So that it is not at all wonderful that men who lived in such a way as they did were healthy and vigorous both in mind and body. And he, pointing out how wholesome and useful a thing moderation is, and how it contributes to the general good, has represented Nestor, the wisest of the Greeks, as bringing wine to Machaon the physician when wounded in the right shoulder, though wine is not at all good for inflammations; and that, too, was Pramnian wine, which we know to be very strong and nutritious. And he brings it to him too, not as a relief from thirst, but to drink of abundantly; (at all events, when he has drank a good draught of it, he recommends him to repeat it.)Sit now, and drink your fill,says he; and then he cuts a slice of goat-milk cheese, and then an onion,A shoeing-horn for further draughts of wine;though in other places he does say that wine relaxes and enervates the strength. And in the case of Hector, Hecuba, thinking that then he will remain in the city all the rest of the day, invites him to drink and to pour libations, encouraging him to abandon himself to pleasure. But he, as he is going out to action, puts off the drinking. And she indeed, praises wine without ceasing; but he, when he comes in out of breath, will not have any. And she urges him to pour a libation and then to drink, but he, as he is all covered with blood, thinks it impiety. Homer knew also the use and advantages of wine, when he said that if a man drank it in too large draughts it did harm. And he was acquainted, too, with many different ways of mixing it. For else Achilles would not have bade his attendants to mix it for him with more wine than usual, if there had not been some settled proportion in which it was usually mixed. But perhaps he was not aware that wine was very digestible without any admixture of solid food, which is a thing known to the physicians by their art; and, therefore, in the case of people with heartburn they mix something to eat with the wine, in order to retain its power. But Homer gives Machaon meal and cheese with his wine; and represents Ulysses as connecting the advantages to be derived from food and wine with one another when he says—Strengthen'd with wine and meat, a man goes forth:and to the reveller gives sweet drink, saying—There, too, were casks of old and luscious wine.
διὸ οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν τοὺς οὕτω τεθραμμένους ἀφλεγμάντους εἶναι τὰ σώματα καὶ τὰς ψυχάς. ἐνδεικνύμενος οὖν καὶ τὴν εὐταξίαν ὡς ὑγιεινὸν ἐστι καὶ εὔχρηστον καὶ κοινὸν τὸν σοφώτατον Νέστορα πεποίηκε Μαχάονι τῷ ἰατρῷ τετρωμένῳ τὸν δεξιὸν ὦμον προσφέροντα οἶνον, ταῖς φλεγμοναῖς ἐναντιώτατον ὄντα, καὶ τοῦτον Πράμνειον, ὃν ἴδμεν παχὺν καὶ πολύτροφον οὐ διψήσεως ἄκος, ἀλλ’ ἐμφορήσεως ἕνεκα· πεπωκότι γοῦν παρακελεύεται συνεχῶς τοῦτο ποιεῖν· σὺ μέν, φησί, πῖνε καθήμενος?ʼ, καὶ ἐπιξύοντα τυρὸν αἴγειον, ἐπὶ δὲ κρόμυον ποτοῦ ὄψον, ἵνα πλεῖον πίνῃ, καίτοι ἀλλαχοῦ λέγων τὸν οἶνον ἐκλύειν τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ ἀπογυιοῦν. περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἕκτορος Ἑκάβη οἰομένη μενεῖν αὐτὸν τὸ καταλειπόμενον τῆς ἡμέρας παρακαλεῖ πιεῖν σπείσαντα, προτρεπομένη εἰς θυμηδίαν ὁ δ’ ὑπερτίθεται πρὸς πρᾶξιν ἐξιών. καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀπερισπάστως ἐπαινεῖ τὸν οἶνον, ὁ δὲ μετὰ ἄσθματος ἥκων ἀπωθεῖται· καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀξιοῖ σπείσαντα πιεῖν, ὁ δὲ καθῃμαγμένος ἀσεβὲς ἡγεῖται. οἶδε δὲ ὁ Ὅμηρος καὶ τὸ ὠφέλιμον καὶ τὸ σύμμετρον τοῦ οἴνου ἐν οἷς τὸν χανδὸν ἕλκοντα αὐτὸν βλάπτεσθαί φησί καὶ κράσεων δὲ γένη διάφορα ἐπίσταται· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς τὸ ζωρότερον κεραίρειν διέστειλε, μὴ οὔσης τινὸς καθημερινῆς κράσεως. ἴσως οὖν οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτὸν εὐδιαφόρητον ἄνευ στερεμνίου σιτίου μίγματος, ὃ τοῖς ἰατροῖς διὰ τὴν τέχνην ἐστὶ δῆλον τοῖς γοῦν καρδιακοῖς μετὰ οἴνου σιτῶδες ἀναμίσγουσί τι πρὸς κατοχὴν τῆς δυνάμεως. ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνος τῷ μὲν Μαχάονι μετ’ ἀλφίτου καὶ τυροῦ δέδωκε τὸν οἶνον, τὸν δ’ Ὀδυσσέα ποιεῖ συνάπτοντα τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν σιτίων καὶ οἴνου ὠφέλειαν ὃς δὲ κ’ ἀνὴρ οἴνοιο κορεσσάμενος καὶ ἐδωδῆς. τῷ δὲ κωθωνιζομένῳ δίδωσι τὸν ἡδύποτον, οὕτω καλέσας αὐτόν· ἐν δὲ πίθοι οἴνοιο παλαιοῦ ἡδυπότοιο.
Homer, too, represents the virgins and women washing the strangers, knowing that men who have been brought up in right principles will not give way to undue warmth or violence; and accordingly the women are treated with proper respect. And this was a custom of the ancients; and so too the daughters of Cocalus wash Minos on his arrival in Sicily, as if it was a usual thing to do. On the other hand, the poet, wishing to disparage drunkenness, represents the Cyclops, great as he was, destroyed through inebriety by a man of small stature, and also Eurytian the Centaur. And he relates how the men at Circe's court were transformed into lions and wolves, from a too eager pursuit of pleasure. But Ulysses was saved from following the advice of Mercury, by means of which he comes off unhurt. But he makes Elpenor, a man given to drinking and luxury, fall down a precipice. And Antinous, though he says to Ulysses—Luscious wine will be your bane,could not himself abstain from drinking, owing to which he was wounded and slain while still having hold of the goblet. He represents the Greeks also as drinking hard when sailing away from Troy, and on that account quarrelling with one another, and in consequence perishing. And he relates that Aeneas, the most eminent of the Trojans for wisdom, was led away by the manner in which he had talked, and bragged, and made promises to the Trojans, while engaged in drinking, so as to encounter the mighty Achilles, and was nearly killed. And Agamemnon says somewhere about drunkennes—Disastrous folly led me thus astray,Or wine's excess, or madness sent from Jove:placing madness and drunkenness in the same boat. And Dioscorides, too, the pupil of Isocrates, quoted these verses with the same object, saying, "And Achilles, when reproaching Agamemnon, addresses him—Tyrant, with sense and courage quell'd by wine." This was the way in which the sophist of Thessalia argued, from whence came the term, a Sicilian proverb, and Athenæus is, perhaps, playing on the proverb.
ποιεῖ δὲ Ὅμηρος καὶ τὰς κόρας καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας λουούσας τοὺς ξένους, ὡς οὔτε φλεγμονὴν οὔτε ἀκρασίαν τῶν εὖ βεβιωκότων καὶ σωφρόνως ἁπτομένας. ἀρχαῖον δὲ τοῦτο ἔθος· λούουσι γοῦν καὶ αἱ Κωκάλου θυγατέρες, ὡς νενομισμένον, τὸν Μίνω παραγενόμενον εἰς Σικελίαν. τῆς μέθης δὲ κατατρέχων ὁ ποιητὴς τὸν τηλικοῦτον Κύκλωπα ὑπὸ μικροῦ σώματος διὰ ταύτην ἀπολλύμενον παρίστησι καὶ Εὐρυτίωνα τὸν Κένταυρον τούς τε παρὰ Κίρκῃ λέοντας ποιεῖ καὶ λύκους ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ἐπακολουθήσαντας. τὸν δὲ Ὀδυσσέα σῴζει τῷ Ἑρμοῦ λόγῳ πεισθέντα· διὸ καὶ ἀπαθὴς γίνεται. Ἐλπήνορα δὲ πάροινον ὄντα καὶ τρυφερὸν κατακρημνίζει. καὶ Ἀντίνοος δ’ ὁ λέγων πρὸς Ὀδυσσέα οἶνός σε τρώει μελιηδής αὐτὸς οὐκ ἀπείχετο τοῦ πώματος· διὸ καὶ τρωθεὶς ἀπώλετο, ἔτι κρατῶν τὸ ποτήριον. ποιεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐν τῷ ἀπόπλῳ μεθύοντας, διὸ καὶ στασιάζοντας ὅθεν καὶ ἀπόλλυνται. ἱστορεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν δεινότατον Αἰνείαν τῶν Τρώων ἐν τῷ βουλεύεσθαι διὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ μέθῃ παρρησίαν καὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς ἃς Τρωσὶν ὑπέσχετο οἰνοποτάζων ὑπομείναντα τὴν Ἀχιλλέως ὁρμὴν καὶ μικροῦ παραπολλύμενον. καὶ Ἀγαμέμνων δὲ λέγει που περὶ αὑτοῦ· ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ἀασάμην φρεσὶ λευγαλέῃσι πιθήσας ἢ οἴνῳ μεθύων, ἤ μ’ ἔβλαψαν θεοὶ αὐτοί, εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν τιθεὶς πλάστιγγα τὴν μέθην τῇ μανίᾳ. οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὰ ἔπη ταῦτα προηνέγκατο Διοσκουρίδης ὁ Ἰσοκράτους μαθητής.ʼ καὶ ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς δ’ ὀνειδίζων τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονί φησιν· οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ’ ἔχων. ταῦτ’ εἶπε τὸ Θετταλὸν σόφισμα ἤτοι ὁ ἐκ Θετταλίας σοφιστής· παίζει δ’ ἴσως πρὸς τὴν παροιμίαν ὁ Ἀθήναιος.
