1. The conversation which you reported to me did not allow me to give up
a considerable portion of the day to sleep, as it was of a very varied
nature.
Nicander of Colophon says that wine, =oinos=, has its name from
Oeneus:--
Oeneus pour'd the juice divine
In hollow cups, and call'd it wine.
And Melanippides of Melos says--
'Twas Oeneus, master, gave his name to wine.
But Hecatæus of Miletus says, that the vine was discovered in Ætolia;
and adds, "Orestheus, the son of Deucalion, came to Ætolia to endeavour
to obtain the kingdom; and while he was there, a bitch which he had
brought forth a stalk: and he ordered it to be buried in the ground, and
from it there sprang up a vine loaded with grapes. On which account he
called his son Phytius. And he had a son named Oeneus, who was so
called from the vines: for the ancient Greeks," says he, "called vines
=oinai=. Now Oeneus was the father of Ætolus." But Plato in his
Cratylus, inquiring into the etymology of the word =oinos=, says, that
it is equivalent to =oionous=, as filling the mind, =nous=, with
=oiêsis=, or self-conceit. Perhaps, however, the word may be derived
from =onêsis=, succour. For Homer, giving as it were the derivation of
the word, speaks nearly after this fashion--
And then you will be succour'd (=onêseai=) if you drink.
And he too constantly calls food =oneiata=, because it supports us.
2. Now the author of the Cyprian poems, whoever he was, says--
No better remedies than wine there are,
O king, to drive away soul-eating care.
And Diphilus the comic poet says--
O Bacchus, to all wise men dear,
How very kind you do appear;
You make the lowly-hearted proud,
And bid the gloomy laugh aloud;
You fill the feeble man with daring,
And cowards strut and bray past bearing.
And Philoxenus of Cythera says--
Good store of wine which makes men talk.
But Chæremon the tragedian says, that wine inspires those who use it
with
Laughter and wisdom and prudence and learning.
And Ion of Chios calls wine
Youth of indomitable might,
With head of bull; the loveliest wight
Who ever rank'd as Love's esquire,
Filling men with strength and fire.
And Mensitheus says--
Great was the blessing, when the gods did show
Sweet wine to those who how to use it know;
But where bad men its righteous use pervert,
To such, I trow, it will be rather hurt.
For to the first it nourishment supplies,
Strengthens their bodies, and their minds makes wise;
A wholesome physic 'tis when mix'd with potions,
Heals wounds as well as plasters or cold lotions.
Wine to our daily feasts brings cheerful laughter,
When mix'd with proper quantities of water;
Men saucy get if one-third wine they quaff;
While downright madness flows from half-and-half;
And neat wine mind and body too destroys;
While moderation wise secures our joys.
And well the oracle takes this position,
That Bacchus is all people's best physician.
3. And Eubulus introduces Bacchus as saying--
Let them three parts of wine all duly season
With nine of water, who'd preserve their reason;
The first gives health, the second sweet desires,
The third tranquillity and sleep inspires.
These are the wholesome draughts which wise men please,
Who from the banquet home return in peace.
From a fourth measure insolence proceeds;
Uproar a fifth, a sixth wild licence breeds;
A seventh brings black eyes and livid bruises,
The eighth the constable next introduces;
Black gall and hatred lurk the ninth beneath,
The tenth is madness, arms, and fearful death;
For too much wine pour'd in one little vessel,
Trips up all those who seek with it to wrestle.
And Epicharmus says--
_A._ Sacrifices feasts produce,
Drinking then from feasts proceeds.
_B._ Such rotation has its use.
_A._ Then the drinking riot breeds;
Then on riot and confusion
Follow law and prosecution;
Law brings sentence; sentence chains;
Chains bring wounds and ulcerous pains.
And Panyasis the epic poet allots the first cup of wine to the Graces,
the Hours, and Bacchus; the second to Venus, and again to Bacchus; the
third to Insolence and Destruction. And so he says--
O'er the first glass the Graces three preside,
And with the smiling Hours the palm divide;
Next Bacchus, parent of the sacred vine,
And Venus, loveliest daughter of the brine,
Smile on the second cup, which cheers the heart,
And bids the drinker home in peace depart.
But the third cup is waste and sad excess,
Parent of wrongs, denier of redress;
Oh, who can tell what evils may befall
When Strife and Insult rage throughout the hall?
Content thee, then, my friend, with glasses twain;
Then to your home and tender wife again;
While your companions, with unaching heads,
By your example taught, will seek their beds.
But riot will be bred by too much wine,
A mournful ending for a feast divine;
While, then, you live, your thirst in bounds confine.
And a few lines afterwards he says of immoderate drinking--
For Insolence and Ruin follow it.
According to Euripides,
Drinking is sire of blows and violence.
From which some have said that the pedigree of Bacchus and of Insolence
were the same.
4. And Alexis says somewhere--
Man's nature doth in much resemble wine:
For young men and new wine do both need age
To ripen their too warm unseason'd strength,
And let their violence evaporate.
But when the grosser portions are worked off,
And all the froth is skimm'd, then both are good;
The wine is drinkable, the man is wise,
And both in future pleasant while they last.
And according to the bard of Cyrene--
Wine is like fire when 'tis to man applied,
Or like the storm that sweeps the Libyan tide;
The furious wind the lowest depths can reach,
And wine robs man of knowledge, sense, and speech.
But in some other place Alexis says the contrary to what I have just
cited:--
_A._ Man in no one respect resembles wine:
For man by age is made intolerable;
But age improves all wine.
_B._ Yes; for old wines cheer us,
But old men only snarl, abuse, and jeer us.
And Panyasis says--
Wine is like fire, an aid and sweet relief,
Wards off all ills, and comforts every grief;
Wine can of every feast the joys enhance,
It kindles soft desire, it leads the dance.
Think not then, childlike, much of solid food,
But stick to wine, the only real good.
And again--
Good wine's the gift which God has given
To man alone beneath the heaven;
Of dance and song the genial sire,
Of friendship gay and soft desire;
Yet rule it with a tighten'd rein,
Nor moderate wisdom's rules disdain;
For when uncheck'd there's nought runs faster,--
A useful slave, but cruel master.
5. Timæus of Tauromenium relates that there was a certain house at
Agrigentum called the Trireme, on this account:--Some young men got
drunk in it, and got so mad when excited by the wine, as to think that
they were sailing in a trireme, and that they were being tossed about on
the sea in a violent storm; and so completely did they lose their
senses, that they threw all the furniture, and all the sofas and chairs
and beds, out of window, as if they were throwing them into the sea,
fancying that the captain had ordered them to lighten the ship because
of the storm. And though a crowd collected round the house and began to
plunder what was thrown out, even that did not cure the young men of
their frenzy. And the next day, when the prætors came to the house,
there were the young men still lying, sea-sick as they said; and, when
the magistrates questioned them, they replied that they had been in
great danger from a storm, and had consequently been compelled to
lighten the ship by throwing all their superfluous cargo into the sea.
And while the magistrates marvelled at the bewilderment of the men, one
of them, who seemed to be older than the rest, said, "I, O Tritons, was
so frightened that I threw myself down under the benches, and lay there
as low down and as much out of sight as I could." And the magistrates
forgave their folly, and dismissed them with a reproof, and a warning
not to indulge in too much wine in future. And they, professing to be
much obliged to them, said, "If we arrive in port after having escaped
this terrible storm, we will erect in our own country statues of you as
our saviours in a conspicuous place, along with those of the other gods
of the sea, as having appeared to us at a seasonable time." And from
this circumstance that house was called the Trireme.
