Trojans? That Plato has not even given thorough attention to the verse which he reprehended is a curious fact; in it Menelaus is called “good at the cry.” For Homer habitually uses this epithet of the bravest, since the ancients called the battle a “cry.”
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§ 5.6 Being exact in all matters, Homer has not omitted this small detail — the necessity of caring for the body and bathing before going to dinner. In the case of Odysseus, at any rate, he says, just before the feast among the Phaeacians: “Straightway the housekeeper bade him bathe.” And of the men in the retinue of Telemachus: “Then went they to the well-polished tubs and bathed.” “For it was unseemly,” says Aristotle, “to arrive at the symposium covered with sweat and dust.” For the man of refinement must not be slovenly, or dirty, or have pleasure in filth, according to Heraclitus. Also, the one who arrives first at another's house for dinner must not rush forthwith to the symposium to fill his belly, but he should previously accord something to the aesthetic sense, and take notice of the host's house. In fact, Homer has not omitted this point either: “They themselves went into the wondrous house; and they, having gazed upon it, admired exceedingly the hall of the king fostered by Zeus, for it was as the shining of the sun or the moon in the high-roofed hall of glorious Menelaus.” And Aristophanes, in the Wasps, shows the harsh and litigious old man in process of being converted to a gentle mode of life by his son: “Cease! But come now, this way; lay yourself down and learn also how to be a man of conviviality and sociability.” And after instructing him how he is to recline he says: “Now, speak approvingly of one of the vessels, gaze at the ceiling, admire the tapestries in the court.”
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§ 5.7 Again, Homer tells us what we are to do before we beg to eat, namely, we are to offer as first-fruits some of the food to the gods. At any rate, the men in the company of Odysseus, even when they were in the Cyclops's cave:'Therefore" (they say) “we lighted a fire and offered sacrifice, and then we took ourselves and ate of the cheeses.” And Achilles, although the envoys had come in haste in the mid-watches of the night, none the less “bade Patroclus, his companion, to offer sacrifice to the gods; and he lad first-offerings on the fire.” Homer also shows us the feasters at least offering libations: “Young men filled the mixing-bowls to the brim with wine, and then measured it out to all, after they had poured the drink-offering into the cups. Then, when they had made libation....” All of which Plato also retains in his symposium. For after the eating was over, he says that they offered libation and thanksgiving to the god with the customary honors. Similarly also Xenophon. But with Epicurus there is no libation, no preliminary offering to the gods; on the contrary, it is like what Simonides says of the lawless woman: “Oft times she eats up the offerings before they are consecrated.”
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§ 5.8 As to the proper mixing of wine, they say indeed that the Athenians were taught this by their king Amphictyon, and for that reason they founded a shrine to “upright” Dionysus. For the god of wine is really upright and does not totter when he is drunk in just proportions and diluted. “For wine is silly in its commands; it impels even the very prudent to sing much, and rouses him even to laugh effeminately and to dance, and inspires a word which were better unspoken.” Homer indeed does not call wine “silly” in the sense of foolish and causing foolish actions; he does not even bid us be of gloomy countenance, refusing to sing or laugh, or on occasion even indulging in proper measure in the dance. No, Homer is not so boorish or stiff; on the contrary, he understood the nice differences of quantity and quality in all of these actions. Hence he did not say that wine makes the very prudent “sing,” but he says that it makes him “sing much,” [187c] that is, immoderately and so excessively as to be a nuisance besides; nor does he say, I am sure, that it makes men laugh and dance; but taking the word “effeminately” as belonging with both verbs, he tries to curb the unmanly propensity in that direction: “And rouses him even to laugh and to dance effeminately.” But with Plato none of these amusements is kept within bounds; on the contrary, they drink so much that they cannot stand on their own feet. For just look at Alcibiades, who comes rioting in, and observe how disgracefully he behaves; all the others also drain the two-quart cooler, once they had got the excuse that Alcibiades had dragged them into it. They behaved not as Homer's heroes: “But when they had made libation and drunk to their heart's content.” We must then draw the line at some of these practices once for all; in others, however, we may indulge moderately, turning our regard upon them in only slight degree, and as it were treating them as a kind of ornament, as Homer says: “The song and the dance; for they are the ornaments of the feast.”
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§ 5.9 In general, everything which verges on scenes such as these Homer has ascribed to the suitors or to the Phaeacians, but never to Nestor or Menelaus. The school of Aristarchus, not understanding this in the case of the wedding-feast, and not observing that the entertainment was continuous, the principal days — those on which the bride had been taken home by the groom — having already passed; nor observing that the wedding of Megapenthes was already over, and that Menelaus and Helen were eating quite alone; the understanding this, I say, but being misled by the first verse, “Him they found giving a marriage feast to many of his kinsmen,” they have added the following verses: “Thus did they feast in the large high-roofed hall, neighbors and kinsmen of glorious Menelaus, making merry; and among them the divine minstrel sang as he played the lyre, and two tumblers, leaders of the dance, whirled about by themselves in the midst of them.” These verses they have taken over from The Making of the Arms, along with the very selfsame mistake in the use of words. For it was not the tumblers who were leaders of the dance, but they surely danced with the minstrel as leader. For “leading” properly belongs to the lyre. Hence Hesiod says in The Shield: “And the goddesses, the Muses of Pieria, led the song.” And Archilochus: “I myself am leader in the Lesbian paean to the accompaniment of the flute.” Stesichorus calls the Muse “leader of song,” while Pindar calls preludes “leaders of the choral bands.” Diodorus, of the school of Aristophanes, deleted the entire passage about the wedding, thinking that only the opening days of it were meant, and taking no account of the concluding portion of the festival or, again, of the aftermath of the party. Consequently Diodorus wishes to write: “Two tumblers among themselves ” (with the rough breathing), thus forcing a solecism. For Homer's phrase means, “they whirled about by themselves, i.e. ”separately," but to use the form heautous for that is a solecism.
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§ 5.10 As I was saying, however, the introduction of special entertainments into this sober kind of symposium is an intrusion which has made its way over from the Cretan chorus, about which the poet says, [187d]in The Making of the Arms: “And upon it he, the halting one, of exceeding fame, skilfully wrought a choral band, like that which Daedalus once in wide Cnossus trained for Ariadne of the beautiful locks. In that band danced young men and maidens worth many cows, holding each other's hands at the wrist.” For to these verses he adds: “And large was the throng that stood about the lovely chorus, making merry; and among them the divine minstrel sang as he played the lyre, and two tumblers, leaders of the dance, whirled about but themselves in the midst of them.” Not only, therefore, is dancing indigenous among the Cretans, but so also is tumbling. Hence one says to Meriones, who is a Cretan: “ Meriones, dancer though thou art, soon had my spear put an end to thee forever, if I had but hit thee.” Whence lively dances are called Cretan: “ Cretan they call the manner, but the instrument is Molossian.” “The so-called'Laconists,'” says Timaeus, “sang in rectangular choruses.” Broadly speaking, the music of the Greeks varied; the Athenians held in special esteem the Dionysiac and circular choruses, the Syracusans affected the choral songs of the lampoon-writers, while others again had something different. Aristarchus, however, by interpolating in the symposium of Menelaus verses which did not belong there, has produced a symposium which is foreign to Laconian culture and to that king's sobriety, and what is more, he has even removed the minstrel from the Cretan chorus by cutting down the verses in the following manner: “And large was the throng that stood about the lovely chorus, making merry; and two tumblers, leaders of the dance, whirled about by themselves in the midst of them.” Consequently it becomes impossible to emend “leaders,” since it is no longer possible to keep the reference to the minstrel.
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§ 5.11 That it is not likely that there was any such entertainment in the house of Menelaus is plain from the fact that the entire symposium is carried on by conversation held among the guests themselves; there is no mention whatever of the name of the minstrel, nor even of the song which he sang; nor do Telemachus and his followers pay any attention to him, but rather, as if in a silence and quietness, observe the room; and yet it is not at least unlikely that the sons of the wisest men, Odysseus and Nestor, should be represented in the scene as boorish men, paying no attention, in the manner of rustics, to the entertainments provided for them? Odysseus, at any rate, is attentive to the song-massacres of the Phaeacians: “But Odysseus gazed at the twinkling of their feet, and marveled in his soul,” although he had many things to distract him, and could say: “Cares there are in my heart, more than songs.” Would not Telemachus, then, be stupid indefatigable, when a minstrel was present and a tumbler as well, he bent his head in a whisper to Peisistratus and conversed about the vessels before them? [187e] Homer, however, like the good artist that he is, perjuries Telemachus as in all things resembling his father. He has, at any rate, represented them both as being recognized by their tears, the one in the court of Alcinous, the other at the court of Menelaus.
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§ 5.12 But in the symposium of Epicurus there is an assemblage of flatterers praising one another, while the symposium of Plato is full of men who turn their noses up in jeers at one another; for I pass over in silence what is said about Alcibiades. In Homer, on the other hand, only sober symposia are organized. And some sometimes one gives praise, saying to Menelaus that he dares not speak “In thy presence, whose voice we twain delight in as in the voice of a god.” And Homer reproved some of the things said or done not rightly: “And now, if it can in any wise be, yield to me; for I delight not in lamentation signal supping.” And again he says: “ Telemachus, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth?” [187f] That, surely, is not the mark either of a flatterer or one who turns his nose up. Again, Epicurus in his symposium puts questions about indigestion in order to get omens from it; following that he asks about fevers. What need is there even to speak of the lack of proportion which pervades his style? As for Plato — I pass over the man who was bothered by the hiccups and cured by gargles of water and still more by the insertion of a straw to tickle his nose and make him sneeze; for he wanted to introduce fun and mockery — Plato, I say, ridicules Agathon's balanced clauses and antitheses, and also brings on the scene Alcibiades, who avows that he is consumed with lust. Nevertheless, while writing that kind of stuff, they banish Homer from their states! But, as Demochares used to say, you cannot make a lance-head out of savoury, nor a good man of such talk. Plato ridicules not only Alcibiades but also Charmides and Euthydemus and many other young men. This is the characteristic of one who satirizes the city of Athens, the Museum of Hellas, which Pindar called the “prop of Hellas,” and which Thucydides, in the epigram on Euripides, called “the Hellas of Hellas,” while the Pythian god proclaimed it the “hearth and town-hall of the Hellenes.” The reason why he has traduced the young men may be seen in Plato himself. In the case of Alcibiades, he says in the dialogue named from him that he did not begin to have converse with Socrates until he had passed out of his early bloom, when all who lusted for his body had deserted him. He tells us this at the beginning of the dialogue. The contradictory things which he says in the case of Charmides may be learned from the dialogue itself by anyone who wishes. For he represents him inconsistently as sometimes in a state of vertigo and intoxication for love of the lad, and beside himself, and as a fawn cowering before the strength of a lion; and then again he declares that he takes no thought of the lad's beauty.
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§ 5.13 Nevertheless, even the symposium described by Xenophon, although it is praised, admits occasions for censure not fewer than these. Callias, for example, gets the symposium together when his favorite Autolycus had been crowned victor in the pancratium at the Panathenaea. [188a] And immediately the guests on the couches give their attention to the lad, even though his father is seated beside him. “For just as when a blaze of light, appearing at night, attracts the eyes of all, so also the beauty of Autolycus draws the gaze of all to itself. And so there was no one present whose soul was not somehow affected by the lad; some, to be sure, lapsed into greater silence, but others began to assume different poses.” Homer, on the other hand, has not undertaken to tell us anything of this sort even though he has Helen before him, of whose beauty one of those who sat opposite her uttered words like these, forced from him by the truth: B"'Tis no cause for anger that Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans should suffer woes a long time for such a woman as she; for she is marvelously like the deathless goddesses in countenance." Yet later he says: “But even so, such though she be, let her go home in the ships.” And then there are the young lads who pay a visit to Menelaus, Nestor's son and Telemachus; plied with wine, attending a wedding symposium, they hold their peace in the presence of Helen, as is proper, struck completely dumb before her famous beauty. But Socrates! Why did he tolerate the flute-girls, the boy dancing and playing the lyre, and even the woman who indecently turns somersaults, and then decline the perfume? Nobody, indeed, could have borne his use of it without laughter if he had in mind these verses: “Those pale-faced men, those unshod beggars, you mean, of whom Socrates, poor devil, is one, and Chaerephon.” But what follows this is also inconsistent with the strictness of his life. That is to say, Critobulus, a witty lad, pokes fun at Socrates, who is an elderly man and his teacher, saying that he is much uglier than the Sileni. Socrates then matches his beauty, point by point, with that of Critobulus and having chosen as judges the boy and the dancing-girl, proposes as prizes for the winner the kisses of the judges. What young man, I ask, who comes upon this passage, will not be corrupted rather than stimulated to goodness?
