Walnuts are next to be mentioned.—Theophrastus, in the second book of his History of Plants, speaking of those whose fruit is not visible, says this among other things:— “Since the beginning of all the greater fruits is visible, as of the almond, the nut, the date, and other fruits of the same kind; except the walnut, in which that is not at all the case; and with the exception also of the pomegranate and of the female pear.” But Diphilus of Siphnos, in his book about What should be eaten by People when Sick and by People in Health," says—“The fruit called the Persian apple or peach, and by some the Persian cuckoo-apple, is moderately juicy, but is more nutritious than apples.” But Philotimus, in the second and third books of his treatise on Food, says that the Persian nut or walnut is more oily and like millet, and that being a looser fruit, when it is pressed it yields a great quantity of oil. But Aristophanes the grammarian, in his Lacedæmonian Dialects, says that the Lacedæmonians call the cuckoo-apples Persian bitter apples; and that some people call them ἄδρυα.
Περσικά. Θεόφραστος ἐν δευτέρῳ περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορίας λέγων περὶ ὧν ὁ καρπὸς οὐ φανερός, γράφει καὶ τάδε· ἐπεὶ τῶν γε μειζόνων φανερὰ πάντων ἡ ἀρχή, καθάπερ ἀμυγδάλης, καρύου, βαλάνου, τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τοιαῦτα πλὴν τοῦ Περσικοῦ, τούτου δ’ ἥκιστα· καὶ πάλιν βόας, ἀπίου, μηλέας Δίφιλος δ’ ὁ Σίφνιος ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν προσφερομένων τοῖς νοσοῦσι καὶ τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσίν· τὰ δὲ Περσικὰ λεγόμενα μῆλα, ὑπό τινων δὲ Περσικὰ κοκκύμηλα, μέσως ἐστὶν εὔχυλα, θρεπτικώτερα δὲ τῶν μήλων. Φυλότιμος δ’ ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ περὶ τροφῆς τὸ Περσικόν φησι λιπαρώτερον καὶ κεγχρῶδες εἶναι, χαυνότερον δ’ ὑπάρχειν καὶ πιεζόμενον πλεῖστον ἔλαιον ἀφιέναι. Ἀριστοφάνης δ’ ὁ γραμματικὸς ἐν Λακωνικαῖς Γλώσσαις τὰ κοκκύμηλά φησι τοὺς Λάκωνας καλεῖν ὀξύμαλα Περσικά, ἅ τινες ἄδρυα.
The Citron was next mentioned.—And with respect to this fruit there was a great discussion among the Deipnosophists, as to whether there is any mention made of it by the ancients. For Myrtilus said, proposing, as it were, to send us who made the inquiry to feed among the wild goats, that Hegesander the Delphian, in his Memorials, does make mention of this fruit; but that he did not recollect the exact words: and Plutarch, contradicting him, said,—But I indeed contend, that Hegesander never mentions the citron at all, for I read through the whole of his Memorials for the express purpose of seeing whether he did or no; since some other of our companions also asserted positively that he did, trusting to some scholastic commentaries of a man whom he considered respectable enough. So that it is time for you, my good friend Myrtilus, to seek for some other witness. But Aemilianus said, that Jobas the king of the Mauritanians, a man of the most extensive learning, in his History of Libya, does mention the citron, saying that it is called among the Libyans the Hesperian apple, and that they were citrons which Hercules carried into Greece, and which obtained the name of golden apples on account of their colour and appearance. But the fruit which is called the apples of the Hesperides, is said to have been produced by Terra, on the occasion of the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, according to the statement of Asclepiades, in the sixtieth book of his History of the Affairs of Egypt. On this, Democritus, looking towards the speakers, said,—If, indeed, Jobas asserts any of these things, let him take pleasure in his Libyan books, and in the nonsense of Hanno. But I repeat the assertion, that the name citron does not occur in the old authors. But the fruit which is described by Theophrastus the Eresian, in his Histories of Plants, is described in such a manner as to compel me to believe that he intended the citron by what he said. For that philosopher says, in the fourth book of his History of Plants—“The Median territory, and like wise the Persian, has many other productions, and also the Perian or Median apple. Now, that tree has a leaf very like and almost exactly the same as that of the bay-tree, the arbutus, or the nut: and it has thorns like the prickly-pear, or blackthorn, smooth but very sharp and strong. And the fruit is not good to eat, but is very fragrant, and so too are the leaves of the tree. And if any one puts one of the fruits among his clothes, it keeps them from the moth. And it is useful when any one has taken poison injurious to life; for when given in wine it produces a strong effect on the bowels, and draws out the poison. It is serviceable also in the way of making the breath sweet; for if any one boils the inner part of the fruit in broth or in anything else, and then presses it in his mouth and swallows it, it makes his breath smell sweet. And the seed is taken out and is sown in spring in square beds, being very carefully cultivated; and then it is watered every fourth or fifth day; and when it has grown up it is again transplanted the next spring into a place where the ground is soft, and well-watered, and not very thin. And it bears fruit every year; some of which are fit to be gathered, and some are in flower, and some are becoming ripe at the same time. And those of the flowers which have a stem like a distaff projecting out of the centre are sure to produce good seed; but those which have no such stem are unproductive.” And in the first book of the same treatise he says the same thing about the distaff, and about the flowers which are productive. And I am induced by these things, my mates, and by what Theophrastus says of the colour and smell and leaves of the fruit, to believe that the fruit meant by him is the citron; and let no one of you marvel if he says that it is not good to eat; since until the time of our grandfathers no one was used to eat it, but they put it away as a treasure in their chests along with their clothes.
