40. There is also a bird called the porphyrion. And it is well known

that this bird is mentioned by Aristophanes. And Polemo, in the fifth

book of his treatise addressed to Antigonus and Adæus, says that the

bird called the porphyrion, when it is kept in a house, watches those

women who have husbands very closely; and has such instantaneous

perception of any one who commits adultery, that, when it perceives

it, it gives notice of it to the master of the house, cutting its own

existence short by hanging itself. And, says he, it never partakes of

food before it has walked all round the place seeking for some spot

which may suit it; and then it dusts itself there, and washes itself,

and after that it feeds. And Aristotle says that it has cloven feet,

and that it is of a dark blue colour, with long legs, with a beak of

a scarlet colour beginning at its very head; of about the size of

a cock of the common poultry breed; and it has a small gullet, on

which account it seizes its food with its foot, and divides it into

diminutive morsels. And it drinks greedily; and it has five toes on

each foot, of which the middle one is the largest. But Alexander the

Myndian, in the second book of his treatise on the History of Birds,

says that the bird comes originally from Libya, and that it is sacred

to the gods of Libya.

There is also another bird called the porphyris. Callimachus, in his

treatise on Birds, says that the porphyris is different from the

porphyrion, and enumerates the two birds separately. And he says that

the porphyrion takes its food while hiding itself in darkness, so that

no one may see it; for it hates those who come near its food. And

Aristophanes also mentions the porphyris in his drama entitled The

Birds. And Ibycus speaks of some birds which he calls lathiporphyrides,

and says; "There are some variegated ducks with purple necks which

frequent the highest branches of the trees; and the birds called

lathiporphyrides with variegated necks, and king-fishers with extended

wings." And in another place he says—

You're always bearing me aloft, my mind,

Like some bold porphyris, with out-stretch'd wings.

41. The next bird is the partridge. A great many authors mention this

bird, as also does Aristophanes. And some of them in the oblique cases

shorten the penultima of the noun; as Archilochus does where he writes—

πτώσσουσαν ὥς τε πέρδῖκα,

in the same way as ὄρτῦγα and χοίνῖκα have the penultima short. But it

is usually made long by the Attic writers. Sophocles, in his Camici,

says—

A man arrived, who in the famous hills

Of Attica is a namesake of the partridge (πέρδι:κος).

And Pherecrates, or whoever it was who wrote the Chiron, says—

He goes against his will, like any partridge (πέρδικος τρόπον).

And Phrynichus, in his Tragedians, says—

And Cleombrotus the son of Perdix (Πέρδικος),

(for the bird is sometimes cited as a model of lasciviousness).

Nicophon, in his Handicraftsmen, says—

The hepseti, and all those partridges (περδι:κας).

But Epicharmus, in his Revellers, uses the word with the penultima

short, where he says—

They brought in cuttle-fish, who swim the deep,

And partridges (πέρδικας) who fly in lofty air.

And Aristotle gives the following account of the bird—"The partridge

is a land bird, with cloven feet; and he lives fifteen years: but the

female lives even more. For among all birds the female lives longer

than the male. It lays eggs, and hatches its young itself, as the

common hen does. And when it is aware that it is being hunted, it comes

away from its nest, and rolls near the legs of the huntsman, giving him

a hope that he may catch it; and so it deceives him, until its young

have flown away, and then it flies away itself also.

[Sidenote: PARTRIDGES.]

42. "But it is a very ill-disposed and cunning animal; and moreover

it is much devoted to amatory enjoyments; on which account it breaks

the eggs of its hen, that it may not be deprived of her while she is

hatching them; and therefore the hen, knowing this, runs away and hides

her eggs." And Callimachus gives the same account in his treatise on

Birds. And the single birds fight with one another, and the one which

is defeated becomes the mate of the conqueror. But Aristotle says that

they all in turn use the bird which has been defeated as their mate,

and that the tame birds also take the wild ones for their mates. And

the bird which is defeated by the other patiently allows itself to be

treated by him as his mate. And this happens at a particular time of

the year, as is also stated by Alexander the Myndian. And they lay

their eggs on the ground, both the cocks and the hens making themselves

separate nests. And the leader of the wild birds attacks the decoy

partridge, and when he is taken another comes forward to fight the

decoy bird; and this is done whenever the bird used for the decoy is a

cock bird; but when a hen is employed for the purpose, then she crows

till the leader of the wild birds meets her, and the rest of the wild

birds assemble and drive him away from the hen, because he is attending

to her and not to them; on which account sometimes he advances without

making any noise, in order that no other bird may hear his voice and

come to fight him. And sometimes the hen also checks the crowing of the

cock as he comes up:[31] and very often when she is sitting on her nest

she gets off it on perceiving the cock approaching the decoy bird, and

remains there to receive his embraces in order to draw him away from

the decoy bird. And so very eager to propagate their species are both

quails and partridges, that they fall into the hands of the hunters

on that account, sitting on the tiles. They say, too, that when hen

partridges are taken out to hunt, even when they see or smell a cock

standing or flying down the wind, become pregnant, and some say that

they immediately begin to lay eggs. And about breeding time they fly

about with their mouths open, putting out their tongues, both hens and

cocks. And Clearchus says, in his treatise on Panic Fear,—"Sparrows

and partridges, and also the common barn-door fowl and the quail,

are eager to propagate their species, not only the moment that they

see the hen, but even as soon as they hear her voice. And the cause

of this is the excessive impression made on their minds by amatory

pleasures and proximity. And you may see more easily all that takes

place with respect to the propagation of their species if you put a

looking-glass opposite to them. For they run forward, being deceived

by the appearance, and behave as if they saw a hen, and so are caught.

Only the common poultry cock does not do so. But the perception of the

reflected image operates on them only so far as to make them wish to

fight." And this is the statement of Clearchus.

43. Partridges are by some people called κάκκαβαι, as, for

instance, by Alcman, who speaks as follows—

Alcman, too, began the strain;

And he introduced into the language

The compound name of κακκαβίδες:

showing plainly enough that he had learnt to compound the word from

the noise made by partridges. On which account also Chamæleon of

Pontus said that the discovery of music was originally made by the

ancients from the birds singing in desert places; by imitation of

whom they arrived at the art of music; but it is not all partridges

who make the noise called κακκαβίζειν, or cackling. At all events,

Theophrastus, in his treatise on the Different Noises made by Animals

of the same Species, says—"The partridges in Attica, near Corydallus,

on the side towards the city, cackle; but those on the other side

twitter." And Basilis, in the second book of his History of India,

says—"The diminutive men in those countries which fight with cranes

are often carried by partridges." And Menecles, in the first book of

his Collectanea, says—"The pygmies fight both with partridges and with

cranes." But there is a different kind of partridge found in Italy, of

a dark colour on its wings, and smaller in size, with a beak inclining

in the smallest possible degree to a red colour. But the partridges

about Cirrha are not at all nice to eat as to their flesh, on account

of the nature of their food. But the partridges in Boeotia either do

not cross into Attica at all, or else, whenever they do, they are

easily recognised by their voices, as we have previously mentioned.

But the partridges which are found in Paphlagonia, Theophrastus says,

have two hearts. But those in the island of Sciathos feed on cockles.

And sometimes they have as many as fifteen or sixteen young at a time;

and they can only fly short distances, as Xenophon tells us in the

first book of his Anabasis, where he writes,—"But if any one rouses the

bustard suddenly it is easy to catch him; for they can only fly a short

distance, like partridges, and they very soon tire; but their flesh is

very delicious."

[Sidenote: THE BUSTARD.]

44. And Plutarch says that Xenophon is quite correct about the

bustard; for that great numbers of these birds are brought to

Alexandria from the adjacent parts of Libya; being hunted and caught

in this manner. The animal is a very imitative one, the bustard; being

especially fond of imitating whatever it sees a man do; and accordingly

it does whatever it sees the hunters do. And they, standing opposite

to it, anoint themselves under the eyes with some unguent, having

prepared other different unguents calculated to close up the eyes and

eyelids; and these other unguents they place in shallow dishes near the

bustards. And so the bustards, seeing the men anoint themselves under

the eyes, do the same thing also themselves, taking the unguents out of

these dishes; and by this means they are quickly caught. And Aristotle

writes the following account of them:—"It is a migratory bird, with

cloven feet, and three toes; of about the size of a large cock, of the

colour of a quail, with a long head, a sharp beak, a thin neck, large

eyes, a bony tongue, and it has no crop." But Alexander the Myndian

says that it is also called also called λαγωδίας. And he says, also,

that it ruminates, and that it is very fond of the horse; and that if

any one puts on a horse's skin he can catch as many as he pleases;

for they come up to him then of their own accord. And presently, in

another passage, Aristotle tells us, "The bustard is something like

the owl, but it is not a bird which flies by night; and it has large

feathers about its ears, on which account it is called ὦτος, from ὦτα;

and it is about the size of a pigeon, and a great imitator of mankind;

and accordingly it is caught by dancing opposite to them." And it is

in shape something like a man, and it is an imitator of whatever man

does. On which account the comic poets call those people who are easily

taken in by any one whom they chance to meet, a bustard. Accordingly,

in hunting them, the man who is cleverest at it, stands opposite to

them and dances; and the birds, looking at the man dancing, move like

puppets pulled by strings; and then some one comes behind them, and,

without being perceived, seizes on them while they are wholly occupied

with the delight they derive from the imitation.

