The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 29

But of mussels, the Ephesian ones, and those which resemble them, are, as to their juicy qualities, superior to the periwinkles, but inferior to the c.o.c.kles; but they have more effect as diuretics than as aperients. But some of them are like squills, with a very disagreeable juice, and without any flavour; but there is a kind which is smaller than they are, and which are rough outside, which are more diuretic, and full of a more pleasant juice than the kind which resembles squills: but they are less nutritious, by reason of their sizes, and also because their nature is inferior. But the necks of the ceryces are exceedingly good for the stomach, and are not so nutritious as mussels and c.o.c.kles and periwinkles; but for people who have a weak stomach, and who do not easily expel the food into the cavity of the bowels, they are useful, inasmuch as they do not easily turn on the stomach. For those things which are confessedly digestible are, on the contrary, very unwholesome for people of such a const.i.tution, being very easily inclined to turn on the stomach, because they are tender and easily dissolved. On which account the bags containing their entrails are not suited to vigorous stomachs, but they are very good for those whose bowels are in a weak state. But what are more nutritious than the others, and far nicer in taste, are the entrails of the purple-fish; though they certainly are somewhat like the squill. For indeed all sh.e.l.l-fish are of the same character; but the purple-fish and the solen have this peculiar characteristic, that if they are boiled they yield a thick juice. But the necks of the purple-fish, when boiled by themselves, are exceedingly good for bringing the stomach into a good condition. And Posidippus speaks of them in his Locrians in these terms:--

It is time now to eat eels and crabs, c.o.c.kles, and fresh sea-urchins, and fish sounds, And pinnas, and the necks of fish, and mussels.

35. Balani, if they are of the larger sort, are easily digested, and are good for the stomach. But otaria (and they are produced in the island called Pharos, which is close to Alexandria) are more nutritious than any of the before-mentioned fish, but they are not easily secreted. But Antigonus the Carystian, in his book upon Language, says that this kind of oyster is called by the aeolians the Ear of Venus. Pholades are very nutritious, but they have a disagreeable smell; but common oysters are very like all these sorts of sh.e.l.l-fish, and are more nutritious. There are also some kinds which are called wild oysters; and they are very nutritious, but they have not a good smell, and moreover they have a very indifferent flavour. But Aristotle, in his treatise about Animals, says, "Oysters are of all the following kinds: there are the pinna, the mussel, the oyster, the cteis, the solen, the c.o.c.kle, the limpet, the small oyster, the bala.n.u.s. And of migratory fish there are the purple-fish, the sweet purple-fish, the sea-urchin, the strobelus. Now the cteis has a rough sh.e.l.l, marked in streaks; but the oyster has no streaks, and a smooth sh.e.l.l. The pinna has a smooth mouth; but the large oyster has a wide mouth, and is bivalve, and has a smooth sh.e.l.l. But the limpet is univalve, and has a smooth sh.e.l.l; and the mussel has a united sh.e.l.l. The solen and bala.n.u.s are univalve, and have a smooth sh.e.l.l; and the c.o.c.kle is a mixture of both kinds." Epaenetus also says, in his Cookery Book, that the interior part of the pinna is called mecon. But in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, Aristotle says, "The purple-fish are born about spring, and the ceryces at the end of the winter. And altogether," says he, "all sh.e.l.l-fish appear in the spring to have what are called eggs; and in the autumn, too, except those kinds of sea-urchins which are good to eat. And these fish indeed have eggs in the greatest number at those seasons, but they are never without them; and they have them in the greatest numbers at the time of full moon, and in the warm weather, with the exception of those fish which are found in the Euripus of the Pyrrhaeans; for they are best in the winter, and they are small, but full of eggs. And nearly all the c.o.c.kle tribe appear to breed in like manner at about the same season."

