The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 89

Posidippus also wrote this epigram on the same Venus which is worshipped in Zephyrium:--

Oh, all ye men who traffic on the streams, Or on the land who hold a safer way, Worship this shrine of Philadelphus' wife, Venus Arsinoe, whom Callicrates, The naval leader, first did firmly place On this most beautiful Zephyrian sh.o.r.e.

And she will on your pious voyage smile, And amid storms will for her votaries Smooth the vex'd surface of the wide-spread sea.

Ion the tragedian also mentions the polypus, in his Phnix, saying--

I hate the colour-changing polypus, Clinging with bloodless feelers to the rocks.

107. Now the different species of polypus are these: the eledone, the polypodine, the bolbotine, the osmylus; as both Aristotle and Speusippus teach us. But, in his book on Animals and their Properties, Aristotle says that the polypus, the osmylus, the eledone, the cuttle-fish, and the squid, are all molluscous. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says--

A polypus, a cuttle-fish, and quickly-moving squid, A foul-smelling bolbitine, and chattering old woman.

And Archestratus says--

The Carian and the Thasian polypi Are far the best; Corcyra too can breed Fish of large size and very numerous.

But the Dorians spell the word with an ?, p???p???; as, for instance, Epicharmus. Simonides too has the expression, p???p?? d???e???. But the Attics spell the word p???p???, with an ?: and it is a cartilaginous fish; for ???d??d?? and se?a??d?? have the same meaning;--

The polypodes and the dog-shark.

Moreover, all the fish belonging to the species of the cuttle-fish are called molluscous. But the whole tribe of . . . . . is cartilaginous.

108. There is also a fish called the pagurus; and it is mentioned by Timocles or Xenarchus, in his Purple, thus--

But I, as being a skilful fisherman, Have carefully devised all sorts of arts To catch those vile paguri, enemies To all the G.o.ds and all the little fishes.

And shall I not without delay beguile An old buglossus? That would be well done.

109. There is also the pelamys. Phrynichus mentions it in his Muses; and Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says the pelamydes and the tunnies breed in the Black Sea, but not anywhere else. Sophocles also mentions them, in his Shepherds:--

There, too, the foreign pelamys does winter, The stranger from the h.e.l.lespont. For she Doth come with many of her kind in summer To these cool waters of the Bosphorus.

110. Then there is the perch. He also is mentioned by Diocles; and Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one another, says that the perch, the canna, and the phycis are all nearly alike. And Epicharmus says:--

The comaris, the sea-dog, and the cestra And variegated perch.

And Numenius, in his treatise on the Art of Fishing, says--

At one time perch, and at another strophades, Which keep around the rocks. The phycis too, Th' alphestes, and the red-flesh'd scorpion.

There is also the phycis. This also is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding; and by Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one another; and by Numenius: all whose testimonies are at hand. Aristotle, in his book upon Animals and their Properties, says that the phycis is surrounded with p.r.i.c.kles and spotted. But the perch is marked with lines, and with bars running in an oblique direction. And there is a proverb also, "The perch follows the black-tail."

111. We have also the needle-fish. This also is mentioned by Epicharmus, who says--

The oxyrhynchi, and the needle-fish, And the hippuri.

But Dorion, in his work on Fish, says--"The belone, which they also call the needle-fish." Aristotle too, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, calls this fish the belone. But, in his book on Animals and their Properties, or else in his work on Fishes, he calls it the needle-fish; and says that it has no teeth. And Speusippus calls it the belone.

112. There is also the rhine. Dorion, in his book on Fishes, says that the rhines are best at Smyrna; and that all the cartilaginous fish are especially good in the gulf of Smyrna. And Archestratus says--

And the far-famed Miletus does produce All cartilaginous fish in high perfection, But first of all one ought to take account Both of the rhina and leiobatus, Known for his s.p.a.cious back. Still before all Give me a roasted crocodile to eat, Fresh from the oven, a most dainty dish For all the children of Ionia.

