But Archestratus, the man who lived the life of Sardanapalus, speaking of the galeus as he is found at Rhodes, says that it is the same fish as that which, among the Romans, is brought on the table to the music of flutes, and accompanied with crowns, the slaves also who carry it being crowned, and that it is called by the Romans accipesius. But the accipesius, the same as the acipenser, or sturgeon, is but a small fish in comparison, and has a longer nose, and is more triangular than the galeus in his shape. And the very smallest and cheapest galeus is not sold at a lower price than a thousand Attic drachmæ. But Appian, the grammarian, in his essay on the Luxury of Apicius, says that the accipesius is the fish called the ellops by the Greeks. But Archestratus, speaking of the Rhodian galeus, counselling his companions in a fatherly sort of way, says—Are you at Rhodese'en if about to die,Still, if a man would sell you a fox shark,The fish the Syracusans call the dog,Seize on it eagerly; at least, if fat:And then compose yourself to meet your fateWith brow serene and mind well satisfied.Lynceus, the Samian, also quotes these verses in his letter to Diagoras, and says that the poet is quite right in advising the man who cannot afford the price for one, to gratify his appetite by robbery rather than go without it. For he says that Theseus; who I take to have been some very good-looking man, offered to indulge Thepolemus in anything if he would only give him one of these fish. And Timocles, in his play called The Ring, says—Galei and rays, and all the fish besidesWhich cooks do dress with sauce and vinegar.
Ἀρχέστρατος δὲ ὁ τὸν αὐτὸν Σαρδαναπάλλῳ ζηλώσας βίον περὶ τοῦ ἐν Ῥόδῳ γαλεοῦ λέγων τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι ἡγεῖται τῷ παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις μετ’ αὐλῶν καὶ στεφάνων εἰς τὰ δεῖπνα περιφερομένῳ ἐστεφανωμένων καὶ τῶν φερόντων αὐτὸν καλούμενόν τε ἀκκιπήσιον. ἀλλ’ οὗτος μὲν μικρὸς καὶ μακρορυγχότερός ἐστι καὶ τῷ σχήματι τρίγωνος ἐκείνων μᾶλλον τούτων δ’ ὁ εὐτελέστατος καὶ μικρότατος οὐχ ἧττον Ἀττικῶν χιλίων πιπράσκεται. Ἀπίων δ’ ὁ γραμματικὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς Ἀπικίου τρυφῆς τὸν ἔλοπα καλούμενον τοῦτόν φησιν εἶναι τὸν ἀκκιπήσιον. ἀλλ’ ὅ γε Ἀρχέστρατος περὶ τοῦ Ῥοδιακοῦ γαλεοῦ λέγων τοῖς ἑταίροις πατρικῶς πως συμβουλεύων φησίν· ἐν δὲ Ῥόδῳ γαλεὸν τὸν ἀλώπεκα· κἂν ἀποθνῄσκειν μέλλῃς, ἂν μή σοι πωλεῖν θέλῃ, ἅρπασον αὐτόν· ὃν καλέουσι Συρακόσιοι κύνα πίονα· κᾆτα ὕστερον ἤδη πάσχ’ ὅτι σοι πεπρωμένον ἐστίν. τούτων τῶν ἐπῶν μνησθεὶς καὶ Λυγκεὺς ὁ Σάμιος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Διαγόραν ἐπιστολῇ φησιν καὶ δικαίως παρακελεύεσθαι τὸν ποιητὴν τῷ μὴ δυναμένῳ τιμὴν ἀριθμῆσαι ἀδικίᾳ κτήσασθαι τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν. καὶ γὰρ τὸν Θησέα, φησί, γεγονότα καλὸν ὑπολαμβάνω τοῦ Τληπολέμου τὸν ἰχθὺν τοῦτον αὐτῷ παρασχόντος παρεσχηκέναι. Τιμοκλῆς δ’ ἐν Δακτυλίῳ φησί· γαλεοὺς καὶ βατίδας ὅσα τε τῶν γενῶν ἐν ὀξυλιπάρῳ τρίμματι σκευάζεται.
There is also the sea-grayling. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—There is the variegated scorpion,The lizard, and the fat sea-grayling too.And Numenius, in his Treatise on Fishing, says—The hycca, the callicthys, and the chromis,The orphus, the sea-grayling too, who hauntsThe places where seaweed and moss abound.And Archestratus, praising the head of the glaucus, says—If you're at Megara or at Olynthus,Dress me a grayling's head. For in the shallowsAround those towns he's taken in perfection.And Antiphanes, in his Shepherd, says—Bœotian eels, and mussels too from Pontus,Graylings from Megara, from Carystus shrimps,Eretrian phagri, and the Scyrian crabs.And the same writer, in his Philotis, speaks thus—A. What shall be done with the grayling?B. WhyNow, as at other times, boil him in brine.A. What with the pike?B. Why roast him whole, and dish h m.A. What with the galeus?B. Do him up with stuffing,And serve him hot.A. How will you have the eels!?B. Cook them with salt, and marjoram, and water.A. The conger?B. Do the same.A. The ray?B. Take herbsAnd season him with them.A. There is besidesHalf a large tunny.B. Roast it.A. Some goat's venison.B. Roast that.A. How will you have the rest o' the meat?B. All boil'd.A. The spleen?B. Stuff that.A. The paunch and trail?
Γλαῦκος. Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Ἥβας γάμῳ· σκορπίοι τε ποικίλοι σαῦροί τε, γλαῦκοι πίονες. Νουμήνιος ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ· ὕκην ἢ κάλλιχθυν, ὁτὲ χρόμιν, ἄλλοτε δ’ ὀρφὸν ἢ γλαῦκον περόωντα κατὰ μνία σιγαλόεντα. τὴν δὲ τοῦ γλαύκου κεφαλὴν ἐπαινῶν ὁ Ἀρχέστρατός φησιν ἀλλά μοι ὀψώνει γλαύκου κεφαλὴν ἐν Ὀλύνθῳ καὶ Μεγάροις· σεμνῆς γὰρ ἁλίσκεται ἐν τενάγει γῆς. καὶ Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Προβατεῖ φησιν Βοιώτιαι μὲν ἐγχέλεις, μῦς Ποντικοί, θύννοι … γλαῦκοι Μεγαρικοί, μαινίδες Καρύστιαι, φάγροι δ’ Ἐρετρικοί, Σκύριοι δὲ κάραβοι. ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς ἐν Φιλώτιδι καὶ ταῦτα λέγει· οὐκοῦν τὸ μὲν γλαυκίδιον, ὥσπερ ἄλλοτε, ἕψειν ἐν ἅλμῃ φημί. β. τὸ δὲ λαβράκιον; α. ὀπτᾶν ὅλον. β. τὸν γαλεόν; α. ἐν ὑποτρίμματι ζέσαι. β. τὸ δὲ ἐγχέλειον; α. ἅλες, ὀρίγανον. ὕδωρ. β. ὁ γόγγρος; α. ταὐτόν. β. ἡ βατίς; α. χλόη. β. πρόσεστι θύννου τέμαχος. α. ὀπτήσεις. β. κρέας ἐρίφειον; α. ὀπτόν. β. θάτερον; α. τἀναντία. β. ὁ σπλήν; α. σεσάχθω. β. νῆστις;
And Eubulus says, in his Campylion,—There was a beautiful dish of the sea-grayling,And a boil'd pike served up i' savoury pickle.And Anaxandrides, in his Nereus, says—The man who first discover'd all the goodOf the most precious head of a large grayling,And then how dainty was the tunny's meat,Caught where the waves are by no tempests tost,How good in short is the whole race of fish,Nereus his name, dwells in this place for ever.And Amphis, in his Seven against Thebes, says—Whole graylings, and large slices of the head.And in his Philetærus, he says—Take a small eel, and a fine grayling's head,And slices of a pike fresh from the sea.And Antiphanes, in his Cyclops, out-heroding even the epicure Archestratus, says—Give me an Hymettian mullet,And a ray just caught, a perchSplit open, and a cuttle-fish,And a well-roasted synodon;A slice of grayling, and a headOf mighty conger, luscious food;A frog's inside, a tunny's flank,A ray's sharp back, a cestra's loin,Sea-sparrows, and sea-thrushes too,Sprats, and anchovies, let me notComplain of any want.
Εὔβουλος Καμπυλίωνι· τὴν τ’ εὐπρόσωπον λοπάδα … … τοῦδε τοῦ θαλαττίου Γλαύκου φέρουσαν εὐγενέστερον … λάβρακὰ θ’ ἑφθὸν … ἅλμῃ μίαν. Ἀναξανδρίδης Νηρεῖ· ὁ πρῶτος εὑρὼν πολυτελὲς τμητὸν μέγα γλαύκου πρόσωπον τοῦ τ’ ἀμύμονος δέμας θύννου τὰ τ’ ἄλλα βρώματ’ ἐξ ὑγρᾶς ἁλὸς Νηρεὺς κατοικεῖ τόνδε πάντα τὸν τόπον. Ἄμφις ἐν Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβαις· γλαῦκοι δ’ ὅλοι, ῥαχιστὰ κρανίων μέρη εὔσαρκα. καὶ ἐν Φιλεταίρῳ· ἔχειν καθαρείως ἐγχελύδιόν τι καὶ γλαυκινιδίου κεφάλαια καὶ λαβρακίου τεμάχια. Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Κύκλωπι ὑπερακοντίζων τὸν τένθην Ἀρχέστρατόν φησιν ἔστω δ’ ἡμῖν κεστρεὺς τμητός, νάρκη πνικτή, πέρκη σχιστή, τευθὶς σακτή, συνόδων ὀπτός, γλαύκου προτομή, γόγγρου κεφαλή, βατράχου γαστήρ, θύννου λαγόνες, βατίδος νῶτον, κέστρας ὀσφύς, ψητταρικίσκος, μαινίς, καρίς, τρίγλη, φυκίς· τῶν τοιούτων μηδὲν ἀπέστω.