45. They say, also, that the screech-owl does the same thing: for it is

said that they also are caught by dancing. And Homer mentions them. And

there is a kind of dance, which is called σκὼψ, or the screech-owl,

from them; deriving its name from the variety of motion displayed by

this animal. And the screech-owls also delight in imitation, and it is

from their name that we say that those men σκώπτουσι, who keep looking

at the person whom they wish to turn into ridicule, and mock all his

conduct by an exact imitation, copying the conduct of those birds. But

all the birds whose tongues are properly formed, and who are capable

of uttering articulate sounds, imitate the voices of men and of other

birds; as the parrot and the jay. The screech-owl, as Alexander the

Myndian says, is smaller than the common owl, and he has whitish spots

on a leaden-coloured plumage; and he puts out two tufts of feathers

from his eyebrows on each temple. Now Callimachus says that there are

two kinds of screech-owls, and that one kind does screech, and the

other does not—on which account one kind is called σκῶπες, and the other

kind is called ἀείσκωπες, and these last are of a grey colour.

But Alexander the Myndian says that the name is written in Homer, κῶπες

without the ς, and that that was the name which Aristotle gave them;

and that they are constantly seen, and that they are not eatable; but

that those which are only seen about the end of autumn for a day or

two are eatable. And they differ from the ἀείσκωπες in their speed,

and they are something like the turtle-dove and the pigeon in pace. And

Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one

another, also calls them κῶπες without the ς. But Epicharmus writes

σκῶπας, epopses and owls. And Metrodorus, in his treatise on Custom and

Habituation, says, that the screech-owl is caught by dancing opposite

to it.

[Sidenote: SPARROWS.]

46. But since, when we were talking of partridges, we mentioned that

they were exceedingly amorous birds, we ought also to add, that the

cock of the common poultry fowl is a very amorous bird too; at all

events Aristotle says, that when cocks are kept in the temples as being

dedicated to the Gods, the cocks who were there before treat any new

comer as a hen until another is dedicated in a similar manner. And if

none are dedicated, then they fight together, and the one which has

defeated the other works his will on the one which he has defeated.

It is related, also, that a cock, whenever he goes in at any door

whatever, always stoops his crest, and that one cock never yields to

another without a battle; but Theophrastus says, that the wild cocks

are still more amorous than the tame ones, he says, also, that the

cocks are most inclined to pursue the hens the moment they leave their

perch in the morning, but the hens prefer it as the day advances.

Sparrows, also, are very amorous birds; on which account Terpsicles

says, that those who eat sparrows are rendered exceedingly prone to

amorous indulgences; and perhaps it is from such an idea that Sappho

represents Venus as being drawn by sparrows yoked in her chariot;

for they are very amorous birds, and very prolific. The sparrow has

about eight young ones at one hatching, according to the statement of

Aristotle. And Alexander the Myndian says that there are two kinds of

sparrows, the one a tame species, and the other a wild one; and he

adds that the hen-sparrow is weaker in other respects, and also that

their beaks are of a more horny colour, and that their faces are not

very white, nor very black; but Aristotle says that the cock-sparrow

never appears in the winter, but that the hen-sparrows remain, drawing

his conclusions as to what he thinks probable from their colour; for

their colour changes, as the colour of blackbirds and of coots does,

who get whiter at certain seasons. But the people of Elis call sparrows

δείρηται, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us in the third book of his

treatise on Different Dialects.

47. We must also speak of the quail; they are called ὄρτυγες. And here

there arises a general question about words ending in υξ, why the

words with this termination do not all have the same letter as the

characteristic of the genitive case. I allude to ὄρτυξ and ὄνυξ. For

the masculine simple nouns ending in ξ when the vowel υ precedes ξ, and

when the last syllable begins with any one of the immutable consonants

or those which are characteristic of the first[32] conjugation of

barytone verbs, make the genitive with κ; as κῆρυξ κήρυκος, πέλυξ

πέλυκος, Ἔρυξ ἔρυκος, Βέβρυξ, Βέβρυκος; but those which have not this

characteristic make the genitive with a γ, as ὄρτυξ ὄρτυγος, κόκκυξ

κόκκυγος, ὄρυξ ὄρυγος; and there is one word with a peculiar inflexion,

ὄνυξ ὄνυχος; and as a general rule, in the nominative case plural, they

follow the genitive case singular in having the same characteristic of

the last syllable. And the case is the same if the last syllable does

not begin with a consonant at all.

But with respect to the quail Aristotle says, "The quail is a migratory

bird, with cloven feet, and he does not make a nest, but lies in the

dust; and he covers over his hole with sticks for fear of hawks; and

then the hen lays her eggs in the hole." But Alexander the Myndian

says, in the second book of his treatise on Animals, "The female quail

has a thin neck, not having under its chin the same black feathers

which the male has. And when it is dissected it is found not to have a

large crop, but it has a large heart with three lobes; it has also its

liver and its gall-bladder united in its intestines, but it has but a

small spleen, and one which is not easily perceived; and its testicles

are under its liver, like those of the common fowl." And concerning

their origin, Phanodemus, in the second book of his History of Attica,

says:—"When Erysichthon saw the island of Delos, which was by the

ancients called Ortygia, because of the numerous flocks of quails which

came over the sea and settled in that island as one which afforded

them good shelter . . . ." And Eudoxus the Cnidian, in the first book of

his Description of the Circuit of the Earth, says that the Phoenicians

sacrifice quails to Hercules, because Hercules, the son of Asteria

and Jupiter, when on his way towards Libya, was slain by Typhon and

restored to life by Iolaus, who brought a quail to him and put it to

his nose, and the smell revived him. For when he was alive he was, says

Eudoxus, very partial to that bird.

48. But Eupolis uses the word in its diminutive form, and in his play

called Cities, calls them ὀρτύγια, speaking as follows:—

_A._ Tell me now, have you ever bred any ὄρτυγες̣?

_B._ I've bred some small ὀρτύγια. What of that?

And Antiphanes, in his play called The Countryman, speaks as follows,

using also the form ὀρτύγιον:—

For what now could a man like you perform,

Having the soul of a quail (ὀρτυγίου)?

It is an odd expression that Pratinas uses, who in his Dymænæ, or

the Caryatides, calls the quail a bird with a sweet voice, unless

indeed quails have voices in the Phliasian or Lacedæmonian country

as partridges have; and perhaps it is from this, also, that the bird

called σίαλις has its name, as Didymus says. For nearly all birds

derive their names from the sounds which they make.

[Sidenote: QUAILS.]

There is also a bird called the ὀρτυγομήτρα (which is mentioned by

Crates in his Chirons, where he says,

The ὀρτυγομήτρα came from Ithaca.)

And Alexander the Myndian also mentions it, and says that in size it

is nearly equal to a turtle-dove; that it has long legs, a slender

body, and is very timid. And with respect to the hunting for quails,

Clearchus the Solensian mentions some very singular circumstances,

in his book which is entitled "A Treatise on those things which have

been asserted on Mathematical Principles in Plato's Polity," where

he writes as follows—"Quails, about breeding time, if any one puts

a looking-glass opposite to them, and a noose in front of it, run

towards the bird which is seen in the looking-glass; and so fall into

the noose." And about the birds called jackdaws he makes a similar

statement, saying—"And a very similar thing happens to the jackdaws,

on account of their naturally affectionate disposition towards each

other. For they are a most exceedingly cunning bird; nevertheless when

a bowl full of oil is placed near them, they stand on the edge of the

bowl, and look down, and then rush down towards the bird which appears

visible in the liquid. In consequence of which, when they are soaked

through with the oil, their wings stick together and cause them to be

easily captured." And the Attic writers make the middle syllable of the

oblique cases of ὄρτυξ long, like δοίδῦκα, and κήρῦκα; as Demetrius

Ixion tells us, in his treatise on the Dialect of the Alexandrians. But

Aristophanes, in his Peace, has used the word with the penultima short

for the sake of the metre, writing—

The tame domestic quails (ὄρτῦγες οἰκογενεῖς).

There is also a bird called χέννιον, which is a small kind of quail,

which is mentioned by Cleomenes, in his letter to Alexander, where

he expresses himself in the following manner—"Ten thousand preserved

coots, and five thousand of the kind of thrush called tylas, and ten

thousand preserved χέννια." And Hipparchus, in his Egyptian Iliad, says—

I cannot fancy the Egyptian life,

Plucking the chennia, which they salt and eat.

49. And even swans in great plenty were not wanting to our banquets.

And Aristotle speaks in the following manner of this bird—"The swan

is a prolific bird, and a quarrelsome one. And, indeed, they are so

fond of fighting that they often kill one another. And the swan will

fight even the eagle; though he does not begin the battle himself. And

they are tuneful birds, especially towards the time of their death. And

they also cross the seas singing. And they are web-footed, and feed

on herbage." But Alexander the Myndian says, that though he followed

a great many swans when they were dying, he never heard one sing. And

Hegesianax of Alexandria, who arranged the book of Cephalion, called

the History of Troy, says that the Cycnus who fought with Achilles in

single combat, was fed in Leucophrys by the bird of the same name, that

is, by the swan. But Boius, or Boio, which Philochorus says was his

proper name, in his book on the Origin of Birds, says that Cycnus was

turned into a bird by Mars, and that when he came to the river Sybaris

he was cooped with a crane. And he says, also, that the swan lines his

nest with that particular grass which is called lygæa.