κίτριον. περὶ τούτου πολλὴ ζήτησις ἐνέπεσε τοῖς δειπνοσοφισταῖς, εἴ τίς ἐστιν αὐτοῦ μνήμη παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς. Μυρτίλος μὲν γάρ ἔφασκεν ὥσπερ εἰς αἶγας ἡμᾶς ἀγρίας ἀποπέμπων τοὺς ζητοῦντας, Ἡγήσανδρον τὸν Δελφὸν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν αὐτοῦ μνημονεύειν, τῆς δὲ λέξεως τὰ νῦν οὐ μεμνῆσθαι. πρὸς ὃν ἀντιλέγων ὁ Πλούταρχος ἀλλὰ μὴν ἔγωγε, φησί, διορίζομαι μηδ’ ὅλως τὸν ʽ Ἡγήσανδρον τοῦτο εἰρηκέναι, δι’ αὐτὸ τοῦτ’ ἐξαναγνοὺς αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ὑπομνήματα, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλος τις τῶν ἑταίρων τοῦτ’ ἔχειν οὕτω διεβεβαιοῦτο, ὁρμώμενος ἔκ τινων σχολικῶν ὑπομνημάτων ἀνδρὸς οὐκ ἀδόξου· ὥστε ὥρα σοι, φίλε Μυρτίλε, ἄλλον ζητεῖν μάρτυρα. Αἰμιλιανὸς δὲ ἔλεγεν Ἰόβαν τὸν Μαυρουσίων βασιλέα, ἄνδρα πολυμαθέστατον, ἐν τοῖς περὶ Λιβύης συγγράμμασι μνημονεύοντα τοῦ κιτρίου καλεῖσθαι φάσκειν αὐτὸ παρὰ τοῖς Λίβυσι μῆλον Ἑσπερικόν, ἀφ’ ὧν καὶ Ἡρακλέα κομίσαι εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα τὰ χρύσεα διὰ τὴν ἰδέαν λεγόμενα μῆλα. τὰ δὲ τῶν Ἑσπερίδων λεγόμενα μῆλα ὅτι ἐς τοὺς Διὸς καὶ Ἥρας λεγομένους γάμους ἀνῆκεν ἡ γῆ Ἀσκληπιάδης εἴρηκεν ἐν ἑξηκοστῷ Αἰγυπτιακῶν, πρὸς τούτους ἀποβλέψας ὁ Δημόκριτος ἔφη· εἰ μέν τι τούτων Ἰόβας ἱστορεῖ, χαιρέτω Λιβυκαῖσι βίβλοις ἔτι τε τοῖς Ἄννωνος πλάναις. ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ μὲν ὄνομα οὔ φημι κεῖσθαι τοῦ κιτρίου παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς τοῦτο, τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἐρεσίου Θεοφράστου οὕτως λεγόμενον ἐν τῇ περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορίᾳ ἀναγκάζει με ἐπὶ τῶν κιτρίων ἀκούειν τὰ σημαινόμενα, φησὶ γὰρ ὁ φιλόσοφος ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῆς περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορίας οὕτως· ἡ δὲ Μηδία χώρα καὶ ἡ Περσὶς ἄλλα τε ἔχει πλείω καὶ τὸ μῆλον τὸ Περσικὸν ἢ Μηδικὸν καλούμενον. ἔχει δὲ τὸ δένδρον τοῦτο φύλλον μὲν ὅμοιον καὶ σχεδὸν ἴσον τῷ τῆς ἀνδράχλης καὶ καρύας, ἀκάνθας δ’ οἵας ἄπιος ἢ ὀξυάκανθος, λείας δὲ καὶ ὀξείας σφόδρα καὶ ἰσχυράς. τὸ δὲ μῆλον οὐκ ἐσθίεται μὲν, εὔοσμον δὲ πάνυ καὶ αὐτὸ καὶ τὰ φύλλα τοῦ δένδρου· κἂν εἰς ἱμάτια τεθῇ τὸ μῆλον, ἄκοπα διατηρεῖ, χρήσιμον δὲ ἐπειδὰν καὶ τύχῃ τις πεπωκὼς θανάσιμον φάρμακον δοθὲν γὰρ ἐν οἴνῳ διακόπτει τὴν κοιλίαν καὶ ἐξάγει τὸ φάρμακον καὶ πρὸς στόματος εὐωδίαν ἐὰν γάρ τις ἑψήσῃ ἐν ζωμῷ ἢ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ τὸ εἴσω τοῦ μήλου ἐκπιέσῃ τε εἰς τὸ στόμα καὶ καταρροφήσῃ, ποιεῖ τὴν ὀσμὴν ἡδεῖαν. σπείρεται δὲ τοῦ ἦρος εἰς πρασιὰς ἐξαιρεθὲν τὸ σπέρμα διειργασμένας ἐπιμελῶς· εἶτ’ ἄρδεται διὰ τετάρτης ἢ πέμπτης ἡμέρας, ὅταν δὲ ἁδρὸν ᾖ, διαφυτεύεται πάλιν τοῦ ἔαρος εἰς χωρίον μαλακὸν καὶ ἔφυδρον καὶ οὐ λίαν λεπτόν. φέρει δὲ τὰ μῆλα πᾶσαν ὥραν τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἀφῄρηται, τὰ δ’ ἀνθεῖ, τὰ δ’ ἐκπέττει. τῶν δ’ ἀνθῶν ὅσα ἔχει καθάπερ ἠλακάτην ἐκ μέσου τινὰ ἐξέχουσαν, ταῦτά ἐστι γόνιμα· ὅσα δὲ μή, ἄγονα. κἀν τῷ πρώτῳ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς πραγματείας τὰ περὶ τῆς ἠλακάτης καὶ τῶν γονίμων εἴρηκεν. ἐκ τούτων ἐγὼ κινούμενος, ὦ ἑταῖροι, ὧν φησιν ὁ Θεόφραστος περὶ χρόας, περὶ ὀδμῆς, περὶ φύλλων, τὸ κιτρίον εἶναι λέγεσθαι πεπίστευκα, καὶ μηδεὶς ὑμῶν θαυμαζέτω εἴ φησιν μὴ ἐσθίεσθαι αὐτό, ὁπότε γε καὶ μέχρι τῶν κατὰ τοὺς πάππους ἡμῶν χρόνων οὐδεὶς ἤσθιεν, ἀλλ’ ὥς τι μέγα κειμήλιον ἀπετίθεντο ἐν ταῖς κιβωτοῖς μετὰ τῶν ἱματίων.
But that this plant really did come from that upper country into Greece, one may find asserted in the works of the Comic poets, who, speaking of its size, appear to point out the citron plainly enough. Antiphanes says, in his Bœotian—A. 'Tis silly to say a word about roast meatTo men who're ne'er content. But now, my girl,Just take these apples.B. They are fine to look at.A. Indeed they are, and good too, O ye gods!For this seed has arrived not long agoIn Athens, coming from the mighty king.B. I thought it came from the Hesperides;For there they say the golden apples grow.A. They have but three.B. That which is very beautifulIs rare in every place, and so is dear.And Eriphus, in his Melibœa, quotes these selfsame Iambics of Antiphanes, and then proceeds in his own words:—B. I thought, I swear by Dian, that they cameFrom out the garden of the Hesperides,For they, they say, do keep the golden apples.A. They have but three.B. That which is very beautifulIs rare in every place, and so is dear.A. I'll sell you these now for a single penny,And even that I'll put down in the bill.B. Are they not pomegranates? how fine they are!A. Fine! yes—they say that Venus did herselfPlant this the parent tree in Cyprus, where it stands.Take it, my dear Berbeias.B. Thank you kindly.A. Take also these three; they are all I had.And if any one is able to contradict this, and to show that these descriptions are not meant to apply to the fruit which we now call the citron, let him bring forward some clearer testimonies.
ὅτι δ’ ὄντως ἐκ τῆς ἄνω χώρας ἐκείνης κατέβη εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας τὸ φυτὸν τοῦτο, ἔστιν εὑρεῖν λεγόμενον καὶ παρὰ τοῖς τῆς κωμῳδίας ποιηταῖς, οἳ καὶ περὶ μεγέθους αὐτῶν τι λέγοντες τῶν κιτρίων μνημονεύειν φαίνονται. Ἀντιφάνης μὲν ἐν Βοιωτίδι· καὶ περὶ μὲν ὄψου γ’ ἠλίθιον τὸ καὶ λέγειν ὥσπερ πρὸς ἀπλήστους, ἀλλὰ ταυτὶ λάμβανε, παρθένε, τὰ μῆλα. β. καλά γε. α. καλὰ δῆτ᾽, ὦ θεοί· νεωστὶ γὰρ τὸ σπέρμα τοῦτ’ ἀφιγμένον εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἐστὶ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως. β. παρ’ Ἑσπερίδων ᾤμην σε, νὴ τὴν Φωσφόρον, φήσειν τὰ χρυσᾶ μῆλα ταῦτ’ εἶναι· τρία μόνον ἐστίν. α. ὀλίγον τὸ καλόν ἐστι πανταχοῦ καὶ τίμιον. ἔριφος δ’ ἐν Μελιβοίᾳ αὐτὰ ταῦτα τὰ ἰαμβεῖα προθεὶς ὡς ἴδια τὰ τοῦ Ἀντιφάνους ἐπιφέρει· β. παρ’ Ἑσπερίδων ᾤμην σε, νὴ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν, ξ φήσειν τὰ χρυσᾶ μῆλα ταῦτ’ εἶναι· τρία μόνον ἐστίν. α. ὀλίγον τὸ καλόν ἐστι πανταχοῦ καὶ τίμιον. β. τούτων μὲν ὀβολόν, εἰ πολύ, τίθημι· λογιοῦμαι γάρ. α. αὗται δὲ ῥόαι. β. ὡς εὐγενεῖς. α. τὴν γὰρ Ἀφροδίτην ἐν Κύπρῳ δένδρον φυτεῦσαι τοῦτό φασιν ἓν μόνον. β. Βέρβεια πολυτίμητε κᾆτα τρεῖς μόνας καὶ τάσδ’ ἐκόμισας; α. οὐ γάρ εἶχον πλείονας.
