---
title: "The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί"
author: "Athenaeus"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 21 of 78
url: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/21/
cite: "Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί, section 21. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/21/"
---

# The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί

*Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

The Learned Banqueters: a dinner party in Rome stretched over fifteen books of talk about food, wine, courtesans, music and books, quoting hundreds of lost Greek authors.

> Greek: ed. Charles Burton Gulick, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0008.tlg001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0008.tlg001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 21. Book V · chapters 5–14

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/21/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/21/#p-N

[¶0] Banquets Baths Banquets The Banquets described by Homer Banquets The Palaces of Homer's Kings Conversation at Banquets Customs in Homer's Time Attitudes of Guests Feast given by Antiochus Extravagance of Antiochus Ptslemy Philadelphus Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus A large Ship built by Ptolemy The Ship of Ptolemy Philopator Hiero's Ship Banquet given by Alexander Athenio The Valour of Socrates Plato's account of Socrates Socrates The Gorgons BUT since, O Timocrates, we have now had a great deal of conversation on the subject of banquets in all that has been hitherto said; and since we have passed over those things in them which are most useful and which do not weigh down the soul, but which cheer it, and nourish it by variety of food, as the divine Homer incidentally teaches us, I will also mention what has been said concerning these things by that most excellent writer Masyrius. For we, as the beautiful Agathon says—
Do what is more than needful as if needful,
And treat our real work as if it were superfluous.
The poet accordingly says, when he is speaking of Menelaus—
At the fair dome the rapid labour ends,
Where sat Atrides 'midst his bridal friends,
With double vows invoking Hymen's power
To bless his son's and daughter's nuptial hour:—
as it was a custom to celebrate banquets at marriages, both for the sake of the gods who preside over marriage, and as it were for a testimony to the marriage; and also, the king of Lycia instructs us what sort of banquet ought to be given to foreigners, receiving Bellerophon with great magnificence—
There Lycia's monarch paid him honours due,
Nine days he feasted, and nine bulls he slew.

> Greek: ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ πολὺς ὀντως λόγος συμποσίων πέρι διήντληται, ὦ Τιμόκρατες, ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων, παρελίπομεν δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ χρησιμώτατα καὶ οὐ βαροῦντα τὴν ψυχήν, ὠφελοῦντα δὲ καὶ τρέφοντα κατὰ πανδαισίαν, ἅπερ ὁ θεῖος Ὅμηρος παρεισήγαγε, μνημονεύσω καὶ τὰ περὶ τούτων λεχθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ πάντα ἀρίστου Μασουρίου. ἡμεῖς γὰρ κατὰ τὸν καλὸν Ἀγάθωνα· τὸ μὲν πάρεργον ἔργον ὣς ποιούμεθα, τὸ δ’ ἔργον ὡς πάρεργον ἐκπονούμεθα. φησὶ δ’ οὖν ὁ ποιητὴς περὶ τοῦ Μενελάου τὸν λόγον ποιούμενος· ταν δ’ εὗρον δαινύντα γάμον πολλοῖσιν ἔτῃσιν υἱέος ἠδὲ θυγατρὸς ἀμύμονος ᾧ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ, ὡς νενόμισται ἄγειν συμπόσια περὶ τοὺς γάμους τῶν τε γαμηλίων θεῶν ἕνεκα καὶ τῆς οἱονεὶ μαρτυρίας, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ξένους συμπόσιον ὁ τῆς Λυκίας βασιλεὺς διδάσκει οἷον εἶναι δεῖ, τὸν Βελλεροφόντην μεγαλοπρεπῶς δεξάμενος· ἐννῆμαρ ξείνισσε καὶ ἐννέα βοῦς ἱέρευσε.

[¶1] For wine appears to have a very attractive influence in promoting friendship, as it warms and also melts the soul. On which account the ancients did not ask who a man was before drinking, but afterwards; as honouring the laws of hospitality itself, and not this or that particular individual. But the lawgivers, taking care beforehand of the banquets of the present day, have appointed feasts for the tribe, and feasts for the borough; and also general banquets, and entertainments to the ward, and others also called orgeonica. And there are many meetings of philosophers in the city, some called the pupils of Diogenes, and others, pupils of Antipater, others again styled disciples of Panætius. And Theophrastus bequeathed money for an entertainment of that sort. Not, by Jove, in order that the philosophers assembled might indulge in intemperance, but in order that during the banquet they might have a wise and learned conversation. And the Prytanes were accustomed every day to meet in well-regulated banquets, which tended to the advantage of the state. And it was to such a banquet as that Demosthenes says the news of the taking of Elatea was brought. “For it was evening, and a man came bringing news to the Prytanes that Elatea was taken.” And the philosophers used to be careful to collect the young men, and to feast with them according to some well-considered and carefully laid down law. Accordingly, there were some laws for banquets laid down by Xenocrates, in the Academy, and again by Aristotle. But the Phiditia in Sparta, and the Andrea, or man's feasts, among the Cretans, were celebrated in their respective cities with all imaginable care. On which account some one said not unwisely—
Dear friends should never long abstain from feasts,
For e'en the memory of them is delightful.
And Antipater the philosopher once assembled a banqueting party, and invited all the guests on the understanding that they were to discuss subtle questions. And they say that Arcesilaus, being once invited to a banquet, and sitting next to a man who ate voraciously, while he himself was unable to enjoy anything, when some one of those who were present offered him something, said—
May it be well with you; be this for Telephus:
for it so happened that the epicure by his side was named Telephus. But Zeno, when some epicure who was at the same party with him snatched away the upper half of the fish the moment that it was placed on the table, turned the fish round himself, and took the remaining portion, saying—
Then Ino came and finish'd what was left.
And Socrates seeing a man once devouring dainties eagerly, Said—O you bystanders, which of you eats bread as if it were sweetmeats, and sweetmeats as if they were bread?

> Greek: δοκεῖ γὰρ ἔχειν πρὸς φιλίαν τι ὁ οἶνος ἑλκυστικόν, παραθερμαίνων τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ διαχέων. διόπερ οὐδὲ πρότερον ἠρώτων οἵτινες εἶεν ἀλλ’ ὕστερον, ὡς τὴν ξενίαν αὐτὴν τιμῶντες, ἀλλ’ οὐ τοὺς ἐν μέρει καὶ καθ’ ἕκαστον ἡμῶν. τῶν δὲ νῦν δείπνων προνοοῦντες οἱ νομοθέται τά τε φυλετικὰ δεῖπνα καὶ τὰ δημοτικὰ προσέταξαν, ἔτι δὲ τοὺς θιάσους καὶ τὰ φρατρικὰ καὶ πάλιν τά ὀργεωνικὰ λεγόμενα, πολλῶν γοῦν εἰσι φιλοσόφων ἐν ἄστει σύνοδοι τῶν μὲν Διογενιστῶν, τῶν δὲ Ἀντιπατριστῶν λεγομένων, τῶν δὲ Παναιτιαστῶν. κατέλιπε δὲ καὶ Θεόφραστος εἰς τὴν τοιαύτην σύνοδον χρήματα, μὰ Δί᾽ οὐχ ἵνα ἀκολασταίνωσι συνιόντες, ἀλλ’ ἵνα τὰ κατὰ τὸν τοῦ συμποσίου λόγον σωφρόνως καὶ πεπαιδευμένως διεξάγωσι. συνεδείπνουν δ’ ὁσημέραι οἱ περὶ πρύτανιν σώφρονα καὶ σωτήρια τῶν πόλεων σύνδειπνα. πρὸς γοῦν τοιοῦτο συμπόσιόν φησιν ὁ Δημοσθένης ἀνενηνέχθαι τὴν Ἐλατείας κατάληψιν ἑσπέρα μὲν γάρ ἦν, ἧκε δὲ ἀγγέλλων τις ὡς τοὺς πρυτάνεις ὡς Ἐλάτεια κατείληπται. καὶ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις δὲ ἐπιμελὲς ἦν συνάγουσι τοὺς νέους μετ’ αὐτῶν πρός τινα τεταγμένον νόμον εὐωχεῖσθαι. τοῦ γοῦν Ξενοκράτους ἐν Ἀκαδημείᾳ καὶ πάλιν Ἀριστοτέλους συμποτικοί τινες ἦσαν νόμοι, τὰ δ’ ἐν Σπάρτῃ φιδίτια καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Κρησὶν ἀνδρεῖα μετὰ πάσης ἐπιμελείας αἱ πόλεις συνῆγον. διὸ καί τις οὐ κακῶς ἔφη· οὐ χρὴ συμποσίοιο φίλους ἀπέχεσθαι ἑταίρους δηρὸν ἀνάμνησις δὲ πέλει χαριεστάτη αὕτη. Ἀντίπατρος δ’ ὁ φιλόσοφος συμπόσιόν ποτε συνάγων συνέταξε τοῖς ἐρχομένοις ὡς περὶ σοφισμάτων ἐροῦσιν. Ἀρκεσίλαον δέ φησιν εἰς συμπόσιον παρακληθέντα καὶ συγκατακλιθέντα ἑνὶ τῶν βορῶς ἐσθιόντων, αὐτὸν δὲ μηδενὸς ἀπολαῦσαι δυνάμενον, ἐπεί τις αὐτῷ τῶν παρόντων ἐξέτεινεν, φάναι εὖ σοι γένοιτο, Τηλέφῳ δ’ ἁγὼ νοῶ· ἔτυχε δ’ ὁ κατοψοφαγῶν Τήλεφος καλούμενος. ὁ δὲ Ζήνων ἐπεί τις τῶν παρόντων ὀψοφάγων ἀπέσυρεν ἅμα τῷ παρατεθῆναι τὸ ἐπάνω τοῦ ἰχθύος, στρέψας καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν ἰχθὺν ἀπέσυρεν ἐπιλέγων Ἰνὼ δὲ τἀπὶ θάτερ’ ἐξειργάζετο. Σωκράτης δ’ ἰδών τινα ἀμέτρως τῇ ἐποψήσει χρώμενον ὦ παρόντες, ἔφη, τίς ὑμῶν τῷ μὲν ἄρτῳ ὡς ὄψῳ χρῆται, τῷ δ’ ὄψῳ ὡς ἄρτῳ;

