Tragedy Fishmongers Misconduct of Fishmongers Use of particular Words Use of Silver Plate Silver Plate Golden Trinkets Use of Gold in different Countries Parasites Gynæconomi Para sites Flatterers of Dionysius Flatterers of Kings Flattery of the Athenians Flatterers The Tyrants of Chios The Conduct of Philip Flatterers and Parasites The Mariandyni Slaves Drimacus Condition of Slaves Slaves Banquets The Effects SINCE you ask me every time that you meet me, my friend Timocrates, what was said by the Deipnosophists, thinking that we are making some discoveries, we will remind you of what is said by Antiphanes, in his Poesy, in this manner—In every way, my friends, is TragedyA happy poem. For the argumentIs, in the first place, known to the spectators,Before one single actor says a word.So that the poet need do little moreThan just remind his hearers what they know.For should I speak of Œdipus, at onceThey recollect his story—how his fatherWas Laius, and Jocasta too his mother;What were his sons', and what his daughters' names,And what he did and suffer'd. So againIf a man names Alcmæon, the very childrenCan tell you how he in his madness slewHis mother; and Adrastus furious,Will come in haste, and then depart again;And then at last, when they can say no more,And when the subject is almost exhausted,They lift an engine easily as a finger,And that is quite enough to please the theatre.But our case is harder. We are forcedT' invent the whole of what we write; new names,Things done before, done now, new plots, new openings,And new catastrophes. And if we fail in aught,Some Chremes or some Phido hisses us.While Peleus is constrain'd by no such laws,Nor Teucer.And Diphilus says, in his Men conducting Helen—O thou who rulest, patroness and queen,Over this holy spot of sacred Brauron,Bow-bearing daughter of Latona and Jove,As the tragedians call you; who aloneHave power to do and say whate'er they please.
ἐπειδὴ ἀπαιτεῖς συνεχῶς ἀπαντῶν, ἑταῖρε Τιμόκρατες, τὰ παρὰ τοῖς δειπνοσοφισταῖς λεγόμενα, καινά τινα νομίζων ἡμᾶς εὑρίσκειν, ὑπομνήσομέν σε τὰ παρὰ Ἀντιφάνει λεγόμενα ἐν Ποιήσει τόνδε τὸν τρόπον μακάριόν ἐστιν ἡ τραγῳδία ποίημα κατὰ πάντ᾽, εἴ γε πρῶτον οἱ λόγοι ὑπὸ τῶν θεατῶν εἰσιν ἐγνωρισμένοι, πρὶν καὶ τιν’ εἰπεῖν ὥστ’ ὑπομνῆσαι μόνον δεῖ τὸν ποιητήν. Οἰδίπουν γὰρ ἂν φράσω, τὰ γ’ ἄλλα πάντ’ ἴσασιν ὁ πατήρ Λάιος, μήτηρ Ἰοκάστη, θυγατέρες, παῖδες τίνες, τί πείσεθ’ οὗτος, τί πεποίηκεν. ἂν πάλιν εἴπῃ τις Ἀλκμέωνα, καὶ τὰ παιδία πάντ’ εὐθὺς εἴρηχ᾽, ὅτι μανεὶς ἀπέκτονε τὴν μητέρ᾽, ἀγανακτῶν δ’ Ἄδραστος εὐθέως ἥξει πάλιν τ’ ἄπεισι … ἔπειθ’ ὅταν μηδὲν δύνωντ’ εἰπεῖν ἔτι, κομιδῇ δ’ ἀπειρήκωσιν ἐν τοῖς δράμασιν, αἴρουσιν ὥσπερ δάκτυλον τὴν μηχανήν, καὶ τοῖς θεωμένοισιν ἀποχρώντως ἔχει. ἡμῖν δὲ ταῦτ’ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ πάντα δεῖ εὑρεῖν, ὀνόματα καινά, καινά πράγματα, καινοὺς λόγους κἄπειτα τὰ διῳκημένα πρότερον, τὰ νῦν παρόντα, τὴν καταστροφήν, τὴν εἰσβολήν. ἂν ἕν τι τούτων παραλίπῃ Χρέμης τις ἢ Φείδων τις, ἐκσυρίττεται· Πηλεῖ δὲ ταῦτ’ ἔξεστι καὶ Τεύκρῳ ποιεῖν. Δίφιλος δ’ ἐν Ἐλαιῶνι ἢ Φρουροῦσι· ὦ τόνδ’ ἐποπτεύουσα καὶ κεκτημένη Βραυρῶνος ἱεροῦ θεοφιλέστατον τόπον, Λητοῦς Διός τε τοξόδαμνε παρθένε, ὡς οἱ τραγῳδοί φασιν, οἷς ἐξουσία ἐστὶν λέγειν ἅπαντα καὶ ποιεῖν μόνοις.
But Timocles the comic writer, asserting that tragedy is useful in many respects to human life, says in his Women celebrating the Festival of Bacchus—My friend, just hear what I'm about to say.Man is an animal by nature miserable;And life has many grievous things in it.Therefore he has invented these reliefsTo ease his cares; for oft the mind forgetsIts own discomforts while it soothes itselfIn contemplation of another's woes,And e'en derives some pleasure and instruction.For first, I'd have you notice the tragedians;What good they do to every one. The poor manSees Telephus was poorer still than he,And bears his own distress more easily.The madman thinks upon Alcmæon's case.Has a man weak sore eyes? The sons of PhineusAre blind as bats. Has a man lost his childLet him remember childless Niobe.He's hurt his leg; and so had Philoctetes.Is he unfortunate in his old age?Œneus was more so. So that every one,Seeing that others have been more unfortunate,Learns his own griefs to bear with more content.
Τιμοκλῆς ὁ κωμῳδιοποιὸς κατὰ πολλὰ χρησίμην εἶναι λέγων τῷ βίῳ τὴν τραγῳδίαν φησὶν ἐν Διονυσιαζούσαις· ὦ τάν, ἄκουσον, ἤν τι σοι μέλλω λέγειν. ἅνθρωπός ἐστι ζῷον ἐπίπονον φύσει, καὶ πολλὰ λυπήρ’ ὁ βίος ἐν ἑαυτῷ φέρει. παραψυχὰς οὖν φροντίδων ἀνεύρετο ταύτας· ὁ γὰρ νοῦς τῶν ἰδίων λήθην λαβὼν πρὸς ἀλλοτρίῳ τε ψυχαγωγηθεὶς πάθει μεθ’ ἡδονῆς ἀπῆλθε παιδευθεὶς ἅμα. τοὺς γὰρ τραγῳδοὺς πρῶτον, εἰ βούλει, σκόπει ὡς ὠφελοῦσι πάντας. ὁ μὲν ὢν γὰρ πένης πτωχότερον αὑτοῦ καταμαθὼν τὸν Τήλεφον γενόμενον ἤδη τὴν πενίαν ῥᾷον φέρει, ὁ νοσῶν δὲ μανικῶς Ἀλκμέων᾽ ἐσκέψατο· ὀφθαλμιᾷ τις, εἰσὶ Φινεῖδαι τυφλοί, τέθνηκέ τῳ παῖς, ἡ Νιόβη κεκούφικε. χωλός τίς ἐστιν, τόν Φιλοκτήτην ὁρᾷ. γέρων τις ἀτυχεῖ, κατέμαθεν τὸν Οἰνέα. ἅπαντα γὰρ τὰ μείζον’ ἢ πέπονθέ τις ἀτυχήματ’ ἄλλοις γεγονότ’ ἐννοούμενος τὰς αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ συμφορὰς ῥᾷον φέρει.
And we accordingly, O Timocrates, will restore to you the relics of the feast of the Deipnosophists, and will not give them, as Cothocides the orator said, meaning to ridicule Demosthenes, who, when Philip gave Halonnesus to the Athenians, advised them “not to take it if he gave it, but only if he restored it.” And this sentence Antiphanes jested upon in his Neottis, where he ridicules it in this manner—My master has received (ἀπέλαβεν) as he took (ἔλαβεν)His patrimonial inheritance.How would these words have pleased Demosthenes!And Alexis says, in his Soldier—A. Receive this thing.B. What is itA. Why the childWhich I had from you, which I now bring back.B. Why? will you no more keep him?A. He's not mine.B. Nor mine.A. But you it was who gave him me.B. I gave him not.A. How so?B. I but restored him.A. You gave me what I never need have taken.And in his Brothers he says—A. For did I give them anything? Tell me that.B. No, you restored it, holding a deposit.And Anaxilas, in his Evandria, says—.... Give it not,Only restore it.B. Here I now have brought it.And Timocles says in his Heroes—A. You bid me now to speak of everythingRather than what is to the purpose; well,I'll gratify you so far.B. You shall findAs the first fruits that you have pacifiedThe great Demosthenes.A. But who is he?B. That Briareus who swallows spears and shields;A man who hates all quibbles; never usesAntithesis nor trope; but from his eyesGlares terrible Mars.According, therefore, to the above-mentioned poets, so we, restoring but not giving to you what followed after the previous conversation, will now tell you all that was said afterwards.