And concerning the crane (γέρανος), Boius says that there was among the

Pygmies a very well known woman whose name was Gerana. And she, being

honoured as a god by her fellow-countrymen, thought lightly of those

who were really gods, and especially of Juno and Diana. And accordingly

Juno, being indignant, metamorphosed her into an unsightly bird, and

made her hostile to and hated by the Pygmies who had been used to

honour her. And he says, also, that of her and Nicodamas was born the

land tortoise. And as a general rule, the man who composed all these

fables asserts that all the birds were formerly men.

50. The next bird to be mentioned is the pigeon. Aristotle says, that

there is but one genus of the pigeon, but five subordinate species;

writing thus—"The pigeon, the œnas, the phaps, the dove, and the

turtle-dove." But in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of

Animals, he makes no mention of the phaps, though Æschylus, in his

tragedy called Proteus, does mention that bird in the following line—

Feeding the wretched miserable phaps,

Entangled as to its poor broken sides

Within the winnowing spokes.

[Sidenote: PIGEONS.]

And in his Philoctetes he uses the word in the genitive case plural,

φαβῶν. "The œnas, then," says Aristotle, "is something larger than the

pigeon, and it has a puce-coloured plumage; but the phaps is something

between the pigeon and the œnas. And the species called phassa is

about as large as the common cock, but of the colour of ashes; and

the turtle-dove is less than all the other species, and is of a

cinder-colour. And this last is only seen in the summer, and during the

winter it keeps in its hole. Now, the phaps and the common pigeon are

always to be seen, but the œnas is only visible in the autumn. And the

species called the phassa is said to be longer lived than any of the

others; for it lives thirty or forty years. And the cock birds never

leave the hens to the day of their death, nor do the hens ever desert

the cock: but when one dies the other remains solitary: and crows, and

ravens, and jackdaws all do the same thing. And in every kind of the

genus pigeon, both male and female sit on the eggs in turn; and when

the chickens are hatched, the cock bird spits upon them to prevent

their being fascinated. And the hen lays two eggs, the first of which

produces a cock and the second a hen. And they lay at every season of

the year; so that they lay ten or eleven times a-year; and in Egypt

they lay twelve times; for the hen conceives again the very next day

to that in which it lays." And further on, in the same book, Aristotle

says that the kind called περιστερὰ differs from the πελειὰς, and the

πελειὰς is the least of the two. And the πελειὰς is easily tamed; but

the περιστερὰ is black, and small, and has red rough legs; on which

account no one keeps them. But he mentions a peculiarity of the species

called περιστερὰ, that they kiss one another when courting, and that if

the males neglect this, the hens do not admit their embraces. However,

old doves do not go through this formality; but omit the kisses and

still succeed in their suit, but the younger ones always kiss before

they proceed to action. And the hens, too, make love to one another,

when there is no cock at hand, kissing one another beforehand. But

still, as there are no real results, the eggs which they lay never

produce chickens. The Dorians, however, consider the πελειὰς and the

περιστερὰ as identical; and Sophron uses the two words as synonymous in

his Female Actresses. But Callimachus, in his treatise on Birds, speaks

of the pyrallis, the dove, the wood-pigeon, and the turtle-dove, as

all different from one another.

51. But Alexander the Myndian says, that the pigeon never lifts up

his head when it drinks, as the turtle-dove does; and that it never

utters any sound in the winter except when it is very fine weather.

It is said, also, that when the species called œnas has eaten the

seed of the mistletoe, and then leaves its droppings on any tree,

mistletoe after that grows upon that tree. But Daïmachus, in his

history of India, says that pigeons of an apple-green colour are found

in India. And Charon of Lampsacus, in his history of Persia, speaking

of Mardonius, and of the losses which the Persian army sustained off

Mount Athos, writes as follows—"And that was the first time that white

pigeons were ever seen by the Greeks; as they had never existed in

that country." And Aristotle says, that the pigeons, when their young

are born, eat a lot of earth impregnated with salt, and then open the

mouths of their young and spit the salt into them; and by this means

prepare them to swallow and digest their food.

And at Eryx in Sicily, there is a certain time which the Sicilians

call The Departure, at which time they say that the Goddess is

departing into Africa: and at this time all the pigeons about the place

disappear, as if they had accompanied the Goddess on her journey. And

after nine days, when the festival called καταγώγια, that is to say

The Return, is celebrated, after one pigeon has first arrived, flying

across the sea like an _avant-courier_, and has flown into the temple,

the rest follow speedily. And on this, all the inhabitants around, who

are comfortably off, feast; and the rest clap their hands for joy.

And at that time the whole place smells of butter, which they use as

a sort of token of the return of the Goddess. But Autocrates, in his

history of Achaia, says that Jupiter once changed his form into that

of a pigeon, when he was in love with a maiden in Ægium, whose name

was Phthia. But the Attic writers use the word also in the masculine

gender, περιστερός. Alexis, in his People Running together, says—

For I am the white pigeon (περιστερὸς) of Venus;

But as for Bacchus, he knows nothing more

Than how to get well drunk; and nothing cares

Whether 'tis new wine that he drinks or old.

[Sidenote: DUCKS.]

But in his play of the Rhodian, or the Woman Caressing, he uses the

word in the feminine gender; and says in that passage that the Sicilian

pigeons are superior to all others—

Breeding within some pigeons from Sicily,

The fairest shaped of all their species.

And Pherecrates, in his Painters, says—

Send off a pigeon (περιστερὸν) as a messenger.

And in his Petale he uses the diminutive form περιστέριον,

where he says,—

But now, my pigeon, fly thou like Callisthenes,

And bear me to Cythera and to Cyprus.

And Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, mentions the Sicilian

doves and pigeons, and says,—

And do you in your hall preserve a flock

Of fruitful doves from Sicily or Dracontium,

For it is said that neither kites nor hawks

Incline to hurt those choice and sacred birds.

52. We must also mention ducks. The male of these birds, as Alexander

the Myndian says, is larger than the female, and has a more richly

coloured plumage: but the bird which is called the glaucion, from the

colour of its eyes, is a little smaller than the duck. And of the

species called boscades the male is marked all over with lines, and he

also is less than the duck; and the males have short beaks, too small

to be in fair proportion to their size: but the small diver is the

least of all aquatic birds, being of a dirty black plumage, and it has

a sharp beak, turning upwards towards the eyes, and it goes a great

deal under water. There is also another species of the boscades, larger

than the duck, but smaller than the chenalopex: but the species which

are called phascades are a little larger than the small divers, but in

all other respects they resemble the ducks. And the kind called uria

are not much smaller than the duck, but as to its plumage it is of a

dirty earthenware colour, and it has a long and narrow beak: but the

coot, which also has a narrow beak, is of a rounder shape, and is of

an ash colour about the stomach, and rather blacker on the back. But

Aristophanes, in his Acharnians, in the following lines, mentions the

duck and the diver, from whose names (νῆττα and κολυμβὰς) we get the

verbs νήχομαι, to swim, and κολυμβάω, to dive, with a great many other

water birds—

Ducks too, and jackdaws, woodcocks too, and coots,

And wrens, and divers.

And Callimachus also mentions them in his treatise on Birds.

53. We often also had put before us the dish called parastatæ, which

is mentioned by Epænetus in his Cookery Book, and by Semaristus in

the third and fourth books of his treatise on Synonymes. And it is

testicles which are called by this name. But when some meat was served

up with a very fragrant sauce, and when some one said,—Give me a plate

of that suffocated meat, that Dædalus of names, Ulpian, said—I myself

shall be suffocated if you do not tell me where you found any mention

of meat of that kind; for I will not name them so before I know. And he

said, Strattis, in his Macedonians or Cinesias, has said—

Take care, and often have some suffocated meat.

And Eubulus, in his Catacollomenos, says—

And platters heap'd with quantities of meat

Suffocated in the Sicilian fashion.

And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, has said—

Some suffocated meat in a platter.

And Cratinus, in his Delian Women, says—

And therefore do you take some meat and pound it,

Having first neatly suffocated it.

And Antiphanes, in his Countryman, says—

And first of all

I bring you the much-wish'd-for barley-cake,

Which the all-genial mother Ceres gives

A joyful gift to mortals; and besides,

Some tender limbs of suffocated goats

Set round with herbs, a young and tender meat.

_B._ How say you?

_A._ I am going through a tragedy

Of the divinest Sophocles.

54. And when some sucking-pigs were carried round, and the guests made

an inquiry respecting them, whether they were mentioned by any ancient

author, some one said—Pherecrates, in his Slave turned Tutor, says—

I stole some sucking-pigs not fully grown.

And in his Deserters he says—

[Sidenote: SUCKLINGS.]

Are you not going to kill a sucking-pig?

And Alcæus, in his Palæstra, says—

For here he is himself, and if I grunt

One atom more than any sucking-pig . . . .

And Herodotus, in his first book, says that in Babylon there is a

golden altar, on which it is not lawful to sacrifice anything but

sucking-pigs. Antiphanes says in his Philetærus—

There's here a pretty little cromaciscus

Not yet wean'd, you see.

And Heniochus, in his Polyeuctus, says—

The ox was brazen, long since past all boiling,

But he perhaps had taken a sucking-pig,

And slaughter'd that.

And Anacreon says—

Like a young sucking kid, which when it leaves

Its mother in the wood, trembles with fear.

And Crates, in his Neighbours, says—

For now we constantly have feasts of lovers,

As long as we have store of lambs and pigs

Not taken from their dams.

