There is also a fish called the hippurus, or horsetail. Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that the hippuri lay eggs, and that these are small at first, but come to a great size, like those of the lam- prey; and that they bring forth their young in the spring. But Dorion, in his book upon Fish, says that the hippurus is also called the coryphæna. But Icesius calls it the hippuris; and Epicharmas also mentions them in his Hebe's Wedding, saying—The sharp-nosed needle-fish,And the hippurus, and bright chrysophrys.But Numenius, in his treatise on the Art of Fishing, speaking of the nature of the fish, says that it keeps continually leaping out of the water; on which account it is also called the Tumbler. And he uses the following expressions about it:—Or the great synodons, or tumbler hippurus.And Archestratus says—Th' hippurus of Carystus is the best,And indeed all Carystian fish are good.And Epænetus, in his Cookery Book, says that it is called also the coryphoena.
ἵππουροι. Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν δευτέρῳ ζῴων μορίων τοὺς ἱππούρους φησὶν ᾠὰ τίκτειν, καὶ ταῦτα ἐξ ἐλαχίστων μέγιστα γίνεσθαι, ὡς καὶ τὰ τῆς σμυραίνης· τίκτειν δὲ ἔαρος. Δωρίων δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων κορύφαιναν καλεῖσθαί φησι τὸν ἵππουρον. Ἱκέσιος δ’ ἱππουρεῖς αὐτοὺς προσαγορεύει, μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτῶν Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Ἥβας γάμῳ· κὠξύρυγχοι ῥαφίδες ἵππουροί τε καὶ χρυσόφρυες. Νουμήνιος δ’ ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ἰχθύος διηγούμενος συνεχές φησιν αὐτὸν ἐξάλλεσθαι, διὸ καὶ ἀρνευτὴν ὀνομάζεσθαι. λέγει δὲ οὕτω περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἠὲ μέγαν συνόδοντα ἢ ἀρνευτὴν ἵππουρον. Ἀρχέστρατος δέ φησιν ἵππουρος δὲ Καρύστιός ἐστιν ἄριστος· ἄλλως τ’ εὔοψον σφόδρα χωρίον ἐστὶ Κάρυστος. Ἐπαίνετος δ’ ἐν Ὀψαρτυτικοῖς κορύφαιναν αὐτόν φησιν ὀνομάζεσθαι.
There is another fish called the horse; and perhaps it is the same which Epicharmus calls the hippidion, or little horse, when he says—The coracinus colour'd like a crow,Fat, well-fed fish; the smooth hippidion,The phycæ and the tender squill...And Numenius, in his Art, of Fishing, says—The char, the mighty tench of size enormous,The channus, and the eel; and he who rovesBy night, the wary pitynus; the mussel,The horse-fish, or the sea-green corydulis.And Antimachus the Colophonian mentions it in his Thebais, where he says—The hyca, or the horse-fish, or the oneWhich they do call the thrush.
ἵπποι. μήποτε τούτους ἱππίδια καλεῖ Ἐπίχαρμος ὅταν λέγῃ· κορακῖνοι δὲ κοριοειδέες, … πίονες χἰππίδια λεῖα, φυκιοφάγοι κουρίδες. Νουμήνιος δ’ ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ· ἢ σκάρον ἢ κῶθον τροφίην καὶ ἀναιδέα λίην χάννους τ’ ἐγχέλυάς τε καὶ ἐννυχίην πίτυνον, ὁ ἢ μύας ἢ ἵππους ἠὲ γλαύκην κορύδυλιν. μνημονεύει αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἀντίμαχος ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἐν τῇ Θηβαίδι λέγων οὕτως· ἢ ὕκην ἢ ἵππον ἢ ὃν κίχλην καλέουσιν.
There is a fish, too, called the ioulis, concerning which Dorion says, in his treatise on Fishes, “Recollect that if you boil the ioulis, you must do it in brine; and if you roast them, you must roast them with marjoram.” And Numenius says—And ne'er neglect the medicine which keeps offTo a great degree the greedy fish ioulis,And scolopendrus that doth poison dart.But the same writer calls them ioulus, and the entrails of the earth, in the following lines:—Moreover do not then the bait forget,Which on the highest hills that fringe the shoreShall soon be found. And they are called iouli,Black, eating earth-the entrails of the earth;Or the long-footed grasshopper, what timeThe sandy rocks are sprinkled with the foamOf the high-rising tide. Then dig them up,And stow them carefully within your bag.
ἰουλίδες,. περὶ τούτων Δωρίων ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων φησὶν ἰουλίδας ἕψειν μὲν ἐν ἅλμῃ, ὀπτᾶν δ’ ἐπὶ τηγάνου. Νουμήνιος δέ· κεῖνο δὲ δὴ σκέπτοιο, τό κεν καὶ ἰουλίδα μάργον πολλὸν ἀποτροπόῳτο καὶ ἰοβόλον σκολόπενδραν. ἰούλους δ’ ὁ αὐτὸς ὀνομάζει τὰ ἔντερα τῆς γῆς διὰ τούτων καὶ δὲ σύ γε μνήσαιο δελείατος ὅττι παρ’ ἄκρα δήεις αἰγιαλοῖο γεώλοφα· οἱ μὲν ἴουλοι κέκληνται, μέλανες, γαιηφάγοι, ἔντερα γαίης. ἠὲ καὶ ἑρπήλας δολιχήποδας, ὁππότε πέτραι ἀμμώδεις κλύζωνται ἐπ’ ἄκρῃ κύματος ἀγῇ, ἔνθεν ὀρύξασθαι θέμεναὶ τ’ εἰς ἄγγος ἀολλεῖς.
There are also fish called κίχλη, the sea-thrush, and κόσσυφος, the sea-blackbird. The Attic writers call the first κίχλη, with an η; and the reason is as follows:—All the feminine nouns which end in λα have another λ before the λα; as σκύλλα, σκίλλα, κόλλα, βδέλλα, ἅμιλλα, ἅμαλλα: but those which end in λη do not require a λ to precede the λη; as ὁμίχλη, φύτλη, γενέθλη, αἴγλη, τρώγλη, and, in like manner, τρίγλη. Cratinus says—Suppose a man had eaten a red mullet (τρίγλην),Would that alone prove him an epicure?And Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesomes, says, “Those fish which are called rocky fish have tender flesh; such as the sea-blackbird, the sea-thrush, the perch, the tench, the phyca, the alphesticus.” But Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing—The sea-born race of grayling or of orphus,The black-flesh'd blackbird, or the dainty sea-thrushSporting beneath the waves.And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—Bambradones, sea-thrushes, and sea-hares;And the bold dragon fish.And Aristotle, in his treatise on What concerns Animals, says, “And the fishes with black spots, like the sea-blackbird; and the fishes with variegated spots, like the sea-thrush.” But Pancrates the Arcadian, in his Works of the Sea, says that the sea-thrush is called by many names:—Add now to these the sea-thrush red, which theyWho seek to snare the wary fish with baitDo call the saurus, and th' æolias,Add too th' orphiscus with his large fat head.And Nicander, in the fourth book of his Transformed People, says—The scarus or the thrush with many names.