And Nausicrates says, in his Captains of Ships,—A. They say there are two kinds of fish most tenderAnd beautiful to see, which oft appearTo sailors wandering o'er the spacious plainsOf ocean. And they say that one foretellsTo mortals all the evils which hang o'er them.B. You mean the grayling.A. You are right, I do.And Theolytus, the Methymnæan, in his Bacchic Odes, says that Glaucus the deity of the sea became enamoured of Ariadne, when she was carried off by Bacchus in the island of Dia; and that he, attempting to offer violence to her, was bound by Bacchus in fetters made of vine-twigs; but that when he begged for mercy he was released, saying—There is a place, Anthedon is its name,On the seaside, against th' Eubœan isle,Near to the stream of the still vext Euripus—Thence is my race; and Copeus was my sire.And Promathides of Heraclea, in his Half Iambics, traces the pedigree of Glaucus as being the son of Polybus, the son of Mercury, and of Eubœa, the daughter of Larymnus. But Mnaseas, in the third book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, calls him the son of Anthedon and Alcyone; and says that he was a sailor and an excellent diver, and that he was surnamed Pontius; and that having ravished Syme, the daughter of Ialemus and Dotis, he sailed away to Asia, and colonised a desert island near Caria, and called that Syme, from the name of his wife. But Euanthes, the epic poet, in his Hymn to Glaucus, says that he was the son of Neptune and the nymph Nais; and that he was in love with Ariadne, in the island of Dia, and was favoured by her after she had been left there by Theseus. But Aristotle, in his Constitution of the Delians, says that he settled in Delos with the Nereids, and gave oracles to all who wished for them. But Possis, the Magnesian, in the third book of his Amazonis, says that Glaucus was the builder of the Argo, and that he was her pilot when Jason fought the Etrurians, and was the only person unwounded in that naval battle; and that by he will of Jupiter he appeared in the depths of the sea, and so became a sea deity, but was seen by Jason alone. But Nicanor the Cyrenæan, in his Changes of Names, says that Melicerta changed his name and assumed the name of Glaucus.
Ναυσικράτης Ναυκλήροις·.. δύο μέν, φασιν, ἁπαλοὶ καὶ καλοὶ παῖδες θεοῦ τοῦ ναυτίλοισι πολλάκις ἤδη φανέντος πελαγίοις ἐν ἀγκάλαις, ὃν καὶ τὰ θνητῶν φασιν ἀγγέλλειν πάθη. β. Γλαῦκον λέγεις. α. ἔγνωκας. τὸν δὲ Γλαῦκον τὸν θαλάττιον δαίμονα Θεόλυτος μὲν ὁ Μηθυμναῖος ἐν τοῖς Βακχικοῖς ἔπεσιν ἐρασθέντα φησὶν Ἀρεάδνης, ὅτ’ ἐν Δίᾳ τῇ νήσῳ ὑπὸ Διονύσου ἡρπάσθη, καὶ βιαζόμενον ὑπὸ Διονύσου ἀμπελίνῳ δεσμῷ ἐνδεθῆναι καὶ δεηθέντα ἀφεθῆναι εἰπόντα· Ἀνθηδών νὺ τίς ἐστιν ἐπὶ πλευροῖο θαλάσσης ἀντίον Εὐβοίης σχεδὸν Εὐρίποιο ῥοάων· ἔνθεν ἐγὼ γένος εἰμί· πατήρ δέ με γείνατο Κωπεύς. Προμαθίδας δ’ ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης ἐν ἡμιάμβοις Πολύβου τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ Εὐβοίας τῆς Λαρύμνου γενεαλογεῖ τὸν Γλαῦκον. Μνασέας δ’ ἐν τρίτῳ τῶν Εὐρωπιακῶν Ἀνθηδόνος καὶ Ἀλκυόνης αὐτὸν γενεαλογεῖ. ναυτικὸν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ κολυμβητὴν ἀγαθὸν γενόμενον Πόντιον καλεῖσθαι· ἁρπάσαντα Σύμην τὴν Ἰηλύσου καὶ Δωτίδος θυγατέρα ἀποπλεῦσαι εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν καὶ τὴν ἐγγὺς τῆς Καρίας νῆσον ἔρημον οὖσαν κατοικίσαντα ἀπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς Σύμην αὐτὴν προσαγορεῦσαι. Εὐάνθης δ’ ὁ ἐποποιὸς ἐν τῷ εἰς τὸν Γλαῦκον ὕμνῳ Ποσειδῶνος αὐτὸν υἱὸν εἶναι καὶ Ναΐδος νύμφης μιγῆναί τε Ἀρεάδνῃ ἐν Δίᾳ τῇ νήσῳ ἐρασθέντα, ὅτε ὑπὸ Θησέως κατελείφθη, Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τῇ Δηλίων πολιτείᾳ ἐν Δήλῳ κατοικήσαντα μετὰ τῶν Νηρηίδων τοῖς θέλουσι μαντεύεσθαι. Πόσσις δ’ ὁ Μάγνης ἐν τρίτῳ Ἀμαζονίδος τῆς Ἀργοῦς φησι δημιουργὸν γενέσθαι τὸν Γλαῦκον καὶ κυβερνῶντα αὐτήν, ὅτε ᾽ Ἰάσων μετὰ τῶν Τυρρηνῶν ἐμάχετο, μόνον ἄτρωτον γενέσθαι ἐν τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ· κατὰ δὲ Διὸς βούλησιν ἐν τῷ τῆς θαλάσσης βυθῷ ἀφανισθῆναι καὶ οὕτως γενέσθαι θαλάττιον δαίμονα ὑπὸ μόνου τε Ἰάσονος θεωρηθῆναι. Νικάνωρ δὲ ὁ Κυρηναῖος ἐν Μετονομασίαις τὸν Μελικέρτην φησὶ Γλαῦκον μετονομασθῆναι.
Alexander the Aetolian also mentions him in his poem entitled the Fisherman, saying that heFirst tasted grass,(and then was immersed in the sea and drowned,)The herb which in the islands of the blest,When first the spring doth beam upon the earth,The untill'd land shows to the genial sun.And the sun gives it to his weary steeds,A most refreshing food, raised in the shade.So that they come in vigour back renew'dUnto their daily task, and no fatigueOr pain can stop their course.But Aeschrion the Samian, in some one of his Iambic poems, says that Glaucus the sea-deity was in love with Hydna, the daughter of Scyllus, the diver of Scione. And he makes particular mention of this herb, namely, that any one who eats of it becomes immortal, saying—And you found too th' agrostis of the gods,The sacred plant which ancient Saturn sow'd.And Nicander, in the third book of his Europe, says that Glaucus was beloved by Nereus. And the same Nicander, in the first book of his history of the Affairs of Aetolia, says that Apollo learnt the art of divination from Glaucus; and that Glaucus when he was hunting near Orea, (and that is a lofty mountain in Aetolia,) hunted a hare, which was knocked up by the length of the chance, and got under a certain fountain, and when just on the point of dying, rolled itself on the herbage that was growing around; and, as it recovered its strength by means of the herbage, Glaucus too perceived the virtues of this herb, and ate some himself. And becoming a god in consequence, when a storm came, he, in accordance with the will of Jupiter, threw himself into the sea. But Hedylus, whether he was a Samian or an Athenian I know not, says that Glaucus was enamoured of Melicert, and threw himself into the sea after him. But Hedyl, the mother of this poet, and daughter of Moschine of Atica, a poetess who composed Iambics, in her poem which is entitled Scylla, relates that Glaucus being in love with Scylla came to her cave—Bearing a gift of love, a mazy shell,Fresh from the Erythrean rock, and with it tooThe offspring, yet unfledged, of Alcyon,To win th' obdurate maid. He gave in vain.Even the lone Siren on the neighbouring islePitied the lover's tears. For as it chanced,He swam towards the shore which she did haunt,Nigh to th' unquiet caves of Aetna.