36. And continuing the subject, the philosopher says again, "The purple-fish therefore being all collected together in the spring at the same place, make what is called melicera. And that is something like honeycomb, but not indeed so elegant, but it is as if a great number of the husks of white vetches were fastened together; and there is no open pa.s.sage in any of them: nor are the purple-fish born of this melicera, but they, and nearly all other sh.e.l.l-fish, are produced of mud and putrefaction; and this is, as it were, a kind of purification both for them and for the purple-fish, for they too make this melicera. And when they begin to make it, they emit a sort of sticky ma.s.s, from which those things grow which resemble husks. All these are eventually separated, and they drop blood on the ground. And in the place where they do so, there are myriads of little purple-fish born, adhering to one another in the ground, and the old purple-fish are caught while carrying them. And if they are caught before they have produced their young, they sometimes produce them in the very pots in which they are caught when collected together in them, and the young look like a bunch of grapes. And there are many different kinds of purple-fish; and some of them are of large size, like those which are found near Segeum and near Lesteum; and some are small, like those which are found in the Euripus, and around Caria.

And those in the gulfs are large and rough, and most of them are of a black colour, but some of them are rather red; and some of the large ones even weigh a mina. But those which are found on the sh.o.r.e and around the coasts are of no great size, but are of a red colour: and again, those in the waters exposed to the north wind are black, and those in the waters exposed to the south wind are generally red."

37. But Apollodorus the Athenian, in his Commentaries on Sophron, having first quoted the saying, "More greedy than a purple-fish," says that it is a proverb, and that some say that it applies to the dye of purple; for that whatever that dye touches it attracts to itself, and that it imbues everything which is placed near it with the brilliancy of its colour: but others say that it applies to the animal. "And they are caught," says Aristotle, "in the spring; but they are not caught during the dog-days, for then they do not feed, but conceal themselves and bury themselves in holes; and they have a mark like a flower on them between the belly and the throat. The fish called the ceryx has a covering of nearly the same sort as all the other animals of the snail kind from its earliest birth; and they feed by putting out what we call their sh.e.l.l from under this covering. And the purple-fish has a tongue of the size of a finger or larger, by which it feeds; and it pierces even sh.e.l.l-fish, and can pierce its own sh.e.l.l. But the purple-fish is very long-lived; and so is the ceryx: they live about six years, and their growth is known by the rings in their sh.e.l.l. But c.o.c.kles, and cheme-c.o.c.kles, and solens, and periwinkles, are born in sandy places.

38. But the pinnae spring from the bottom of the sea. And they have with them a fish called the pinnophylax, or guard of the pinna, which some call ?a??d???, and others ?a???????; and if they lose him, they are soon destroyed. But Pamphilus the Alexandrian, in his treatise on Names, says that he is born at the same time with the pinna. But Chrysippus the Solensian, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Beautiful and Pleasure, says, "The pinna and the guard of the pinna a.s.sist one another, not being able to remain apart. Now the pinna is a kind of oyster, but the guard of the pinna is a small crab: and the pinna having opened its sh.e.l.l, remains quiet, watching the fish who are coming towards it; but the guard of the pinna, standing by when anything comes near, bites the pinna, so as to give it a sort of sign; and the pinna being bitten, closes its sh.e.l.l, and in this manner the two share together what is caught inside the pinna's sh.e.l.l. But some say that the guard is born at the same time as the pinna, and that they originate in one seed." And again, Aristotle says, "All the fish of the oyster kind are generated in the mud,--oysters in slimy mud, c.o.c.kles in sandy mud, and so on; but the small oyster and the bala.n.u.s, and other fish which come near the surface, such as limpets and periwinkles, are born in the fissures of the rocks. And some fish which have not sh.e.l.ls are born in the same way as those which have sh.e.l.ls,--as the sea-nettle, the sponge, and others,--in the crevices of the rocks."