However, Phænias the Eresian compels us to entertain the idea that, perhaps, the name may be meant for cedron, as from the cedar-tree. For, in the fifth book of his treatise on Plants, he says that the cedar has thorns around its leaves; and that the same is the case with the citron is visible to everybody. But that the citron when eaten before any kind of food, whether dry or moist, is an antidote to all injurious effects, I am quite certain, having had that fact fully proved to me by my fellow-citizen, who was entrusted with the government of Egypt. He had condemned some men to be given to wild beasts, as having been convicted of being malefactors, and such men he said were only fit to be given to beasts. And as they were going into the theatre appropriated to the punishment of robbers, a woman who was selling fruit by the wayside gave them out of pity some of the citron which she herself was eating, and they took it and ate it, and after a little while, being exposed to some enormous and savage beasts, and bitten by asps, they suffered no injury. At which the governor was mightily astonished. And at last, examining the soldier who had charge of them, whether they had eaten or drunk anything, when he learnt of him that some citron had been given to them without any evil design; on the next day he ordered some citron to be given o some of them again, and others to have none given to them And those who eat the citron, though they were bitten, received no injury, but the others died immediately on being bitten. And this result being proved by repeated experiments, it was found that citron was an antidote to all sorts of pernicious poison. But if any one boils a whole citron with its seed in Attic honey, it is dissolved in the honey, and he who takes two or three mouthfuls of it early in the morning will never experience any evil effects from poison.
τούτοις εἴ τις ἀντιλέγειν ἔχει ὅτι μὴ τὸ νῦν κιτρίον λεγόμενον σημαίνεται, σαφέστερα μαρτύρια παρατιθέσθω· καίτοι καὶ Φαινίου τοῦ Ἐρεσίου ἔννοιαν ἡμῖν διδόντος μήποτε ἀπὸ τῆς κέδρου τὸ κεδρίον ὠνόμασται. καὶ γὰρ τὴν κέδρον φησὶν ἐν πέμπτῳ περὶ φυτῶν ἀκάνθας ἔχειν περὶ τὰ φύλλα, ὅτι δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ περὶ τὸ κιτρίον ἐστὶ παντὶ δῆλον. ὅτι δὲ καὶ προλαμβανόμενον τὸ κιτρίον πάσης τροφῆς ξηρᾶς τε καὶ ὑγρᾶς ἀντιφάρμακόν ἐστι παντὸς δηλητηρίου εὖ οἶδα, μαθὼν παρὰ πολίτου ἐμοῦ πιστευθέντος τὴν τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀρχήν. οὗτος κατεδίκασέ τινας γενέσθαι θηρίων βορὰν κακούργους εὑρεθέντας, καὶ ἔδει αὐτοὺς ἀσπίσι τοῖς ζῴοις παραβληθῆναι. εἰσιοῦσι δὲ αὐτοῖς εἰς τὸ τοῖς λῃσταῖς εἰς τιμωρίαν ἀποδεδειγμένον θέατρον κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν κάπηλίς τις γυνὴ κατ’ ἔλεον ἔδωκεν οὗ μετὰ χεῖρας εἶχεν ἐσθίουσα κιτρίου, καὶ λαβόντες ἔφαγον καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολὺ παραβληθέντες πελωρίοις καὶ ἀγριωτάτοις ζῴοις ταῖς ἀσπίσι δηχθέντες οὐδὲν ἔπαθον. ἀπορία δὲ κατέσχε τὸν ἄρχοντα, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀνακρίνων τὸν αὐτοὺς φυλάττοντα στρατιώτην εἴ τι ἔφαγον ἢ ἔπιον, ὡς ἔμαθε κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐξ ἀκεραίου τὸ κιτρίον δεδομέναν, τῇ ἐπιούσῃ τῶν ἡμερῶν τῷ μὲν πάλιν ἐκέλευσε δοθῆναι κιτρίου, τῷ δ’ οὔ· καὶ ὁ μὲν φαγὼν δηχθεὶς οὐδὲν ἔπαθεν, ὁ δὲ παραυτίκα πληγεὶς ἀπέθανε. δοκιμασθέντος οὖν διὰ πολλῶν τοῦ τοιούτου εὑρέθη τὸ κιτρίον ἀντιφάρμακον παντὸς δηλητηρίου φαρμάκου. ἐὰν δέ τις ἐν μέλιτι Ἀττικῷ ὅλον κιτρίον ὡς ἔχει φύσεως συνεψήσῃ μετὰ τοῦ σπέρματος, διαλύεται μὲν ἐν τῷ μέλιτι, καὶ ὁ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ λαμβάνων ἕωθεν δύο ἢ τρεῖς δακτύλους οὐδ’ ὁτιοῦν ὑπὸ φαρμάκου πείσεται.
Now if any one disbelieves this, let him learn from Theopompus the Chian, a man of the strictest truth and who expended a great deal of money on the most accurate investigation of matters to be spoken of in his History. For he says, in the thirty-eighth book of his History, while giving an account of Clearchus, the tyrant of the Heracleans who were in Pontus, that he seized violently upon a number of people and gave a great many of them hemlock to drink.—“And as,” says he, “they all knew that he was in the habit of compelling them to pledge him in this liquor, they never left their homes without first eating rue: for people who have eaten this beforehand take no harm from drinking aconite,— a poison which, they say, has its name from growing in a place called Aconæ, which is not far from Heraclea.” When Democritus had said this they all marvelled at the efficacy of citron, and most of them ate it, as if they had had nothing to eat or drink before. But Pamphilus, in his Dialects, says that the Romans call it not κίτριον, but κίτρον.
τούτοις εἴ τις ἀπιστεῖ, μαθέτω καὶ παρὰ Θεοπόμπου τοῦ Χίου, ἀνδρὸς φιλαλήθους καὶ πολλὰ χρήματα καταναλώσαντος εἰς τὴν περὶ τῆς ἱστορίας ἐξέτασιν ἀκριβῆ, φησὶ γὰρ οὗτος ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ καὶ τριακοστῇ τῶν ἱστοριῶν περὶ Κλεάρχου διηγούμενος τοῦ Ἡρακλεωτῶν τῶν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ τυράννου, ὡς βιαίως ἀνῄρει πολλοὺς καὶ ὡς τοῖς πλείστοις ἐδίδου ἀκόνιτον πιεῖν ἐπειδὴ οὖν, φησί, πάντες ἔγνωσαν τὴν τοῦ φαρμάκου ταύτην φιλοτησίαν, οὐ προῄεσαν τῶν οἰκιῶν πρὶν φαγεῖν πήγανον τοῦτο γὰρ τοὺς προφαγόντας μηδὲν πάσχειν πίνοντας τὸ ἀκόνιτον ὃ καὶ κληθῆναί φησι διὰ τὸ φύεσθαι ἐν τόπῳ Ἀκόναις καλουμένῳ ὄντι περὶ τὴν Ἡράκλειαν.ταῦτ’ εἰπόντος τοῦ Δημοκρίτου θαυμάσαντες οἱ πολλοὶ τὴν τοῦ κιτρίου δύναμιν ἀπήσθιον ὡς μὴ πρότερον φαγόντες ἢ πιόντες τι. Πάμφιλος δ’ ἐν ταῖς Γλώσσαις Ῥωμαίους φησὶν αὐτὸ κίτρον καλεῖν.