κίχλαι καὶ κόσσυφοι. διὰ τοῦ ητα Ἀττικοὶ κίχλην λέγουσι, καὶ ὁ λόγος οὕτως ἔχει. τὰ γὰρ εἰς λα λήγοντα θηλυκὰ πρὸ τοῦ λ ἕτερον λ ἔχει, Σκύλλα, σκίλλα, κόλλα, βδέλλα, ἅμιλλα, ἄμαλλα· τὰ δὲ εἰς λη οὐκέτι, ὁμίχλη, φύτλη, γενέθλη, αἴγλη, τρώγλη, ὁμοίως οὖν καὶ τρίγλη. Κρατῖνος· τρίγλην δ’ εἰ μὲν ἐδηδοκοίη τένθου τινὸς ἀνδρός. Διοκλῆς δ’ ἐν πρώτῳ Ὑγιεινῶν οἱ δὲ πετραῖοι, φησίν, καλούμενοι μαλακόσαρκοι, κόσσυφοι, κίχλαι, πέρκαι, κωβιοί, φυκίδες, ἀλφηστικός. Νουμήνιος δὲ ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ· γλαύκους ἢ ὀρφῶν ἔναλον γένος ἠὲ μελάγχρων κόσσυφον ἢ κίχλας ἁλιειδέας. Ἐπίχαρμος δ’ ἐν Ἥβας γάμῳ· βαμβραδόνες τε καὶ κίχλαι λαγοὶ δράκοντές τ’ ἄλκιμοι. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ζωικῶν καὶ τὰ μὲν μελανόστικτα, ὥσπερ κόσσυφος, τὰ δὲ ποικιλόστικτα, ὥσπερ κίχλη. Παγκράτης δ’ ὁ Ἀρκὰς ἐν ἔργοις θαλαττίοις τὴν κίχλην πολλοῖς ὀνόμασί φησι καλεῖσθαι· οἷς ἤδη κίχλην οἰνώδεα, τὴν καλαμῆες σαῦρον κικλήσκουσι καὶ αἰολίην, ὀρφίσκον, πιότατον κεφαλῇ. Νίκανδρος δ’ ἐν τετάρτῳ Ἑτεροιουμένων φησίν ἢ σκάρον ἢ κίχλην πολυώνυμον.
There is also the sea-boar and the cremys. Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, says, “But some fish have no teeth and smooth skins, like the needle-fish; and some have stony heads, like the cremys; and some are harsher, with rough skins, like the sea-boar; and some are marked down the back with two lines, like the seserinus; and some are marked with many lines and with red spots, like the salpe.” And both Dorion and Epænatus mention the sea-boar; and Archestratus says—But when you go to Acta's favour'd land,If you by chance should see a rich sea-boar,Buy it at once, and let it not escape you,Not if you buy it at its weight in gold;Else will the indignation of the godsO'erpower you; for 'tis the flower of nectar.But 'tis not all men who can be allow'dTo eat this dainty, no, nor e'en to see it;Unless they take a strongly-woven meshOf marsh-bred rush, and hold it in their hands,Well used to ply the floats with rapid mind.And with these dainties you must offer up,Thrown on the ground, some gifts of lamb and mutton.
κάπρος καὶ κρέμυς. Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τῷ περὶ ζῴων φησί τὰ δὲ ἀνόδοντα καὶ λεῖα ὡς ῥαφίς. καὶ τὰ μὲν λιθοκέφαλα ὡς κρέμυς, τὰ δὲ σκληρότατα, τραχύδερμα ὡς κάπρος, καὶ τὰ μὲν δίραβδα ὥσπερ σεσερῖνος, τὰ δὲ πολύραβδα καὶ ἐρυθρόγραμμα ὡς σάλπη. τοῦ δὲ κάπρου μνημονεύει καὶ Δωρίων καὶ Ἐπαίνετος. Ἀρχέστρατος δέ φησιν αὐτὰρ ἐς Ἀμβρακίαν ἐλθὼν εὐδαίμονα χώραν τὸν κάπρον ἂν ἐσίδῃς ὠνοῦ καὶ μὴ κατάλειπε, κἂν ἰσόχρυσος ἔῃ, μή σοι νέμεσις καταπνεύσῃ δεινὴ ἀπ’ ἀθανάτων τὸ γάρ ἐστιν νέκταρος ἄνθος, τούτου δ’ οὐ θέμις ἐστὶ φαγεῖν θνητοῖσιν ἅπασιν οὐδ’ ἐσιδεῖν ὄσσοισιν, ὅσοι μὴ πλεκτὸν ὕφασμα σχοίνου ἑλειοτρόφου κοῖλον χείρεσσιν ἔχοντες εἰώθασι δονεῖν ψήφους αἴθωνι λυγισμῷ ἄρθρων μηλείων τ’ ἐπ’ ἄγρην δωρήματα βάλλειν.
There is also the harp-fish. Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, or on Fish, says, “The harp-fish has serrated teeth, is a fish of solitary habits, he lives on seaweed; he has a very loose tongue, and a white and broad heart.” Pherecrates, in his Slave-Tutor, says—The harp-fish is a good fish; be you sureTo buy him when you can. He really is good;But, I by Phœbus swear, this does perplex meExceedingly which men do say, my friend,That there is secret harm within this harp-fish.Epicharmus says, in his Marriage of Hebe—There were hyænides,And fine buglossi, and the harp-fish tooAnd Apollodorus has said that, on account of his name, he was considered to be sacred to Apollo. And Callias, or Diodes, whichever was the author of the play, says in the Cyclops—A roasted harp-fish, and a ray,And the head of a well-fed tunny.And Archestratus, in his Luxurious Way of Living, says—I counsel you always to boil a harp-fishIf he is white and full of firmish meat;But if he's red and also no great size,Then it were best, when you have prick'd him o'erWith a new sharpen'd knife, to roast him gently.Sprinkle him then with oil and plenteous cheese,For he does like to see men liberal,And is himself intemperate.
κίθαρος. Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τῷ περὶ ζῴων ἢ περὶ ἰχθύων ὁ κίθαρος, φησί, καρχαρόδους, μονήρης, φυκοφάγος, τὴν γλῶτταν ἀπολελυμένος, καρδίαν λευκὴν ἔχων καὶ πλατεῖαν. Φερεκράτης Δουλοδιδασκάλῳ· κίθαρος γεγενῆσθαι κἀγοράζειν κίθαρος ὤν. β. ἀγαθὸν γ’ ὁ κίθαρος καὶ πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνος πάνυ. α. ι ἐκεῖνο θράττει μ᾽, ὅτι λέγουσιν, ὦ ᾽ γαθή, ἔνεστιν ἐν κιθάρῳ τι κακόν. Ἐπίχαρμος Ἥβας γάμῳ ἦν δ’ ὑαινίδες τε βούγλωσσοί τε καὶ κίθαρος ἐνῆς. ὅτι δὲ διὰ τὸ ὄνομα ἱερὸς εἶναι νενόμισται τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος εἴρηκεν Ἀπολλόδωρος. Καλλίας δ’ ἢ Διοκλῆς Κύκλωψι· κίθαρος ὀπτὸς καὶ βατὶς θύννου τε κεφάλαιον τοδί. ὁ δ’ Ἀρχέστρατος ἐν τῇ Ἡδυπαθείᾳ· κίθαρον δὲ κελεύω, ἂν μὲν λευκὸς ἔῃ στερεός τε μέγας τε πεφύκῃ, ἕψειν εἰς ἅλμην καθαρὰν κατὰ φύλλα καθέντα· ἂν δ’ ᾖ πυρρὸς ἰδεῖν καὶ μὴ λίαν μέγας, ὀπτᾶν ὀρθῇ κεντήσαντα δέμας νεοθῆγι μαχαίρᾳ, καὶ πολλῷ τυρῷ καὶ ἐλαίῳ τοῦτον ἄλειφε χαίρει γὰρ δαπανῶντας ὁρῶν, ἐστὶν δ’ ἀκόλαστος.
There is also the cordylus. Aristotle calls this fish an amphibious animal, and says that it dies if it is dried by the sun. But Numenius, in his book on the Art of Fishing, calls it the courylus:—All things are ready. First I strip the thighsOf courylus, or pirene, and treat tooIn the same way the marine grasshopper.He also speaks of the fish called the cordylis, in these lines—Mussels, sea-horses, or the sea-green cordylis.