ἱστορεῖ δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ Αἰτωλὸς Ἀλέξανδρος ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ Ἁλιεῖ, ὡς ὅτι γευσάμενος βοτάνης κατεποντώθη, ἣν Ἠελίῳ φαέθοντι ἐν μακάρων νήσοισι λιτὴ φύει εἴαρι γαίη· ἠέλιος δ’ ἵπποις θυμήρεα δόρπον ὀπάζει ὕλην αἰενάουσαν, ἵνα δρόμον ἐκτελέσωσιν ἄτρυτοι, καὶ μὴ τιν’ ἕλοι μεσσηγὺς ἀνίη. Αἰσχρίων δ’ ὁ Σάμιος ἔν τινι τῶν ἰάμβων Ὕδνης φησὶ τῆς Σκύλλου τοῦ Σκιωναίου κατακολυμβητοῦ θυγατρὸς τὸν θαλάσσιον Γλαῦκον ἐρασθῆναι. ἰδίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς βοτάνης λέγει, ἣν φαγὼν ἀθάνατος ἐγένετο καὶ θεῶν ἄγρωστιν εὗρες, ἣν Κρόνος κατέσπειρε. Νίκανδρος δ’ ἐν τρίτῳ Εὐρωπίας Νηρέως ἐρώμενον τὸν Γλαῦκον ἱστορεῖ γενέσθαι, ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς Νίκανδρος ἐν πρώτῳ Αἰτωλικῶν τὴν μαντικήν φησιν Ἀπόλλωνα ὑπὸ Γλαύκου διδαχθῆναι· θηρῶντα δὲ περὶ τὴν Ὀρείην ὄρος δὲ τοῦθ’ ὑπάρχειν ὑψηλὸν ἐν Αἰτωλίᾳ λαγὼν θηρᾶσαι, ὃν λιποθυμοῦντα ὑπὸ τῆς διώξεως ἀπαγαγεῖν ἐπὶ κρήνῃ τινὶ καὶ τῇ παρακειμένῃ πόᾳ ἤδη ἀποψυχόμενον ἀπομάσσειν. ἀναζωπυρήσαντος δὲ τοῦ λαγὼ τῇ βοτάνῃ ἐπιγνόντα τῆς βοτάνης τὴν δύναμιν ἀπογεύσασθαι καὶ ἔνθεον γενόμενον ἐπιγενομένου χειμῶνος κατὰ Διὸς βούλησιν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν αὑτὸν ἐκρῖψαι. Ἡδύλος δ’ ὁ Σάμιος ἢ Ἀθηναῖος Μελικέρτου φησὶν ἐρασθέντα τὸν Γλαῦκον ἑαυτὸν ῥῖψαι εἰς τὴν θάλατταν. Ἡδύλη δ’ ἡ τοῦ ποιητοῦ τούτου μήτηρ, Μοσχίνης δὲ θυγάτηρ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἰάμβων ποιητρίας, ἐν τῇ ἐπιγραφομένῃ Σκύλλῃ ἱστορεῖ τὸν Γλαῦκον ἐρασθέντα Σκύλλης ἐλθεῖν αὐτῆς εἰς τὸ ἄντρον ἢ κόγχους δωρήματα φέροντα Ἐρυθραίης ἀπὸ πέτρης, ἢ τοὺς ἀλκυόνων παῖδας ἔτ’ ἀπτερύγους, τῇ νύμφῃ δύσπιστος ἀθύρματα, δάκρυ δ’ ἐκείνου καὶ Σειρὴν γείτων παρθένος οἰκτίσατο ἀκτὴν γὰρ κείνην ἀπενήχετο καὶ τὰ σύνεγγυς Αἴτνης.
There is also a fish called the fuller. Dorion, in his treatise on Fish, says that the juice which proceeds from the boiling of a fuller will take out every kind of stain; and Epænetus also mentions it in his Cookery Book.
γναφεύς. Δωρίων ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἑψήσεως τοῦ γναφέως ὑγρόν φησι πάντα σπῖλον καθαίρειν. μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἐπαίνετος ἐν Ὀψαρτυτικῷ.
The eel is well known: and Epicharmus mentions sea-eels in his Muses; but Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, mentioning those which come from the lake Copais, extols the Copaic eels highly; and they grow to a great size. At all events, Agatharchides, in the sixth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the largest eels from lake Copais are sacrificed to the gods by the Bœotians, who crown them like victims, and offer prayers over them, sprinkling them with meal; and that once, when a foreigner was astonished at the singular kind of victim and sacrifice, and asked a Bœotian whence it originated, the Bœotian answered, That he only knew one thing; that it was right to maintain the customs of one's ancestors, and that it was not right to make any excuses for them to foreigners. But we need not wonder if eels are sacrificed as victims, since Antigonus the Carystian, in his treatise on Language, says that the fishermen celebrate a festival in honour of Neptune when the tunnies come in season, and they are successful in their pursuit of them; and that they sacrifice to the god the first tunny that is caught; and that this sacrificial festival is called the Thunnæum.
ἔγχελυς. τῶν θαλασσίων ἐγχέλεων μνημονεύει Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Μούσαις· Δωρίων δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων μνημονεύων καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Κωπαΐδος τὰς Κωπαΐδας ἐπαινεῖ γίνονται δ’ αὗται ὑπερμεγέθεις, φησὶ γοῦν Ἀγαθαρχίδης ἐν ἕκτῃ Εὐρωπιακῶν τὰς ὑπερφυεῖς τῶν Κωπαΐδων ἐγχέλεων ἱερείων τρόπον στεφανοῦντας καὶ κατευχομένους οὐλὰς τ’ ἐπιβάλλοντας θύειν τοῖς θεοῖς τοὺς Βοιωτούς· καὶ πρὸς τὸν ξένον τὸν διαποροῦντα τὸ τοῦ ἔθους παράδοξον καὶ πυνθανόμενον ἓν μόνον εἰδέναι φῆσαι τὸν Βοιωτὸν φάσκειν τε ὅτι δεῖ τηρεῖν τὰ προγονικὰ νόμιμα καὶ ὅτι μὴ καθήκει τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀπολογίζεσθαι. οὐ χρὴ θαυμάζειν εἰ ἱερείων τρόπον ἐγχέλεις θύονται, ὁπότε καὶ Ἀντίγονος ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν τῷ περὶ λέξεως τοὺς Ἁλαιέας λέγει θυσίαν ἐπιτελοῦντας τῷ Ποσειδῶνι ὑπὸ τὴν τῶν θύννων ὥραν, ὅταν εὐαγρήσωσι, θύειν τῷ θεῷ τὸν πρῶτον ἁλόντα θύννον, καὶ τὴν θυσίαν ταύτην καλεῖσθαι θυνναῖον.
But among the people of Phaselis, even salt-fish are offered in sacrifice. At all events, Heropythus, in his Annals of the Colophonians, speaking of the original settlement of Phaselis, says that “Lacius, having conducted the colony, gave as the price of the ground to Cylabras, a shepherd who fed sheep there, some salt-fish, as that was what he asked for. For when Lacius had proposed to him to take as a price for the soil either barley-cakes, or wheat-cakes, or salt-fish, Cyla- bras chose the salt-fish. And, on this account, the people of Phaselis every year, even to this day, sacrifice salt-fish to Cylabras.” But Philostephanus, in the first book of his treatise on the Cities of Asia, writes thus:—“That Lacius the Argive, being one of the men who had come with Mopsus, whom some say was a Lindian, and the brother of Antiphemus who colonized Gela, was sent to Phaselis by Mopsus with some men, in accordance with some directions given by Manto the mother of Mopsus, when the sterns of their ships came in collision off the Chelidoniæ, and were much broken, as Lacius and the vessels with him ran into them in the night, in consequence of their arriving later. And it is said that he purchased the land where the city now stands, in obedience to the prophetic directions of Manto, from a man of the name of Cylabras, giving him some salt-fish for it; for that was what he had selected from all the ships contained. On which account, the people of Phaselis sacrifice salt-fish to Cylabras every year, honouring him as their hero.”
καὶ τάριχοι δὲ παρὰ Φασηλίταις ἀποθύονται. Ἡρόπυθος γοῦν ἐν ῝ Ὥροις Κολοφωνίων περὶ τῆς κτίσεως ἱστορῶν τῆς Φασήλιδός φησιν ὅτι Λάκιος ὁ τὴν ἀποικίαν στείλας μισθὸν ἔδωκε τοῦ τόπου Κυλάβρᾳ ποιμένι νέμοντι πρόβατα ταρίχους, ἐκείνου τοῦτο αἰτήσαντος. προθέντος γὰρ αὐτῷ τοῦ Λακίου λαβεῖν τοῦ χωρίου ἢ ἄλφιτα ἢ ταρίχους εἵλετο ὁ Κυλάβρας τοὺς ταρίχους· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ Φασηλῖται ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος τῷ Κυλάβρᾳ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἔτι καὶ νῦν τάριχον θύουσι. Φιλοστέφανος δ’ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ πόλεων οὕτως γράφει· Λάκιον τὸν Ἀργεῖον ἕνα τῶν σὺν Μόψῳ ἀφικομένων, ὅν τινες μὲν Λίνδιον εἶναι λέγουσιν, ἀδελφὸν δὲ Ἀντιφήμου τοῦ Γέλαν οἰκίσαντος, εἰς τὴν Φασήλιδα ὑπὸ Μόψου μετ’ ἀνδρῶν πεμφθέντα κατά τινα λόγον Μαντοῦς τῆς Μόψου μητρός, ὅτε αἱ πρύμναι τῶν ἰδίων νηῶν συνέβαλον καὶ συνεθραύσθησαν κατὰ Χελιδονίας τῶν μετὰ τοῦ Λακίου διὰ τὸ ὑστερεῖν αὐτῶν νυκτὸς προσβαλόντων ἀγοράσαι δ’ αὐτὸν τὴν γῆν λέγεται, οὗ ἡ πόλις νῦν ἐστι, καθὰ ἡ Μαντὼ προεῖπε, παρὰ Κυλάβρα τινὸς δόντα τάριχον τοῦτον γὰρ ἑλέσθαι λαβεῖν αὐτὸν ἀφ’ ὧν ἦγον. ὅθεν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν τοὺς Φασηλίτας τῷ Κυλάβρᾳ θύειν τάριχον τιμῶντας ὡς ἥρωα.
