The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 80

_B._ Do the same.

_A._ The ray?

_B._ Take herbs And season him with them.

_A._ There is besides Half a large tunny.

_B._ Roast it.

_A._ Some goat's venison.

_B._ Roast that.

_A._ How will you have the rest o' the meat?

_B._ All boil'd.

_A._ The spleen?

_B._ Stuff that.

_A._ The paunch and trail?

46. And Eubulus says, in his Campylion,--

There was a beautiful dish of the sea-grayling, And a boil'd pike served up i' savoury pickle.

And Anaxandrides, in his Nereus, says--

The man who first discover'd all the good Of the most precious head of a large grayling, And then how dainty was the tunny's meat, Caught where the waves are by no tempests tost, How good in short is the whole race of fish, Nereus his name, dwells in this place for ever.

And Amphis, in his Seven against Thebes, says--

Whole graylings, and large slices of the head.

And in his Philetaerus, he says--

Take a small eel, and a fine grayling's head, And slices of a pike fresh from the sea.

And Antiphanes, in his Cyclops, out-heroding even the epicure Archestratus, says--

Give me an Hymettian mullet, And a ray just caught, a perch Split open, and a cuttle-fish, And a well-roasted synodon; A slice of grayling, and a head Of mighty conger, luscious food; A frog's inside, a tunny's flank, A ray's sharp back, a cestra's loin, Sea-sparrows, and sea-thrushes too, Sprats, and anchovies, let me not Complain of any want.

47. And Nausicrates says, in his Captains of s.h.i.+ps,--

_A._ They say there are two kinds of fish most tender And beautiful to see, which oft appear To sailors wandering o'er the s.p.a.cious plains Of ocean. And they say that one foretells To mortals all the evils which hang o'er them.

_B._ You mean the grayling.

_A._ You are right, I do.

And Theolytus, the Methymnaean, in his Bacchic Odes, says that Glaucus the deity of the sea became enamoured of Ariadne, when she was carried off by Bacchus in the island of Dia; and that he, attempting to offer violence to her, was bound by Bacchus in fetters made of vine-twigs; but that when he begged for mercy he was released, saying--

There is a place, Anthedon is its name, On the sea-side, against th' Euban isle, Near to the stream of the still vext Euripus-- Thence is my race; and Copeus was my sire.

And Promathides of Heraclea, in his Half Iambics, traces the pedigree of Glaucus as being the son of Polybus, the son of Mercury, and of Euba, the daughter of Larymnus. But Mnaseas, in the third book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, calls him the son of Anthedon and Alcyone; and says that he was a sailor and an excellent diver, and that he was surnamed Pontius; and that having ravished Syme, the daughter of Ialemus and Dotis, he sailed away to Asia, and colonised a desert island near Caria, and called that Syme, from the name of his wife. But Euanthes, the epic poet, in his Hymn to Glaucus, says that he was the son of Neptune and the nymph Nais; and that he was in love with Ariadne, in the island of Dia, and was favoured by her after she had been left there by Theseus. But Aristotle, in his Const.i.tution of the Delians, says that he settled in Delos with the Nereids, and gave oracles to all who wished for them. But Possis, the Magnesian, in the third book of his Amazonis, says that Glaucus was the builder of the Argo, and that he was her pilot when Jason fought the Etrurians, and was the only person unwounded in that naval battle; and that by the will of Jupiter he appeared in the depths of the sea, and so became a sea deity, but was seen by Jason alone. But Nicanor the Cyrenaean, in his Changes of Names, says that Melicerta changed his name and a.s.sumed the name of Glaucus.

48. Alexander the aetolian also mentions him in his poem ent.i.tled the Fisherman, saying that he

First tasted gra.s.s,

(and then was immersed in the sea and drowned,)

The herb which in the islands of the blest, When first the spring doth beam upon the earth, The untill'd land shows to the genial sun, And the sun gives it to his weary steeds, A most refres.h.i.+ng food, raised in the shade.

So that they come in vigour back renew'd Unto their daily task, and no fatigue Or pain can stop their course.

But aeschrion the Samian, in some one of his Iambic poems, says that Glaucus the sea-deity was in love with Hydna, the daughter of Scyllus, the diver of Scione. And he makes particular mention of this herb, namely, that any one who eats of it becomes immortal, saying--

And you found too th' agrostis of the G.o.ds, The sacred plant which ancient Saturn sow'd.

And Nicander, in the third book of his Europe, says that Glaucus was beloved by Nereus. And the same Nicander, in the first book of his history of the Affairs of aetolia, says that Apollo learnt the art of divination from Glaucus; and that Glaucus when he was hunting near Orea, (and that is a lofty mountain in aetolia,) hunted a hare, which was knocked up by the length of the chace, and got under a certain fountain, and when just on the point of dying, rolled itself on the herbage that was growing around; and, as it recovered its strength by means of the herbage, Glaucus too perceived the virtues of this herb, and ate some himself. And becoming a G.o.d in consequence, when a storm came, he, in accordance with the will of Jupiter, threw himself into the sea. But Hedylus, whether he was a Samian or an Athenian I know not, says that Glaucus was enamoured of Melicerta, and threw himself into the sea after him. But Hedyle, the mother of this poet, and daughter of Moschine of Attica, a poetess who composed Iambics, in her poem which is ent.i.tled Scylla, relates that Glaucus being in love with Scylla came to her cave--

Bearing a gift of love, a mazy sh.e.l.l, Fresh from the Erythrean rock, and with it too The offspring, yet unfledged, of Alcyon, To win th' obdurate maid. He gave in vain.