39. Now, of the sea-nettle there are two kinds. For some live in hollows, and are never separated from the rocks; but some live on smooth and level ground, and do separate themselves from what they are attached to, and move their quarters. But Eupolis, in the Autolycus, calls the ???d?, or sea-nettle, ??a??f?. And Aristophanes, in his Phnissae, says--

Know that pot-herbs first were given, And then the rough sea-nettles (?????fa?);

and in his Wasps he uses the same word. And Pherecrates, in his Deserters, says--

I'd rather wear a crown of sea-nettles (?????fa?).

And Diphilus the Siphnian, a physician, says, "But the sea-nettle (??a??f?) is good for the bowels, diuretic, and a strengthener of the stomach, but it makes those who collect them itch violently, unless they anoint their hands beforehand. And it is really injurious to those who hunt for it; by whom it has been called ??a??f?, by a slight alteration of its original name. And perhaps that is the reason why the plant the nettle has had the same name given to it. For it was named by euphemism on the principle of antiphrasis,--for it is not gentle and ?pa?? t? ?f?, tender to the touch, but very rough and disagreeable." Philippides also mentions the sea-nettle (calling it ??a??f?) in his Amphiaraus, speaking as follows:--

He put before me oysters and sea-nettles and limpets.

And it is jested upon in the Lysistrata of Aristophanes--

But, you most valiant of the oyster race, Offspring of that rough dam, the sea-nettle;

for the t???? and the ?st?e?? are the same. And the word t???? is here confused in a comic manner with t???, a grandmother, and with ?t??, a mother.

40. And concerning the rest of the oyster tribe, Diphilus says this: "Of the thick chemae, those of smaller size, which have tender flesh, are called oysters, and they are good for the stomach, and easily digested.

But the thick ones, which are called royal chemae by some people, and which are also called the huge chemae, are nutritious, slow to be digested, very juicy, good for the stomach; and especially do these qualities belong to the larger ones. Of tellinae there are numbers in Canopus, and they are very common at the place where the Nile begins to rise up to the higher ground. And the thinnest of these are the royal ones, and they are digestible and light, and moreover nutritious. But those which are taken in the rivers are the sweetest. Mussels, again, are moderately nutritious, and are digestible and diuretic. But the best are the Ephesian kind; and of them those which are taken about the end of autumn. But the female mussel is smaller than the male, and is sweet and juicy, and moreover nutritious. But the solens, as they are called by some, though some call them a???? and d??a?e?, or _pipes_, and some, too, call them ????e?, or _claws_, are very juicy, but the juice is bad, and they are very glutinous. And the male fish are striped, and not all of one colour; but they are very wholesome for people affected with the stone, or with any complaint of the bladder. But the female fish is all of one colour, and much sweeter than the male: and they are eaten boiled and fried; but they are best of all when roasted on the coals till their sh.e.l.ls open." And the people who collect this sort of oyster are called Solenistae, as Phaenias the Eresian relates in his book which is ent.i.tled, The Killing of Tyrants by way of Punishment; where he speaks as follows:--"Philoxenus, who was called the Solenist, became a tyrant from having been a demagogue. In the beginning he got his livelihood by being a fisherman and a hunter after solens; and so having made a little money, he advanced, and got a good property."--"Of the periwinkle the white are the most tender, and they have no disagreeable smell, and have a good effect on the bowels; but of the black and red kinds the larger are exceedingly nice to the taste, especially those that are caught in the spring. And as a general rule all of them are good for the stomach, and digestible, and good for the bowels, when eaten with cinnamon and pepper." Archippus also makes mention of them in his Fishes--

With limpets and with sea-urchins, and escharae, With needle-fishes, and with periwinkles.

But the fish called balani, or acorns, because of their resemblance to the acorn of an oak, differ according to the places where they are found. For the Egyptian balani are sweet, tender, delicious to the taste, nutritious, very juicy indeed, diuretic, and good for the bowels; but other kinds have a salter taste. The fish called ?t?a, or ears, are most nutritious when fried; but the pholades are exceedingly pleasant to the taste, but have a bad smell, and an injurious juice.