But concerning eels, Icesius, in his treatise on Materials, says that eels have a better juice in them than any other fish; and in the quality of being good for the stomach, they are superior to most, for they are very satisfying and very nutritious: though he classes the Macedonian eels among the salt-fish. But Aristotle says that eels are fond of the very purest water; on which account, the people who feed eels pour clean water over them; for they get choked in muddy water. For which reason, those who hunt for them make the water muddy, in order that the eels may be choked; for, having very small gills, their pores are almost immediately stopped up by any mud or disturbance in the water: on which account, also, they are often choked during storms, when the water is disturbed by heavy gales. But they propagate their species being entwined together, and then they discharge a sort of viscous fluid from their bodies, which lies in the mud and generates living creatures. And the people who feed eels say that they feed by night, but that during the day they remain motionless in the mud; and they live about eight years at most. But in other places, Aristotle ells us again, that they are produced without either their progenitors laying eggs or bringing forth living offspring, and also that they are not generated by any copulation, but that they are propagated by the putrefaction which takes place in the mud and slime—as it is said of those things which are called the entrails of the earth. From which circumstance, he says that Homer distinguishes between their nature and that of other fish; and says—The eels and fish within the briny deep,Were startled at the blaze.
περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐγχέλεων Ἱκέσιός φησιν ἐν τοῖς περὶ ὕλης ὡς αἱ ἐγχέλεις εὐχυλότεραι πάντων εἰσὶν ἰχθύων καὶ ὅτι εὐστομαχίᾳ διαφέρουσι τῶν πλείστων πλήσμιαι γάρ εἰσι καὶ πολύτροφοι, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ταρίχεσι τὰς Μακεδονικὰς ἐγχέλεις κατατάττει. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ χαίρειν φησὶ τὰς ἐγχέλεις καθαρωτάτῳ ὕδατι. ὅθεν τοὺς ἐγχελυοτρόφους καθαρὸν αὐταῖς ἐπιχεῖν πνίγεσθαι γὰρ ἐν τῷ θολερῷ. διὸ καὶ οἱ θηρεύοντες θολοῦσι τὸ ὕδωρ ἵνα ἀποπνίγωνται. λεπτὰ γὰρ ἔχουσαι τὰ βράγχια αὐτίκα ὑπὸ τοῦ θολοῦ τοὺς πόρους ἐπιπωματίζονται. ὅθεν κἀν τοῖς χειμῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν πνευμάτων ταραττομένου τοῦ τοῦ ὕδατος ἀποπνίγονται. ὀχεύονται δὲ συμπλεκόμεναι κᾆτ’ ἀφιᾶσι γλινῶδες ἐξ αὑτῶν, ὃ γενόμενον ἐν τῇ ἰλύι ζωογονεῖται, λέγουσι δὲ οἱ ἐγχελυοτρόφοι καὶ ὡς νυκτὸς μὲν νέμονται, ἡμέρας δ’ ἐν τῇ ἰλύι ἀκινητίζουσι ζῶσί τε τὸ ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐπὶ ὀκτὼ ἔτη. ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ πάλιν ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστορεῖ γίνεσθαι αὐτὰς οὔτε ᾠοτοκούσας οὔτε ζωοτοκούσας ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ἐξ ὀχείας, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ καὶ τῇ ἰλύι σήψεως γινομένης· καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν καλουμένων τῆς γῆς ἐντέρων λέγεται, διὸ καὶ Ὅμηρον τῆς τῶν ἰχθύων φύσεως χωρίζοντα τάδε εἰπεῖν τείροντ’ ἐγχέλυές τε καὶ ἰχθύες οἱ κατὰ δίνας.
But a certain Epicurean, who was one of our party, when an eel was served up, said,—Here is the Helen of the feast; I therefore will be the Paris! And, before any one else could stretch out a hand towards it, he seized hold of it and split it up, tearing off one side down to the backbone. And the same man, when presently a hot cheese-cake was set before him, and when all refused it, cried out,I will attack it were it hot as fire;and then, rushing upon it eagerly, and swallowing it, he was carried out severely scalded. And Cynulcus said,—The cormorant is carried out from his battle of the throat! Moreover, Archestratus thus speaks of the eel:—I praise all kinds of eels; but far the bestIs that which fishermen do take in the seaOpposite to the strait of Rhegium.Where you, Messenius, who daily putThis food within your mouth, surpass all mortalsIn real pleasure. Though none can denyThat great the virtue and the glory isOf the Strymonian and Copaic eels.For they are large, and wonderfully fat;And I do think in short that of all fishThe best in flavour is the noble eel,Although he cannot propagate his species. But, as Homer has said,The eels and fish were startled,Archilochus has also said, in a manner not inconsistent with that—And you received full many sightless eels.But the Athenians, as Tryphon says, form all the cases in the singular number with the υ, but do not make the cases in the plural in a similar manner. Accordingly, Aristophanes, in his Acharnensians, says—Behold, O boys, the noble eel (ἔγχελυν);and, in his Lemnian Women, he says—῎ἔγχελυν βοιωτίαν:but he uses the nominative case in his Daitaleis—And smooth too ὥσπερ ἔγχελυς.And Cratinus, in his Pluti, says—The tunny, orphus, grayling, eel, and sea-dog.But the Attic writers do not form the cases in the plural number as Homer does. Aristophanes says, in his Knights- For you have fared like men who're hunting eels (ἐγχέλεις); and, in his second edition of the Clouds, he says—Imitating my images of the eels (ἐγχελέων);and in his Wasps we find the dative case—I don't delight in rays nor in ἐγχέλεσινAnd Strattis, in his Potamii, said—A cousin of the eels (ἐγχελέων).Simonides, too, in his Iambics, writes—Like an eel (ἔγχελυς) complaining of being slippery.He also uses it in the accusative—A kite was eating a Mæandrian eel (ἔγχελυν),But a heron saw him and deprived him of it.But Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, writes the word with an ι, ἔγχελις. But when Aristophanes, in his Knights, says—Your fate resembles that of those who huntFor mud-fed eels. For when the lake is stillTheir labour is in vain. But if they stirThe mud all up and down, they catch much fish.And so you gain by stirring up the city;he shows plainly enough that the eel is caught in the mud, (ἐκ τῆς ἴλυος,) and it is from this word ἴλυς that the name ἔγχελυς ends in υς. The Poet, therefore, wishing to show that the violent effect of the fire reached even to the bottom of the river, spoke thus-The eels and fish were troubled; speaking of the eels separately and specially, in order to show the very great depth to which the water was influenced by the fire.
Ἐπικούρειος δέ τις εἰκαδιστὴς τῶν συνδειπνούντων ἡμῖν ἐγχέλυος παρατεθείσης πάρεστιν, ἔφη, ἡ τῶν δείπνων Ἑλένη· ἐγὼ οὖν Πάρις ἔσομαι. καὶ χεῖρας μήπω τινὸς ἐκτετακότος ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἐπιβαλὼν ἐψίλωσε τὸ πλευρὸν ἀπάγων εἰς ἄκανθαν. ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς οὗτος πλακοῦντός ποτε θερμοῦ παρατεθέντος καὶ πάντων ἀπεχομένων ἐπιφωνήσας· τοῦ δ’ ἐγὼ ἀντίος εἶμι, καὶ εἰ πυρὶ χεῖρας ἔοικε, προπετῶς ἐπιβαλὼν καὶ καταπιὼν φλεγόμενος ἐξεφέρετο. καὶ ὁ Κύνουλκος ἔφη· ἀποφέρεται τὸ ἆθλον ἐκ τῆς βρογχοπαρατάξεως ὁ λάρος. καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐγχέλυος δ’ Ἀρχέστρατος οὕτως ἱστορεῖ ἔγχελυν αἰνῶ μὲν πᾶσαν, πολὺ δ’ ἐστὶ κρατίστη Ῥηγίου ἀντιπέρας πορθμοῦ· ληφθεῖσα θαλάσσης ἔνθα σὺ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων, Μεσσήνιε, θνητῶν βρῶμα τιθεὶς τοιόνδε διὰ στόματος πλεονεκτεῖς, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ κλέος γ’ ἀρετῆς μέγα κάρτα φέρουσι Κωπαῖαι καὶ Στρυμόνιαι· μεγάλαι τε γάρ εἰσι καὶ τὸ πάχος θαυμασταί. ὅλως δ’ οἶμαι βασιλεύει πάντων τῶν περὶ δαῖτα καὶ ἡδονῇ ἡγεμονεύει ἔγχελυς, ἣ φύσει ἐστὶν ἀπήρινος μόνος ἰχθύς … Ὁμήρου δὲ εἰπόντος τείροντ’ ἐγχέλυές τε καὶ ἰχθύες ἀκολούθως ἐποίησε καὶ Ἀρχίλοχος· πολλὰς δὲ τυφλὰς ἐγχέλυας ἐδέξω. οἱ δ’ Ἀττικοί, καθὼς Τρύφων φησί, τὰς ἑνικὰς χρήσεις ἐπιστάμενοι διὰ τοῦ υ τὰς πληθυντικὰς οὐκ ἔτι ἀκολούθως ἐπιφέρουσιν. ὁ γοῦν Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν μὲν Ἀχαρνεῦσι· σκέψασθε φησί παῖδες τὴν κρατίστην ἔγχελυν. καὶ ἐν Λημνίαις· ἔγχελυν Βοιωτίαν. τὴν δ’ εὐθεῖαν ἐν Δαιταλεῦσι· καὶ λεῖος ὥσπερ ἔγχελυς. καὶ Κρατῖνος ἐν Πλούτοις· θύννος, ὀρφώς, γλαῦκος, ἔγχελυς, κύων. τὰς μέντοι πληθυντικὰς οὐκ ἔθ’ ὁμοίως τῷ ποιητῇ. Ἀριστοφάνης Ἱππεῦσιν· ὅπερ γὰρ οἱ τὰς ἐγχέλεις θηρώμενοι πέπονθας καὶ δευτέραις Νεφέλαις· τὰς εἰκοῦς τῶν ἐγχέλεων τὰς ἐμὰς μιμούμενοι., ἐν Σφηξὶ δ’ ἡ δοτική· οὐ χαίρω δὲ βατίσιν, οὐδ’ ἐγχέλεσιν. Στράττις δ’ ἐν Ποταμίοις ἔφη· ἐγχέλεων ἀνεψιός. Σημωνίδης δ’ ἐν ἰάμβοις· ὥσπερ ἔγχελυς κατὰ γλοιοῦ. καὶ τὴν αἰτιατικὴν ἐρῳδιὸς γὰρ ἔγχελυν Μαιανδρίην τρίορχον εὑρὼν ἐσθίοντ’ ἀφείλετο. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ζῴων διὰ τοῦ ι ἔγχελις εἴρηκεν. ὅταν δ’ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Ἱππεῦσι λέγῃ· ὅπερ γὰρ οἱ τὰς ἐγχέλεις θηρώμενοι πέπονθας ὅταν γὰρ ἡ λίμνη καταστῇ, λαμβάνουσιν οὐδὲν, ἐὰν δ’ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω τὸν βόρβορον κυκῶσιν, αἱροῦσι· καὶ σὺ λαμβάνεις, ἢν τὴν πόλιν ταράττῃς, σαφῶς δηλοῖ ὅτι ἡ ἔγχελυς ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος λαμβάνεται, ἔνθεν καὶ τοὔνομα εἰς ūς ἐπερατώθη. καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς οὖν θέλων δηλῶσαι τὸ εἰς βάθος τοῦ ποταμοῦ καιόμενον οὕτως ἔφη· τείροντ’ ἐγχέλυές τε καὶ ἰχθύες. ἰδικώτερον δὲ καὶ κατ’ ἐξαίρετον ἐγχέλυες, ἵνα καὶ τὸ βάθος τοῦ κεκαυμένου ὕδατος δηλώσῃ.