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§ 5.14 In Homer's account of the symposium of Menelaus, on the other hand, they propound to each other questions as though they were in a company of learned men, and by civilized conversation they delight one another, and us as well. Menelaus, for example, when Telemachus and his associates have returned from the bath and the Accompaniments of the meal have been placed before them, invites them to take their share in these words: “Help yourselves to the food and enjoy yourselves; later, when we have ceased from our dinner, we will ask who ye twain are.” Thereupon, as a special mark of kindness, he gave them in addition some of the food that had been placed before himself: “Thus spake he, and took in his hands and placed before them the fat roasted chine of an ox, which they had set before him as his special portion.” And after eating in silence, as becomes young men, they talk quietly with one another with heads bent together, not on the subject of food, he says, nor even about their host's maidservants, by whom they had been bathed, but rather about the rich possessions of him who had given them welcome: “Such verily, are the rich possessions that are stored in the house of Zeus.” For in this way, Seleucus says, the verse is better written. But Aristarchus writes it not as it should be: [189a] “Such verily, is the courtyard of Olympian Zeus within.” For it is not merely the beauty of the house that they admire; how, for example, could there have been amber and silver and ivory on the walls? On the contrary, while they do comment on the house, saying that it has “resounding halls” (such, of course, are halls which are high-roofed and spacious), it is about the vessels they speak in the line, “of gold and amber, yea, and silver and ivory”; after which comes naturally, “Such, verily, are the rich possessions that are stored in the house of Zeus, so countless many are these; wonder holds me as I look upon them.” But to the line, “Such, verily, is the courtyard of Olympian Zeus within,” it is a non sequitur to add “so countless many are these,” being a solecism by reason of the unusual character of the reading.
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§ 5.15 Further, the word court-yard (aule) does not even accord with the house. For the word used is of a place across which the air blows, and we speak of “letting a draught through,” of a place which receives air from sides. Again there is the instrument called aulos, because the air goes through it, and any foregoing prolonged in a straight line we call aulos, like a stadium, or a gush of blood: “Forthwith a thick gush came from his nostrils;” or of the helmet when it extends straight up from the middle we say that it is “tube-like.” At Athens there are certain “sacred hollows” (aulones), as they are called, which Philochorus mentions in the ninth book. The noun meaning “hollows is masculine, as in Thrace, Book IV, and all the historians who write in prose; but in the poets it is feminine. Carcinus, in Achilles: ”Into a deep hollow which surrounded the army." And Sophocles in The Scythians: “Crags and caves and hollows by the shore.” We must therefore take the word as feminine also in Eratosthenes' Hermes, where we have “A deep hollow runs through it,” bathys being for batheia, precisely like'thelys eerse', “fresh” dew. Everything, then, of this nature is said to be an aule ("court-yard") or an aulon ("hollow"). But in the present instance, in speaking of the king's palace they say aulae ("courts"), as Menander does: “To worship courts and nabobs.” And Diphilus: “To worship courts, as it seems to me, stamps one as an exile or a starveling or a rogue from the whipping-post.” That is, they are called “courts” because the open spaces in front of the house are large, or because the king's bodyguard bivouac and lie beside the palace. But Homer always uses “court” (αυλή, singular) of the open spaces, where the altar of Zeus Herkeios was placed. Peleus, at least, is found “in the feeding-place of the court; and he held a gold goblet as he poured a libation of sparkling wine upon the blazing victims.” And Priam: “In the feeding-places of the court was rolling in the filth.” Doubt, too, commands Phemius and his companion: “Nay then, depart from the well-built halls [190a] out of the slaughter into the court.” But that Telemachus praised the rich possessions is made clear by Menelaus: “Dear children, no mortal man would Vie with Zeus; for his halls and rich possessions are deathless.”
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§ 5.16 But enough of this. We must return to the symposium, in which Homer has skilfully found occasion in his story to compare the possessions of one who was dear to him. For Menelaus does not propound it as a question for debate, but with charming insinuation, after he has listened to their praises, he at first does not deny that he is rich; but then, divesting his words of any invidiousness, he says that he holds his possessions “after undergoing many sufferings.” Nevertheless he does not presume to compare himself with the gods: “For his ( Zeus's) halls and rich possessions are deathless.” And after displaying his character, as one who loved his brother, and avowing that it was through fate that he was still alive and enjoying his wealth, he had, by way of contrast, introduced this word of loving friendship: “Would that I dwelt in my halls with but a third portion of this wealth, and that the heroes were safe and sound who perished at that time in wide Troy-land, far from Argos, the pasture-ground of horses.” Who, therefore, among the descendants of those who had died for such a man as that, would not regard the grief which they felt for their father's loss as recompensed by this grateful mention of their father? But in order that it might not seem that he cherished the same feeling for all those who had alike displayed good will towards him, he added: “For all these men I mourn not so much, grieved though I am, as I mourn for him, the one who causes sleep and food to be loathsome to me.” And that it may not appear that he forgets anyone related to him he has mentioned them by nickname: For him then, I ween, grieve the aged Laertes, and prudent Penelope, and Telemachus, whom he left a new-born child in his house." When Telemachus burst into tears at the mention, Menelaus notices him and at that moment... with the entrance of Helen; and she guessed who Telemachus was from family likeness. For women, because of their habit of keeping an eye on each other's honour, are very keen at detecting the points of resemblance which children have with their parents. There follows a speech interjected by Peisistratus, since he must not be in the scene as a mere bodyguard, and after he has talked becomingly about Telemachus's modesty, once more Menelaus makes mention of his love for Odysseus, saying that of all things he would have liked most to grow old in company with Odysseus alone.
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§ 5.17 Naturally they weep; but Helen, being a daughter of Zeus, and having learned many counsels from the wise men of Egypt, puts into the wine a drug which is veritably all-healing, and begins a narrative of her experiences with Odysseus while her case is engaged in spinning, a pursuit which she followed not for pleasure, but because she had formed the habit at home. [191a] At any rate, Aphrodite comes before her after the duel, assuming a disguise: “She spake to her, likening herself to an aged crone who cards the wool, and who was wont to prepare for her the fine wool in populous Lacedemon.” And Helen's industry is made plain by no mere incident in these lines also: “For her also, at the same time, Adraste set a well-wrought stool; and Alcippe brought a rug of soft wool, Phylo brought a silver wool-basket, which Alcandre, wife of Polybus, had given her.” “This, then, her handmaid Phylo brought and placed beside her, overflowing with carded fibers; and in the lay her distaff, holding the violet-dark wool.” And it is also likely that she herself was aware of her own skill in handiwork. At any rate, when she presents Telemachus with a robe she says: “This present even I, dear child, offer you, as a memorial of Helen's handiwork, against the season of your longed-for marriage, and for your wife to wear.” And this industry reveals the discreetness of her character; for she is not represented as a woman who exults and gives herself airs because of her beauty. She is discovered, at any rate, weaving at the loom and working in many designs: “Her he found in the hall; and she was weaving, at a tall loom, a glistening mantle of double folds; and many contests she patterned therein, of horse-taming Trojans and bronze-coated Achaeans, which they were encountering for her sake at the hands of Ares.”
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§ 5.18 Homer teaches us, too, that guests who have been invited to a banquet should request permission of their hosts to rise and depart. Telemachus says to Menelaus: “But come, direct us now to our beds, that we may forthwith lie down and delight ourselves in sweet sleep.” And Athena, who pretends to be Mentor, says to Nestor: “But come, cut out the tongues, and let the wine be mixed, that we may pour libations to Poseidon and the other immortals and bethink us of rest; for it is the season for it.” At the festivals of the gods it is held to be not even pious to remain too long. At any rate Athena in Homer says sententiously: “For by this time the light has sunk beneath the west, and it is not seemly to sit long at the feast of the gods, but rather to go home.” And so even today it is customary to depart from some festivals before sunset. Among Egyptians, also, every kind of symposium was conducted with moderation in ancient times, as Apollonia, who has written on this subject, says. For they sat as they dined, making use of the simplest and most healthful food, and drinking only so much wine as would be sufficient to promote good cheer, which Pindar prays Zeus to send: “What shall I do that I may be dear in thy eyes, though of the mighty thunder, son of Cronus — dear to the Muses, too, and marked by the spirit of good cheer — for this I pray thee.” [192a] Plato's symposium is not a session or council-chamber, nor a debating-hall of philosophers. For Socrates does not even want to leave the symposium, though Eryximachus and Phaedrus and some others have already gone, but stays awake with Agathon and Aristophanes and drinks out of a silver “well” — for someone has appropriately given this name to the larger cups — and he also drinks out of a shallow cup, in a round from left to right. He says further that after this the other two began to doze, but Aristophanes fell asleep first, while Agathon did not drop off until daylight began to show; and then Socrates put them to bed, and rising up departed to the Lyceum, although, as Herodicus says, he might better have gone to Homer's Laestrygones, “where a sleepless man could have earned double wages.”
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§ 5.19 Every gathering among the ancients to celebrate a symposium acknowledged the god as the occasion for it, and made use of chaplets appropriate to the gods as well as hymns and songs. And there was no slave to serve them, but young men, sons of free men, were the cup-bearers, as for example the son of Menelaus, who was cup-bearer, even though he was bridegroom, at the very wedding-feast itself. And in the fair Sappho even Hermes is cup-bearer to the gods. In fact, free-born men made ready all other things needful for the diners, and those who had dined separated when it was daylight. In some Persian symposia there also occurred debates, as in Agamemnon's during the campaign. The symposium of Alcinous, to which the speech of Odysseus refers: “I say, for my part, that there is no issue more delightful than when good cheer possesses the whole house, and feasters in the halls learn to the minstrel,” admits the welcome to a stranger, since the Phaeacians were of themselves lovers of luxury. If now, one compares it with the symposia of the philosophers, he will find it more decorous, though it includes mirth and joking, but in good taste. For after the gymnastic contest the minstrel sings “of the amours of Ares,” a story full of satire, while it gives hints to Odysseus for the slaughter of the suitors, in that even the Lame-footed could overcome in a contest the most valiant Ares.
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§ 5.20 The men of those days also sat when they dined. Homer, at any rate, says in many places, “They sat them down in order, upon chairs and thrones.” Now the throne, taken by itself alone, is the chair of a man of high birth; it has a footstool, which they called threnys, and they formed the word “throne” from the verb thro, which they use of sitting down, as Philitas: “To sit (thran) beneath the lush plane-tree.” The chair (klismos), on the other hand, is provided more sumptuously with an inclined back. Poorer than either of these was the stool (diphros); in the case of Odysseus, anyway, coming in the guise of a beggar, the poet says that Telemachus “placed before him a mean stool and a small table.” Their mixing-bowls, as indeed the name implies, stood before them filled with diluted wine; from these the young men who served offered the drinking-cup, while in the case of the most highly honored was always full; while to the others they distributed the wine in equal portions. Agamemnon, at any rate, says to Idomeneus: [193a] “But thy cup stands ever full, even as mine, to quaff whenever thy heart bids thee.” They toasted one another not as we do — for our method in a toast is to drain to the dregs — but with the cup full: “And filling the cup with wine he pledged Achilles.” How many times a day they took meals has already been explained; we said that there were three (and not four), because the same meal is sometimes called luncheon, sometimes dinner. Those who assert that they took four meals merely because the poet said: “come you now after taking the afternoon meal” are absurd; they do not observe that he means “after waiting through the afternoon.” Nevertheless, nobody will ever point to an instance in Homer where anyone takes food three times in the day. Many indeed are mistaken when they place the following verses in sequence in the poet's text: “The grave housekeeper brought food and set it beside them, adding many viands which she lavished from her store. And the carver lifted and set beside them platters of meat.” Now if the housekeeper set “viands” before them, it is plain that they must have been chance bits of meat left over, and there would be no need to introduce a carver. Hence the two verses are sufficient alone. When the diners had departed the tables were carried away, as in the case of the suitors and the Phaeacians, of whom the poet says: “And the handmaids cleared away the implements (entea) of the feast,” meaning the vessels. For all implements which afford a covering, like breastplates, greaves, and things similar to them, they call entea, being as it were vessels to hold inside them the corresponding parts of the body. The larger rooms in the dwellings of the heroes Homer calls megara, also domata ("buildings") and klisiae ("huts"); but men of today call them “guest-rooms” and “men's halls.”
