The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 19

And indeed that he meant the same as what we call ?afa??de?, is plainly shown by Aristophanes, who in the Danades alludes to such old forms, and says--

And then the chorus used to dance, Clad in worsted-work and fine clothes; And bearing under their arms ribs of beef, And sausages, and radishes.

And the radish is a very economical kind of food. Amphis says--

Whoever, when purchasing food, When it is in his power, O Apollo, to buy genuine fish, Prefers buying radishes, is downright mad!

49. With respect to Pine-cones.--Mnesitheus, the Athenian physician, in his book on Comestibles, calls the husks of the pine-cones ?st?a??de?, and in another place he calls them ?????. But Diocles of Carystus calls them p?tu??a ????a, _nuts of the pine-tree._ And Alexander the Myndian calls them p?t?????? ??????. And Theophrastus calls the tree pe???, and the fruit ?????. But Hippocrates, in his book on Barley-water,--(one half of which is considered spurious by everybody, and some people reckon the whole so,)--calls the fruit ????a???; but most people call it p????e?: as Herodotus does, in speaking of the Pontic nut. For he says, "And this has p????a (_a kernel_), when it becomes ripe." But Diphilus the Siphnian says, "Pine-cones" (which he calls st??????) "are very nutritious, and have a tendency to soften the arteries, and to relieve the chest, because they have some resinous qualities contained in them."

While Mnesitheus says that they fill the body with fat, and are very free from all hindrances to the digestion; and, moreover, that they are diuretic, and that they are free from all astringent tendencies.

50. Now with respect to Eggs.--Anaxagoras, in his book on Natural Philosophy, says that what is called the milk of the bird is the white which is in the eggs. And Aristophanes says--

In the first instance, night brings forth a wind egg.

Sappho dissolves the word ??? into a trisyllable, making it ???, when she says--

They say that formerly Leda found an egg.

And again she says--

Far whiter than an egg:

in each case writing ???. But Epicharmus spelt the word ?ea; for so we find the line written--

The eggs of geese and other poultry.

And Simonides, in the second book of his Iambics, says--

Like the egg of a Maeandrian goose;

which he, too, writes ?e??. But Alexandrides lengthens the word into a quadrisyllable, and calls it ??????. And so does Ephippus, when he says--

And little casks of good wine made of palms, And eggs, and all other trifles of that kind.

And Alexis, somewhere or other, uses the expression, "hemispheres of eggs." And wind eggs they called ??e?a?a, and also ?p????a. They called also the upper chambers of houses which we now call ?p????a; and accordingly Clearchus says, in his "Erotics," that Helen, from having been born and brought up in a chamber of this sort, got the character, with a great many people, of having been born of an egg (???). And it was an ignorant statement of Neocles of Crotona, that the egg fell from the moon, from which Helen was born: for that women under the influence of the moon bring forth eggs, and that those who are born from such eggs are fifteen times as large as we are: as Herodotus of Heraclea also a.s.serts. And Ibycus, in the fifth book of his Melodies, says of the Molionidae--

And they slew the two young Molions, youths alike in face, Borne on white horses; of the same age; and Alike, too, in all their limbs, for both were born On one day, from one single silver egg.

And Ephippus says--

Cakes made of sesame and honey, sweetmeats, Cheese-cakes, and cream-cakes, and a hecatomb Of new-laid eggs, were all devour'd by us.

And Nicomachus makes mention of such eggs--

For when my father had left me a very little property, I sc.r.a.ped it so, and got the kernel out of it In a few months, as if I had been a boy sucking an egg.

And Eriphus makes mention of goose's eggs--

Just see how white and how large these eggs are; These must be goose eggs, as far as I can see.

And he says, that it was eggs like this which were laid by Leda. But Epaenetus and Heraclides the Syracusan, in their book on Cookery, say that the best of all eggs are peac.o.c.k's eggs; and that the next best are those of the foxgoose; and the third best are those of common poultry.

51. Now let us speak of provocatives to appet.i.te, called ???p?a.--When they were brought round by the butler, Ulpian said, "Does the word p??p?a occur in any ancient author in the sense in which we use it now?" and when every one joined in the question, "I will tell you," said Athenaeus; "Phylarchus the Athenian, (though some called him a native of Naucratis,) in the book where he speaks of Zelas the king of the Bithynians, who invited to supper all the leaders of the Galatians, and then plotted against them, and was killed himself also, says, if I recollect his words rightly, 'A certain p??p?a was brought round before supper, as was the custom of antiquity.'" And when Ulpian had said this, he asked for something to drink from the wine-cooler, saying, that he was in good humour with himself for having been able to remember this so very _a propos_. But there were things of all sorts, says Athenaeus, used in these p??p?ata.