But Antiphanes, in his Lycon, jesting on the Egyptians after the manner of the comic poets, says—They say in other things the Egyptian raceIs clever also, since they think the eelOn a level with the gods; or I may sayBy far more valuable. For, as to the gods,—Those we gain over by our prayers alone;But as for eels, without you spend at leastTwelve drachmas you can scarce get leave to smell them.So it is altogether a holy beast.And Anaxandrides, in his Cities, directing what he says to the Egyptians, speaks as follows—I never could myself your comrade be,For neither do'our manners nor our lawsAgree with yours, but they are wholly different.You do adore an ox; I sacrifice himTo the great Gods of heaven. You do thinkAn eel the mightiest of deities;But we do eat him as the best of fish.You eat no pork; I like it above all things.You do adore a dog; but I do beat himIf e'er I catch him stealing any meat.Then our laws enjoin the priests to beMost perfect men; but yours are mutilated.If you do see a cat in any griefYou weep; but I first kill him and then skin him.You have a great opinion of the shrew-mouse;But I have none at all.And Timocles, in his Egyptians, says—How can an ibis or a dog be ableTo save a man? For where with impious heartsMen sin against the all-acknowledged Gods,And yet escape unpunish'd, who can thinkThe altar of a cat will be more holy,Or prompter to avenge itself, than they?
Ἀντιφάνης δὲ ἐν Λύκωνι κωμῳδῶν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους φησίν τὰ τ’ ἄλλα δεινούς φασι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους εἶναι τὸ νομίσαι τ’ ἰσόθεον τὴν ἔγχελυν πολὺ τῶν θεῶν γάρ ἐστι τιμιωτέρα. τῶν μὲν γὰρ εὐξαμένοισιν ἔσθ’ ἡμῖν τυχεῖν, τούτων δὲ δραχμὰς τοὐλάχιστον δώδεκα ἢ πλέον ἀναλώσασιν ὀσφρέσθαι μόνον οὕτως ἔσθ’ ἅγιον παντελῶς τὸ θηρίον. Ἀναξανδρίδης δ’ ἐν Πόλεσι πρὸς τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἀποτεινόμενος τὸν λόγον φησίν οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην συμμαχεῖν ὑμῖν ἐγώ· οὔτ’ οἱ τρόποι γὰρ ὁμονοοῦσ’ οὔτ’ οἱ νόμοι ἡμῶν, ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων δὲ διέχουσιν πολύ. βοῦν προσκυνεῖς, ἐγὼ δὲ θύω τοῖς θεοῖς· τὴν ἔγχελυν μέγιστον ἡγεῖ δαίμονα, ἡμεῖς δὲ τῶν ὄψων μέγιστον παρὰ πολὺ οὐκ ἐσθίεις ὕει᾽, ἐγὼ δὲ γ’ ἥδομαι μάλιστα τούτοις· κύνα σέβεις, τύπτω δ’ ἐγώ, τοὔψον κατεσθίουσαν ἡνίκ’ ἂν λάβω. τοὺς ἱερέας ἐνθάδε μὲν ὁλοκλήρους νόμος εἶναι, παρ’ ὑμῖν δ᾽, ὡς ἔοικ᾽, ἀπηργμένους. τὸν αἰέλουρον κακὸν ἔχοντ’ ἐὰν ἴδῃς κλαίεις, ἐγὼ δ’ ἥδιστ’ ἀποκτείνας δέρω. δύναται παρ’ ὑμῖν μυγαλῆ, παρ’ ἐμοὶ δὲ γ’ οὔ. Τιμοκλῆς δ’ ἐν Αἰγυπτίοις πῶς ἂν μὲν οὖν σώσειεν ἶβις ἢ κύων; ὅπου γὰρ εἰς τοὺς ὁμολογουμένους θεοὺς ἀσεβοῦντες οὐ διδόασιν εὐθέως δίκην, τίν’ αἰελούρου βωμὸς ἐπιτρίψειεν ἄν;
But that men used to wrap eels up in beet, and then eat them, is a fact constantly alluded to in the poets of the old comedy; and Eubulus says in his Echo—The nymph who never knew the joys of marriage,Clothed with rosy beet will now appear,The white-flesh'd eel. Hail, brilliant luminary,Great in my taste, and in your own good qualities.And in his Ionian he says—And after this were served up the richEntrails of roasted tunnies; then there cameThose natives of the lake, the holy eels,Bœotian goddesses; all clothed in beet.And in his Medea he says—The sweet Bœotian Copaic virgin;For I do fear to name the Goddess.And that the eels of the river Strymon were also celebrated, Antiphanes tells us in his Thamyras, saying—And then your namesake river, far renown'dIn all the mouths of men, the mighty Strymon,Who waters the rich warlike plains of Thrace,Breeds mighty eels.And Demetrius the Scepsian, in the sixteenth book of his Trojan Array, says that there were eels of surpassing excellence produced in the neighbourhood of the river Euleus (and this river is mentioned by Antimachus in his work entitled The Tablets, where he says—Arriving at the springsWhere Euleus with his rapid eddies rises).
ὅτι δ’ ἤσθιον τὰς ἐγχέλεις καὶ μετὰ τεύτλων ἐντυλίξαντες πολὺ μέν ἐστι καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἀρχαίοις κωμικοῖς, καὶ Εὔβουλος δέ φησιν ἐν Ἠχοῖ· νύμφα ἀπειρόγαμος τεύτλῳ περὶ σῶμα καλυπτὰ λευκόχρως παρέσται, ἔγχελυς, ὦ μέγα μοι μέγα σοι φάος ὅσσον ἐναργές. καὶ ἐν Ἴωνι· μετὰ ταῦτα θύννων μεγαλόπλουτ’ ἐπεισέπλει ὑπογάστρι’ ὀπτῶν αἵ τ’ ἐχιδνοσώματοι Βοιώτιαι παρῆσαν ἐγχέλεις θεαὶ τεῦτλ’ ἀμπεχόμεναι. καὶ ἐν Μηδείᾳ· τεῦτλ’ ἀμπεχομένης παρθένου Βοιωτίας Κωπᾷδος· ὀνομάζειν γὰρ αἰδοῦμαι θεάν. ὅτι δὲ καὶ αἱ Στρυμόνιαι ἐγχέλεις δι’ ὀνόματος ἦσάν φησιν ἐν Θαμύρᾳ Ἀντιφάνης· καὶ σοῦ γ’ ἐπώνυμός τις ἐν φήμαις βροτῶν Θρῇκας κατάρδων ποταμὸς ὠνομασμένος Στρυμών, μεγίστας ἐγχέλεις κεκτημένος. καὶ περὶ τὸν Εὐλέα δὲ ποταμὸν οὗ μνημονεύει Ἀντίμαχος ἐν ταῖς ἐπιγραφομέναις Δέλτοις οὕτως· ἐλθὼν Εὐλῆος πηγὰς ἔπι δινήεντος Δημήτριος ὁ Σκήψιος ἐν ἑκκαιδεκάτῃ τοῦ Τρωικοῦ διακόσμου ἐγχέλεις φησὶ διαφόρους γίνεσθαι.
With respect to the ellops, some mention has already been made of him. But Archestratus also speaks in this way of him—The best of ellopes which you can eatCome from the bay of famous Syracuse.Those eat whene'er you can. For that's the placeWhence this great fish originally came.But those which are around the islands caught,Or any other land, or nigh to Crete,Too long have battled with the eddying currents,And so are thin and harder to the taste.