καὶ ἡμεῖς οὖν, ὦ Τιμόκρατες, ἀποδίδομέν σοι τὰ τῶν δειπνοσοφιστῶν λείψανα καὶ οὐ δίδομεν, ὡς ὁ Κοθωκίδης φησὶ ῥήτωρ Δημοσθένην χλευάζων, ὃς Φιλίππου Ἀθηναίοις Ἁλόννησον διδόντος συνεβούλευε μὴ λαμβάνειν, εἰ δίδωσιν ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀποδίδωσιν. ὅπερ Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Νεοττίδι παιδιὰν θέμενος ἐρεσχηλεῖ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον ὁ δεσπότης δὲ πάντα τὰ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀπέλαβεν ὥσπερ ἔλαβεν. β. ἠγάπησεν ἂν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο παραλαβὼν Δημοσθένης. Ἄλεξις δὲ ἐν Στρατιώτῃ· ἀπόλαβε τουτί. β. τί τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν; α. ὃ παρ’ ὑμῶν ἐγὼ παιδάριον ἔλαβον ἀποφέρων ἥκω πάλιν. β. πῶς; οὐκ ἀρέσκει σοι τρέφειν; α. οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἡμέτερον. β. οὐδ’ ἡμέτερον. α. ἀλλ’ ἐδώκατε ὑμεῖς ἐμοὶ τοῦτ᾽. α. οὐδ’ ἐδώκαμεν. β. τί δαί; β. ἀπεδώκαμεν. β. τὸ μὴ προσῆκόν μοι λαβεῖν; καὶ ἐν Ἀδελφοῖς· ἐγὼ δέδωκα γάρ τι ταύταις; εἰπέ μοι. β. οὐκ, ἀλλ’ ἀπέδωκας ἐνέχυρον δήπου λαβών. Ἀναξίλας δὲ ἐν Εὐανδρίᾳ· καὶ τὰς παλαιὰς δώσω. β. μὰ τὴν γῆν, μὴ σύ γε δῷς, ἀλλ’ ἀπόδος. α. καὶ δὴ φέρουσ’ ἐξέρχομαι. Τιμοκλῆς δ’ ἐν Ἥρωσιν· οὐκοῦν κελεύεις νῦν με πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ προσόντα φράζειν. β. πάνυ γε. α. δράσω τοῦτό σοι. καὶ πρῶτα μὲν δὴ παύσεται σοι Βριάρεως ὀργιζόμενος. β. ὁ ποῖος οὗτος Βριάρεως; α. ὁ τοὺς καταπέλτας τάς τε λόγχας ἐσθίων, μισῶν λόγους ἄνθρωπος οὐδὲ πώποτε ἀντίθετον εἰπὼν οὐδέν, ἀλλ’ Ἄρη βλέπων. κατὰ τοὺς οὖν προειρημένους ποιητὰς καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰ ἑπόμενα τοῖς προειρημένοις ἀποδιδόντες καὶ οὐ διδόντες τὰ ἀκόλουθα λέξομεν.
Then came into us these servants, bringing a great quantity of sea fish and lake fish on silver platters, so that we marvelled at the wealth displayed, and at the costliness of the entertainment, which was such that he seemed almost to have engaged the Nereids themselves as the purveyors. And one of the parasites and flatterers said that Neptune was sending fish to our Neptunian port, not by the agency of those who at Rome sell rare fish for their weight in money; but that some were imported from Antium, and some from Terracina, and some from the Pontian islands opposite, and some from Pyrgi; and that is a city of Etruria. For the fishmongers in Rome are very little different from those who used to be turned into ridicule by the comic poets at Athens, of whom Antiphanes says, in his Young Men—I did indeed for a long time believeThe Gorgons an invention of the poets,But when I came into the fish-marketI quickly found them a reality.For looking at the fish women I feltTurn'd instantly to stone, and was compelledTo turn away my head while talking to them.For when I see how high a price they ask,And for what little fish, I'm motionless.
ἐπεισῆλθον οὖν ἡμῖν παῖδες πλῆθος ὅσον ἰχθύων φέροντες θαλασσίων λιμναίων τε ἐπὶ πινάκων ἀργυρῶν, ὡς θαυμάσαι μετὰ τοῦ πλούτου καὶ τὴν πολυτέλειαν μονονουχὶ γὰρ καὶ τὰς Νηρηίδας ὀψωνήκει. καί τις τῶν παρασίτων καὶ κολάκων ἔφη τὸν Ποσειδῶ πέμπειν τῷ Νιττουνίῳ ἡμῶν τοὺς ἰχθῦς οὐ διὰ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ ὅσον ὅσῳ τῶν τὸν ἰχθὺν πωλούντων, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἐξ Ἀντίου κεκομίσθαι, ἑτέρους δ’ ἐκ Ταρακινῶν καὶ τῶν καταντικρὺ νήσων Ποντίων, ἄλλους δ’ ἐκ Πύργων πόλις δ’ αὕτη Τυρρηνική, οἱ γὰρ ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ ἰχθυοπῶλαι οὐδ’ ὀλίγον ἀποδέουσι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀττικήν ποτε κωμῳδηθέντων περὶ ὧν Ἀντιφάνης μὲν ἐν Νεανίσκοις φησίν ἐγὼ τέως μὲν ᾠόμην τὰς Γοργόνας εἶναί τι λογοποίημα πρὸς ἀγορὰν δ’ ὅταν ἔλθω, πεπίστευκ’ ἐμβλέπων γὰρ αὐτόθι τοῖς ἰχθυοπώλαις λίθινος εὐθὺς γίνομαι· ὥστ’ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἔστ᾽ ἀποστραφέντι μοι λαλεῖν πρὸς αὐτούς. ἂν ἴδω γὰρ ἡλίκον ἰχθὺν ὅσου τιμῶσι, πήγνυμαι σαφῶς.
And Amphis says in his Impostor—'Tis easier to get access to the general,And one is met by language far more courteous,And by more civil answer from his grace,Than from those cursed fishfags in the market.For when one asks them anything, or offersTo buy aught of them, mute they stand like Telephus,And just as stubborn; ('tis an apt comparison,For in a word they all are homicides;)And neither listen nor appear to heed,But shake a dirty polypus in your face;Or else turn sulky, and scarce say a word,But as if half a syllable were enough,Say “se'n s'lings this,” “this turb't eight'n-pence.”This is the treatment which a man must bearWho seeks to buy a dinner in the fish-market.And Alexis says in his Apeglaucomenos—When I behold a general looking stern,I think him wrong, but do not greatly wonder,That one in high command should think himselfAbove the common herd. But when I seeThe fishmongers, of all tribes far the worst,Bending their sulky eyes down to the ground,And lifting up their eyebrows to their foreheads,I am disgusted. And if you should ask,“Tell me, I pray you, what's this pair of mullets?”“Tenpence.” “Oh, that's too much; you'll eightpence take”“Yes, if you'll be content with half the pair.”Come, eightpence; that is plenty. "I will notTake half a farthing less: don't waste my time."Is it not bitter to endure such insolence?
Ἄμφις δ’ ἐν Πλάνῳ· πρὸς τοὺς στρατηγοὺς ῥᾷόν ἐστι μυρίαις μοίραις προσελθόντ’ ἀξιωθῆναι λόγου λαβεῖν τ’ ἀπόκρισιν ὧν ἂν ἐπερωτᾷ τις ἢ πρὸς τοὺς καταράτους ἰχθυοπώλας ἐν ἀγορᾷ. οὓς ἂν ἐπερωτήσῃ τις ἀναλαβών· τι τῶν παρακειμένων, ἔκυψεν ὥσπερ Τήλεφος πρῶτον σιωπῇ καὶ δικαίως τοῦτό γε· ἅπαντες ἀνδροφόνοι γάρ εἰσιν ἑνὶ λόγῳ, ὡσεὶ προσέξων δ’ οὐδὲν οὐδ’ ἀκηκοὼς ἔκρουσε πουλύπουν τιν᾽· ὁ δ’ ἐπρήσθη … καὶ τότ’ οὐ λαλῶν ὅλα τὰ ῥήματ᾽, ἀλλὰ συλλαβὴν ἀφελὼν τάρων βολῶν γένοιτ’ ἄν· ἡ δὲ κέστρα; κτὼ βολῶν. τοιαῦτ’ ἀκοῦσαι δεῖ τὸν ὀψωνοῦντά τι.Ἄλεξις Ἀπεγλαυκωμένῳ·τοὺς μὲν στρατηγοὺς τὰς ὀφρῦς ἐπὰν ᾽ἴδω ἀνεσπακότας, δεινὸν μὲν ἠγοῦμαι ποεῖν, οὐ πάνυ τι θαυμάζω δὲ προτετιμημένους ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως μεῖζόν τι τῶν ἄλλων φρονεῖν. τοὺς δ’ ἰχθυοπώλας τοὺς κάκιστ’ ἀπολουμένους ἐπὰν ᾽ἴδω κάτω βλέποντας, τὰς δ’ ὀφρῦς ἔχοντας ἐπάνω τῆς κορυφῆς, ἀποπνίγομαι. ἐὰν δ’ ἐρωτήσῃς πόσου τοὺς κεστρέας πωλεῖς δύ’ ὄντας, δέκ’ ὀβολῶν, φησίν. βαρύ. ὀκτὼ λάβοις ἄν; εἴπερ ὠνεῖ τὸν ἕτερον. ὧ τάν, λαβὲ καὶ μὴ παῖζε. τοσουδί; ὁ παράτρεχε. ταῦτ’ οὐχὶ πικρότερ’ ἐστὶν αὐτῆς τῆς χολῆς;
And Diphilus says in his Busybody—I used to think the race of fishmongersWas only insolent in Attica;But now I see that like wild beasts they areSavage by nature, everywhere the same.But here is one who goes beyond his fellows,Nourishing flowing hair, which he doth callDevoted to his god-though that is not the reason,But he doth use it as a veil to hideThe brand which marks his forehead. Should you ask him,What is this pike's price? he will tell you “tenpence;”Not say what pence he means; then if you give himThe money, he will claim Aegina's coinage;While if you ask for change, he'll give you Attic.And thus he makes a profit on both sides.And Xenarchus says in his Purple—Poets are nonsense; for they never sayA single thing that's new. But all they doIs to clothe old ideas in language new,Turning the same things o'er and o'er again,And upside down. But as to fishmongers,They're an inventive race, and yield to noneIn shameless conduct. For as modern lawsForbid them now to water their stale fish,Some fellow, hated by the gods, beholdingHis fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel,And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinksHe's had enough, he falls, and seems to faint,And lies like any corpse among his baskets.Some one calls out for water; and his partnerCatches a pail, and throws it o'er his friendSo as to sprinkle all his fish, and makeThe world believe them newly caught and fresh.