52. With respect to Mallows, Hesiod says--

Nor do men know how great may be the good Derived from asphodel and mallow food.

?a???? is the Attic name for mallow. But I, says Athenaeus, have found in many of the copies of the Minos of Antiphanes the word spelt with an ?; for instance, he speaks of men--

Eating the root of mallow (??????).

And Epicharmus has--

I am milder than the mallow (??????).

And Phanias says, in his book on Plants--"The seminal portions of the cultivated mallow are called 'the cheese-cake,' as being like a cheese-cake. For those pistils which are like the teeth of a comb have some resemblance to the edge of a cheese-cake; and there is a bosslike centre, like that in the middle of a cheese-cake. And the whole circ.u.mference of the rim is like the sea-fish denominated the sea-urchin." But Diphilus the Siphnian makes a statement, that the mallow is full of pleasant and wholesome juice; having a tendency to smooth the arteries, separating from them the harshnesses of the blood by bringing them to the surface. And he adds that the mallow is of great service in irritations of the kidneys and the bladder, and that it is very tolerably digestible and nutritious. And moreover, that the wild mallow is superior to that which grows in a garden. But Hermippus, the follower of Callimachus, in his treatise on the Seven Wise Men, says that mallows are put in what he calls the ?????, that is to say, the preventive against hunger, and into the ?d????, that is, the preventive against thirst; and that it is a very useful ingredient in both.

53. The next thing to be mentioned are Gourds.--Euthydemus, the Athenian, in his book on Vegetables, calls the long gourd, known as ???????t?, the Indian gourd; and it is called Indian because the seed was originally introduced from India. But the people of Megalopolis call the same the Sicyonian gourd. Theophrastus however says, that of the kind called ???????t?, there is not one species or genus only, but several, some better, some worse. While Menodorus, the follower of Erasistratus, the friend of Icesius, says, "Of the long gourds there is the Indian, which is the same which we call s???a, and which is vulgarly called the ???????t?. Now the Indian gourd is usually boiled, but that called ???????t? is usually roasted." And even to the present day the ???????ta? are called by the Cnidians Indian gourds; while the people of the h.e.l.lespont call the long gourds s???a?, and the round gourds ???????ta?.

But Diocles states that the best round gourds are those grown near Magnesia; and, moreover, that the rape grown in that district runs to an exceedingly large size, and is sweet, and good for the stomach. He says, at the same time, that the best cuc.u.mbers are grown at Antioch, the best lettuce at Smyrna and Galatea, and the best rue at Myra. Diphilus says, "The gourd is far from nutritious, easily digested, apt to produce moisture in the skin, promotes the secretions of the body, and is full of agreeable and wholesome juice; but it is still more juicy when cooked. Its alterative qualities are increased when it is eaten with mustard, but it is more digestible, and it promotes the secretions more, when boiled.

Mnesitheus too says, "All the vegetables and fruits which are easily affected by the action of fire, such as the cuc.u.mber, and the gourd, and the quince, and the small quince, and everything else of the same sort, when they are eaten after having been roasted, afford nutriment to the body, in no great quant.i.ty indeed, but still such as is pleasant and promotes moisture. However all these vegetables and fruits have a tendency to produce constipation, and they ought to be eaten boiled rather than raw. But the Attic writers call the gourd by no other name but ???????t?. Hermippus says--

What a huge head he has; it is as big as a gourd!

And Phrynichus, using the diminutive, says--

Will you have a little maize (?????) or gourd (???????t???)?

And Epicharmus says--

That is much more wholesome than a gourd (???????t?)

54. And Epicrates the comic poet writes--

_A._ What now is Plato doing?

The grave Speusippus too and Menedemus?

In what are they now spending all their time?

What care is theirs, and what their conversation?

What is their subject of deliberation?

Tell me, I beg of you, by the mighty Terra, In learned language, if at least you know.

_B._ Indeed, I can inform you most exactly.

For at the great Panathenaic feast, I saw a company of youths a.s.sembled Within the schools of the old Academy, And heard some strange and marvellous a.s.sertions.

For they were nature's mysteries discussing, Drawing distinctions subtle 'tween the life Of animated things, both men and beasts, And that of trees and all the race of herbs.

And then, while occupied in these discussions They turned to gourds their deep investigations, Asking their species and their character.

_A._ And to what sage conclusion did they come?

What was their definition, of what genus Did they decide this plant to be, my friend?