The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 42

And Cara.n.u.s said--"Since you have been the first to drink, do you be the first also to accept the cup as a gift; and this also shall be the present for all the rest who drink too." And when this had been said, at once nine of the guests rose up s.n.a.t.c.hing at the cups, and each one trying to forestall the other. But one of those who were of the party, like an unlucky man as he was, as he was unable to drink, sat down and cried because he had no goblet; and so Cara.n.u.s presented him with an empty goblet. After this, a dancing party of a hundred men came in, singing an epithalamium in beautiful tune. And after them there came in dancing girls, some arranged so as to represent the Nereids, and others in the guise of the nymphs.

5. And as the drinking went on, and the shadows were beginning to fall, they opened the chamber where everything was encircled all round with white cloths. And when these curtains were drawn, the torches appeared, the part.i.tions having been secretly removed by mechanism. And there were seen Cupids, and Dianas, and Pans, and Mercuries, and numbers of statues of that kind, holding torches in silver candlesticks. And while we were admiring the ingenuity of the contrivance, some real Erymanthean boars were brought round to each of the guests on square platters with golden edges, pierced through and through with silver darts. And what was the strangest thing of all was, that those of us who were almost helpless and stupefied with wine, the moment that we saw any of these things which were brought in, became all in a moment sober, standing upright, as it is said. And so the slaves crammed them into the baskets of good omen, until the usual signal of the termination of the feast sounded.

For you know that that is the Macedonian custom at large parties.

And Cara.n.u.s, who had begun drinking in small goblets, ordered the slaves to bring round the wine rapidly. And so we drank pleasantly, taking our present liquor as a sort of antidote to our previous hard drinking. And while we were thus engaged, Mandrogenes the buffoon came in, the descendant, as is reported, of that celebrated Strato the Athenian, and he caused us much laughter. And after this he danced with his wife, a woman who was already more than eighty years of age. And at last the tables, to wind up the whole entertainment, were brought in. And sweetmeats in plaited baskets made of ivory were distributed to every one. And cheesecakes of every kind known, Cretan cheesecakes, and your Samian ones, my friend Lynceus, and Attic ones, with the proper boxes, or dishes, suitable to each kind of confection. And after this we all rose up and departed, quite sobered, by Jove, by the thoughts of, and our anxiety about, the treasures which we had received.

But you who never go out of Athens think yourself happy when you hear the precepts of Theophrastus, and when you eat thyme, and salads, and nice twisted loaves, solemnizing the Lenaean festival, and the Potfeast at the Anthesteria. But at the banquet of Cara.n.u.s, instead of our portions of meat, we carried off actual riches, and are now looking, some for houses, and some for lands, and some of us are seeking to buy slaves."

6. Now if you consider this, my friend Timocrates, with which of the Greek feasts that you ever heard of do you think this banquet, which has just been described to you, can be compared? When even Antiphanes the comic writer jokingly said in the nomaus, or perhaps it is in the Pelops--

What could the Greeks, of sparing tables fond, Eaters of salads, do? where you may get Four scanty chops or steaks for one small penny.

But among the ancestors of our nation Men roasted oxen, deer, and lambs entire, And last of all the cook, outdoing all His predecessors, set before the king A roasted camel, smoking, hump and all.

And Aristophanes, in his Acharnians, extolling the magnificence of the barbarians, says--

_A._ Then he received me, and to dinner ask'd me, And set before us whole fat oxen roasted.

_B._ Who ever saw a roasted ox? The braggart!

_A._ I'll take my oath he likewise put on table A bird three times as burly as Cleonymus; Its name, I well remember, was Th' Impostor.

And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, ridiculing the feast made at the marriage of Iphicrates when he married the daughter of Cotys king of the Thracians, says--

7.

If you do this as I bid you, You will ask us all to a supper, Not to such as that in Thrace, Given by Iphicrates-- Though, indeed, they say that Was a very n.o.ble feast.

For that all along the market Purple carpets there were spread To the northern corner; And a countless host of men With dirty hands and hair uncomb'd Supped on b.u.t.ter. There were too, Brazen goblets, large as cisterns, Holding plenty for a dozen Of the hardest drinkers known.

Cotys, too, himself was there, Girt around, and bearing kindly Rich soup in a gold tureen; Tasting all the br.i.m.m.i.n.g cups, So as to be the first to yield Of all the guests t' intoxication.

There was Antigenides Delighting all with his soft flute, Argas sung, and from Acharnae Cephisodotus struck the lyre, Celebrating Lacedaemon And the wide land of the Heraclidae, And at other times they sung Of the seven-gated Thebes, Changing thus their strain and theme.

Large was the dowry which 'tis said Fell to the lucky bridegroom's share: First, two herds of chestnut horses, And a herd of horned goats, A golden shield, a wide-neck'd bowl, A jar of snow, a pot of millet, A deep pit full of leeks and onions, And a hecatomb of polypi.

This they say that Cotys did, King of Thrace, in heartfelt joy At Iphicrates's wedding.

But a finer feast by far Shall be in our master's houses; For there's nothing good or fine Which our house does stand in need of.

There is scent of Syrian myrrh, There is incense, there is spice; There are delicate cakes and loaves, Cakes of meal and polypi, Tripe, and fat, and sausages, Soup, and beet, and figs, and pease, Garlic, various kinds of tunnies, Ptisan, pulse, and toast and m.u.f.fins, Beans, and various kinds of vetches, Honey, cheese, and cheesecakes too, Wheat, and nuts, and barley-groats, Roasted crabs, and mullets boil'd, Roasted cuttle-fish, boil'd turbot, Frogs, and perch, and mussels too, Sharks, and roach, and gudgeons too, Fish from doves and cuckoos named, Plaice, and flounders, shrimps, and rays.