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§ 5.21 [193c] What, then, dear friends, shall we call the symposium which was given by Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes ("Illustrious") but because of his acts renamed Epimanes ("Insane")? He was king of Syria, and one of the Seleucidae. Concerning him Polybius says this: “He would sometimes slip out of the palace without the knowledge of his attendants, and would appear wandering about in some quarter of the city with one or two companions; usually he was found near the shops of the silversmiths and goldsmiths talking glibly, and airing his views on art before the workmen engaged in making reliefs as well as before other artisans. Then he would condescend to men of the common people and converse with anybody, no matter whom, and he used to drink with travelers of the meanest sort who came to town. Whenever he learned that any young men were feasting together, he would appear without any announcement to join in the revel with hornpipe and symphony; the result was that most of the party got up and fled at the unexpected apparition. And often he would lay aside his royal robes, and putting on a toga he would walk up and down the market-place as though he were canvassing for votes; with some he shook hands, while others he embraced and invited to cast their vote for him, sometimes for the office of aedile, sometimes for that of tribune of the people. And having won the office, he would seat himself on the ivory chair, according to the Roman custom; he would hear quotes involving contracts in the market, and would give decisions with great earnestness and zeal. As a result he would reduce decent men to perplexity; for some supposed that he was just an artless person, while others thought him mad. And he was like that also in giving presents; [194a] for to some he would give dice made from gazelles' bones, to others dates, to others again money in gold. On occasion, also, meeting persons whom he had never seen, he would give them unexpected presents. In benefactions to cities and in honors paid to the gods he outdid all who had ever been kings before him. One might draw this conclusion merely from the Olympieium at Athens and the statues round the altar in Delos. He used also to bathe in the public baths when the baths were crowded with common people, having jars of the most costly scented oils brought in for his use. On one occasion a man said to him, ”Happy are you kings, who can use these perfumes and smell so sweet!" Without answering the fellow he came in next day where the man was bathing, and caused a very large jar of most costly scented oil, the kind which is called stacta, to be poured over the man's head; the result was that all, after standing up, rolled about bathed in the oil, and roused laughter by sprawling on the slippery floor, as even the king himself did."
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§ 5.22 This same king, hearing about the games instituted in Macedonia by Aemilius Paulus, the Roman general, and wishing to outdo Paulus in magnificence, dispatched envoys and delegates to the city to proclaim the games which were to be given by him near Daphne; hence great interest arose on the part of the Greeks in meeting him. As a beginning to the meeting he got up a parade which was carried out in the following manner. It was led by certain men in the prime of their youth, five thousand in number, who wore Roman armor of chain-mail; after them came five thousand Mysians; close to these were three thousand Cilicians equipped in the fashion of light-armed troops, and wearing gold crowns. After these came three thousand Thracians and five thousand Celts. These were followed by twenty thousand Macedonians, ten thousand of them with gold shields, five thousand with bronze shields, and the rest with silver shields; close upon these came two hundred and forty pairs of gladiators. Behind them were one thousand Nisaean horsemen and three thousand citizen soldiers, of whom the majority wore gold cheek-coverings and gold crowns, the rest had cheek-coverings of silver. After them came the so-called “mounted companions”; there were about a thousand of these, all with gold cheek-pieces. Next to these was the division made up of his friends, equal in numbers and in beauty of equipment. After them were a thousand picked men, followed by the so-called Agema ("Guard"), which has the reputation of being the best organization of horsemen, numbering about a thousand. Last of all was the armored cavalry, both horses and men being completely covered with armor in accordance with their name. And all these mentioned wore purple cloaks, many also cloaks woven with gold and embroidered with figures. After them were a hundred chariots drawn by six horses, and forty drawn by four horses; next a chariot drawn by four elephants, and another by a pair of elephants; [195a] and in single file followed thirty-six caparisoned elephants.
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§ 5.23 It would be difficult to pursue the description of the rest of the procession, and it must be described summarily. Young men who had just come of age, to the number of eight hundred, and wearing gold crowns, marched in the line; fatted oxen, about one thousand; sacrificial tables, little short of three hundred; elephants' tusks, eight hundred. It is not possible to enumerate the quantity of sacred images; for statues of all beings who are said or held to be gods, demigods or even heroes among mankind were borne along, some gilded, others draped in garments of gold thread. And beside all of them lay the sacred myths pertaining to each, according to the traditional accounts, in sumptuous editions. They were followed by representations of Night and Day, Earth and Heaven, and Dawn and Noon. One might guess how great was the number of gold and silver vessels in the following way: of only one of the king's friends, the secretary Dionysius, one thousand slaves marched in the procession carrying silver vessels, none of which weighed less than a thousand drachms. Then came six hundred royal slaves with gold vessels. After them nearly two hundred women sprinkled scented oil from gold pitchers. Close upon these in the procession were eighty women seated in litters having gold supports, and five hundred in litters with silver supports, all richly dressed. These were the most conspicuous features of the parade.
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§ 5.24 The games, gladiatorial contests, and hunts took thirty days to conclude; during the first five days in which spectacles were carried out, all persons in the gymnasium anointed themselves with saffron oil from golden basins; these numbered fifteen, and there was an equal number of bowls with oil of cinnamon and nard. Similarly there were brought in, on the succeeding days, oil of fenugreek, marjoram, and orris, all of them rare in their fragrance. For a banquet on one occasion there were spread a thousand triclinia, on another fifteen hundred, with the most extravagant deckings. The management of these matters was undertaken by the king himself. Riding on a poor horse, he ran up and down the procession, commanding one division to advance, another to halt. At the symposia he stood at the entrance introducing some, assigning couches to others, and he himself brought in the servants who carried in the dishes served. And going round he would seat himself in one place, or throw himself down in another. At one moment he would throw aside a morsel or a cup just as he had put them to his lips, and jumping up suddenly, he would change his place or walk round among the drinkers, receiving toasts standing sometimes by one, sometimes by another, at the same time laughing at the entertainments. When the party had been going on a long time and many had already withdrawn, the king was brought in by the mime-performers entirely wrapped up, and deposited on the ground as though he were one of the performers. When the symphony sounded the challenge, he would leap up and dance naked and act with the clowns, so that everyone departed in shame. All these celebrations were paid for partly from funds which he had appropriated in Egypt when he broke his treaty with King Ptolemy Philometor, who was then a lad, and partly from contributions by his friends. He had also plundered most of the temples.
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§ 5.25 The guests expressed their wonder at the state of the king's mind, judging that he was not illustrious, [196a] but really insane,... Masurius then added an account of the procession which was arranged in Alexandria by the most excellent king Ptolemy Philadelphus; this is recorded by Callixeinus of Rhodes in the fourth book of his work on Alexandria. He says: “Before I begin I will describe the pavilion which was set up inside the enclosure of the citadel, at a distance from the place where the soldiers, artisans, and tourists were entertained. For it proved to be extraordinarily beautiful and well worth hearing about. As for its size, it could hold one hundred and thirty couches in a circle, and its decoration was as follows. Wooden columns were set up at regular intervals, five on each long side, rising fifty cubits in height, but four on each of the other sides; upon these was fitted a square epistyle which held up the entire roof sheltering the symposium. This roof was draped with a circular canopy in scarlet edged with white, covering the middle of it; while on either side it had beams concealed by tapestries with white stripes draped voluminously about them; between the beams were painted panels set in order. Of the columns four were shaped like palm-trees, but those which stood in the middle had the appearance of Bacchic wands. Outside the columns, on three sides, was a portico with a peristyle, having a vaulted roof, and here the retires of the guests could stand. Inside, the pavilion was surrounded with Phoenician curtains, except that the spaces between columns were hung with the pelts of animals, extraordinary in variety and in size. The outer side of the enclosing curtains, exposed to the air, was roofed with branches of myrtle and laurel and other boughs that were suitable. The floor was entirely strewn with all sorts of flowers. For Egypt, both because of the temperate quality of its atmosphere, and also because its gardeners can grow plants which are either rare or found only at a regular season in other regions, produces flowers in abundance and throughout the whole year, and it is not easy, as a rule, for the rose or the wall-flower of any other flower to fail entirely. Therefore, since the entertainment which was given at that time took place in the middle of winter, the scene which presented itself to the eyes of the guests passed belief. For flowers which, in any other city, could have been found only with difficulty to make up a single wreath, were lavished without stint in a wealth of wreaths upon the multitude of reclining guests, and, moreover, lay scattered profusely on the floor of the pavilion, truly presenting the picture of an extraordinary beautiful meadow.
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§ 5.26 At the columns which supported the pavilion were placed marble figures, a hundred in all, the work of the foremost artists. In the intercolumniations were paintings by artists of the Sikyonian school, alternating with a great variety of selected portraits; also there were tunics of cloth of gold and most beautiful military cloaks, some having portraits of the kings woven in them, others depicting subjects taken from mythology. Above these oblong shields were hung all round, alternately of silver and of gold. And in the spaces above these again, each measuring eight cubits, recesses were constructed, six on each of the longer sides of the pavilion, and four on the narrower sides; and in these recesses were representations of drinking-parties arranged to face one another, composed of figures taken from tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama, [197a] wearing real clothing, and beside them lay cups of gold. In the spaces between the recesses were left niches, in which were set up Delphic tripods of gold, with supports beneath. Along the topmost space in the ceiling gold eagles faced each other, fifteen cubits in length. On the two sides were set a hundred gold couches with feet shaped like Sphinxes; for the apse facing the entrance was left open. On the couches were spread purple rugs made of wool of the first quality, with pile on both sides; and over them were counterpanes embroidered with exquisite art. Smooth Persian carpets covered the space in the middle trodden by the feet, having beautiful designs of figures woven in them with minute skill. Beside the guests, as they reclined, were set three-legged tables of gold, two hundred in number, making two to each couch; they were setting silver rests. Behind them, ready for the hand-washing, were a hundred silver basins and the same number of pitchers. In full sight of the company was built another couch also for the display of the goblets and cups and all the rest of the utensils appropriate to use on the occasion; all of these were of gold and studded with gems, wonderful in their work. Now it clearly appeared to me that it would be tedious to explain the materials and styles of all these vessels; but the weight of them all, taken together in a single mass, was about ten thousand silver talents.
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§ 5.27 Since we have described the pavilion and its contents, we will now give an account of the procession. It was held in the city stadium. At the head marched the'division of the Morning Star' because the procession began at the time that star appears. Then came that part of the procession which was named from the parents of the king and queen. After these came the divisions made from all the gods, having decorative symbols appropriate to the strict of each divinity. The last division, as it happened, was that of the Evening Star, since the season of the year brought the time consumed by the procession down to that point. If anyone wishes to learn the details, let him take and study the records of the quadrennial games. In the Dionysiac procession, there marched at the head Sileni who kept back the crowds; they were dressed in purple riding-cloaks, some in red. These were closely followed by Satyrs, twenty at each end of the stadium, carrying torches ornamented with gilt ivy-leaves. After these came Victories with gold wings. These carried censers nine feet high, ornamented with gilt ivy-sprays; the women had on embroidered tunics, and their persons were covered with much gold jewelry. After them followed a double altar nine feet long, ornamented in high relief with gilt ivy-foliage, and having a gold crown of grape-leaves twined with striped white ribbons. Following this came one hundred and twenty boys in purple tunics, carrying frankincense and myrrh, and, moreover, saffron upon gold trenchers. After them marched forty Satyrs crowned with gold crowns in ivy pattern; their bodies were smeared in some cases with purple, in others with vermilion and other colors. [198a] These also wore a gold crown wrought in grape and ivy patterns. After them came two Sileni in purple riding-cloaks and white shoes. One of them wore a broad-brimmed hat and held a herald's staff of gold, the other carried a trumpet. Between these walked a man over six feet tall, in tragic costume and mask, carrying a horn of plenty; he was called'The Year.' He was followed by a very beautiful woman as tall as he, dressed in a striking tunic and adorned with much gold, and carrying in one hand a crown of Persea, in the other a palm-branch; she was called'Lustrum.' She was closely followed by the four Seasons gaily dressed and each carrying the fruits appropriate to her. Next these were two censers, nine feet tall, ornamented with ivy pattern in gold; also a square altar between them, of gold. Again came Satyrs wearing gold ivy-crowns and clad in red tunics; some carried a gold wine-pitcher, others a gold goblet. After them marched the poet Philiscus, who was a priest of Dionysus, and all the guild of the artists of Dionysus. Next were borne Delphic tripods, being prizes for the managers of the athletes; the one intended for the manager of the boys' class was thirteen and a half feet high, the other, for the manager of the adults' class, was eighteen feet.