Δίφιλος Πολυπράγμονι· ᾤμην ἐγὼ τοὺς ἰχθυοπώλας τὸ πρότερον εἶναι πονηροὺς τοὺς Ἀθήνησιν μόνους. τόδε δ᾽, ὡς ἔοικε, τὸ γένος ὥσπερ θηρίων ἐπίβουλόν ἐστι τῇ φύσει καὶ πανταχοῦ. ἐνταῦθα γοῦν ἔστιν τις ὑπερηκοντικώς, κόμην τρέφων μὲν πρῶτον ἱερὰν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς φησὶν οὐ διὰ τοῦτὸ γ᾽, ἀλλ’ ἐστιγμένος πρὸ τοῦ μετώπου παραπέτασμ’ αὐτὴν ἔχει. οὗτος ἀποκρίνετ᾽, ἂν ἐρωτήσῃς πόσου ὁ λάβραξ, δέκ’ ὀβολῶν, οὐχὶ προσθεὶς ὁποδαπῶν. ἔπειτ’ ἐὰν τἀργύριον αὐτῷ καταβάλῃς, ἐπράξατ’ Αἰγιναῖον· ἂν δ’ αὐτὸν δέῃ κέρματ’ ἀποδοῦναι, προσαπέδωκεν Ἀττικά. κατ’ ἀμφότερα δὲ τὴν καταλλαγὴν ἔχει.Ξέναρχος Πορφύρᾳ·οἱ μὲν ποιηταί （φησι） λῆρός εἰσιν οὐδὲ ἓν καινὸν γὰρ εὑρίσκουσιν, ἀλλὰ μεταφέρει ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ταὔτ’ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω. τῶν δ’ ἰχθυοπωλῶν φιλοσοφώτερον γένος οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ μᾶλλον ἀνόσιον. ἐπεὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς οὐκέτ’ ἔστ’ ἐξουσία ῥαίνειν, ἀπείρηται δὲ τοῦτο τῷ νόμῳ, εἷς τις θεοῖσιν ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος πάνυ ξηραινομένους ὡς εἶδε τοὺς ἰχθῦς, μάχην ἐποίησ’ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐξεπίτηδες εὖ πάνυ. ἦσαν δὲ πληγαί, καιρίαν δ’ εἰληφέναι δόξας καταπίπτει καὶ λιποψυχεῖν δοκῶν ἔκειτο μετὰ τῶν ἰχθύων, βοᾷ δέ τις ὕδωρ, ὕδωρ. ὁ δ’ εὐθὺς ἐξάρας πρόχουν τῶν ὁμοτέχνων τις τοῦ μὲν ἀκαρῆ παντελῶς κατέχει, κατὰ δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων ἁπαξάπαν. εἴποις γ’ ἂν αὐτοὺς ἀρτίως ἡλωκέναι.
And that they often do sell fish which is dead stinking is proved by what Antiphanes says in his Adulterers, as follows—There's not on earth a more unlucky beastThan a poor fish, for whom 'tis not enoughTo die when caught, that they may find at onceA grave in human stomachs; but what's worse,They fall into the hands of odious fishmongers,And rot and lie upon their stalls for days;And if they meet with some blind purchaser,He scarce can carry them when dead away;But throws them out of doors, and thinks that heHas through his nose had taste enough of them.And in his Friend of the Thebans he say—Is it not quite a shame, that if a manHas fresh-caught fish to sell, he will not speakTo any customer without a frownUpon his face, and language insolentAnd if his fish are stale, he jokes and laughs-While his behaviour should the contrary be;The first might laugh, the latter should be shamed.And that they sell their fish very dear we are told by Alexis in his Pylæan Women—Yes, by Minerva, I do marvel atThe tribe of fishmongers, that they are notAll wealthy men, such royal gains they make.For sitting in the market they do think itA trifling thing to tithe our properties;But would take all at one fell swoop away.
ὅτι δὲ καὶ νεκροὺς πωλοῦσι τοὺς ἰχθῦς καὶ σεσηπότας ἐπισημαίνεται ὁ Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Μοιχοῖς διὰ τούτων οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν θηρίον τῶν ἰχθύων ἀτυχέστερον. τὸ μὴ γὰρ ἀποχρῆν ἀποθανεῖν αὐτοῖς ἁλοῦσιν, εἶτα κατεδηδεσμένοις εὐθὺς ταφῆναι, παραδοθέντες ἄθλιοι τοῖς ἰχθυοπώλαις τοῖς κακῶς ἀπολουμένοις σήπονθ᾽, ἕωλοι κείμενοι δύ’ ἡμέρας ἢ τρεῖς, μόλις δ’ ἐὰν ποτ’ ὠνητὴν τυφλὸν λάβωσ᾽, ἔδωκαν τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναίρεσιν τούτῳ· κομίσας δ’ ἐξέβαλεν … οἴκαδε, τὴν πεῖραν ἐν τῇ ῥινὶ τῆς ὀδμῆς λαβών. ἐν δὲ Φιλοθηβαίῳ φησὶν οὐ δεινὸν ἐστι, προσφάτους μὲν ἂν τύχῃ πωλῶν τις ἰχθῦς, συναγαγόντα τὰς ὀφρῦς τοῦτον σκυθρωπάζοντὰ θ’ ἡμῖν προσλαλεῖν, ἐὰν σαπροὺς κομιδῇ δέ, παίζειν καὶ γελᾶν; τοὐναντίον γὰρ πᾶν ἔδει τούτους ποιεῖν· τὸν μὲν γελᾶν, τὸν δ’ ἕτερον οἰμώζειν μακρά. ὅτι δὲ καὶ παμπόλλου πιπράσκουσιν Ἄλεξις ἐν Πυλαίαις φησὶν ι νὴ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν, ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ τεθαύμακα τοὺς ἰχθυοπώλας, πῶς ποτ’ οὐχὶ πλούσιοι ἅπαντές εἰσι λαμβάνοντες βασιλικοὺς φόρους· β. φόρους μόνον; οὐχὶ δεκατεύουσι γὰρ τὰς οὐσίας ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καθήμενοι, ὅλας δ’ ἀφαιροῦνται καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν;
And the same poet says in his play entitled the Caldron—There never was a better lawgiverThan rich Aristonicus. For he nowDoes make this law, that any fishmongerWho puts a price upon his fish, and thenSells it for less, shall be at once dragg'd offAnd put in prison; that by their exampleThe rest may learn to ask a moderate price,And be content with that, and carry homeTheir rotten fish each evening; and thenOld men, old women, boys, and all their customers,Will buy whatever suits them at fair price.And a little further on he says—There never has, since Solon's time, been seenA better lawgiver than Aristonicus.For he has given many different laws,And now he introduces this new statute,A golden statute, that no fishmongerShould sell his fish while sitting, but that allShall stand all day i' the market. And he saysNext year he will enact that they shall sellBeing hung up; for so they will let offTheir customers more easily, when theyAre raised by a machine like gods in a play.
