The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 39

Beat therefore now upon this pickled fish (t? ta???e? t?de).

And Menander uses it t??????, in the accusative case, in his Man selecting an Arbitrator--

I spread some salt upon the pickled fish (?p? t? t??????).

But when the word is masculine the genitive case does not end with s.

90. The Athenians were so fond of pickled fish that they enrolled as citizens the sons of Chaerephilus the seller of salt-fish; as Alexis tells us, in his Epidaurus, when he says--

For 'twas salt-fish that made Athenians And citizens of Chaerephilus's sons.

And when Timocles once saw them on horseback, he said that two tunny-fish were among the Satyrs. And Hyperides the orator mentions them too. And Antiphanes speaks of Euthynus the seller of pickled fish, in his Couris, in these terms:--

And going to the salt-fish seller, him I mean with whom I used to deal, there wait for me; And if Euthynus be not come, still wait, And occupy the man with fair excuses, And hinder him from cutting up the fish.

And Alexis, in his Hippiscus, and again in his Soraci, makes mention of Phidippus; and he too was a dealer in salt-fish--

There was another man, Phidippus hight, A foreigner who brought salt-fish to Athens.

91. And while we were eating the salt-fish and getting very anxious to drink, Daphnus said, holding up both his hands,--Heraclides of Tarentum, my friends, in his treatise ent.i.tled The Banquet, says, "It is good to take a moderate quant.i.ty of food before drinking, and especially to eat such dishes as one is accustomed to; for from the eating of things which have not been eaten for a long time the wine is apt to be turned sour, so as not to sit on the stomach, and many twinges and spasms are often originated. But some people think that these also are bad for the stomach; I mean, all kinds of vegetables and salted fish, since they possess qualities apt to cause pangs; but that glutinous and invigorating food is the most wholesome,--being ignorant that a great many of the things which a.s.sist the secretions are, on the contrary, very good for the stomach; among which is the plant called sisarum, (which Epicharmus speaks of, in his Agrostinus, and also in his Earth and Sea; and so does Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on the Wholesomes;) and asparagus and white beet, (for the black beet is apt to check the secretions,) and c.o.c.kles, and solens, and sea mussels, and chemae, and periwinkles, and perfect pickles, and salt-fish, which are void of smell, and many kinds of juicy fishes. And it is good that, before the main dinner, there should be served up what is called salad, and beet-root, and salt-fish, in order that by having the edge of our appet.i.te taken off we may go with less eagerness to what is not equally nutritious. But at the beginning of dinner it is best to avoid abundant draughts; for they are bad as generating too great a secretion of humours in the body.

"But the Macedonians, according to the statement of Ephippus the Olynthian, in his treatise Concerning the Burial of Alexander and Hephaestion, had no notion of moderation in drinking, but started off at once with enormous draughts before eating, so as to be drunk before the first course was off the table, and to be unable to enjoy the rest of the banquet."

92. But Diphilus the Siphnian says, "The salt pickles which are made of fish, whether caught in the sea, or in the lake, or in the river, are not very nourishing, nor very juicy, but are inflammatory, and act strongly on the bowels, and are provocative of desire. But the best of them are those which are made of animals devoid of fat, such as cybia, and horaea, and other kinds like them. And of fat fish, the best are the different kinds of tunny, and the young of the tunny; for the old ones are larger and harsher to the taste; and above all, the Byzantine tunnies are so. But the tunny, says he, is the same as the larger pelamys, the small kind of which is the same as the cybium, to which species the horaeum also belongs. But the sarda is of very nearly the same size as the colias. And the s...o...b..us is a light fish, and one which the stomach easily gets rid of; but the colias is a glutinous fish, very like a squill, and apt to give twinges, and has an inferior juice, but nevertheless is nutritious. And the best are those which are called the Amyclaean, and the Spanish, which is also called the Saxitan; for they are lighter and sweeter."