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§ 5.28 After these came a four-wheeled cart, twenty-one feet long and twelve feet wide, drawn by one hundred and eighty men; in this stood a statue of Dionysus, fifteen feet tall, pouring a libation from a gold goblet, and wearing a purple tunic extending to the feet, over which was a transparent saffron coat; but round his shoulders was thrown a purple mantle spangled with gold. In front of him lay a gold Laconian mixing-bowl holding one hundred and fifty gallons; also a gold tripod, on which lay a gold censer and two saucers full of cassia and saffron. Over him stretched a canopy decorated with ivy, grape-vine, and the other cultivated fruits, and hanging to it also were wreaths, ribbons, Bacchic wands, tambourines, fillets, and satyric, comic, and tragic masks. The cart (was followed) by priests and priestesses and those who had charge of the sacred vestments, sacred guilds of every description, and women carrying the winnowing-fans. Next came Macedonian bacchants, the so-called'Mimallones,' and'Bassarae' and' Lydian women,' with hair streaming down and crowned with wreaths, some of snakes, others of smilax and vine-leaves and ivy; in their class some held daggers, others snakes. After these women came a four-wheeled cart twelve feet wide and drawn by sixty men, in which was seated an image of Nysa, twelve feet high; she had on a yellow tunic with gold spangles, and was wrapped in a Laconian shawl. Moreover, this image could rise up automatically without anyone putting his hands to it, and after pouring a libation of milk from a gold saucer it would sit down again. It held in the left hand a Bacchic wand bound with fillets. Moreover, Nysa wore a crown of gold ivy-leaf and very rich grape-clusters of jewels. She also had a canopy, and at the corners of the cart were fastened four torches with gold bands [199a] Next there followed another four-wheeler, thirty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, drawn by three hundred men; in this was set up a wine-press thirty-six feet long, twenty-two and a half feet wide, full of grapes. And sixty Satyrs trod them while they sang a vintage song to the accompaniment of pipes, and a Silenus superintended them. The new wine streamed through the whole line of march. Next came a four-wheeled cart thirty-seven and a half feet long, twenty-one feet wide, and drawn by six hundred men; in it was a wine skin holding thirty thousand gallons, stitched together from leopard pelts; this also trickled over the whole line of march as the wine was slowly let out. Following the skin came a hundred and twenty crowned Satyrs and Sileni, some carrying wine-pitchers, others shallow cups, still others large deep cups — everything of gold.
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§ 5.29 Immediately next to them passed a silver mixing-bowl holding six thousand gallons, in a cart drawn by six hundred men. It bore, beneath the brim and handles and under the base, figures of beaten metal, and round the middle ran a gold band, like a wreath, studded with jewels. Next were carried two silver stands for drinking-cups, eighteen feet long and nine feet in height; these had end-ornaments on top, and on the swelling sides all round as well as on the legs were carved figures, many in number, two and three feet high. And there were ten large basins and sixteen mixing-bowls, the larger of which held three hundred gallons, while the smallest held fifty. Then there were twenty-four cauldrons ornamented with an acorn boss, on which were twenty-four jars, a table of solid silver eighteen feet long, and thirty more tables nine feet long. Added to these were four tripods, one of which had a circumference of twenty-four feet, plated throughout with silver, while the other three, which were smaller, were studded with jewels in the center. After these were borne along Delphic tripods of silver, eighty in number, but smaller than those just mentioned; at their corners (were figures in beaten metal), and the tripods had a capacity of forty gallons. There were twenty-six water-jars, sixteen Panathenaic amphoras, one hundred and sixty wine-coolers; of these the largest contained sixty gallons, the smallest twenty. All these vessels were of silver.
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§ 5.30 ”Next to these in the procession came those who carried the gold utensils, four Laconian mixing-bowls with bands of vine-leaves... others with a capacity of forty gallons; and two of Corinthian workmanship, on stands; these had on the brim seated figures in beaten metal, very striking; and on the neck and round the bowl were figures in relief, carefully fashioned; the capacity of each was eighty gallons. There was also a press containing ten wine-jars, two basins, each holding fifty gallons, two drinking-cups holding twenty gallons, twenty-two wine-coolers; of these the largest held three hundred gallons, the smallest ten. Four large gold tripods were carried in the procession; and there was a gold chest for gold vessels, studded with jewels and having a height of fifteen feet, with six shelves, on which stood a great number of figures carefully fashioned, four spans high; there were also two stands for cups, and two glass vessels studded with jewels; two gold stands six feet high, [200a] beside three smaller ones, ten water-jars, an altar four and a half feet high, and twenty-five bread-plates. After all this there marched one thousand six hundred boys who had on white tunics and wore crowns, some of ivy, others of pine; two hundred and fifty of them carried gold pitchers, four hundred, silver pitchers; while another band of three hundred and twenty bore gold or silver wine-coolers. After them other boys carried jars intended to be used for sweetmeats; twenty of these were of gold, fifty of silver, and three hundred were adorned with encaustic paintings in all sorts of colors. And since the mixtures had already been made in the water-jars and casks, all persons in the stadium were duly showered with sweetness."
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§ 5.31 Next to these in his catalogue were six-foot tables on which were borne remarkable scenes lavishly represented. Among these was included the bridal chamber of Semele in which certain characters wear tunics of gold bejewelled with the costliest gems And it would not be right to omit the following mention of the four-wheeled cart, in length thirty-three feet, in width twenty-one, drawn by five hundred men; in it was a deep cavern profusely shaded with ivy and yew. From this pigeons, ring-doves, and turtle-doves flew forth along the whole route, with nooses tied to their feet so that they could be easily caught by the spectators. And from it also gushed forth two fountains, one of milk, the other of wine. And all the nymphs standing round him wore crowns of gold, and Hermes had a staff of gold, and all in rich garments. In another cart, which contained'the return of Dionysus from India,' there was a Dionysus measuring eighteen feet who reclined upon an elephant's back, clad in a purple coat and wearing a gold crown, of ivy and vine pattern; he held in his hands a gold wand-lance, and his feet were shod with shoes fastened by gold straps. Seated in front of him on the elephants neck was a Satyr measuring seven and a half feet, crowned with a gold pine-wreath, his right hand holding a goat -horn of gold, as though he were signaling with it. The elephant had trappings of gold and round its neck an ivy-crown in gold. This cart was followed by five hundred young girls dressed in purple tunics with gold girdles. Those who were in the lead, numbering one hundred and twenty, wore gold pine-crowns; following them came one hundred and twenty Satyrs, some in gold, some in silver, and some in bronze panoply. After them marched five troops of asses on which were mounted Sileni and Satyrs wearing crowns. Some of the asses had frontlets and harness of gold, others, of silver.
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§ 5.32 After them were sent forth twenty-four elephant chariots, sixty teams of he- goats, twelve of saiga antelopes, a seven of beisa antelopes, fifteen of leucoryse, eight teams of ostriches, seven of Pere-David deer, four of wild asses, and four four-horse chariots. on all of these were mounted little boys wearing the tunics and wide-brimmed hats of charioteers, and beside them stood little girls equipped with small crescent shields and wand-lances, dressed in robes and decked with gold coins. The lads driving the chariots wore pine crowns, the girls wore ivy. Next after them came six teams of camels, three on either side. these were immediately followed by carts drawn by mules. [201a] These contained barbaric tents, under which sat Indian and other women dressed as captives. Then came camels, some of which carried three hundred pounds of frankincense, three hundred of myrrh, and two hundred of saffron, cassia, cinnamon, orris, and all other spices. Next to these were negro tribute-bearers, some of whom brought six hundred tusks, others two thousand ebony logs, others sixty mixing-bowls full of gold and silver coins and gold dust. After these, in the procession, marched two hunters carrying gilded hunting-spears. Dogs were also led along, numbering two thousand four hundred, some Indian, the others Hyrcanian or Molossian or of other breeds. Next came one hundred and fifty men carrying trees on which were suspended all sorts of animals and birds. Then were brought, in cages, parrots, peacocks, guinea-fowls, and birds from the Phasis and others from Aethiopia, in great quantities." After he has spoken of very many other things, and enumerated many droves of animals he adds: “One hundred and thirty Aethiopian sheep, three hundred Arabian, twenty Euboean; also twenty-six Indian zebus entirely white, eight Aethiopian, one large white she-bear, fourteen leopards, sixteen genets, four caracals, three bear-cubs, one giraffe, one Aethiopian rhinoceros.
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§ 5.33 Next in a four-wheeled cart was Dionysus at the altar of Rhea, having found refuge there while being pursued by Hera; he had on a gold crown, and Priapus stood at his side, with a gold ivy-crown. The statue of Hera had a gold diadem. Then there were statues of Alexander and Ptolemy, crowned with ivy-crowns made of gold. The statue of Arete which stood beside Ptolemy had a gold olive-crown. Priapus stood beside them also wearing an ivy-crown made of gold. The city of Corinth, standing beside Ptolemy, was crowned with a gold band. Beside all these figures were placed a stand for cups, full of gold vessels, and a gold mixing-bowl of fifty gallons capacity. Following this cart were women who wore very rich robes and ornaments; they bore the names of cities, some from Ionia, while all the rest were the Greek cities which occupied Asia and the islands and had been under the rule of the Persians; they all wore gold crowns. In other carts, also, were carried a Bacchic wand of gold, one hundred and thirty-five feet long, and a silver spear ninety feet long; in another was a gold phallus one hundred and eighty feet long, painted in various colours and bound with fillets of gold; it had at the extremity a gold star, the perimeter of which was nine feet.” Many and varied though the things are which have been mentioned as belonging to these processions, yet I have selected for mention only those things which contained gold and silver. For there were numerous articles worth mentioning, and quantities of wild beasts and horses, and twenty-four huge lions. “There were other carts besides, which carried images of kings and of gods as well, many of them. After them marched a choral band of six hundred men; among them three hundred harp-players performed together, carrying harps gilded all over, and wearing gold crowns. [202a] After them two thousand steers, all of the same colour and with gilded horns, came by, having gold stars on their foreheads, wreaths between the horns, and necklaces and aegises on their breasts; all these were of gold.
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§ 5.34 And after this came marching in the carnival a division in honour of Zeus and one of the other gods in great number, and following all one devoted to Alexander, whose effigy in gold was borne, Victory and Athena on either side, in a chariot drawn by live elephants. In the procession also were many thrones constructed of ivory and gold; on one of these lay a gold diadem, on another a gilded horn, on still another a gold crown, and on another a horn of solid gold. upon the throne of Ptolemy Soter lay a crown made of ten thousand gold coins. In the procession also were three hundred and fifty gold censers, and gilded altars wreathed with gold crowns; on one of these, four gold torches fifteen feet long were affixed. And two gilded braziers were also carried in the procession, of which one was eighteen feet in circumference and sixty in height, the other measured twenty-two and a half feet. There were also nine Delphic tripods of gold of six feet high, eight more of nine feet, another of forty-five feet; on this were figures in gold seven and a half feet high, and a vine-wreath of gold encircled it. There went by also seven gilded palm-trees twelve feet high and a gilded herald's staff sixty-seven and a half feet long, a gilded thunderbolt sixty feet long, also a gilded temple measuring sixty feet all round; there was a double horn in addition, twelve feet high. A very large number of gilded figures were in the procession, the most of which were eighteen feet high; and there were figures of wild beasts of extraordinary size and eagles thirty feet high. Three thousand two hundred gold crowns were shown in the procession, and there was another mystic crown of gold one hundred and twenty feet in circumference, adorned with precious stones; this was hung round the portal of Berenice's shrine; there was similarly a gold aegis. And there were also very many gold diadems in the procession, carried by girls richly dressed; one diadem was three feet high, and it had a perimeter of twenty-four feet. There was paraded also a gold breastplate eighteen feet in length, and another of silver, twenty-seven feet, with two gold thunderbolts on it fifteen feet long, and an oak crown of gold studded with jewels. Twenty gold shields, sixty-four suits of armour in gold, two pairs of gold greaves four and a half feet long, twelve gold hods, saucer-shaped cups in very great number, thirty wine-pitchers, ten large ointment-holders, twelve water-jars, fifty bread-platters, various tables, five stands of gold vessels, a horn of solid gold forty-five feet long. And these articles of gold were exclusive of those carried by in the division of Dionysus. Further, there were four hundred cartloads of silver vessels, twenty of gold vessels, and eight hundred of spices.
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§ 5.35 After all these marched the cavalry and infantry forces, all wonderfully armed cap-a-pie. The infantry numbered [203a] about 57,600, the cavalry 23,200. All of these marched dressed in the garments proper to each, and in their appropriate panoply. But beside the panoplies worn by all these troops, there were very many others stored in chests, of which it is not easy to set down even the number.” Yet Callixeinus gave the list. “And in the games twenty persons were crowned with gold crowns; Ptolemy was first, then Berenice, who were honoured with three portrait-statues in gold chariots, and with precincts at Dodona. The total expense, in currency, amounted to two thousand, two hundred and thirty-nine talents and fifty minas; and all this sum was paid in to the managing officials before the exhibition was over, through the enthusiastic zeal of those who gave the crowns. And their son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, was awarded two gold portrait-statues, in gold chariots, mounted on columns, one of nine feet, five of seven and a half feet, and six of six feet.”