[¶2] But now let us speak of the banquets celebrated by Homer. For the poet gives us the different times of them, and the persons present, and the causes of them. And Xenophon and Plato have done well to imitate him in this; who at the very beginning of their treatises set forth the cause which gave rise to the banquet, and mention the names of those who were present. But Epicurus never defines either the place or the time, nor does he preface his accounts with any preliminary statement. But Aristotle says that it is an unseemly thing for a man to come unwashed and covered with dust to a banquet. Then Homer instructs us who ought to be invited; saying that one ought to invite the chiefs, and men of high reputation—
He bade the noblest of the Grecian peers,
not acting on the principle asserted by Hesiod, for he bids men invite chiefly their neighbours—
Then bid your neighbours to the well-spread feast,
Who live the nearest, and who know you best.
For such a banquet would be one of rustic stupidity; and adapted to the most misanthropic of proverbs—
Friends who far off do live are never friends.
For how can it be anything but nonsense that friendship should depend on place and not on disposition? Therefore we find in Homer, that after the cup had gone round,
Then the old man his counsels first disclosed;
but among people who did not regulate their banquets in an orderly manner we read—
Then first the flatterer rose with mocking speech.
Besides, Homer introduces guests differing in ages and tastes, such as Nestor, Ulysses, and Ajax, who are all invited together. And speaking in general terms he represents all who lay claim to any sort of eminence as invited, and individually those who arrive at it by different roads. But Epicuus has represented all his guests as believers in the atonic theory, and this, too, though he had models both in the variety of the banquets of the great poet, and also in the elegant accounts of Plato and Xenophon; of whom Plato has introduced Eryximachus the physician, and Aristophanes the poet, and other professors of different branches of science, discussing matters of weight: and Xenophon has mingled with them some private individuals. Homer therefore has done much the best of all, and has given us by far the best banquets; and that again is best seen by comparing him with others. For the banquet of the suitors in Homer is just such as might be expected from young men devoted to drinking and love; and that of the Phæacians is more orderly, but still luxurious. And he has made a wide distinction between these entertainments and those which may be called military banquets, and those which have reference to political affairs and are conducted in a well-regulated manner: and again he has distinguished between public and family banquets. But Epicurus has described a banquet consisting of philosophers alone.

> Greek: Ἡμεῖς δὲ νῦν περὶ τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν συμποσίων λέξομεν. ἀφορίζει γὰρ αὐτῶν ὁ ποιητὴς χρόνους, πρόσωπα, αἰτίας, τοῦτο δὲ ὀρθῶς ἀπεμάξατο ὁ Ξενοφῶν καὶ Πλάτων, οἳ κατ’ ἀρχὰς τῶν ξυγγραμμάτων ἐκτίθενται τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ συμποσίου καὶ τίνες οἱ παρόντες. Ἐπίκουρος δὲ οὐ τόπον, οὐ χρόνον ἀφορίζει, οὐ προλέγει οὐδέν. δεῖ οὖν μαντεύσασθαι πῶς ποτ’ ἄνθρωπος ἐξαπίνης ἔχων κύλικα προβάλλει ζητήματα καθάπερ ἐν διατριβῇ λέγων, Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἄλουτον καὶ κονιορτοῦ ἥκειν πλήρη τινὰ ἐπὶ τὸ συμπόσιόν φησιν … ʼ ʼἔπειθ’ ὁ μὲν Ὅμηρος ἐκδιδάσκει τίνας κλητέον, εἰπὼν ὡς τοὺς ἀρίστους τε καὶ ἐντίμους χρὴ καλεῖν κίκλησκεν δὲ γέροντας ἀριστῆας Παναχαιῶν. οὐχ ὃν τρόπον Ἡσίοδος· οὗτος γὰρ ἀξιοῖ καὶ τοὺς γείτονας· μάλιστα καλεῖν ὅστις σέθεν ἐγγύθι ναίει. τοῦτο γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς Βοιωτικῆς ἐστιν ἀναισθησίας συμπόσιον καὶ τῇ μισανθρωποτάτῃ τῶν παροιμιῶν ἁρμόττον· τηλοῦ φίλοι ναίοντες οὔκ εἰσιν φίλοι. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄλογον τόπῳ τὴν φιλίαν καὶ οὐ τρόπῳ κρίνεσθαι; τοιγαροῦν παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ μετὰ τὸ πιεῖν τοῖς δ’ ὁ γέρων πάμπρωτος ὑφαίνειν ἤρχετο μῆτιν, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς οὐ τὰ σώφρονα συμπόσια συνάγουσι· τοῖς δ’ ὁ κόλαξ πάμπρωτος ὑφαίνειν ἤρχετο μῶκον. ἔτι δὲ ὁ μὲν Ὅμηρος ἡλικίαις εἰσάγει διαφέροντας καὶ ταῖς προαιρέσεσι τοὺς κεκλημένους, Νέστορα καὶ Αἴαντα καὶ Ὀδυσσέα, τὸ μὲν καθόλου σύμπαντας τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀντεχομένους, εἴδει δὲ διαφόροις ὁδοῖς ὡρμηκότας ἐπ’ αὐτήν. ὁ δ’ Ἐπίκουρος ἅπαντας εἰσήγαγε προφήτας ἀτόμων καὶ ταῦτ’ ἔχων παραδείγματα τήν τε τοῦ ποιητοῦ τῶν συμποσίων ποικιλίαν καὶ τὴν Πλάτωνός τε καὶ Ξενοφῶντος χάριν. ὧν ὁ μὲν Πλάτων τὸν μὲν Ἐρυξίμαχον ἰατρόν, τὸν δὲ Ἀριστοφάνη ποιητήν, ἄλλον δ’ ἀπ’ ἄλλης προαιρέσεως σπουδάζοντας εἰσήγαγεν, Ξενοφῶν δὲ καί τινας ἰδιώτας συνανέμιξε. πολλῷ τοίνυν κάλλιον Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε καὶ διάφορα παρατιθέμενος συμπόσια· πᾶν γὰρ ἐξ ἀντιπαραβολῆς ὁρᾶται μᾶλλον. ἐστὶν γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸ μὲν τῶν μνηστήρων οἷον ἂν γένοιτο νεανίσκων μέθαις καὶ ἔρωσιν ἀνακειμένων, τὸ δὲ τῶν Φαιάκων εὐσταθέστερον μὲν τούτων, φιλήδονον δέ. τούτοις δ’ ἀντέθηκε τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ στρατιᾶς, τὰ δὲ πολιτικώτερον τελούμενα σωφρόνως. καὶ πάλιν αὖ διεῖλεν τὰ μὲν δημοθοινίαν ἔχοντα, τὰ δ’ οἰκείων σύνοδον. Ἐπίκουρος δὲ συμπόσιον φιλοσόφων μόνον πεποίηται.

[¶3] Homer, too, has pointed out whom one ought not to invite, but who ought to consider that they have a right to come uninvited, showing by the presence of one of the relations that those in similar circumstances had a right to be present—
Unbidden there the brave Atrides came.
For it is plain that one ought not to send a formal invitation to one's brother, or to one's parents, or to one's wife, or to any one else whom one can possibly regard in the same light as these relations, for that would be a cold and unfriendly proceeding. And some one has written an additional line, adding the reason why Menelaus had no invitation sent him, and yet came—
For well he knew how busy was his brother:
as if there had been any need of alleging a reason why his brother should come of his own accord to a banquet without any invitation,—a very sufficient reason having been already given. “For,” said the interpolater of this line, “did he not know that his brother was giving a banquet? And how can it be otherwise than absurd to pretend that he did not know it, when his sacrifice of oxen was notorious and visible to every one? And how could he have come if he had not known it Or, by Jove, when he saw him,” he continues, “occupied with business, was it not quite right of him to excuse his not having sent him an invitation, and to come of his own accord?” As if he were to say that he came uninvited in order that the next day they might not look at one another, the one with feelings of mortification, ad the other of annoyance. But it would be an absurd thing to suppose that Menelaus forgot his brother, and this, too, when he was not only sacrificing on his account at the present moment, but when it was on his account that he had undertaken the whole war, and when he had invited those who were no relations of his, and who had no connexion even with his country. But Athenocles the Cyzicene, understanding the poems of Homer better than Aristarchus did, speaks in a much more sensible manner to us, and says that Homer omitted to mention Menelaus as having been invited because he was more nearly related to Agamemnon than the others. But Demetrius Phalereus having asserted that interpolated verse to be a bungling and unseasonable addition, quite unsuited to the poetry of Homer,—-the verse, I mean,
For well he knew how busy was his brother,
says that he is accusing him of very ungentlemanly manners. “For I think,” says he, “that every well-bred man has relations and friends to whom he may go, when they are celebrating any sacrifice, without waiting for them to send him an invitation.”