κορδύλος·. τοῦτον Ἀριστοτέλης φησὶν ἀμφίβιον εἶναι καὶ τελευτᾶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου αὐανθέντα. Νουμήνιος δ’ ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ κουρύλον αὐτὸν καλεῖ· τοῖσί κεν ἄρμενα πάντα παροπλίσσαιο δέλετρα, κουρύλον ἢ πειρῆνα ἢ εἰναλίην ἕρπηλαν. μέμνηται δὲ καὶ κορδυλίδος ἐν τούτοις· ἢ μύας ἢ ἵππους ἠὲ γλαύκην κορύδυλιν.
There is also a fish called cammorus. Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe, says—Then after this there are boaces andSmarides, anchovies, also cammori.And Sophron, in his Female Farces, mentions them. But they are a species of squill, and this name was given them by the Romans. There is also a fish called the carcharias. Numenius of Heraclea, in his Art of Fishing, says—At times you may too a carcharias catch,At times a psamathis who loves the surf.And Sophron, in his Tunny-hunter, says, “But if your stomach happens to have swallowed a carcharias.” But Nicander the Colophonian, in his essay on Dialects, says that the carcharias is also called the lamias and the squill.
κάμμοροι. Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Ἥβας γάμῳ· ἔτι δὲ πὸτ τούτοισι βῶκες, σμαρίδες, ἀφύαι, κάμμοροι. καὶ Σώφρων δ’ ἐν γυναικείοις μίμοις αὐτῶν μέμνηται. ἐστὶ δὲ καρίδων γένος καὶ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων οὕτως καλοῦνται, καρχαρίαι. Νουμήνιος ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης ἐν τῷ Ἁλιευτικῷ φησιν ἄλλοτε καρχαρίην, ὁτὲ δὲ ῥόθιον ψαμαθῖδα. σώφρων Θυννοθήρᾳ· ἁ δὲ γαστὴρ ὑμέων καρχαρίας, ὅκκα τινὸς δῆσθε. Νίκανδρος ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἐν ταῖς Γλώσσαις τὸν καρχαρίαν καλεῖσθαί φησι καὶ λάμιαν καὶ σκύλλαν.
There is also the cestreus. Icesius says, “if the fish which are called by one general name of leucisci there are many sorts; for some are called cephali, and some cestres, and some chellones, and some myxini. But the cephali are the best both in flavour and juiciness; the next to them are those called the cestres; the myxini are inferior to either. But the worst of all are the chellones, which are called bacchi; and they are all full of wholesome juice, not very nutritious, but very digestible.” And Dorion, in his essay on Fish, mentions the sea cestreus, but does not approve of the river one. And the sea cestreus he subdivides into two species—the cephalus and the nestis. But the cestreus, which is like the sea-urchin about the head, he calls sphondylus. And he says “that the cephalinus differs from the cephalus, and that this last is also called the blepsias.” But Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, “But of the different kinds of cestreus, the chellones begin to be pregnant in the month Poseideon; so does the sargus and the fish called the myxus; and so does the cephalus: and they go thirty days with young. But some of the cestres are not generated by copulation, but are produced by the slime and the sand.” And in other places Aristotle says, “The cestreus is a fish with serrated teeth, but he does not eat other fishes; and, indeed, he is in no respect carnivorous. But of these fish there are several kinds—the cephalus, the chellon, and the pheræus. And the chellon feeds close to land, but the pheræus does not; and they use the following food—the pheræus uses the mucus which proceeds from itself, and the chellon eats slime and sand. It is said, also, that the spawn of the cestreus is not eaten by any other fish, just as the cestreus also eats no other fish.” But Euthydemus the Athenian, in his treatise on Cured Fish, says that the spheneus and the dactyleus are both different species of cestres; and also that there is a species which are called cephali, because they have very large heads. And those which are called spheneus, are called so because they are thin and four-cornered; and the dactyleis are not so thick as two fingers. But the most excellent of the cestres are those which are caught near Abdera, as Archestratus has told us; and the second-best are those which come from Sinope. But the cestres are called by some writers plotes, as Polemo says, in his treatise on the Rivers in Sicily. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, gives them this name—Aeolians, and plotes, and cynoglossi.There also were sciathides.And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Dispositions and Way of Living of Animals, says that “the cestres live even if they are deprived of their tails. But the cestreus is eaten by the pike, and the conger is eaten by the turbot.” And there is an often-quoted proverb, “The cestreus is fasting,” which is applied to men who live with strict regard to justice, because the cestreus is never carnivorous. Anaxilas, in his Morose Man, attacking Maton the Sophist for his gluttony, says—Maton seized hold of a large cestreus' head,And ate it all. But I am quite undone.And that beautiful writer, Archestratus, says—Buy if you can a cestreus which has comeFrom the sea-girt Aegina; then you shallFor well-bred men be fitting company.Diocles, in his Sea, says—The cestreus leaps for joy.
κεστρεύς. ἱκέσιός φησι· τῶν δὲ καλουμένων λευκίσκων πλέονά ἐστιν εἴδη. λέγονται γὰρ οἱ μὲν κέφαλοι, οἱ δὲ κεστρεῖς, ἄλλοι δὲ χελλῶνες, οἱ δὲ μυξῖνοι. ἄριστοι δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ κέφαλοι καὶ πρὸς τὴν γεῦσιν καὶ πρὸς τὴν εὐχυλίαν. δεύτεροι δ’ εἰσὶ τούτων οἱ λεγόμενοι κεστρεῖς, ἥσσονες δ’ οἱ μυξῖνοι· καταδεέστεροι δὲ πάντων οἱ χελλῶνες οἱ δὲ λεγόμενοι βάκχοι εὔχυλοι εἰσι σφόδρα καὶ οὐ πολύτροφοι καὶ εὐέκκριτοι. Δωρίων δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων τῶν κεστρέων τὸν μὲν θαλάττιον ἐκτίθεται, τὸν δὲ ποτάμιον οὐ δοκιμάζει, εἴδη δὲ τοῦ θαλαττίου κέφαλον καὶ νῆστιν. τὸν δὲ κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ κεστρέως ἐχῖνον σφόνδυλον ὀνομάζει διαφέρειν τέ φησι κεφάλου κεφαλῖνον, ὃν καὶ βλεψίαν καλεῖσθαι. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν πέμπτῳ μορίων ἄρχονται μέν, φησί, κύειν τῶν κεστρέων οἱ μὲν χελλῶνες Ποσειδεῶνος μηνὸς καὶ ὁ σαργὸς καὶ ὁ μύξος καλούμενος καὶ ὁ κέφαλος· κύουσι δὲ τριάκοντα ἡμερῶν. ἔνιοι δὲ τῶν κεστρέων οὐ γίνονται ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ, ἀλλὰ φύονται ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος καὶ τῆς ἄμμου. ἐν δ’ ἄλλοις φησὶν οΣ̔ Ἀριστοτέλης· ὁ κεστρεὺς καρχαρόδους ὢν οὐκ ἀλληλοφαγεῖ, ἅτε δὴ οὐδ’ ὅλως σαρκοφαγῶν, ἐστὶ δὲ ὁ μέν τις κέφαλος, ὁ δὲ χελλών, ὁ δὲ φεραῖος. καὶ ὁ μὲν χελλὼν πρὸς τῇ γῇ νέμεται, ὁ δὲ φεραῖος οὔ. καὶ τροφῇ χρῆται ὁ μὲν φεραῖος τῇ ἀφ’ αὑτοῦ γενομένῃ μύξῃ, ὁ δὲ χελλὼν ἄμμῳ καὶ ἰλύι. λέγεται δὲ καὶ ὅτι τὸν γόνον τῶν κεστρέων οὐδὲν τῶν θηρίων κατεσθίει, ἐπεὶ οὐδ’ οἱ κεστρεῖς οὐδένα τῶν ἰχθύων. Εὐθύδημος δ’ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν τῷ περὶ ταρίχων εἴδη κεστρέων εἶναι κέφαλον καὶ σφηνέα καὶ δακτυλέα. καὶ κεφάλους μὲν λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ βαρυτέραν τὴν κεφαλὴν ἔχειν, σφηνέας δὲ ὅτι λαγαροὶ καὶ τετράγωνοι, τὰ δὲ τῶν δακτυλέων τὸ πλάτος ἔχει ἔλασσον τῶν δυεῖν δακτύλων. θαυμαστοὶ δ’ εἰσὶ τῶν κεστρέων οἱ περὶ Ἄβδηρα ἁλισκόμενοι, ὡς καὶ Ἀρχέστρατος εἴρηκε. δεύτεροι δὲ οἱ ἐκ Σινώπης, καλοῦνται δὲ οἱ κεστρεῖς ὑπό τινων πλῶτες, ὥς φησι Πολέμων ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν Σικελίᾳ ποταμῶν, καὶ Ἐπίχαρμος δ’ ἐν Μούσαις οὕτως αὐτοὺς ὀνομάζει· αἰολίαι πλῶτές τε κυνόγλωσσοὶ τ᾽, ἐνῆν δὲ σκιαθίδες. ι Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ζῴων ἠθῶν καὶ βίων φησὶν ὅτι ζῶσιν οἱ κεστρεῖς κἂν ἀφαιρεθῶσι τὰς κέρκους, ἀπεσθίεται δ’ ὁ μὲν κεστρεὺς ὑπὸ λάβρακος, ὁ δὲ γόγγρος ὑπὸ μυραίνης. ἡ δὲ λεγομένη παροιμία κεστρεὺς νηστεύει ἐπὶ τῶν δικαιοπραγούντων ἀκούεται, ἐπειδὴ οὐ σαρκοφαγεῖ ὁ κεστρεύς. Ἀναξίλας ἐν Μονοτρόπῳ Μάτωνα τὸν σοφιστὴν ἐπὶ γαστριμαργίᾳ διαβάλλων φησί· τοῦ κεστρέως κατεδήδοκεν τὸ κρανίον ἀναρπάσας Μάτων ἐγὼ δ’ ἀπόλλυμαι. ὁ δὲ καλὸς Ἀρχέστρατός φησι· κεστρέα δ’ Αἰγίνης ἐξ ἀμφιρύτης ἀγόραζε, ἀνδράσι τ’ ἀστείοισιν ὁμιλήσεις. Διοκλῆς Θαλάττῃ· ἅλλεται δ’ ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς κεστρεύς.