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§ 5.36 What monarchy, fellow-banqueters, has ever been so rich in gold? Surely not any that appropriated the wealth of Persia or Babylon, or that had mines to work, or that owned the Pactolus river, washing down gold-dust. No; for it is only the Nile, the river truly called “gold-flowing,” that with its boundless crops of food actually washes down unadulterated gold which is harvested with no risk, so that it can supply all men sufficiently; being, like Triptolemus, sent forth into every land. For this reason the Byzantian poet by the name of Parmenon says “Thou Nile, Egypt's Zeus!” Philadelphus surpassed many kings in wealth, and devoted himself with enthusiastic zeal to all his establishments, so that he surpassed all others in the number of his ships as well. At any rate, the largest ships owned by him were: two with thirty banks of oars, one with twenty, four with thirteen, two with twelve, fourteen with eleven, thirty with nine, thirty-seven with seven, five with six, and seventeen with five. But the number of ships with rowers ranging from four banks to one and a half was double the others. The ships dispatched to the islands and the other states over which he ruled, as well as to Libya, numbered more than four thousand. And concerning the number of books, the establishing of libraries, and the collection in the Hall of the Muses, why need I even speak, since they are in all men's memories?
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§ 5.37 [203e] But since we are on the subject of naval equipment, come, let us speak also of the ships constructed by King Ptolemy Philopator, for they are worth hearing about. The same Callixeinus gives an account of these in the first book of his work On Alexandria, in these words: “ Philopator constructed his forty-bank ship with a length of four hundred and twenty feet; its beam from gangway to gangway was fifty-seven feet; its height to the gunwale was seventy-two feet. From the top of the stern-post to the water-line it measured seventy-nine and a half feet. It had four steering-oars, forty-five feet long, [204a] and the oars of the topmost rowers, which are the longest, measured fifty-seven feet; these, since they carried lead on the handles and were very heavy inboard, were yet easy to handle in actual use because of their nice balance. It had a double bow and a double stern, and carried seven rams; one of these was the leader, others were of gradually diminishing size, some being mounted at the catheads. It carried twelve under-girders, each of them measuring nine hundred feet. It was extraordinarily well proportioned. Wonderful also was the adornment of the vessel besides; for it had figures at stern and bow not less than eighteen feet high, and every available space was elaborately covered with encaustic painting; the entire surface where the oars projected, down to the keel, had a pattern of ivy-leaves and Bacchic wands. Rich also was the equipment in armament, and its satisfied all the requirements of the various parts of the ship. On a trial voyage it took more than four thousand men to man the oars, and four hundred reserves; to man the deck there were two thousand eight hundred and fifty marines; and besides, below decks was another complement of men and provisions in no small quantity. At the beginning it was launched from a kind of cradle which, they say, was put together from the timbers of fifty five-bank ships, and it was pulled into the water by a crowd, to the accompaniment of shouts and trumpets. Later, however, a Phoenician conceived the method of launching by digging a trench under the ship near the harbour, equal in length to the ship. He constructed for this trench foundations of solid stone seven and a half feet in depth, and from one end of these foundations to the other he fixed in a row skids, which ran transversely to the stones across the width of the trench, leaving a space below them six feet deep. And having dug a sluice from the sea, he let the sea into all the excavated space, filling it full; into this space he easily brought the vessel, with the help of unskilled men;.... when they had barred the entrance which had been opened at the beginning, they again pumped out the sea-water with engines. And when this had been done, the ship rested securely on the skids before-mentioned.
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§ 5.38 ” Philopator also constructed a river boat, the so-called cabin-carrier,' having a length of three hundred feet, and a beam at the broadest part of forty-five feet. The height, including the pavilion when it was raised, was little short of sixty feet. Its shape was neither like that of the war galleys nor like that of the round-bottomed merchantmen, but had been altered somewhat in draught to suit its use on the river. For below the water-line it was flat and broad, but in its bulk it rose high in the air; and the top parts of its sides, especially near the bow, extended in a considerable overhang, with a backward curve very graceful in appearance. It had a double bow and a double stern which projected upward to a high point, because the waves in the river often rise very high. The hold amidships was constructed with saloons for dining-parties, with berths, and with all the other conveniences of living. Round the ship, on three sides, ran double promenades. The perimeter of one of these measured not less than five furlongs. [205a] The structure of the one below decks resembled a peristyle; that of the one on the upper deck was like a concealed peristyle built up all round with walls and windows. As one first came on board at the stern, there was set a vestibule open in front, but having a row of columns on the sides; in the part which faced the bow was built a fore-gate, constructed of ivory and the most expensive wood. entering this, one came upon a kind of proscenium which in its construction had been roofed over. Matching the fore-gate, again, a second vestibule lay aft at the transverse side, and a portal with four doors led into it. On both sides, left and right, potholes were set beneath to provide good ventilation. Connected with these entrances was the largest cabin; it had a single row of columns all round, and could hold twenty couches. The most of it was made of split cedar and Milesian cypress; the surrounding doors, numbering twenty, had panels of fragrant cedar nicely glued together, with ornamentation in ivory. The decorative studs covering their surface, and the handles as well, were made of red copper, which had been gilded in the fire. As for the columns, their shafts were of cypress-wood, while the capitals, of the Corinthian order, were entirely covered with ivory and gold. The whole entablature was in gold; over it was affixed a frieze with striking figures in ivory, more than a foot and a half tall, mediocre in workmanship, to be sure, but remarkable in their lavish display. Over the dining-saloon was a beautiful coffered ceiling of Cyprus wood; the ornamentations on it were sculptured, with a surface of gilt. Next to this dining-saloon was a sleeping apartment with seven berths, [205d] adjoining which was a narrow passage-way running transversely from one side of the hold to the other, and dividing off the women's quarters. In the latter was a dining-saloon, with nine couches, which was similar to the large saloon in magnificence, and a sleeping-apartment with five berths. “Now the arrangements up to the first deck were as described.
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§ 5.39 Ascending the companion-way, which adjoined the sleeping-apartment last mentioned, was another cabin large enough for five couches, having a ceiling with lozenge-shaped panels; near it was a rotunda-shaped shrine of Aphrodite, in which was a marble statue of the goddess. Opposite to this was a sumptuous dining-saloon surrounded by a row of columns, which were built of marble from India. Beside this dining-saloon were sleeping-rooms having arrangements which corresponded to those mentioned before. As one proceeded toward the bow he came upon a chamber devoted to Dionysus, large enough for thirteen couches, and surrounded by a row of columns; it had a cornice which was gilded as far as the architrave surrounding the room; the ceiling was appropriate to the spirit of the god. In this chamber, on the starboard side, a recess was built; externally, it showed a stone fabric artistically made of real jewels and gold; enshrined in it were portrait-statues of the royal family in Parian marble. Very delightful, too, was another dining-saloon built on the roof of the largest cabin [206a] in the manner of an awning; this had no roof, but curtain rods shaped like bows extended over it for a certain distance, and on these, when the ship was under way, purple curtains were spread out. Next after this was an open deck which occupied the space directly over the vestibule extending below it; a circular companion-way extending from this deck led to the covered promenade and the dining-saloon with nine couches. This was Egyptian in the style of its construction; for the columns built at this point bulged as they ascended, and the drums differed, one being black and another white, placed alternately. Some of their capitals are circular in shape; the entire figure described by them resembles rose-blossoms slightly opened. But around the part which is called the'basket' there are no volutes or rough leaves laid on, as on Greek capitals, but calyxes of water-lilies and the fruit of freshly-budded date-palms; in some instances several other kinds of flowers are sculptured thereon. The part below the root of the cap, which, of course, rests upon the drum adjoining it, had a motif that was similar; it was composed of flowers and leaves of Egyptian beans, as it were, intertwined. This is the way in which Egyptians construct their columns; and the walls, too, they vary with alternating white and black courses of stone, but sometimes, also, they build them of the rock called alabaster. And there were many other rooms in the hollow of the ship's hold through its entire extent. Its mast had a height of one hundred and five feet, with a sail of fine linen reinforced by a purple topsail.” All the wealth of King Ptolemy Philadelphus, after being retained for so long a period, was dissipated by the last Ptolemy, the same who got up the Gabinian war; he was not a man, but a flute-player and juggler.
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§ 5.40 With regard to the construction of the ship built by Hieron of Syracuse, which was superintended by the mathematician Archimedes, I hold it not right to be silent, since a certain Moschion has published a treatise on it which I have recently read with care. Moschion, then, writes as follows: " Diocleides of Abdera is admired for his description of the siege-engine which was brought to bear against the walls of the city of Rhodes by Demetrius; Timaeus, for his description of the funeral pyre built for Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily; Hieronymus, for his account of the carriage built to convey the body of Alexander; Polycleitus, for the description of the chandelier made for the Persian king. But Hieron, the king of Syracuse, he who was in all respects friendly to Rome, not only interested himself in the building of temples and gymnasia, but was also a zealous shipbuilder, constructing wheat-transports, the construction of one of which I will proceed to describe. For material he caused timber to be brought from Aetna, enough in quantity for the building of sixty quadriremes. In keeping with this, he caused to be prepared dowels, belly-timbers, stanchions, and all the material for general uses, partly from Italy, partly from Sicily; for cables hemp from Iberia, hemp and pitch from the river Rhone, and all other the gates needful from many places. He also got together shipwrights and all other kinds of artisans, and from them all he placed in charge the Corinthian Archias as architect, [207a] urging him to attack the construction zealously; and he personally applied himself diligently to the work during the days it required. One half, then, of the entire ship he finished in six months... and as each part of the ship was completed it was overlaid with tiling made of lead; for there were about three hundred artisans working on the materials, not including their assistants. This part of the ship, then, was ordered to be launched in the sea, that it might receive the finishing touches there. But after considerable discussion in regard to the method of pulling it into the water, Archimedes the mechanician alone was able to launch it with the help of a few persons. For by the construction of a windlass he was able to launch a ship of so great proportions in the water. Archimedes was the first to invent the construction of the windlass. The remaining parts of the ship were completed in another period of six months; it was entirely secured with bronze rivets, most of which weighed ten pounds, while the rest were half as large again; these wit were fitted in place by means of augers, and held the stanchions together; fixed to the timbers was a sheath of leaden tiles, under which were strips of linen canvas covered with pitch. When, then, he had completed the outside surface, he proceeded to make complete the inner arrangements.
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§ 5.41 “Now the ship was constructed to hold twenty banks of rowers, with three gangways. the lowest gangway which it contained led to cargo, the descent to which was afforded by companion-ways of solid construction; the second was designed for the use of those who wished to enter the cabins; after this came the third and last, which was for men posted under arms. Belonging to the middle gangway were cabins for men ranged on each side of the ship, large enough for four couches, and numbering thirty. The officers' cabin could hold fifteen couches and contained three apartments of the size of three couches; that toward the stern was the cooks' galley. All these rooms had a tessellated flooring made of a variety of stones, in the pattern of which was wonderfully wrought the entire story of the Iliad; also in the furniture, the ceiling, and the doors all these themes were artfully represented. On the level of the uppermost gangway there were a gymnasium and promenades built on a scale proportionate to the size of the ship; in these were garden-beds of every sort, luxuriant with plants of marvellous growth, and watered by lead tiles hidden from sight; then there were bowers of white ivy and grape-vines, the roots of which got their nourishment in casks filled with earth, and receiving the same irrigation as the garden-beds. These bowers shaded the promenades. Built next to these was a shrine of Aphrodite large enough to contain three couches, with a floor made of agate and other stones, the most beautiful kinds found in the island; it had walls and ceiling of Cyprus -wood, and doors of ivory and fragrant cedar; it was also most lavishly furnished with paintings and statues and drinking-vessels of every shape.
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§ 5.42 ”Adjoining this was a study large enough for five couches, the walls and doors of which were made of boxwood; it contained a library, and on the ceiling was a concave dial made in imitation of the sun-dial on Achradina. There was also a bathroom, of three-couch size, with three bronze tubs and a wash-stand of variegated Tauromenian marble, having a capacity of fifty gallons. There were also several rooms built for the marines and those who manned the pumps. But beside these there were ten stalls for horses on each side of the ship; and next them was the storage-place for the horses' food, and the belongings of the riders and their slaves. [208a] There was also a water-tank at the bow, which was kept covered and had a capacity of twenty thousand gallons; it was constructed of planks, caulked with pitch and covered with tarpaulins. By its side was built a fish-tank enclosed with lead and planks; this was filled with sea-water, and many fish were kept in it. On both sides of the ship were projecting beams, at proper intervals apart; on these were constructed receptacles for wood, ovens, kitchens, handmills, and several other utensils. Outside, a row of colossi, nine feet high, ran round the ship; these supported the upper weight and the triglyph, all standing at proper intervals apart. And the whole ship was adorned with appropriate paintings.