But Strabo, in the third book of his work on Geography, says that near the Islands of Hercules,[199:1] and off the city of Carthagena, is a city named s.e.xitania, from which the salt-fish above-mentioned derive their name; and there is another city called s...o...b..oaria, so called from the s...o...b..i which are caught in its neighbourhood, and of them the best sauce is made. But there are also fish which are called melandryae, which are mentioned by Epicharmus also, in his Ulysses the Deserter, in this way--

Then there was salt and pickled fish to eat, Something not quite unlike melandryae.

But the melandrys is the largest description of tunny, as Pamphilus explains in his treatise on Names; and that when preserved is very rich and oily.

93. "But the raw pickle called omotarichum," says Diphilus, "is called by some people cetema. It is a heavy sticky food, and moreover very indigestible. But the river coracinus, which some people call the peltes, the one from the Nile, I mean, which the people at Alexandria have a peculiar name for, and call the heminerus, is rather fat, and has a juice which is far from disagreeable; it is fleshy, nutritious, easily digestible, not apt to disagree with one, and in every respect superior to the mullet. Now the roe of every fish, whether fresh or dried and salted, is indigestible and apt to disagree. And the most so of all is the roe of the more oily and larger fish; for that remains harder for a long time, and is not decomposed. But it is not disagreeable to the taste when seasoned with salt and roasted. Every one, however, ought to soak dried and salted fish until the water becomes free from smell, and sweet. But dried sea-fish when boiled becomes sweeter; and they are sweeter too when eaten hot than cold." And Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says, "Those juices which are salt, and those which are sweet, all have an effect in relaxing the bowels; but those which are sharp and harsh are strongly diuretic. Those too which are bitter are generally diuretic, but some of them also relax the bowels. Those which are sour, however, check the secretions."

And Xenophon, that most accomplished of writers, in his treatise ent.i.tled Hiero, or the Tyrant, abuses all such food, and says, "For what, said Hiero, have you never noticed all the mult.i.tudinous contrivances which are set before tyrants, acid, and harsh, and sour; and whatever else there can be of the same kind?--To be sure I have, said Simonides, and all those things appeared to me to be very contrary to the natural taste of any man. And do you think, said Hiero, that these dishes are anything else but the fancies of a diseased and vitiated taste; since those who eat with appet.i.te, you well know, have no need of these contrivances and provocatives?"

94. After this had been said, Cynulcus asked for some spiced and boiled water to drink; saying that he must wash down all those salt arguments with sweet drink. And Ulpian said to him with some indignation, and slapping his pillow with his hand,--How long will it be before you leave off your barbarian tricks? Will you never stop till I am forced to leave the party and go away, being unable to digest all your absurd speeches?

And he replied,--Now that I am at Rome, the Sovereign City, I use the language of the natives habitually; for among the ancient poets, and among those prose writers who pique themselves on the purity of their Greek, you may find some Persian nouns, because of their having got into a habit of using them in conversation. As for instance, one finds mention made of parasangs, and astandae, and angari (couriers), and a schnus or perch, which last word is used either as a masculine or feminine noun, and it is a measure on the road, which retains even to this day that Persian name with many people. I know, too, that many of the Attic writers affect to imitate Macedonian expressions, on account of the great intercourse that there was between Attica and Macedonia.

But it would be better, in my opinion,

To drink the blood of bulls, and so prefer The death of great Themistocles,

than to fall into your power. For I could not say, to drink the water of bulls; as to which you do not know what it is. Nor do you know that even among the very best poets and prose writers there are some things said which are not quite allowable. Accordingly Cephisodorus, the pupil of Isocrates the orator, in the third of his treatises addressed to Aristotle, says that a man might find several things expressed incorrectly by the other poets and sophists; as for instance, the expression used by Archilochus, That every man was immodest; and that apophthegm of Theodorus, That a man ought to get all he can, but to praise equality and moderation; and also, the celebrated line of Euripides about the tongue[201:1] having spoken; and even, by Sophocles, the lines which occur in the aethiopians--

These things I say to you to give you pleasure, Not wishing to do aught by violence: And do thou, like wise men, just actions praise, And keep thy hands and heart from unjust gain.

And in another place the same poet says--

I think no words, if companied by gain, Pernicious or unworthy.