6. But Philochorus says that men who drink hard do not only show what
sort of disposition they themselves are of, but do also reveal in their
chattering the characters of every one else whom they know. Whence comes
the proverb,
Wine and truth;[62:1]
and the sentence,
Wine lays bare the heart of man.
And so in the contests of Bacchus the prize of victory is a tripod: and
we have a proverb of those who speak truth, that "they are speaking from
the tripod;" in which the tripod meant is the cup of Bacchus. For there
were among the ancients two kinds of tripods, each of which, as it
happened, bore the name of =lebês=, or _bowl_; one, which was used to be
put on the fire, being a sort of kettle for bathing, as Æschylus says--
They pour'd the water in a three-legg'd bowl,
Which always has its place upon the fire:
and the other is what is also called =kratêr=, a _goblet_. Homer says--
And seven fireless tripods.
And in these last they mixed wine; and it is this last tripod that is
the tripod of truth; and it is considered appropriate to Apollo, because
of the truth of his prophetic art; and to Bacchus, because of the truth
which people speak when drunk. And Semus the Delian says--"A brazen
tripod, not the Pythian one, but that which they now call a bowl. And of
these bowls some were never put on the fire, and men mixed their wine in
them; and the others held water for baths, and in them they warmed the
water, putting them on the fire; and of these some had ears, and having
their bottom supported by three feet they were called tripods."
Ephippus says somewhere or other--
_A._ That load of wine makes you a chatterer.
_B._ That's why they say that drunken men speak truth.
And Antiphanes writes--
There are only two secrets a man cannot keep,
One when he's in love, t' other when he's drunk deep:
For these facts are so proved by his tongue or his eyes,
That we see it more plainly the more he denies.
7. And Philochorus relates that Amphictyon, the king of the Athenians,
having learnt of Bacchus the art of mixing wine, was the first man who
ever did mix it: and that it is owing to him that men who have been
drinking on his system can walk straight afterwards, when before they
used to blunder about after drinking sheer wine: and on this account he
erected an altar to the Straight Bacchus in the temple of the Seasons;
for they are the Nymphs who cherish the fruit of the vine. And near it
he built also an altar to the Nymphs, as a memorial to all who use mixed
drink; for the Nymphs are said to have been the nurses of Bacchus. And
he made a law to bring an unmixed wine after meals only just enough to
taste, as a token of the power of the Good Deity. But the rest of the
wine was put on the table ready mixed, in whatever quantity any one
chose. And then he enjoined the guests to invoke in addition the name of
Jupiter the Saviour, for the sake of instructing and reminding the
drinkers that by drinking in that fashion they would be preserved from
injury. But Plato, in his second book of the Laws, says that the use of
wine is to be encouraged for the sake of health. But on account of the
look which habitual drunkards get, they liken Bacchus to a bull; and to
a leopard, because he excites drunkards to acts of violence. And Alcæus
says--
Wine sometimes than honey sweeter,
Sometimes more than nettles bitter.
Some men, too, are apt to get in a rage when drunk; and they are like a
bull. Euripides says--
Fierce bulls, their passion with their horns displaying.
And some men, from their quarrelsome disposition when drunk, are like
wild beasts, on which account it is that Bacchus is likened to a
leopard.
8. Well was it then that Ariston the Chian said that that was the most
agreeable drink which partook at the same time of both sweetness and
fragrance; for which reason some people prepare what is called nectar
about the Olympus which is in Lydia, mixing wine and honeycombs and the
most fragrant flowers together. Though I am aware indeed that
Anaxandrides says that nectar is not the drink, but the meat of the
gods:--
Nectar I eat, and well do gnaw it;
Ambrosia drink, (you never saw it);
I act as cupbearer to Jove,
And chat to Juno--not of love;
And oftentimes I sit by Venus,
With marplot none to come between us.
And Alcman says--
Nectar they eat at will.
And Sappho says--
The goblets rich were with ambrosia crown'd,
Which Hermes bore to all the gods around.
But Homer was acquainted with nectar as the drink of the gods. And
Ibycus says that ambrosia is nine times as sweet as honey; stating
expressly that honey has just one-ninth part of the power of ambrosia as
far as sweetness goes.
9.
One fond of wine must be an honest man;
For Bacchus, for his double mother famed,
Loves not bad men, nor uninstructed clowns,
says Alexis. He adds, moreover, that wine makes all men who drink much
of it fond of talking. And the author of the Epigram on Cratinus says--
If with water you fill up your glasses,
You'll never write anything wise
But wine is the horse of Parnassus,
That carries a bard to the skies.
And this was Cratinus's thought,
Who was ne'er with one bottle content,
But stuck to his cups as he ought,
And to Bacchus his heart and voice lent.
His house all with garlands did shine,
And with ivy he circled his brow,
To show he nought worshipp'd but wine,
As, if he still lived, he'd do now.
Polemo says that in Munychia a hero is honoured of the name of
Acratopotes:[64:1] and that among the Spartans statues of the heroes
Matton and Ceraon were erected by some cooks in the hall of the
Phiditia.[64:2] And in Achaia a hero is honoured called Deipneus, having
his name from =deipnon=, a supper. But from a dry meal there arise no
jokes, nor extempore poems, though, on the other hand, such an one does
not cause any boasting or insolence of mind; so that it is well said--
Where are the empty boasts which Lemnos heard
When season'd dishes press'd the ample board,
When the rich goblets overflow'd with wine?
though Aristarchus the grammarian put a mark against the line which
represents the Greeks as getting insolent through much eating. For he
said that it was not every sort of cheerfulness and satiety which
engendered boasting and jesting and ridiculous actions; but that these
things proceeded only from such revelling as made men beside themselves,
and inclined them to falsehood,--from drunkenness, in fact.
10. On which account Bacchylides says:--
Sweet force, from wine proceeding,
Now warms my soul with love,
And on my spirit leading,
With hopes my heart does move.
It drives dull care away,
And laughs at walls and towers;
And bids us think and say,
That all the world is ours.
The man who drinks plenty of wine,
Will never for wealth be wishing;
For his cellar's a ceaseless mine,
And an undisturb'd heart he is rich in.
And Sophocles says--
Drinking is a cure for woe.
And other poets call wine--
Fruit of the field, which makes the heart to leap.
And the king of all poets introduces Ulysses saying--
Let generous food supplies of strength produce,
Let rising spirits flow from sprightly juice,
Let their warm heads with scenes of battle glow,[65:1]
and so on.
11. It is in consequence of wine that both comedy and tragedy were
discovered in Icarium, a village of Attica; and it was at the time of
the grape harvest that these inventions were first introduced, from
which comedy was at first called =trygôdia=.
Euripides, in the Bacchæ, says that Bacchus
Gave men the wine which every grief dispels;
Where wine is not, there Venus never dwells,
Nor any other thing which men hold dear.
And Astydamas says that Bacchus
Gave men the vine which cures all mortal grief,
Parent of genial wine.
"For," says Antiphanes, "a man who continually fills himself with wine
becomes indifferent and careless; but he who drinks but little is very
meditative." And Alexis says--
I'm not beside myself with drink; nor have I so much taken
As not to be quite understood by those to whom I'm speaking.
But Seleucus says that it was not an ancient custom to indulge in wine
or any other luxury to excess, except, indeed, on the occasion of some
sacred festival; which is the origin of the names =thoinai=, and
=thaliai=, and =methai=--=Thoinai= meaning that men thought it right
=dia theous oinousthai=, to drink wine on account of the gods; =thaliai=
meaning that =charin theôn hêlizonto=, they assembled and met together
in honour of the gods. And this comes to the same as the Homeric
expression =daita thaleian=. And Aristotle says that the word =methyein=
is derived from the fact that men used wine =meta to thyein= after
sacrificing.