> Greek: ἐδίδαξεν δ’ Ὅμηρος καὶ οὓς οὐ δεῖ καλεῖν, ἀλλ’ αὐτομάτους ἰέναι, πρεπόντως ἐξ ἑνὸς τῶν ἀναγκαίων δεικνὺς τὴν τῶν ὁμοίων παρουσίαν αὐτόματος δέ οἱ ἦλθε βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος. δῆλον γὰρ ὡς οὔτε ἀδελφὸν οὔτε γονέας οὔτε γυναῖκα κλητέον οὔτ’ εἴ τις ἰσοτίμως τινὰς τούτοις ἄγει· καὶ γὰρ ἂν ψυχρὸν εἴη καὶ ἄφιλον. καίτοι τινὲς στίχον προσέγραψαν τὴν αἰτίαν προστιθέντες ᾔδεε γὰρ κατὰ θυμὸν ἀδελφεὸν ὡς ἐπονεῖτο, ὥσπερ δέον εἰπεῖν αἰτίαν δι’ ἣν ἀδελφὸς αὐτόματος ἂν ἥκοι πρὸς δεῖπνον, πιθανῆς τῆς αἰτίας ἀποδιδομένης, πότερον γάρ φησιν ὡς οὐκ ᾔδει τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἑστιῶντα; καὶ πῶς οὐ γελοῖον, ὁπότε περιφανὴς ἦν ἡ βουθυσία καὶ πᾶσι γνώριμος; πῶς δ’ ἂν ἦλθεν, εἰ μὴ ᾔδει; ἢ νὴ Δία περισπώμενον, φησίν, αὐτὸν εἰδὼς συνεγνωμόνει τῷ μὴ κεκληκέναι καὶ συμπεριφερόμενος ἦλθεν αὐτόματος; ὥσπερ ὁ φήσας ἄκλητον ἥκειν, ἵνα μὴ πρωίας ὑποβλέπωσιν ἀλλήλους, ὁ μὲν αἰδούμενος, ὁ δὲ μεμφόμενος, ἀλλὰ γελοῖον ἦν ἐπιλαθέσθαι τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα δι’ ἐκεῖνον οὐ μόνον εἰς τὸ παρὸν θύοντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἀναδεδεγμένον, καὶ κεκληκότα τοὺς μήτε γένει προσήκοντας μήτε πατρίδι προσῳκειωμένους. Ἀθηνοκλῆς δ’ ὁ Κυζικηνὸς μᾶλλον Ἀριστάρχου κατακούων τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν ἐπῶν εὐπαιδευτότερον ἡμῖν φησι τοῦτον Ὅμηρον καταλιπεῖν, ὅσῳ τῆς ἀνάγκης ὁ Μενέλεως οἰκειοτέρως εἶχεν. Δημήτριος δ’ ὁ Φαληρεὺς ἐπαρίστερον τὴν τοῦ στίχου παράληψιν ἐπειπὼν καὶ τῆς ποιήσεως ἀλλότριον, τὸν ᾔδεε γὰρ κατὰ θυμὸν ἀδελφεὸν ὡς ἐπονεῖτο μικρολογίαν ἐμβάλλειν τοῖς ἤθεσιν. οἶμαι γάρ, φησίν, ἕκαστον τῶν χαριέντων ἀνθρώπων ἔχειν καὶ οἰκεῖον καὶ φίλον πρὸς ὃν ἂν ἔλθοι θυσίας οὔσης τὸν καλοῦντα μὴ περιμείνας.

[¶4] And Plato in his Banquet speaks in the same manner on this subject. “For,” says he, “that we may destroy the proverb by altering it: Good men may go of their own accord to feasts given by good men. For Homer appears not only to have destroyed that proverb, but also to have ridiculed it; for having represented Agamemnon as valiant in warlike matters, and Menelaus as an effeminate warrior, when Agamemnon celebrates a sacrifice, he represents Menelaus as coming uninvited,—that is, the worse man coming to the feast of the better man.” And Bacchylides, speaking of Hercules, and telling how he came to the house of Ceyx, says—
Then on the brazen threshold firm he stood,
(They were a feast preparing,) and thus spake
Brave and just men do uninvited come
To well-appointed feasts by brave and just men made
And as to proverbs, one says—
Good men do of their own accord
To good men's entertainments come:
and another says—
Brave men do of their own accord
To cowards' entertainments come.
It was without reason, therefore, that Plato thought that Menelaus was a coward; for Homer speaks of him as Mars-loving, and as fighting single-handed with the greatest gallantry in defence of Patroclus, and eager to fight in single combat with Hector as the champion of the whole army, although he certainly was inferior to Hector in personal strength. And he is the only man in the whole expedition of whom he has said—
And on he went, firm in his fearless zeal. But if an enemy, disparaging him, called him an effeminate warrior, and on this account Plato thinks that he really was an effeminate warrior, why should he not also class Agamemnon himself among the men void of prowess, since this line is spoken against him?—
O monster, mix'd of insolence and fear,
Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer!
When wert thou known in ambush'd fights to dare,
Or nobly face the horrid front of war?
'Tis ours the chance of fighting fields to try,
Thine to look on and bid the valiant die. For it does not follow because something is said in Homer, that Homer himself says it. For how could Menelaus have been effeminate who, single-handed, kept Hector away from Patroclus, and who slew Euphorbus, and stripped him of his arms though in the very middle of the Trojan host? And it was foolish of him not completely to consider the entire line which he was finding fault with, in which Menelaus is called “Raising the battle cry,” βοὴν ἀγαθὸς, for that is an epithet which Homer is in the habit of giving only to the most valiant; for the ancients called war itself βοή.

> Greek: Πλάτων δὲ ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν λέγει οὕτως· ἵνα καὶ τὴν παροιμίαν φησί διαφθείρωμεν μεταβάλλοντες, ὡς ἄρα καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐπὶ δαῖτας ἴασιν αὐτόματοι ἀγαθοί. Ὅμηρος μὲν γὰρ κινδυνεύει οὐ μόνον διαφθεῖραι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑβρίσαι εἰς αὐτὴν ποιήσας γὰρ τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα ἀγαθὸν τὰ πολεμικά, τὸν Μενέλαον δὲ μαλθακὸν αἰχμητήν, θυσίαν ποιουμένου τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἄκλητον ἐποίησεν ἐλθόντα τὸν χείρονα ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀμείνονος δίαιταν. Βακχυλίδης δὲ περὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους λέγων ὡς ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ Κήυκος οἶκόν φησιν ἔστα δ’ ἐπὶ λάινον οὐδόν, τοὶ δὲ θοίνας ἔντυον, ὧδὲ τ’ ἔφα· αὐτόματοι δ’ ἀγαθῶν δαῖτας εὐόχθους ἐπέρχονται δίκαιοι φῶτες. αἱ δὲ παροιμίαι ἡ μέν φησιν αὐτόματοι δ’ ἀγαθοὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐπὶ δαῖτας ἴασιν, ἡ δέ· αὐτόματοι ἀγαθοὶ δειλῶν ἐπὶ δαῖτας ἴασιν. οὐ δεόντως γοῦν Πλάτων τὸν Μενέλεων ἐνόμισεν εἶναι δειλόν, ὃν ἀρηίφιλον Ὅμηρος λέγει καὶ μόνον ὑπὲρ Πατρόκλου ἀριστεύσαντα καὶ τῷ Ἕκτορι πρὸ πάντων πρόθυμον μονομαχεῖν, καίπερ ὄντα τῇ ῥώμῃ καταδεέστερον, ἐφ’ οὗ μόνου τῶν στρατευσαμένων εἴρηκεν ἐν δ’ αὐτὸς κίεν ᾗσι προθυμίῃσι πεποιθώς. εἰ δὲ ὁ ἐχθρὸς ὁ βλασφημῶν· αὐτὸν εἴρηκε μαλθακὸν αἰχμητὴν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Πλάτων τῷ ὄντι μαλθακὸν αὐτὸν ὑπολαμβάνει, οὐκ ἂν φθάνοι καὶ τὸν· Ἀγαμέμνονα τιθεὶς ἐν τοῖς φαύλοις, ὃν αὐτός φησιν εἶναι ἀγαθόν, εἴπερ εἰς αὐτὸν εἴρηται τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ’ ἔχων, κραδίην δ’ ἐλάφοιο. οὐ γὰρ εἴ τι λέγεται παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ, τοῦθ’ Ὅμηρος λέγει, πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἴη μαλθακὸς Μενέλαος ὁ τὸν Ἕκτορα μόνος ἀπείρξας τοῦ Πατρόκλου καὶ Εὔφορβον ἀποκτείνας τε καὶ σκυλεύσας ἐν μέσοις τοῖς Τρωσί; τὸ δὲ μηδὲ τὸν στίχον ὃν ᾐτιᾶτο τελείως κατανοῆσαι ἄτοπον, δι’ οὗ βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος λέγεται, τοῖς γὰρ ἀνδρειοτάτοις Ὅμηρος εἴωθεν ἐπιφωνεῖν, καλούντων τῶν παλαιῶν τὸν πόλεμον βοήν.

[¶5] But Homer, who is most accurate in everything, did not overlook even this trifling point; that a man ought to show some care of his person, and to bathe himself before going to an entertainment. And so, in the case of Ulysses, before the banquet among the Phæacians, he tells us—
A train attends
Around the baths, the bath the king ascends,
(Untasted joy since that disastrous hour
He sail'd defeated from Calypso's bower,)
He bathes, the damsels with officious toil
Shed sweets, shed unguents in a shower of oil.
Then o'er his limbs a gorgeous robe he spreads,
And to the feast magnificently treads.
And again he says of Telemachus and his companion—
From room to room their eager view they bend,
Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, descend.
For it was unseemly, says Aristotle, for a man to come to a banquet all over sweat and dust. For a well-bred man ought not to be dirty nor squalid, nor to be all over mud, as Heraclitus says. And a man when he first enters another person's house for a feast, ought not to hasten at once to the banqueting-room, as if he had no care but to fill his stomach, but he ought first to indulge his fancy in looking about him, and to examine the house. And the poet has not omitted to take notice of this also.
Part in a portico, profusely graced
With rich magnificence, the chariot placed;
Then to the dome the friendly pair invite,
Who eye the dazzling roof with vast delight,
Resplendent as the blaze of summer noon,
Or the pale radiance of the midnight moon. And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, represents the rustic and litigious old man as invited to a more civilized form of life by his son—
Cease; sit down here and learn at length to be
A boon companion, and a cheerful guest.
And then showing him how he ought to sit down he says—
Then praise some of these beauteous works in brass,
Look at the roof, admire the carvèd hall.