41. "Sea-urchins are tender, full of pleasant juice, with a strong smell, filling, and apt to turn on the stomach; but if eaten with sharp mead, and parsley, and mint, they are good for the stomach, and sweet, and full of pleasant juice. But the sweet-tasted are the red ones, and the apple-coloured, and the thickest, and those which if you sc.r.a.pe their flesh emit a milky liquid. But those which are found near Cephalenia and around Icaria, and in the Adriatic are--at least many of them are--rather bitter; but those which are taken on the rock of Sicily are very aperient to the bowels." But Aristotle says that there are many kinds of sea-urchins: one of which is eaten, that, namely, in which is found what are called eggs. But the other two kinds are those which are called Spatangi, and those which are called Brysae: and Sophron mentions the spatangi, and so does Aristophanes in his Olcades, using the following language:--

Tearing up, and separating, and licking My spatange from the bottom.

And Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe, speaks of the sea-urchins, and says--

Then came the crabs, sea-urchins, and all fish Which know not how to swim in the briny sea, But only walk on foot along the bottom.

And Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twenty-sixth book of his Trojan Preparation, says that a Lacedaemonian once being invited to a banquet, when some sea-urchins were put before him on the table, took one, not knowing the proper manner in which it should be eaten, and not attending to those who were in the company to see how they ate it. And so he put it in his mouth with the skin or sh.e.l.l and all, and began to crush the sea-urchin with his teeth; and being exceedingly disgusted with what he was eating, and not perceiving how to get rid of the roughness of the taste, he said, "O what nasty food! I will not now be so effeminate as to eject it, but I will never take you again." But the sea-urchins, and indeed the whole echinus tribe, whether living on land or sea, can take care of and protect themselves against those who try to catch them, putting out their thorns, like a sort of palisade. And to this Ion the Chian bears testimony in his Phnix or in his Caeneus, saying--

But while on land I more approve the conduct Of the great lion, than the dirty tricks Of the sea-urchin; he, when he perceives The impending onset of superior foes, Rolls himself up, wrapp'd in his cloak of thorns, Impregnable in bristly panoply.

42. "Of limpets," says Diphilus, "some are very small, and some are like oysters. But they are hard, and give but little juice, and are not very sharp in taste. But they have a pleasant flavour, and are easily digested; and when boiled they are particularly nice. But the pinnae are diuretic, nutritious, not very digestible, or manageable. And the ceryces are like them; the necks of which fish are good for the stomach, but not very digestible; on which account they are good for people with weak stomachs, as being strengthening; but they are difficult to be secreted, and they are moderately nutritious. Now the parts of them which are called the mecon, which are in the lower part of their bellies, are tender and easily digested; on which account they also are good for people who are weak in the stomach. But the purple-fish are something between the pinna and the ceryx; the necks of which are very juicy, and very pleasant to the palate; but the other parts of them are briny, and yet sweet, and easily digestible, and mix very well with other food. But oysters are generated in rivers, and in lakes, and in the sea. But the best are those which belong to the sea, when there is a lake or a river close at hand: for they are full of pleasant juice, and are larger and sweeter than others: but those which are near the sh.o.r.e, or near rocks, without any mixture of mud or water, are small, harsh, and of pungent taste. But the oysters which are taken in the spring, and those which are taken about the beginning of the summer, are better, and full, and have a sort of sea taste, not unmixed with sweetness, and are good for the stomach and easily secreted; and when boiled up with mallow, or sorrel, or with fish, or by themselves, they are nutritious, and good for the bowels.

43. But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says--"Oysters, and c.o.c.kles, and mussels, and similar things, are not very digestible in their meat, because of a sort of saline moisture which there is in them, on which account, when eaten raw, they produce an effect on the bowels by reason of their saltness. But when boiled they get rid of all, or at all events of most, of their saltness, which they infuse into the water which boils them. On which account, the water in which any of the oyster tribe are boiled is very apt to have a strong effect in disordering the bowels. But the meat of the oysters when boiled, makes a great noise when it has been deprived of its moisture.