12. Euripides says that it is possible that
Those who with humble gifts approach the gods,
May often holier be, than those who load
The groaning altars with whole hecatombs;
and the word =telos=, which he employs in the first line, means
"sacrifice." And Homer uses the same word when he says--
God holds no sacrifice in more esteem,
Than hearts where pious joy and pleasure beam.[66:1]
And we call those festivals which are of greater magnitude and which are
celebrated with certain mysterious traditions, =teletai=, on account of
the expense which is lavished on them. For the word =teleô= means _to
spend_. And men who spend a great deal are called =polyteleis=; and
those who spend but little are called =euteleis=. Alexis says--
Those who with fair prosperity are bless'd,
Should always keep themselves before the world;
Glad to display the bounty of the gods.
For they, the givers of all good, deserve
A holy gratitude; and they will have it.
But if, when they their gifts have shower'd, they see
The objects of their bounty live like churls,
Useless to all around them; who can wonder
If they recall what seems so ill bestow'd?
13. A man is not fond of wine who has been used from his earliest years
to drink water. But--
'Tis sweet, at a banquet or festival meeting,
To chat o'er one's wine, when the guests have done eating,
says Hesiod in his Melampodia.
It has not occurred to any one of you to say a word about water, though
wine is made of it, and though Pindar, the most grandiloquent of poets,
has said that "water is the best of all things." And Homer, too, the
most divine of all poets, recognised it as a most nutritious thing, when
he spoke of a grove of poplars nourished by the water. He also praises
its transparent nature--
Four fountains flow'd with clearest water white;[67:1]
and the water which is of a lighter nature, and of greater value, he
calls "lovely:" at all events he calls the Titaresius lovely which falls
into the Peneus. And he mentions also some water as especially good for
washing; and Praxagoras of Cos, following his example, speaks of a water
as beauteous--
Beauteous it flows, to wash all dirt away.
And he distinguishes also between sweet water and brackish (=platys=)
water; though when he calls the Hellespont =platys=, he uses the word in
the sense of broad. But with respect to sweet water, he says--
Near the sweet waters then our ships we stay'd.[67:2]
14. He was acquainted too with the effect which warm water has on
wounds: at all events he describes Eurypylus's wounds as being washed
with it; and yet, if the object was to stop the hæmorrhage, cold water
would have been useful, since that contracts and closes up wounds; but
with the view of relieving the pain, he bathes these with warm water,
which has a soothing effect. And in Homer the word =liaros= is used for
what we call =thermos=, _warm_. And he shows that plainly enough in what
he says about the fountains of the Scamander, saying--
Next by Scamander's double source they bound,
Where two famed fountains burst the parted ground;
This warm, through scorching clefts is seen to rise,
With exhalations steaming to the skies.[67:3]
Can we call that only _warm_ from which a steam of fire, and a fiery
smoke arises? But of the other source he says--
That, the green banks in summer's heat o'erflows,
Like crystal clear, and cold as winter's snows.
And he often speaks of men newly wounded being bathed in warm water. In
the case of Agamemnon he says--
With his warm blood still welling from the wound.[67:4]
And in the case of a stag fleeing after it had been wounded, he says,
in a sort of paraphrase--
While his warm blood and mighty limbs were strong.[68:1]
The Athenians call =chliaron=, which is properly _lukewarm_,
=metakeras=, as Eratosthenes uses the word, saying, "Watery by nature,
and lukewarm, =metakeras=."
15. And of other waters, those which come from rocks he calls "dark," as
being quite useless; and he prefers to all others the waters of springs,
and those which rise to the surface from a great depth, and through rich
soil. As also Hesiod says--
A ceaseless spring of clear untroubled flow.
And Pindar says--
Ambrosial water, like fresh honey sweet,
Which from Tilphossa's lovely fountains flows;
(Tilphossa is a fountain in Boeotia;) and Aristophanes says that
Tiresias died from drinking of it, as at his advanced age he was unable
to bear its extreme cold. And Theophrastus, in his book on Waters, says
that the water of the Nile is the most productive and the sweetest of
all waters, and that it is also very relaxing to the bowels of those who
drink it, as it has in it a mixture of nitre. And again, in his book on
Plants, he says that there is in some places water which has a
procreative tendency; as for instance at Thespiæ: and at Pyrrha there is
a water which causes barrenness. But it happened once when there was a
drought in the district around the Nile, that the water of that river
became unwholesome, and many of the Egyptians died. Theophrastus states,
moreover, that not only do bitter waters sometimes change their nature,
but that salt water does so too, and sometimes whole rivers do so; as in
the case of the fountain in Cithæron, near which there is a temple of
Jupiter; and of that in Cairo, near which there is a temple of Neptune:
and the reason is, that many thunderbolts fall in those countries.
16. But there are some waters which have a good deal of body in them,
and are of considerable weight; as that in Troezen,--for that gives
the mouths of those who taste it a feeling of fulness. And the waters
near the mines in Pangæum, in winter, weigh ninety-six drachms to half a
pint, but in summer they only weigh forty-six. For the cold contracts
and condenses it; on which account that which is used in hour-glasses
does not make the hours in winter the same as those in summer, but
longer; for the flow is slower on account of the increased density of
the water. And he says that the same is the case in Egypt, though the
air there is softer. Brackish water is more earthy, and requires more
working; as also does sea-water, the nature of which is warmer, and
which is not exposed to the same changes as river-water. And there is
one salt spring which is of invincible hardness,--I mean that of
Arethusa. But as a general rule heavy waters are worse, and so are hard
and cold waters, for the same reason; for they are not so easily
prepared for use, some because they are very earthy, and some from the
excess of cold. But those waters which are quickly warmed are light and
wholesome. And in Crannon there is a spring of a gentle warmth, which
keeps wine which is mixed with it of the same temperature for two or
three days. But flowing waters, and waters from aqueducts, are, as a
general rule, better than stagnant ones, being softer because of the
collisions to which they are subjected; and on this account water
derived from snow appears to be good, because its more drinkable
qualities are brought to the surface, and are exposed to the influence
of the air; and for the same reason they think it better than
rain-water: and on the same ground, too, they prefer water from ice,
because it is lighter; and the proof is, that ice is itself lighter than
the rest of the water. But very cold water is hard, as being earthy; but
that with much body in it, when it is warmed, is susceptible of greater
heat, and when it is cold, descends to a more intense cold. And for the
same reason water on the mountains is better to drink than water in the
plains; for there is in such less admixture of earthy matter. And it is
from the earthy particles present that waters vary in colour: at all
events, the water of the lake at Babylon is red for some days after it
is drawn; and that of the Borysthenes is for some time of a violet or
dark colour, although it is unusually thin in quality; and a proof of
this is, that at the point where it meets the Hypanis its waters flow
above those of the latter while the north winds prevail.
17. And in many places there are fountains, some of which are good for
drinking, and have a vinous flavour; as for instance, one in
Paphlagonia, which they say the natives come to for the express purpose
of drinking. Some, again, are salt, with a rather bitter flavour; as
some among the Sicani in Sicily. And in the Carthaginian dominions there
is a fountain on which there is something which floats resembling oil,
but darker in colour, which they skim off and make into balls, and use
for their sheep and cattle; and in other districts, too, there are
fountains of a greasy nature,--like the one in Asia concerning which
Alexander wrote a letter, saying that he had found a fountain of oil.