And Simonides represents Danae as speaking thus over Perseus—

O my dear child, what mis'ry tears my soul!

But you lie sleeping,

You slumber with your unwean'd heart.

And in another place he says of Archemorus—

Alas the wreath! They wept the unwean'd child,

Breathing out his sweet soul in bitter pangs.

And Clearchus, in his Lives, says that Phalaris the tyrant had arrived

at such a pitch of cruelty, that he used to feast on sucking children.

And there is a verb θῆσθαι, which means to suck milk, (Homer says—

Hector is mortal, and has suck'd the breast;)

because the mother's breast is put into the mouth of the infant. And

that is the derivation of the word τίτσθος, breast, from τίθημι, to

place, because the breasts are thus placed in the children's mouths.

After she'd lull'd to sleep the new-born kids,

As yet unweaned from their mother's breast.

55. And when some antelopes were brought round, Palmedes of Elea, the

collector of words, said—It is not bad meat that of the antelopes

(δόρκωνες). And Myrtilus said to him—The word is only δορκάδες, not

δόρκωνες. Xenophon, in the first book of his Anabasis, says, "And there

were in that part bustards and δορκάδες."

56. The next thing to be mentioned is the peacock. And that this is a

rare bird is shown by what Antiphanes says in his Soldier, or Tychon,

where his words are—

And then some man brought in one single pair

Of peacocks to the city; 'twas a sight

Wondrous to see; now they're as thick as quails.

And Eubulus says in his Phoenix—

The peacock is admired for his rarity.

"The peacock," says Aristotle, "is cloven-footed, and feeds on herbage;

it begins to breed when it is three years old, at which age it also

gets the rich and varied colours of its plumage; and it sits on its

eggs about thirty days, and once a-year it lays twelve eggs, and it

lays these not all at once, but at intervals, laying every third day.

But the first year of a hen's laying she does not lay more than eight

eggs; and she sometimes lays wind eggs like the common hen, but never

more than two; and she sits upon her eggs and hatches them very much

in the same way as the common hen does." And Eupolis, in his Deserters

from the Army, speaks of the peacock in the following terms—

Lest I should keep in Pluto's realm,

A peacock such as this, who wakes the sleepers.

And there is a speech extant, by Antiphanes the orator, which is

entitled, On Peacocks. And in that speech there is not one express

mention of the name peacock, but he repeatedly speaks of them in it as

birds of variegated plumage, saying—"That Demus, the son of Pyrilampes,

breeds these birds, and that out of a desire to see these birds, a

great many people come from Lacedæmon and from Thessaly, and show great

anxiety to get some of the eggs." And with respect to their appearance

he writes thus—"If any one wishes to remove these birds into a city,

they will fly away and depart; and if he cuts their wings he takes

away their beauty. For their wings are their beauty, and not their

body." And that people used to be very anxious to see them he tells us

subsequently in the same book, where he says; "But at the time of the

festival of the new moon, any one who likes is admitted to see them,

but on other days if any one comes and wishes to see them he is never

allowed to do so; and this is not a custom of yesterday, or a recent

practice, but one which has subsisted for more than thirty years."

[Sidenote: THE ATTIC FORM OF NOUNS IN ΩΣ.]

57. "But the Athenians call the word ταῶς," as Tryphon tells us,

"circumflexing and aspirating the last syllable. And they read it spelt

in this way in the Deserters from the Army of Eupolis, in the passage

which has been already quoted, and in the Birds of Aristophanes—

Are you then Tereus? are you a bird or a peacock (ταῶς)?

And in another passage he writes—

A bird then; what kind? is it not a peacock (ταῶς)?

But in the dative they say ταὧνι, as Aristophanes does in the same

play. But it is quite impossible in the Attic or Ionic dialects that,

in nouns which have more than one syllable, the last syllable beginning

with a vowel should be aspirated; for it is quite inevitable that it

should be pronounced with a lene breathing, as νεὢς, λεὢς, Τυνδάρεὠς,

Μενέλεὠς, λειπόνεὠς, εὔνεὠς, Νείλεὠς, πρᾶὀς, ὑίὀς, Κεῖὀς, χῖὀς, δῖὀς,

χρεῖὀς, πλεῖὀς, λεῖὀς, λαιὄς, βαιὂς, φαιὂς, πηὂς, γόὀς, θοὂς, ῥόὀς,

ζωὄς. For the aspirate is fond of beginning a word, and is by nature

inclined to the lead, and is never included in the last part of a word.

And the name ταὧς is derived from the extension (τάσις) of the wings."

And Seleucus, in the fifth book of his treatise on Hellenisms, says:

"The peacock, ταὧς:—but the Attics, contrary to all rule, both aspirate

and circumflex the last syllable; but the aspirate is only attached

to the first vowel when it begins a word in the simple pronunciation

of the word, and there taking the lead, and running on more swiftly,

it has the first place in the word. Accordingly, the Athenians, in

consequence of this arrangement, observing the inherent character of

this breathing, do not put it _on_ vowels, as they do often accents and

breathings, but put it before them. And I think that the ancients used

to mark the aspirate by the character H, on which account the Romans

write the letter H at the beginning of all aspirated nouns, showing

its predominant nature; and if this be the proper character of the

aspirate, it is plain that it is contrary to all reason and analogy

that the word ταῶς has any breathing at all marked upon it by the Attic

writers."

58. And as at the banquet a great many more discussions arose about

each of the dishes that were served up;—But I, said Laurentius,

according to the example of our most excellent friend Ulpian, will

myself also say something to you (for we are feeding on discussions).

What do you think of the grouse? And when some one said,—He is a

species of bird; (but it is the custom of the sons of the grammarians

to say of anything that is mentioned to them in this way, It is a

species of plant, a species of bird, a species of stone;) Laurentius

said—And I, my good friend, am aware that the admirable Aristophanes,

in his Birds, mentions the grouse in the following lines—

With the porphyrion and the pelican,

And pelecinnus, and the phlexis too,

The grouse and peacock.

But I wish to learn from you whether there is any mention of the

bird in any other author. For Alexander the Myndian, in the second

book of his treatise on Winged Animals, speaks of it as a bird of no

great size, but rather as one of the smaller birds. For his words are

these—"The grouse, a bird about the size of rook, of an earthenware

colour, variegated with dirty coloured spots, and long lines, feeding

on fruit; and when it lays its eggs t cackles (τετράζει). from which it

derives its name (τέτραξ)." And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

For when you've taken quails and sparrows too,

And larks who love to robe themselves in dust,

And grouse, and rooks, and beauteous fig-peckers.

And in another passage he says—

There were the herons with their long bending necks,

A numerous flock; and grouse, and rooks besides.

[Sidenote: LOINS.]

But since none of you have anything to say on the subject (as you

are all silent), I will show you the bird itself; for when I was the

Emperor's Procurator in Mysia, and the superintendent of all the

affairs of that province, I saw the bird in that country. And learning

that it was called by this name among the Mysians and Pæonians, I

recollected what the bird was by the description given of it by

Aristophanes. And believing that this bird was considered by the

all-accomplished Aristotle worthy of being mentioned in that work of

his worth many talents (for it is said that the Stagirite received

eight hundred talents from Alexander as his contribution towards

perfecting his History of Animals), when I found that there was no

mention of it in this work, I was delighted at having the admirable

Aristophanes as an unimpeachable witness in the matter. And while he

was saying this, a slave came in bringing in the grouse in a basket;

but it was in size larger than the largest cock of the common poultry,

and in appearance it was very like the porphyrion; and it had wattles

hanging from its ears on each side like the common cock; and its voice

was loud and harsh. And so after we had admired the beauty of the bird,

in a short time one was served up on the table dressed; and the meat of

him was like that of the ostrich, which we were often in the habit of

eating.

59. There was a dish too called loins (ψύαι). The poet who

wrote the poem called The Return of the Atridæ, in the third book says—

And with his rapid feet Hermioneus

Caught Nisus, and his loins with spear transfix'd.

And Simaristus, in the third book of his Synonymes, writes thus: "The

flesh of the loins which stands out on each side s called ψύαι, and

the hollows on each side they call κύβοι and γάλλιαι." And Clearchus,

in the second book of his treatise on The Joints in the Human Body,

speaks thus: "There is flesh full of muscle on each side; which some

people call ψύαι, and others call ἀλώπεκες, and others νευρόμητραι."

And the admirable Hippocrates also speaks of ψύαι; and they get this

name from being easily wiped (ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥαδίως ἀποψᾶσθαι), or as being

flesh lightly touching (ἐπιψαύουσα) the bones, and lying lightly on the

surface of them. And Euphron the comic poet mentions them in his Theori—

There is a lobe and parts, too, called ψύαι;

Learn to cut these before you view the sacrifice.

60. There is a dish too made of udder. Teleclides, in his Rigid Men,

says—

Since I'm a female, I must have an udder.

Herodotus, in the fourth book of his History, uses the same term when

speaking of horses; but it is rare to find the word (οὖθαρ) applied to

the other animals; but the word most commonly used is ὑπογάστριον, as

in the case of fishes. Strattis, in his Atalanta, says—

The ὑπογάστριον and the extremities

Of the large tunny.

And Theopompus, in his Callæschrus, says—

_A._ And th' ὑπογάστρια of fish.

_B._ O, Ceres!

But in the Sirens he calls it not ὑπογάστρια, but ὑπήτρια, saying—

Th' ὑπήτρια of white Sicilian tunnies.