As to the meals the heroes took in Homer, there was first of all breakfast, which he calls ἄριστον, which he mentions once in the Odyssey,Ulysses and the swineherd, noble man,First lit the fire, and breakfast then began.And once in the Iliad,Then quickly they prepared to break their fast.But this was the morning meal, which we call ἀκρατισμὸς, because we soak crusts of bread in pure wine (ἄκρατος), and eat them, as Antiphanes says—While the cook the ἄριστον prepares.And afterwards he says—Then when you have done your business,Come and share my ἀκρατισμός.And Cantharus says—A. Shall we, then, take our ἀκρατισμὸς there?B. No; at the Isthmus all the slaves prepareThe sweet ἄριστον,—using the two words as synonymous. Aristomenes says—I'll stop awhile to breakfast, then I'll come,When I a slice or two of bread have eaten,But Philemon says that the ancients took the following meals—ἀκράτισμα, ἄριστον, ἑσπέρισμα, or the afternoon meal, and δεῖπνον,, supper; calling the ἀκρατισμὸς breakfast, and ἄριστον luncheon, and δεῖπνον the meal which came after luncheon. And the same order of names occur in Aeschylus, where Palamedes is introduced, saying—The different officers I then appointed,And bade them recollect the soldiers' meals,In number three, first breakfast, and then dinner,Supper the third.And of the fourth meal Homer speaks thus—And come thou δειελιήσας. That which some call δειλινὸν is between what we call ἄριστον and δεῖπνον; and ἄριστον in Homer, that which is taken in the morning, δεῖπνον is what is taken at noon, which we call ἄριστον, and δόρπον is the name for the evening meal. Sometimes, then, ἄριστον is synonymous with δε͂ιπνον; for somewhere or other Homer says—δε͂ιπνον they took, then arm'd them for the fray.For making their δεῖπνον immediately after sunrise, they then advance to battle.
ὅτι τροφαῖς ἐχρῶντο οἱ ἥρωες παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ πρῶτον μὲν τῷ καλουμένῳ ἀκρατίσματι ὃ λέγει ἄριστον· οὗ ἅπαξ μέμνηται ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ· Ὀδυσεὺς καὶ δῖος ὑφορβὸς ἐντύνοντ’ ἄριστον κειαμένω πῦρ, καὶ ἅπαξ ἐν Ἰλιάδι· ἐσσυμένως ἐπένοντο καὶ ἐντύνοντ’ ἄριστον. λέγει δὲ τὸ πρωινὸν ἔμβρωμα, ὃ ἡμεῖς ἀκρατισμὸν καλοῦμεν διὰ τὸ ἐν ἀκράτῳ βρέχειν καὶ προσίεσθαι ψωμούς, ὡς Ἀντιφάνης· ἄριστον ἐν ὅσῳ … ὁ μάγειρος ποιεῖ, εἶτ’ ἐπάγει· συνακρατίσασθαι πῶς ἔχεις μετ’ ἐμοῦ; καὶ Κάνθαρος· α. οὐκοῦν ἀκρατισώμεθ’ αὐτοῦ. β. μηδαμῶς· Ἰσθμοῖ γὰρ ἀριστήσομεν. Ἀριστομένης· ἀκρατιοῦμαι μικρόν, εἶθ’ ἥξω πάλιν ἄρτου δὶς ἢ τρὶς ἀποδακών. Φιλήμων δέ φησιν ὅτι τροφαῖς δ’ ἐχρῶντο οἱ παλαιοί, ἀκρατίσματι, ἀρίστῳ, ἑσπερίσματι, δείπνῳ. τὸν μὲν οὖν ἀκρατισμὸν διανηστισμὸν ἔλεγον, τὸ δ’ ἄριστον δεῖπνον τὸ δ’ ἑσπέρισμα δορπηστόν, τὸ δὲ δεῖπνον ἐπιδορπίδα. ἐστὶ δ’ ἡ τάξις καὶ παρ’ Αἰσχύλῳ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐν οἷς ὁ Παλαμήδης πεποίηται λέγων καὶ ταξιάρχας χἀκατοντάρχας στρατῷ ἔταξα. σῖτον δ’ εἰδέναι διώρισα ἄριστα, δεῖπνα, δόρπα δ’ αἱρεῖσθαι τρίτα. τῆς δὲ τετάρτης τροφῆς οὕτως Ὅμηρος μέμνηται σὺ δ’ ἔρχεο δειελιήσας, ὃ καλοῦσί τινες δειλινόν, ὅ ἐστι μεταξὺ τοῦ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν λεγομένου ἀρίστου καὶ δείπνου. καὶ ἄριστον μέν ἐστι τὸ ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω λαμβανόμενον, δεῖπνον δὲ τὸ μεσημβρινὸν ὃ ἡμεῖς ἄριστον, δόρπον δὲ τὸ ἑσπερινόν. μήποτε δὲ καὶ συνωνυμεῖ τὸ ἄριστον τῷ δείπνῳ. ἐπὶ γὰρ τῆς πρωινῆς που τροφῆς ἔφη· οἱ δ’ ἄρα δεῖπνον ἕλοντο, ἀπὸ δ’ αὐτοῦ θωρήσσοντο. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀνατολὴν εὐθὺς δειπνοποιησάμενοι προέρχονται εἰς τὴν μάχην.
In Homer they eat sitting down; but some think that a separate table was set before each of the feasters. At all events, they say a polished table was set before Mentes when he came to Telemachus, arriving after tables were already laid for the feast. However, this is not very clearly proved, for Minerva may have taken her food at Telemachus's table. But all along the banqueting-room full tables were laid out, as is even now the custom among many nations of the barbarians,Laden with all dainty dishes,as Anacreon says. And then when the guests have departed, the handmaidensBore off the feast, and clear'd the lofty hall,Removed the goblets and the tables all. The feast which he mentions as taking place in the palace of Menelaus is of a peculiar character; for there he represents the guests as conversing during the banquet and then they wash their hands and return to the board, ad proceed to supper after having indulged their grief. But the line in the last book of the Iliad, which is usually read,He eat and drank, while still the table stood,should be read,He eat and drank still, while the table stood,or else there would be blame implied for what Achilles was doing at the moment; for how could it be decent that a table should be laid before Achilles, as before a party of revellers, down the whole length of a banqueting-room? Bread, then, was placed on the table in baskets, and the rest of the meal consisted wholly of roast meat. But Homer never speaks of broth, Antiphanes says,He never boil'd the legs or haunches,But roasted brains and roasted paunches,As did his sires of old.