> Greek: πάντα δ’ ὢν ἀκριβὴς Ὅμηρος καὶ τὸ μικρὸν τοῦτο οὐ παρέλιπε τὸ δεῖν θεραπεύσαντα τὸ σωμάτιον καὶ λουσάμενον ἰέναι πρὸς τὸ δεῖπνον. ἐπὶ γοῦν τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως εἶπε πρὸ τῆς παρὰ Φαίαξι θοίνης· αὐτόδιον δ’ ἄρα μιν ταμίη λούσασθαι ἄνωγεν. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν περὶ Τηλέμαχον· ἒς ῥ’ ἀσαμίνθους βάντες ἐυξέστας λούσαντο. ἀπρεπὲς γὰρ ἦν, φησὶν Ἀριστοτέλης, ἥκειν εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον σὺν ἱδρῶτι πολλῷ καὶ κονιορτῷ. δεῖ γὰρ τὸν χαρίεντα μήτε ῥυπᾶν μήτε αὐχμεῖν μήτε βορβόρῳ χαίρειν καθ’ Ἡράκλειτον. δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν πρῶτον εἰς ἀλλοτρίαν οἰκίαν ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ δεῖπνον μὴ γαστρισόμενον εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὸ συμπόσιον χωρεῖν, ἀλλά τι δοῦναι πρότερον τῷ φιλοθεάμονι καὶ κατανοῆσαν τὴν οἰκίαν. οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο παρέλιπεν ὁ ποιητής· αὐτοὶ δ’ εἰσῆλθον θεῖον δόμον οἱ δὲ ἰδόντες θαύμαζον κατὰ δῶμα διοτρεφέος βασιλῆος. ὥστε γὰρ ἠελίου αἴγλη πέλεν ἠὲ σελήνης δῶμα καθ’ ὑψερεφὲς Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο. καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Σφηξὶ ποιεῖ τὸν ἄγριον γέροντα καὶ φιλοδικαστὴν καταρρυθμιζόμενον εἰς βίον ἥμερον ὑπὸ τοῦ παιδός· παῦ᾽· ἀλλὰ δευρὶ κατακλινεὶς προσμάνθανε ξυμποτικὸς εἶναι καὶ ξυνουσιαστικός. διδάξας τε αὐτὸν ὡς δεῖ κατακλίνεσθαί φησιν ἔπειτ’ ἐπαίνεσόν τι τῶν χαλκωμάτων, ὀροφὴν θέασαι, κρεκάδι’ αὐλῆς θαύμασον.

[¶6] And again Homer instructs us as to what we ought to do before a banquet, namely how we ought to allot the first-fruits of the dishes to the gods. At all events Ulysse and his friends, although in the cave of the Cyclops—
Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare
For his return with sacrifice and prayer.
And Achilles, although the ambassadors were impatient, as they had arrived in the middle of the night, still—
Himself opposed t' Ulysses full in sight
Each portion parts, and orders every rite;
The first fat offerings to th' Immortals due,
Amid the greedy flames Patroclus threw.
And also he introduces the guests as making libations—
He said, and all approved; the heralds bring
The cleansing water from the living spring,
The youths with wine the sacred goblets crown'd,
And large libations drench'd the sand around.
The rite perform'd, the chiefs their thirst allay,
Then from the royal tent they take their way.
And this ceremony Plato also observes in his Banquet. For he says—“Then after they had supped and made libations, they sang pæans to the god with all customary honours.” And Xenophon speaks in very nearly the same terms. But in Epicurus there is no mention of any libation to the gods, or of any offering of first-fruits. But as Simonides says of an immodest woman—
And oftentimes she eats unhallow'd victims. He says too that the Athenians were taught the proper proportions in which wine should be mixed by Amphictyon when he was king; and that on this account he erected a temple to the Upright Bacchus. For he is then really upright and not likely to fall, when he is drunk in proper proportions and well mixed; as Homer has it—
Hear me, my friends! who this good banquet grace,—
'Tis sweet to play the fool in time and place.
And wine can of their wits the wise beguile,
Make the sage frolic and the serious smile;
The grave in merry measures frisk about,
And many a long-repented word bring out.
For Homer does not call wine ἠλεὸς in the sense of ἠλίθιος, that is to say, foolish and the cause of folly. Nor does he bid a man be of a sullen countenance, neither singing nor laughing, nor ever turning himself to cheerful dancing in time to music. He is not so morose or ill-bred. But he knew the exact proportions in which all these things should be done, and the proper qualities and quantities of wine to be mixed. On which account he did not say that wine makes the sage sing, but sing very much, that is to say, out of tune and excessively, so as to trouble people. Nor, by Jove, did he say simply to smile, and to frisk about; but using the word merry, and applying that to both, he reproves the un- manly propensity to such trifling—
Makes........
The grave in merry measure frisk about,
And many a long-repented word bring out.
But in Plato none of these things are done in a moderate manner. But men drink in such quantities that they cannot even stand on their feet. For just look at the reveller Alcibiades, how unbecomingly he behaves. And all the rest drink a large goblet holding eight cotylæ, using as an excuse that Alcibiades has led them on; not like the men in Homer—
But when they drank, and satisfied their soul.
Now of these things some ought to be repudiated once for all; but some ought to be enjoyed in moderation; people looking at them as at a slight addition or appendage to a repast; as Homer has said—
Let these, my friend,
With song and dance the pompous revel end.

> Greek: καὶ πρὸ τοῦ θοινᾶσθαι δὲ ἃ δεῖ ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς διδάσκει πάλιν Ὅμηρος, ἀπαρχὰς τῶν βρωμάτων νέμειν τοῖς θεοῖς. οἱ γοῦν περὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα καίπερ ὄντες ἐν τῷ τοῦ Κύκλωπος σπηλαίῳ· ἔνθα δὲ πῦρ κείαντες ἐθύσαμεν ἠδὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τυρῶν αἰνύμενοι φάγομεν. καὶ ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς καίπερ ἐπειγομένων τῶν πρέσβεων ὡς ἐν μέσαις νυξὶν ἡκόντων ὅμως θεοῖσι δὲ θῦσαι ἀνώγει Πάτροκλον ὃν ἑταῖρον ὁ δ’ ἐν πυρὶ βάλλε θυηλάς. καὶ σπονδοποιεῖταί γε τοὺς δαιτυμόνας· κοῦροι μὲν κρητῆρας ἐπεστέψαντο ποτοῖο, νώμησαν δ’ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν. αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ σπεῖσὰν τ᾽. ἅπερ καὶ Πλάτων φυλάσσει κατὰ τὸ συμπόσιον. μετὰ γὰρ τὸ δειπνῆσαι σπονδὰς τέ φησιν ποιῆσαι καὶ τὸν θεὸν παιωνίσαντας τοῖς νομιζομένοις γέρασι. παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ Ξενοφῶν. παρὰ δὲ Ἐπικούρῳ οὐ σπονδή, οὐκ ἀπαρχὴ θεοῖς, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ Σιμωνίδης ἔφη περὶ τῆς ἀκόσμου γυναικός, ἄθυστα δὲ ἱρὰ πολλάκις κατεσθίει … τὴν γὰρ σύμμετρον κρᾶσιν τοῦ οἴνου ὑπὸ Ἀμφικτύονος βασιλεύσαντος διδαχθῆναί φασιν Ἀθηναίους, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἱερὸν Διονύσου ὀρθοῦ ἱδρύσασθαι. τότε γὰρ ὀρθὸς ἐστι τῷ ὄντι καὶ οὐ σφαλερός, ὅταν συμμέτρως καὶ κεκραμένως πίνηται. οἶνος γὰρ ἀνώγει ἠλεός, ὃς τ’ ἐφέηκε πολύφρονά περ μάλ’ ἀεῖσαι καὶ θ’ ἁπαλὸν γελάσαι καὶ τ’ ὀρχήσασθαι ἀνῆκεν καὶ τι ἔπος προέηκεν ὅπερ τ’ ἄρρητον ἄμεινον· τὸν γὰρ οἶνον Ὅμηρος οὐκ ἠλεὸν ὥσπερ ἠλίθιον καλεῖ καὶ ματαιοποιόν, οὐδὲ κελεύει σκυθρωπὸν εἶναι μήτε ᾄδοντα μήτε γελῶντα μήτ’ ἐρρύθμως ποτὲ καὶ πρὸς ὄρχησιν τρεπόμενον. οὐχ οὕτως ἀγροῖκος οὐδ’ ἐπαρίστερός ἐστιν, ἀλλ’ ᾔδει τούτων ἑκάστου καὶ ποσότητος καὶ ποιότητος διαφοράν. ὅθεν οὐκ εἶπεν ὡς ἄρα τὸν πολύφρονα ὁ οἶνος ποιεῖ ᾆσαι, ἀλλὰ μάλ’ ἀεῖσαι, τουτέστιν ἀμέτρως καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ὥστε προσοχλεῖν· οὐδέ τι γελάσαι μὰ ι οὐδ’ ὀρχήσασθαι· κοινὸν δ’ ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων λαβὼν τὸ ἁπαλὸν τὴν ἄνανδρον εἰς τοῦτο πρόπτωσιν ἐπιστομίζει· καὶ θ’ ἁπαλὸν γελάσαι καὶ τ’ ὀρχήσασθαι ἀνῆκεν. παρὰ δὲ τῷ Πλάτωνι τούτων οὐδὲν ἔμμετρον, ἀλλὰ πίνουσι μὲν τοσοῦτον ὥστε μηδὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις ποσὶν ἵστασθαι. ὅρα γὰρ τὸν ἐπίκωμον Ἀλκιβιάδην ὡς ἀσχημονεῖ· οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι τὸν ὀκτακότυλον ψυκτῆρα πίνουσι, προφάσεως λαβόμενοι ἐπείπερ αὐτοὺς προείλκυσεν Ἀλκιβιάδης, οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ· αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ σπεῖσάν τ’ ἔπιόν θ’ ὅσον ἤθελε θυμός. τούτων οὖν ἃ μὲν καθάπαξ περιγραπτέον, οἷς δὲ συμμέτρως χρηστέον ὥσπερ ἀναθήμασί τισι μικρὸν προσαποβλέψαντας, καθάπερ Ὅμηρος εἴρηκεν μολπὴ τ’ ὀρχηστύς τε· τὰ γάρ τ’ ἀναθήματα δαιτός.