And after the viands which have been mentioned there were then brought unto us separately some large dishes of oysters, and other shell-fish, nearly all of which have been thought by Epicharmus worthy of being celebrated in his play of the Marriage of Hebe, in these words:—Come, now, bring all kinds of shell-fish;Lepades, aspedi, crabyzi, strabeli, cecibali,Tethunachia, balani, porphyryæ, and oysters with closed shells,Which are very difficult to open, but very easy to eat;And mussels, and anaritæ, and ceryces, and sciphydria,Which are very sweet to eat, but very prickly to touch;And also the oblong solens. And bring too the blackCockle, which keeps the cockle-hunter on the stretch.Then too there are other cockles, and sand-eels,And periwinkles, unproductive fish,Which men entitle banishers of men,But which we gods call white and beautiful.
ἑξῆς δὲ τοῖς προειρημένοις κατ’ ἰδίαν ἐπεισενεχθέντων ἡμῖν πολλῶν ὀστρέων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστρακοδέρμων σχεδὸν τὰ πλεῖστα αὐτῶν μνήμης ἠξιωμένα παρ’ Ἐπιχάρμῳ ἐν Ἥβας Γάμῳ εὑρίσκω διὰ τούτων ἄγει δὲ παντοδαπὰ κογχύλια, λεπάδας, ἀστάκους, κραβύζους, κικιβάλους, τηθυνάκια, … βαλάνους, πορφύρας, ὄστρεια συμμεμυκότα, τὰ διελεῖν μέν ἐστι χαλεπά, καταφαγῆμεν δ᾽ εὐμαρέα· μύας ἀναρίτας τε κάρυκάς τε καὶ σκιφύδρια, τὰ γλυκέα μὲν ἐντ’ ἐπέσθειν, ἐμπαγῆμεν δ’ ὀξέα, τούς τε μακρογογγύλους σωλῆνας· ἁ μέλαινά τε κόγχος, ἅπερ κογχοθηρᾶν παισὶν ἐστ’ ἰσωνία· θάτεραι δὲ γάιαι κόγχοι τε κἀμαθίτιδες, ταὶ κακοδόκιμοι τε κἠύωνοι, τὰς ἀνδροφυκτίδας πάντες ἄνθρωποι καλέονθ᾽, ἁμὲς δὲ λεύκας τοὶ θεοί.
And in the Muses it is written—There is the cockle, which we call the tells;Believe me, that is most delicious meat.Perhaps he means that fish which is called the tellina, and which the Romans call the mitlus,—a fish which Aristophanes the grammarian names in his treatise on the Broken Scytale, and says that the lepas is a fish like that which is called the tellina. But Callias of Mitylene, in his discussion of the Limpet in Alcæus, says that there is an ode in Alcæus of which the beginning is—O child of the rock, and of the hoary sea;and at the end of it there is the line—Of all limpets the sea-limpet most relaxes the mind.But Aristophanes writes the line with the word tortoise instead of limpet. And he says that Dicearchus made a great blunder when he interpreted the line of limpets; and that the children when they get them in their mouths sing and play with them, just as idle boys among us do with the fish which we call tellina. And so, too, Sopater, the compiler of Comicalities, says in his drama which is entitled the Eubulotheombrotus:—But stop, for suddenly a certain soundOf the melodious tellina strikes my ears.And in another place Epicharmus, in his Pyrrha and Prometheus, says—Just look now at this tellina, and beholdThis periwinkle and this splendid limpet.And in Sophron cockles are called melœnides.For now melænides will come to us,Sent from a narrow harbour.And in the play which is called “The Clown and the Fisherman,” they are called the cherambe. And Archilochus also mentions the cherambe: and Ibycus mentions the periwinkle. And the periwinkle is called both ἀναρίτης and ἀνάρτας. And the shell being something like that of a cockle, it sticks to the rocks, just as limpets do. But Herodas, in his Coadjutrixes, says—Sticking to the rocks as a periwinkle.And Aeschylus, in his Persæ, says—Who has plunder'd the islands producing the periwinkle?And Homer makes mention of the oyster.
ἐν δὲ Μούσαις γράφεται ἀντὶ τοῦ κόγχος, ἅπερ κογχοθηρᾶν παισὶν ἐστ’ ἰσωνία κόγχος, ἃν τέλλιν καλέομες· ἐστὶ δ’ ἅδιστον κρέας. τὴν τελλίναν δὲ λεγομένην ἴσως δηλοῖ, ἣν Ῥωμαῖοι μίτλον ὀνομάζουσι. μνημονεύων δ’ αὐτῆς Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ γραμματικὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς ἀχνυμένης σκυτάλης συγγράμματι ὁμοίας φησὶν εἶναι τὰς λεπάδας ταῖς καλουμέναις τελλίναις. Καλλίας δ’ ὁ Μιτυληναῖος ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς παρ’ Ἀλκαίῳ λεπάδος παρὰ τῷ Ἀλκαίῳ., φησὶν εἶναι ᾠδὴν ἧς ἡ ἀρχή· πέτρας καὶ πολιᾶς θαλάσσας τέκνον, ἧς ἐπὶ τέλει γεγράφθαι ἐκ δὲ παίδων χαύνοις φρένας ἁ θαλασσία λεπάς. ὁ δ’ Ἀριστοφάνης γράφει ἀντὶ τοῦ λεπὰς χέλυς, καί φησιν οὐκ εὖ Δικαίαρχον ἐκδεξάμενον λέγειν τὰς λεπάδας· τὰ παιδάρια δὲ ἡνίκ’ ἂν εἰς τὸ στόμα λάβωσιν, αὐλεῖν ἐν ταύταις καὶ παίζειν, καθάπερ καὶ παρ’ ἡμῖν τὰ σπερμολόγα τῶν παιδαρίων ταῖς καλουμέναις τελλίναις, ὡς καὶ Σώπατρός φησιν ὁ φλυακογράφος ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ δράματι Εὐβουλοθεομβρότῳ ἀλλ’ ἴσχε· τελλίνης γὰρ ἐξαίφνης μέ τις ἀκοὰς μελῳδὸς ἦχος εἰς ἐμὰς ἔβη. πάλιν δ’ ὁ Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Πύρρᾳ καὶ Προμαθεῖ φησι· τὰν τέλλιν μάν, τὸν ἀναρίταν θᾶσαι δὴ καὶ λεπὰς ὅσσα. παρὰ Σώφρονι δὲ κόγχοι μελαινίδες λέγονται· μελαινίδες γάρ τοι νισοῦντι ἐμὶν ἐκ τοῦ μικροῦ λιμένος. ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ Ὡλιεὺς τὸν ἀγροιώταν χηράμβας ὀνομάζει, καὶ Ἀρχίλοχος δὲ τῆς χηράμβης μέμνηται, τοῦ δ’ ἀναρίτου Ἴβυκος. καλεῖται δ’ ὁ ἀναρίτης καὶ ἀνάρτας. κοχλιῶδες δὲ ὂν τὸ ὄστρεον προσέχεται ταῖς πέτραις ὥσπερ αἱ λεπάδες. Ἡρώνδας δ’ ἐν Συνεργαζομέναις· προσφὺς ὅκως τις χοιράδων ἀναρίτης. Αἰσχύλος δ’ ἐν Πέρσαις τις ἀνηρει τοὺς νήσους νηριτοτρόφους εἴρηκεν. Ὅμηρος δὲ τῶν τηθέων μέμνηται.