εὐωχοῦνται δὲ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ καθήμενοι. οἴονται δέ τινες καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν δαιτυμόνων κατ’ ἄνδρα παρακεῖσθαι τράπεζαν. τῷ γοῦν Μέντῃ, φασίν, ἀφικομένῳ πρὸς Τηλέμαχον τῶν τραπεζῶν παρακειμένων ξεστὴ παρετέθη τράπεζα. οὔκ ἐστι δὲ τοῦτο ἐμφανῶς τοῦ προκειμένου κατασκευαστικὸν δύναται γὰρ ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ ἀπὸ τῆς Τηλεμάχου τραπέζης δαίνυσθαι. παρ’ ὅλην δὲ τὴν συνουσίαν παρέκειντο αἱ τράπεζαι πλήρεις, ὡς παρὰ πολλοῖς τῶν βαρβάρων ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἔθος ἐστί, κατηρεφέες παντοίων ἀγαθῶν, κατὰ Ἀνακρέοντα. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀναχώρησιν αἱ δμωαὶ ἀπὸ μὲν σῖτον πολὺν ᾕρεον καὶ τράπεζαν καὶ δέπα. ἰδιάζον δὲ τὸ παρὰ Μενελάῳ εἰσάγει συμπόσιον. δειπνήσαντας γὰρ ποιεῖ ὁμιλοῦντας· εἶτ’ ἀπονιψαμένους ποιεῖ πάλιν δειπνοῦντας καὶ δόρπου ἐξαῦτις μεμνημένους μετὰ τὸν κλαυθμόν. τῷ δὲ μὴ αἴρεσθαι τὰς τραπέζας ἐναντιοῦσθαι δοκεῖ τὸ ἐν Ἰλιάδι· ἔσθων καὶ πίνων, ἔτι καὶ παρέκειτο τράπεζα. ἀναγνωστέον οὖν οὕτω· ἔσθων καὶ πίνων ἔτι, καὶ παρέκειτο τράπεζα, ἢ τὸν καιρὸν αἰτιᾶσθαι τὸν παρόντα δεῖ. πῶς γὰρ ἦν πρέπον τῷ Ἀχιλλεῖ πενθοῦντι παρακεῖσθαι τράπεζαν καθάπερ τοῖς εὐωχουμένοις παρ’ ὅλην τὴν συνουσίαν; παρετίθεντο δὲ οἱ μὲν ἄρτοι σὺν τοῖς κανοῖς, τὰ δὲ δεῖπνα κρέα μόνον ἦν ὀπτά. ζωμὸν δὲ οὐκ ἐποίει Ὅμηρος θύων βοῦς, οὐδ’ ἦψεν κρέα οὐδ’ ἐγκέφαλον· ὤπτα δὲ καὶ τὰς κοιλίας. οὕτω σφόδρ’ ἦν ἀρχαῖος Ἀντιφάνης φησί.
And portions of the meat were then distributed among the guests; from which circumstances he speaks of “equal feasts,” because of their equal division. And he calls suppers δαῖτας, from the word δατέομαι, to divide, since not only was the meat distributed in that way, but the wine also.Their hunger was appeased,And strength recruited by the equal feast.And again,Come, then, Achilles, share this equal feast.From these passages Zenodotus got the idea that δαῖτα ἐΐσην meant a good feast; for as food is a necessary good to men, he says that he, by extension of the meaning of the word, called it ἐΐσην. But men in the early times, as they had not food in sufficient abundance, the moment any appeared, rushed on it all at once, and tore it to pieces with violence, and even took it away from others who had it; and this disorderly behaviour gave rise to bloodshed. A d it is from this that very probably the word ἀτασθαλία originated, because it was in θάλιαι, another name for banquets, tat men first offended against one another. But when, by the bounty of Ceres, food became abundant, then they distributed an equal portion to each individual, and so banquets became orderly entertainments. Then came the invention of wine and of sweetmeats, which were also distributed equally: and cups, too, were given to men to drink out of, and these cups all held the same quantity. And as food was called δαὶς, from δαίεσθαι, that is, from being divided, so he who roasted the meat was called δαιτρὸς, because it was he who gave each guest an equal portion. We must remark that the poet uses the word δαὶς only of what is eaten by men, and never applies it to beasts; so that it was out of ignorance of the force of this word that Zenodotus, in his edition writes:—αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσινοἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα,calling the food of the vultures and other birds by this name, though it is man alone who has come to an equal division after his previous violence, on which account it is his food alone that is called δαὶς, and the portion given to him is called μοῖρα. But the feasters mentioned in Homer did not carry home the fragments, but when they were satisfied they left them with the givers of the feast; and the housekeeper took them in order, if any stranger arrived, to have something to give him.
καὶ τῶν κρεῶν δὲ μοῖραι ἐνέμοντο· ὅθεν ἐίσας φησὶ τὰς δαῖτας ἀπὸ τῆς ἰσότητος. τὰ γὰρ δεῖπνα δαῖτας ἔλεγον ἀπὸ τοῦ δατεῖσθαι, οὐ μόνον τῶν κρεῶν διανεμομένων ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ οἴνου· ἤδη μὲν δαιτὸς κεκορήμεθα θυμὸν ἐίσης. καί· χαῖρ᾽, Ἀχιλεῦ, δαιτὸς μὲν ἐίσης οὐκ ἐπιδευεῖς. ἐκ τούτων δ’ ἐπείσθη Ζηνόδοτος δαῖτα ἐίσην τὴν ἀγαθὴν λέγεσθαι. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἡ τροφὴ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἀγαθὸν ἀναγκαῖον ἦν, ἐπεκτείνας, φησίν, εἴρηκεν ἐίσην· ἐπεὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἄνθρωποι, οἷς δὴ οὐ παρῆν ἄφθονος τροφή ἄρτι φαινομένης ἀθρόον ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἰόντες βίᾳ ἥρπαζον καὶ ἀφῃροῦντο τοὺς ἔχοντας, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἀκοσμίας ἐγίνοντο καὶ φόνοι. ἐξ ὧν εἰκὸς λεχθῆναι καὶ τὴν ἀτασθαλίαν, ὅτι ἐν ταῖς θαλίαις τὰ πρῶτα ἐξημάρτανον οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἰς ἀλλήλους. ὡς δὲ παρεγένετο αὐτοῖς πολλὴ ἐκ τῆς Δήμητρος διένεμον ἑκάστῳ ἴσην, καὶ οὕτως εἰς κόσμον ἦλθε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ δόρπα. διὸ ἄρτου τε ἐπίνοια πέμματός τε εἰς ἴσον διαμεμοιραμένου καὶ τοῖς διαπίνουσιν ἄλεισα καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα εἰς τὸ ἴσον χωρούντων ἐγίνετο. ὥστε ἡ τροφὴ δαὶς ἐπὶ τῷ δαίεσθαι λέγεται ὅ ἐστι διαμοιρᾶσθαι ἐπ’ ἴσης· καὶ ὁ τὰ κρέα ὀπτῶν δαιτρός, ἐπεὶ ἴσην ἑκάστῳ μοῖραν ἐδίδου. καὶ ἐπὶ μόνων ἀνθρώπων δαῖτα λέγει ὁ ποιητής, ἐπὶ δὲ θηρίων οὐκ ἔτι. ἀγνοῶν δὲ ταύτης τῆς φωνῆς τὴν δύναμιν Ζηνόδοτος ἐν τῇ κατ’ αὐτὸν ἐκδόσει γράφει· αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα, τὴν τῶν γυπῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἰωνῶν τροφὴν οὕτω καλῶν, μόνου ἀνθρώπου χωροῦντος εἰς τὸ ἴσον ἐκ τῆς πρόσθεν βίας. διὸ καὶ μόνου τούτου ἡ τροφὴ δαίς· καὶ μοῖρα τὸ ἑκάστῳ διδόμενον. οὐκ ἔφερον δὲ οἴκαδε παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ οἱ δαιτυμόνες τὰ λειπόμενα, ἀλλὰ κορεσθέντες κατέλιπον παρ᾽ οἷς ἦν ἡ δαὶς καὶ ἡ ταμία λαβοῦσα εἶχεν, ἵνα ἄν τις ἀφίκηται ξένος, ἔχοι δοῦναι αὐτῷ.
Now Homer represents the men of his time as eating fish and birds: at all events, in Sicily the companions of Ulysses catchAll fish and birds, and all that come to handWith barbed hooks.But as the hooks were not forged in Sicily, but were brought by them in their vessel; it is plain that they were fond of and skilful in catching fish. And again, the poet compares the companions of Ulysses, who were seized by Sylla, to fish caught with a long rod and thrown out of doors; and he speaks more accurately concerning this act than those who have written poems or treatises professedly on the subject. I refer to Cæcilius of Argos, and Numenius of Heraclea, and Pancrates the Arcadian, and Posidonius the Corinthian, and Oppianus the Cilician, who lived a short time ago; for we know of all those men as writers of heroic poems about fishing. And of prose essayists on the subject we have Seleucus of Tarsus, and Leonidas of Byzantium, and Agathocles of Atracia. But he never expressly mentions such food at his banquets, just as he also forbears to speak f the meat of young animals, as such food was hardly considered suitable to the dignity of heroes of reputation. However, they did eat not only fish, but oysters; though this sort of food is neither very wholesome nor very nice, but the oysters lie at the bottom of the sea, and one cannot get at them by any other means, except by diving to the bottom.An active man is he, and dives with ease;as he says of a man who could have collected enough to satisfy many men, while hunting for oysters.