But that the nestes are a kind of cestreus, Archippus tells us, in his Hercules Marrying:—Nestes cestres, cephali.And Antiphanes, in his Lampon, says—But all the other soldiers which you haveAre hungry (νήστεις) cestres.And Alexis, in his Phrygian, says—So I a nestis cestreus now run home.Ameipsias says, in his Men playing at the Cottabus—A. And I will seek the forum, there to findSome one to take my work.B. I wish you would,You would all have less time to follow me,Like any hungry (νῆστις) cestreus.And Euphron says, in his Ugly Woman—Midas then is a cestreus-see, he walksAlong the city fasting (νῆστις).And Philemon says, in his Men dying together—I bought me now a nestis cestreus roastedOf no great size.Aristophanes, in his Gerytades, says—Is there within a colony of man cestres?For that they all are νήστιδες you know.Anaxandrides says, in his Ulysses—He usually goes supperless about,Like a cestrinus nestis.And Eubulus, in his Nausicaa, says—Who has been drown'd 'tis now four days ago,Leading the life of a sad nestis cestreus.
ὅτι δὲ εἶδος κεστρέων οἱ νήστεις Ἄρχιππος Ἡρακλεῖ γαμοῦντί φησιν νήστεις κεστρέας, κεφάλους. Ἀντιφάνης Λάμπωνι· κεστρεῖς ἔχων ἀλλ’ οὐ στρατιώτας τυγχάνεις νήστεις. Ἄλεξις Φρυγί ἐγὼ δὲ κεστρεὺς νῆστις οἴκαδ’ ἀποτρέχω. Ἀμειψίας Ἀποκοτταβίζουσιν ἐγὼ δ’ ἰὼν πειράσομαι εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἔργον λαβεῖν ἧττόν γ’ ἂν οὖν νῆστις καθάπερ κεστρεὺς ἀκολουθήσεις ἐμοί. εὔφρων Αἰσχρᾷ· Μίδας δὲ κεστρεύς ἐστι· νῆστις περιπατεῖ. Φιλήμων Συναποθνῄσκουσιν ἠγόρασα νῆστιν κεστρέ’ ὀπτὸν οὐ μέγαν. Ἀριστοφάνης Γηρυτάδῃ· ἆρ’ ἔνδον ἀνδρῶν κεστρέων ἀποικία; ὡς μὲν γάρ ἐστε νήστιδες, γιγνώσκεται. Ἀναξανδρίδης Ὀδυσσεῖ· τὰ πόλλ’ ἄδειπνος περιπατεῖ, κεστρῖνός ἐστι νῆστις. Εὔβουλος Ναυσικάᾳ· ὃς νῦν τετάρτην ἡμέραν βαπτίζεται, νῆστιν πονήρου κεστρέως τρίβων βίον.
When all this had been said about this nice dish of fish, one of the cynics coming late in the evening said, "My friends, are we, too, keeping a fast, as if this were the middle day of the Thesmophoria, since we are now fasting like cestres For, as Diphilus says, in his Lemnian Women—These men have supp'd, but I, wretch that I am,Shall be a cestreus through th' extreme of fasting.And Myrtilus answering, said—But stand in order—as the Hedychares of Theopompus says—hungry band of cestres,You who are fed, like geese, on vegetables.For you shall not take a share of any of these things before either you, or your fellow-pupil Ulpian, tell me why the cestreus is the only fish which is called the faster. And Ulpian said,—It is because he never takes any living bait; and when he is caught, it is neither effected by any meat nor by any living animal; as Aristotle tells us, when he says “perhaps his being hungry makes him lazy;” and also that “when he is frightened he hides his head, as if by so doing he concealed his whole body.” But Plato, in his Holidays, says—As I was going out I met a fisherman,And he was bringing me some cestres, andHe brought me all those worthless starving fish.But do you tell me, O you Thessalian wrestler, Myrtilus! why it is that fish are called by the poets ἔλλοπεσ? And he said,—It is because they are voiceless; but some insist upon it that, by strict analogy, the word ought to be ἴλλοπες, because they are deprived of voice: for the verb ἴλλεσθαι means to be deprived, and ὄψ means voice. And are you ignorant of this, when you are an ἔλλοψ yourself? But I, as the wise Epicharmus says, when this dog makes me no answer,—Am by myself enough well to replyTo what two men have lately said before me.And I say that they are called ἔλλοπες from being covered with scales, [the word coming from the same root, and being equivalent to λεπιδωτός]. But I will tell you (though that is not a question which has been asked) why the Pythagoreans, who do touch other living creatures, though sparingly, and who allow themselves even to sacrifice some, absolutely abstain altogether from fish alone. Is it because of their silence for they think silence a very divine quality. Since, then, you, O you Molossian dogs, are always silent, but are still not Pythagoreans, we will now go on to the rest of the discussion about fish.