Diodes the Carystian, in his treatise on the Whole- somes, says that the best of all shell-fish, as aperient and diuretic food, are mussels, oysters, scallops, and cockles. And Archippus says, in his poem called “Fishes,” —With limpets and sea-urchins and escharæ,And with periwinkles and cockles.And Diocles says that the strongest of all shell-fish are cockles, purple-fish, and ceryces. But concerning ceryces Archippus says this—The ceryx, ocean's nursling, child of purple.But Speusippus, in the second book of his Similarities, says that ceryces, purple-fish, strabeli, and cockles, are all very nearly alike. And Sophocles makes mention of the shellfish called strabeli in his Camici, in these words:—Come now, my son, and look if we may findSome of the nice strabelus, ocean's child.And again Speusippus enumerates separately in regular order the cockle, the periwinkle, the mussel, the pinna, the solens; and in another place he speaks of oysters and limpets. And Araros says, in his Campylion—These now are most undoubted delicacies,Cockles and solens; and the crooked locustsSpring forth in haste like dolphins.And Sophron says, in his Mimi—A. What are these long cockles, O my friend,Which you do think so much of?B. Solens, to be sure.This too is the sweet-flesh'd cockle, dainty food,The dish much loved by widows.And Cratinus also speaks of the pinna in his Archilochi—She indeed like pinnas and sea oysters.And Philyllius, or Eunicus, or Aristophanes, in the Cities, says—A little polypus, or a small cuttle-fish,A crab, a crawfish, oysters, cockles,Limpets and solens, mussels and pinnas;Periwinkles too, from Mitylene take;Let us have two sprats, and mullet, ling,And conger-eel, and perch, and black fish.But Agiastos, and Dercylus, in his Argolici, call the strabeli ἀστράβηλοι; speaking of them as suitable to play upon like a trumpet.
Διοκλῆς δ’ ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν τοῖς Ὑγιεινοῖς κράτιστά φησιν εἶναι τῶν κογχυλίων πρὸς διαχώρησιν καὶ οὔρησιν μύας, ὄστρεα, κτένας, χήμας. Ἄρχιππος δ’ ἐν Ἰχθύσι· λεπάσιν, ἐχίνοις, ἐσχάραις, βελόναις τε τοῖς κτεσίν τε· ῥωμαλεώτερα δὲ τῶν κογχυλίων φησὶν εἶναι ὁ Διοκλῆς κόγχας, πορφύρας, κήρυκας, περὶ δὲ τῶν κηρύκων ὁ Ἄρχιππος τάδε λέγει· κῆρυξ θαλάσσης τρόφιμος, υἱὸς πορφύρας. Σπεύσιππος δ’ ἐν β’ Ὁμοίων παραπλήσια εἶναι κήρυκας, πορφύρας, στραβήλους, κόγχους. τῶν στραβήλων μνημονεύει καὶ Σοφοκλῆς ἐν Καμικοῖς οὕτως· ἁλίας στραβήλου τῆσδε, τέκνον, εἴ τινα δυναίμεθ’ εὑρεῖν … ἔτι ὁ Σπεύσιππος ἑξῆς πάλιν ἰδίᾳ καταριθμεῖται κόγχους, κτένας, μῦς, πίννας, σωλῆνας, καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ μέρει ὄστρεα, λεπάδας. ἀραρὼς δὲ Καμπυλίωνί φησιν τὰ κομψὰ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα νωγαλεύματα, κόγχαι τε καὶ σωλῆνες αἵ τε καμπύλαι καρῖδες ἐξήλλοντο δελφίνων δίκην. σώφρων δ’ ἐν Μίμοις· τίνες δ’ ἐντί ποκα, φίλα, τοιδέ τοι μακρογόγγυλοι; β. σωλῆνές θην τοῦτοί γα γλυκύκρεον κογχύλιον, χηρᾶν γυναικῶν λίχνευμα. τῶν δὲ πιννῶν μνημονεύει Κρατῖνος ἐν ᾽ Ἀρχιλόχοις· ἡ μὲν δὴ πίννῃσι καὶ ὀστρείοισιν ὁμοίη. Φιλύλλιος δ’ ἢ Εὔνικος ἢ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Πόλεσι· πουλυπόδειον, σηπιδάριον, κάραβον, ἀστακόν, ὄστρειον, χήμας, λεπάδας, σωλῆνας, μῦς, πίννας, κτένας ἐκ Μιτυλήνης· αἴρετ’ ἀνθρακίδας, τρίγλη, σαργός, κεστρεύς, πέρκη, κορακῖνοι. Ἀγίας δὲ καὶ Δερκύλος ἐν Ἀργολικοῖς τοὺς στραβήλους ἀστραβήλους ὀνομάζουσι, μνημονεύοντες αὐτῶν ὡς ἐπιτηδείων ὄντων εἰς τὸ σαλπίζειν.
But you may find cockles spoken of both in the masculine and feminine gender. Aristophanes says, in his Babylonians—They all gaped on each other, and were likeTo cockles (κόγχαι) roasted on the coals.And Teleclides, in his Hesiodi, says, “Open a cocle (κόγχη);” and Sophron, in his Actresses, says—And then the cockles (κόγχαι) as at one comma dAll yawned on us, and each display'd its flesh.But Aeschylus uses the word κόγχος in the masculine gender, in his Glaucus Pontius, and says—Cockles (κόγχοι) muscles, oysters.And Aristonymus, in his Theseus, says—There was a cockle (κόγχος) and other fish too drawn from the seaAt the same time, and by the same net.And Phrynichus uses the word in the same way in his Satyrs. But Icesius, the Erasistratean, says that some cockles are rough, and some royal; and that the rough have a disagreeable juice, and afford but little nourishment, and are easily digested; and that people who are hunting for the purple-fish use them as bait: but of the smooth ones those are best which are the largest, in exact proportion to their size. And Hegesander, in his Memorials, says that the rough cockles are called by the Macedonians coryci, but by the Athenians crii. Now Icesius says that limpets are more digestible than those shell-fish which have been already mentioned; but that oysters are not so nutritious as limpets, and are filling, but nevertheless are more digestible. 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 cockles; but they have more effect as diuretics than as aperients. But some of them are like squills, with a very disagreeable juice, and with put 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 cockles 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 constitution, 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 shellfish 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,Cockles, and fresh sea-urchins, and fish sounds,And pinnas, and the necks of fish, and mussels.