61. We must now speak of the hare; concerning this animal Archestratus,

that author so curious in his dishes, speaks thus—

Many are the ways and many the recipes

For dressing hares; but this is best of all,

To place before a hungry set of guests,

A slice of roasted meat fresh from the spit,

Hot, season'd only with plain simple salt,

Not too much done. And do not you be vex'd

At seeing blood fresh trickling from the meat,

But eat it eagerly. All other ways

Are quite superfluous, such as when cooks pour

A lot of sticky clammy sauce upon it,

Parings of cheese, and lees, and dregs of oil,

As if they were preparing cat's meat.

And Naucrates the comic poet, in his Persia, says that it is an

uncommon thing to find a hare in Attica: and he speaks thus—

For who in rocky Attica e'er saw

A lion or any other similar beast,

Where 'tis not easy e'en to find a hare?

But Alcæus, in his Callisto, speaks of hares as being plentiful, and

says—

You should have coriander seed so fine

That, when we've got some hares, we may be able

To sprinkle them with that small seed and salt.

62. And Tryphon says,—"Aristophanes, in his Danaides, uses the form

λαγὼν in the accusative case with an acute accent on the last

syllable, and with a ν for the final letter, saying—

And when he starts perhaps he may be able

To help us catch a hare (λαγών).

And in his Daitaleis he says—

I am undone, I shall be surely seen

Plucking the fur from off the hare (λαγών).

But Xenophon, in his treatise on Hunting, writes the accusative λαγω

without the ν, and with a circumflex accent. But among us the ordinary

form of the nominative case is λαγός; and as we say ναὸς, and the

Attics νεὼς, and as we say λαὸς, and the Attics λεώς; so, while we call

this animal λαγὸς, they call him λαγώς. And as for our using the form

λαγὸν in the accusative case singular, to that we find a corresponding

nominative plural in Sophocles, in his Amycus, a satyric drama; where

he enumerates—

[Sidenote: HARES.]

Cranes, crows, and owls, and kites, and hares (λαγοι).

But there is also a form of the nominative plural corresponding to the

accusative λαγὼν, ending in ω, as found in the Flatterers of Eupolis—

Where there are rays, and hares (λαγὼ), and light-footed women.

But some people, contrary to all reason, circumflex the last

syllable of this form λαγώ; but it ought to have an acute accent, since

all the nouns which end in ος, even when they are changed into ως

by the Attic writers, still preserve the same accent as if they had

undergone no alteration; as ναὸς, νεώς; κάλος, κάλως. And so, too,

Epicharmus used this noun, and Herodotus, and the author of the poem

called the Helots. Moreover, λαγὸς is the Ionic form—

Rouse the sea-hare (λαγὸς) before you drink the water;

and λαγὼς the Attic one. But the Attic writers use also the form

λαγός; as Sophocles, in the line above quoted—

Cranes, crows, and owls, and hares (λαγοι).

There is also a line in Homer, where he says—

ἢ πτῶκα λαγωόν.

Now, if we have regard to the Ionic dialect, we say that ω is

interpolated; and if we measure it by the Attic dialect, then we say

the ο is so: and the meat of the hare is called λαγῶα κρέα.

63. But Hegesander the Delphian, in his Commentaries, says that in

the reign of Antigonus Gonatas, there were such a number of hares in

the island of Astypalæa, that the natives consulted the oracle on the

subject. And the Pythia answered them that they ought to breed dogs,

and hunt them; and so in one year there were caught more than six

thousand. And all this immense number arose from a man of the island

of Anaphe having put one pair of hares in the island. As also, on a

previous occasion, when a certain Astypalæan had let loose a pair of

partridges in the island of Anaphe, there came to be such a number

of partridges in Anaphe, that the inhabitants ran a risk of being

driven out of the island by them. But originally Astypalæa had no

hares at all, but only partridges. And the hare is a very prolific

animal, as Xenophon has told us, in his treatise on Hunting; and

Herodotus speaks of it in the following terms—"Since the hare is

hunted by everything—man, beast, and bird—it is on this account a very

prolific animal; and it is the only animal known which is capable of

superfetation. And it has in its womb at one time one litter with the

fur on, and another bare, and another just formed, and a fourth only

just conceived." And Polybius, in the twelfth book of his History,

says that there is another animal like the hare which is called the

rabbit (κούνικλος); and he writes as follows—"The animal called the

rabbit, when seen at a distance, looks like a small hare; but when any

one takes it in his hands, there is a great difference between them,

both in appearance and taste: and it lives chiefly underground." And

Posidonius the philosopher also mentions them in his History; and we

ourselves have seen a great many in our voyage from Dicæarchia[33] to

Naples. For there is an island not far from the mainland, opposite the

lower side of Dicæarchia, inhabited by only a very scanty population,

but having a great number of rabbits. And there is also a kind of

hare called the Chelidonian hare, which is mentioned by Diphilus, or

Calliades, in his play called Ignorance, in the following terms—

What is this? whence this hare who bears the name

Of Chelidonian? Is it grey hare soup,

Mimarcys call'd, so thick with blood?

And Theophrastus, in the twentieth book of his History, says that there

are hares about Bisaltia which have two livers.

[Sidenote: THE WORD ΣΥΑΓΡΟΣ.]

64. And when a wild boar was put upon the table, which was in no

respect less than that noble Calydonian boar which has been so much

celebrated,—I suggest to you now, said he, O my most philosophical

and precise Ulpian, to inquire who ever said that the Calydonian boar

was a female, and that her meat was white. But he, without giving

the matter any long consideration, but rather turning the question

off, said—But it does seem to me, my friends, that if you are not yet

satisfied, after having had such plenty of all these things, that

you surpass every one who has ever been celebrated for his powers of

eating,—and who those people are you can find out by inquiry. But it

is more correct and more consistent with etymology to make the name

σὺς, with a ς; for the animal has its name from rushing (σεύομαι) and

going on impetuously; but men have got a trick of pronouncing the word

without the ς,ὗς; and some people believe that it is called σῦν, by

being softened from θῦν, as if it had its name from being a fit animal

to sacrifice (θύειν). But now, if it seems good to you, answer me who

ever uses the compound word like we do, calling the wild boar not

σῦς ἄγριος, but σύαγρος̣ At all events, Sophocles, in his Lovers of

Achilles, has applied the word σύαγρος to a dog, as hunting the boar

(ἀπὸ τοῦ σῦς ἀγρεύειν), where he says—

And you, Syagre, child of Pelion.

And in Herodotus we find Syagrus used as a proper name of a man who

was a Lacedæmonian by birth, and who went on the embassy to Gelon the

Syracusan, about forming an alliance against the Medes; which Herodotus

mentions in the seventh book of his History. And I am aware, too, that

there was a general of the Ætolians named Syagrus, who is mentioned by

Phylarchus, in the fourth book of his History. And Democritus said—You

always, O Ulpian, have got a habit of never taking anything that is set

before you until you know whether the existing name of it was in use

among the ancients. Accordingly you are running the risk, on account

of all these inquiries of yours, (just like Philetas of Cos, who was

always investigating all false arguments and erroneous uses of words,)

of being starved to death, as he was. For he became very thin by reason

of his devotion to these inquiries, and so died, as the inscription in

front of his tomb shows—

Stranger, Philetas is my name, I lie

Slain by fallacious arguments, and cares

Protracted from the evening through the night.

65. And so that you may not waste away by investigating this word

σύαγρος, learn that Antiphanes gives this name to the wild boar, in his

Ravished Woman:—

This very night a wild boar (σύαγρον) will I seize,

And drag into this house, and a lion and a wolf.

And Dionysius the tyrant, in his Adonis, says—

Under the arched cavern of the nymphs

I consecrate . . . .

A wild boar (σύαγρον) as the first-fruits to the gods.

And Lynceus the Samian, in his epistle to Apollodorus, writes

thus—"That you may have some goat's flesh for your children, and some

meat of the wild boar (τὰ συάγρια) for yourself and your friends."

And Hippolochus the Macedonian, whom we have mentioned before now,

in his epistle to the above-named Lynceus, mentioned many wild boars

(συάγρων). But, since you have turned off the question which was put to

you about the colour of the Calydonian boar, and whether any one states

him to have been white as to his flesh, we ourselves will tell you who

has said so; and you yourself may investigate the proofs which I bring.

For some time ago, I read the dithyrambics of Cleomenes of Rhegium; and

this account is given in that ode of them which is entitled Meleager.

And I am not ignorant that the inhabitants of Sicily call the wild boar

(which we call σύαγρος) ἀσχέδωρος. And Æschylus, in his Phorcides,

comparing Perseus to a wild boar, says—

He rush'd into the cave like a wild boar (ἀσχέδωρος ὥς).

And Sciras (and he is a poet of what is called the Italian comedy, and

a native of Tarentum), in his Meleager, says—

Where shepherds never choose to feed their flocks,

Nor does the wild boar range and chase his mate.

And it is not wonderful that Æschylus, who lived for some time in

Sicily, should use many Sicilian words.