τούτων ποτὲ λεχθέντων ἐπὶ τῷ καλῷ τούτῳ ὄψῳ τῶν κυνικῶν τις ἑσπέριος ἐλθὼν ἔφη·ἄνδρες φίλοι, μὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἄγομεν Θεσμοφορίων τὴν μέσην, ὅτι δίκην κεστρέων νηστεύομεν; ὡς γὰρ ὁ Δίφιλός φησιν ἐν Λημνίαις· οὗτοι δεδειπνήκασιν ὁ δὲ τάλας ἐγὼ κεστρεὺς ἂν εἴην ἕνεκα νηστείας ἄκρας.ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Μυρτίλος·καὶ στῆτ’ ἐφεξῆς, ἔφη, κατὰ τὸν Θεοπόμπου Ἡδυχάρην, κεστρέων νῆστις χορός, λαχάνοισιν ὥσπερ χῆνες ἐξενισμένοι. οὐ πρότερον γάρ τινος μεταλήψεσθε, ἕως ἂν ἢ ὑμεῖς ἢ ὁ συμμαθητὴς ὑμῶν Οὐλπιανὸς εἴπητε διὰ τί νῆστις μόνος τῶν ἰχθύων ὁ κεστρεὺς καλεῖται.καὶ ὁ Οὐλπιανὸς ἔφη·ὅτι οὐδὲν δέλεαρ ἐσθίει ἔμψυχον, καὶ ἀνελκυσθεὶς δ’ οὐ δελεάζεται οὔτε σαρκὶ οὔτε ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἐμψύχῳ, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστορεῖ φάσκων ὅτι καὶ νῆστις ὢν φαῦλός ἐστι καὶ ὅτι ἐὰν φοβηθῇ κρύπτει τὴν κεφαλὴν ὡς τὸ πᾶν κρύπτων σῶμα. Πλάτων τε ἐν Ἑορταῖς φησιν ἐξιόντι γὰρ ἁλιεὺς ἀπήντησεν φέρων μοι κεστρέας, ἰχθῦς ἀσίτους καὶ πονηροὺς ἒν γ’ ἐμοί, σὺ δέ μοι εἰπέ, ὦ Θετταλὸν πάλαισμα Μυρτίλε, διὰ τί οἱ ἰχθύες ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν ἔλλοπες καλοῦνται.καὶ ὅς· ἤτοι διὰ τὸ ἄφωνοι εἶναι· βούλονται γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ἴλλοπές τινες εἶναι διὰ τὸ εἴργεσθαι φωνῆς. ἐστὶ γὰρ τὸ μὲν ἴλλεσθαι εἴργεσθαι, ἡ δὲ ὂψ φωνή. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτ’ ἀγνοεῖς ἔλλοψ τις ὤν.ἐγὼ δὲ κατὰ τὸν σοφὸν Ἐπίχαρμον μηδὲν ἀποκρινομένου τοῦ κυνὸς τὰ πρὸ τοῦ δύ’ ἄνδρες ἔλεγον, εἷς ἐγὼν ἀποχρέω, καὶ φημὶ ἔλλοπες διὰ τὸ εἶναι λεπιδωτοί. λέξω δὲ καὶ μὴ προβληθέντος διὰ τί οἱ Πυθαγορικοὶ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἐμψύχων μετρίως ἅπτονται, τινά. δὲ καὶ θύοντες, ἰχθύων μόνων οὐ γεύονται τὸ παράπαν. ἢ διὰ τὴν ἐχεμυθίαν; θεῖον γὰρ ἡγοῦνται τὴν σιωπήν. ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὦ Μολοττικοὶ κύνες, πάντα μὲν σιωπᾶτε, πυθαγορίζετε δὲ οὔ, ἡμεῖς μὲν ἄλλους ἰχθυολογήσομεν.
There is a fish called the coracinus. The coracini, which are caught at sea, says Icesius, contain but little nourishment; but they are easily secreted, and have a moderate supply of good juice. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that “it happens to nearly all fish to have a rapid growth, and this is the case, in no small degree, with the coracinus; and he lays his eggs close to the land, in places full of weeds and moss.” But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Similitudes, says that the blacktail and the coracinus are much alike. But Numenius, in his Treatise on the Art of Fishing, says—It easily would attract the spotted coracinus.And perhaps the æoliæ mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Muses, may be the same as coracini. For Epicharmus says—Aeoliæ, plotes, cynoglossi too.But, in his Hebe's Marriage, he speaks of the æoliæ as a different fish; for he says—There there were mussels, and the alphastic fish,And coracini like to coriander seed,Aeoliæ, plotes too, and the cynoglossi.But Euthydemus, in his essay on Cured Fish, says that the coracinus is by many people called the saperda. And Hera- cleon the Ephesian has said much the same thing; and so has Philotimus, in his Cookery Book. But that the saperdas and the coracinus are both called the platistacus is affirmed by Parmeno the Rhodian, in the first book of his Culinary Doctrine. But Aristophanes, in his Telmessians, uses the expression “black-finned coracini.” Pherecrates also uses the word in its diminutive form, in his Forgetful Man, where he says—Being with your κορακινίδια and μαινίδια.And Amphis says, in his Ialemus—Whoever eats a sea-born coracinusWhen he may have a grayling, is a fool.But the coracini of the Nile are very sweet and delicious in their flesh, as those who have tried them know; and they have got their name from continually moving their eyes (διὰ τὸ τὰς κόρας κινεῖν), and never ceasing. But the Alexandrians call them plataces, which is, more correctly speaking, the name of the whole genus.
κορακῖνος. οἱ μὲν θαλάττιοι, φησὶν Ἱκέσιος, ὀλιγότροφοι καὶ εὐέκκριτοι, εὐχυλίᾳ δὲ μέσοι. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν πέμπτῳ ζῴων μορίων συμβαίνειν μέν φησι σχεδὸν πᾶσι τοῖς ἰχθύσι ταχεῖαν γίνεσθαι τὴν αὔξησιν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ κορακίνῳ. τίκτει δὲ πρὸς τῇ γῇ καὶ τοῖς βρυώδεσι καὶ δασέσι. Σπεύσιππος δ’ ἐν δευτέρῳ Ὁμοίων ἐμφερεῖς φησιν εἶναι μελάνουρον καὶ κορακῖνον. Νουμήνιος δ’ ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ φησι· ῥηιδίως ἕλκοιο καὶ αἰολίην κορακῖνον. μήποτ’ οὖν καὶ οἱ παρ’ Ἐπιχάρμῳ αἰολίαι λεγόμενοι ἐν Μούσαις κορακῖνοί εἰσι. φησὶ γάρ· αἰολίαι πλῶτές τε κυνόγλωσσοί τε. ἐν δὲ Ἥβας γάμῳ καὶ τῶν αἰολιῶν μνημονεύει ὡς διαφόρων μύες ἀλφησταί τε κορακῖνοί τε κοριοειδέες, αἰολίαι πλῶτές τε κυνόγλωσσοί τε. Εὐθύδημος δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ταρίχων τὸν κορακῖνόν φησιν ὑπὸ πολλῶν σαπέρδην προσαγορεύεσθαι. ὁμοίως δ’ εἴρηκε καὶ Ἡρακλέων ὁ Ἐφέσιος, ἔτι δὲ Φυλότιμος ἐν Ὀψαρτυτικῷ. ὅτι δὲ καὶ πλατιστακὸς καλεῖται ὁ σαπέρδης, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ κορακῖνος, Παρμένων φησὶν ὁ Ῥόδιος ἐν πρώτῳ μαγειρικῆς διδασκαλίας. Ἀριστοφάνης δ’ ἐν Τελμησσεῦσι μελανοπτερύγων, ἔφη, κορακίνων. ὑποκοριστικῶς δὲ ὠνόμασεν αὐτοὺς Φερεκράτης ἐν Ἐπιλήσμονι· τοῖς σοῖσι συνὼν κορακινιδίοις καὶ μαινιδίοις. Ἄμφις δ’ ἐν Ἰαλέμῳ ὅστις κορακῖνον ἐσθίει θαλάττιον γλαύκου παρόντος, οὗτος οὐκ ἔχει φρένας. οἱ δὲ Νειλῶται κορακῖνοι ὅτι γλυκεῖς καὶ εὔσαρκοι, ἔτι δὲ ἡδεῖς, οἱ πεπειραμένοι ἴσασιν. ὠνομάσθησαν δὲ διὰ τὸ διηνεκῶς τὰς κόρας κινεῖν καὶ οὐδέποτε παύεσθαι. καλοῦσι δ’ αὐτοὺς οἱ Ἀλεξανδρεῖς πλάτακας ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος.