But roasted oysters, when any one roasts them cleverly, are very free from any sort of inconvenience; for all the evil properties are removed by fire; on which account they are not as indigestible as raw ones, and they have all the moisture which is originally contained in them dried up; and it is the moisture which has too great an effect in relaxing the bowels. But every oyster supplies a moist and somewhat indigestible kind of nourishment, and they are not at all good as diuretics. But the sea-nettle, and the eggs of sea-urchins, and such things as that, give a moist nourishment, though not in any great quant.i.ty; but they have a tendency to relax the bowels, and they are diuretic.

44. Nicander the Colophonian, in his book on the Farm, enumerates all the following kinds of oysters--

And all the oysters which the foaming brine Beneath its vasty bosom cherishes, The periwinkle, whilk, pelorias, The mussel, and the slimy tellina, And the deep sh.e.l.l which makes the pinna's hole.

And Archestratus says, in his Gastronomy--

aenus has mussels fine, Abydus too Is famous for its oysters; Parium produces Crabs, the bears of the sea, and Mitylene periwinkles; Ambracia in all kinds of fish abounds, And the boar-fish sends forth: and in its narrow strait Messene cherishes the largest c.o.c.kles.

In Ephesus you shall catch chemae, which are not bad, And Chalcedon will give you oysters. But may Jupiter Destroy the race of criers, both the fish born in the sea, And those wretches which infest the city forum; All except one man, for he is a friend of mine, Dwelling in Lesbos, abounding in grapes; and his name is Agatho.

And Philyllius, or whoever is the author of the book called The Cities, says, "Chemae, limpets, solens, mussels, pinnas and periwinkles from Methymna:" but ?st?e??? was the only form of the name for all these fish among the ancients. Cratinus says in his Archilochi--

Like the pinna or the oyster (?st?e???).

And Epicharmus says, in his Marriage of Hebe--

Oysters which have grown together.

Where he uses the same form ?st?e???. But afterwards the form ?st?e?? like ???e?? began to be used. Plato, in his Phaedrus, says, "bound together like oysters" (?st?e??). And in the tenth book of his Politia, he says, "oysters (?st?ea) stuck together;" "oysters (?st?ea) and seaweed." But the peloris, or giant mussel, were so named from the word ?st?ea, _vast_. For it is much larger than the cheme, and very different from it. But Aristotle says that they are generated in the sand. And Ion the Chian mentions the chema, in his Epidemiae, and perhaps the sh.e.l.l-fish got the name of ??? pa?? t? ?e?????a?, from opening their mouths."

45. But concerning the oysters which are grown in the Indian Ocean; (for it is not unreasonable to speak of them, on account of the use of pearls;) Theophrastus speaks in his treatise on Precious Stones, and says, "But among the stones which are much admired is that which is called the pearl, being transparent in its character; and they make very expensive necklaces of them. They are found in an oyster which is something like the pinna, only less. And in size the pearl resembles a large fish's eye." Androsthenes, too, in his Voyage along the Coast of India, writes in these terms--"But of strombi, and chaerini, and other sh.e.l.l-fish, there are many different varieties, and they are very different from the sh.e.l.l-fish which we have. And they have the purple-fish, and a great mult.i.tude of other kinds of oysters. There is also one kind which is peculiar to those seas, which the natives call the berberi, from which the precious stone called the pearl comes. And this pearl is very expensive in Asia, being sold in Persia and the inland countries for its weight in gold. And the appearance of the oyster which contains it is much the same as that of the cteis oyster, only its sh.e.l.l is not indented, but smooth and s.h.a.ggy. And it has not two ears as the cteis oyster has, but only one. The stone is engendered in the flesh of the oyster, just as the measles are in pork. And it is of a very golden colour, so as not easily to be distinguished from gold when it is put by the side of it; but some pearls are of a silvery appearance, and some are completely white like the eyes of fish. But Chares of Mitylene, in the seventh book of his Histories of Alexander, says--"There is caught in the Indian sea, and also off the coast of Armenia, and Persia, and Susiana, and Babylonia, a fish very like an oyster; and it is large and oblong, containing within the sh.e.l.l flesh which is plentiful and white, and very fragrant, from which the men pick out white bones which they call the pearl. And they make of them necklaces and chains for the hands and feet, of which the Persians are very fond, as are the Medes and all Asiatics, esteeming them as much more valuable than golden ornaments."