κἀν τῷ Λέβητι δέ φησιν ὁ αὐτὸς ποιητής· οὐ γέγονε κρείττων νομοθέτης τοῦ πλουσίου Ἀριστονίκου … … τίθησι γὰρ νυνὶ νόμον, τῶν ἰχθυοπωλῶν ὅστις ἂν πωλῶν τινι ἰχθὺν ὑποτιμήσας ἀποδῶτ’ ἐλάττονος ἧς εἶπε τιμῆς, εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον εὐθὺς ἀπάγεσθαι τοῦτον, ἵνα δεδοικότες τῆς ἀξίας ἀγαπῶσιν ἢ τῆς ἑσπέρας σαπροὺς ἅπαντας ἀποφέρωσιν οἴκαδε. κἀνταῦθα καὶ γραῦς καὶ γέρων καὶ παιδίον πέμπτης ἅπαντες ἀγοράσουσι κατὰ τρόπον. καὶ προελθὼν δέ φησιν οὐ γέγονε μετὰ Σόλωνα κρείττων οὐδὲ εἷς Ἀριστονίκου νομοθέτης ι τὰ τ’ ἄλλα γὰρ νενομοθέτηκε πολλὰ καὶ παντοῖα δὴ νυνί τε καινὸν εἰσφέρει νόμον τινὰ χρυσοῦν, τὸ μὴ πωλεῖν καθημένους ἔτι τοὺς ἰχθυοπώλας, διὰ τέλους δ᾽ ἑστηκότας· εἶτ’ εἰς νέωτά φησι γράψειν κρεμαμένους, καὶ θᾶττον ἀποπέμψουσι τοὺς ὠνουμένους ἀπὸ μηχανῆς πωλοῦντες ὥσπερ οἱ θεοί.
And Antiphanes, in his Hater of Wickedness, displays their rudeness and dishonesty, comparing them to the greatest criminals who exist among men, speaking as follows—Are not the Scythians of men the wisest?Who when their children are first born do give themThe milk of mares and cows to drink at once,And do not trust them to dishonest nurses,Or tutors, who of evils are the worst,Except the midwives only. For that classIs worst of all, and next to them do comeThe begging priests of mighty Cybele;And it is hard to find a baser lot-Unless indeed you speak of fishmongers,But they are worse than even money-changers,And are in fact the worst of all mankind.
ἐμφανίζει δ’ αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ σκαιόν, ἔτι δὲ μισάνθρωπον Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Μισοπονήρῳ πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῷ βίῳ κακίστους τὴν σύγκρισιν αὐτῶν ποιούμενος διὰ τούτων εἶτ’ οὐ σοφοὶ δῆτ’ εἰσὶν οἱ Σκύθαι σφόδρα, οἳ γενομένοισιν εὐθέως τοῖς παιδίοις διδόασιν ἵππων καὶ βοῶν πίνειν γάλα; β. οὐ μὰ Δία τιτθὰς εἰσάγουσι βασκάνους καὶ παιδαγωγοὺς αὖθις, ὧν μεῖζον κακὸν οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο. α. μετά γε μαίας νὴ Δία· αὗται δ’ ὑπερβάλλουσι. β. μετά γε νὴ Δία τοὺς μητραγυρτοῦντάς, τὸ πολὺ γὰρ αὖ γένος μιαρώτατον τοῦτ’ ἐστίν. α. εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία τοὺς ἰχθυοπώλας τις λέγειν μιαρωτάτους βούλοιτο. β. μετά γε τοὺς τραπεζίτας· ἔθνος τούτου γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐξωλέστερον.
And it was not without some wit that Diphilus, in his Merchant, speaks in this manner of fish being sold at an exorbitant price—I never heard of dearer fish at any time.Oh, Neptune, if you only got a tenthOf all that money, you would be by farThe richest of the gods! And yet if he,The fishmonger I mean, had been but civil,I would have given him his price, though grumbling;And, just as Priam ransom'd Hector, IWould have put down his weight to buy the conger.And Alexis says in his Grecian Woman—Living and dead, the monsters of the deepAre hostile to us always. If our shipBe overturn'd, they then at once devourWhatever of the crew they catch while swimming:And if they're caught themselves by fishermen,When dead they half undo their purchasers;For with our whole estate they must be bought,And the sad purchaser comes off a beggar.And Archippus, in his play called the Fish, mentions one fishmonger by name, Hermæus the Egyptian, saying—The cursedest of all fish-dealers isHermæus the Egyptian; who skinsAnd disembowels all the vilest fish,And sells them for the choicest, as I hear.And Alexis, in his Rich Heiress, mentions a certain fishmonger by name, Micio.
οὐκ ἀπιθάνως δὲ καὶ Δίφιλος ἐν Ἐμπόρῳ περὶ τοῦ παμπόλλου πιπράσκεσθαι τοὺς ἰχθῦς λέγει ὧδε· οὐ πώποτ’ ἰχθῦς οἶδα τιμιωτέρους ἰδών. Πόσειδον, εἰ δεκάτην ἐλάμβανες αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς τιμῆς ἑκάστης ἡμέρας, πολὺ τῶν θεῶν ἂν ἦσθα πλουσιώτατος. ὅμως δὲ τούτων εἴ με προσγελάσειέ τις, ἐδίδουν στενάξας ὁπόσον αἰτήσειέ με. γόγγρον μὲν, ὥσπερ ὁ Πρίαμος τὸν Ἕκτορα, ὅσον εἵλκυσεν τοσοῦτο καταθεὶς ἐπριάμην. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Ἑλληνίδι· ἀεὶ δὲ καὶ ζῶντ’ ἐστὶ καὶ τεθνηκότα τἀν τῇ θαλάττῃ πολέμι’ ἡμῖν θηρία. ἂν ἀνατραπῇ γὰρ πλοῖον, εἶθ᾽, ὡς γίνεται, ληφθῇ νέων τις, καταπεπώκασ’ εὐθέως. αὐτοὶ τ’ ἐπὰν ληφθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἁλιέων, τεθνεῶτες ἐπιτρίβουσι τοὺς ὠνουμένους. τῆς οὐσίας γάρ εἰσιν ἡμῶν ὤνιοι, ὁ πριάμενός τε πτωχὸς εὐθὺς ἀποτρέχει, ἐξ ὀνόματος δ’ ἰχθυοπώλου μνημονεύει Ἑρμαίου Αἰγυπτίου Ἄρχιππος ἐν Ἰχθύσιν οὕτως· Αἰγύπτιος μιαρώτατος τῶν ἰχθύων κάπηλος Ἑρμαῖος, ὃς βίᾳ δέρων ῥίνας γαλεούς τε πωλεῖ καὶ τοὺς λάβρακας ἐντερεύων, ὡς λέγουσιν ἡμῖν. καὶ Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Ἐπικλήρῳ Μικίωνος ἰχθυοπώλου τινος μνημονεύει.
And perhaps it is natural for fishermen to be proud of their skill, even to a greater degree than the most skilful generals. Accordingly, Anaxandrides, in his Ulysses, introduces one of them, speaking in this way of the fisherman's art—The beauteous handiwork of portrait paintersWhen in a picture seen is much admired;But the fair fruit of our best skill is seenIn a rich dish just taken from the frying-pan.For by what other art, my friend, do weSee young men's appetites so much inflamed?What causes such outstretching of the handsWhat is so apt to choke one, if a man.Can hardly swallow it? Does not the fish-marketAlone give zest to banquets Who can spreadA dinner without fried fish, or anchovies,Or high-priced mullet? With what words or charmsCan a well-favour'd youth be caught, if onceThe fisherman's assistance be denied?His art subdues him, bringing to the fish-kettleThe heads of well-boil'd fish; this leads him onTo doors which guard th' approach to a good dinner,And bids him haste, though nought himself contributing.
εἰκότως οὖν καὶ οἱ ἁλιεῖς ἐπὶ τῇ τέχνῃ μέγα φρονοῦσι μᾶλλον ἢ οἱ ἄριστοι τῶν στρατηγῶν παράγει γοῦν τινα τούτων Ἀναξανδρίδης ἐν Ὀδυσσεῖ περὶ τῆς ἁλιευτικῆς τέχνης τάδε λέγοντα· τῶν ζωγράφων μὲν ἡ καλὴ χειρουργία ἐν τοῖς πίναξιν κρεμαμένη θαυμάζεται· αὕτη δὲ σεμνῶς ἐκ λοπάδος ἁρπάζεται ἀπὸ τοῦ ταγήνου τ’ εὐθέως ἀφανίζεται. ἐπεὶ τίνα δι’ ἄλλην τέχνην, ὦ χρηστὲ σύ, τὰ στόματα τῶν νεωτέρων κατακάετ’ ἢ ὠθισμός ἐστι δακτύλων τοιουτοσὶ ἢ πνιγμός, ἂν μὴ ταχὺ δύνηται καταπιεῖν; ἀλλ’ οὐ μόνη γὰρ τὰς συνουσίας ποιεῖ εὔοψος ἀγορά; τίς δὲ συνδειπνεῖ βροτῶν φρυκτοὺς καταλαβὼν ἢ κορακίνους ὠνίους ἢ μαινίδ᾽; ὡραῖον δὲ μειρακύλλιον ποίαις ἐπῳδαῖς ἢ λόγοις ἁλίσκεται τίσιν, φράσον γάρ, ἄν τις ἀφέλῃ τὴν τέχνην τὴν τῶν ἀλιέων; ἥδε γὰρ δαμάζεται ἑφθοῖς προσώποις ἰχθύων χειρουμένη, ἄγουσ’ ὑπ’ αὐτὰ σώματ’ ἀρίστου πύλας, ἀσύμβολον κλίνειν τ’ ἀναγκάζει φύσιν.