And of waters which are warm by nature some are sweet, as that at Ægæ in
Cilicia, and that at Pagasæ, and that at Larissa in the Troas, and that
near Magnesia, and that in Melos, and that in Lipara, and that in
Prusa,--the Prusa, I mean, near Mount Olympus in Mysia,--which is called
the Royal fountain. But that in Asia near Tralles, and those near the
river Characometes, and near the city of Mysia, are so oily that those
who bathe in them have no need of oil. And there is a similar fountain
in the village of Dascylum. There is also one at Carura of an exceeding
dryness and heat: and there is another near Menoscome, which is a
village in Phrygia, of a rougher and a more nitrous quality; as there is
too in a village in Phrygia, called The Lion's Village. And there is a
spring near Dorylæum, which is very delicious to drink; but those which
are at Baiæ or Baium, a harbour in Italy, are utterly undrinkable.
18. I myself weighed the water which comes from the fountain called
Pirene in Corinth, and found it lighter than any other water in Greece.
For I did not believe Antiphanes the comic writer, who says that in many
respects Attica is superior to all other districts, and also that it has
the best water of any; for he says:--
_A._ Have you remark'd, my friend,
That none can with this favour'd land contend
In honey, loaves, and figs?
_B._ Aye, figs indeed!
_A._ In myrtles, perfumes, wools, in choicest breed
Of cattle, and in cheese; and on what ground
Can fountains like the Attic springs be found?
Eubulus, the writer of comedies, somewhere or other says that Chæremon
the tragedian called water the body of the river:--
But when we pass'd the folds, and cross'd the water,
The river's lucid body, all our troops
In the pure crystal bathed their weary limbs.
There is a fountain in Tenos the water of which cannot be mixed with
wine. And Herodotus, in his fourth book, says that the Hypanis, at a
distance of five days' journey from its head, is thin and sweet to the
taste; but that four days' journey further on it becomes bitter, because
some bitter spring falls into it. And Theopompus says that near the
river Erigone all the water is sour; and that those who drink of it
become intoxicated, just like men who have drunk wine.
19. But Aristobulus of Cassandra says that there is a fountain in
Miletus called the Achillean, the stream of which is very sweet, while
the sediment is brackish: this is the water in which the Milesians say
that their hero bathed when he had slain Trambelus the king of the
Leleges. And they say, too, that the water in Cappadocia never becomes
putrid, but there is a great deal in that district, of an admirable
quality, though it has no outlet unless it flows underground. And
Ptolemy the king, in the Seventh Book of his Commentaries, says that as
you go to Corinth through the district called Contoporia, when you have
got to the top of the mountain there is a fountain whose waters are
colder than snow, so that many people are afraid to drink of it lest
they should be frozen; but he says that he drank of it himself. And
Phylarchus states that at Cleitor there is a spring which gives those
who drink of it a distaste for the smell of wine. And Clearchus tells us
that water is called white, like milk; and that wine is called red, like
nectar; and that honey and oil are called yellow, and that the juice
which is extracted from the myrtle-berry is black. Eubulus says that
"water makes those who drink nothing else very ingenious,
But wine obscures and clouds the mind;"
and Philetas borrows not only the thought, but the lines.
20. Athenæus then, having delivered this lecture on water, like a
rhetorician, stopped awhile, and then began again.
Amphis, the comic writer, says somewhere or other--
There is, I take it, often sense in wine,
And those are stupid who on water dine.
And Antiphanes says--
Take the hair, it well is written,
Of the dog by whom you're bitten.
Work off one wine by his brother,
And one labour with another;
Horns with horns, and noise with noise,
One crier with his fellow's voice;
Insult with insult, war with war,
Faction with faction, care with care;
Cook with cook, and strife with strife,
Business with business, wife with wife.
The ancients applied the word =akraton= even to unmixed water. Sophron
says--
Pour unmix'd water (=hydôr akraton=) in the cup.
21. Phylarchus says that Theodorus the Larissæan was a water-drinker;
the man, I mean, who was always so hostile to king Antigonus. He asserts
also that all the Spaniards drink water, though they are the richest of
all men, for they have the greatest abundance of gold and silver in
their country. And he says, too, that they eat only once a day, out of
stinginess, though they wear most expensive clothes. And Aristotle or
Theophrastus speaks of a man named Philinus as never having taken any
drink or solid food whatever, except milk alone, during the whole of his
life. And Pythermus, in his account of the tyrants of Piræus, mentions
Glaucon as having been a water-drinker. And Hegesander the Delphian says
that Anchimolus and Moschus, sophists who lived in Elis, were
water-drinkers all their lives; and that they ate nothing but figs, and
for all that, were quite as healthy and vigorous as any one else; but
that their perspiration had such an offensive smell, that every one
avoided them at the baths. And Matris the Athenian, as long as he lived,
ate nothing except a few myrtle-berries each day, and abstained from
wine and every other kind of drink except water. Lamprus, too, the
musician, was a water-drinker, concerning whom Phrynichus says, "that
the gulls lamented, when Lamprus died among them, being a man who was a
water-drinker, a subtle hypersophist, a dry skeleton of the Muses, an
ague to nightingales, a hymn to hell." And Machon the comic poet
mentions Moschion as a water-drinker.
22. But Aristotle, in his book on Drunkenness, says, that some men who
have been fond of salt meat have yet not had their thirst stimulated by
it; of whom Archonides the Argive was one. And Mago the Carthaginian
passed three times through the African desert eating dry meal and never
drinking. And Polemo the Academic philosopher, from the time that he
was thirty years of age to the day of his death, never drank anything
but water, as is related by Antigonus the Carystian. And Demetrius the
Scepsian says that Diocles of Peparethus drank cold water to the day of
his death. And Demosthenes the orator, who may well be admitted as a
witness in his own case, says that he drank nothing but water for a
considerable length of time. And Pytheas says, "But you see the
demagogues of the present day, Demosthenes and Demades, how very
differently they live. For the one is a water-drinker, and devotes his
nights to contemplation, as they say; and the other is a debauchee, and
is drunk every day, and comes like a great potbellied fellow, as he is,
into our assemblies." And Euphorion the Chalcidean writes in this
way:--"Lasyrtas the Lasionian never required drink as other men do, and
still it did not make him different from other men. And many men, out of
curiosity, were careful to watch him, but they desisted before they
ascertained what was the truth. For they continued watching him for
thirty days together in the summer season, and they saw that he never
abstained from salt meat, and yet that, though drinking nothing, he
seemed to have no complaint in his bladder. And so they believed that he
spoke the truth. And he did, indeed, sometimes take drink, but still he
did not require it.
A change of meat is often good,
And men, when tired of common food,
Redoubled pleasure often feel,
When sitting at a novel meal.
23. The king of Persia, as Herodotus relates in his first book, drank no
water, except what came from the river Choaspes, which flows by Susa.
And when he was on a journey, he had numbers of four-wheeled waggons
drawn by mules following him, laden with silver vessels containing this
water, which was boiled to make it keep. And Ctesias the Cnidian
explains also in what manner this water was boiled, and how it was put
into the vessels and brought to the king, saying that it was the
lightest and sweetest of all waters. And the second king of Egypt, he
who was surnamed Philadelphus, having given his daughter Berenice in
marriage to Antiochus the king of Syria, took the trouble to send her
water from the river Nile, in order that his child might drink of no
other river, as Polybius relates. And Heliodorus tells us, that
Antiochus Epiphanes, whom Polybius calls Epimanes,[74:1] on account of
his actions, mixed the fountain at Antioch with wine; a thing which
Theopompus relates to have been also done by the Phrygian Midas, when he
wished to make Silenus drunk in order to catch him. And that fountain
is, as Bion relates, between the Mædi and the Pæonians, and is called
Inna. But Staphylus says, that Melampus was the first who invented the
idea of mixing wine with water. And Plistonicus says that water is more
digestible than wine.