ἔλοψ. προείρηται μέν τινα περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἀρχέστρατός φησι τάδε περὶ αὐτοῦ· τὸν δ’ ἔλοπ’ ἔσθε μάλιστα Συρακούσαις ἐνὶ κλειναῖς, τόν γε κρατιστεύονθ᾽. οὗτος γὰρ αὖ ἐστιν ἐκεῖθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν γεγονώς· ὥσθ’ ἡνίκ’ ἂν ἢ περὶ νήσους ἢ περὶ τὴν Ἀσίην που ἁλῷ γῆν ἢ περὶ Κρήτην, λεπτὸς καὶ στερεὸς καὶ κυματοπλὴξ ἀφικνεῖται.
The erythrinus, or red mullet, has been mentioned too. Aristotle, in his book on Animals, and Speusippus both say that the fishes called erythrinus, phagrus, and hepatus are all very nearly alike. And Dorion has said much the same in his treatise on Fish. But the Cyrenæans give the name of erythrinus to the hyca; as Clitarchus tells us in his Dialects.
ἐρυθρῖνος. Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τῷ περὶ ζῴων καὶ Σπεύσιππος παραπλήσιά. φησιν εἶναι φάγρον, ἐρυθρῖνον, ἥπατον. τὰ παραπλήσια εἴρηκε καὶ Δωρίων ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων. Κυρηναῖοι δὲ ὕκην τὸν ἐρυθρῖνον καλοῦσιν, ὡς Κλείταρχός φησιν ἐν Γλώσσαις.
The encrasicholi are also mentioned by Aristotle as fish of small size, in his treatise on What relates to Animals. But Dorion, in his book on Fishes, speaks of the encrasicholi among those which are best boiled, speaking in the following terms—“One ought to boil the encrasicholi, and the iopes, and the atherinæ, and the tench, and the smaller mullet, and the cuttle-fish, and the squid, and the different kinds of crab or craw-fish.”
ἐγκρασίχολοι. καὶ τούτων μέμνηται Ἀριστοτέλης ὡς μικρῶν ἰχθυδίων ἐν τῷ περὶ ζωικῶν. Δωρίων δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων τῶν ἐγκρασιχόλους ἐν τοῖς ἑψητοῖς μέμνηται εἰπὼν οὕτως· ἑψητοὺς εἶναι μὲν δεῖ ἐγκρασιχόλους ἢ ἴωπας ἢ ἀθερίνας ἢ κωβιονς ἢ τριγλίδας μικρὰς σηπίδιά τε καὶ τευθίδια καὶ καρκίνια.
The hepsetus, or boiled fish, is a name given to several small fish. Aristophanes, in his Anagyrus, says—There is not one dish of hepseti.And Archippus says in his Fishes—An hepsetus fell in with an anchovyAnd quick devour'd him.And Eupolis, in his Goats, says—Ye graces who do love the hepseti.And Eubulus, in his Prosusia or Cycnus, says—Contented if just once in each twelve daysHe sees an hepsetus well boil'd in beet.And Alexis, in his Apeglaucomenos, says—There were some hepseti besides served upIn a dædalean manner. For they callAll clever works by the name of Dædalus;and presently afterwards he continues—Will you not now then try the coracini?Nor trichides, nor any hepseti?But this word is always used in the plural, ἑψητοὶ, because they are only served up in numbers. Aristophanes, in his Dramata or Niobus, says—I will say nothing of a dish of hepseti.And Menander, in his Perinthian Woman, says—The boy came in bringing some hepseti.But Nicostratus uses the word in the singular number, in his Hesiod—A bembras, an anchovy, and a hepsetus.And Posidippus, in his Woman shut up, says—She's gone to buy a hepsetus.But in my country Naucratis, what they call hepseti are little fish left in the drains or ditches, when the Nile ceases its overflowing.
ἑψητός. ἐπὶ τῶν λεπτῶν ἰχθυδίων. Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Ἀναγύρῳ· οὐχ ἑψητῶν λοπάς ἐστιν. Ἄρχιππος Ἰχθύσι· καὶ τὴν μὲν ἀφύην καταπέπωκεν ἐντυχὼν ἑψητός. Εὔπολις Αἰξὶν ὦ Χάριτες, αἷσι μέλουσιν ἑψητοί. Εὔβουλος ἐν Προσουσίᾳ ἢ Κύκνῳ· ἀγαπῶν τε κἂν ἑψητὸν ἐν τεύτλοις ἕνα διὰ δωδεκάτης ἑψόμενον ἡμέρας ἴδῃ. Ἄλεξις ἐν Ἀπεγλαυκωμένῳ· καὶ γὰρ ἑψητοί τινες παρῆσαν ἡμῖν δαιδαλεῖοί πως. τὰ γὰρ καλὰ πάντα Δαιδάλου καλοῦσιν ἔργα. καὶ πάλιν τῶν οὖν κορακίνων πεῖραν οὐχὶ λαμβάνεις οὐδὲ τριχίδων οὐδ’ οἷον ἑψητῶν τινῶν; πληθυντικῶς δὲ λέγουσιν ἑψητοὺς κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον. Ἀριστοφάνης Δράμασιν ἢ Νιόβῳ· οὐδὲν μὰ Δί᾽ ἐρῶ λοπάδος ἑψητῶν. Μένανδρος Περινθίᾳ· τὸ παιδίον δ’ εἰσῆλθεν ἑψητοὺς φέρον. ἑνικῶς δὲ Νικόστρατος ἐν Ἡσιόδῳ· βεμβράδ᾽, ἀφύην, ἑψητόν. Ποσείδιππος Ἀποκλειομένῃ· ἑψητὸν ἀγοράζειν τινά. ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐμῇ Ναυκράτει ἑψητοὺς καλοῦσιν ἰχθύδια ὑπολειπόμενα ἐν ταῖς διώρυξιν, ὅταν ὁ Νεῖλος ὑποπαύηται τῆς πληρώσεως.
The hepatus or lebias is the next fish to be noticed. Diodes affirms that this is one of those fish which stick to the rocks; but Speusippus says that the hepatus is the same as the phagrus. But it is a solitary fish, as Aristotle declares, carnivorous, and with serrated teeth; black as to its flesh, and having eyes large, out of all proportion to the rest of its size; and its heart is triangular and white. But Archestratus, the marshal of banquets, says—Remember that the lebias is best,As also is the hepatus, in the wavesWhich wash the Delian and the Tenian shores.
ἥπατος ἢ λεβίας. Διοκλῆς τοῦτόν φησι τῶν πετραίων εἶναι· Σπεύσιππος δ’ ὅμοιον φάγρῳ τὸν ἥπατον. ἐστὶ δὲ μονήρης, ὥς φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης, σαρκοφάγος τε καὶ καρχαρόδους, τὴν χροιὰν μὲν μέλας, ὀφθαλμοὺς δὲ μείζονας ἢ καθ’ αὑτὸν ἔχων, καρδίαν τρίγωνον λευκήν. Ἀρχέστρατος δ’ ὁ τῶν δείπνων λοχαγός φησιν καὶ λεβίαν λαβέ, Μόσχε, τὸν ἥπατον ἐν περικλύστῳ Δήλῳ καὶ Τήνῳ.
Then come the elacatenes, or spindle fish. Mnesima- chus, in his Horsebreeder, classes together in one line—The turbot, tunny, tench, elacatene.But they are a cetaceous fish, very good for curing in his Colons, says—The tench, th' elacatene, and the tail-fin ofThe sea-dog are the best for pickling.And Mnaseas of Patra says, "Of Ichthys and Hesychia, his sister, were born the galene, the lamprey, and the elacatene.
ἠλακατῆνες. Μνησίμαχος Ἱπποτρόφῳ· σκόμβρος, θύννος, κωβιός, ἠλακατῆνες. εἰσὶ δὲ κητώδεις, ἐπιτήδειοι εἰς ταριχείαν. Μένανδρος Κόλακί φησι· κωβιός, ἠλακατῆνες, κυνὸς οὐραῖον. Μνασέας δὲ ὁ Πατρεύς φησι· ἰχθύος δὲ γίνεται καὶ Ἡσυχίας τῆς ἀδελφῆς Γαλήνη καὶ Μύραινα καὶ Ἠλακατῆνες.
The tunny must also not be forgotten. Aristotle says this fish swims into the Black Sea, always keeping the land on the right; but that he sails out again, keeping the land on the left. For that he can see much best with his right eye, but that he is rather blind with his left eye. And under his fins he has a sort of gadfly; he delights in heat, on which account he comes wherever there is sand; and he is most eatable at the season when he gets rid of that fly. But he propagates his species after his time of torpor is over, as we are told by Theophrastus; and as long as his offspring are little, he is very difficult to catch, but when they get larger, then he is easily caught, because of the gadfly. But the tunny lies in holes, although he is a fish with a great deal of blood. And Archestratus says—Around the sacred and the spacious isleOf Samos you may see large tunnies caught.The Samians call them horcyes, and othersDo name them cetus. These 'tis well to buy,Fit offering for the Gods; and do it quickly,Nor stop to haggle or bargain for the price.Good too are those which fair Byzantium,Or the Carystian marble rocks do breed.And in the famous isle of Sicily,The Cephalcedian and Tyndarian shoresSend forth fish richer still. And if you comeTo sacred Italy, where Hipponium's capeFrowns on the waves which lave the Bruttian coastThose are the best of all. The tunnies thereHave gain'd the height of fame and palm of victory.Still those which there you find have wander'd far,Cross'd many seas, and many a roaring strait,So that we often catch them out of season.