66. There were also very often kids brought round by the servants,

dressed in various ways; some of them with a great deal of assafoetida,

which afforded us no ordinary pleasure; for the flesh of the goat is

exceedingly nutritious. At all events, Clitomachus the Carthaginian,

who is inferior to no one of the new Academy for his spirit of

philosophical investigation, says that a certain Theban athlete

surpassed all the men of his time in strength, because he ate goat's

flesh; for the juice of that meat is nervous and sticky, and such as

can remain a long time in the substance of the body. And this wrestler

used to be much laughed at, because of the unpleasant smell of his

perspiration. And all the meat of pigs and lambs, while it remains

undigested in the system, is very apt to turn, because of the fat. But

the banquets spoken of by the comic poets rather please the ears by

sweet sounds, than the palate by sweet tastes; as, for instance, the

feast mentioned by Antiphanes, in his Female Physician—

[Sidenote: DINNERS.]

_A._ But what meat do you eat with most delight?

_B._ What meat?—why if you mean as to its cheapness,

There's mutton ere it bears you wool or milk,

That is to say, there's lamb, my friend; and so

There's also meat of goats which give no milk,

That is to say, of kids. For so much profit

Is got from these when they are fully grown,

That I put up with eating cheaper kinds.

And in his Cyclops he says—

These are the animals which the earth produces,

Which you will have from me: the ox of th' herd,

The goat which roves the woods, the chamois which

Loves the high mountain tops, the fearless ram,

The hog, the boar, the sucking-pig besides,

And hares, and kids . . . .

Green cheese, dry cheese, and cut and pounded cheese,

Scraped cheese, and chopp'd cheese, and congeal'd cheese

67. And Mnesimachus, in his Horse-breeder, provides the following

things for dinner—

Come forth, O Manes, from the chamber

Deck'd with the lofty cypress roof;

Go to the market, to the statues

Of Maia's son, where all the chiefs

Of the tribes meet, and seek the troop

Of their most graceful pupils, whom

Phidon is teaching how to mount

Their horses, and dismount from them.

I need not tell you now their names.

Go; tell them that the fish is cold,

The wine is hot, the pastry dry,

The bread dry, too, and hard. The chops

Are burnt to pieces, and the meat

Taken from out the brine and dish'd.

The sausages are served up too;

So is the tripe, and rich black-puddings.

Those who're indoors are all at table,

The wine cups all are quickly drain'd,

The pledge goes round; and nought remains

But the lascivious drunken cordax.[34]

The young men all are waxing wanton,

And ev'rything's turn'd upside down.

Remember what I say, and bear

My words in mind.

Why stand you gaping like a fool?

Look here, and just repeat the message

Which I've just told you; do,—I will

Repeat it o'er again all through.

Bid them come now, and not delay,

Nor vex the cook who's ready for them.

For all the fish is long since boil'd,

And all the roast meat's long since cold.

And mention o'er each separate dish;—

Onions and olives, garlic too,

Cucumbers, cabbages, and broth,

Fig-leaves, and herbs, and tunny cutlets,

Glanis and rhinè, shark and conger,

A phyxicinus whole, a tunny,

A coracinus whole, a thunnis,

A small anchovy, and a tench,

A spindle-fish, a tail of dog-fish,

A carcharias and a torpedo;

A sea-frog, lizard, and a perch,

A trichias and a phycis too,

A brinchus, mullet, and sea-cuckoo.

A turtle, and besides a lamprey,

A phagrus, lebias, and grey mullet,

A sparus, and æolias,

A swallow, and the bird of Thrace,

A sprat, a squid, a turbot, and

Dracænides, and polypi,

A cuttle-fish, an orphus too;

A crab, likewise an escharus,

A needle-fish, a fine anchovy,

Some cestres, scorpions, eels, and loaves.

And loads of other meat, beyond

My calculation or my mention.

Dishes of goose, and pork, and beef,

And lamb, and mutton, goat and kid;

Of poultry, ducks and partridges,

And jays, and foxes. And what follows

Will be a downright sight to see,

So many good things there will be.

And all the slaves through all the house

Are busy baking, roasting, dressing,

And plucking, cutting, beating, boiling,

And laughing, playing, leaping, feasting,

And drinking, joking, scolding, pricking.

And lovely sounds from tuneful flutes,

And song and din go through the house,

Of instruments both wind and string'd.

Meantime a lovely scent of cassia,

From Syria's fertile land, does strike

Upon my sense, and frankincense,

And myrrh, and nard * * *

* * * * *

Such a confusion fills the house

With every sort of luxury.

[Sidenote: COOKERY.]

68. Now, after all this conversation, there was brought in the dish

which is called Rhoduntia; concerning which that wise cook quoted

numbers of tragedies before he would tell us what he was bringing us.

And he laughed at those who professed to be such admirable cooks,

mentioning whom, he said—Did that cook in the play of Anthippus, the

comic poet, ever invent such a dish as this?—the cook, I mean, who, in

the Veiled Man, boasted in this fashion:—

_A._ Sophon, an Ararnanian citizen,

And good Democritus of Rhodes, were long

Fellow-disciples in this noble art,

And Labdacus of Sicily was their tutor.

These men effaced all vulgar old recipes

Out of their cookery books, and took away

The mortar from the middle of the kitchen.

They brought into disuse all vinegar,

Cummin, and cheese, and assafoetida,

And coriander seed, and all the sauces

Which Saturn used to keep within his cruets.

And the cook who employ'd such means they thought

A humbug, a mere mountebank in his art.

They used oil only, and clean plates, O father,

And a quick fire, wanting little bellows:

With this they made each dinner elegant.

They were the first who banish'd tears and sneezing,

And spitting from the board; and purified

The manners of the guests. At last the Rhodian,

Drinking some pickle by mistake, did die;

For such a draught was foreign to his nature.

_B._ 'Twas likely so to be.

_A._ But Sophon still

Has all Ionia for his dominions,

And he, O father, was my only tutor.

And I now study philosophic rules,

Wishing to leave behind me followers,

And new discover'd rules to guide the art.

_B._ Ah! but, I fear, you'll want to cut _me_ up,

And not the animal we think to sacrifice.

_A._ To-morrow you shall see me with my books,

Seeking fresh precepts for my noble art;

Nor do I differ from th' Aspendian.

And if you will, you too shall taste a specimen

Of this my skill. I do not always give

The self-same dishes to all kinds of guests;

But I regard their lives and habits all.

One dish I set before my friends in love,

Another's suited to philosophers,

Another to tax-gatherers. A youth

Who has a mistress, quickly will devour

His patrimonial inheritance;

So before him I place fat cuttle-fish

Of every sort; and dishes too of fish

Such as do haunt the rocks, all season'd highly

With every kind of clear transparent sauce.

For such a man cares nought about his dinner,

But all his thoughts are on his mistress fix'd.

Then to philosophers I serve up ham,

Or pettitoes; for all that crafty tribe

Are wonderful performers at the table.

Owls, eels, and spars I give the publicans,

When they're in season, but at other times

Some lentil salad. And all funeral feasts

I make more splendid than the living ones.

For old men's palates are not critical;

At least not half so much as those of youths.

And so I give them mustard, and I make them

Sauces of pungent nature, which may rouse

Their dormant sense, and make it snuff the air;

And when I once behold a face, I know

The dishes that its owner likes to eat.

69. And the cook in the Thesmophorus of Dionysius, my revellers, (for

it is worth while to mention him also,) says—

You have said these things with great severity,

(And that's your usual kindness, by the Gods);

You've said a cook should always beforehand

Know who the guests may be for whom he now

Is dressing dinner. For he should regard

This single point—whom he has got to please

While seasoning his sauces properly;

And by this means he'll know the proper way

And time to lay his table and to dress

His meats and soups. But he who this neglects

Is not a cook, though he may be a seasoner.

But these are different arts, a wondrous space

Separates the two. It is not every one

That's called a general who commands an army,

But he who can with prompt and versatile skill

Avail himself of opportunities,

And look about him, changing quick his plans,

He is the general. He who can't do this

Is only in command. And so with us.

To roast some beef, to carve a joint with neatness,

To boil up sauces, and to blow the fire,

Is anybody's task; he who does this

Is but a seasoner and broth-maker:

A cook is quite another thing. His mind

Must comprehend all facts and circumstances:

Where is the place, and when the time of supper;

Who are the guests, and who the entertainer;

What fish he ought to buy, and when to buy it.

* * * * * * * * For all these things

You'll have on almost every occasion;

[Sidenote: COOKERY.]

But they're not always of the same importance,

Nor do they always the same pleasure give.

Archestratus has written on this art,

And is by many people highly thought of,

As having given us a useful treatise;

But still there's much of which he's ignorant,

And all his rules are really good for nothing,

So do not mind or yield to all the rules

Which he has laid down most authoritatively,

For a more empty lot of maxims you

Will hardly find. For when you write a book

On cookery, it will not do to say,

"As I was just now saying;" for this art

Has no fix'd guide but opportunity,

And must itself its only mistress be.

But if your skill be ne'er so great, and yet

You let the opportunity escape,

Your art is lost, and might as well be none.

_B._ O man, you're wise. But as for this man who

You just now said was coming here to try

His hand at delicate banquets, say, does he

Forget to come?

_A._ If I but make you now

One forced meat ball, I can in that small thing

Give you a specimen of all my skill.

And I will serve you up a meal which shall

Be redolent of the Athenian breezes.

* * * * *

Dost fear that I shall fail to lull your soul

With dishes of sufficient luxury?

70. And to all this Æmilianus makes answer—

My friend, you've made a speech quite long enough

In praising your fav'rite art of cookery;—

as Hegesippus says in his Brethren. Do you then—

Give us now something new to see beyond

Your predecessor's art, or plague us not;

But show me what you've got, and tell its name.