24. Now men who drink hard before eating, are usually not very
comfortable in their digestion, which are apt to get out of order by
such a system, and what they eat often turns sour on the stomach. So
that a man who has a regard for his health, ought to take regular
exercise, for the sake of promoting frequent perspiration; and he ought
also to use the bath regularly for the sake of moistening and relaxing
his body. And besides this, and before he bathes, he should drink water,
as being an excellent thing,--drinking warm water usually in winter and
spring, and cold water in summer, in order not to weaken the stomach.
But he should only drink in moderation before the bath or the gymnasium,
for the sake of diffusing what he drinks throughout his system
beforehand, and in order to prevent the unmixed strength of wine from
having too much effect on his extremities. And if any one thinks it too
much trouble to live on this system, let him take sweet wine, either
mixed with water or warmed, especially that which is called =protropos=,
the sweet Lesbian wine, as being very good for the stomach.
Now sweet wines do not make the head heavy, as Hippocrates says in his
book on Diet, which some entitle, "The Book on Sharp Pains;" others,
"The Book on Barleywater;" and others, "The Book against the Cnidian
Theories." His words are: "Sweet wine is less calculated to make the
head heavy, and it takes less hold of the mind, and passes through the
bowels easier than other wine." But Posidonius says, that it is not a
good thing to pledge one's friends as the Carmani do; for they, when at
their banquets they wish to testify their friendship for each other, cut
the veins on their faces, and mingle the blood which flows down with the
liquor, and then drink it; thinking it the very extremest proof of
friendship to taste one another's blood. And after pledging one another
in this manner, they anoint their heads with ointment, especially with
that distilled from roses, and if they cannot get that, with that
distilled from apples, in order to ward off the effects of the drink,
and in order also to avoid being injured by the evaporation of the wine;
and if they cannot get ointment of apples, they then use that extracted
from the iris or from spikenard, so that Alexis very neatly says--
His nose he anoints, and thinks it plain
'Tis good for health with scents to feed the brain.
25. But one ought to avoid thick perfumes, and to drink water which is
thin and transparent, and which in respect of weight is light, and which
has no earthy particles in it. And that water is best which is of a
moderate heat or coldness, and which, when poured into a brazen or
silver vessel, does not produce a blackish sediment. Hippocrates says,
"Water which is easily warmed or easily chilled is always lighter." But
that water is bad which takes a long time to boil vegetables; and so too
is water full of nitre, or brackish. And in his book upon Waters,
Hippocrates calls good water drinkable; but stagnant water he calls bad,
such as that from ponds or marshes. And most spring-water is rather
hard. But Erasistratus says that some people test water by weight, and
that is a most stupid proceeding. "For just look," says he, "if men
compare the water from the fountain Amphiaraus with that from the
Eretrian spring, though one of them is good and the other bad, there is
absolutely no difference in their respective weights." And Hippocrates,
in his book on Places, says that those waters are the best which flow
from high ground, and from dry hills, "for they are white, and sweet,
and are able to bear very little wine, and are warm in winter and cold
in summer." And he praises those most, the springs of which break
towards the east, and especially towards the north-east, for they must
inevitably be clear, and fragrant, and light. Diocles says that water is
good for the digestion, and not apt to cause flatulency, that it is
moderately cooling, and good for the eyes, and that it has no tendency
to make the head feel heavy, and that it adds vigour to the mind and
body. And Praxagoras says the same; and he also praises rain-water. But
Euenor praises water from cisterns, and says that the best is that from
the cistern of Amphiaraus, when compared with that from the fountain in
Eretria.
26. But that water is undeniably nutritious is plain from the fact that
some animals are nourished by it alone, as for instance, grasshoppers.
And there are many other liquids which are nutritious, such as milk,
barleywater, and wine. At all events, animals at the breast are
nourished by milk; and there are many nations who drink nothing but
milk. And it is said that Democritus, the philosopher of Abdera, after
he had determined to rid himself of life on account of his extreme old
age, and when he had begun to diminish his food day by day, when the day
of the Thesmophorian festival came round, and the women of his household
besought him not to die during the festival, in order that they might
not be debarred from their share in the festivities, was persuaded, and
ordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him: and in this way he
lived many days with no other support than honey; and then some days
after, when the honey had been taken away, he died. But Democritus had
always been fond of honey; and he once answered a man, who asked him how
he could live in the enjoyment of the best health, that he might do so
if he constantly moistened his inward parts with honey, and his outward
man with oil. And bread and honey was the chief food of the
Pythagoreans, according to the statement of Aristoxenus, who says that
those who eat this for breakfast were free from disease all their lives.
And Lycus says that the Cyrneans (and they are a people who live near
Sardinia) are very long-lived, because they are continually eating
honey; and it is produced in great quantities among them.
27. When he says, men have adjourned the investigation into all such
matters, he uses the word =anatithemenos= instead of =anaballomenos=.
The word =anêstis= is used in the same sense as =nêstis=, _i.e._
_fasting_ (just as we find =stachys= and =astachys=) by Cratinus, when
he says--
For you are not the first who's come to supper
After a lengthen'd fast,
And the word =oxypeinos= is used by Diphilus for _hungry_--
I'm glad when those who set them up as wise,
Are naked seen and hungry.
And Antiphanes says--
_A._ At all events he's one complaint,
For he is hungry ever.
_B._ The keen Thessalian race you paint,
Who can be sated never.
And Eubulus says--
Then Zethus was advised to seek the plain,
The holy plain of Thebes; for there men sell
The cheapest loaves and cakes.
Again advice came to the great Amphion,
The sweet musician, pointing out to him
The famous Athens for his resting-place.
Whose sons at hunger ne'er repine, but feed
On air and sweetest hopes.
28. The word =monositôn=, _eating once a day_, occurs too in Alexis--
When you meet with a man who takes only one meal,
Or a poet who music pretends not to feel;
The man half his life, the bard half his art, loses;
And sound reason to call either living refuses.
And Plato says, "he not only was not content with one meal a-day, but
sometimes he even dined twice the same day."
We know that men used to call sweetmeats =nôgaleumata=. Araros says in
the Campylion--
These =nôgaleimata= are very nice.
And Alexis says--
In Thasian feasts his friends he meets,
And =nôgalizei=, sweatmeats eats.
And Antiphanes, in the Busiris, says--
Grapes, and pomegranates, and palms,
And other =nôgala=.
Philonides used the word =apositos= for _fasting_; and Crobylus has the
word =autositos=, writing =parasiton, autositon=.
Eupolis, too, used =anaristêtos= for _without breakfast_; Crates has
the word =anankositos=, _eating by force_, and Nicostratus uses
=anankositeô=.
There is a youth most delicately curl'd,
Whom I do feed by force beneath the earth.
And Alexis has the word =aristodeipnon=, _breakfast-dinner_--
By whom the breakfast-dinner is prepared.
29. After this we rose up and sat down again as each of us pleased, not
waiting for a nomenclator to arrange us in order.