There is also a fish called the cyprinus, or carp. He also, as Aristotle tells us, is a carnivorous and gregarious fish; and he has his tongue, not in the lower part of the mouth, but in the upper part. But Dorion, mentioning him in his list among the lake and river fish, writes thus: “A scaly fish, whom some people call the cyprinus.”
κυπρῖνος, τῶν σαρκοφάγων καὶ οὗτος, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστορεῖ, καὶ συναγελαστικῶν. τὴν δὲ γλῶτταν οὐχ ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ τὸ στόμα κέκτηται. Δωρίων δ’ αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς λιμναίοις καὶ ποταμίοις καταλέγων γράφει οὕτως· λεπιδωτόν, ὃν καλοῦσί τινες κυπρῖνον.
There is also the tench. “The tench is very juicy,” as Icesius says, “exceedingly attractive to the palate, very easily secreted, not very nutritious, nor is the juice which they give very wholesome. But, in delicacy of flavour, the white kind is superior to the black. But the flesh of the green tench is more dry, and devoid of fat; and they give a much smaller quantity of juice, and what they do give is thinner. Still they are more nutritious, on account of their size.” Diodes says that those which are found in rocky situations are very tender. But Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, calls them, not κώβιοι, but κῶθοι.A char or tench (κῶθος) of mighty size and bold. And Sophron, in his Countryman, speaks of “The cothons, who bathe in mud;” and perhaps it was from the name of this fish that he called the son of his Tunny-catcher, in the play, Cothonias. But it is the Sicilians who call the tench κώθων, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us, in his book on Dialects; and Apollodorus confirms the statement, in his treatise on the Modest and Temperate Man. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, names the tench, calling it κώβιος:—The turtle with their sting behind, and then the tender tench.And Antiphanes, in his Timon, praising the tench, tells us in what places they are to be found in the greatest perfection, in these lines:—I come, but I have been to great expenseIn buying viands for this marriage feast.I've bought a pennyworth of frankincenseTo offer to the gods and all the goddesses,And to the heroes I will offer cakes.But when I bid that rascally house-breakingSeller of fish to add a dainty dish,“I'll throw you in,” says he, "the borough itself,For they are all Phalericans." The restI do believe were selling our Otrynicans.Menander, in his Ephesians, says—A. There was a fishmonger not long ago,Who asked four whole drachmas for his tench.B. A mighty price indeed.And Dorion mentions river tench also, in his book on Fishes.
κωβιοί. πολύχυλοι, ὥς φησιν Ἱκέσιος, εὐστομίᾳ διαφέροντες, εὐέκκριτοι, ὀλιγότροφοι καὶ κακόχυμοι, διαφέρουσι δ’ εὐστομίᾳ οἱ λευκότεροι τῶν μελάνων, ἡ δὲ τῶν χλωρῶν κωβιῶν σὰρξ χαυνοτέρα ἐστὶν καὶ ἀλιπεστέρα· καὶ χυλὸν ἐλάττονα, καὶ λεπτότερον ἐναφιᾶσι, τροφιμώτεροί δέ εἰσὶ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος. Διοκλῆς φησι τοὺς πετραίους αὐτῶν μαλακοσάρκους εἶναι. Νουμήνιος δ’ ἐν Ἁλιευτικῷ κώθους αὐτοὺς καλεῖ· ᾽ ἢ σκάρον ἢ κῶθον τροφίην καὶ ἀναιδέα λίην. καὶ Σώφρων ἐν τῷ Ἀγροιώτῃ κωθωνοπλύται φησὶ καὶ τὸν τοῦ θυννοθήρα δὲ υἱὸν ἴσως ἀπὸ τούτου Κωθωνίαν προσηγόρευσεν. Σικελιῶται δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ τὸν κωβιὸν κώθωνα καλοῦντες, ὡς Νίκανδρός φησιν ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἐν ταῖς Γλώτταις καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν τοῖς περὶ Σώφρονος. Ἐπίχαρμος δ’ ἐν Ἥβας γάμῳ κωβιοὺς ὀνομάζει· τρυγόνες τ’ ὀπισθόκεντροι καὶ μάλ’ ἁδροὶ κωβιοί. Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Τίμωνι ἐπαινῶν τοὺς κωβιοὺς καὶ ὁπόθεν εἰσὶ κάλλιστοι δηλοῖ διὰ τούτωνἥκω πολυτελῶς ἀγοράσας εἰς τοὺς γάμους, λιβανωτὸν ὀβολοῦ τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ ταῖς θεαῖς πάσαισι, τοῖς δ’ ἥρωσι τὰ ψαίστ’ ἀπονεμῶ. ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς θνητοῖς ἐπριάμην κωβιούς. ὡς προσβαλεῖν δ’ ἐκέλευσα τὸν τοιχωρύχον, τὸν ἰχθυοπώλην, προστίθημι, φησί, σοὶ τὸν δῆμον αὐτῶν εἰσὶ γὰρ Φαληρικοί. ἄλλοι δ’ ἐπώλουν, ὡς ἔοικ᾽, Ὀτρυνικούς.Μένανδρος Ἐφεσίῳ· τῶν ἰχθυοπωλῶν ἀρτίως τις τεττάρων δραχμῶν ἐτίμα κωβιούς … σφόδρα. ποταμίων δὲ κωβιῶν μνημονεύει Δωρίων ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων.
There is also a fish called the cuckoo-fish. Epicharmus says—And the beauteous cuckoosWhich we split in twain,Then we roast and season them,And then with pleasure eat them.And Dorion says that one ought to roast them, first having split them down the back; and, having seasoned them with herbs, and cheese, and spice, and assafœtida, and oil, then one ought to turn them round, and oil them on the other side, and then to sprinkle them with a little salt; and, when one has taken them from the fire, to moisten them with vinegar. But Numenius gives it the epithet of red, from the facts of the case, saying—Eating sometimes the cuckoo red, sometimesA few pempherides, or else a lizard. There is also a fish called the carcharias (or sharp- toothed dog). And Archestratus, whom we may call the Hesiod or Theognis of Epicures, speaks of this fish; for Theognis himself was not indifferent to luxury, as he admits, speaking of himself in these words:—But when the sun, driving his coursers fleetWith solid hoofs along the heavenly road,Guides them at mid-day in the centre path,Then let us eat whate'er our heart may prompt,And gratify our appetite with dainties.Then let a Spartan maid with rosy hands,Bring water, and fresh garlands for our brows.Nor indeed was that wise man indifferent to the charms of boys; at all events, he speaks thus on the subject:—O Academus, would you now but singA tuneful hymn, while in the midst should standA beauteous boy, in flower of his youth,A prize for you and me to combat for,Then you should know how far the mule excels the ass.And Archestratus, in these beautiful suggestions of his, exhorts his friends in this way—In fair Torone's town 'tis best to cookThe hollow entrails of the sharp-tooth'd dog.Then strew the fish with cummin, sparing beOf salt, then roast him, and add nothing elseSaving some sea-green oil. Then when 'tis done,Serve him up with some little seasoning.And if you boil a part of it withinThe hollow of some flat dish, then addNo water, add no wine-made vinegar,But pour on oil alone, and cummin dry,And add what fragrant herbs the garden gives.Then put the saucepan on the ashes hot,And boil it; let no flame too quickly burn,And stir it often lest the meat should catch,And spoil your dinner so, before you know it.'Tis but few mortals know this wondrous food;And those who have thick stupid heavy souls,,Refuse to taste it, but are all alarm'd,Because they say this dog's a cannibal,And feeds on human flesh. But there is notA fish that swims which does not like man's fleshIf he can only chance to come across it.There is a part of this fish which the Romans cal thursio, and which is very delicious, and much sought for as an article of luxury.