And Alexis says this with reference to those who are too anxious as to buying their fish, in his Rich Heiress—Whoever being poor buys costly fish,And though in want of much, in this is lavish,He strips by night whoever he may meet.So when a man is stripp'd thus, let him goAt early morn and watch the fish-market.And the first man he sees both poor and youngBuying his eels of Micio, let him seize him,And drag him off to prison by the throat.And Diphilus, in his Merchant, says that there is some such law as this in existence among the Corinthians—A. This is an admirable law at Corinth,That when we see a man from time to timePurveying largely for his table, weShould ask him whence he comes, and what's his business:And if he be a man of property,Whose revenues can his expenses meet,Then we may let him as he will enjoy himself.But if he do his income much exceed,Then they bid him desist from such a course,And fix a fine on all who disobey.And if a man having no means at allStill lives in splendid fashion, him they giveUnto the gaoler.B. Hercules! what a law.A. For such a man can't live without some crime.Dost thou not see? He must rove out by nightAnd rob, break into houses, or else shareWith some who do so. Or he must haunt the forum,A vile informer, or be always readyAs a hired witness. And this tribe we hate,And gladly would expel from this our city.B. And you'd do well, by Jove; but what is that to me?A. Because we see you every day, my friend,Making not moderate but extravagant purchases.You hinder all the rest from buying fish,And drive the city to the greengrocer,And so we fight for parsley like the combatantsAt Neptune's games on th' Isthmus.. Does a hareCome to the market? it is yours; a thrushOr partridge? all do go the selfsame way.So that we cannot buy or fish or fowl;And you have raised the price of foreign wine.And Sophilus, in his Androcles, wishes that the same custom prevailed at Athens also, thinking that it would be a good thing if two or three men were appointed by the city to the regulation of the provision markets. And Lynceus the Samian wrote a treatise on purveying against some one who was very difficult to please when making his purchases; teaching him what a man ought to say to those homicidal fishmongers, so as to buy what he wants at a fair rate and without being exposed to any annoyance.
πρὸς δὲ τοὺς περιέργως ὀψωνοῦντας τάδε φησὶν Ἄλεξις ἐν Ἐπικλήρῳ· ὅστις ἀγοράζει πτωχὸς ὢν ὄψον πολὺ ἀπορούμενός τε τἄλλα πρὸς τοῦτ’ εὐπορεῖ, τῆς νυκτὸς οὗτος τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας ποεῖ γυμνούς, ἀναγκάζει τ’ ἐπάν τις ἐκδυθῇ, τηρεῖν ἕωθεν εὐθὺς ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν ὃν ἂν δ’ ἴδῃ πρῶτον πένητα καὶ νέον παρὰ Μικίωνος ἐγχέλεις ὠνούμενον, ἀπάγειν λαβόμενον εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον. Δίφιλος δ’ ἐν Ἐμπόρῳ καὶ νόμον εἶναί φησι παρὰ Κορινθίοις τινὰ τοιοῦτον νόμιμον τοῦτ’ ἐστί, βέλτιστ᾽, ἐνθάδε Κορινθίοισιν, ἂν τιν’ ὀψωνοῦντ’ ἀεὶ λαμπρῶς ὁρῶμεν, τοῦτον ἀνακρίνειν πόθεν ζῇ καὶ τί ποιῶν. κἂν μὲν οὐσίαν ἔχῃ ἧς αἱ πρόσοδοι λύουσι τἀναλώματα, ἐᾶν ἀπολαύειν τοῦτον ἤδη τὸν βίον ἐὰν δ’ ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐσίαν δαπανῶν τύχῃ, ἀπεῖπον αὐτῷ τοῦτο μὴ ποιεῖν ἔτι. ὃς ἂν δὲ μὴ πίθητ᾽, ἐπέβαλον ζημίαν. ἐὰν δὲ μηδ’ ὁτιοῦν ἔχων ζῇ πολυτελῶς, τῷ δημίῳ παρέδωκαν αὐτόν. β. Ἡράκλεις. α. οὐκ ἐνδέχεται γὰρ ζῆν ἄνευ κακοῦ τινος τοῦτον, συνιεῖς, ἀλλ’ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει ἢ λωποδυτεῖν τὰς νύκτας ἢ τοιχωρυχεῖν ἢ τῶν ποιούντων ταῦτα κοινωνεῖν τισιν ἢ συκοφαντεῖν κατ’ ἀγορὰν ἢ μαρτυρεῖν ψευδῆ. τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐκκαθαίρομεν γένος. β. ὀρθῶς γε νὴ Δί᾽. ἀλλὰ δὴ τί τοῦτ’ ἐμοί; α. ὁρῶμεν ὀψωνοῦνθ’ ἑκάστης ἡμέρας οὐχὶ μετρίως, βέλτιστέ, σ᾽, ἀλλ’ ὑπερηφάνως. οὐκ ἔστιν ἰχθυηρὸν ὑπὸ σοῦ μεταλαβεῖν, συνῆχας ἡμῶν εἰς τὰ λάχανα τὴν πόλιν, περὶ τῶν σελίνων μαχόμεθ᾽, ὥσπερ Ἰσθμίοις. λαγώς τις εἰσελήλυθ᾽. εὐθὺς ἥρπακας. πέρδικα δ’ ἢ κίχλην γε νὴ Δί᾽ οὐκέτι ἔστιν δι’ ὑμᾶς οὐδὲ πετομένην ἰδεῖν, τὸν ξενικὸν οἶνον ἐπιτετίμηκας πολύ. τὸ δὲ ἔθος τοῦτο καὶ Ἀθήνησιν εἶναι ἀξιοῖ Σώφιλος ἐν Ἀνδροκλεῖ ὀψονόμους ἀξιῶν αἱρεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς δύ’ ἢ καὶ τρεῖς. Λυγκεὺς δ’ ὁ Σάμιος καὶ τέχνην ὀψωνητικὴν συνέγραψε πρός τινα δυσώνην, διδάσκων αὐτὸν τίνα δεῖ λέγοντα πρὸς τοὺς ἀνδροφόνους ἰχθυοπώλας λυσιτελῶς, ἔτι δὲ ἀλύπως ὠνεῖσθαι ἃ βούλεται.
Ulpian again picking out the thorns from what was said, asked—Are we able to show that the ancients used silver vessels at their banquets? and is the word πίναξ a Greek noun? For with reference to the line in Homer—The swineherd served up dishes (πίνακας) of rich meat,Aristophanes the Byzantine said that is was a modernism to speak of meats being placed on platters (πίνακες), not being aware that in other places the poet has said—Dishes (πίνακας) of various meats the butler brought.I ask also, if any men among the ancients had ever acquired a multitude of slaves, as the men of modern times do: and if the word τήγανον (frying-pan) is ever found, and not the form τάγηνον only. So that we may not fix our whole attention on eating and drinking, like those who from their devotion to their bellies are called parasites and flatterers.
ἐκ τούτων πάλιν τῶν λεχθέντων τὰς ἀκάνθας ἀναλεξάμενος Οὐλπιανὸς εἰ ἔχομεν, ἔφη,δεῖξαι ἀργυροῖς σκεύεσιν ἐν τοῖς δείπνοις χρωμένους τοὺς ἀρχαίους καὶ εἰ ὁ πίναξ Ἑλληνικὸν ὄνομα. Ὁμήρου γὰρ εἰπόντος ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ· τοῖσιν δ’ αὖ πίνακας κρειῶν παρέθηκε συβώτης, Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ Βυζάντιος νεώτερόν φησιν εἶναι τὸ ἐπὶ πινάκων παρατιθέναι τὰ ὄψα, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι κἀν ἄλλοις εἴρηκεν ὁ ποιητής· δαιτρὸς δὲ κρειῶν πίνακας παρέθηκεν ἀείρας. ζητῶ δὲ καὶ εἰ δούλων πλῆθός τινες ἐκέκτηντο ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ νῦν καὶ εἰ τὸ τήγανον εἴρηται καὶ μὴ μόνως τάγηνον, καὶ μὴ πάντα πίνωμεν ἢ καὶ ἐσθίωμεν ὥσπερ οἱ διὰ τὴν γαστέρα παράσιτοι ὀνομαζόμενοι ἢ κόλακες.