[¶7] And altogether the poet has attributed devotion to such things to the Suitors, and to the Phæacians, but not to Nestor or to Menelaus. And Aristarchus did not perceive that in his marriage feast, after the entertainment had lasted some time, and the principal days of the revel were over, in which the bride had been taken to the house of the bridegroom, and the marriage of Megapenthes was completed, Menelaus and Helen were left to themselves and feasted together. He, I say, not perceiving this, but being deceived by the first line—
Where sate Atrides 'midst his bridal friends,
he then added these lines, which do not properly belong to this place—
While this gay friendly troop the king surround,
With festival and mirth the roofs resound;
A bard amid the joyous circle sings
High airs, attemper'd to the vocal strings,
Whilst, warbling to the varied strain, advance
Two sprightly youths to form the bounding dance:—
transferring them with the error in the reading and all from the eighteenth book of the Iliad, where he relates the making of the arms of Achilles; for it ought to be red not ἐξάρχοντες, the dancers beginning, but (τοῦ ᾠδοῦ, that is to say,) when the poet began to sing. For the word ἐξάρχω has peculiar reference to preluding on the lyre. On which account Hesiod also says in his Shield of Hercules—
The holy goddesses, the Muses nine,
Preluded (ἐξῆρχον) with a sacred melody.
And Archilochus says—
Himself preluding (ἐξάρχων) with a sacred paean
Set to the Lesbian flute.
And Stesichorus calls the Muse the Beginner of Song (ἀρχεσίμολπος). And Pindar calls Preludes the Leaders of the Dance. And Diodorus the Aristophanian enclosed the whole account of the wedding in brackets; thinking that the first days only were alluded to, and disregarding the termination and what came after the banquet. And then he says we ought to write the words δοίω δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατʼ αὐτοὺς with an aspirate, καθ’ αὑτοὺς, but that would be a solecism. For κατ’ αὐτοὺς is equivalent to κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς, but to say ἑαυτοὺς would be a solecism.

> Greek: τὸ δ’ ὅλον τὸ πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα νενευκὸς τοῖς μνηστῆρσι καὶ τοῖς Φαίαξιν ἔνειμεν, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ Νέστορι οὐδὲ Μενελάῳ· οὗ ἐν τῇ γαμοποιίᾳ, μὴ συνέντες οἱ περὶ Ἀρίσταρχον ὅτι συνεχοῦς οὔσης τῆς ἑστιάσεως καὶ τῶν ἀκμαίων ἡμερῶν παρεληλυθυιῶν, ἐν αἷς παρείληπτο μὲν ἡ γαμουμένη πρὸς τοῦ νυμφίου, πέρας δ’ εἶχεν ὁ τοῦ Μεγαπένθους γάμος, αὐτοὶ δὲ μονάζοντες διῃτῶντο ὅ τε Μενέλαος καὶ ἡ Ἑλένη, μὴ συνέντες, ἀλλ’ ἐξαπατηθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἔπους· τὸν δ’ εὗρον δαινύντα γάμον πολλοῖσιν ἔτῃσιν, προσσυνῆψαν τοιούτους τινὰς στίχους· ὣς οἱ μὲν δαίνυντο καθ’ ὑψερεφὲς μέγα δῶμα γείτονες ἠδὲ ἔται Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο τερπόμενοι μετὰ δέ σφιν ἐμέλπετο θεῖος ἀοιδὸς φορμίζων δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ’ αὐτοὺς μολπῆς ἐξάρχοντες ἐδίνευον κατὰ μέσσους, μετενεγκόντες ἐκ τῆς Ὁπλοποιίας σὺν αὐτῷ γε τῷ περὶ τὴν λέξιν ἁμαρτήματι. οὐ γὰρ ἐξάρχοντες οἱ κυβιστητῆρες, ἀλλ’ ἐξάρχοντος τοῦ ᾠδοῦ πάντως ὠρχοῦντο. τὸ γὰρ ἐξάρχειν τῆς φόρμιγγος ἴδιον. διόπερ ὁ μὲν Ἡσίοδός φησιν ἐν τῇ Ἀσπίδι· θεαὶ δ’ ἐξῆρχον ἀοιδῆς Μοῦσαι Πιερίδες, καὶ ὁ Ἀρχίλοχος· αὐτὸς ἐξάρχων πρὸς αὐλὸν Λέσβιον παιήονα. καλεῖ δὲ Στησίχορος μὲν τὴν Μοῦσαν ἀρχεσίμολπον, Πίνδαρος δ’ ἀγησίχορα τὰ προοίμια· Διόδωρος δ’ ὁ Ἀριστοφάνειος ὅλον τὸν γάμον περιέγραψε τοπάζων πρώτας ἡμέρας εἶναι, καὶ τὸ λῆγον αὐτῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ ἕωλον τῆς συμποσίας οὐκ ἐπιλογιζόμενος. ἔπειτα κελεύει γράφειν δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε καθ’ αὑτοὺς ἐν τῷ δασεῖ γράμματι, σολοικίζειν ἀναγκάζων. τὸ μὲν γὰρ κατ’ αὐτοὺς κατὰ σφᾶς ἐστιν αὐτούς, τὸ δὲ λέγειν ἑαυτοὺς σόλοικον.

[¶8] But, as I said before, the introduction of this kind of music into this modest kind of entertainment is transferred to this place from the Cretic dance, of which he says in the eighteenth book of the Iliad, about the Making of the Arms—
A figured dance succeeds; such once was seen
In lofty Cnossus, for the Cretan queen
Form'd by Dædalean art; a comely band
Of youths and maidens bounding hand-in-hand;
The maids in soft cymars of linen dress'd,
The youths all graceful in the glossy vest.
Of those the locks with flow'ry wreaths enroll'd,
Of these the sides adorn'd with swords of gold,
That glittering gay from silver belts depend.
And then he adds to this—
Now all at once they rise, at once descend,
With well-taught feet; now shape in oblique ways
Confus'dly regular the moving maze.
Now forth at once too swift for sight they spring,
And undistinguish'd blend the flying ring. Now among the Cretans, dancing and posture-making was a national amusement. On which account Aeneas says to the Cretan Meriones—
Swift as thou art (the raging hero cries),
And skill'd in dancing to dispute the prize,
My spear, the destined passage had it found,
Had fix'd thy active vigour to the ground.
And from this they call the hyporchemata Cretan
They call it all a Cretan air....
The instrument is called Molossian.... “But they who were called Laconistæ,” says Timæus, used to sing standing to dance in square figures." And altogether there were many various kinds of music among the Greeks: as the Athenians preferred the Dionysiac and the Cyclian dances; and the Syracusians the Iambistic figure; and different nations practised different styles. But Aristarchus not only interpolated lines which had no business there into the banquet of Menelaus, and by so doing made Homer make representations inconsistent with the system of the Lacedæmonians, and with the moderation of their king, but he also took away the singer from the Cretan chorus, mutilating his song in the following manner:—
The gazing multitudes admire around
Two active tumblers in the centre bound;
Now high, now low their pliant limbs they bend,
And general songs the sprightly revel end.
So that blunder of his in using the word ἐξάρχοντες is almost irremediable, as the relation cannot after that possibly be brought back so as to refer to the singer.

> Greek: ἀλλ’ ὅπερ εἶπον, ἡ τῶν ἀκροαμάτων εἰς τὸ σῶφρον τοῦτο συμπόσιον εἰσαγωγὴ παρέγγραφός ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ Κρητικοῦ χοροῦ μετενηνεγμένη, περὶ οὗ φησιν ἐν Ὁπλοποιίᾳ· ἐν δὲ χορὸν ποίκιλλε περικλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις, τῷ ἴκελον οἷὸν ποτ’ ἐνὶ Κνωσσῷ εὐρείῃ Δαίδαλος ἤσκησεν καλλιπλοκάμῳ Ἀριάδνῃ. ἔνθα μὲν ἠίθεοι καὶ παρθένοι ἀλφεσίβοιαι ὠρχεῦντ᾽, ἀλλήλων ἐπὶ καρπῷ χεῖρας ἔχουσαι, τούτοις γὰρ ἐπιβάλλει· πολλὸς δ’ ἱμερόεντα χορὸν περιίσταθ’ ὅμιλος τερπόμενος· μετὰ δέ σφιν ἐμέλπετο θεῖος ἀοιδὸς φορμίζων δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ’ αὐτοὺς μολπῆς ἐξάρχοντες ἐδίνευον κατὰ μέσσους. τοῖς μὲν οὖν Κρησὶν ἥ τε ὄρχησις ἐπιχώριος καὶ τὸ κυβιστᾶν. διό φησι πρὸς τὸν Κρῆτα Μηριόνην Μηριόνη, τάχα κέν σε καὶ ὀρχηστήν περ ἐόντα ἔγχος ἐμὸν κατέπαυσε διαμπερές, εἲ σ’ ἔβαλόν περ. ὅθεν καὶ Κρητικὰ καλοῦσι τὰ ὑπορχήματα· Κρῆτα μὲν καλέουσι τρόπον, τὸ δ’ ὄργανον Μολοσσόν. οἱ δὲ λεγόμενοι Λακωνισταί, φησὶν ὁ Τίμαιος, ἐν τετραγώνοις χοροῖς ᾖδον. καθόλου δὲ διάφορος ἦν ἡ μουσικὴ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι, τῶν μὲν Ἀθηναίων τοὺς Διονυσιακοὺς χοροὺς καὶ τοὺς κυκλίους προτιμώντων, Συρακοσίων δὲ τοὺς ἰαμβιστάς, ἄλλων δ’ ἄλλο τι. ὁ δ’ Ἀρίσταρχος οὐ μόνον εἰς τὸ τοῦ Μενελάου συμπόσιον ἐμβαλὼν οὓς οὐ προσῆκε στίχους καὶ τῆς Λακώνων παιδείας ἀλλότριον ἐποίησε καὶ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως σωφροσύνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ Κρητικοῦ χοροῦ τὸν ᾠδὸν ἐξεῖλεν, ἐπιτεμὼν τὰ ποιήματα τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον πολλὸς δ’ ἱμερόεντα χορὸν περιίσταθ’ ὅμιλος τερπόμενος· δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ’ αὐτοὺς μολπῆς ἐξάρχοντες ἐδίνευον κατὰ μέσσους. ὥστ’ ἀνίατον γίνεσθαι παντάπασι τὸ ἐξάρχοντες, μηκέτι δυναμένης τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν ᾠδὸν ἀναφορᾶς σῴζεσθαι.