κόκκυγες. Ἐπίχαρμος· κἀγλαοὶ κόκκυγες, οὓς παρσχίζομες πάντας, ὀπτᾶντες δὲ χἀδύναντες αὐτοὺς χναύομες. καὶ Δωρίων δέ φησι δεῖν αὐτοὺς ὀπτᾶν παρασχίσαντας κατὰ ῥάχιν καὶ παρηδύνειν χλόῃ, τυρῷ, σιλφίῳ, ἁλί, ἐλαίῳ· στρέφοντα δὲ ἀλείφειν καὶ ὑποπάσσειν ἁλὶ ὀλίγῳ, ἀφελόντα δὲ ὄξει ῥᾶναι. ἐρυθρὸν δ’ αὐτὸν καλεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος Νουμήνιος οὕτως· ἄλλοτ’ ἐρυθρὸν κόκκυγ’ ἢ ὀλίγας πεμφηρίδας, ἄλλοτε σαῦρον, κύων καρχαρίας, περὶ τούτων φησὶν Ἀρχέστρατος ὁ τῶν ὀψοφάγων Ἡσίοδος ἢ Θέογνις· ἦν δὲ καὶ ὁ Θέογνις περὶ ἡδυπάθειαν, ὡς αὐτὸς περὶ αὑτοῦ φησιν διὰ τούτων τῆμος δ’ ἠέλιος μὲν ἐν αἰθέρι μώνυχας ἵππους ἄρτι παραγγέλλοι μέσσατον ἦμαρ ἔχων, δείπνου δὴ λήγοιμεν, ὅσου τινὰ θυμὸς ἀνώγοι, παντοίων ἀγαθῶν γαστρὶ χαριζόμενοι. χέρνιβα δ’ αἶψα θύραζε φέροι, στεφανώματα δ’ εἴσω εὐειδὴς ῥαδινῇς χερσὶ Λάκαινα κόρη. οὐδὲ τὸ παιδεραστεῖν ἀπαναίνεται ὁ σοφὸς οὗτος· λέγει γοῦν εἰ θείης, Ἀκάδημε, ἐφίμερον ὕμνον ἀείδειν, ἆθλον δ’ ἐν μέσσῳ παῖς καλὸν ἄνθος ἔχων σοί τ’ εἴη καὶ ἐμοὶ σοφίης πέρι δηρισάντοιν γνοίης χ’ ὅσσον ὄνων κρέσσονες ἡμίονοι. ὁ δ’ οὖν Ἀρχέστρατος ἐν ταῖς καλαῖς ταύταις ὑποθήκαις παραινεῖ· ἐν δὲ Τορωναίων ἄστει τοῦ καρχαρία χρὴ τοῦ κυνὸς ὀψωνεῖν ὑπογάστρια κοῖλα κάτωθεν. εἶτα κυμίνῳ ταῦτα πάσας ἁλὶ μὴ συχνῷ ὄπτα· ἄλλο δ’ ἐκεῖσε, φίλη κεφαλή, μηδὲν προσενέγκῃς, εἰ μὴ γλαυκὸν ἔλαιον. ἐπειδὰν δ’ ὀπτὰ γένηται, ἤδη τριμμάτιόν τε φέρειν καὶ ἐκεῖνα ἐτ’ αὐτοῦ. ὅσσα δ’ ἂν ἐν λοπάδος κοίλης πλευρώμασιν ἕψῃς μήθ’ ὕδατος πηγὴν ἱερὴν μήτ’ οἴνινον ὅξος συμμίξῃς ἀλλ’ αὐτὸ μόνον κατάχευον ἔλαιον αὐχμηρόν τε κύμινον ὁμοῦ, δ’ εὐώδεα φύλλα. ἕψε δ’ ἐπ’ ἀνθρακιῆς φλόγα τούτοις μὴ προσενεγκὼν~ καὶ κίνει πυκινῶς, μὴ προσκαυθέντα λάθῃ σε. ἀλλ’ οὐ πολλοὶ ἴσασι βροτῶν τόδε θεῖον ἔδεσμα οὐδ’ ἔσθειν ἐθέλουσιν, ὅσοι κεπφαττελεβώδη ψυχὴν κέκτηνται θνητῶν εἰσὶν τ᾽ ἀπόπληκτοι ὡς ἀνθρωποφάγου τοῦ θηρίου ὄντος. ἅπας δὲ ἰχθὺς σάρκα φιλεῖ βροτέην, ἄν που περικύρσῃ. τούτου τοῦ ἰχθύος μέρος ἐστὶ καὶ ὁ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καλούμενος θυρσίων, ἥδιστος ὢν καὶ τρυφερώτατος.
There is also the pike. These, as Aristotle reports, are a solitary and carnivorous fish; and they have a bony tongue, adhering to the mouth, and a triangular heart. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, he says that they bring forth their young, like the cestres and chrysophryes do, chiefly in those places where rivers fall into the sea; and they bring forth in winter, and they also bring forth twice in the season. But Icesius says that the pike is very juicy, and not very nutritious; and that it is also not very easily secreted; but for delicacy of flavour it is accounted the very first of fish. And this fish has his name, λάβραξ, from his voracity (λαβρότης). It is said, also, that in shrewdness he is superior to other fish, being very ingenious at devising means to save himself; on which account, Aristophanes the comic poet says—The pike, the wisest of all fish that swim.And Alcæus the lyric poet says that he swims very high in the water. But the wise Archestratus says—Take the large cestris cephalus from Gæson,When you do come to fair Miletus' city.Take too the pike, the offspring of the gods.For in those waters both these fish are best.Such is the natural character of the place.But there are many places where they growMore fat and large; in famous Calydon,And in the opulent Ambracia,And at the Bolbe lake; but there they wantThe fragrant fat which here surrounds their belly;Nor have they such a pungent taste, my friend.Those which I speak of are most admirable.Take them and roast them without scaling them,Soften with salt, and serve them up with brine.And let no Syracusan, no ItalianBreak in upon you while you dress this dish:For they have no idea of dressing fish,But spoil them all by seasoning them with cheese,By sprinkling them with too much vinegar,And strongly scented assafœtida.They are good cooks enough to dress the vileFish which they take while clinging to the rocks;And there are many kinds of season'd dishesWhich they can dress quite well enough; but theyHave no idea of dressing good fish plain.