And he rejoins—

You look down on me, since I am a cook.

But perhaps—

What I have made by practising my art—

according to the comic poet Demetrius, who, in his play entitled The

Areopagite, has spoken as follows—

What I have made by practising my art

Is more than any actor e'er has gain'd,—

This smoky art of mine is quite a kingdom.

I was a caper-pickler with Seleucus,

And at the court of the Sicilian king,

Agathocles, I was the very first

To introduce the royal dish of lentils.

My chief exploit I have not mention'd yet:

There was a famine, and a man named Lachares

Was giving an entertainment to his friends;

Whom I recovered with some caper-sauce.

Lachares made Minerva naked, who caused him no inconvenience; but I

will now strip you who are inconveniencing me, said Æmilianus, unless

you show me what you have got with you. And he said at last, rather

unwillingly, I call this dish the Dish of Roses. And it is prepared

in such a way, that you may not only have the ornament of a garland

on your head, but also in yourself, and so feast your whole body with

a luxurious banquet. Having pounded a quantity of the most fragrant

roses in a mortar, I put in the brains of birds and pigs boiled and

thoroughly cleansed of all the sinews, and also the yolks of eggs,

and with them oil, and pickle-juice, and pepper, and wine. And having

pounded all these things carefully together, I put them into a new

dish, applying a gentle and steady fire to them. And while saying this,

he uncovered the dish, and diffused such a sweet perfume over the whole

party, that one of the guests present said with great truth—

The winds perfumed the balmy gale convey

Through heav'n, through earth, and all the aërial way;

so excessive was the fragrance which was diffused from the roses.

71. After this, some roasted birds were brought round, and some lentils

and peas, saucepans and all, and other things of the same kind,

concerning which Phænias the Eresian writes thus, in his treatise on

Plants—"For every leguminous cultivated plant bearing seed, is sown

either for the sake of being boiled, such as the bean and the pea, (for

a sort of boiled soup is made of these vegetables,) or else for the

sake of extracting from them a farinaceous flour, as, for instance,

the aracus; or else to be cooked like lentils, as the aphace and the

common lentil; and some again are sown in order to serve as food for

fourfooted animals, as, for instance, the vetch for cattle, and the

aphace for sheep. But the vegetable called the pea is mentioned by

Eupolis, in his Golden Age." And Heliodorus, who wrote a description of

the whole world, in the first book of his treatise on the Acropolis,

said—"After the manner in which to boil wheat was discovered, the

ancients called it πύανον, but the people of the present day name it

ὁλόπυρον."

[Sidenote: CHAMÆLEON.]

Now, after this discussion had continued a long time, Democritus

said—But at least allow us to have a share of these lentils, or of the

saucepan itself, lest some of you get pelted with stones, like Hegemon

the Thasian. And Ulpian said,—What is the meaning of this pelting

(βαλλητὺς) with stones? for I know that in my native city, Eleusis,

there is a festival celebrated which is called βαλλητὺς, concerning

which I will not say a word, unless I get a reward from each of you.

But I, said Democritus, as I am not a person who makes speeches by the

hour for hire, like the Prodeipnus of Timon, will tell you all I know

about Hegemon.

72. Chamæleon of Pontus, in the sixth book of his treatise concerning

ancient Comedy, says—"Hegemon of Thasos, the man who wrote the

Parodies, was nicknamed The Lentil, and in one of his parodies he

wrote—

While I revolved these counsels in my mind,

Pallas Minerva, with her golden sceptre,

Stood by my head, and touched me, and thus spake—

O thou ill-treated Lentil, wretched man,

Go to the contest: and I then took courage.

And once he came into the theatre, exhibiting a comedy, having his robe

full of stones; and he, throwing the stones into the orchestra, caused

the spectators to wonder what he meant. And presently afterwards he

said—

These now are stones, and let who chooses throw them;

But Lentil's good alike at every season.

But the man has an exceedingly high reputation for his parodies, and

was exceedingly celebrated for reciting his verses with great skill

and dramatic power; and on this account he was greatly admired by the

Athenians. And in his Battle of the Giants, he so greatly delighted

the Athenians, that they laughed to excess on that day; and though on

that very day the news of all the disasters which had befallen them

in Sicily had just arrived, still no one left the theatre, although

nearly every one had lost relations by that calamity; and so they hid

their faces and wept, but no one rose to depart, in order to avoid

being seen by the spectators from other cities to be grieved at the

disaster. But they remained listening to the performance, and that too,

though Hegemon himself, when he heard of it, had resolved to cease his

recitation. But when the Athenians, being masters of the sea, brought

all the actions at law concerning the islands or the islanders into the

city, some one instituted a prosecution against Hegemon, and summoned

him to Athens to answer it. And he came in court, and brought with him

all the workmen of the theatre, and with them he appeared, entreating

Alcibiades to assist him. And Alcibiades bade him be of good cheer, and

ordered all the workmen to follow him; and so he came to the temple of

Cybele, where the trials of prosecutions were held; and then wetting

his finger with his mouth, he wiped out the indictment against Hegemon.

And though the clerk of the court and the magistrate were indignant at

this, they kept quiet for fear of Alcibiades, for which reason also the

man who had instituted the prosecution ran away."

73. This, O Ulpian, is what we mean by pelting (βαλλητὺς), but you,

when you please, may tell us about the βαλλητὺς at Eleusis. And Ulpian

replied,—But you have reminded me, my good friend Democritus, by

your mention of saucepans, that I have often wished to know what that

is which is called the saucepan of Telemachus, and who Telemachus was.

And Democritus said,—Timocles the comic poet, and he was also a writer

of tragedy, in his drama called Lethe, says—

And after this Telemachus did meet him,

And with great cordiality embraced him,

And said, "Now lend me, I do beg, the saucepans

In which you boil'd your beans." And scarcely had

He finish'd saying this, when he beheld

At some small distance the renowned Philip,

Son of Chærephilus, that mighty man,

Whom he accosted with a friendly greeting,

And then he bade him send some wicker baskets.

But that this Telemachus was a citizen of the borough of Acharnæ, the

same poet shows us in his Bacchus, where he says—

_A._ Telemachus th' Acharnian still is speaking,

And he is like the new-bought Syrian slaves.

_B._ How so, what does he do? I wish to know.

_A._ He bears about with him a deadly dish.

And in his Icarians, a satyric drama, he says—

So that we'd nothing with us; I myself,

Passing a miserable night, did first

[Sidenote: BEAN SOUP.]

Sleep on the hardest bed; and then that Lion,

Thudippus, did congeal us all with fear;

Then hunger pinch'd us . . . . . .

And so we went unto the fiery Dion.

But even he had nought with which to help us;

So running to the excellent Telemachus,

The great Acharnian, I found a heap

Of beans, and seized on some and ate them up.

And when that ass Cephisodorus saw us,

He by a most unseemly noise betray'd us.

From this it is plain that Telemachus, being a person who was

constantly eating dishes of beans, was always celebrating the festival

Pyanepsia.

74. And bean soup is mentioned by Heniochus the comic writer, in his

play called the Wren, where he says—

_A._ I often, by the Gods I swear, consider

In my own mind how far a fig surpasses

A cardamum. But you assert that you

Have held some conversation with this Pauson,

And you request of me a difficult matter.

_B._ But having many cares of divers aspects,

Just tell me this, and it may prove amusing;

Why does bean soup so greatly fill the stomach,

And why do those who know this Pauson's habits

Dislike the fire? For this great philosopher

Is always occupied in eating beans.

75. So after this conversation had gone on for some time, water for

the hands was brought round; and then again Ulpian asked whether the

word χέρνιβον, which we use in ordinary conversation, was used by the

ancients; and who had met with it; quoting that passage in the Iliad—

He spoke, and bade the attendant handmaid bring

The purest water of the living spring,

(Her ready hands the ewer (χέρνιβον) and basin held,)

Then took the golden cup his queen had fill'd.

But the Attic writers say χερνίβιον, as Lysias, for instance, in

his speech against Alcibiades, where he says, "With all his golden

wash-hand basins (χερνιβιοις) and incense-burners;" but Eupolis uses

the word χειρόνιπτρον, in his Peoples—

And he who runs up first receives a basin (χειρόνιπτρον),

But when a man is both a virtuous man

And useful citizen, though he surpass

In virtue all the rest, he gets no basin (χειρόνιπτρον).

But Epicharmus, in his Ambassadors for a Sacred Purpose, uses the

word χειρόνιβον in the following lines:—

A harp, and tripods, chariots too, and tables

Of brass Corinthian, and wash-hand basins (χειρόνιβα),

Cups for libations, brazen caldrons too.

But it is more usual to say κατὰ χειρὸς ὕδωρ (water to be poured over

the hands), as Eupolis does say in his Golden Age, and Ameipsias in

his Sling, and Alcæus in his Sacred Wedding: and this is a very common

expression. But Philyllius, in his Auge, says κατὰ χειρῶν, not χειρὸς,

in these lines:—

And since the women all have dined well,

'Tis time to take away the tables now,

And wipe them, and then give each damsel water

To wash her hands (κατὰ χειρῶν), and perfumes to anoint them.

And Menander, in his Pitcher, says—

And they having had water for their hands (κατὰ χειρῶν λαβόντες),

Wait in a friendly manner.