[¶9] And it is not probable that there were any musical entertainments at Menelaus's banquet, as is manifest from the fact of the whole time of the banquet being occupied by the guests in conversation with one another; and that there is no name mentioned as that of the minstrel; nor is any lay mentioned which he sang; nor is it said that Telemachus and his party listened to him; but they rather contemplated the house in silence, as it were, and perfect quiet. And how can it be looked upon as anything but incredible, that the sons of those wisest of men, Ulysses and Nestor, should be introduced as such ignorant people as, like clowns, not to pay the least attention to carefully prepared music? At all events Ulysses himself attends to the Phæacian minstrels:—
Ulysses gazed, astonish'd to survey
The glancing splendours as their sandals play:—
although he had plenty of things to distract his attention, and although he could say—
Now care surrounds me, and my force decays,
Inured a melancholy part to bear,
In scenes of death by tempest and by war.
How then can we think Telemachus any better than a mere clown, when a minstrel and a dancer are present, if he had bent silently towards Pisistratus and gazed on nothing but the plate and furniture? But Homer, like a good painter, makes Telemachus in every respect like his father; and so he has made each of them easily recognised, the one by Alcinous, and the other by Menelaus, by means of their tears.

> Greek: διότι δὲ οὐ πιθανὸν ἀκρόαμα παρὰ τῷ Μενελάῳ τυγχάνειν δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ δι’ ὁμιλίας ὅλον τὸ συμπόσιον περαίνεσθαι τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὄνομα δὲ μηδὲν εἰρῆσθαι τοῦ ᾠδοῦ μηδὲ ᾠδὴν ἣν ᾖδε μηδὲ προσέχειν τοὺς περὶ Τηλέμαχον αὐτῷ, καθάπερ δὲ ἐν σιωπῇ τινι καὶ ἠρεμίᾳ κατανοεῖν μᾶλλον τὸν οἶκον καίτοι γε πῶς οὐκ ἀπίθανον τοὺς τῶν φρονιμωτάτων υἱέας ᾽ Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Νέστορος ἐπαριστέρους εἰσάγεσθαι, ὥστε τρόπον ἀγροίκων τινῶν μὴ προσέχειν τοῖς παρεσκευασμένοις ἀκροάμασιν; ὁ γοῦν Ὀδυσσεὺς προσέχει τοῖς τῶν Φαιάκων ᾀσματοποιοῖς· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς μαρμαρυγὰς θηεῖτο ποδῶν, θαύμαζε δὲ θυμῷ, καίπερ ἔχων πολλὰ τὰ περιέλκοντα καὶ δυνάμενος εἰπεῖν κήδεά μοι καὶ μᾶλλον ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἤπερ ἀοιδαί. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἂν ἀβέλτερος εἴη ὁ Τηλέμαχος ᾠδοῦ παρόντος καὶ κυβιστητῆρος προσκύπτων πρὸς τὸν Πεισίστρατον καὶ περὶ τῶν σκευῶν διαλεγόμενος; ἀλλ’ Ὅμηρος ὥσπερ ἀγαθὸς ζωγράφος πάντα ὅμοιον τῷ πατρὶ τὸν Τηλέμαχον παρίστησι. πεποίηκεν γοῦν ἀμφοτέρους τὸν μὲν τῷ Ἀλκινόῳ, τὸν δὲ τῷ Μενελάῳ διὰ δακρύων γνωριζομένους.

[¶10] But in the banquet of Epicurus there is an assembly of flatterers praising one another. And Plato's banquet is full of mockers, cavilling at one another; for I say nothing of the digression about Alcibiades But in Homer it is only banquets conducted with moderation which are applauded; and on one occasion, a man addressing Menelaus says—
I dare not in your presence speak,
Whose voice we reverence as a voice divine.
But he was reproving something which was either not said or not done with perfect correctness—
And now if aught there is that can be done,
Take my advice; I grief untimely shun
That interrupts the feast.
And again, he says—
O son of wise Ulysses, what a word
Has 'scaped thy ivory fence!....
For it is not right for a man to be a flatterer, nor a mocker. Again, Epicurus, in his banquet, inquires about indigestion, so as to draw an omen from the answer: and immediately after that he inquires about fevers; for why need I speak of the general want of rhythm and elegance which pervades the whole essay? But Plato, (I say nothing about his having been harassed by a cough, and about his taking care of himself with constant gargling of water, and also by inserting a straw, in order that he might excite his nose so as to sneeze; for his object was to turn things into ridicule and to disparage them,) Plato, I say, turns into ridicule the equalized sentences and the antitheses of Agathon, and introduces Alcibiades, saying that he is in a state of excitement. But still those men who write in this manner, propose to expel Homer from their cities. But, says Demochares, “A spear is not made of a stalk of savory,” nor is a good man made so by such discourses as these; and not only does he disparage Alcibiades, but he also runs down Charmides, and Euthyde- mus, and many others of the young men. And this is the conduct of a man ridiculing the whole city of the Athenians, the Museum of Greece, which Pindar styled The Bulwark of Greece; and Thucydides, in his Epigram address d to Euripides, The Greece of Greece; and the priest at De phi termed it, The Hearth and Prytaneum of the Greeks. And that he spoke falsely of the young men one may perceive from Plato himself, for he says that Alcibiades, (in the dialogue to which he has prefixed his name,) when he arrived at man's estate, then first began to converse with Socrates, when every one else who was devoted to the pleasures of the body fell off from him. But he says this at the very beginning of the dialogue. And how he contradicts himself in the Charmides any one who pleases may see in the dialogue itself. For he represents Socrates as subject to a most unseemly giddiness, and as absolutely intoxicated with a passion for Alcibiades, and as becoming beside himself, and yielding like a kid to the impetuosity of a lion; and at the same time he says that he disregarded his beauty.

> Greek: ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἐπικουρείῳ συμποσίῳ κολάκων ἐστὶν ἄγυρις ἀλλήλους ἐπαινούντων, τὸ δὲ Πλάτωνος πλῆρές ἐστιν μυκτηριστῶν ἀλλήλους τωθαζόντων τὸν γὰρ περὶ Ἀλκιβιάδου λόγον σιωπῶ, παρὰ δ’ Ὁμήρῳ συγκεκρότηται τὰ σώφρονα συμπόσια, καὶ ποτε μὲν ἐπῄνεσέ τις φήσας πρὸς τὸν Μενέλαον ὡς οὐ τολμᾷ λέγειν ἄντα σέθεν, τοῦ νῶι θεοῦ ὣς τερπόμεθ’ αὐδῇ. ὁ δ’ ἐπελάβετό τινος τῶν οὐκ ὀρθῶς λεγομένων ἢ γιγνομένων καὶ νῦν, εἲ τί που ἔστι, πίθοιό μοι· οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε τέρπομ’ ὀδυρόμενος μεταδόρπιος. ὁ δὲ πάλιν Τηλέμαχε, ποῖόν σε ἔπος φύγεν ἕρκος ὀδόντων. οὔτε γὰρ κόλακα πρέπον ἐστὶν εἶναι οὔτε μυκτηριστήν. πάλιν Ἐπίκουρος ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ ζητεῖ περὶ δυσπεψίας ὥστ’ οἰωνίσασθαι, εἶθ’ ἑξῆς περὶ πυρετῶν, τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἐπιτρέχουσαν τῇ λέξει ἀρρυθμίαν τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; Πλάτων δὲ τὸν μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς λυγγὸς ὀχλούμενον καὶ θεραπευόμενον ἀνακογχυλιασμοῖς ὕδατος, ἔτι δὲ ταῖς ὑποθήκαις τοῦ κάρφους ἵνα τὴν ῥῖνα κνήσας πτάρῃ, παρίημι· κωμῳδεῖν γὰρ ἤθελε καὶ διασύρειν χλευάζει τε τὰ ἰσόκωλα τὰ Ἀγάθωνος καὶ τὰ ἀντίθετα, καὶ τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην δὲ παράγει λέγοντα ὅτι πασχητιᾷ. ἀλλ’ ὅμως τοιαῦτα γράφοντες τὸν Ὅμηρον ἐκβάλλουσι τῶν πόλεων ἀλλ’ οὔτε ἐκ θύμβρας, ἔφη Δημοχάρης, λόγχη οὔτ’ ἐκ τοιούτων λόγων ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς γίνεται. οὐ μόνον δ’ Ἀλκιβιάδην διασύρει, ἀλλὰ καὶ Χαρμίδην καὶ Εὐθύδημον καὶ ἄλλους πολλοὺς τῶν νέων. τοῦτο δὲ κωμῳδοῦντός ἐστι τὴν Ἀθηναίων πόλιν, τὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος μουσεῖον, ἣν ὁ μὲν Πίνδαρος Ἑλλάδος ἔρεισμα ἔφη, Θουκυδίδης δ’ ἐν τῷ εἰς Εὐριπίδην ἐπιγράμματι Ἑλλάδος Ἑλλάδα, ὁ δὲ Πύθιος ἑστίαν καὶ πρυτανεῖον τῶν Ἑλλήνων. διότι τοίνυν κατέψευσται τῶν νεανίσκων πάρεστι σκοπεῖν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Πλάτωνος, τὸν μὲν γὰρ Ἀλκιβιάδην φησὶν ἐν τῷ ὁμωνύμῳ διαλόγῳ παρακμάσαντα τότε πρῶτον ἄρξασθαι Σωκράτει λαλεῖν ὅτε πάντες αὐτὸν κατέλιπον οἱ τοῦ σώματος ἐπιθυμηταί. λέγει γὰρ ταῦτα κατ’ ἀρχὰς τοῦ διαλόγου, τὰ δ’ ἐν τῷ Χαρμίδῃ ἐναντιώματα ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ διαλόγου ὁ βουλόμενος εἴσεται. ποιεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀσυμφώνως ποτὲ μὲν σκοτοδινιῶντα καὶ μεθυσκόμενον τῷ τοῦ παιδὸς ἔρωτι καὶ γινόμενον ἔξεδρον καὶ καθάπερ νεβρὸν ὑποπεπτωκότα λέοντος ἀλκῇ, ἅμα δὲ καταφρονεῖν φησι τῆς ὥρας αὐτοῦ.