τὰς δὲ κόγχας ἔστιν εὑρεῖν λεγομένας καὶ θηλυκῶς καὶ ἀρσενικῶς. Ἀριστοφάνης Βαβυλωνίοις· ἀνέχασκον εἷς ἕκαστος ἐμφερέστατα ὀπτωμέναις κόγχαισιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθράκων. Τηλεκλείδης δ’ ἐν Ἡσιόδοις κόγχη φησὶ διελεῖν. καὶ Σώφρων γυναικείοις· αἵ γα μὰν κόγχαι, ὥσπερ αἲ κ’ ἐξ ἑνὸς κελεύματος, κεχάναντι ἁμῖν πᾶσαι, τὸ δὲ κρῆς ἑκάστας ἐξέχει. ἀρσενικῶς δὲ Αἰσχύλος ἐν Ποντίῳ Γλαύκῳ· κόγχοι μύες κὤστρεια. Ἀριστώνυμος Θησεῖ· κόγχος ἦν βάπτων αὐλῶν ὁμοίως. παραπλησίως δ’ εἴρηκε καὶ Φρύνιχος Σατύροις. Ἱκέσιος δὲ ὁ Ἐρασιστράτειος τῶν χημῶν φησι τὰς μὲν τραχείας λέγεσθαι, τὰς δὲ βασιλικάς καὶ τὰς μὲν τραχείας καὶ κακοχύλους εἶναι, ὀλιγοτρόφους, εὐεκκρίτους, χρῆσθαι δὲ αὐταῖς καὶ δελέασι τοὺς πορφυρευομένους· τῶν δὲ λείων κατὰ τὰ μεγέθη καὶ τὰς διαφορὰς εἶναι κρατίστας. Ἡγήσανδρος δ’ ἐν ὑπομνήμασι τὰς τραχείας φησὶ κόγχας ὑπὸ μὲν Μακεδόνων κωρύκους καλεῖσθαι, ὑπὸ δὲ Ἀθηναίων κριούς, τὰς δὲ λεπάδας ὁ Ἱκέσιος τῶν προειρημένων εὐεκκρίτους μᾶλλον εἶναι, τὰ δ’ ὄστρεα ἀτροφώτερά τε τούτων καὶ πλήσμια εὐεκκριτώτερά τε. οἱ δὲ κτένες τροφιμώτεροι μέν εἰσι, κακοχυλότεροι δὲ καὶ δυσεκκριτώτεροι. τῶν δὲ μυῶν οἱ μὲν Ἐφέσιοι καὶ οἱ τούτοις ὅμοιοι τῇ εὐχυλίᾳ τῶν μὲν κτενῶν βελτίονες, τῶν δὲ χημῶν λειπόμενοι οὐρητικώτεροι δὲ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τὴν κοιλίαν φερόμενοι, εἰσὶ δ’ αὐτῶν ἔνιοι καὶ σκιλλώδεις κακόχυλοί τε καὶ πρὸς τὴν γεῦσιν ἀπειθεῖς. οἱ δ᾽ ἐλάσσονες τούτων καὶ δασεῖς ἔξωθεν οὐρητικώτεροι μέν εἰσι καὶ εὐχυλότεροι τῶν σκιλλωδῶν, ἀτροφώτεροι δέ, διά τε τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τῷ γένει ὄντες τοιοῦτοι, οἱ δὲ τῶν κηρύκων τράχηλοι εὐστόμαχοὶ τέ εἰσι καὶ ἀτροφώτεροι μυῶν τε καὶ χημῶν καὶ κτενῶν τοῖς δ’ ἀσθενῆ τὸν στόμαχον ἔχουσι καὶ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ἀποδιωθοῦσι τὴν τροφὴν εἰς τὸ κύτος τῆς κοιλίας χρήσιμοι, δύσφθαρτοί τε ὄντες. τὰ γὰρ ὁμολογουμένως εὔπεπτα κατὰ τοὐναντίον ἀλλότρια τῆς διαθέσεως ταύτης ἐστίν, εὐχερῶς διαφθειρόμενα διὰ τὸ ἁπαλὰ καὶ εὐδιάλυτα εἶναι. ὅθεν αἱ μήκωνες αὐτῶν πρὸς μὲν τὰς τῶν στομάχων εὐτονίας οὐκ εὐθετοῦσι πρὸς δὲ τὴν τῆς κοιλίας ἀσθένειαν χρήσιμοι, τροφιμώτεραι δὲ τούτων εἰσὶ καὶ ἀπολαυστικώτεραι αἱ τῆς πορφύρας μήκωνες, πλὴν σκιλλωδέστεραι ὑπάρχουσι καὶ γὰρ ὅλον τὸ κογχύλιον τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ἴδιον δὲ καὶ ταύταις καὶ τοῖς σωλῆσι παρέπεται τὸ ἑψομέναις παχὺν ποιεῖν τὸν ζωμόν. ἑψόμενοι δὲ τὸ καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς καὶ οἱ τράχηλοι τῶν πορφυρῶν εὐθετοῦσι πρὸς τὰς τῶν στομάχων διαθέσεις. μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτῶν Ποσείδιππος ἐν Λοκρίσιν οὕτως ὥρα περαίνειν· ἐγχέλεια, καράβους, κόγχας, ἐχίνους προσφάτους, μηκώνια, πίνας, τραχήλους, μύας.
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 shell-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 cockle, the limpet, the small oyster, the balanus. And of migratory fish there are the purple-fish, the sweet purple-fish, the sea-urchin, the strobelus. Now the cteis has a rough shell, marked in streaks; but the oyster has no streaks, and a smooth shell. The pinna has a smooth mouth; but the large oyster has a vide mouth, and is bivalve, and has a smooth shell. But the limpet is univalve, and has a smooth shell; and the mussel has a united shell. The solen and balanus are univalve, and have a smooth shell; and the cockle is a mixture of both kinds. Epænetus 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 shell-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 Pyrrhæans; for they are best in the winter, and they are small, but full of eggs. And nearly all the cockle tribe appear to breed in like manner at about the same season.”
αἱ βάλανοι δ’ εἰ μείζονες, εὐέκκριτοι καὶ εὔστομοι. τὰ δ’ ὠτάρια—γίνεται δὲ ταῦτα κἀν τῇ κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν λεγομένῃ Φάρῳ νήσῳ τροφιμώτερα τῶν προειρημένων ἁπάντων, οὐκ εὐέκκριτα δέ. ᾽ Ἀντίγονος δ’ ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν τῷ περὶ λέξεως τὸ ὄστρεον τοῦτο ὑπὸ Αἰολέων καλεῖσθαι οὖς Ἀφροδίτης, αἱ δὲ φωλάδες πολυτροφώτεραι, βρομώδεις δέ. τὰ δὲ τήθη παραπλήσια τοῖς προειρημένοις καὶ πολυτροφώτερα. γίνεται δέ τινα καὶ ἄγρια λεγόμενα ὄστρεα· πολύτροφα δ’ ἐστὶ καὶ βρομώδη προσέτι τε εὐτελῆ κατὰ τὴν γεῦσιν. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ζῴων ὄστρεα, φησίν, πίνη, ὄστρεον, μῦς, κτείς, σωλήν, κόγχη, λεπάς, τῆθος, βάλανος, πορευτικὰ δὲ κῆρυξ, πορφύρα, ἡδυπορφύρα, ἐχῖνος, στράβηλος. ἐστὶ δ’ ὁ μὲν κτεὶς τραχυόστρακος, ῥαβδωτός, τὸ δὲ τῆθος ἀράβδωτον, λειόστρακον, ἡ δὲ πίνη λεπτόστομον, τὸ δὲ ὄστρεον παχύστομον, δίθυρον δὲ καὶ τραχυόστρακον, λεπὰς δὲ μονόθυρον καὶ λειόστρακον, συμφυὲς δὲ μῦς, μονοφυὲς δὲ καὶ λειόστρακον σωλὴν καὶ βάλανος, κοινὸν δ’ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν κόγχη. τὸ δ’ ἐντὸς τῆς πίνης Ἐπαίνετος ἐν Ὀψαρτυτικῷ καλεῖσθαί φησι μήκωνα. ἐν δὲ πέμπτῳ ζῴων μορίων ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης γίνονται φησίν, αἱ μὲν πορφύραι περὶ τὸ ἔαρ, οἱ δὲ κήρυκες λήγοντος τοῦ χειμῶνος. ὅλως δέ, φησί, τὰ ὀστρακόδερμα ἐν τῷ ἔαρι φαίνεται ἔχοντα τὰ καλούμενα ᾠά, κἀν τῷ μετοπώρῳ δὲ πλὴν τῶν ἐχίνων τῶν ἐδωδίμων, οὗτοι δὲ μάλιστα μὲν ἐν ταύταις ταῖς ὥραις αἰεί τε ἰσχύουσι καὶ τὸ πλέον ἐν ταῖς πανσελήνοις καὶ ταῖς ἀλεειναῖς ἡμέραις πλὴν τῶν ἐν τῷ Εὐρίπῳ τῶν Πυρραίων ἐκεῖνοι δ’ ἀμείνονες τοῦ χειμῶνος καί εἰσι μικροί, πλήρεις δὲ ᾠῶν. κύοντες δὲ φαίνονται καὶ οἱ κοχλίαι πάντες ὁμοίως τὴν αὐτὴν ὥραν.
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 passage in any of them: nor are the purple-fish born of this melicera, but they, and nearly all other shell-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 mass, 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 hey 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 shore 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.”