And Aemilianus replied to him,—The word πίναξ, when used of a vessel, you may find used by Metagenes the comic writer, in his Valiant Persians: and Pherecrates, my friend, has used the form τήγανον in his Trifles, where he says—He said he ate anchovies from the frying-pan (τηγάνον).And the same poet has also said in the Persæ—To sit before the frying-pans (τήγανα) burning rushes.And Philonides says, in his Buskins—Receive him now with rays and frying-pans (τήγανα).And again he says—Smelling of frying-pans (τήγανα).And Eubulus says, in his Orthane—The bellows rouses Vulcan's guardian dogs,With the warm vapour of the frying-pan (τήγανον).And in another place he says—But every lovely woman walks alongFed with the choicest morsels from the frying-pan (τήγανον).And in his Titans he says—And the dishDoth laugh and bubble up with barbarous talk,And the fish leap ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις.And Phrynichus also uses a verb derived from the word in his Tragedian—'Tis sweet to eat fried meat, at any feastFor which one has been at no cost oneself.And Pherecrates, in his Ant Men says—“Are you eating fried meat (σὺ δ’ ἀποτηγανίζεις)?” But Hegesander the Delphian says that the Syracusans call a dish τήγανον, and the proper τήγανον they call ξηροτήγανον; on which account he says that Theodorides says in some poem—He in a τήγανον did boil it well,In a large swimming dish.Where he uses τήγανον for λοπας. But the Ionians write the word ἤγανον without the letter τ, as Anacreon says—Putting his hand within the frying-pan (ἤγανον).
πρὸς ὃν Αἰμιλιανὸς ἀπεκρίνατο·πίνακα μὲν ἔχεις τὸ σκεῦος ὠνομασμένον καὶ παρὰ Μεταγένει τῷ κωμικῷ ἐν Θουριοπέρσαις. τήγανον δέ, ὦ βέλτιστε, εἴρηκεν ἐν μὲν Λήροις Φερεκράτης οὕτως· ἀπὸ τηγάνου τ’ ἔφασκεν ἀφύας φαγεῖν. καὶ ἐν Πέρσαις ὁ αὐτός· ἐπὶ τηγάνοις καθίσανθ’ ὑφάπτειν τοῦ φλέω. Φιλωνίδης δ’ ἐν Κοθόρνοις· ὑποδέχεσθαι καὶ μαγίσι καὶ τηγάνοις. καὶ πάλιν ὀσφρομένην τῶν τηγάνων. Εὔβουλος δ’ ἐν Ὀρθάννῃ· ῥιπὶς δ’ ἐγείρει φύλακας Ἡφαίστου κύνας θερμῇ παροξύνουσα τηγάνου πνοῇ. καὶ πάλιν πᾶσα δ’ εὔμορφος γυνὴ ἐρῶσα φοιτᾷ τηγάνῳ τε συντρυφᾷ. καὶ ἐν Τιτᾶσι· προσγελῶσά τε λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι· πηδῶσι δ’ ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. τοῦ δὲ ῥήματος μέμνηται, Φρύνιχος ἐν Τραγῳδοῖς· ἡδὺ δ’ ἀποτηγανίζειν ἄνευ συμβολῶν. καὶ Φερεκράτης ἐν Μυρμηκανθρώποις φησί· σὺ δ’ ἀποτηγανίζεις. Ἡγήσανδρος δ’ ὁ Δελφὸς Συρακοσίους φησὶ τὴν μὲν λοπάδα τήγανον καλεῖν, τὸ δὲ τήγανον τήγανον διὸ καὶ Θεοδωρίδαν φάναι ἔν τινι ποιηματίῳ· τήγανον εὖ ἥψησεν ἐν ὀψητῆρι κολύμβῳ, τὴν λοπάδα τήγανον προσαγορεύων. χωρὶς δὲ τοῦ τ στοιχείου Ἴωνες ἤγανον λέγουσιν, ὡς Ἀνακρέων χεῖρὰ τ’ ἐν ἠγάνῳ βαλεῖν.
But with respect to the use of silver plate, my good friend Ulpian, you make me stop to consider a little; but I recollect what is said by Alexis in his Exile—For where an earthen pot is to be letFor the cook's use.For down to the times of the supremacy of the Macedonians the attendants used to perform their duties with vessels made of earthenware, as my countryman Juba declares. But when the Romans altered the way of living, giving it a more expensive direction, then Cleopatra, arranging her style of living in imitation of them, she, I mean, who ultimately destroyed the Egyptian monarchy, not being able to alter the name, she called gold and silver plate κέραμον; and then she gave the guests what she called the κέραμα to carry away with them; and this was very costly. And on the Rosic earthenware, which was the most beautiful, Cleopatra spent five mine every day. But Ptolemy the king, in the eighth book of his commentaries, writing of Masinissa the king of the Libyans, speaks as follows—"His entertainments were arranged in the Roman fashion, everything being served up in silver κέραμον. And the second course he arranged in the Italian mode. His dishes were all made of gold; made after the fashion of those which are plaited of bulrushes or ropes. And he employed Greek musicians.
εἰς ἐπίστασιν δέ με ἄγει, καλὲ Οὐλπιανέ, περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀργυρωμάτων χρήσεως τὸ ὑπὸ Ἀλέξιδος ἐν Φυγάδι εἰρημένον ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ κέραμος μισθώσιμος ὁ τοῖς μαγείροις. μέχρι γὰρ τῶν Μακεδονικῶν χρόνων κεραμέοις σκεύεσιν οἱ δειπνοῦντες διηκονοῦντο, ὥς φησιν ὁ ἐμὸς Ἰόβας. μεταβαλόντων δ’ ἐπὶ τὸ πολυτελέστερον Ῥωμαίων τὴν δίαιταν κατὰ μίμησιν ἐκδιαιτηθεῖσα Κλεοπάτρα ἡ τὴν Αἰγύπτου καταλύσασα βασιλείαν τοὔνομα οὐ δυναμένη ἀλλάξαι ἀργυροῦν καὶ χρυσοῦν ἀπεκάλει κέραμον αὐτὸ κέραμά τ’ ἐπεδίδου τοιαῦτα ἀποφόρητα τοῖς δειπνοῦσι· καὶ τοῦτ’ ἦν τὸ πολυτελέστατον εἴς τε τὸν Ῥωσικὸν εὐανθέστατον ὄντα κέραμον πέντε μνᾶς ἡμερησίας ἀνήλισκεν ἡ Κλεοπάτρα. Πτολεμαῖος δ’ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν ὀγδόῳ ὑπομνημάτων περὶ Μασσανάσσου τὸν λόγον ποιούμενος τοῦ Λιβύων βασιλέως φησὶ τάδε· δεῖπνα Ῥωμαικῶς ἦν κατεσκευασμένα, κεράμῳ παντὶ χορηγούμενα ἀργυρῷ· τὰς δὲ τῶν δευτέρων τραπέζας ἐκόσμει τοῖς Ἰταλικοῖς ἐθισμοῖς· τὰ δὲ κανίσκια ἦν ἅπαντα χρυσᾶ, γεγονότα πρὸς τὰ πλεκόμενα ταῖς σχοίνοις· μουσικοῖς δὲ ἐχρῆτο Ἑλληνικοῖς.
But Aristophanes the comic writer, whom Heliodorus the Athenian says, in his treatise concerning the Acropolis, (and it occupies fifteen books,) was a Naucratite by birth, in his play called Plutus, after the god who gave his name to the play and appeared on the stage, says that dishes of silver were in existence, just as all other things might be had made of the same metal. And his words are—But every vinegar cruet, dish and ewerIs made of brass; while all the dirty dishesIn which they serve up fish are made of silver.The oven too is made of ivory.And Plato says, in his Ambassadors—Epicrates and his good friend Phormisius,Received many and magnificent giftsFrom the great king; a golden cruet-stand,And silver plates and dishes.And Sophron, in his Female Actresses, says—The whole house shoneWith store of gold, and of much silver plate.
Ἀριστοφάνης δὲ ὁ κωμῳδιοποιός, ὅν φησιν Ἡλιόδωρος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἀκροπόλεωσ—πεντεκαίδεκα δ’ ἐστὶ ταῦτα βιβλία Ναυκρατίτην εἶναι γένος, ἐν τῷ Πλούτῳ δράματι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ὁμωνύμου θεοῦ ἐπιφάνειαν τοὺς ἰχθυηρούς φησι πίνακας ἀργυροῦς ἀναφανῆναι καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἅπαντα, λέγων ὡδί ὀξὶς δὲ πᾶσα καὶ λοπάδιον καὶ χύτρα χαλκῆ γέγονε· τοὺς δὲ πινακίσκους τοὺς σαπροὺς τοὺς ἰχθυηροὺς ἀργυροῦς πάρεσθ’ ὁρᾶν. ὁ δ’ ἰπνὸς γέγον’ ἡμῖν ἐξαπίνης ἐλεφάντινος. Πλάτων δ’ ἐν Πρέσβεσι· κᾆτ’ ἔλαβον Ἐπικράτης τε καὶ Φορμίσιος παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως πλεῖστα δωροδοκήματα, ὀξύβαφα χρυσᾶ καὶ πινακίσκους ἀργυροῦς. σώφρων δ’ ἐν γυναικείοις μίμοις φησί· τῶν δὲ χαλκωμάτων καὶ τῶν· ἀργυρωμάτων ἐμάρμαιρε ἁ οἰκία.