καὶ ἰχθύσι δὲ Ὅμηρος ποιεῖ χρωμένους τοὺς τότε καὶ ὄρνισι. κατὰ γοῦν τὴν Θρινακίαν οἱ Ὀδυσσέως ἑταῖροι θηρεύουσιν ἰχθῦς ὄρνιθάς τε φίλας θ’ ὅ τι χεῖρας ἵκοιτο γναμπτοῖς ἀγκίστροισιν. οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ Θρινακίᾳ ἐκεχάλκευτο τὰ ἄγκιστρα, ἀλλ’ ἐπεφέροντο ἐν τῷ πλῷ δηλονότι· ὥστε ἦν αὐτοῖς θήρας ἰχθύων ἐπιμέλεια καὶ τέχνη. εἰκάζει δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ Σκύλλης ἁρπαζομένους Ὀδυσσέως ἑταίρους ἰχθύσι προμήκει ῥάβδῳ ἁλισκομένοις καὶ θύραζε ῥιπτομένοις. οὕτω καὶ ταύτην τὴν τέχνην ἀκριβοῖ μᾶλλον τῶν τοιαῦτα προηγουμένως ἐκδεδωκότων ποιήματα ἢ συγγράμματα, Καίκαλον λέγω τὸν Ἀργεῖον καὶ Νουμήνιον τὸν Ἡρακλεώτην, Παγκράτην τὸν Ἀρκάδα, Ποσειδώνιον τὸν Κορίνθιον καὶ τὸν ὀλίγῳ πρὸ ἡμῶν γενόμενον Ὀππιανὸν τὸν Κίλικα· τοσούτοις γάρ ἐνετύχομεν ἐποποιοῖς Ἁλιευτικὰ γεγραφόσι, καταλογάδην δὲ τοῖς Σελεύκου τοῦ Ταρσέως καὶ Λεωνίδου τοῦ Βυζαντίου καὶ Ἀγαθοκλέους τοῦ Ἀτρακίου. οὐ μνημονεύει δὲ τοιαύτης ἐδωδῆς ἐπὶ τῶν δείπνων, ὡς οὐκ οἰκείας νομιζομένης τῆς τροφῆς τοῖς ἐν ἀξιώμασιν ἥρωσι κειμένοις, ὡς οὐδὲ τῆς τῶν νεογνῶν ἱερείων. οὐ μόνον δὲ ἰχθύσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀστρείοις ἐχρῶντο, καίτοι τῆς τούτων ἐδωδῆς οὐ πολὺ ἐχούσης τὸ ὠφέλιμον καὶ ἡδύ, ἀλλὰ κἀν τῷ βυθῷ κατὰ βάθος κειμένων· καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰς ταῦτα ἄλλῃ τινὶ τέχνῃ χρήσασθαι ἢ δύντα κατὰ βυθοῦ. ἦ μάλ’ ἐλαφρὸς ἀνήρ, ὃς ῥεῖα κυβιστᾷ, ὃν καὶ λέγει πολλοὺς ἂν κορέσαι τήθεα διφῶντα.
Before each one of the guests in Homer is placed a separate cup. Demodocus has a basket and a table and a cup placed before him,To drink whene'er his soul desired.Again the goblets are crowned with drink; that is to say, they are filled so that the liquor stands above the brim, and the cups have a sort of crown of wine on them. Now the cupbearers filled them so for the sake of the omen; and then they pour outπᾶσιν, ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν,the word πᾶσιν referring not to the cups but to the men. Accordingly Alcinous says to Pontonous,Let all around the due libation payTo Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way;and then he goes on,All drink the juice that glads the heart of man.And due honour is paid at those banquets to all the most eminent men. Accordingly, Tydides is honoured with great quantities of meat and wine; and Ajax receives the compliment of a whole chine of beef. And the kings are treated in the same way:—A rump of beef they set before the king:that is, before Menelaus. And in like manner he honours Idomeneus and AgamemnonWith ever brimming cups of rosy wine.And Sarpedon, among the Lycians, receives the same respect, and has the highest seat, and the most meat. They had also a way of saluting in drinking one another's health; and so even the gods,In golden goblets pledged each other's health;that is, they took one another by the right hand while drinking. And so some one δείδεκτ’ Ἀχιλλέα, which is the same as if he had said ἐδεξιοῦτο, that is, took him by the right hand. He drank to him, proffering him the goblet in his right hand. They also gave some of their own portion to those to whom they wished to show attention; as, Ulysses having cut off a piece of chine of beef which was set before himself, sent it to Demodocus.
ἑκάστῳ δὲ τῶν δαιτυμόνων παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ παράκειται ποτήριον. Δημοδόκῳ γοῦν παρατίθεται κάνεον καὶ τράπεζα καὶ δέπας πιεῖν ὅτε θυμὸς ἀνώγοι. ἐπιστέφονται δὲ ποτοῖο οἱ κρητῆρες ἤτοι ὑπερχειλεῖς οἱ κρατῆρες ποιοῦνται, ὥστε διὰ τοῦ ποτοῦ ἐπιστεφανοῦσθαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἔπρασσον πρὸς οἰωνοῦ τιθέμενοι. κοῦροι δὲ διανέμουσι πᾶσιν ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσι. τὸ δὲ πᾶσιν οὐ τοῖς ποτηρίοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν. Ἀλκίνους γοῦν τῷ Ποντονόῳ φησί· μέθυ νεῖμον πᾶσιν ἀνὰ μέγαρον. καὶ ἑξῆς ἐπάγει· νώμησεν δ’ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπαρξάμενος δεπάεσσιν. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀρίστοις κατὰ δεῖπνα τιμαί. Τυδείδης γοῦν καὶ κρέασι καὶ πλείοις δεπάεσσι τιμᾶται καὶ Αἴας νώτοισι διηνεκέεσσι γεραίρεται, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς δὲ τοῖς αὐτοῖς· νῶτα βοός, τὰ ῥὰ οἱ πάρθεσαν αὐτῷ, Μενέλαος δηλονότι. καὶ Ἰδομενέα δὲ Ἀγαμέμνων πλείῳ δέπᾳ τιμᾷ. καὶ Σαρπηδὼν δὲ παρὰ Λυκίοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς τιμᾶται καὶ ἕδρῃ καὶ κρέασιν. ἦν δέ τις αὐτοῖς καὶ διὰ τῆς προπόσεως ἀσπασμός· οἱ γοῦν θεοὶ χρυσέοις δεπάεσσι δειδέχατ᾽ ἀλλήλους, ἤτοι ἐδεξιοῦντο προπίνοντες ἑαυτοῖς ταῖς δεξιαῖς. καί τις δὲ δείδεκτ’ Ἀχιλλέα ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐδεξιοῦτο, ὅ ἐστι προέπινεν αὐτῷ τῇ δεξιᾷ διδοὺς τὸ ποτήριον. ἐδωροῦντο δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς αὑτῶν μοίρας οἷς ἐβούλοντο, ὡς Ὀδυσσεὺς νώτου ἀποπροταμὼν οὗ αὐτῷ παρέθεντο τῷ Δημοδόκῳ.
They also availed themselves at their banquets of the services of minstrels and dancers; as the suitors did, and in the palace of MenelausA band amid the joyous circle singsHigh airs at tempered to the vocal strings;While, warbling to the varied strain, advanceTwo sprightly youths to form the bounding dance.And though Homer uses μολπὴ, warbling, here, he is really speaking only of the exercise of the dance. But the race of bards in those days was modest and orderly, cultivating a disposition like that of philosophers. And accordingly Agamemnon leaves his bard as a guardian and counsellor to Clytæmnestra: who, first of all, going through all the virtues of women, endeavoured to inspire her with an ambition of excelling in virtuous and ladylike habits; and, after that, by supplying her with agreeable occupation, sought to prevent her inclinations from going astray after evil thoughts: so that Aegisthus could not seduce the woman till he had murdered the bard on a desert island. And the same is the character of that bard who sings under compulsion before the suitors; who bitterly reproached them for laying plots against Penelope. We find too that using one general term, Homer calls all bards objects of veneration among men.Therefore the holy Muse their honour guardsIn every land, and loves the race of bards.And Demodocus the bard of the Phœacians sins of the intrigue between Mars and Venus; not because he approves of such behaviour, but for the purpose of dissuading his hearers from the indulgence of such passions, knowing that they have been brought up in a luxurious way, and therefore relating to them tales not inconsistent with their own manners, for the purpose of pointing out to them the evil of then, and persuading them to avoid such conduct. And Phemius sings to the suitors, in compliance with their desire, the tale of the return of the Greeks from Troy; and the sirens sing to Ulysses what they think will be most agreeable to him, saying what they think most akin to his own ambition and extensive learning. We know, say they,Whate'er beneath the sun's bright journey lies,Oh stay and learn new wisdom from the wise.