46. But Isidorus the Characene, in his Description of Parthia, says, that "in the Persian sea there is an island where a great number of pearls are found; on which account there are quant.i.ties of boats made of rushes all about the island, from which men leap into the sea, and dive down twenty fathoms, and bring up two sh.e.l.ls. And they say that when there is a long continuance of thunder-storms, and heavy falls of rain, then the pinna produces most young, and then, too, the greatest quant.i.ty of pearls is engendered, and those, too, of the finest size and quality.

In the winter the pinna is accustomed to descend into chambers at the very bottom of the sea; but in summer they swim about all night with their sh.e.l.ls open, which they close in the day-time: and as many as stick to the crags, or rocks, throw out roots, and remaining fixed there, they generate pearls. But they are supported and nourished by something which adheres to their flesh: and this also sticks to the mouth of the c.o.c.kle, having talons and bringing it food: and it is something like a little crab, and is called the guardian of the pinna.

And its flesh penetrates through the centre of the c.o.c.kle-sh.e.l.l, like a root: and the pearl being generated close to it, grows through the solid portion of the sh.e.l.l, and keeps growing as long as it continues to adhere to the sh.e.l.l. But when the flesh gets under the excrescence, and cutting its way onwards, gently separates the pearl from the sh.e.l.l, then when the pearl is surrounded by flesh, it is no longer nourished so far as to grow at all; but the flesh makes it smoother, and more transparent, and more pure. And so, too, the pinna, which lives at the bottom, engenders the most transparent sort of pearl; and it produces them also very pure and of large size. But that which keeps near the surface, and is constantly rising, is of a smaller size and a worse colour, because it is affected by the rays of the sun. But those who hunt for pearls are in danger when they hastily put their hand into the opening of the sh.e.l.l, for immediately the fish closes its sh.e.l.l, and very often their fingers are sawn off; and sometimes they die immediately. But all those who put in their hand sideways easily draw off the sh.e.l.ls from the rock. And Menander makes mention of Emeralds also, in his Little Boy--

There must be an emerald and a sardonyx.

And the word for emerald is more correctly written ??a?d??, without a s. For it is derived from the verb a?a???, to glisten, because it is a transparent stone.

47. After this conversation some dishes were set on the table, full of many kinds of boiled meat: feet, and head, and ears, and loins; and also entrails, and intestines, and tongues; as is the custom at the places which are called boiled meat shops at Alexandria. For, O Ulpian, the word ?f??p?????, a boiled meat shop, is used by Posidippus, in his Little Boy. And again, while they were inquiring who had ever named any of these dishes, one of the party said, Aristophanes mentions entrails as things which are eatable, in his Knights--

I say that you are selling tripe and paunches Which to the revenue no t.i.the have paid.

And presently after he adds--

Why, my friend, hinder me from washing my paunches, And from selling my sausages? Why do you laugh at me?

And again he says--

But I, as soon as I have swallow'd down A bullock's paunch, and a dish of pig's tripe, And drunk some broth, won't stay to wash my hands, But will cut the throats of the orators, and will confuse Nicias.

And again he says--

But the Virgin G.o.ddess born of the mighty Father Gives you some boiled meat, extracted from the broth, And a slice of paunch, and tripe, and entrails.