And Philippides, in his Disappearance of Silver, speaks of the use of it as ostentatious and uncommon, and aimed at only by some foreigners who had made fortunes but lately—A. I felt a pity for all human things,Seeing men nobly born to ruin hasting,And branded slaves displaying silver dishesWhene'er they ate a pennyworth of salt-fish,Or a small handful of capers, in a plateWhose weight is fifty drachms of purest silver.And formerly 'twould have been hard to seeOne single flagon vow'd unto the gods.B. That is rare now. For if one man should vowA gift like that, some other man would steal it.And Alexis, in his Little House, introducing a young man in love displaying his wealth to his mistress, represents him as making her some such speech as this—A. I told the slaves, (for I brought two from home,)To place the carefully wiped silver vesselsFairly in sight. There was a silver goblet,And cups which weigh'd two drachms; a beaker tooWhose weight was four; a wine-cooler, ten obols,Slighter than e'en Philippides' own self.And yet these things are not so ill-contrivedTo make a show....And I am myself acquainted with one of our own fellow-citizens who is as proud as he is poor, and who, when all his silver plate put together scarcely weighed a drachma, used to keep calling for his servant, a single individual, an the only one he had, but still he called him by hundreds of different names. “Here, you Strombichides, do not put o the table any of my winter plate, but my summer plate.” And the character in Nicostratus, in the play entitled the Kings, is just such another. There is a braggart soldier, of whom he speaks—There is some vinegar and a wine-cooler,Thinner than thinnest gauze.For there were at that time people who were able to beat out silver till it was as thin as a piece of skin.
Φιλιππίδης δ’ ἐν Ἀργυρίου ἀφανισμῷ ὡς φορτικοῦ μέμνηται τοῦ τοιούτου καὶ σπανίου, ζηλουμένου δὲ ὑπό τινων νεοπλούτων μετοίκων ἀλλ’ ἔλεος ἐμπέπτωκέ τίς μοι τῶν ὅλων ὅταν ἀπορουμένους μὲν ἀνθρώπους ἴδω ἐλευθέρους, μαστιγίας δ’ ἀπ’ ἀργυροῦ πίνακος ἄγοντος μνᾶν τάριχος ἐνίοτε δυεῖν ὀβολῶν ἔσθοντας ἢ τριωβόλου καὶ κάππαριν χαλκῶν τριῶν ἐν τρυβλίῳ ἄγοντι πεντήκοντα δραχμὰς ἀργυρῷ. πρότερον δὲ φιάλην ἦν ἀνακειμένην ἰδεῖν ἐργῶδες ἀμέλει. β. τοῦτο μὲν καὶ νῦν ἔτι· ἂν γὰρ ἀναθῇ τις, εὐθὺς ἕτερος ἥρπασεν. Ἄλεξις δὲ ἐν Ἱππίσκῳ νεανίσκον παράγων ἐρῶντα καὶ ἐπιδεικνύμενον τὸν πλοῦτον τῇ ἐρωμένῃ ταῦτα ποιεῖ λέγοντα· τοῖς παισὶ τ’ εἶπα δύο γὰρ ἦγον οἴκοθεν τἀκπώματ’ εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐκνενιτρωμένα θεῖναι, κύαθος δ’ ἦν ἀργυροῦς （οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἦγεν δύο δραχμάσ᾽, κυμβίον δὲ τέτταρας ἴσως ἑτέρας, ψυκτηρίδιον δὲ δέκ’ ὀβολούς, Φιλιππίδου λεπτότερον. β. ἀλλὰ ταῦθ’ ὅλως πρὸς ἀλαζονείαν οὐ κακῶς νενοημέν’ ἦν. οἶδα δὲ κἀγώ τινα πολίτην ἡμέτερον πτωχαλαζόνα, ὃς δραχμῆς ἔχων τὰ πάντα ἀργυρώματα ἐβόα καλῶν τὸν οἰκέτην ἕνα ὄντα καὶ μόνον, ὀνόμασι δὲ χρώμενον ψαμμακοσίοις, παῖ Στρομβιχίδη, μὴ τῶν χειμερινῶν ἀργυρωμάτων ἡμῖν παραθῇς, ἀλλὰ τῶν θερινῶν. τοιοῦτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ παρὰ Νικοστράτῳ ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ δράματι Βασιλεῖς. ἀλαζὼν δ’ ἐστὶ στρατιώτης περὶ οὗ λέγει· λοιπή τις ὀξίς ἐστι καὶ ψυκτήριον τῆς εὐπαρύφου λεπτότερον. ἐξήλαυνον γάρ τινες τὸν ἄργυρον καὶ τότε εἰς ὑμένος ἰδέαν.
And Antiphanes, in his Lemnian Women, says—A three-legg'd table now is laid, and on itA luscious cheesecake, O ye honour'd gods,And this year's honey in a silver dish.And Sopater the parodist, in his Orestes, writes—A silver dish, bearing a stinking shad.And in the drama entitled Phace he says—But at his supper he does sport a cruetOf shining silver, richly chased with figures,And bas-reliefs of dragons: such as ThibronUsed to display, most delicate of men,Stripp'd of his wealth by arts of Tantalus.And Theopompus the Chian, in his Letters of Advice to Alexander, when he enters into a discussion about Theocritus his fellow-citizen, says—"But he drinks out of silver cups and out of golden cups, and uses other vessels of the same kind upon his table. A man who formerly, not only did not drink out of silver vessels, but who had not brazen ones either, but was content with the commonest earthenware, and even that very often cracked and chipped. And Diphilus says, in his Painter—A splendid breakfast then appear'd, consistingOf all that was desirable or new;First every kind of oyster; then a phalanxOf various side-dishes, and a heapOf broiled meats fresh from the gridiron,And potted meats in silver mortars pounded.And Philemon says in his Physician—And a large basket full of silver plate.And Menander, in his Heautontimorumenos, says—A bath, maid-servants, lots of silver plate.And in his Hymnis he writes—But I am come in quest of silver plate.And Lysias, in his Oration on the Golden Tripod, if indeed the speech be a genuine one of his, says—“It was Still pos- sible to give silver or gold plate.” But those who pique themselves on the purity of their Greek, say that the proper expression is not ἀργυρώματα and χρυσώματα, but ἀργυροῦς κόσμος and χρυσοῦς κόσμος.
καὶ Ἀντιφάνης δὲ ἐν Λημνίαις φησί παρετέθη τρίπους πλακοῦντα χρηστόν, ὦ πολυτίμητοι θεοί, ἔχων ἐν ἀργυρῷ τε τρυβλίῳ μέλι. καὶ Σώπατρος δ’ ὁ παρῳδὸς ἐν ᾽Ὀρέστῃ· σαπρὸν σίλουρον ἀργυροῦς πίναξ ἔχων. ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ δράματι Φακῇ φησιν ἀλλ’ ἀμφὶ δείπνοις ὀξίδ’ ἀργυρᾶν ἔχει δρακοντομίμοις ἠρμένην τορεύμασιν, οἵαν ποτ’ ἔσχε καὶ Θίβρων ὁ Ταντάλου μαλακὸν ταλάντοις ἐκταλαντωθεὶς ἀνήρ. Θεόπομπος δ’ ὁ Χῖος ἐν ταῖς πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον συμβουλαῖς περὶ Θεοκρίτου τοῦ πολίτου τὸν λόγον ποιούμενός φησιν ἐξ ἀργυρωμάτων δὲ καὶ χρυσῶν πίνει καὶ τοῖς σκεύεσιν χρῆται τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης ἑτέροις τοιούτοις, ὁ πρότερον οὐχ ὅπως ἐξ ἀργυρωμάτων ἔχων πίνειν ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ χαλκῶν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ κεραμέων καὶ τούτων ἐνίοτε κολοβῶν. Δίφιλος δ’ ἐν Ζωγράφῳ· ἄριστον ἐπεχόρευσεν ἐκλελεγμένον, εἴ τι νέον ἢ ποθεινὸν ὀστρέων γένη παντοδαπά, λοπάδων παρατεταγμένη φάλαγξ, ὀπτῶν ἐπῇττε σωρὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ τηγάνου, τριμμάτια τούτοις ἐν θυΐαις ἀργυραῖς. Φιλήμων Ἰατρῷ· καὶ γυλιὸν τιν’ ἀργυρωμάτων. Μένανδρος Ἑαυτὸν τιμωρουμένῳ λουτρόν, θεραπαίνας, … ἀργυρώματα. καὶ ἐν Ὑμνίδι· ἀλλὰ τἀργυρώματα ἥκω λαβεῖν βουλόμενος. Λυσίας δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ χρυσοῦ τρίποδος, εἰ γνήσιος ὁ λόγος· ἀργυρώματά τε ἢ χρυσώματα ἔτι ἦν διδόναι. οἱ δ’ ἑλληνίζοντες λέγειν δεῖν φασιν ἀργυροῦν κόσμον καὶ χρυσοῦν κόσμον.