ἐχρῶντο δὲ ἐν τοῖς συμποσίοις καὶ κιθαρῳδοῖς καὶ ὀρχησταῖς, ὡς οἱ μνηστῆρες. καὶ παρὰ Μενελάῳ ἐμέλπετο θεῖος ἀοιδός, δύο δὲ κυβιστητῆρες μολπῆς ἐξάρχοντες ἐδίνευον. μολπῆς δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδιᾶς. σῶφρον δέ τι ἦν τὸ τῶν συμποσίοις καὶ φιλοσόφων διάθεσιν ἐπέχον. Ἀγαμέμνων γοῦν τὸν ἀοιδὸν καταλείπει τῇ Κλυταιμνήστρᾳ φύλακα καὶ παραινετῆρά τινα· ὃς πρῶτον μὲν ἀρετὴν γυναικῶν διερχόμενος ἐνέβαλλὲ τινα φιλοτιμίαν εἰς καλοκἀγαθίαν, εἶτα διατριβὴν παρέχων ἡδεῖαν ἀπεπλάνα τὴν διάνοιαν φαύλων ἐπινοιῶν. διὸ Αἴγισθος οὐ πρότερον διέφθειρε τὴν γυναῖκα πρὶν τὸν ἀοιδὸν ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν νήσῳ ἐρήμῃ. τοιοῦτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ παρὰ τοῖς μνηστῆρσιν ἀείδων ἀνάγκῃ, ὃς τοὺς ἐφεδρεύοντας τῇ Πηνελόπῃ ἐβδελύττετο. κοινῶς δέ που πάντας τοὺς ἀοιδοὺς αἰδοίους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἶναί φησι· τοὔνεκ’ ἄρα σφέας οἴμας Μοῦσ᾽ ἐδίδαξε φίλησέ τε φῦλον ἀοιδῶν. ὁ δὲ παρὰ Φαίαξι Δημόδοκος ᾄδει Ἄρεος καὶ Ἀφροδίτης συνουσίαν, οὐ διὰ τὸ ἀποδέχεσθαι τὸ τοιοῦτον πάθος, ἀλλ’ ἀποτρέπων αὐτοὺς παρανόμων ὀρέξεων, ἢ εἰδὼς ἐν τρυφερῷ τινι βίῳ τεθραμμένους κἀντεῦθεν ὁμοιότατα τοῖς τρόποις αὐτῶν τὰ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν προφέρων. καὶ τοῖς μνηστῆρσιν ᾅδει πρὸς τὴν αὐτὴν βουλὴν ὁ Φήμιος νόστον Ἀχαιῶν. καὶ αἱ Σειρῆνες δὲ ᾄδουσι τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ τὰ μάλιστα αὐτὸν τέρψοντα, καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα τῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ πολυμαθείᾳ λέγουσαι. ἴσμεν γάρ φασί, τὰ τά ἄλλα καὶ ὅσσα γένηται ἐν χθονὶ πολυβοτείρῃ.
The dances spoken of in Homer are partly those of tumblers and partly those of ball-players; the invention of which last kind Agallis, the Corcyrean authoress, who wrote on grammar, attributes to Nausicaa, paying a compliment to her own countrywoman; but Dicæarchus attributes it to the Sicyonians. But Hippasus gives the credit of both this and gymnastic exercises to the Lacedæmonians. However, Nausicaa is the only one of his heroines whom Homer introduces playing at ball. Demoteles, the brother of Theognis the Chiansophist, was eminent for his skill in this game; and a man of the name of Chærephanes, who once kept following a debauched young man, and did not speak to him, but prevented him from misbehaving. And when he said, “Chærephanes, you may make your own terms with me, if you will only desist from following me;” “Do you think,” said he, “that I want to speak to you?” “If you do not,” said he, “why do you follow me” “I like to look at you,” he replied, “but I do not approve of your conduct.” The thing called φούλλικλον,, which appears to have been a kind of small ball, was invented by Atticus the Neapolitan, the tutor in gymnastics of the great Pompey. And n the game of ball the variation called ἁρπαστὸν used to be called φαινίνδα, and I think that the best of all the games of ball.
ὀρχήσεις δ’ εἰσὶ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ αἱ μέν τινες τῶν κυβιστητήρων, αἱ δὲ διὰ τῆς σφαίρας· ἧς τὴν εὕρεσιν Ἀγαλλὶς ἡ Κερκυραία γραμματικὴ Ναυσικάᾳ ἀνατίθησιν ὡς πολίτιδι χαριζομένη· Δικαίαρχος δὲ Σικυωνίοις, Ἵππασος δὲ Λακεδαιμονίοις ταύτην τε καὶ τὰ γυμνάσια πρώτοις. ταύτην δὲ μόνην τῶν ἡρωίδων Ὅμηρος παράγει σφαιρίζουσαν. διαβόητοι δὲ ἐπὶ σφαιρικῇ Δημοτέλης ὁ Θεοκρίτου τοῦ Χίου σοφιστοῦ ἀδελφὸς καί τις Χαιρεφάνης· ὃς ἀσελγεῖ τινι νέῳ παρακολουθῶν οὐ διελέγετο μέν, ἐκώλυε δὲ πράττειν τὸν νεανίσκον. εἰπόντος δὲ ὅτι Χαιρέφανες, ἐὰν παύσῃ ἀκολουθῶν, πάντα σοι ἔσται παρ’ ἡμῶν, ἐγὼ δ’ ἄν, ἔφη, σοὶ διαλεχθείην; τί οὖν, εἶπε, παρακολουθεῖς; χαίρω σε θεωρῶν, ἔφη, τὸ δὲ ἦθος οὐ δοκιμάζω. ὅτι τὸ φούλλικλον καλούμενον ἦν δὲ ὡς ἔοικε σφαιρίσκιόν τί εὗρεν Ἀττικὸς Νεαπολίτης παιδοτρίβης γυμνασίας ἕνεκα Πομπηίου Μὰγνου. τὸ δὲ καλούμενον διὰ τῆς σφαίρας ἁρπαστὸν φαινίνδα ἐκαλεῖτο, ὃ ἐγὼ πάντων μάλιστα ἀσπάζομαι.
There is a great deal of exertion and labour in a game of ball, and it causes great straining of the neck and shoulders. Antiphanes says,Wretch that I am, my neck's so stiff;and again Antiphanes describes the φαινίνδα thus:—The player takes the ball elate,And gives it safely to his mate,Avoids the blows of th' other side,And shouts to see them hitting wide;List to the cries, “Hit here,” hit there, '“Too far,” “too high,” “that is not fair,” —See every man with ardour burnsTo make good strokes and quick returns.And it was called φαινίνδα from the rapid motion of those who played, or else because its inventor, as Juba the Mauritanian says, was Phænestius, a master of gymnastics. And Antiphanes,To play Phæninda at Ph$anestius' school.And those who played paid great attention to elegance of motion and attitude; and accordingly Demoxenus says:—A youth I saw was playing ball,Seventeen years of age and tall;From Cos he came, and well I wotThe Gods look kindly on that spot.For when he took the ball or threw it,So pleased were all of us to view it,We all cried out; so great his grace,Such frank good humour in his face,That every time he spoke or moved,All felt as if that youth they loved.Sure ne'er before had these eyes seen,Nor ever since, so fair a mien;Had I staid long most sad my plightHad been to lose my wits outright,And even now the recollectionDisturbs my senses' calm reflection. Ctesibius also of Chalcis, a philosopher, was no bad player. And there were many of the friends of Antigonus the king who used to take their coats off and play ball with him. Timocrates, too, the Lacedæmonian, wrote a book on playing ball.