Now that rooms were fitted up with couches for three, and with couches
for four, and for seven, and for nine, and for other successive numbers,
in the time of the ancients, we may prove from Antiphanes, who says--
I bring you, since you are but three,
To a room with equal couches.
And Phrynichus says--
One room had seven couches fine,
While another boasted nine.
And Eubulus says--
_A._ Place now a couch for seven.
_B._ Here it is.
_A._ And five Sicilian couches.
_B._ Well, what next
_A._ And five Sicilian pillows.
And Amphis says--
Will you not place a couch for three?
Anaxandrides--
A couch was spread,
And songs to please the aged man.
Open the supper rooms, and sweep the house,
And spread the couches fair, and light the fire;
Bring forth the cups, and fill with generous wine.
30. . . . . . And Plato the philosopher, "Men now distinguish the
couches and coverings with reference to what is put round the couch and
what is put under it." And his namesake, the comic poet, says--
There the well-dress'd guests recline
On couches rich with ivory feet;
And on their purple cushions dine,
Which rich Sardinian carpets meet.
For the art of weaving embroidered cloths was in great perfection in his
time, Acesas and Helicon, natives of Cyprus, being exceedingly eminent
for their skill in it; and they were weavers of very high reputation.
And Helicon was the son of Acesas, as Hieronymus reports: and so at
Pytho there is an inscription on some work--
Fair Venus's isle did bring forth Helicon,
Whose wondrous work you now do gaze upon;
And fair Minerva's teaching bade his name
And wondrous skill survive in deathless fame.
And Pathymias the Egyptian was a man of similar renown.
Ephippus says--
Place me where rose-strewn couches fill the room,
That I may steep myself in rich perfume.
Aristophanes says--
Oh you who press your mistress to your arms,
All night upon sweet-scented couches lying.
Sophron too speaks of coverlets embroidered with figures of birds as of
great value. And Homer, the most admirable of all poets, calls those
cloths which are spread below =lita=, that is to say, white, neither
dyed nor embroidered. But the coverlets which are laid above he calls
"beautiful purple cloths."
31. The Persians, according to the account of Heraclides, are the people
who first introduced the system of having particular servants to prepare
the couches, in order that they might always be elegantly arranged and
well made. And on this account Artaxerxes, having a high esteem for
Timagoras the Cretan, or, as Phanias the Peripatetic says, for Entimus
the Gortinian, who went up to the king in rivalry of Themistocles, gave
him a tent of extraordinary size and beauty, and a couch with silver
feet; and he sent him also expensive coverlets, and a man to arrange
them, saying that the Greeks did not know how to arrange a couch. And so
completely had this Cretan gained the favour of the king, that he was
invited to a banquet of the royal family, an honour which had never been
paid to any Greek before, and never has been since; for it was reserved
as an especial compliment for the king's relations. Nor was this
compliment paid to Timagoras the Athenian, who submitted to offer
adoration to the king, and who was held in the highest honour by him,
though some of the things which were set before the king were sent to
him from the royal table. The king of Persia, too, once took a chaplet
from off his head and dipped it in perfume, and sent it to Antalcidas
the Lacedæmonian. But he did this too, and many similar things, to
Entimus; also, and in addition to everything else, he invited him to a
banquet of the royal family. And the Persians were very indignant at
this, thinking that it was making such an honour too common, and also
because they thought they were on the eve of another expedition against
Greece. He sent him also a couch with silver feet, and cushions for it,
and a flowered tent surmounted with a canopy, and a silver chair, and a
gilt parasol, and some golden vessels inlaid with precious stones, and a
hundred large vessels of silver, and silver bowls, and a hundred girls,
and a hundred boys, and six thousand pieces of gold, besides what was
allowed him for his daily expenses.
32. There were tables with ivory feet, the top slabs of which were made
of maple wood. Cratinus says--
Fair girls await you, and a table
Of highly polish'd dappled maple.
And when one of the Cynics used the word =tripous=, meaning a table,
Ulpian got indignant and said, "To-day I seem to have trouble coming on
me arising out of my actual want of business; for what does this fellow
mean by his tripod, unless indeed he counts Diogenes' stick and his two
feet, and so makes him out to be a tripod? At all events every one else
calls the thing which is set before us =trapeza=."
Hesiod, in his poem on the marriage of Ceyx, (although indeed the sons
of the Grammarians deny that that poem is his work, but I myself think
that it is an ancient piece,) does call tables =tripodes=. And Xenophon,
a most accomplished writer, in the second book of the Anabasis,
writes--"=Tripodes= were brought in for every one, to the number of
about twenty, loaded with ready carved meats." And he goes on, "And
these =trapezai= were placed for the most part where the strangers sat."
Antiphanes says--
The =tripous= was removed, we wash'd our hands.
Eubulus says--
_A._ Here are five =tripodes= for you; here five more.
_B._ Why I shall be quinquagenarian.
Epicharmus says--
_A._ And what is this?
_B._ A =tripous=.
_A._ How is that?
Has it not _four_ feet? 'tis a =tetrapous=.
_B._ It may be strictly; but its name is =tripous=.
_A._ Still I can see four feet.
_B._ At all events
You are no Oedipus, to be so puzzled.
And Aristophanes says--
_A._ Bring me one =trapeza= more,
With three feet, not one with four.
_B._ Where can I a =tripous trapeza= find?
33. It was a custom at feasts, that a guest when he had lain down should
have a paper given to him, containing a bill of fare of what there was
for dinner, so that he might know what the cook was going to serve up.
We find a fruit called Damascenes. Now many of the ancient writers
mention Damascus, a city of great reputation and importance; and as
there is a great quantity of plum-trees in the territory of the
Damascenes, and as they are cultivated there with exceeding care, the
tree itself has got to be called a Damascene, as being a kind of plum
different from what is found in other countries. The fruit is more like
prunes. And many writers speak of them, and Hipponax says--
I have a garland of damascenes and mint.
And Alexis says--
_A._ And in my sleep I thought I saw a prize.
_B._ What was it?
_A._ Listen--There came up to me,
While still within th' arena's spacious bounds,
One of my rivals, bringing me a crown--
A ripe revolving crown of damascenes.
_B._ Oh Hercules! and were the damascenes ripe?
And again he says--
Did you e'er see a sausage toasted,
Or dish of tripe well stuff'd and roasted?
Or damascenes stew'd in rich confection?--
Such was that gentleman's complexion.
Nicander says--
The fruit they call a plum, the cuckoo's prize.
But Clearchus the Peripatetic says that the Rhodians and Sicilians call
plums =brabyla=, and so Theocritus the Syracusan uses the word--
Heavy with plums, the branches swept the ground.
And again he says--
Far as the apple doth the plum surpass.
But the damascene is smaller in circumference than other plums, though
in flavour it is very like them, except that it is a little sharper.
Seleucus, in his Dictionary, says that =brabyla, êla, kokkymêla=, and
=madrya= are all different names for the same thing; and that plums are
called =brabyla=, as being good for the stomach, and =boran ek
ballonta=, that is, assisting to remove the food; and =êla=, which is
the same word as =mêla=, meaning simply _fruit_, as Demetrius Ixion says
in his Etymology. And Theophrastus says, =kokkymêla kai spodias=:
=spodias= being a kind of wild plum. And Araros calls the tree which
bears the fruit =kokkymêlea=, and the fruit itself =kokkymêlon=. And
Diphilus of Siphnos pronounces plums to be juicy, digestible, and easily
evacuated, but not very nutritious.