When Aemilianus had said this, Pontianus said—For formerly gold was really exceedingly scarce among the Greeks; and there was not indeed much silver; at least, not much which was extracted from the mines; on which account Duris the Samian says that Philip, the father of the great king Alexander, as he was possessed of one flagon of gold, always put it under his pillow when he went to bed. And Herodorus of Heraclea says, that the Golden Lamb of Atreus, which was the pregnant cause of many eclipses of the sun, and changes of kings, and which was, moreover, the subject of a great many tragedies, was a golden flagon, having in the centre a figure of a golden lamb. And Anaximenes of Lampsacus, in the first of those works of his, called Histories, says that the necklace of Eriphyle was so notorious because gold at that time was so rare among the Greeks; for that a golden goblet was at that time a most unusual thing to see; but that after the taking of Delphi by the Phocians, then all such things began to be more abundant. But formerly even those men who were accounted exceedingly rich used to drink out of brazen goblets, and the repositories where they put them away they called χαλκόθηκαι. And Herodotus says that the Egyptian priests drink out of brazen goblets; and he affirms that silver flagons could not be found to be given to all the kings, even when they sacrificed in public; and, accordingly, that Psammetichus, who was later than the other kings, performed his libations with a brazen flagon, while the rest made their offerings with silver ones. But after the temple at Delphi had been plundered by the tyrants of Phocis, then gold became common among the Greeks, and silver became actually abundant; and afterwards, when the great Alexander had brought into Greece all the treasures from out of Asia, then there really did shine forth what Pindar calls “wealth predominating far and wide.”
τοσαῦτα εἰπόντος τοῦ Αἰμιλιανοῦ ὁ Ποντιανὸς ἔφη· σπάνιος γὰρ ὄντως ἦν τὸ παλαιὸν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὁ μὲν χρυσὸς καὶ πάνυ, ὁ δὲ ἄργυρος ὀλίγος ἦν ἐν τοῖς μετάλλοις. διὸ καὶ Φίλιππον τὸν τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως Ἀλεξάνδρου πατέρα φησὶν Δοῦρις ὁ Σάμιος φιάλιον χρυσοῦν κεκτημένον ἀεὶ τοῦτ’ ἔχειν κείμενον ὑπὸ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον. καὶ τὴν Ἀτρέως δὲ χρυσῆν ἄρνα, περὶ ἣν γεγόνασιν ἡλίου τε ἐκλείψεις καὶ βασιλέων μεταβολαὶ ἔτι τε τῆς τραγῳδίας ἡ πολλή, φιάλην ἀργυρᾶν φησι γεγονέναι Ἡρόδωρος ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης ἔχουσαν ἐν μέσῳ ἄρνα χρυσῆν. Ἀναξιμένης δ’ ὁ Λαμψακηνὸς ἐν ταῖς πρώταις ἐπιγραφομέναις ἱστορίαις τὸν Ἐριφύλης ὅρμον διαβόητον γενέσθαι διὰ τὸ σπάνιον εἶναι τότε τὸ χρυσίον παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι· καὶ γὰρ ἀργυροῦν ποτήριον ἦν ἰδεῖν τότε παράδοξον. μετὰ δὲ τὴν Δελφῶν ὑπὸ Φωκέων κατάληψιν πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα δαψίλειαν εἴληφεν. ἐκ ποτηρίων δὲ χαλκῶν ἔπινον οἱ σφόδρα δοκοῦντες πλουτεῖν καὶ τὰς θήκας τούτων ὠνόμαζον χαλκοθήκας. ʽ Ἡρόδοτός τέ φησι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίων ἱερεῖς χαλκοῖς ποτηρίοις πίνειν, τοῖς τε βασιλεῦσιν αὐτῶν θύουσί ποτε κοινῇ οὐχ εὑρεθῆναι πᾶσι δοθῆναι φιάλας ἀργυρᾶς· Ψαμμήτιχον γοῦν νεώτερον ὄντα τῶν ἄλλων βασιλέων χαλκῇ φιάλῃ σπεῖσαι τῶν ἄλλων ἀργυραῖς σπενδόντων. συληθέντος δ’ οὖν τοῦ Πυθικοῦ ἱεροῦ ὑπὸ τῶν Φωκικῶν τυράννων ἐπέλαμψε παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὁ χρυσός, εἰσεκώμασε δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄργυρος, ὕστερον δὲ τοῦ μεγίστου Ἀλεξάνδρου τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας θησαυροὺς ἀνελομένου ὄντως ἀνέτειλεν ὁ κατὰ Πίνδαρον εὐρυσθενὴς πλοῦτος.
And the silver and gold offerings which were at Delphi were offered originally by Gyges the king of the Lydians. For before the reign of this monarch Apollo had no silver, and still less had he gold, as Phanias the Eresian tells us, and Theopompus, too, in the fortieth book of his History of the Transactions of the Reign of Philip. For these writers relate that the Pythian temple was adorned by Gyges, and by Crœsus who succeeded him; and after them by Gelo and Hiero, the tyrants of Syracuse: the first of whom offered up a tripod and a statue of Victory, both made of gold, about the time that Xerxes was making his expedition against Greece; and Hiero made similar offerings. And Theopompus uses the following language—“For anciently the temple was adorned with brazen offerings: I do not mean statues, but caldrons and tripods made of brass. The Lacedæmonians, therefore, wishing to gild the face of the Apollo that was at Amyclæ, and not finding any gold in Greece, having sent to the oracle of the god, asked the god from whom they could buy gold; and he answered them that they should go to Crœsus the Lydian, and buy it of him. And they went and bought the gold of Crœsus. But Hiero the Syracusan, wishing to offer to the god a tripod and a statue of Victory of unalloyed gold, and being in want of the gold for a long time, afterwards sent men to Greece to seek for it; who, coming after a time to Corinth, and tracing it out, found some in the possession of Architeles the Corinthian, who had been a long time buying it up by little and little, and so had no inconsiderable quantity of it; and he sold it to the emissaries of Hiero in what quantity they required. And after that, having filled his hand with it he made them a present of all that he could hold in his hand, in return for which Hiero sent a vessel full of corn, and many other gifts to him from Sicily.”
καὶ τὰ ἐν Δελφοῖς δὲ ἀναθήματα τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χρυσᾶ ὑπὸ πρώτου Γύγου τοῦ Λυδῶν βασιλέως ἀνετέθη· καὶ πρὸ τῆς τούτου βασιλείας ἀνάργυρος, ἔτι δὲ ἄχρυσος ἦν ὁ Πύθιος, ὡς Φαινίας τέ φησιν ὁ Ἐρέσιος καὶ Θεόπομπος ἐν τῇ τεσσαρακοστῇ τῶν Φιλιππικῶν. ἱστοροῦσι γὰρ οὗτοι κοσμηθῆναι τὸ Πυθικὸν ἱερὸν ὑπό τε τοῦ Γύγου καὶ τοῦ μετὰ τοῦτον Κροίσου, μεθ’ οὓς ὑπό τε Γέλωνος καὶ Ἱέρωνος τῶν Σικελιωτῶν, τοῦ μὲν τρίποδα καὶ Νίκην χρυσοῦ πεποιημένα ἀναθέντος καθ’ οὓς χρόνους Ξέρξης ἐπεστράτευε τῇ Ἑλλάδι, τοῦ δ’ Ἱέρωνος τὰ ὅμοια, λέγει δ’ οὕτως ὁ Θεόπομπος· ἦν γὰρ τὸ παλαιὸν τὸ ἱερὸν κεκοσμημένον χαλκοῖς ἀναθήμασιν, οὐκ ἀνδριᾶσιν ἀλλὰ λέβησι καὶ τρίποσι χαλκοῦ πεποιημένοις. Λακεδαιμόνιοι οὖν χρυσῶσαι βουλόμενοι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἐν Ἀμύκλαις Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκοντες ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι χρυσίον πέμψαντες εἰς θεοῦ ἐπηρώτων τὸν θεὸν παρ’ οὗ χρυσίον πρίαιντο. ὁ δ’ αὐτοῖς ἀνεῖλεν παρὰ Κροίσου τοῦ Λυδοῦ πορευθέντας ὠνεῖσθαι. καὶ οἳ πορευθέντες παρὰ Κροίσου ὠνήσαντο. Ἱέρων δ’ ὁ Συρακόσιος βουλόμενος ἀναθεῖναι τῷ θεῷ τὸν τρίποδα καὶ τὴν Νίκην ἐξ ἀπέφθου χρυσοῦ ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἀπορῶν χρυσίου ὕστερον ἔπεμψε τοὺς ἀναζητήσοντας εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, οἵτινες μόλις ποτ’ εἰς Κόρινθον ἀφικόμενοι καὶ ἐξιχνεύσαντες εὗρον παρ’ Ἀρχιτέλει τῷ Κορινθίῳ, ὃς πολλῷ χρόνῳ συνωνούμενος κατὰ μικρὸν θησαυροὺς εἶχεν οὐκ ὀλίγους, ἀπέδοτο γοῦν τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ ʽ Ἱέρωνος ὅσον ἠβούλοντο καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πληρώσας καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χεῖρα ὅσον ἠβούλοντο χωρῆσαι ἐπέδωκεν αὐτοῖς. ἀνθ’ ὧν Ἱέρων πλοῖον σίτου καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ δῶρα ἔπεμψεν ἐκ Σικελίας.