113. There is next the scarus, or char. Aristotle says that this fish has serrated teeth, and is a solitary fish, and carnivorous; and that it has a small mouth, and a tongue which does not adhere closely to the mouth, and a triangular heart of a whitish colour and with three lobes; and that its gall and spleen are black, and that of its gills one is double and one single; and that it alone of all fish chews the cud. And that it delights in seaweed for food, on which account the fishermen use seaweed as a bait to catch it with. And it is in season in the summer.

And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says--

We fish for spari, and for scari too, Whose very dung may not be thrown away.

But Seleucus of Tarsus, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the scarus is the only fish which never sleeps; by reason of which it is not easily caught, even by night. But this may be the case on account of its timid nature. And Archestratus says, in his Gastronomy,--

Seek now a scarus, fresh from Ephesus, And in the winter season eat a mullet Caught in the waves of sandy Teichioussa, A village of Miletus, near the Carians, The crooked-footed Carians.

And in another part he says--

Wash and then roast the mighty scarus which Comes from the sea that laves Chalcedon's walls: That too is good which near Byzantium swims, With back as broad as a large oval shield.

Take him and cook him whole as I shall tell you.

Sprinkle him o'er with oil and grated cheese, Then place him in the oven hanging up, So as to escape the bottom, and then roast him, And sprinkle him with salt and c.u.mmin seed Well mix'd together; and again with oil, Pouring out of your hand the holy stream.

Nicander of Thyatira says that there are two kinds of scari; and that one is called the onias, and the other the aeolus.

114. Then there is the sparus. Icesius says that this is a more juicy fish than the sprat, and more nutritious than most other fish. And Epicharmus says, in his Hebe's Wedding,--

Neptune then arrives himself Laden with most beauteous nets In the boats of fair Phnicia, Then we all do spari catch, And scari too, that sacred fish, Whose very dung may not be thrown away.

And Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing,--

The sparus or the hycas fond of company.

And Dorion mentions this fish, in his treatise on Fishes.

115. There is also the scorpion. Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesome Things, addressed to Plistarchus, says--"Of fresh fish, the following have drier meat: the scorpions, the sea-cuckoo, the sea-sparrow, the sargi, and the rough-tail. But the mullet is not so dry as these are; for all fish which keep near the rocks have softer flesh."

And Icesius says--"There are two kinds of scorpion; one of which lives in the sea, and the other in marshes. And the one which lives in the sea is red, but the other is rather black. But the sea-mullet is superior to the other, both in taste and in nutritious qualities. But the scorpions have purging qualities, are easy of secretion, very juicy, and very nutritious; for they are a cartilaginous fish." The scorpion brings forth its young twice a-year, as Aristotle tells us, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals. But Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing,--

The phycides, the alphestes, and besides The red-flesh'd scorpion, and the black-tail quick, Which guides the perch all through the stormy sea.

But that he is a fish which has the power of stinging, Aristotle tells us, in his book about Fishes or Animals. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, says that the scorpion is a variegated fish:--

The variegated scorpion, the grayling, The fat and well-fed lizards.

The scorpion is a solitary fish, and feeds on seaweed. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, Aristotle speaks of scorpions and scorpides in different places; but it is uncertain whether he means the same fish; because we ourselves have often eaten the scorpaena and the scorpion, and there is no one who does not know that both their juice and their meat are quite different. But Archestratus, that skilful cook, in his Golden Words, tells us--

When you're at Thasos buy a scorpion, But let him not be longer than one cubit; Avoid the larger sizes.

116. Then there is the s...o...b..us, or tunny, which is mentioned by this name by Aristophanes, in his Gerytades. Icesius says that that species of tunny called s...o...b..us is smaller in size, but more nutritious, than the species called colias; and also more juicy, though not more easily digested. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, mentions them thus:--

Sea-swallows, and mormyri, both of which Are larger than the coliae and the s...o...b..i, But less than those whose name is thynnides.

117. The sargus is another fish. He (as Icesius tells us) is a fish of very exciting and astringent properties, and more nutritious than the melanurus, or blacktail. But Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the sargus is a very cunning fish as respects the catching him:--

The rich sea-blackbird, or the thrush who sports Beneath the waves; the sargus too who rushes Now here with sudden movement, and now there, The greatest enemy to the fisher's nets.