34. There is another fruit, called Cherries.--Theophrastus says, in his
book on Plants, that the Cherry-tree is a tree of a peculiar character,
and of large size, for it grows to a height of four-and-twenty
cubits,[82:1] and its leaf is like that of the medlar, but somewhat
harder and thicker, and its bark like the linden; its flower is white,
like that of the pear or the medlar, consisting of a number of small
petals of a waxy nature; its fruit is red, like that of the lotus in
appearance, and of the size of a bean; but the kernel of the lotus is
hard, while that of the cherry is soft. And again he says, "The
=krataigos=, which some call =krataigôn=, has a spreading leaf like a
medlar, only that is larger, and wider, and longer; and it has no deep
grain in it as the medlar has. The tree is neither very tall nor very
large; the wood is variegated, yellow, and strong: it has a smooth bark,
like that of the medlar; and a single root, which goes down very deep
into the earth; the fruit is round, of the size of an olive; when fully
ripe it is of a yellow colour, becoming gradually darker; and from its
flavour and juice it might almost be taken for a wild medlar." By which
description of the cratægus it appears to me that he means the tree
which is now called the cherry.
35. Asclepiades of Myrlea speaks of a tree which he calls the
Ground-cherry, and says, "In the land of the Bithynians there is found
the ground-cherry, the root of which is not large, nor is the tree, but
like a rose-bush; in all other respects the fruit is like the common
cherry; but it makes those who eat much of it feel heavy, as wine does,
and it gives them head-aches." These are the words of Asclepiades. And
it appears to me that he is speaking of the arbutus. For the tree which
bears the arbutus-berry answers his description, and if a man eats more
than six or seven of the berries he gets a headache. Aristophanes says--
And planted by no hand, the arbutus
Makes red the sunny hills.
Theopompus says--
The myrtle berries and red arbutus.
Crates says--
Beauteous the breast of tender maid,
As arbutus or apples red.
And Amphis--
Mulberries you see, my friend, are found
On the tree which we know as the mulberry;
So the oak bears the acorn round,
And the arbutus shines with its full berry.
And Theophrastus tells us, "The =komaros= (as he calls it) is the tree
which bears the arbutus berry."
There is question about the "Agen," a satyric drama, whether it was
composed by Python, (and if by him whether he was a native of Catana or
of Byzantium,) or by the king Alexander himself.
Then Laurentius says--"You, O Greeks, lay claim to a good many things,
as either having given the names to them, or having been the original
discoverers of them. But you do not know that Lucullus, the Roman
general, who subdued Mithridates and Tigranes, was the first man who
introduced this plant into Italy from Cerasus, a city of Pontus; and he
it was who gave the fruit the Latin name of Cerasus, _cherry_, after the
name of the city, as our historians relate."
Then Daphnis answers--"But there was a very celebrated man, Diphilus of
Siphnos, many years more ancient than Lucullus, for he was born in the
time of king Lysimachus, (who was one of the successors of Alexander,)
and he speaks of cherries, saying, 'Cherries are good for the stomach,
and juicy, but not very nutritious; if taken after drinking cold water
they are especially wholesome; but the red and the Milesian are the best
kinds, and are diuretic.'"
36. There is a fruit usually called the =sykaminon=, which the people of
Alexandria call the =moron=, in which they differ from every one else;
but it has no connexion with the Egyptian fig, which some call
=sykomoron=, and which the natives scrape slightly with a knife, and
then leave on the tree; and then when it has been tossed about by the
wind, within three days it becomes ripe and fragrant, (especially if the
wind is west,) and very good to eat, as there is something in it which
is moderately cooling for people in a fever, when made up with oil of
roses into a plaster, so as to be put upon the stomach, and it is no
slight relief to the patient. Now the Egyptian sycaminus bears its fruit
on the main stem, and not on the branches. But the sycaminus is a
mulberry, a fruit mentioned by Æschylus in his Phrygians, where he says
of Hector,
His heart was softer than a mulberry.
And in his "Cretan Women" he says of the brier--
As the full branch to earth is weigh'd
With mulberries, white and black and red.
And Sophocles has the lines--
First you shall see the full white ear of corn,
And then the large round rosy mulberry.
And Nicander in his Georgics says that it is the first of all fruits to
appear; and he calls the tree which bears it =morea=, as also do the
Alexandrians--
The mulberry-tree, in which the young delight,
Brown autumn's harbinger.
37. Phanias of Eresus, the pupil of Aristotle, calls the fruit of the
wild sycamine =moron=, or mulberry, being a fruit of the greatest
sweetness and delicacy when it is ripe. And he writes thus: "The
mulberry is a briery sort of tree,[84:1] and when the round fruit is
dried it has small pips of seed, woven in like net-work, and the
fruit is nutritious and juicy." And Parthanius has the following
words:--"=Habryna=, that is to say, =sykamina=, which some call
mulberries." And Salmonius calls the same tree =bation=, or brier. And
Demetrius Ixion says the =sykaminon= and =moron= are the same, being a
very juicy fruit, superior to the fig. And Diphilus of Siphnos, who was
a physician, writes thus: "The =sykamina=, which are also called =mora=,
are moderately full of good juice, but have not much nourishment; they
are good for the stomach and easily digested; and those which are not
quite ripe have a peculiar quality of expelling worms." But Pythemus
states, according to Hegesander, that in his time the mulberry-trees
produced no fruit for twenty years, and that during that time gout
became so epidemic, that not only men, but even boys and girls, and
eunuchs, and women, were afflicted with it; and even herds of goats were
attacked with it, so that two-thirds of the cattle were afflicted with
the same disorder.
38. With respect to the word =karya=, the Attic writers and all other
prose writers call nearly all berries by the generic name of =karya=,
_nuts_. And Epicharmus calls the almond "the nut," by way of
distinction, as we do, saying--
We eat roast nuts, that is, almonds.
Philyllius says--
Eggs, nuts, almonds.
And Heracleon the Ephesian writes--"They called almonds =karya=, and
chestnuts, which we now call =kastaneia=." The tree itself is called
=karya= by Sophocles, who says--
(=karyai=,) _nut-trees_ and ash-trees.
And Eubulus speaks of
Beeches, nut-trees, Carystian nuts.
There are some kinds of nuts, too, which are called =mostêna=.
39. With respect to Almonds.--The Naxian almonds are mentioned by the
ancient writers; and those in the island of Naxos are superior to all
others, as I am well persuaded. Phrynichus says--
He knock'd out all my grinders, so that now
A Naxian almond I can hardly crack.
The almonds in the island of Cyprus also are very excellent, and in
comparison of those which come from other quarters, they are very long,
and slightly bent at the end. And Seleucus in his Dictionary says, that
the Lacedæmonians call soft nuts =mykêroi=. And the Servians give that
name to sweet nuts. But Arnexias says that it is the almond which is
called =mykêros=. We may add, there is nothing which is a greater
provocative of drinking than almonds when eaten before meals. Eupolis
says in his Taxiarchs--
Give me some Naxian almonds to regale me,
And from the Naxian vines some wine to drink.
For there was a vine called the Naxian vine.
And Plutarch of Chæronea says, that there was in the retinue of Drusus
the son of Tiberius Cæsar, a certain physician who surpassed all men in
drinking, and who was detected in always eating five or six bitter
almonds before he drank. But when he was prevented from eating them he
was not able to stand even a very limited quantity of wine; and the
cause of this was the great power of the bitterness of the almond, which
is of a very drying nature, and which has the quality of expelling
moisture.
Herodian of Alexandria says, that almonds derive the name of =amygdalai=,
because beneath their green bark they have many =amychai=, or
lacerations.