76. But Aristophanes the grammarian, in his Commentary on the Tablets

of Callimachus, laughs at those who do not know the difference between

the two expressions, κατὰ χειρὸς and ἀπονίψασθαι; for he says that

among the ancients the way in which people washed their hands before

breakfast and supper was called κατὰ χειρὸς, but what was done after

those meals was called ἀπονίψασθαι. But the grammarian appears to

have taken this observation from the Attic writers, since Homer says,

somewhere or other—

Marshall'd in order due, to each a ewer

Presents, to bathe his hands (νίψασθαι), a radiant ewer;

Luxuriant then they feast.

And somewhere else he says—

The golden ewer a maid obsequious brings,

Replenish'd from the cool translucent springs,

With copious water the bright vase supplies,

A silver laver of capacious size;

They wash (ὕδωρ ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἔχευαν). The tables in fair order spread,

They heap the glittering canisters with bread.

And Sophron, in his Female Actresses, says—

O hard-work'd Cæcoa, give us water for our hands (κατὰ χειρὸς),

And then prepare the table for our food.

And among both the tragic and comic writers the word χερνίβα

is read with an acute accent on the penultima. By Euripides, in his

Hercules—

Which great Alcmena's son might in the basin (χερνίβα) dip.

And also by Eupolis, in his Goats—

Here make an end of your lustration (χερνίβα).

[Sidenote: SOAP.]

And χέρνιψ means the water into which they used to dip a firebrand

which they took from the altar on which they were offering the

sacrifice, and then sprinkling the bystanders with it, they purified

them. But the accusative χερνιβα ought to be written with an acute

accent on the antepenultima; for all compound words like that,

ending in ψ, derived from the perfect passive, preserve the vowel

of the penultima of that perfect tense. And if the perfect ends its

penultimate syllable with a double μμ, then the derivative has a grave

on the ultima, as λέλειμμαι αἰγίλιψ, τέτριμμαι οἰκότριψ, κέκλεμμαι

βοόκλεψ (a word found in Sophocles and applied to Mercury),βέβλεμμαι

κατώβλεψ (a word found in Archelaus of the Chersonese, in his poem on

Things of a Peculiar Nature: and in the oblique cases such words keep

the accent on the same syllable). And Aristophanes, in his Heroes, has

used the word χερνίβιον.

77. And for washing the hands they also used something which they

called σμῆμα, or soap, for the sake of getting off the dirt; as

Antiphanes mentions in his Corycus—

_A._ But while I'm listening to your discourse,

Bid some one bring me water for my hands.

_B._ Let some one here bring water and some σμῆμα.

And besides this they used to anoint their hands with perfumes,

despising the crumbs of bread on which men at banquets used to wipe

their hands, and which the Lacedæmonians called κυνάδες,[35] as Polemo

mentions in his Letter on Mean Appellations. But concerning the custom

of anointing the hands with perfumes, Epigenes or Antiphanes (whichever

was the author of the play called the Disappearance of Money) speaks as

follows:—

And then you'll walk about, and, in the fashion,

Will take some scented earth, and wash your hands.

And Philoxenus, in his play entitled the Banquet, says—

And then the slaves brought water for the hands (νίπτρα κατὰ χειρῶν),

And soap (σμῆμα) well mix'd with oily juice of lilies,

And poured o'er the hands as much warm water

As the guests wish'd. And then they gave them towels

Of finest linen, beautifully wrought,

And fragrant ointments of ambrosial smell,

And garlands of the flow'ring violet.

And Dromo, in his Female Harp-player, says—

And then, as soon as we had breakfasted,

One handmaid took away the empty tables,

Another brought us water for our hands;

We wash'd, and took our lily wreaths again,

And crown'd our heads with garlands.

78. But they called the water in which they washed either their hands

or their feet equally απονιπτρον, Aristophanes says—

Like those who empty slops (απονιπτρον) at eventide.

And they used the word λεκάνη, or basin, in the same way as they used

χειρόνιπτρον (a wash-hand basin); but the word ἀπόνιμμα is used

in a peculiar sense by the Attic writers only for the water used to

do honour to the dead, and for purifying men who have incurred some

religious pollution. As also Clidemus tells us, in his book entitled

Exegeticus; for he, having mentioned the subject of Offerings to the

Dead, writes as follows:—"Dig a trench to the west of the tomb. Then

look along the side of the trench towards the west. Then pour down

water, saying these words,—'I pour this as a purifying water for you to

whom it is right to pour it, and who have a right to expect it.' Then

after that pour perfume." And Dorotheus gives the same instructions;

saying, that among the hereditary national customs of the people of

Thyatira, these things are written concerning the purification of

suppliants,—"Then having washed your hands yourself, and when all the

rest of those who have joined in disembowelling the victim have washed

theirs, take water and purify yourselves, and wash off all the blood

from him who is to be purified: and afterwards stir the purifactory

water, and pour it into the same place."

79. But the cloth of unbleached linen with which they used to wipe

their hands was called χειρόμακτρον, which also, in some verses

which have been already quoted, by Philoxenus of Cythera, was called

ἔκτριμμα. Aristophanes, in his Cook's Frying, says—

Bring quickly, slave, some water for the hands (κατὰ χειρος),

And bring at the same time a towel (χειρόμακτρον) too.

(And we may remark here, that in this passage he uses the expression

κατὰ χειρὸς with reference to washing the hands after eating; not, as

Aristophanes the grammarian says, that

[Sidenote: TOWELS.]

the Athenians used the expression κατὰ χειρὸς before eating, but the word

νίψασθαι after eating.) Sophocles, in his Œnomaus, says—

Shaved in the Scythian manner, while his hair

Served for a towel, and to wipe his hands in.

And Herodotus, in the second book of his History, speaks in a similar

manner. But Xenophon, in the first book of his Cyropædia, writes—"But

when you have touched any one of these things, you immediately wipe

your hands in a towel, as if you were greatly annoyed at their having

been polluted in such a manner." And Polemo, in the sixth book of

his books addressed to Antigonus and Adæus, speaks of the difference

between the two expressions κατὰ χειρὸς and νίψασθαι. And Demonicus,

in his Achelonius, uses the expression κατὰ χειρὸς, of water used

before a meal, in these lines:—

But each made haste, as being about to dine

With one who'd always a good appetite,

And who had also but Bœotian manners.

And so they all neglected washing their hands (κατὰ χειρὸς),

Because they could do that when they had dined.

And Cratinus also mentions towels, which he calls ὠμόλινον, in his

Archilochi,—

With her hair cover'd with a linen towel,

Token of slovenly neglect.

And Sappho, in the fifth book of her Melodies addressed to Venus, when

she says—

And purple towels o'er your knees I'll throw,

And do not you despise my precious gifts

* * * * *

speaks of these towels as a covering for the head; as Hecatæus shows,

or whoever else it was who wrote those Descriptions of the World in the

book entitled Asia,—"And the women wear towels (χειρόμακτρα) on their

heads." And Herodotus, in his second book, says, "And after this they

said that this king descended down alive into the lower regions, which

the Greeks call αἵδης, and that there he played at dice with

Ceres, and that sometimes he won and sometimes he lost; and that after

that he returned to earth with a gold-embroidered towel, which he had

received as a present from her."

80. And Hellanicus, in his Histories, says that the name of the boy

who, when he had given Hercules water to wash his hands, and poured

it over his hands from the basin, was afterwards slain by Hercules

with a blow of his fist, (on which account Hercules left Calydon,) was

Archias; but in the second book of the Phoronis he calls him Cherias:

but Herodorus, in the seventeenth book of his account of the Exploits

of Hercules, calls him Eunomus. And Hercules also, without intending

it, killed Cyathus, the son of Pyles and brother of Antimachus, who was

acting as his cupbearer, as Nicander relates in the second book of his

History of Œta; to whom also he says that a temple was dedicated by

Hercules in the Proschium, which to this day is called the Temple of

the Cupbearer.

But we will stop this conversation at this point, and begin the next

book with an account of the voracity of Hercules.

FOOTNOTES

[Footnote 24: The fragment here given appears to be hopelessly corrupt.]

[Footnote 25: Hom. Iliad, ix. 323, Pope's translation.]

[Footnote 26: Hom. Odyss. xiv. 80.]

[Footnote 27: This is very obscure and corrupt. Casaubon suspects the

genuineness of the last four lines altogether.]

[Footnote 28: Μέροπες means properly men speaking articulately, in

contradistinction to brutes. It is a favourite word with Homer.]

[Footnote 29: These are words applied by Homer to sacrifices.—Μοιρα

is a portion, and ὀβελὸς a spit; but μιστυλλα is only a word derived

from Homer's verb μιστύλλω, (from which Æmilianus, a friend of Martial,

called his cook _Mistyllus_,) and δίπτυχα is used by Homer as an

adverb.]

[Footnote 30: I have translated ἀτταγᾶς as the woodcock, because that

is always considered to be the bird meant, but it is plain that the

description here given does not apply in the least to the woodcock. In

some particulars it is more like the landrail.]

[Footnote 31: Schweighaeuser thinks, with apparent reason, that there

is some corruption in the text here.]

[Footnote 32: Athenæus here does not arrange his conjugations as we do;

nor is it very plain what he means by an immutable consonant.]

[Footnote 33: The same as Puteoli.]

[Footnote 34: The cordax was a lascivious dance of the old comedy;

to dance it off the stage was considered a sign of drunkenness and

indecency.]

[Footnote 35: As being thrown to the dogs; from κυὼν, a dog.]