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§ 5.43 There were also eight turrets on it, of a size proportional to the weight of the ship; two at the stern, an equal number at the bow, and the rest amidships. To each of these two cranes were made fast, and over them portholes were built, through which stones could be hurled at an enemy sailing underneath. Upon each of the turrets were mounted four sturdy men in full armour, and two archers. The whole interior of the turrets was full of Saracen and missiles. A wall with battlements and decks athwart the ship was built on supports; on this stood a stone-hurler, which could shoot by its own power a stone weighing one hundred and eighty pounds or a javelin eighteen feet long. This engine was constructed by Archimedes. Either one of these missiles could be hurled six hundred feet. After this came leather curtains joined together, suspended to thick beams by means of bronze chains. The ship carried three masts, from each of which two stone-hurling cranes were suspended; from them grappling hooks and lumps of lead could also be directed against assailants. An iron paling which encircled the ship also protected it against any who attempted to climb aboard; also grappling-cranes of iron were all about the ship, which, operated by machinery, could lay hold of the enemy's hulls and bring them alongside where they would be exposed to blows. Sixty sturdy men in full armour mounted guard on each side of the ship, and a number equal to these manned the masts and stone-hurlers. Also at the masts, on the mast-heads (which were of bronze), men were posted, three on the foremast, two in the maintop and one on the mizzenmast; these were kept supplied by the slaves with stones and missiles carried aloft in wicker baskets to the crow's-nests by means of pulleys. There were four anchors of wood, eight of iron. The trees for the mainmast and mizzenmast were easily found; but that for the foremast was discovered with difficulty by a swineherd in the mountains of the Bruttii; it was hauled down to the coast by the engineer Phileas of Tauromenium. The bilge-water, even when it became very deep, could easily be pumped out by one man with the aid of the screw, an invention of Archimedes. The ship was named' Syracusia'; but when Hieron sent her forth, he changed the name to'Alexandris.' The boats which it had in tow were first a pinnace of three thousand talents burden; this was propelled entirely by oars. After this came fishing-boats of fifteen hundred talents burden, and several cutters besides. The numbers composing the crew were not less than... Next to these just mentioned there were six hundred more men at the bow ready to carry out orders. [209a] For any crimes committed on board there was a court composed of the skipper, pilot, and officer at the bow, who gave judgement in accordance with the laws of Syracuse.
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§ 5.44 “On board were loaded ninety thousand bushels of grain, ten thousand jars Sicilian salt-fish, six hundred tons of wool, and other front amounting to six hundred tons. Quite apart from this was the provisioning of the crew. But when Hieron began to get reports of all the harbours, either that they could not receive his ship at all, or that great danger to the ship was involved, he determined to send it as a present to King Ptolemy at Alexandria; for there was in fact a scarcity of grain throughout Egypt. And so he did; and the ship was brought to Alexandria, where it was pulled up on shore. Hieron also honoured Archimelus, the poet who had written an epigram celebrating the vessel, with fifteen hundred bushels of wheat, which he shipped at his own expense to Peiraeus. The epigram runs as follows:'Who hath set these giant timbers on the ground? What mighty master hath hauled them with untiring cables? How was the flooring fixed to the ribs of oak, or by what axe hewn did rivets make this hollow mass, matching in height the peaks of Aetna, or stretching with walls on both sides broad as one of the isles which Aegean waters bind together in the Cyclades / Verily the giants have planed these timbers to traverse the paths of Heaven. For its mastheads touch the stars, and it hides its three-ply bulwarks within the mighty clouds. Its anchors are secured with such cables as those with which Xerxes bound together the twin passage of Abydos and Sestos. Letters freshly charactered on its stout prow reveal who it was that sent forth this keel from the dry land; for they declare that it was Hieron, son of Hierocles, bearing gifts of a rich harvest to all Hellas and the isles, wielder of the sceptre of Sicily, the Dorian. Nay then, Poseidon, guide this bark homeward over the blue surging sea.'” I have intentionally omitted the sacred trireme of Antigonus, in which he defeated Ptolemy's generals off Leucolla, in Cos, where, in fact, he dedicated it to Apollo; for this trireme could not contain a third or perhaps not even a fourth of the “ Syracusia ” or “Alexandris,” the ship of Hieron's just described. [209e]
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§ 5.45 So much, then, have we enumerated concerning the “Catalogue of Ships,” beginning not with the Boeotians, but with great festival processions. And since I am sure that our noble Ulpian will again propound us a question as to what is that “vessel-stand” mentioned by Callixeinus, I answer him that there is even a speech ascribed to the orator Lysias, entitled On the Vessel-stand, beginning: “If, gentlemen of the court, Lysimenes were maintaining any just or reasonable claim.” Proceeding further in the speech he says: “I should not be so concerned to argue about the vessel-stand itself, for that is not worth thirty shillings.” [210a] That the stand was of bronze he declares further: “Last year I wished to have it repaired, and I sent it out to the bronze-foundry; for it is made up of different parts, and it has the faces of Satyrs, and the heads of bulls worked on it.... There is another one of the same size. For the same maker manufactures many articles of furniture in the same or similar style.” In this passage Lysias mentions that the vessel-stand was of bronze, and so clearly shows, as Callixeinus also has said, that they are supports for cauldrons. In the same way, in fact, Polemon the Geographer also has spoken of it; in the third book of his work, Address to Adaeus and Antigonus, he describes the subject of a picture painted on the wall of the Polemarch's portico at Phlious; it was by Sillax of Rhegium, who is mentioned by Epicharmus and Simonides. Polemon says: “a vessel-stand, and upon it a cup.” And Hegesander of Delphi, in the commentary entitled Statues of Men and of Gods says that the stand in Delphi made by Glaucus of Chios is a kind of vessel-stand of iron dedicated by Alyattes; it is mentioned by Herodotus, who calls it a “bowl-stand.” This, then, is what Hegesander says of it. But I too have seen it where it stands as an offering in Delphi, truly worth seeing on account of the figures of insects worked in relief upon it, as well as other tiny creatures and plants; it is capable of holding upon it mixing-bowls and other vessels besides. But that which Alexandrians call “vessel-holder” is triangular, hollow in the middle, so that it can receive a jar placed inside it. The poor have one of wood; the rich, of bronze or silver.
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§ 5.46 Having, then, discussed the vessel-stand, I will next mention again kings who have been dinner-devotees. To begin with the king who bore the same name as the Antiochus before mentioned, and who was the son of Demetrius: Poseidonius records that he held receptions daily to great crowds; and not counting the heaps of food they consumed, he allowed every one of the feasters to carry home uncarved meat of land-animals, fowls, and creatures of the sea prepared whole, and capable of filling a cart; and after all that, quantities of honey-cakes and wreaths of myrrh and frankincense with matted fillets of gold as long as a man. And another king Antiochus, when he celebrated the games at Daphne, also held brilliant receptions, according to the same Poseidonius: “at the beginning he made distributions, man by man, of uncarved meat; afterwards of live geese, hares, and gazelles. There were also distributed to the diners gold wreaths and a great quantity of silver vessels, slaves, horses, and camels. And it was the duty of each man, after mounting his camel, to drink a toast and accept the camel and everything upon it as well as the attending slave.” — “And all the people of Syria,” Poseidonius says, “because of the great plenty which their land afforded were relieved of any distress regarding the necessities of life; hence they held many gatherings in order to feast continually, using the gymnasia as mere baths in which they anointed themselves with expensive oil and perfumes, and living in the'bonds' — for this is the name by which they called the commons where the diners met — as though they were their private houses, and filling their bellies in them, during the greater part of the day, with wines and foods, even taking many things home besides; delighting their ears with sounds from a loudly-struck harp, so that the towns rang throughout with such noises.”
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§ 5.47 [211a] But I commend, my friends, the symposium held in the palace of Alexander, the king of Syria. This Alexander was son of Antiochus Epiphanes — pretended son... wherefore the whole world cherished hatred against Demetrius; concerning him our comrade Athenaeus has made record in his work On the Kings of Syria. This symposium, then, was held somewhat in the following wise: The Epicurean philosopher Diogenes, who had considerable command of the doctrines which he professed, was by birth a native of Seleuceia in Babylonia, and he used to obtain a welcome at the court in spite of the fact that the king delighted it doctrines of the Stoics. Well, Alexander paid him high regard, although he lived a depraved life, and moreover had a slanderous and bitter tongue, not even sparing the royal house if he could provoke a laugh. And once he made request of a favour, strange for a philosopher, that he might wear a purple tunic and a gold crown bearing in the middle the face of Virtue, whose priest he demanded that he should be called; the king granted this, even adding the crown as a special gift. Then Diogenes, falling in love with an actress who played male roles, presented these very things to her. Alexander heard of this, and getting together a dinner party of philosophers and distinguished men, he summoned also Diogenes; when he arrived, the king demanded that he take his place on the couch with the crown and the dress given to him. Diogenes replied that that was inconvenient; whereupon the king with a nod bade the entertainers to be brought in, and among them was the actress of male roles, crowned with the crown of out of, and clad in the purple tunic. A loud burst of laughter broke forth, but Diogenes never stirred, but praised the actress without ceasing. Antiochus, who succeeded to the kingdom, would not tolerate the abusive manners of this Diogenes, and ordered his throat to be cut. But Alexander was gentle in all circumstances, and in his conversation fond of literary subjects; and he was not like Athenion, the Peripatetic philosopher, who had been the head of a philosophic school at Athens and in Messene and again at Larisa, in Thessaly, and afterwards usurped rule over the city of Athens. Concerning him Poseidonius of Apamea records detailed information which, though rather long, I will set forth, because I wish to scrutinize carefully all who profess to be philosophers and not put faith merely in their ragged coats and unshorn beards. For, as Agathon says: “If I speak sooth, I shall not give thee joy; but if I give the joy in any wise, I shall not speak sooth.” But surely, as they say, truth is dear; and I will set forth the story of the man as it occurred.
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§ 5.48 “To the school of the Peripatetic Erymneus resorted a man named Athenion, who devoted himself sedulously to the philosopher's doctrines. Having purchased an Egyptian slave girl, he lay with her. A son of this woman, whom she bore either by Athenion or someone else, but named after Athenion, was brought up in her master's house. He was taught to read, and when the master grew old he used to lead him by the hand in company with his mother; when the elder Athenion died, the younger became his heir, and was illegally enrolled as a citizen of Athens. He then married a pretty wench, by whose aid he hunted up lads to form a school, and began to practise the profession of a sophist; and after a career as a sophist in Messene and at Larisa, in Thessaly, [212a] he amassed a considerable fortune and returned to Athens. He was then elected an ambassador by the Athenians at the time when their interests were inclining to the side of Mithridates, and insinuating himself in the king's good graces he became one of his intimates, receiving the highest promotion. Wherefore he began through letters to unsettle the Athenians with false hopes, as though he possessed the greatest influence with the Cappadocian monarch — an influence which would enable them not only to live in peace and concord, but even to recover their democratic constitution and receive large doles individually and as a community. All this the Athenians were loudly boasting, convinced that the Roman rule had been completely overthrown.
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§ 5.49 When, then, Asia had gone over to the king, Athenion began his return to Athens, but bothered by foul weather he put in to Carystia. When the Cecropids learned that, they sent war-galleys and a litter with silver supports to bring him home. But now he is coming in! More than half the population of the town, nearly, poured out to take part in welcoming him; many others joined the running crowd as sight-seers, marvelling at the incredible turn of fortune, that this upstart Athenion should be conveyed back to Athens on a gold-footed litter and purple rugs — he, who in the earlier days of his ragged coat had never seen purple; and what is more, no Roman had ever insulted Attica by luxuriating in such display. And so they joined the running crowd to see this sight — men, women, children, with highest expectations of Mithridates' bounty, seeing that the poverty-stricken Athenion, who once gave lectures for such fees as he could collect, now parades through town and country with insolent airs on account of the king's favour. He was also met by the artists of Dionysus summoning the messenger of the new Dionysus to come to the public feast and join in the prayers and libations connected therewith. he who had in former days gone forth from a hired house was conducted to the house of Dies, the person who at that time enjoyed great wealth from revenues in Delos; the house was decorated with couches elaborately spread, with paintings and statues and display of silver vessels. From it he emerged trailing a white riding-cloak, his finger encircled with a ring of gold with the portrait of Mithridates engraved upon it; and many slaves preceded and followed him in the procession. In the precinct of the artists of Dionysus sacrifices were held in honour of Athenion's arrival, and libations were poured at the proclamation of a herald. On the next day many came to the house and waited for his coming forth; even the Cerameicus was filled with citizens and foreigners, and there was a spontaneous rush of the crowds to the Assembly. He made his way forward with difficulty, attended by bodyguard of persons who wished to seem great in the eyes of the populace, each one eager just to touch his garments.