Even the lone Siren on the neighbouring isle Pitied the lover's tears. For as it chanced, He swam towards the sh.o.r.e which she did haunt, Nigh to th' unquiet caves of aetna.

49. There is also a fish called the fuller. Dorion, in his treatise on Fish, says that the juice which proceeds from the boiling of a fuller will take out every kind of stain; and Epaenetus also mentions it in his Cookery Book.

50. The eel is well known: and Epicharmus mentions sea-eels in his Muses; but Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, mentioning those which come from the lake Copais, extols the Copaic eels highly; and they grow to a great size. At all events, Agatharchides, in the sixth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the largest eels from lake Copais are sacrificed to the G.o.ds by the Botians, who crown them like victims, and offer prayers over them, sprinkling them with meal; and that once, when a foreigner was astonished at the singular kind of victim and sacrifice, and asked a Botian whence it originated, the Botian answered, That he only knew one thing; that it was right to maintain the customs of one's ancestors, and that it was not right to make any excuses for them to foreigners. But we need not wonder if eels are sacrificed as victims, since Antigonus the Carystian, in his treatise on Language, says that the fishermen celebrate a festival in honour of Neptune when the tunnies come in season, and they are successful in their pursuit of them; and that they sacrifice to the G.o.d the first tunny that is caught; and that this sacrificial festival is called the Thunnaeum.

51. But among the people of Phaselis, even salt-fish are offered in sacrifice. At all events, Heropythus, in his Annals of the Colophonians, speaking of the original settlement of Phaselis, says that "Lacius, having conducted the colony, gave as the price of the ground to Cylabras, a shepherd who fed sheep there, some salt-fish, as that was what he asked for. For when Lacius had proposed to him to take as a price for the soil either barley-cakes, or wheat-cakes, or salt-fish, Cylabras chose the salt-fish. And, on this account, the people of Phaselis every year, even to this day, sacrifice salt-fish to Cylabras."

But Philostepha.n.u.s, in the first book of his treatise on the Cities of Asia, writes thus:--"That Lacius the Argive, being one of the men who had come with Mopsus, whom some say was a Lindian, and the brother of Antiphemus who colonized Gela, was sent to Phaselis by Mopsus with some men, in accordance with some directions given by Manto the mother of Mopsus, when the sterns of their s.h.i.+ps came in collision off the Chelidoniae, and were much broken, as Lacius and the vessels with him ran into them in the night, in consequence of their arriving later. And it is said that he purchased the land where the city now stands, in obedience to the prophetic directions of Manto, from a man of the name of Cylabras, giving him some salt-fish for it; for that was what he had selected from all the s.h.i.+ps contained. On which account, the people of Phaselis sacrifice salt-fish to Cylabras every year, honouring him as their hero."

52. But concerning eels, Icesius, in his treatise on Materials, says that eels have a better juice in them than any other fish; and in the quality of being good for the stomach, they are superior to most, for they are very satisfying and very nutritious: though he cla.s.ses the Macedonian eels among the salt-fish. But Aristotle says that eels are fond of the very purest water; on which account, the people who feed eels pour clean water over them; for they get choked in muddy water. For which reason, those who hunt for them make the water muddy, in order that the eels may be choked; for, having very small gills, their pores are almost immediately stopped up by any mud or disturbance in the water: on which account, also, they are often choked during storms, when the water is disturbed by heavy gales. But they propagate their species being entwined together, and then they discharge a sort of viscous fluid from their bodies, which lies in the mud and generates living creatures.

And the people who feed eels say that they feed by night, but that during the day they remain motionless in the mud; and they live about eight years at most. But in other places, Aristotle tells us again, that they are produced without either their progenitors laying eggs or bringing forth living offspring, and also that they are not generated by any copulation, but that they are propagated by the putrefaction which takes place in the mud and slime--as it is said of those things which are called the entrails of the earth. From which circ.u.mstance, he says that Homer distinguishes between their nature and that of other fish; and says--

The eels and fish within the briny deep, Were startled at the blaze.

53. But a certain Epicurean,[468:1] who was one of our party, when an eel was served up, said,--Here is the Helen of the feast; I therefore will be the Paris! And, before any one else could stretch out a hand towards it, he seized hold of it and split it up, tearing off one side down to the backbone. And the same man, when presently a hot cheese-cake was set before him, and when all refused it, cried out,

I will attack it were it hot as fire;

and then, rus.h.i.+ng upon it eagerly, and swallowing it, he was carried out severely scalded. And Cynulcus said,--The cormorant is carried out from his battle of the throat!

Moreover, Archestratus thus speaks of the eel:--

I praise all kinds of eels; but far the best Is that which fishermen do take in the sea Opposite to the strait of Rhegium.

Where you, Messenius, who daily put This food within your mouth, surpa.s.s all mortals In real pleasure. Though none can deny That great the virtue and the glory is Of the Strymonian and Copaic eels.

For they are large, and wonderfully fat; And I do think in short that of all fish The best in flavour is the n.o.ble eel, Although he cannot propagate his species.