πολὺ δὲ τὸ σύντονον καὶ καματηρὸν τῆς περὶ τὴν σφαιριστικὴν ἁμίλλης τό τε κατὰ τοὺς τραχηλισμοὺς ῥωμαλέον. Ἀντιφάνης· οἴμοι κακοδαίμων, τὸν τράχηλον ὡς ἔχω. διηγεῖται δὲ τὴν φαινίνδα παιδιὰν οὕτως Ἀντιφάνης·σφαῖραν λαβὼν τῷ μὲν διδοὺς ἔχαιρε, τὸν δ’ ἔφευγ’ ἅμα, τοῦ δ’ ἐξέκρουσε, τὸν δ’ ἀνέστησεν πάλιν, κλαγκταῖσι φωναῖς … ἔξω, μακράν, παρ’ αὐτόν, ὑπὲρ αὐτόν κάτω, ἄνω, βραχεῖαν, ἀπόδος ἐν καταστροφῇ.ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ φαινίνδα ἀπὸ τῆς ἀφέσεως τῶν σφαιριζόντων, ἢ ὅτι εὑρετὴς αὐτοῦ, ὥς φησιν Ἰόβας ὁ Μαυρούσιος, Φαινέστιος ὁ παιδοτρίβης. καὶ Ἀντιφάνης· φαινίνδα παίζων ᾔεις ἐν Φαινεστίου. ἐφρόντιζον δὲ εὐρυθμίας οἱ σφαιρίζοντες. Δαμόξενος γοῦν φησι·νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ἐτῶν ἴσως ἑκκαίδεκ’ ἢ ἑπτακαίδεκα, Κῷος· θεοὺς γὰρ φαίνεθ’ ἡ νῆσος φέρειν. ὃς ἐπεὶ ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις, ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν ἢ διδούς, ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν· … ἡ δ’ εὐρυθμία, τὸ δ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις δ’ ὅση. ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν ἐφαίνετο τέρας τι κάλλους, ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν οὔθ’ ἑόρακα τοιαύτην χάριν. κακὸν ἄν τι μεῖζον ἔλαβον, εἰ πλείω χρόνον ἔμεινα· καὶ νῦν δ’ οὐχ ὑγιαίνειν μοι δοκῶ.ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος· καὶ πολλοὶ διὰ τὴν σφαιρικὴν αὐτῷ συναπεδύοντο τῶν Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ βασιλέως φίλων. συνέγραψε δὲ περὶ σφαιριστικῆς Τιμοκράτης ὁ Λάκων.
But the Phæacians in Homer had a dance also uncon- nected with ball playing; and they danced very cleverly, alternating in figures with one another. That is what is meant by the expression,In frequent interchanges,while others stood by and made a clapping noise with their fore-fingers, which is called ληκεῖν. The poet was acquainted also with the art of dancing so as to keep time with singing. And while Demodocus was singing, youths just entering on manhood were dancing; and in the book which is called the Manufacture of the Arms, a boy played the harp,Danced round and sung in soft well measured tune.And in these passages the allusion is to that which is called the hyporchematic style, which flourished in the time of Xenodemus and Pindar. And this kind of dance is an imitation of actions which are explained by words, and is what the elegant Xenophon represents as having taken place, in his Anabasis, at the banquet given by Seuthes the Thracian. He says: "After libations were made, and the guests had sung a pæan, there rose up first the Thracians, and danced in arms to the music of a flute, and jumped up very high, with light jumps, and used their swords. And at last one of them strikes another, so that it seemed to every one that the man was wounded. And he fell down in a very clever manner, and all the bystanders raised an outcry. And he who struck him having stripped him of his arms, went out singing Sitalces. And others of the Thracians carried out his antagonist as if he were dead; but in reality, he was not hurt. After this some Aenianians and Magnesians rose up, who danced the dance called Carpæa, they too being in armour. And the fashion of that dance was like this: One man, having laid aside his arms, is sowing, and driving a yoke of oxen, constantly looking round as if he were afraid. Then three comes up a robber; but the sower, as soon as he sees him snatches up his arms and fights in defence of his team in regular time to the music of the flute. And at last the robber, having bound the man, carries off the team; but sometimes the sower conquers the robber, and then binding him alongside his oxen, he ties his hands behind him, and drives him forward. And one man," says he, “danced the Persian dance, and rattling one shield against another, fell down, and rose up again: and he did all this in time to the music of a flute. And the Arcadians rising up, all moved in time, being clothed in armour, the flute-players playing the tune suited to an armed march; and they sung the pæan, and danced.”
οἱ Φαίακες δὲ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ καὶ ἄνευ σφαίρας ὀρχοῦνται. καὶ ὀρχοῦνταί που ἀνὰ μέρος πυκνῶς ʽ τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ ταρφέ’ ἀμειβόμενοι ʼ, ἄλλων ἐφεστώτων καὶ ἐπικροτούντων τοῖς λιχανοῖς δακτύλοις, ὅ φησι ληκεῖν. οἶδε δὲ ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ τὴν πρὸς ᾠδὴν ὄρχησιν· Δημοδόκου γοῦν ᾅδοντος κοῦροι πρωθῆβαι ὠρχοῦντο καὶ ἐν τῇ Ὁπλοποιίᾳ δὲ παιδὸς κιθαρίζοντος ἄλλοι ἐναντίοι μολπῇ τε ὀρχηθμῷ τε ἔσκαιρον. ὑποσημαίνεται δὲ ἐν τούτοις ὁ ὑπορχηματικὸς τρόπος, ὃς ἤνθησεν ἐπὶ Ξενοδήμου καὶ Πινδάρου. καί ἐστιν ἡ τοιαύτη ὄρχησις μίμησις τῶν ὑπὸ τῆς λέξεως ἑρμηνευομένων πραγμάτων ἣν παρίστησι γινομένην Ξενοφῶν ὁ καλὸς ἐν τῇ Ἀναβάσει ἐν τῷ παρὰ Σεύθῃ τῷ Θρᾳκὶ συμποσίῳ. φησὶ γοῦν· ἐπειδὴ σπονδαὶ τε ἐγένοντο καὶ ἐπαιώνισαν, ἀνέστησαν πρῶτοι Θρᾷκες καὶ πρὸς αὐλὸν ὠρχοῦντο σὺν ὅπλοις καὶ ἥλλοντο ὑψηλά τε καὶ κούφως καὶ ταῖς μαχαίραις ἐχρῶντο· τέλος δὲ ὁ ἕτερος τὸν ἕτερον παίει, ὡς πᾶσι δοκεῖν πεπληγέναι τὸν ἄνδρα. ὁ δ’ ἔπεσε τεχνικῶς πως καὶ πάντες ἀνέκραγον οἱ συνδειπνοῦντες Παφλαγόνες. καὶ ὁ μὲν σκυλεύσας τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ ἑτέρου ἐξῄει ᾄδων Σιτάλκαν, ἄλλοι δὲ τῶν Θρᾳκῶν τὸν ἕτερον ἐξέφερον ὡς τεθνηκότα· ἦν δὲ οὐδὲν πεπονθώς. μετὰ τοῦτον Αἰνιᾶνες καὶ Μάγνητες ἀνέστησαν, οἳ ὠρχοῦντο τὴν καρπαίαν καλουμένην ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις. ὁ δὲ τρόπος τῆς ὀρχήσεως ἦν ὁ μὲν παραθέμενος τὰ ὅπλα σπείρει καὶ ζευγηλατεῖ πυκνὰ μεταστρεφόμενος ὡς φοβούμενος, λῃστὴς δὲ προσέρχεται· ὁ δὲ ἐπὰν προίδηται ἁρπάσας τὰ ὅπλα μάχεται πρὸ τοῦ ζεύγους ἐν ῥυθμῷ πρὸς τὸν αὐλόν καὶ τέλος ὁ λῃστὴς δήσας τὸν ἄνδρα τὸ ζεῦγος ἀπάγει, ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ ὁ ζευγηλάτης τὸν λῃστὴν εἶτα παρὰ τοὺς βοῦς δήσας ὀπίσω τὼ χεῖρε δεδεμένον ἐλαύνει. καί τις, φησί, τὸ Περσικὸν ὠρχεῖτο καὶ κροτῶν τὰς πέλτας ὤκλαζε καὶ ἐξανίστατο· καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ῥυθμῷ πρὸς τὸν αὐλὸν ἐποίει. καὶ Ἀρκάδες δέ φησίν, ἀναστάντες ἐξοπλισάμενοι ᾔεσαν ἐν ῥυθμῷ πρὸς τὸν ἐνόπλιον ῥυθμὸν αὐλούμενοι καὶ ἐνωπλίσαντο καὶ ὠρχήσαντο.