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§ 5.50 ”Mounting, then, the bema built in front of the Stoa of Attalus by the Roman generals, he took his stand upon this and glanced at the throng all bat him; then looking upward, he spoke:'Men of Athens, the situation of affairs and the interest of my native land compel me to report the facts which I know; and yet the enormous importance of what is to be said, on account of the unexpected turn of circumstances, embarrasses me.' When the crowds standing round shouted to him [213a] to have no fear, but to speak out, he said:'Very well, then; I speak of things never hoped for or even conceived of in a dream. King Mithradates is master of Bithynia and Upper Cappadocia; he is master of the whole continent of Asia as far as Pamphylia and Cilicia. And kings form his bodyguard, Armenian and Persian, and princes ruling over the tribes who dwell round the Maeotis and the whole of Pontus, making a circuit of three thousand six hundred miles. The Roman commander in Pamphylia, Quintus Oppius, has been delivered up and now follows in his train as a captive; Manius Aquilius, the ex-consul, who celebrated a triumph after his Sicilian campaign, bound hand and foot by a long chain to a Bastarnian seven and a half feet tall, is dragged along on foot by a man on horseback. Of all the other Roman citizens, some are prostrated before the images of the gods, while the rest have changed their dress to square cloaks and once more call themselves by the countries to which they originally belonged. And every community, greeting him with more than human honours, invokes the god-king; oracles from all quarters predict his supremacy over the civilized world. Wherefore he is dispatching great armies even to Thrace and Macedonia, and all parts of Europe have gone over to his side in a body. yes, ambassadors have come to him not only from Italic tribes, but even from the Carthaginians, demanding that they be allies to accomplish the destruction of Rome.'
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§ 5.51 “For a little while he paused after these remarks, and allowed the crowds to talk over these tidings, so unexpectedly proclaimed. Then he rubbed his forehead and said:'What, now, an I to advise you? Tolerate no more the anarchical state of things which the Roman Senate has caused to be extended until such time as it shall decide what form of government we are to have. And let us not permit our holy places to be kept locked against us, our gymnasia in squalid decay, our theatre deserted by the Assembly, our courts voiceless, and the Pnyx, once consecrated to sacred uses by divine oracles, taken away from the people. Nor let us, men of Athens, permit the sacred voice of Iacchus to remain sealed in silence, the august temple of the two Divinities to remain closed, and the schools of the philosophers to stand voiceless.' ”Well, after many other deliverances of a like tenor uttered you this gutter-snipe, the mob talked it over among themselves, and with a rush to the theatre all together, they choose Athenion commander of the military forces. And this Peripatetic, coming forward in the theatre'with a stride like that of Pythocles,' thanked the Athenians and said:'Today you are your own commanders, although I am at your head. And if you will lend your assistance, I shall have the combined strength of all of you.' With these words, he appointed the other officers in his own interest, proposing by name those whom he desired.
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§ 5.52 Not many days after, he made himself dictator — this philosopher who thus illustrated the Pythagorean doctrine regarding treachery, and the meaning of that philosophic system which the noble Pythagoras introduced, as recorded by Theopompus in the eighth book of his Philippica, and by Hermippus, the disciple of Callimachus. [214a] Then this scoundrel, contrary to the precepts of Aristotle and Theophrastus (how true is the proverb which says,'Don't give a knife to a child!') proceeded immediately to put out of his way the more sober-minded citizens, and set guards at the gates; consequently many Athenians, apprehending what was in store for them, let themselves down over the walls with ropes by night and fled. Then Athenion sent out cavalry after them, killing some, but bringing back others as prisoners; for he had as a bodyguard many of those who are called'completely armed.' He frequently convoked meetings of the Assembly and pretended to sympathize with the Roman cause.... Against many persons he brought accusations to the effect that they were engaged in communicating with those who had been outlawed, and were plotting revolution; so he murdered them. And closing the city gates, he posted thirty guards at each, and would not permit anyone, who desired to go out or to come in, to do so. He would also confiscate the estates of many persons, and amassed so much money that it filled several cisterns. He also sent out into the country persons who acted like highwaymen, intercepting those who came from town and dragging them before him. These he would put to death without trial, after first torturing and tearing them on the rack. Against many also he brought suits for treason, alleging that they were co-operating with the refugees to effect their return. Some of these, in their fear, took to flight before the day of the trial, others were condemned in the courts, he himself taking the votes. Moreover his conveys caused a scarcity of the necessaries of life in the city, and he had to ration barley and wheat in small quantities. He also sent out over the country heavy-armed troops to catch any of those who had withdrawn from the city and might still be within the borders, or any Athenian who was travelling to a refuge beyond the borders. And anyone so caught was flogged to death, although some of them died under torture before they were flogged. he also proclaimed that all should stay indoors after sunset, and nobody might go out even with a lantern.
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§ 5.53 And he seized not merely the property of citizens, but presently he took the goods of foreigners as well, reaching out his hands even for the property of the god at Delos. At any rate, he sent to the island Apellicon of Teos, who had been made an Athenian citizen and had run a chequered and novelty-seeking career. When, for example, he professed the Peripatetic philosophy, he bought up Aristotle's library and many other books (for he was very rich) and began surreptitiously to acquire the original copies of the ancient decrees in the Metroon, as well as anything else in other cities which was old and rare. Detected in these acts at Athens, he would have forfeited his life if he had not absconded. But after a short while he returned to Athens again, having won over the favour of many persons; he then enlisted in the cause of Athenion, as one who belonged to the same philosophic sect. Athenion, meanwhile, had forgotten the precepts of the Peripatetic school, and was rationing out a quart of barley every four days to the silly Athenians, giving them food fit for cocks, not human beings. And Apellicon, though he had set out with a military force to Delos, behaved as if he were attending a festival rather than as a true soldier, and, on the side toward the town of Delos, set a guard which was too negligent; as for the regions behind the island, he let them completely unguarded, and went to bed without even throwing up a palisade. [215a] When this came to the knowledge of Orbius, who was the Roman praetor in charge of Delos, he waited for a night when there was no moon; he then led out his troops and attacked the Athenians when they were asleep or carousing, and slaughtered them and their companions in arms like sheep, to the number of six hundred; he also took about four hundred prisoners. And this noble general Apellicon made off from Delos in secret flight. When Orbius observed many others fleeing together for refuge in farm-houses, he burned them up, houses and all, as well as all their appliances for a siege, including the siege-engine which Apellicon had constructed when he came to Delos. So Orbius raised a trophy over those regions and built an altar on which he inscribed:'These dead which the tomb holds here are strangers who lost their lives in fighting round Delos on the sea, when the Athenians, making common cause with the king of the Cappadocians in battle, wasted the sacred island.'"
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§ 5.54 Again, an Epicurean philosopher came to be tyrant of Tarsus his name was Lysias. He, once he had been chosen by his native city to be “crown-bearer,” that is, priest of Heracles, refused to give up his office; on the contrary, laying aside his long robes, he made himself tyrant, putting on a purple tunic with white stripes, throwing round his shoulders a costly military cloak, putting on his feet white Laconian slippers, and crowning his head with a gold crown of laurel-pattern; he then distributed the goods of the rich among the poor, murdering many who did not offer them of their own accord.
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§ 5.55 [215c] Such are the military leaders who have risen from the ranks of philosophy. Of them Demochares used to say: “Precisely as no one can make lance-head from a leaf of savoury, so also one cannot make a blameless soldier out of a Socrates.” Plato, indeed, says that Socrates went on three campaigns, one against Potidaea, one against Amphipolis, and another against the Boeotians, at the time when it came to pass that a battle was fought in the precinct of Delium. And although no historian has recorded this, Plato tells us himself Socrates won the prize for the bravest when all the Athenians had fled, many also having been killed. But all this is fictitious. For the expedition against Amphipolis, in the archonship of Alcaeus [422 BCE], was made up of picked men led by Cleon, as Thucydides says. So Socrates must have been one of those picked men — Socrates, who had nothing but a tattered coat and a staff! What historian or poet has mentioned it? Or where has Thucydides touched even slightly upon Socrates, this warrior of Plato?? “What is there in common between a shield and a staff?” And when did he go on a campaign against Potidaea, as Plato has asserted in the Charmides, alleging that on that occasion he also resigned the prize for the bravest to Alcibiades. Neither Thucydides, nor even Isocrates On the Team of Horses, has mentioned it. In what battle did Socrates receive the prize for the bravest, and what striking and conspicuous feat did he perform? No battle whatever occurred then, according to the account in Thucydides. But not content with this narrative of his prodigy, Plato adds the battle which occurred in the precinct of Delium or rather, a story of fictitious valour. For even if Socrates had captured Delium, to quote the account given by Herodicus, the disciple of Crates, in his Against the Socrates -worshipper, he must have fled in disgrace with the mob, since Pagondas had unexpectedly sent two troops of cavalry round the hill. [216a] On that occasion, to be sure, some of the Athenians fled to Delium, others to the coast, others again to Oropus, and still others to Mount Parnes; but the Boeotians, particularly their own cavalry and that of the Locrians, followed close upon them and put them to death. When, then, such confusion and panic had seized the Athenians, is it likely that Socrates, “with head cocked high, his eyes rolling this side and that,” stood his ground alone and threw back the Boeotian and Locrian horsemen? Not Thucydides, not any poet besides, makes mention of this bravery. Again, how could he resign the prize for the bravest in favour of Alcibiades, who had not taken the smallest part in this campaign? And in the Crito, this devotee of the goddess of memory, Plato, says explicitly that Socrates had never made a journey abroad, excepting the excursion to the Isthmus. And Antisthenes, the disciple of Socrates, tells the same story about the prize for the bravest that Plato tells. “But this tale is not sooth.” For this Cynic, as well as Plato, displays favouritism toward Socrates in many ways; consequently neither of them should be trusted by those who have Thucydides in regard. Antisthenes, in fact, even adds to the faction these words: “We hear that in the battle with the Boeotians, also, you won the prize for the bravest. — Hush, stranger! That glory belongs to Alcibiades, not to me. — Yes, for you gave it to him, as we hear.” And Plato's Socrates says that he was present at Potidaea, and resigned the prize for the bravest to Alcibiades. But according to all the historians, the expedition to Potidaea, under command of Phormion, preceded that against Delium.
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§ 5.56 At all points, then, the philosophers are false, and they fail to notice that they record many things anachronistically; just so even the noble Xenophon, in the Symposium, represents Callias, the son of Hipponicus, as having a passion for Autolycus, the son of Lycon, and giving a banquet in his honour when he was victor in the pancratium; he places himself in the scene with the other guests at dinner, though probably he had not been even born then, or at least was in his infancy still. Now the time of this scene was the archonship of Aristion. For in this year Eupolis brought out his Autolycus by the agency of Demostratus, and satirized the victory of Autolycus. Again, Xenophon makes Socrates say these words in his Symposium: “and yet Pausanias, the lover of the poet Agathon, defends those who wallow in lust, saying that a very valiant army could be formed of lovers and their favourites. For he said that he should expect that they, more than all others, would be ashamed to desert one another, a preposterous assertion, which assumes that men who habitually disregard censure and are lost to shame would scruple more than all others to do anything dishonourable.” That, however, Pausanias never said any such thing one may learn from Plato's Symposium. As for Pausanias indeed, I know of no work by him, nor has he even been introduced as a character speaking on the usefulness of lovers and their favourites in any other author than Plato; but waiving the question whether Xenophon has invented all this, or whether he had read a Symposium by Plato in different form from that now extant, we must emphasize his error in chronology. Aristion, in whose archonship Xenophon's symposium is supposed to be held, was archon four years before Euphemus, [217a] in whose year Plato has placed the celebration of Agathon's victory; in the course of this celebration Pausanias delivers his views on love. It is, therefore, prodigiously surprising that words not yet spoken or essayed until four years after, in the house of Agathon, should have been reproved as improper by Socrates when dining at the house of Callias.