προελθὼν δὲ πάλιν φησὶν ὁ φιλόσοφος· αἱ μὲν οὖν πορφύραι τοῦ ἔαρος συναθροιζόμεναι εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσι τὴν καλουμένην μελίκηραν· τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν οἷον κηρίον, ἀλλ’ οὐχ οὕτως γλαφυρόν, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ ἐκ λεπύρων ἐρεβίνθων λευκῶν πολλὰ συμπαγείη. ἔχει δὲ ἀνεῳγμένον οὐδὲν τούτων, οὐδὲ γίνονται ἐκ τούτων αἱ πορφύραι, ἀλλὰ φύονται αὗται καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὀστρακόδερμα ἐξ ἰλύος καὶ σήψεως, τοῦτο δὲ συμβαίνει ὥσπερ ἀποκάθαρμα καὶ ταύταις καὶ τοῖς κήρυξι· κηριάζουσι γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι, ἀφιᾶσι δ’ ἀρχόμεναι κηριάζειν γλισχρότητα μυξώδη, ἐξ ὧν τὰ λεπυρώδη συνίσταται, ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἅπαντα διαχεῖται, ἀφιᾶσι δ’ ἰχῶρα εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ γίνεται ἐν τῇ γῇ συστάντα πορφύρια μικρά, ἃ ἔχουσαι ἁλίσκονται αἱ πορφύραι. ἐὰν δὲ πρὶν ἐκτεκεῖν ἁλῶσιν, ἐνίοτε ἐν ταῖς φορμίσιν, εἰς δὲ ταὐτὸ συνιοῦσαι ἐκτίκτουσι, καὶ γίνεται οἱονεὶ βότρυς. ἐστὶ δὲ τῶν πορφυρῶν γένη πλείονα· καὶ ἔνιαι μὲν μεγάλαι, οἷον αἱ περὶ τὸ Σίγειον καὶ τὸ Λεκτόν, αἱ δὲ μικραί, οἷον ἐν τῷ Εὐρίπῳ καὶ περὶ Καρίαν. καὶ αἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς κόλποις μεγάλαι καὶ τραχεῖαι, καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αἱ μὲν πλεῖσται μέλαν ἔχουσιν, ἔνιαι δ’ ἐρυθρὸν μικρόν, γίνονται δ’ ἔνιαι τῶν μεγάλων καὶ μναῖαι. αἱ δ’ ἐν τοῖς αἰγιαλοῖς καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀκτὰς τὸ μὲν μέγεθός εἰσι μικραί, τὸ δὲ ἄνθος ἐρυθρὸν ἔχουσιν. ἔτι δ’ ἐν μὲν τοῖς προσβόρροις μέλαιναι, ἐν δὲ τοῖς νοτίοις ἐρυθραὶ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον.
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 shell 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 shell-fish, and can pierce its own shell. 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 shell. But cockles, and cheme-cockles, and solens, and periwinkles, are born in sandy places.
Ἀπολλόδωρος δ’ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν τοῖς περὶ Σώφρονος προθεὶς τὰ λιχνοτέρα τᾶν πορφυρᾶν φησὶν ὅτι παροιμία ἐστὶν καὶ λέγει, ὡς μέν τινες, ἀπὸ τοῦ βάμματος οὗ γὰρ ἂν προσψαύσῃ ἕλκει ἐφ’ ἑαυτὸ καὶ τοῖς προσπαρατεθειμένοις ἐμποιεῖ χρώματος αὐγὴν ἄλλοι δ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῴου. ἁλίσκονται δέ, φησὶν ὁ ᾽ι Ἀριστοτέλης, τοῦ ἔαρος, ὑπὸ κύνα δ’ οὐχ ἁλίσκονται· οὐ γὰρ νέμονται, ἀλλὰ κρύπτουσιν ἑαυτὰς καὶ φωλεύουσι. τὸ δὲ ἄνθος ἔχουσιν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς μήκωνος καὶ τοῦ τραχήλου. ἔχει δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ὁ κῆρυξ τὰ ἐπικαλύμματα κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ στρομβώδη ἐκ γενετῆς πάντα, νέμονται δ’ ἐξείροντα τὴν καλουμένην γλῶτταν ὑπὸ τὸ κάλυμμα, τα δὲ μέγεθος τῆς γλώσσης ἔχει ἡ πορφύρα μεῖζον δακτύλου, ᾧ νέμεται καὶ διατρυπᾷ καὶ τὰ κογχύλια καὶ τὸ ἑαυτῆς ὄστρακον. μακρόβια δ’ ἐστὶν καὶ ἡ πορφύρα καὶ ὁ κῆρυξ καὶ ζῇ περὶ ἔτη ἕξ. φανερὰ δὲ ἡ αὔξησις ἐκ τῆς ἐν τῷ ὀστράκῳ ἕλικος. αἱ δὲ κόγχαι καὶ χῆμαι καὶ σωλῆνες καὶ κτένες ἐν τοῖς ἀμμώδεσι λαμβάνουσι τὴν σύστασιν.
But the pinnæ 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 καρίδιος, and others καρκίνιος; 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 assist 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 shell, 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 shell, and in this manner the two share together what is caught inside the pinna's shell. 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, cockles in sandy mud, and so on; but the small oyster and the balanus, 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 shells are born in the same way as those which have shells,—as the sea-nettle, the sponge, and others, —in the crevices of the rocks.”
αἱ δὲ πῖναι ὀρθαὶ φύονται ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ ἔχουσί τε ἐν αὑταῖς τὸν πινοφύλακα αἱ μὲν καρίδιον, αἱ δὲ καρκίνιον οὗ στερόμεναι θᾶττον διαφθείρονται. τοῦτο δὲ Πάμφιλος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς ἐν τοῖς περὶ ὀνομάτων συμπεφυκέναι φησὶν αὐταῖς. Χρύσιππος δ’ ὁ Σολεὺς ἐκ τοῦ εʹ περὶ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τῆς ἡδονῆς· ἡ πίννη, φησίν, καὶ ὁ πιννοτήρης συνεργὰ ἀλλήλοις, κατ’ ἰδίαν οὐ δυνάμενα συμμένειν. ἡ μὲν οὖν πίννη ὄστρεόν ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ πιννοτήρης καρκίνος μικρός, καὶ ἡ πίννη διαστήσασα τὸ ὄστρακον ἡσυχάζει τηροῦσα τὰ ἐπεισιόντα ἰχθύδια, ὁ δὲ πιννοτήρης παρεστὼς ὅταν εἰσέλθῃ τι δάκνει αὐτὴν ὥσπερ σημαίνων, ἡ δὲ δηχθεῖσα συμμύει. καὶ οὕτως τὸ ἀποληφθὲν ἔνδον κατεσθίουσι κοινῇ. φασὶ δέ τινες καὶ συγγεννᾶσθαι αὐτὰ αὐτοῖς καὶ ὡς ἂν ἐξ ἑνὸς σπέρματος γίνεσθαι. πάλιν δὲ ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης φησί πάντα δὲ τὰ ὀστρακώδη γίνεται καὶ ἐν τῇ ἰλύι, ἐν μὲν τῇ βορβορώδει τὰ ὄστρεα, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀμμώδει κόγχαι καὶ τὰ ῥηθέντα, περὶ δὲ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετρῶν τήθεα καὶ βάλανοι καὶ τὰ ἐπιπολάζοντα, οἷον λεπάδες καὶ νηρῖται.
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 κνίδη, or sea-nettle, ἀκαλήφη. And Aristophanes, in his Phœnissæ, says—Know that pot-herbs first were given,And then the rough sea-nettles (ἀκάληφαι);and in his Wasps he uses the same word. And Pherecrates, in his Deserters, says—I'd rather wear a crown of sea-nettles (ἀκάληφαι).And Diphilus the Siphnian, a physician, says, “But the sea-nettle (ἀκαλήφη) 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 ακαλήφη, 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 ἁπαλὴ τῇ ἀφῇ, tender to the touch, but very rough and disagreeable.” Philippides also mentions the sea-nettle (calling it ἀκαλήφη) 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 τῆθος and the ὄστρεον are the same. And the word τῆθος is here confused in a comic manner with τήθη, a grandmother, and with μητὴρ, a mother.
τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον γίνεται τοῖς ὀστρακοδέρμοις καὶ τὰ μὴ ἔχοντα ὄστρακα, καθάπερ αἵ τε κνίδαι καὶ οἱ σπόγγοι ἐν ταῖς σήραγξι τῶν πετρῶν ἐστὶ δὲ τῶν κνιδῶν δύο γένη· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς κοίλοις οὐκ ἀπολύονται τῶν πετρῶν, αἱ δ’ ἐν τοῖς λείοις καὶ πλαταμώδεσιν ἀπολυόμεναι μεταχωροῦσι. τὰς δὲ κνίδας ὁ Εὔπολις ἐν Αὐτολύκῳ ἀκαλήφας ὀνομάζει ἔτι τε ᾽ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Φοινίσσαις οὕτως· ἔχε τὸν πρῶτον πάντων ἴφυα φῦναι εἶθ’ ἑξῆς τὰς κραναὰς ἀκαλήφας. καὶ ἐν Σφηξί. Φερεκράτης δ’ ἐν Αὐτομόλοις· κἂν ἀκαλήφαις τὸν ἴσον χρόνον ἐστεφανῶσθαι. Δίφιλος δ’ ὁ Σίφνιος ἰατρὸς ἡ δὲ ἀκαλήφη, φησίν, ἐστὶν εὐκοίλιος, οὐρητική, εὐστόμαχος· κνησμὸν δὲ ποιεῖ τοῖς συνάγουσιν, ἐπειδὰν μὴ προαλείψωνται. ὄντως γὰρ ἀνιᾷ τοὺς θηρεύοντας αὐτὴν ὑφ’ ὧν κατὰ παραφθορὰν νῦν ἀκαλήφη ὀνομάζεται· τάχα δὲ ἴσως διὰ ταύτην καὶ ἡ βοτάνη. κατ’ εὐφημισμὸν γὰρ τῆς ἀντιφράσεως ὠνόμασται οὐ γὰρ πραεῖά ἐστιν καὶ ἀκαλὴ τῇ ἁφῇ, τραχεῖα δὲ καὶ ἀηδής. τῆς μέντοι θαλασσίας ἀκαλήφης μνημονεύει καὶ Φιλιππίδης ἐν Ἀμφιαράῳ οὕτως· ὄστρει᾽, ἀκαλήφας καὶ λεπάδας παρέθηκέ μοι. τὸ δ’ ἐν Λυσιστράτῃ Ἀριστοφάνους πέπαικται· ἀλλ’ ὦ τηθῶν ἀνδρειοτάτη καὶ μητριδίων ἀκαληφῶν. ἐπεὶ τήθεα τὰ ὄστρεα. μέμικται γὰρ κωμῳδικῶς πρὸς τὴν τήθην καὶ μητέρα.
And concerning the rest of the oyster tribe, Diphilus says this: “Of the thick chemæ, 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 chemæ by some people, and which are also called the huge chemæ are nutritious, slow to be digested, very juicy, good for the stomach; and especially do these qualities belong to the larger ones. Of tellinæ 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 digest- ible 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 αὖλοι and δόνακες, or pipes, and some, too, call them ὄνυχες, 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 shells open.” And the people who collect this sort of oyster are called Solenistæ, as Phænias the Eresian relates in his book which is entitled, 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 de- magogue. 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 escharæ,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 ὤτια, 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.
καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστρέων ὁ Δίφιλος τάδε φησί χημῶν δὲ τῶν τραχειῶν αἱ μικραὶ καὶ λεπτὴν ἔχουσαι τὴν σάρκα ὄστρεα λέγονται καὶ εὐστόμαχοί εἰσι καὶ εὐέκκριτοι αἱ δὲ λεῖαι, βασιλικαὶ δὲ πρός τινων καλούμεναι πελώριαί τε λεγόμεναι, τρόφιμοι, δυσέκκριτοι, εὔχυλοι, εὐστόμαχοι, καὶ μάλιστα αἱ μείζους. τελλῖναι γίνονται μὲν ἐν Κανώβῳ πολλαὶ καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν τοῦ Νείλου ἀνάβασιν πληθύουσιν. ὧν λεπτότεραι μὲν εἰσιν αἱ βασιλικαὶ διαχωρητικαί τε καὶ κοῦφαι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τρόφιμοι, αἱ δὲ ποτάμιαι γλυκύτεραι. οἱ δὲ μύες μέσως εἰσὶ τρόφιμοι, διαχωρητικοί, οὐρητικοί· κράτιστοι δὲ οἱ Ἐφέσιοι καὶ τούτων οἱ φθινοπωρινοί, αἱ δὲ μυίσκαι τῶν μυῶν οὖσαι μικρότεραι γλυκεῖαί τε καὶ εὔχυλοί εἰσι προσέτι τε καὶ τρόφιμοι, οἱ δὲ σωλῆνες μὲν πρός τινων καλούμενοι, πρός τινων δὲ αὐλοὶ καὶ δόνακες καὶ ὄνυχες, πολύχυλοι καὶ κακόχυλοι, κολλώδεις, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄρρενες αὐτῶν ῥαβδωτοί εἰσι καὶ οὐ μονοχρώματοι· εἰσὶ δὲ τοῖς λιθιῶσι καὶ ἄλλως δυσουροῦσιν εὔθετοι. οἱ δὲ θήλεις μονοχρώματοί τέ εἰσι καὶ γλυκύτεροι, λαμβάνονται δὲ ἑφθοὶ καὶ τηγανιστοί· κρείττονες δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ μέχρι τοῦ χανεῖν ἐπ’ ἀνθράκων ὀπτώμενοι. σωληνισταὶ δ’ ἐκαλοῦντο οἱ συνάγοντες τὰ ὄστρεα ταῦτα, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Φαινίας ὁ Ἐρέσιος ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ Τυράννων ἀναίρεσις ἐκ τιμωρίας, γράφων οὕτως Φιλόξενος ὁ καλούμενος σωληνιστὴς ἐκ δημαγωγοῦ τύραννος ἀνεφάνη, ζῶν τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἁλιευόμενος καὶ σωληνοθήρας ὤν· ἀφορμῆς δὲ λαβόμενος καὶ ἐμπορευσάμενος βίον ἐκτήσατο. τῶν δὲ κτενῶν ἁπαλώτεροι μὲν εἰσιν οἱ λευκοί· ἄβρομοι γάρ καὶ εὐκοίλιοι. τῶν δὲ μελάνων καὶ πυρρῶν οἱ μείζονες καὶ εὔσαρκοι εὔστομοι. κοινῶς δὲ πάντες εὐστόμαχοι, εὔπεπτοι, εὐκοίλιοι λαμβανόμενοι μετὰ κυμίνου καὶ πεπέρεως. μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτῶν καὶ Ἄρχιππος ἐν Ἰχθύσι· λεπάσιν, ἐχίνοις, ἐσχάραις, βελόναις τε τοῖς κτεσίν τε. αἱ δὲ βάλανοι καλούμεναι ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὰς δρυίνας ὁμοιότητος διαφέρουσι κατὰ τοὺς τόπους, αἱ μὲν γὰρ Αἰγύπτιαι γλυκεῖαι, ἁπαλαί, εὔστομοι, θρεπτικαί, πολύχυλοι, οὐρητικαί, εὐκοίλιοι, αἱ δὲ ἄλλαι ἁλυκώτεραι. τὰ δὲ ὠτία δύσπεπτα, τρόφιμα δὲ μᾶλλον τηγανιζόμενα. αἱ δὲ φωλάδες εὔστομοι, βρομώδεις δὲ καὶ κακόχυλοι.