θύννος. τοῦτόν φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης εἰσπλεῖν εἰς τὸν Πόντον ἐχόμενον τῆς γῆς· ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ ὀφθαλμῷ βλέπειν, τῷ γὰρ εὐωνύμῳ ἀμβλυωπεῖν. ἔχει δ’ ὑπὸ τὰ πτερύγια τὸν λεγόμενον οἶστρον. χαίρει δὲ ἀλέᾳ· διὸ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄμμον πρόσεισι. γίνεται δὲ ἐδώδιμος ὅταν τοῦ οἴστρου παύσηται, μίσγεται δὲ μετὰ τὴν φωλείαν, ὥς φησι Θεόφραστος, καὶ ἕως μὲν ἂν ἔχῃ μικρὰ τὰ κυήματα, δυσάλωτος, ὅταν δὲ μείζω γένηται, διὰ τὸν οἴστρου ἁλίσκεται. φωλεύει δὲ ὁ θύννος καίτοι πολυαίματος ὤν. Ἀρχέστρατος δέ φησιν ἀμφὶ δὲ τὴν ἱεράν τε καὶ εὐρύχορον Σάμον ὄψῃ θύννον ἁλισκόμενον σπουδῇ μέγαν, ὃν καλέουσιν ὄρκυν, ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖ κῆτος. τούτου δὲ θέρευς χρὴ ὀψωνεῖν ἃ πρέπει ταχέως καὶ μὴ περὶ τιμῆς … ἐστὶ δὲ γενναῖος Βυζαντίῳ ἔν τε Καρύστῳ· ἐν Σικελῶν δὲ κλυτῇ νήσῳ Κεφαλοιδὶς ἀμείνους πολλῷ τῶνδε τρέφει θύννους καὶ Τυνδαρὶς ἀκτή. ἂν δὲ ποτ’ Ἰταλίας ἱερᾶς Ἱππώνιον ἔλθῃς Περσεφόνης ἕδος εὐστεφάνου, πολὺ δή, πολὺ πάντων ἐνταῦθ’ εἰσὶν ἄριστοι ἔχουσί τε τέρματα νίκης, οἱ δ’ ἐπὶ τῶνδε τόπων πεπλανημένοι εἰσὶν ἐκεῖθεν πολλὰ περάσαντες πελάγη βρυχίου διὰ πόντου ὥστ’ αὐτοὺς ἡμεῖς θηρεύομεν ὄντας ἀώρους.
But this fish was called the tunny (θύννος) from rushing (ἀπὸ τοῦ θύειν), and moving rapidly. For it s an impetuous fish, from, at a particular season, having a gadfly in its head; by which Aristotle says that it is driven about, writing thus—“But the tunny fish and the sword fish are driven to frenzy about the time of the rising of the dogstar; for both of them at that season have under their fins something like a small worm, which is called oestrus, resembling a scorpion, and in size something similar to a spider, and this makes them leap about in leaps as. large as those of the dolphin.” And Theodoridas says,—The tunnies bend their furious course to Gades.But Polybius of Megalopolis, in the thirty-fourth book of his History, speaking of the Lusitanian district in Iberia, says, “That in the sea, in these parts, acorn-bearing oaks grow, on the fruit of which the tunnies feed, and grow fat; so that a person who called the tunny the pig of the sea would not err, for the tunnies, like the pigs, grow to a great size on these acorns.” And the intestines of this fish are highly extolled, as Eubulus also tells us, in his Ionian,—And after this the luscious intestinesOf roasted tunnies sail'd upon the table.And Aristophanes, in his Lemnian Woman, says—Despise not thou the fat Bœotian eel,Nor grayling, nor the entrails of the tunny.And Strattis, in his Atalanta, says—Next buy the entrails of a tunny, andSome pettitoes of pigs, to cost a drachma.And the same poet says in his Macedonians—And the sweet entrails of the tunny fish.And Eriphus says in his Melibœa—These things poor men cannot afford to buy,The entrails of the tunny or the headOf greedy pike, or conger, or cuttle-fish,Which I don't think the gods above despise.But when Theopompus, in his Callæschrus, says,The ὑπογάστριον of fish, O Ceres,we must take notice that the writers of his time apply the term ὑπογάστριον to fish, but very seldom to pigs or other animals; but it is uncertain what animals Antiphanes is speaking of, when he makes use of the term ὑπογάστριον in his Ponticus, where he says—Whoever has by chance bought dainty foodFor these accursed and abandon'd women,Such as ὑπογάστρια, which may NeptuneConfound for ever; and who seeks to placeBeside them now a dainty loin of meat...And Alexis, in his Ulysses weaving, praises the head of the tunny; and says—A. And I will throw the fishers headlong downInto the pit. They only catch for meFood fit for freed men; trichides and squids,And partly fried fish.B. But not long ago,This man, if he could get a tunny's head,Thought he was eating tunnies whole, and eels.They praised also that part of the tunny which they called “the key,” as Aristophon does, in his Peirithus:—A. But now the dinner is all spoilt entirely.B. Here are two roasted keys quite fit to eat.A. What, keys to open doors?B. No, tunny keys;A dainty dish.A. There is the Spartan key too.
᾽ Ὠνομάσθη δὲ θύννος ἀπὸ τοῦ θύειν τε καὶ ὁρμᾶν. ὁρμητικὸς γὰρ ὁ ἰχθὺς διὰ τὸ ἔχειν κατά τινα ὥραν οἶστρον ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, ὑφ’ οὗ φησιν ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης αὐτὸν ἐξελαύνεσθαι γράφων οὕτως· οἱ δὲ θύννοι καὶ οἱ ξιφίαι οἰστρῶσι περὶ κυνὸς ἐπιτολήν· ἔχουσι γὰρ ἀμφότεροι τηνικαῦτα παρὰ τὰ πτερύγια οἱονεὶ σκωλήκιον τὸν καλούμενον οἶστρον, ὅμοιον μὲν σκορπίῳ, μέγεθος δ’ ἡλίκον ἀράχνης, τοῦτο δὲ ποιεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐξάλλεσθαι οὐκ ἔλαττον τοῦ δελφῖνος· καὶ τοῖς πλοίοις πολλάκις ἐμπίπτουσι. καὶ Θεοδωρίδας δέ φησι· θύννοι τε διοιστρήσοντι Γαδείρων δρόμον. Πολύβιος δ’ ὁ Μεγαλοπολίτης ἐν τετάρτῃ καὶ τριακοστῇ τῶν ἱστοριῶν περὶ τῆς ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ Λυσιτανίας χώρας διαλεγόμενός φησιν ὅτι βάλανοί εἰσι κατὰ βάθος ἐν τῇ αὐτόθι θαλάττῃ πεφυτευμέναι, ὧν τὸν καρπὸν σιτουμένους τοὺς θύννους πιαίνεσθαι. διόπερ οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τις λέγων ὗς εἶναι θαλαττίους τοὺς θύννους. εἰσὶν γὰρ οἱ θύννοι οἷον ὕες, ἀπὸ τῶν βαλάνων αὐξανόμενοι, ἐπαινεῖται δὲ τοῦ ἰχθύος τούτου τὰ ὑπογάστρια, ὡς καὶ Εὔβουλός φησιν ἐν Ἴωνι· μετὰ ταῦτα θύννων μεγαλόπλουτ’ ἐπεισέπλει ὑπογάστρι’ ὀπτῶν. Ἀριστοφάνης Λημνίαις· οὐκ ἔγχελυν Βοιωτίαν, οὐ γλαῦκον, οὐχὶ θύννου ὑπογάστριον. Στράττις Ἀταλάντῃ· ὑπογάστριον θύννου τι κἀκροκώλιον δραχμῆς ὕειον. ἐν δὲ Μακεδόσιν ὑπογάστριά θ’ ἡδέα θύννων. ἔριφος Μελιβοίᾳ· ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ πένητες οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀγοράσαι ὑπογάστριον θύννακος οὐδὲ κρανίον λάβρακος οὐδὲ γόγγρον οὐδὲ σηπίας, ἃς οὐδὲ μάκαρας ὑπερορᾶν οἶμαι θεούς. ὅταν δὲ καὶ Θεόπομπος ἐν Καλλαίσχρῳ λέγῃ· ἰχθύων δὲ δὴ ὑπογάστρι᾽, ὦ Δάματερ, παρατηρητέον ὅτι ἐπὶ ἰχθύων μὲν ὑπογάστριον λέγουσι, σπανίως δ’ ἐπὶ χοίρων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων. ἄδηλον δ’ ἐπὶ τίνων ἔταξε τὸ ὑπογάστριον Ἀντιφάνης ἐν τῷ Ποντικῷ, ὅταν λέγῃ· ὅστις ὠψώνηκ’ ἴσως ταύταις μεγαλείως ταῖς κάκιστ’ ἀπολουμέναις ὑπογάστρι’ ἐλθὼν ἃς Ποσειδῶν ἀπολέσαι βράττειν τε γεννικῶς παρασκευάζεται πλευρὰν μετ’ αὐτῶν. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Ὀδυσσεῖ ὑφαίνοντι καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ θύννου ἐπαινῶν φησιν καὶ τοὺς ἁλιέας δ’ εἰς τὸ βάραθρον ἐμβάλω· ἀπελευθέρων ὀψάρια θηρεύουσί μοι, τριχίδια καὶ σηπίδια καὶ φρυκτούς τινας. β. οὗτος πρότερον κεφαλὴν εἰ λάβοι θύννου ἐνόμιζεν ἐγχέλεια καὶ θύννας ἔχειν. ἐπῄνουν δὲ τῶν θύννων καὶ τὰς κλεῖδας καλουμένας, ὡς Ἀριστοφῶν ἐν Πειρίθῳ· καὶ μὴν διέφθαρταί γε τοὔψον παντελῶς· κλεῖδες μὲν ὀπταὶ δύο παρεσκευασμέναι. β. αἷς τὰς θύρας κλείουσι; α. θύννειοι μὲν οὖν. β. σεμνὸν τὸ βρῶμα. α. καὶ τρίτη Λακωνική.