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§ 5.57 But Plato's Symposium is nonsense pure and simple. For when Agathon won his victory, Plato was only fourteen years old. Agathon was crowned at the Lenaea in the archonship of Euphemus [417 BCE], but Plato was born in the archonship of Apollodorus [430 BCE], who succeeded Euthydemus; he lived for eighty-two years and departed this life in the archonship of Theophilus, who succeeded Callimachus, and was the eighty-second archon. From Apollodorus and the birth of Plato Euphemus makes the fourteenth archon, and it was in his year that Agathon's victory was celebrated by a dinner. Plato himself makes it clear that this party occurred a long while before when he says in his Symposium:"...'if you imagine that the party is a recent occurrence, so that I too could be there.''Indeed I did,' he replied.'But how could that be, Glaucon? Don't you know that Agathon has not lived here for many years?'" And going on he says: "'Tell me, please, when did that party take place?' And I said:'We were still busy when Agathon won a victory with his tragedy.'" But that Plato makes many mistakes in chronology can be proved by many instances. To quote the poet who said, “Whatsoever cometh untimely to the tongue,” Plato writes this down without discrimination. To be sure, he never said anything that he did not put into writing, but he wrote it with scarcely any care,
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§ 5.58 as when he says in the Gorgias: “According to your contention, then, this prince Archelaus is a wretched man. — Certainly, my friend, if he is an unrighteous man.” And then, after expressly speaking of Archelaus as being in possession of the throne of Macedonia, he proceeds to set down the following: “And this Pericles, who has died recently.” But if Pericles has died recently, Archelaus cannot yet be in possession of the throne; on the other hand, granting that Archelaus is king, Pericles died a very long time before him. Perdiccas, then, was in fact king before Archelaus for a period of forty-one years, according to Nicomedes of Acanthus; Theopompus says thirty-five, Anaximenes forty, Hieronymus twenty-eight, Marsyas and Philochorus twenty-three. now, since these records are diverse, let us take the smallest number, twenty-three years. Pericles died during the third year of the Peloponnesian war, in the archonship of Epameinon, in whose year died... Perdiccas; and Archelaus succeeded to the throne. How, then, could Pericles have died “recently,” as Plato says? Again, in the same Gorgias Plato makes Socrates say: “Last year I was chosen by lot a member of the Council, and when my tribe was prytanizing, and it became my duty to put a question to vote, I only caused mirth, and was unable to put the question.” But Socrates did this not because of any incapacity, but rather because of his courageous devotion to the right; for he could not consent to violate the laws of the commonwealth. Xenophon makes this clear in the first book of his Hellanica: “when some of the Prytanes refused to put the question which was contrary to the laws, [218a] once more Callixeinus rose and denounced them. And the mob shouted that the recusants should be brought to trial; so all the Prytanes, in fear of their lives, promised that they would put the question, excepting Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus. He said that he would not, but would do everything according to the laws.” The vote here mentioned is the one taken against Erasinides and the other commanders associated with him, because they failed to pick up the bodies of the men lost at Arginussae in the sea-fight. This fight occurred in the archonship of Callias, twenty-four years after the death of Pericles.
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§ 5.59 Nor is this all. The conversation in the Protagoras, which took place after the death of Hipponicus, when Callias had by this time succeeded to his property, mentions Protagoras as having arrived on his second visit to Athens just a few days before. But in the archonship of Euthydemus [431/30 BCE], Hipponicus is in the battle-line as a commanding officer associated with Nicias against the Tanagraeans and other Boeotians who came to their aid; and he is victor in the battle. He is dead, however, probably not long before the production of The Flatterers, by Eupolis, in the archonship of Alcaeus [422 BCE]; at least so we must infer, because this play shows that Callias's inheriting of the property was then a recent event. In this play, then, Eupolis represents Protagoras as being in town, whereas Ameipsias in Connus, which was brought out two years previously, does not include Protagoras in his chorus of “Thinkers.” It is evident, then, that Protagoras came to Athens between these two dates. But Plato represents Hippias of Elis as also present on the scene in the Protagoras, along with certain of his own fellow-citizens, who could hardly live at Athens in safety before the conclusion of the year's truce in the archonship of Isarchus [424 BCE], month Elaphebolion. He, however, assumes that the dialogue took place about the time when this truce had just been made; at any rate he says: “For if there should be savages such as the poet Pherecrates portrayed last year in the play which he brought out at the Lenaea.” Now The Savages was produced in the archonship of Aristion; after him Astyphilus was archon, and he was the fifth archon after Isarchus, in whose year the truce was made. The archons, namely, were Isarchus, then Ameinias, after him Alcaeus, then Aristion, then Astyphilus. Plato, then, contrary to history, brings to Athens in his dialogue Hippias and others hostile to the city, though there was no truce at the time.
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§ 5.60 In another passage, also, Plato says that Chaerephon asked the Delphic priestess whether there was anyone wiser than Socrates; and she made response that no one was wiser. But on this point, again, Xenophon does not agree; for he says: “on one occasion, in fact, Chaerephon put a question at Delphi on my behalf, and Apollo returned answer before many witnesses that no man was more just or sober than I.” How, then, is it reasonable or probable that Socrates, who confessed that he knew nothing, should have been proclaimed by the god who knows all things as the wisest of men? For if that is wisdom, to know nothing, then to know all things must be stupidity. And what was the use in Chaerephon's bothering the god by his question about Socrates? For Socrates was himself entitled to credence when he said on his own behalf that he was not wise. [219a] “A fool, indeed, was he who asked such questions of the god” — as foolish as if he asked, for instance: “What other wool is softer than the Attic?” “Are there any camels stronger than the Bactrian?” “Is there anybody with a flatter nose than Socrates's?” For persons who put such questions to the god are properly rebuked by him; like the man (whether the fable-maker Aesop or someone else) who inquired: “How may I get rich, son of Zeus and Leto?” The god mockingly replied: “By acquiring what lies between Corinth and Sikyon.”
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§ 5.61 But further: not one of the scandals uttered by Plato concerning Socrates is mentioned even by any comic poet; for example, that he was the son of a strapping midwife, or that Xanthippe was a shrew who poured slops over his head, or that he lay down to sleep with Alcibiades under the same coverlet. And yet this last must inevitably have been proclaimed with the ringing of bells by Aristophanes, who was present at the symposium, according to Plato; Aristophanes would never have hushed up this bit of gossip, seeing that he accused Socrates of corrupting the young men. The clever Aspasia, to be sure, who was Socrates's teacher in rhetoric, says in the verses which are extant under her name and which are quoted by Herodicus, the disciple of Crates: “ Socrates, I have not failed to notice that thy heart is smitten with desire for the son of Deinomache and Cleinias. But hearken, if thou wouldst prosper in thy suit Disregard not my message, and it will be much better for thee. For so soon as I heard, my body was suffused with the glow of joy, and tears not unwelcome fell from my eyelids. Restrain thyself, filling thy soul with the conquering Muse; and with her aid thou shalt win him; pour her into the ears of his desire. For she is the true beginning of love in both; through her thou shalt master him, by offering to his ear gifts for the unveiling of his soul.” So, then, the noble Socrates goes a-hunting, employing the woman of Miletus as his preceptor in love, instead of being hunted himself, as Plato has said, being caught in Alcibiades' net. And what is more, he does not leave off weeping, being, I fancy, unfortunate in his pursuit. For seeing what a state he was in, Aspasia says: “Why art thou all tears, dear Socrates? Can it be that the thunderbolt of desire, rankling in thy breast, stirs thee up — the bolt which crashed from the eyes of the lad invincible, whom I promised to make tame for thee?” And that Socrates really had a passion for Alcibiades is disclosed by Plato in the Protagoras, although Alcibiades was little short of thirty years old. Plato says: “Where do you come from, Socrates? But I know for certain: you have come from the hunt, and the beauty of Alcibiades is your quarry. As a matter of fact, when I saw the man the other day he looked handsome still, though a man, between ourselves, Socrates, who is already covered with a beard under his chin. Socrates. [220a] Well, what of it? Don't you approve Homer when he says that the most beautiful age is that of the bearded man, the age which Alcibiades himself has now attained?”
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§ 5.62 Most philosophers have a natural tendency to be more abusive than the comic poets; for example, Aeschines, the disciple of Socrates, derides Critobulus the son of Crito in the Telauges for his boorishness and sordid manner of life; while as for Telauges himself, Aeschines ridicules him, who was a very poor orator, in no measured terms, for wearing a cloak for which he pays a fuller a farthing daily, and then puts on a belted sheepskin coat, his shoes being tied with frayed laces. Again, in the Aspasia, he calls Hipponicus, the son of Callias, a booby, and says sweepingly that the women who come from Ionia are adulterous and avaricious. And his Callias contains the contrast drawn between Callias and his father, also the bitter mockery against the sophists Prodicus and Anaxagoras. he says, namely, that Prodicus produced as his pull Theramenes, while the other had Philoxenus the son of Eryxis, and Ariphrades the brother of the harp-singer Arignotus; his intention being to show the kind of instruction given by these teachers from the wickedness and the itch for depravity in those whom he named. In the Axiochus, again, he bitterly disparages Alcibiades as a drunken sot and an eager pursuer of other men's wives.
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§ 5.63 Antisthenes, too, in the treatise on the second Cyrus, abuses Alcibiades and says that he was perverted in his relations with women as well as in his mode of life generally. He even says that Alcibiades lay with his mother, his daughter, and his sister, as Persians do. The dialogue on the Statesman, by Antisthenes, contains a denunciation of all the demagogues at Athens; the Archelaus, of the orator Gorgias; the Aspasia, slanders against Xanthippus and Paralus, the sons of Pericles. One of them, he says, lived with Archestratus, who plied a trade similar to that of women in the cheaper brothels; the other was the boon companion of Euphemus, who used to make vulgar and heartless jokes at the expense of all whom he met. Again, Antisthenes changed the name of Plato to Satho, a filthy, vulgar word, and published the dialogue against him under this title. For in the eyes of these gentry no statesman is honest, no general is wise, no sophist is worth considering, no poet is good for anything, no populace is capable of reason; only Socrates is — he who consorts with Aspasia's flute-girls at the workshops, or converses with Piston the cuirass-maker, or instructs the courtesan Theodote how to lure her lovers, as Xenophon represents him in the second book of the Memorabilia. For he makes him recommend to Theodote measures such as neither Nico the Samian beauty, nor Callistrate the Lesbian, nor Philaenis the Leucadian, nor even Pythonicus the Athenian, ever conceived as lures to desire; for all these persons used to busy themselves very devotedly with these questions. But all eternity would fail me if I should undertake to set forth the pompous censures of the philosophers. To quote Plato himself, “A crowd of similar Gorgons and winged horses [221a] and other fabulous creatures, incomprehensible in number and strangeness.” Wherefore I will lapse into silence.
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§ 5.64 After Masurius had delivered this long harangue and had been complimented by all on his knowledge, silence ensued, and then Ulpian spoke: “It seems to me, fellow-diners, that you have unexpectedly'been deluged with violent words' and soused in the wine unmixed:'For a man who guzzles wine as a horse does water speaks gibberish and cannot recognize a single letter; speechless he lies immersed in the cask, sunken in sleep like one who drinks the poppy drug.' So speaks Parmenon of Byzantium. Or have you been turned into stone by the Gorgons just mentioned? And speaking of Gorgons, Alexander of Myndus records that certain animals really exist capable of turning men into stone. In the second book of his Inquiry into Birds he says:'The gorgon is the creature which the Numidians of Libya, where it occurs, call ”down-looker." As the majority aver, drawing their comparison from its skin, it is like a wild sheep; but some say that it is like a calf. They say, too, that it has a breath so strong that it destroys any one who meets the animal. And it carries a mane hanging from its forehead over the eyes; whenever it shakes this aside, as it does with difficulty because of its weight, and catches sight of anything, it kills whatever is seen from beneath it; not by its breath, but by the influence which emanates from the peculiar nature of its eyes; and it turns the object into a corpse. It came to be known in this wise. Some soldiers in the expedition of Marius against Jugurtha saw the gorgon, and supposing that it was a wild sheep, since its head was bent low and it moved slowly, they rushed forward to get it, thinking that they could kill it with what swords they had. But the creature, being startled, shook the mane which lay over its eyes and immediately turned to corpses the men who had rushed upon it. Again and again other persons did the same thing and became corpses; and since all who attacked it at close quarters always died, some made inquiry of the natives about the nature of the animal; whereupon some Numidian horsemen, at the command of Marius, lay in ambush for it at a distance and shot it; they then returned with the animal to the commander.' That this creature was, to be sure, of the character described is confirmed both by its skin and by the expedition under Marius. But that other report given by this investigator is not credible; he says that in Libya there are backward-grazing cattle, so called because they do not move forward when they graze, but do it retreating backward; for, says he, their horns are a hindrance to grazing in the natural way, since they do not curve upwards like those of all other animals, but incline downwards and shade their eyes. This is really incredible, since no other inquirer confirms it."
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§ 5.65 These remarks of Ulpian were found and attested in so many words by Larensis, who said that Marius had sent skins of these animals back to Rome, and that no one could guess to what animal they belonged, so extraordinary was their appearance; he further said that these skins hang dedicated in the sanctuary of Hercules, where commanders celebrating their triumphs feast the citizens, [222a] as many poets and historians of Rome have told. “As for you then, my pedants, you don't look into these matters; in the words of the Babylonian Herodicus,'Fly, sons of Aristarchus, fly from Hellas over the broad back of the ocean, more craven than the lawny lechive antelope, buzzing in corners, mumbling monosyllables, whose sole business is the difference between ”ye" and “your” and “it” and “hit”; may your journey be rough through these waters, but as for Herodicus, long live Hellas and Babylon, child of the gods.'" — Indeed, as the comic poet Anaxandrides says: “It is a pleasure, when one discovers a new idea, to proclaim it to all; but those who keep their wisdom to themselves have, first, no critic to judge their new device, and, secondly, they are looked upon with ill-will. One should publish to the crowd all things, when one thinks he has a novelty.” At these words most of the guests withdrew, and gradually dissolved the party.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by Charles Burton Gulick (1868-1962). Composed ca. 228 CE. Licence: public domain. Source.