And in Homer, we find Juno represented as plotting against Jupiter, and Mars committing adultery. And for these sentiments and speeches those writers are universally blamed.

95. If therefore I have committed any errors, O you hunter of fine names and words, do not be too angry with me; for, according to Timotheus of Miletus, the poet,--

I do not sing of ancient themes, For all that's new far better seems.

Jove's the new king of all the world; While anciently 'twas Saturn hurl'd His thunders, and the Heavens ruled; So I'll no longer be befool'd With dotard's ancient songs.

And Antiphanes says, in his Alcestis--

Dost thou love things of modern fashion?

So too does he; for he is well a.s.sured That new devices, though they be too bold, Are better far than old contrivances.

And I will prove to you, that the ancients were acquainted with the water which is called dicoctas, in order that you may not be indignant again, when I speak of boiled and spiced water. For, according to the Pseudheracles of Pherecrates--

Suppose a man who thinks himself a genius Should something say, and I should contradict him, Still trouble not yourself; but if you please, Listen and give your best attention.

But do not grudge, I entreat you, said Ulpian, to explain to me what is the nature of that Bull's water which you spoke of; for I have a great thirst for such words. And Cynulcus said,--But I pledge you, according to your fancy; you thirst for words, taking a desire from Alexis, out of his Female Pythagorean,

A cup of water boil'd; for when fresh-drawn 'Tis heavy, and indigestible to drink.

But it was Sophocles, my friend, who spoke of Bull's water, in his aegeus, from the river Taurus near Trzen, in the neighbourhood of which there is a fountain called Hyoessa.

96. But the ancients did also at times use very cold water in their draughts before dinner. But I will not tell you, unless you first teach me, whether the ancients were in the habit of drinking warm water at their banquets. For if their cups got their name[203:1] from what took place in reference to them, and if they were set before the guests full of mixed liquors, then they certainly did not contain warm drink, and were not put on the fire like kettles. For that they were in the habit of drinking warm water Eupolis proves, in his Demi--

Warm for us now the brazen ewer quick, And bid the slaves prepare the victims new, That we may feast upon the entrails.

And Antiphanes says, in his Omphale--

May I ne'er see a man Boiling me water in a bubbling pail; For I have no disease, and wish for none.

But if I feel a pain within my stomach, Or round about my navel, why I have A ring I lately gave a drachma for To a most skilful doctor.

And, in his Anointing Woman, (but this play is attributed to Alexis also,) he says--

But if you make our shop notorious, I swear by Ceres, best of G.o.ddesses, That I will empt the biggest ladle o'er you, Filling it with hot water from the kettle; And if I fail, may I ne'er drink free water more.

And Plato, in the fourth book of his Polity, says--"Desire in the mind must be much the same as thirst is in the body. Now, a man feels thirst for hot water or for cold; or for much water or for a little; or perhaps, in a word, for some particular drink. And if there be any heat combined with the thirst, then that will give a desire for cold water; but if a sensation of cold be united with it, that will engender a wish for warm water. And if by reason of the violence of the cause the thirst be great, that will give a desire for an abundant draught; but if the thirst be small, then the man will wish for but a small draught. But the thirst itself is not a desire of anything except of the thing itself, namely, drinking. And hunger, again, is not a desire of anything else except food."

And Semus the Delian, in the second book of his Nesias, or treatise on Islands, says that in the island of Cimolus, cold places are prepared by being dug out against the summer, where people may put down vessels full of warm water, and then draw them up again in no respect different from snow. But warm water is called by the Athenians metaceras, a word used by Sophilus, in his Androcles. And Alexis says, in his Locrians--

But the maid-servants pour'd forth water, One pouring boiling water, and the other warm.

And Philemon, in his Corinthian Women, uses the same word. And Amphis says, in his Bath--

One call'd out, to the slaves to bring hot water, Another shouted for metaceras.

97. And as the Cynic was proceeding to heap other proofs on these, Pontia.n.u.s said,--The ancients, my friends, were in the habit also of drinking very cold water. At all events Alexis says, in his Parasite--

I wish to make you taste this icy water, For I am proud of my well, whose limpid spring Is colder than the Ararus.