The heroes used also flutes and pipes. At all events Agamemnon hears “the voice of flutes and pipes,” which however he never introduced into banquets, except that in the Manufacture of Arms, he mentions the flute on the occasion of a marriage-feast. But flutes he attributes to the barbarians. Accordingly, the Trojans had “the voice of flutes and pipes,” and they made libations, when they got up from the feast, making them to Mercury, and not, as they did afterwards, to Jupiter the Finisher. For Mercury appears to be the patron of sleep: they drop libations to him also on their tongues when they depart from a banquet, and the tongues are especially allotted to him, as being the instruments of eloquence. Homer was acquainted also with a variety of meats. At all events he uses the expression “various meats,” andMeats such as godlike kings rejoice to taste.He was acquainted, too, with everything that is thought luxurious even in our age. And accordingly the palace of Menelaus is the most splendid of houses. And Polybius describes the palace of one of the Spanish kings as being something similar in its appointments and splendour, saying that he was ambitious of imitating the luxury of the Phæacians, except as far as there stood in the middle of the palace huge silver and golden goblets full of wine made of barley. But Homer, when describing the situation and condition of Calypso's house, represents Mercury as astonished; and in his descriptions the life of the Phæacians is wholly devoted to pleasure:We ever love the banquet rich,The music of the lyre,and so on. AndHow goodly seems it, etc. etc.lines which Eratosthenes says ought to stand thus:—How goodly seems it ever to employFar from all ills man's social days in joy,The plenteous board high heap'd with cates divineWhile tuneful songs bid flow the generous wine.When he says “far from all ills,” he means where folly is not allowed to exhibit itself; for it would be impossible for the Phæacians to be anything but wise, inasmuch as they are very dear to the gods, as Nausicaa says.
ἐχρῶντο δὲ καὶ αὐλοῖς καὶ σύριγξιν οἱ ἥρωες. ὁ γοῦν Ἀγαμέμνων αὐλῶν συρίγγων τ’ ἐνοπὴν ἀκούει. εἰς δὲ τὰ συμπόσια οὐ παρήγαγε· πλὴν ἐν τῇ Ὁπλοποιίᾳ γάμων γινομένων αὐλῶν μνημονεύει. τοῖς δὲ βαρβάροις ἀποδίδωσι τοὺς αὐλούς· παρὰ Τρωσὶ γοῦν ἦν αὐλῶν συρίγγων τ’ ἐνοπή. ἔσπενδον δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν δείπνων ἀναλύοντες καὶ τὰς σπονδὰς ἐποιοῦντο Ἑρμῇ καὶ οὐχ ὡς ὕστερον Διὶ τελείῳ. δοκεῖ γὰρ Ἑρμῆς ὕπνου προστάτης εἶναι. σπένδουσι δ’ αὐτῷ καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς γλώσσαις ἐκ τῶν δείπνων ἀπιόντες. προσνέμονται δ’ αὐτῷ αἱ γλῶσσαι διὰ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν. οἶδε δ᾽ Ὅμηρος καὶ ποικίλας ἐδωδάς· λέγει γοῦν ἐδωδὴν παντοίην καὶ ὄψα οἷα ἔδουσι διοτρεφέες βασιλῆες. οἶδε δὲ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν νῦν πολυτέλειαν. οἴκων μὲν οὖν λαμπρότατος ὁ Μενελάου. τοιοῦτον δέ τινα ὑφίσταται τῇ κατασκευῇ καὶ λαμπρότητι οἵανπερ Πολύβιος Ἴβηρός τινος βασιλέως οἰκίαν ὃν καὶ ἐζηλωκέναι λέγει τὴν τῶν Φαιάκων τρυφὴν πλὴν τοῦ τοὺς κρατῆρας ἐν μέσῳ τῆς οἰκίας ἑστάναι πλήρεις οἴνου κριθίνου, ἀργυροῦς ὄντας καὶ χρυσοῦς. Ὅμηρος δὲ τοπογραφῶν καὶ τὴν Καλυψοῦς οἰκίαν ἐκπλήττει τὸν Ἑρμῆν. ἀπολαυστικὸς δέ ἐστι παρ’ αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ τῶν Φαιάκων βίος· αἰεὶ γὰρ ἡμῖν δαίς τε φίλη κίθαρίς τε καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς … ἃ ἔπη Ἐρατοσθένης οὕτω γεγράφθαι φησίν· οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγὲ τί φημι τέλος χαριέστερον εἶναι ἢ ὅταν εὐφροσύνη μὲν ἔχῃ κακότητος ἀπούσης, δαιτυμόνες δ’ ἀνὰ δώματ’ ἀκουάζωνται ἀοιδοῦ, κακότητος ἀπούσης φάσκων τῆς ἀφροσύνης. ἀδύνατον γὰρ μὴ φρονίμους εἶναι Φαίακας, οἳ μάλα φίλοι εἰσὶ θεοῖσιν, ὡς ἡ Ναυσικάα φησί.
In Homer, too, the suitors amused themselves in front of the doors of the palace with dice; not having learnt how to play at dice from Diodorus of Megalopolis, or from Theodorus, or from Leon of Mitylene, who was descended from Athenian ancestors: and was absolutely invincible at dice, as Phanias says. But Apion of Alexandria says that he had heard from Cteson of Ithaca what sort of game the game of dice, as played by the suitors, was. For the suitors being a hundred and eight in number, arranged their pieces opposite to one another in equal numbers, they themselves also being divided into two equal parties, so that there were on each side fifty-four; and between the men there was a small space left empty. And in this middle space they placed one man, which they called Penelope. And they made this the mark, to see if any one of them could hit it with his man; and then, when they had cast lots, he who drew the lot aimed at it. Then if any one hit it and drove Penelope forward out of her place, then he put down his own man in the place of that which had been hit and moved from its place. After which, standing up again, he shot his other man at Penelope in the place in which she was the second time. And if he hit her again without touching any one of the other men, he won the game, and had great hopes that he should be the man to marry her. He says too that Eurymachus gained the greatest number of victories in this game, and was very sanguine about his marriage. And in consequence of their luxury the suitors had such tender hands that they were not able to bend the bow; and even their servants were a very luxurious set. Homer, too, speaks of the smell of perfumes as something very admirable:—Spirit divine! whose exhalation greetsThe sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.He speaks, too, of splendid beds; and such is the bed which Arete orders her handmaids to prepare for Ulysses. And Nestor makes it a boast to Telemachus that he is well provided with such things.
καὶ οἱ μνηστῆρες δὲ παρ’ αὐτῷ πεσσοῖσι προπάροιθε θυράων ἐτέρποντο, οὐ παρὰ τοῦ μεγάλου Διοδώρου ἢ Θεοδώρου μαθόντες τὴν πεττείαν οὐδὲ τοῦ Μιτυληναίου Λέοντος τοῦ ἀνέκαθεν Ἀθηναίου, ὃς ἀήττητος ἦν κατὰ τὴν πεττευτικήν, ὥς φησι Φαινίας. Ἀπίων δὲ ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς καὶ ἀκηκοέναι φησὶ παρὰ τοῦ Ἰθακησίου Κτήσωνος τὴν τῶν μνηστήρων πεττείαν οἵα ἦν. ὀκτὼ γάρ, φησί, καὶ ἑκατὸν ὄντες οἱ μνηστῆρες διετίθεσαν ψήφους ἐναντίας ἀλλήλαις, ἴσας πρὸς ἴσας τὸν ἀριθμόν ὅσοιπερ ἦσαν καὶ αὐτοί. γίνεσθαι οὖν ἑκατέρωθεν δ’ καὶ πεντήκοντα. τὸ δ’ ἀνὰ μέσον τούτων διαλιπεῖν ὀλίγον ἐν δὲ τῷ μεταιχμίῳ τούτῳ μίαν τιθέναι ψῆφον, ἣν καλεῖν μὲν αὐτοὺς Πηνελόπην, σκοπὸν δὲ ποιεῖσθαι εἲ τις βάλλοι ψήφῳ ἑτέρᾳ· καὶ κληρουμένων τὸν λαχόντα στοχάζεσθαι ταύτης. εἰ δέ τις τύχοι καὶ ἐκκρούσειε πρόσω τὴν Πηνελόπην, ἀποτίθεσθαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ εἰς τὴν τῆς βληθείσης καὶ ἐξωσμένης χώραν, ἐν ᾗ πρότερον ἦν καὶ πάλιν στήσαντα τὴν Πηνελόπην ἐν ᾧ τὸ δεύτερον ἐγένετο χωρίῳ ἐντεῦθεν βάλλειν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ. εἰ δὲ τύχοι ἄνευ τοῦ μηδεμιᾶς τῶν ἄλλων ψαῦσαι, νικᾶν καὶ ἐλπίδας ἔχειν πολλὰς γαμήσειν αὐτήν. τὸν δὲ Εὐρύμαχον πλείστας εἰληφέναι ταύτῃ τῇ παιδιᾷ καὶ εὔελπιν εἶναι τῷ γάμῳ. οὕτω δὲ διὰ τὴν τρυφὴν τὰς χεῖρας οἱ μνηστῆρες ἔχουσιν ἁπαλὰς ὡς μηδὲ τὸ τόξον ἐντεῖναι δύνασθαι. πολυτελεῖς δ’ αὐτοῖς καὶ οἱ διακονούμενοι. δυνατωτάτη δὲ παρ᾽ Ὁμήρῳ καὶ ἡ τῶν μύρων εὐωδία· οὗ κινυμένου Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶμα ἔμπης εἰς γαῖάν τε καὶ οὐρανὸν ἵκετ’ ἀυτμή. καὶ στρωμνὰς δὲ οἶδε διαπρεπούσας· τοιαύτας οὖν Ἀρήτη Ὀδυσσεῖ ὑποστρωννύειν κελεύει, καὶ Νέστωρ αὐχεῖ πρὸς Τηλέμαχον πολλῶν τοιούτων εὐπορεῖν.