[¶11] But also the banquet of Xenophon, although it is much extolled, gives one as many handles to blame it as the other. For Callias assembles a banqueting party because his favourite Autolycus has been crowned at the Panathenæa for a victory gained in the Pancratium. And as soon as they are assembled the guests devote their attention to the boy; and this too while his father is sitting by. “For as when light appears in the night season it attracts the eyes of every one, so does the beauty of Autolycus attract the eyes of everybody to itself. And then there was no one present who did not feel something in his heart because of him; but some were more silent than others, and some betrayed their feelings by their gestures.” But Homer has never ventured to say anything of that sort, not even when he represents Helen as present; concerning whose beauty though one of those who sat opposite to her did speak, all he said, being overcome by the truth, was this—
Sure 'tis no wonder such celestial charms
For nine long years have set the world in arms.
What winning graces, what majestic mien-
She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen!
And then he adds—
Yet hence, O heaven, convey that fatal face;
And from destruction save the Trojan race.
But the young men who had come to Menelaus's court, the son of Nestor and Telemachus, when over their wine, and celebrating a wedding feast, and though Helen was sitting by, kept quite quiet in a decorous manner, being struck dumb by her renowned beauty. But why did Socrates, when to gratify some one or other he had tolerated some female flute-players, and some boy dancing and playing on the harp, and also some women tumbling and posture-making in an unseemly manner, refuse perfumes? For no one would have been able to restrain his laughter at him, recollecting these lines—
You speak of those pale-faced and shoeless men,
Such as that wretched Socrates and Chærephon.
And what followed after was very inconsistent with his austerity. For Critobulus, a very well-bred young man, mocks Socrates, who was aged and his tutor, saying he was much uglier than the Sileni; but he discusses beauty with him, and selecting as judges the boy and the dancing woman, makes the prize to be the kisses of the judges. Now what young man meeting with this writing would not be corrupted rather than excited to virtue?

> Greek: ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὸ Ξενοφῶντος Συμπόσιον καίπερ ἐπαινούμενον οὐκ ἐλάττους ἔχει τούτων ἐπιλήψεις. Καλλίας μὲν γὰρ συνάγει τὸ συμπόσιον, ἐπειδήπερ τὰ παιδικὰ αὐτοῦ Αὐτόλυκος Παναθήναια παγκράτιον ἐστεφανώθη. καὶ εὐθὺς οἱ κατακλιθέντες τῷ παιδὶ προσέχουσι τὸν νοῦν καὶ ταῦτα τοῦ πατρὸς παρακαθημένου. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὅταν φέγγος ἐν νυκτὶ παρῇ πάντων προσάγεται τὰ ὄμματα, οὕτω καὶ τὸ Αὐτολύκου κάλλος πάντων ἐφέλκεται τὰς ὄψεις ἐφ’ ἑαυτό, ἔπειτα τῶν παρόντων οὐδεὶς ἦν ὃς οὐκ ἔπασχέ τι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπ’ ἐκείνου· οἱ μέν γε σιωπηλότεροι ἐγίγνοντο, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐσχηματίζοντό πως. ἀλλ’ οὐχ Ὅμηρος τοιοῦτόν τι εἰπεῖν ἐπεχείρησε καίπερ τῆς Ἑλένης παρούσης, περὶ ἧς τοῦ κάλλους τις τῶν ἐναντίων αὐτῇ τοιαῦτ’ εἶπεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκνικώμενος· οὐ νέμεσις Τρῶας καὶ ἐυκνήμιδας Ἀχαιοὺς τοιῇδ’ ἀμφὶ γυναικὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἄλγεα πάσχειν αἰνῶς ἀθανάτῃσι θεῇσ’ εἰς ὦπα ἔοικεν. εἶτά φησιν ι ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς τοίηπερ ἐοῦσ’ ἐν νηυσὶ νεέσθω. τὰ δὲ μειράκια τὰ ὡς τὸν Μενέλαον παραγενόμενα, ὁ Νέστορος υἱὸς καὶ ὁ Τηλέμαχος, ἐν οἴνῳ ὄντες καὶ ἐν γαμικῷ συμποσίῳ διατρίβοντες καὶ τῆς Ἑλένης παρακαθημένης, ὡς πρέπον ἐστίν, ἡσυχίαν ἄγοντες πρὸς τὸ περιβόητον ἐκκεκωφωμένοι κάλλος, ὁ δὲ Σωκράτης τίνος χάριν τῶν αὐλητρίδων ἀνεχόμενος καὶ τοῦ ὀρχουμένου παιδὸς καὶ κιθαρίζοντος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῆς κυβιστώσης γυναικὸς ἀπρεπῶς τὸ μύρον ἀπείπατο; οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἂν αὐτοῦ ἀγελαστὶ ἠνέσχετο κατὰ νοῦν ἔχων ταῦτα τὰ ἔπη· τοὺς ὠχριῶντας, τοὺς ἀνυποδήτους λέγεις, ὧν ὁ κακοδαίμων Σωκράτης καὶ Χαιρεφῶν. καὶ μὴν ἀσύμφωνα καὶ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα τῇ αὐστηρότητι. ὁ γὰρ δὴ Κριτόβουλος, μειράκιον ἀστεῖον, γέροντα καὶ διδάσκαλον αὑτοῦ τὸν Σωκράτη σκώπτει πολὺ τῶν Σιληνῶν αἰσχίονα λέγων εἶναι. ὁ δὲ αὐτῷ διαμορφοσκοπεῖται καὶ κριτὰς ἑλόμενος τόν τε παῖδα καὶ τὴν ὀρχηστρίδα προτίθησι νικητήρια φιλήματα τῶν κριτῶν, τίς οὖν τῶν νέων ἐντυχὼν τούτοις οὐκ ἐπιτριβήσεται μᾶλλον ἤπερ εἰς ἀρετὴν ἂν προαχθείη;

