The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 17

We eat roast nuts, that is, almonds.

Philyllius says--

Eggs, nuts, almonds.

And Heracleon the Ephesian writes--"They called almonds ????a, and chestnuts, which we now call ?ast??e?a." The tree itself is called ????a by Sophocles, who says--

(????a?,) _nut-trees_ and ash-trees.

And Eubulus speaks of

Beeches, nut-trees, Carystian nuts.

There are some kinds of nuts, too, which are called ?st??a.

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 Lacedaemonians call soft nuts ??????. And the Servians give that name to sweet nuts. But Arnexias says that it is the almond which is called ??????. 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 Chaeronea says, that there was in the retinue of Drusus the son of Tiberius Caesar, a certain physician who surpa.s.sed 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 quant.i.ty 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 ???da?a?, because beneath their green bark they have many ???a?, or lacerations.

Philemon says somewhere or other--

You, like an a.s.s, 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 ???da??? in the neuter gender. Diphilus says--

"Sweetmeats, myrtle-berries, cheese-cakes, almonds,"

using the neuter ???da?a.

40. Now with respect to the p.r.o.nunciation and accent of the word ???d???, Pamphilus thinks that there ought to be a grave accent when it means the fruit, as it is in the case of ???da???. But he wants to circ.u.mflex the word when it means the tree, thus, ???da?? like ??d?.

And Archilochus says--

The lovely flower of the rose-tree (??d??).

But Aristarchus marks the word, whether it means the fruit or the tree, with an acute accent indifferently; while Philoxenus would circ.u.mflex 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 ???d???, when meaning the fruit, with a grave accent, which we use in the neuter as ???da???. But he writes ???da??, with a circ.u.mflex for the tree; it being as it were a possessive form derived from the fruit, and as such contracted and circ.u.mflexed.

Pamphilus in his Dictionary says that the ?????at?? is called the nut-cracker by the Lacedaemonians, when they mean the almond-cracker; for the Lacedaemonians call almonds ???????.

41. Nicander mentions also nuts of Pontus, which some writers call ??p?a; 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 diarrha arise.

42. Diocles a.s.serts 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 quant.i.ty 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 Euban 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 const.i.tution 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 Eubans Call it a nut, but some people have call'd it an acorn,

says Nicander the Colophonian, in his Georgics. But Agelochus calls chestnuts ??ta, and says, "Where the Sinopean nuts are produced the natives call the trees which produce them ??ta."

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?"