But Antigonus the Carystian, in his treatise on Language, says that the tunny is sacrificed to Neptune, as we have already mentioned. But Heracleon the Ephesian says that the Attic writers call the tunny the orcynus. And Sostratus, in the second book of his treatise on Animals, says that the pelamys is called the thunnis, or female tunny-fish; but that when it becomes larger, it is called thunnus; and when it gets to a larger size still, it is called the orcynus; and that when it has grown to a size which is quite enormous, then it is called cetus. And Aeschylus likewise mentions the tunny, saying—I bid you take up hammers now, and beatThe fiery mass of iron, which will utterNo groan, but bear in silence like the tunny.And in another place he says—Turning his eye aside, just like the tunny;because the tunny cannot see well out of his left eye, as Aristotle has said. Menander, in his Fishermen, says—And the disturbed and muddy sea which breedsThe largest tunnies.And in Sophron we find the word θυννοθήρας (a hunter of tunnies); but the same fish which is usually called θύννος, the Attic writers call θυννίς.
Ἀντίγονος δ’ ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν τῷ περὶ λέξεως τῷ Ποσειδῶνί φησι θύννον θύεσθαι, καθάπερ προείπαμεν. Ἡρακλέων δ’ ὁ Ἐφέσιος θύννον τὸν ὄρκυνόν φησι λέγειν τοὺς Ἀττικούς. Σώστρατος δ’ ἐν δευτέρῳ περὶ ζῴων τὴν πηλαμύδα θυννίδα καλεῖσθαι λέγει, μείζω δὲ γινομένην θύννον, ἔτι δὲ μείζονα ὄρκυνον, ὑπερβαλλόντως δὲ αὐξανόμενον γίνεσθαι κῆτος, μνημονεύει δὲ τοῦ θύννου καὶ Αἰσχύλος λέγων σφύρας δέχεσθαι κἀπιχαλκεύειν μύδρους ὡς ἀστενακτὶ θύννος ὣς ἠνείχετο ἄναυδος. καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· τὸ σκαιὸν ὄμμα παραβαλὼν θύννου δίκην, ὡς τοῦ θύννου τῷ σκαιῷ ὀφθαλμῷ οὐ βλέποντος, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης εἴρηκεν. Μένανδρος· ἁλιεῦσι· καὶ θάλαττα βορβορώδης, ἣ τρέφει θύννον μέγαν. καὶ παρὰ Σώφρονι ὁ θυννοθήρας ἐστίν … οὓς ἔνιοι θύννους καλοῦσιν, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ θυννίδας.
But as to the thunnis, Aristotle says that this is the female, differing from the male thunnus in having a fin under the belly, the name of which fin is the “ather.” But in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, he again distinguishes the thunnis from the thunnus; saying, that “in the summer, about the month Hecatombæon, it drops something like a bag, in which there are a great number of small eggs.” And Speusippus, in the second book of his Similitudes, distin- guishes the thunnis from the thunnus; and so does Epichar- mus, in his Muses. But Cratinus, in his Pluti, says—For I'm a thunnis, a melænas, orA thunnus, orphos, grayling, eel, or sea-dog.And Aristotle, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the thunnis is a gregarious fish, and also a migratory one. But Archestratus, who is so fond of petty details, says—And then the thunna's tail, which I call thunnis,That mighty fish, whose home's Byzantium.Cut it in slices, and then roast it allWith accurate care, strewing on nought but salt,Most thinly spread; then sprinkle a little oil;Then eat it hot, first dipping it in brine.Or if you like to eat them dry they're good;Like the immortal gods in character,And figure too; but if you once forget,And vinegar add to them, then you spoil them.And Antiphanes, in his Pæderastes, says—And the middle slices takeOf the choice Byzantian tunny,And let them be neatly hiddenUnder leaves from beet-root torn.Antiphanes also praises the tail of the thunnis, in his Couris, where he says—A. The man who's country bred likes not to eatFood from the sea extracted; unless indeedIt comes quite close in shore. Such as some conger,Some ray, or tunny's...B. Which part of the tunny?A. The lower part.B. Well, you may eat that safely.A. All other fish I reckon cannibals.B. Do not you eat those fish with the ugly backs?A. Which?B. The fat eels which haunt Copais' lake.A. Aye, like a ploughman. For indeed I haveA farm not far from that most dainty lake.But I impeach the eels now of desertion,For none at all were there the other day.And some of these iambics may be found in the Acestria, and also in the Countryman, or Butalion. And Hiponax, as Lysanias quotes him in his treatise on the Iambic Poets, says—For one of them with rapid extravaganceFeasting each day on tunnies and on cheese-cakes,,Like any eunuch of rich Lampsacus,Ate up his whole estate. So that he nowIs forced to work and dig among the rocks,'Eating poor figs, and small stale loaves of barley,Food fit for slaves.And Strattis also mentions the thunnis, in his Callipides.
θυννίς. τοῦ ἄρρενος ταύτην φησὶ διαφέρειν ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης τῷ ἔχειν ὑπὸ τῇ γαστρὶ πτερύγιον, ὃ καλεῖσθαι ἀθέρα ἐν δὲ τῷ περὶ ζῴων μορίων διιστὰς αὐτὴν τοῦ θύννου φησιν τοῦ θέρους τίκτειν περὶ τὸν Ἑκατομβαιῶνα θυλακοειδές, ἐν ᾧ πολλὰ γίνεσθαι μικρὰ ᾠά. καὶ Σπεύσιππος δ’ ἐν δευτέρῳ Ὁμοίων διίστησιν αὐτὰς τῶν θύννων καὶ Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Μούσαις. Κρατῖνος δ’ ἐν Πλούτοις φησὶν ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι θυννὶς ἡ μέλαινά σοι καὶ θύννος, ὀρφώς, γλαῦκος, ἔγχελυς, κύων. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων ἀγελαῖον καὶ ἐκτοπιστικὸν εἶναι τὴν θυννίδα. Ἀρχέστρατος δ’ ὁ κίμβιξ φησί καὶ θύννης οὐραῖον ἔχειν—τὴν θυννίδα φωνῶ τὴν μεγάλην, ἧς μητρόπολις Βυζάντιόν ἐστιν. εἶτα τεμὼν αὐτὴν ὀρθῶς ὄπτησον ἅπασαν ἁλσὶ μόνον λεπτοῖσι πάσας καὶ ἐλαίῳ ἀλείψας. θερμὰ τ’ ἔδειν τεμάχη βάπτων δριμεῖαν ἐς ἅλμην καὶ ξήρ’ ἂν ἐθέλῃς ἔσθειν γενναῖα πέλονται, ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι φυὴν καὶ εἶδος ὅμοια. ἂν δ’ ὄξει ῥάνας παραθῇς, ἀπόλωλεν ἐκείνη. καὶ Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Παιδεραστῇ· τῆς τε βελτίστης μεσαῖον θυννάδος Βυζαντίας τέμαχος ἐν τεύτλου λακιστοῖς κρύπτεται στεγάσμασιν. τῆς θυννίδος τὸ οὐραῖον ἐπαινεῖ καὶ Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Κουρίδι οὕτως· ὁ μὲν ἐν ἀγρῷ τρεφόμενος θαλάττιον μὲν οὗτος οὐδὲν ἐσθίει πλὴν τῶν παρὰ γῆν, γόγγρον τιν’ ἢ νάρκην τιν’ ἢ θύννης τὰ πρὸς γῆς. β. ποῖα; α. τὰ κάτωθεν λέγω·· β. τούτους φάγοις ἄν; γ. τοὺς γὰρ ἄλλους νενόμικα ἀνθρωποφάγους ἰχθῦς. β. τὸ δεῖνα δ’ ἐσθίεις; γ· τὸ τί; β. τὰ Βοιωτῶν λοιπά; γ. Κωπᾷδας λέγεις; ἀγρίως γε· παρὰ λίμνην γεωργῶν τυγχάνω. τὰ δ’ ἐγχέλεια γράψομαι λιποταξίου· κομιδῇ γὰρ οὐκ ἦν οὐδαμοῦ. τούτων τῶν ἰαμβείων ἔνια ἔστιν εὑρεῖν καὶ ἐν Ἀκεστρίᾳ καὶ ἐν Ἀγροίκῳ ἢ Βουταλίωνι. Ἱππῶναξ δέ, ὡς Λυσανίας ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἰαμβοποιῶν παρατίθεται, φησίν ὁ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἡσυχῇ τε καὶ ῥύβδην θυννίδα τε καὶ μυττωτὸν ἡμέρας πάσας δαινύμενος, ὥσπερ Λαμψακηνὸς εὐνοῦχος, κατέφαγε δὴ τὸν κλῆρον ὥστε χρὴ σκάπτειν πέτρας τ’ ὀρείας σῦκα μέτρια τρώγων καὶ κρίθινον κόλλικα, δούλιον χόρτον. μνημονεύει δὲ τῶν θυννίδων καὶ Στράττις ἐν Καλλιππίδῃ.