But some of the other poets have spoken of the habits of expense and indolence of their own time as existing also at the time of the Trojan war; and so Aeschylus very improperly introduces the Greeks as so drunk as to break their vessels about one another's heads; and he says—This is the man who threw so wellThe vessel with an evil smell,And miss'd me not, but dash'd to shiversThe pot too full of steaming riversAgainst my head, which now, alas! sir,Gives other smells besides macassar.And Sophocles says in his banquet of the Greeks,He in his anger threw too wellThe vessel with an evil smellAgainst my head, and fill'd the roomWith something not much like perfume;So that I swear I nearly faintedWith the foul steam the vessel vented.But Eupolis attacks the man who first mentioned such a thing, saying—I hate the ways of Sparta's line,And would rather fry my dinner;He who first invented wineMade poor man a greater sinner,And through him the greater need isOf the arts of Palamedes. But in Homer the chiefs banquet in Agamemnon's tent in a very orderly manner; and if in the Odyssey Achilles and Ulysses dispute and Agamemnon exults, still their rivalry with one another is advantageous, since what they are discussing is whether Troy is to be taken by stratagem, or by open-hand fighting. And he does not represent even the suitors as drunk, nor has he ever made his heroes guilty of such disorderly conduct as Aeschylus and Sophocles have, though he does speak of the foot of an ox being thrown at Ulysses.
τῶν δ’ ἄλλων ποιητῶν ἔνιοι τὰς καθ’ αὑτοὺς πολυτελείας καὶ ῥᾳθυμίας ἀνέπεμπον ὡς οὔσας καὶ κατὰ τὰ Τρωικά. Αἰσχύλος γοῦν ἀπρεπῶς που παράγει μεθύοντας τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ὡς καὶ τὰς ἀμίδας ἀλλήλοις περικαταγνύναι. λέγει γοῦν ὅδ’ ἐστὶν ὅς ποτ’ ἀμφ’ ἐμοὶ βέλος γελωτοποιόν, τὴν κάκοσμον οὐράνην, ἔρριψεν οὐδ’ ἥμαρτε· περὶ δ’ ἐμῷ κάρᾳ πληγεῖσ’ ἐναυάγησεν ὀστρακουμένη, χωρὶς μυρηρῶν τευχέων πνέουσ’ ἐμοί. καὶ Σοφοκλῆς δὲ ἐν Ἀχαιῶν συνδείπνῳ· ἀλλ’ ἀμφὶ θυμῷ τὴν κάκοσμον οὐράνην ἔρριψεν οὐδ’ ἥμαρτε; περὶ δ’ ἐμῷ κάρᾳ κατάγνυται τὸ τεῦχος οὐ μύρου πνέον. ἐδειματούμην δ’ οὐ φίλης ὀσμῆς ὕπο. Εὔπολις δὲ τὸν πρῶτον εἰσηγησάμενον τὸ τῆς ἀμίδος ὄνομα ἐπιπλήττει λέγωνἈλκιβιάδης:μισῶ λακωνίζειν, ταγηνίζειν δὲ κἂν πριαίμην.β:πολλὰς δ’ οἶμαι νῦν βεβινῆσθαι.Ἀλκιβιάδης:… ὃς δὲ πρῶτος ἐξεῦρεν τὸ πρῴ πιπίνειν,β:πολλήν γε λακκοπρωκτίαν ἡμῖν ἐπίστασ’ εὑρών.Ἀλκιβιάδης:εἶεν τίς εἶπεν ἀμίδα παῖ πρῶτος μεταξὺ πίνων;β:Παλαμηδικόν γε τοῦτο τοὐξεύρημα καὶ σοφὸν σου.παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ δὲ οἱ ἀριστεῖς κοσμίως δειπνοῦσιν ἐν Ἀγαμέμνονος. εἰ δ’ ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ φιλονεικοῦσιν Ἀχιλλεὺς καὶ Ὀδυσσεὺς καὶ Ἀγαμέμνων χαῖρε νόῳ, ἀλλ’ ὠφέλιμοι αἱ φιλοτιμίαι ζητούντων εἰ λόγῳ ἢ μάχῃ αἱρεθῆναι δεῖ τὸ Ἴλιον. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ’ ὅτε μνηστῆρας εἰσάγει μεθύοντας, οὐδὲ τότε τοιαύτην ἀκοσμίαν εἰσήγαγεν ὡς Σοφοκλῆς καὶ Αἰσχύλος πεποιήκασιν, ἀλλὰ πόδα βόειον ἐπὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα ῥιπτούμενον.
And his heroes sit at their banquets, and do not lie down. And this was sometimes the case at the feasts of Alexander the king, as Dures says. For he once, when giving a feast to his captains to the number of six thousand, made them sit upon silver chairs and couches, having covered them with purple covers. And Hegesander says that it was not the custom in Macedonia for any one to lie down at a banquet, unless he had slain a boar which had escaped beyond the line of nets; but with that exception, every one sat at supper. And so Cassander, when he was thirty-five years of age, supped with his father in a sitting posture, not being able to perform the above-mentioned exploit, though he was of man's estate, and a gallant hunter. But Homer, who has always an eye to propriety, has not introduced his heroes feasting on anything except meat, and that too they dressed for themselves. For it caused neither ridicule nor shame to see them preparing and cooking their own food: for they studied to be able to wait upon themselves; and they prided themselves, says Chrysippus, on their dexterity in such matters. And accordingly Ulysses boasts of being a better hand than any one else at making a fire and cutting up meat. And in the book of the Iliad called The Prayers, Patroclus acts as cupbearer, and Achilles prepares the supper. And when Menelaus celebrates a marriage feast, Megapenthes the bridegroom acts as cupbearer. But now we have come to such a pitch of effeminacy as to lie down while at our meals.
καθέζονται δ’ ἐν τοῖς συνδείπνοις οἱ ἥρωες, οὐ κατακέκλινται. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ παρ’ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐνίοτε ἦν, ὥς φησι Δοῦρις. ἑστιῶν γοῦν ποτε ἡγεμόνας εἰς ἑξακισχιλίους ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ δίφρων ἀργυρῶν καὶ κλιντήρων, ἁλουργοῖς περιστρώσας ἱματίοις. Ἡγήσανδρος δέ φησιν οὐδὲ ἔθος εἶναι ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ κατακλίνεσθαί τινα ἐν δείπνῳ, εἰ μή τις ἔξω λίνων ὗν κεντήσειεν· ἕως δὲ τότε καθήμενοι ἐδείπνουν. Κάσανδρος οὖν πέντεα καὶ τριάκοντα ὢν ἐτῶν ἐδείπνει παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ καθήμενος, οὐ δυνάμενος τὸν ἆθλον ἐκτελέσαι καίπερ ἀνδρεῖος γεγονὼς καὶ κυνηγὸς ἀγαθός. ἐς τὸ πρέπον δὲ Ὅμηρος ἀφορῶν τοὺς ἥρωας οὐ παρήγαγεν ἄλλο τι δαινυμένους ἢ κρέα, καὶ ταῦτα ἑαυτοῖς σκευάζοντας. οὐ γὰρ ἔχει γέλωτα οὐδ’ αἰσχύνην ὀψαρτύοντας αὐτοὺς καὶ ἕψοντας ὁρᾶν. ἐπετήδευον γὰρ τὴν αὐτοδιακονίαν καὶ ἐκαλλωπίζοντο, φησὶ Χρύσιππος, τῇ ἐν τούτοις εὐστροφίᾳ. Ὀδυσσεὺς γοῦν δαιτρεῦσαί τε καὶ πῦρ νηῆσαι οἷος οὐκ ἄλλος δεξιὸς εἶναί φησι. καὶ ἐν Λιταῖς δὲ Πάτροκλος καὶ Ἀχιλλεὺς πάντα εὐτρεπίζει. καὶ Μενελάου δὲ τελοῦντος γάμους ὁ νυμφίος Μεγαπένθης οἰνοχοεῖ. νῦν δὲ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐκπεπτώκαμεν ὡς κατακεῖσθαι δαινύμενοι.