Then, besides these dainty fish There is many another dish,-- Honeycombs and juicy grapes, Figs and cheesecakes, apples, pears, Cornels, and the red pomegranate, Poppies, creeping thyme, and parsley, Peaches, olives, plums and raisins, Leeks and onions, cabbages, Strong smelling a.s.saftida, Fennel, eggs, and lentils cool, And well-roasted gra.s.shoppers, Cardamums and sesame, Ceryces, salt, and limpets firm, The pinna, and the oyster bright, The periwinkle, and the whelk; And besides this a crowd of birds, Doves and ducks, and geese and sparrows, Thrushes, larks, and jays, and swans, The pelican, the crane and stork, Wagtails and ousels, t.i.ts and finches; And to wash all these dainties down There's wine, both native and imported, White and red, and sweet and acid, Still or effervescent.

8. But Lynceus, in his Centaur, ridiculing the Attic banquets, says--

_A._ Yon cook, the man who makes the sacrifice And seeks now to receive me as my host, Is one of Rhodes. And I, the guest invited, Am call'd a citizen of fair Perinthus.

And neither of us likes the Attic suppers; For melancholy is an Attic humour; May it be always foreign unto me.

They place upon the table a large platter Holding five smaller plates within its s.p.a.ce, One full of garlic, while another holds Two boil'd sea-urchins; in the third, a cake; The fourth displays ten c.o.c.kles to the guest, The last has caviar.--While I eat this, He falls on that: or while he dines on this, I make that other dish to disappear.

But I would rather eat up both myself, Only I cannot go beyond my powers; For I have not five mouths, nor twice five lips.

True, these detain the eyes with various sights, But looking at them is not eating them: I but appease my eyes and not my belly.

What shall I do then? Have you oysters? Give me A plate of them, I beg; and that a large one; Have you some urchins?

_B._ Here's a dish of them To which you're welcome; this I bought myself, And paid eight obols for it in the market.

_A._ Put then this dish on table by itself, That all may eat the same at once, and not One half the guests eat one thing, half another.

But Dromeas the parasite, when some one once asked him, as Hegesander the Delphian relates, whether the banquets in the city or at Chalcis were the best, said that the prelude to the banquets at Chalcis was superior to the whole entertainment in the city, calling the mult.i.tudes of oysters served up, and the great variety of fish, the prelude to the banquet.

9. But Diphilus, in his Female Deserter, introduces a cook, and represents him as saying--

_A._ What is the number of the guests invited To this fine marriage feast? And are they all Athenian citizens, or are there some Foreigners and merchants?

_B._ What is that to you, Since you are but the cook to dress the dinner?

_A._ It is the first part of my art, O father, To know the taste of those who are to eat.

For instance, if you ask a Rhodian, Set a fine shad or lebias before him, Well boil'd and hot, the moment that he enters.

That's what he likes; he'll like it better so Than if you add a cup of myrine wine.

_A._ Well, that idea of shads is not a bad one.

_B._ Then, if a Byzantine should be your guest, Steep all you offer such a man in wormwood.

And let your dishes taste of salt and garlic.

For fish are all so plenty in their country, That the men all are full of rheum and phlegm.

And Menander says, in his Trophonius--

_A._ This feast is for a guest's reception.

_B._ What guest? whence comes he? for those points, believe me, Do make a mighty difference to the cook.

For instance, if some guests from the islands come Who always feed on fish of every sort Fresh from the sea, such men like not salt dishes, But think them make-shifts. Give such men their food Well-season'd, forced, and stuff'd with choicest spices.

But if you ask a guest from Arcady He is a stranger to the sea, and loves Limpets and sh.e.l.l-fish;--but the rich Ionian Will look at nought but Lydian luxuries, Rich, stimulating, amatory meats.

10. The ancients used food calculated to provoke the appet.i.te, as for instance salt olives, which they call colymbades: and accordingly Aristophanes says, in his Old Age--

Old man, do you like flabby courtesans, Or tender maidens, firm as well-cured olives?

And Philemon, in his Follower, or Sauce, says--

_A._ What did you think, I pray, of that boil'd fish?

_B._ He was but small; do'st hear me? And the pickle Was white, and much too thick; there was no smell Of any spice or seasoning at all, So that the guests cried out,--How pure your brine is!

They also eat common gra.s.shoppers and the monkey gra.s.shopper as procreatives of the appet.i.te. Aristophanes says, in his Anagyrus--

How can you, in G.o.d's name, like gra.s.shoppers, Catching them with a reed, and cercopes?[218:1]

But the cercope is a little animal like a gra.s.shopper or p.r.i.c.kly roach, as Speusippus tells us in the fourth book of his Similitudes; and Epilycus mentions them in his Coraliscus. And Alexis says in his Thrason--

I never saw, not even a cercope A greater chatterer than you, O woman, Nor jay, or nightingale, or dove, or gra.s.shopper.

And Nicostratus says, in his Abra--

The first, a mighty dish shall lead the way, Holding an urchin, and some sauce and capers, A cheesecake, fish, and onions in rich stuffing.

11. And that they used to eat, for the sake of encouraging the appet.i.te, rape dressed with vinegar and mustard, is plainly stated by Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, where he says--