Philemon says somewhere or other--
You, like an ass, come to the husks of the dessert;
and Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, says--
Beech-trees, the ornament of Pan.
We also find the word =amygdalon= in the neuter gender. Diphilus says--
"Sweetmeats, myrtle-berries, cheese-cakes, almonds,"
using the neuter =amygdala=.
40. Now with respect to the pronunciation and accent of the word
=amygdalê=, Pamphilus thinks that there ought to be a grave accent when
it means the fruit, as it is in the case of =amygdalon=. But he wants to
circumflex the word when it means the tree, thus, =amygdalê= like
=rhodê=. And Archilochus says--
The lovely flower of the rose-tree (=rhodês=).
But Aristarchus marks the word, whether it means the fruit or the tree,
with an acute accent indifferently; while Philoxenus would circumflex
the word in either sense. Eupolis says--
You'll ruin me, I swear it by the almond.
Aristophanes says--
_A._ Come, now, take these almonds,
And break them
(_B._ I would rather break your head,) with a
stone.
And Phrynichus says--
The almond is a good cure for a cough.
And others speak of almonds as beautiful. But Tryphon in his book on
Attic Prosody accents =amygdalê=, when meaning the fruit, with a grave
accent, which we use in the neuter as =amygdalon=. But he writes
=amygdalê=, with a circumflex for the tree; it being as it were a
possessive form derived from the fruit, and as such contracted and
circumflexed.
Pamphilus in his Dictionary says that the =mykêrobaton= is called the
nut-cracker by the Lacedæmonians, when they mean the almond-cracker; for
the Lacedæmonians call almonds =moukêroi=.
41. Nicander mentions also nuts of Pontus, which some writers call
=lopima=; while Hermonax and Timachidas, in the Dictionary, say that the
acorn of Jupiter, or walnut, is what is called the nut of Pontus.
But Heraclides of Tarentum asks, "Whether sweetmeats ought to be put on
the table before supper, as is done in some parts of Asia and Greece; or
whether they ought to be brought on after supper is over." If it is
decided that they are to be brought on at the end of supper, then it
follows, that when a great deal of food has already been put into the
stomach and bowels, the nuts which are eaten afterwards as provocatives
of drinking, get entangled with the rest of the food, and produce
flatulence, and also cause what has been eaten to turn on the stomach,
because it is followed by what is by nature unmanageable and
indigestible; and it is from such food that indigestions and attacks of
diarrhoea arise.
42. Diocles asserts that almonds are nutritious and good for the
stomach, and that they have a heating effect because they contain
something like millet; but green almonds are less likely to have an
injurious effect than dry ones; and almonds soaked in water have such an
effect less than those which are not soaked; and when toasted less than
when raw. But walnuts, which are also called nuts of Heraclea, and
acorns of Jupiter, are not indeed so nutritious as almonds, but still
they have something like millet in them, and something apt to rise to
the surface; so, if they are eaten in any quantity they make the head
feel heavy; they, however, are less likely to produce injurious effects
when green than when dry.
Persian nuts too are as apt to produce headaches as the acorns of
Jupiter; but they are more nutritious, though they make the throat and
mouth feel rough; but when they are roasted they are less injurious, and
when eaten with honey, they are the most digestible of all nuts. The
broad Persian nuts have the greatest tendency to produce flatulence;
but when boiled they are less injurious than when raw, or even when
roasted. But Philotimus in his treatises on Nourishment says, "The broad
nut, and that which is called the Sardinian nut, are both exceedingly
indigestible when raw, and are very slow in dissolving in the stomach,
as they are kept down by the phlegm in the stomach, and as they
themselves are of an astringent nature. The Pontic nut too is oily and
indigestible; but the almond is not so indigestible as that, and
accordingly if we eat a number of them we do not feel any inconvenience;
and they appear more oily, and give out a sweet and oily juice."
Diphilus of Siphnos says--"There is a nut called the Royal nut, which
causes severe headaches, and keeps rising in the stomach; and there are
two sorts of them, one of which, that which is tender and white, is the
more juicy and the better; but that which is roasted in ovens is not
nutritious. Almonds have a tendency to make people thin, and are
diuretic and cathartic, and far from nutritious; and the dry ones are
far more apt to produce flatulence and are far more indigestible than
the green ones, which do not give much juice, and which are not very
nutritious; but those which are tender, and full, and white, being like
milk, are more full of wholesome juice. And the Thasian and Cyprian
nuts, being tender, are far more easily digested than dry ones. The nuts
of Pontus are apt to produce headaches, but still they are not so
indigestible as the Royal nuts."
43. Moreover, Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his book on Comestibles, says,
"The digestion of Euboean nuts or chestnuts (for they are called by
both names) is very difficult for the stomach, and is attended with a
great deal of flatulence. And they are apt to thicken the juice, and to
make people fat, unless their constitution is strong enough to
neutralise them. But almonds, and likewise the nuts of Heraclea, and the
Persian nuts, and all others of the same sort, are still worse than
these: and it is desirable to touch absolutely none whatever of these
things unless they are first cooked by fire; with the exception of,
perhaps, the green almonds. But one should boil some of them, and roast
others; for some of them are of an oily nature, as the dry almonds and
the acorns of Jupiter; but some are hard and harsh, as the nuts of the
beech and all that kind. And from the oily sorts the action of the fire
extracts the oil, which is the worst part of them: but those which are
hard and harsh are softened, and, so to say, ripened, if any one cooks
them over a small and gentle fire."
But Diphilus calls chestnuts also Sardinian acorns, saying that they are
very nutritious, and full of excellent juice; but not very easy of
digestion, because they remain a long time in the stomach; that,
however, when they are roasted they are less nutritious, but more
digestible; and that when boiled they are less apt to produce flatulence
than the others, and more nutritious.
It is easily peel'd, and the Euboeans
Call it a nut, but some people have call'd it an acorn,
says Nicander the Colophonian, in his Georgics. But Agelochus calls
chestnuts =amôta=, and says, "Where the Sinopean nuts are produced the
natives call the trees which produce them =amôta=."
44. With respect to Vetches.--Crobylus says--
They took a green vetch,
And toss'd it empty, as if playing cottabus.
These are the sweetmeats of the wretched monkey.
And Homer says--
Black beans spring up, or vetches.
Xenophanes the Colophonian says, in his Parodies--
These are what one should talk of near the fire,
In winter season, on soft couch reclined,
After a plenteous meal, drinking rich wine,
And eating vetches.[89:1] Then a man may ask,
"Who are you? How old are you, my friend?
How many years old were you when the Mede came?"
And Sappho says--
Golden vetches on the sea-shore grew.
But Theophrastus, in his book on Plants, calls some kinds of vetches
=kreioi=. And Sophilus says--
This maiden's sire is far the greatest man,
A regular =kreios= vetch.
And Phænias says, in his book about Plants,--"While they are green and
tender, the bean and vetch take the place of sweetmeats; but when they
are dry they are usually eaten boiled or roasted." Alexis says--
My husband is a poor old man, and I
Am an old woman, and I have a daughter
And a young son,
And this good girl besides--we're five in all--
And three of them are now at supper,
And we two who here remain share with them
A little maize; and when we have nothing
To eat, we utter a wail unsuited to the lyre.
And as we never have any meat for dinner,
Our countenance is become pale. These are the parts,
And this is the arrangement of our life:
Beans, lupins, cabbages, rape,
Pulse, morepulse, mastnuts, onions,
Grasshoppers, vetches, wild pears,
And that which was given by my mother
As an object of devout care, the fig,
The great invention of the Phrygian fig.