[¶12] But in Homer, in the banquet of Menelaus, they propose to one another questions as in ordinary conversation, and chatting with one another like fellow-citizens, they entertain one another and us too. Accordingly, Menelaus, when Telemachus and his friends come from the bath-room, and when the tables and the dishes are laid, invites them to partake of them, saying—
Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;
The waste of nature let the feast repair,
Then your high lineage and your names declare: —
and then he helps them to what he has before him, treating them in the most friendly manner—
Ceasing, benevolent he straight assigns
The royal portion of the choicest chines
To each accepted friend; with grateful haste
They share the honours of the rich repast.
And they, eating in silence, as it becomes young men to do, converse with one another, leaning forwards gently, not about the food, as Homer tells us, nor about the maid-servants of him who had invited them, and by whom they had been washed, but about the riches of their entertainer—
Soft whispering thus to Nestor's son,
His head reclined, young Ithacus begun:
View'st thou unmoved, O ever honour'd most,
These prodigies of art and wondrous cost?
Such, and not nobler, in the realms above
Are the rich treasures in the dome of Jove.
For that, according to Seleucus, is the best reading; and Aristarchus is wrong when he writes—
Such is the palace of Olympian Jove.
For they are not admiring the beauty of building alone; for how could there be amber, and silver, and ivory in the walls? But they spoke partly about the house, as where they used the expression “the sounding house,” for that is the character of large and lofty rooms; and they spoke also of the furniture—
Above, beneath, around the palace shines
The sumless treasure of exhausted mines;
The spoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And studded amber darts a golden ray.
So that it is a natural addition to say—
Such are the treasures in the dome of Jove,
Wondrous they are, and awe my heart doth move
But the statement,
Such is the palace of Olympian Jove,
has no connexion with—
Wondrous they are....
and it would be a pure solecism and a very unusual reading. Besides, the word αὐλὴ is not adapted to a house; for a place which the wind blows through is what is called αὐλή. And we say that a place which receives the wind on both sides διαυλωνίζει. And so again, αὐλὸς is an instrument through which the wind passes, (namely, a flute,) and every figure which is stretched out straight we call αὐλὸς, as a stadium, or a flow of blood—
Straightway a thick stream (αὐλὸς) through the nostrils rush'd.
pp And we call a helmet also, when it rises up in a ridge out of the centre, αὐλῶπις. And at Athens there are some sacred places called αὐλῶνες, which are mentioned by Philochorus in his ninth book. And they use the word in the masculine gender, οἱ αὐλῶνες, as Thucydides does in his fourth book; and as, in fact, all prose writers do. But the poets use it in the feminine gender. Carcines says in his Achilles—
βαθεῖαν εἰς αύλῶνα—Into a deep ravine which surrounded the army.
And Sophocles, in his Scythians, writes—
The crags and caverns, and the deep ravines
Along the shore (ἐπακτίας αὐλῶνας).
And therefore we ought to understand that it is used as a feminine noun by Eratosthenes in his Mercury—
A deep ravine runs through (βαθὺς αὐλών),
instead of βαθεῖα, just as we find θῆλυς ἐέρση, where θῆλυς is feminine. Everything of that kind then is called αὐλὴ or αὐλών; but at the present day they call palaces αὐλαὶ, as Menander does—
To haunt palaces (αὐλαὶ) and princes.
And Diphilus says—
To haunt palaces (αὐλαὶ) is, it seems to me,
The conduct of an exile, slave, or beggar.
And they got this name from having large spaces in front of their buildings exposed to the open air, or else, because the guards of the palace were stationed, and took their rest in the open air. But Homer always classes the αὐλὴ among the places exposed to the air, where the altar of Jupiter Herceus stood. And so Peleus is found—
I and Ulysses touch'd at Peleus port;
There, in the centre of his grassy court,
A bull to Jove he slew in sacrifice,
And pour'd libations on the flaming thighs.
And so Priam lay:—
In the court-yard amid the dirt he roll'd.
And Ulysses says to Phemius—
Thou with the heav'n-taught bard in peace resort,
From blood and carnage, to yon open court.
But that Telemachus was praising not only the house, but also the riches which it contained, is made plain by the reply of Menelaus—
My wars, the copious theme of ev'ry tongue,
To you your fathers have recorded long;
How favouring Heav'n repaid my glorious toils
With a sack'd palace and barbaric spoils.

> Greek: παρὰ δ’ Ὁμήρῳ ἐν τῷ τοῦ Μενελάου συμποσίῳ προβάλλουσιν ἀλλήλοις ὥσπερ ἐν διατριβῇ ζητήματα καὶ πολιτικῶς ὁμιλοῦντες τέρπουσιν ἀλλήλους καὶ ἡμᾶς. ὁ γοῦν Μενέλαος παραγενομένων ἐκ τοῦ λουτρῶνος τῶν περὶ τὸν Τηλέμαχον καὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν ἐδωδὴν παρατεθέντων παρακαλεῖ μεταλαμβάνειν λέγων τάδε· σίτου δ’ ἅπτεσθον καὶ χαίρετον, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα δείπνου παυσαμένω εἰρησόμεθ’ οἵτινες ἐστόν. ἔπειτα προσεπιδίδωσι τῶν παρακειμένων αὐτῷ φιλανθρωπευόμενος· ὣς φάτο καί σφιν νῶτα βοὸς παρὰ πίονα θῆκεν ὄπτ’ ἐν χερσὶν ἑλών, τὰ ῥὰ οἱ γέρα πάρθεσαν αὐτῷ. φαγόντες δ’ ἐκεῖνοι μετὰ σιωπῆς, ὡς πρέπει νέοις, ἀλλήλοις ὁμιλοῦσιν ἠρέμα προσκύψαντες οὐ περὶ ἐδεσμάτων, φησίν, οὐδὲ τῶν θεραπαινῶν τοῦ κεκληκότος ὑφ’ ὧν ἐλούσαντο, περὶ δὲ τῶν κτημάτων τοῦ ὑποδεξαμένου· Ζηνός που τοιαῦτα δόμοις ἐν κτήματα κεῖται. βέλτιον γὰρ οὕτως φησὶν ὁ Σέλευκος γράφεσθαι. Ἀρίσταρχος δὲ οὐ δεόντως γράφει· Ζηνός που τοιήδε γ’ Ὀλυμπίου ἔνδοθεν αὐλή. οὐ γὰρ τῆς οἰκίας τὸ κάλλος μόνον ἀποθαυμάζουσι. πῶς γὰρ ἤλεκτρον καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ ἐλέφας ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις ἦν; ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ οἴκου εἰρήκασιν ὥς ἐστι δώματα ἠχήεντα· τοιαῦτα γὰρ δὴ τὰ ὑψόροφα καὶ μεγάλα· περὶ δὲ τῶν σκευῶν τὸ χρυσοῦ τ’ ἠλέκτρου τε καὶ ἀργύρου ἠδ’ ἐλέφαντος. οἷς εἰκότως ἐπιφέρεται· Ζηνός που τοιαῦτα δόμοις ἐν κτήματα κεῖται, ὅσσα τάδ’ ἄσπετα πολλά· σέβας μ’ ἔχει εἰσορόωντα. οὐκ ἐστὶν δ’ ἀκόλουθον τῷ Ζηνός που τοιήδε γ’ Ὀλυμπίου ἔνδοθεν αὐλὴ ἐπιφέρειν ὅσσατάδ’ ἄσπετα πολλά, σόλοικον ὂν τῷ ἀσυνήθει τῆς ἀναγνώσεως, ἔτι τοίνυν οὐδ’ ἡ αὐλὴ ἁρμόττει ἐπὶ τοῦ οἴκου. ὁ γὰρ διαπνεόμενος τόπος αὐλὴ λέγεται, καὶ διαυλωνίζειν φαμὲν τὸ δεχόμενον ἐξ ἑκατέρου πνεῦμα χωρίον, ἔτι δὲ αὐλὸς μὲν τὸ ὄργανον, ὅτι διέρχεται τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ πᾶν τὸ διατεταμένον εἰς εὐθύτητα σχῆμα αὐλὸν καλοῦμεν ὥσπερ τὸ στάδιον καὶ τὸν κρουνὸν τοῦ αἵματος· αὐτίκα δ’ αὐλὸς ἀνὰ ῥῖνας παχὺς ἦλθε, καὶ τὴν περικεφαλαίαν ὅταν ἐκ τοῦ μέσου πρὸς ὀρθὸν ἀνατείνῃ αὐλῶπιν. λέγονται δὲ ᾽ Ἀθήνησι καὶ ἱεροί τινες αὐλῶνες, ὧν μέμνηται Φιλόχορος ἐν τῇ ἐνάτῃ. καλοῦσι δ’ ἀρσενικῶς τοὺς αὐλῶνας, ὥσπερ Θουκυδίδης ἐν τῇ δ’ καὶ πάντες οἱ καταλογάδην συγγραφεῖς, οἱ δὲ ποιηταὶ θηλυκῶς. καρκίνος μὲν Ἀχιλλεῖ· βαθεῖαν εἰς αὐλῶνα περίδρομον στρατοῦ. καὶ Σοφοκλῆς Σκύθαις· κρημνούς τε καὶ σήραγγας ἠδ’ ἐπακτίας αὐλῶνας. ἐκδεκτέον οὖν καὶ τὸ παρὰ Ἐρατοσθένει ἐν τῷ Ἑρμῇ θηλυκῶς εἰρῆσθαι βαθὺς διαφύεται αὐλών ἀντὶ τοῦ βαθεῖα, καθάπερ λέγεται θῆλυς ἐέρση. πᾶν οὖν τὸ τοιοῦτον αὐλή τε καὶ αὐλὼν λέγεται, νῦν δὲ τὰ βασίλεια λέγουσιν αὐλάς, ὥσπερ Μένανδρος· αὐλὰς θεραπεύειν καὶ σατράπας, καὶ Δίφιλος· αὐλὰς θεραπεύειν δ’ ἐστίν, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, ἢ φυγάδος ἢ πεινῶντος ἢ μαστιγίου, ἤτοι διὰ τὸ μεγάλους ἔχειν τοὺς πρὸ τῶν οἴκων ὑπαιθρίους τόπους ἢ τῷ παραυλίζεσθαι καὶ παρακοιμᾶσθαι τοὺς δορυφόρους τοῖς βασιλείοις. Ὅμηρος δὲ τὴν αὐλὴν ἀεὶ τάττει ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπαίθρων τόπων, ἔνθα ἦν ὁ τοῦ ἑρκείου Ζηνὸς βωμός, ὁ μέντοι γε Πηλεὺς καταλαμβάνεται αὐλῆς ἐν χόρτῳ ἔχε δὲ χρύσειον ἄλεισον, σπένδων αἴθοπα οἶνον ἐπ’ αἰθομένοισ’ ἱεροῖσι. ὁ δὲ Πρίαμος αὐλῆς ἐν χόρτοισι κυλινδόμενος κατὰ κόπρον. καὶ ὁ Ὀδυσσεὺς προστάττει τοῖς περὶ τὸν Φήμιον ἀλλ’ ἐξελθόντες μεγάρων εὖ ναιεταόντων ἐκ φόνου εἰς αὐλήν. ὅτι δὲ ὁμοῦ τόν τε οἶκον καὶ τὰ κτήματα ἐπῄνεσεν ὁ Τηλέμαχος ἐμφανίζει ὁ Μενέλαος· τέκνα φίλ᾽, ἦ τοι Ζηνὶ βροτῶν οὐκ ἄν τις ἐρίζοι· ἀθάνατοι γὰρ τοῦ γε δόμοι καὶ κτήματ’ ἔασιν.