λάβρακες. οὗτοι, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστορεῖ, μονήρεις εἰσὶ καὶ σαρκοφάγοι, γλῶσσαν δ’ ἔχουσιν ὀστώδη καὶ προσπεφυκυῖαν, καρδίαν τρίγωνον ἐν δὲ πέμπτῳ ζῴων μορίων τίκτειν αὐτοὺς καθάπερ τοὺς κεστρεῖς καὶ χρυσόφρυας μάλιστ’ οὗ ἂν ποταμοὶ ῥέωσι. τίκτουσι δὲ χειμῶνος καὶ τίκτουσι δίς, Ἱκέσιος δέ φησιν ὅτι οἱ λάβρακες εὔχυλοί εἰσι καὶ οὐ πολύτροφοι, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἔκκρισιν ἥσσονες, εὐστομίᾳ δὲ πρῶτοι κρίνονται, ὠνομάσθη δ’ ὁ ἰχθὺς παρὰ τὴν λαβρότητα. λέγεται δὲ ὅτι καὶ συνέσει τῶν ἄλλων ἰχθύων διαφέρει, ἐπινοητικὸς ὢν τοῦ διασῴζειν ἑαυτόν, διὸ καὶ ὁ κωμῳδιοποιὸς Ἀριστοφάνης φησί· λάβραξ ὁ πάντων ἰχθύων σοφώτατος. Ἀλκαῖος δ’ ὁ μελοποιὸς μετέωρόν φησιν αὐτὸν νήχεσθαι. ὁ δὲ σοφὸς Ἀρχέστρατος· λάμβανε δ’ ἐκ Γαίσωνος ὅταν Μίλητον ἵκηαι, κεστρέα τὸν κέφαλον καὶ τὸν θεόπαιδα λάβρακα. εἰσὶ γὰρἐνθάδ’ ἄριστοι· ὁ γὰρ τόπος ἐστὶ τοιοῦτος. πιότεροι δ’ ἕτεροι πολλοὶ Καλυδῶνί τε κλεινῇ Ἀμβρακίᾳ τ’ ἐνὶ πλουτοφόρῳ Βόλβῃ τ’ ἐνὶ λίμνῃ· ἀλλ’ οὐκ εὐώδη γαστρὸς κέκτηνται ἀλοιφὴν οὐδ’ οὕτω δριμεῖαν. ἐκεῖνοι δ’ εἰσίν, ἑταῖρε, τὴν ἀρετὴν θαυμαστοί. ὅλους δ’ αὐτοὺς ἀλεπίστους ὀπτήσας μαλακῶς γλίσχρης προσένεγκε δίχ’ ἅλμης. μηδὲ προσέλθῃ σοί περὶ τοὔψον τοῦτο πονοῦντι μήτε Συρακόσιος μηδεὶς μήτ’ Ἰταλιώτης. οὐ γὰρ ἐπίστανται χρηστοὺς σκευαζέμεν ἰχθῦς, ἀλλὰ διαφθείρουσι κακῶς τυροῦντες ἅπαντα ὄξει τε ῥαίνοντες ὑγρῷ καὶ σιλφίου ἅλμῃ. τῶν δὲ πετραίων ἰχθυδίων τῶν τρισκαταράτων πάντων εἰσὶν ἄριστοι ἐπισταμένως διαθεῖναι καὶ πολλὰς ἰδέας κομψῶς παρὰ δαιτὶ δύνανται ὀψαρίων τεύχειν γλίσχρων ἡδυσματολήρων.
And Aristophanes, in his Knights, speaks of the pike taken in the neighbourhood of Miletus as surpassingly good, when he speaks thus:—But you shall not disturb me thusFeasting on Milesian pike.And in his Lemnian Women he says—He would not buy a pike's head, nor a locust:speaking because the brain of the pike is a great delicacy, as is also that of the sea-grayling. And Eubulus, in his Muses, says—Do not be too expensive, still not mean,Whate'er you do; not for decency's sake.Get some small cuttle-fish, or squids, some nestis,Some small fry of the polypus, some tripe,And beestings and black-puddings; get besidesA noble head of the Milesian pike.But the Gæson, which is mentioned by Archestratus, means the lake Gæsonis, which is between Priene and Miletus, con- nected with the sea, as Neanthes of Cyzicus tells us in the sixth book of his Hellenics. But Ephorus, in his fifth book, says that the Gæson is a river near Priene, which flows into the lake Gæsonis, And Archippus, in his Fishes, mentioning the pike, says—Hermes th' Egyptian is the greatest rogueOf all the fishmongers; he skins by forceThe sharks and rhinos, and takes out the entrailsOf the Milesian pikes, before he sells them.
καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης δ’ ἐν Ἱππεῦσι μνημονεύει ὡς διαφόρων γινομένων τῶν περὶ τὴν Μίλητον λαβράκων, ὅταν οὕτως λέγῃ ἀλλ’ οὐ λάβρακας καταφαγὼν Μιλησίους κλονήσεις. ἐν δὲ Λημνίαις, οὐ κρανίον λάβρακος, οὐχὶ κάραβον πρίασθαι, ὡς διαφόρου ὄντος τοῦ τῶν λαβράκων ἐγκεφάλου καθάπερ καὶ τοῦ τῶν γλαύκων, καὶ Εὔβουλος δ’ ἐν Τιτθαῖς φησι· μὴ πολυτελῶς, ἀλλὰ καθαρείως· ὅ τι ἂν ᾖ ὁσίας ἕνεκα, σηπίδια ἢ τευθίδια πλεκτάνια μικρά πουλύποδος, νῆστίν τινα, μήτραν, χόρια, πῦον, λάβρακος κρανίον εὐμέγεθες. ὁ δὲ Γαίσων οὗ Ἀρχέστρατος μνημονεύει ἡ Γαισωνὶς λίμνη ἐστὶ μεταξὺ Πριήνης καὶ Μιλήτου ἡνωμένη τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ὡς Νεάνθης ὁ Κυζικηνὸς ἱστορεῖ ἐν τῇ σ’ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν. Ἔφορος δ’ ἐν τῇ πέμπτῃ ποταμὸν εἶναί φησι τὸν Γαίσωνα περὶ Πριήνην, ὃν εἰσρεῖν εἰς λίμνην. Ἄρχιππος ἐν Ἰχθύσι μνημονεύων τῶν λαβράκων φησὶν Αἰγύπτιος μιαρώτατος τῶν ἰχθύων κάπηλος, Ἕρμαιος, ὃς βίᾳ δέρων ῥίνας γαλεούς τε πωλεῖ καὶ τοὺς λάβρακας ἐντερεύων.
There is also a fish called the latus; and Archestratus says that the best fish of this kind is that which is taken off the coast of Italy, and he speaks thus concerning them:—Near the well-treed Italia's verdant shores,Fierce Scylla's strait the famous latus breeds,Most marvellous of dainties.But the lati which are found in the river Nile grow to such a size that they weigh more than two hundred pounds; and this fish is exceedingly white, and very delicious, dress it whatever way you choose. And it is like the fish called the glanis, which is found in the Danube. The Nile produces also many other kinds of fish, and they are all very delicious; but especially does it produce all the different coracini (for the are many different kinds of this fish). It also produces the fish called the mæotes, which are mentioned by Archippus, in his Fishes, in these words:—Mæotæ, and saperdæ, likewise glanides.And this fish is found in great numbers in Pontus; and they derive their name from the Palus Mæotis. But the following, as far as I can recollect, from having been a long time absent from the country, are the names of the chief fish found in the Nile. The sweetest of all is the ray; then there is the sea-pig, the snub-nose, the phagrus, the oxyrhynchus, the allabes, the silurus, the synodontis, the elecoris, the eel, the thrissa, the abramis, the blind-fish, the scaly-fish, the bellows-fish, and the cestreus. And there are also a great number of others.
λατός, τοῦτον κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν κράτιστον εἶναί φησιν Ἀρχέστρατος λέγων οὕτως· τὸν δὲ λάτον τὸν κλεινὸν ἐν Ἰταλίῃ πολυδένδρῳ ὁ Σκυλλαῖος ἔχει πορθμός, θαυμαστὸν ἔδεσμα. οἱ δ’ ἐν τῷ Νείλῳ ποταμῷ γινόμενοι λάτοι τὸ μέγεθος εὑρίσκονται καὶ ὑπὲρ διακοσίας λίτρας ἔχοντες, ὁ δὲ ἰχθὺς οὗτος λευκότατος ὢν καὶ ἥδιστός ἐστι πάντα τρόπον σκευαζόμενος, παραπλήσιος ὢν τῷ κατὰ τὸν Ἴστρον γινομένῳ γλάνιδι. φέρει δ’ ὁ Νεῖλος καὶ ἄλλα γένη πολλὰ ἰχθύων καὶ πάντα ἥδιστα, μάλιστα δὲ τὰ τῶν κορακίνων. πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ τούτων γένη. φέρει δὲ καὶ τοὺς μαιώτας καλουμένους, ὧν μνημονεύει Ἄρχιππος ἐν Ἰχθύσι διὰ τούτων· τοὺς μαιώτας καὶ σαπέρδας καὶ γλάνιδας. εἰσὶ δὲ πολλοὶ περὶ τὸν Πόντον, φέροντες τὴν ὀνομασίαν ἀπὸ τῆς λίμνης τῆς Μαιώτιδος. Νειλῷοι δ’ εἰσὶν ἰχθύες, εἲ γ’ ἔτι μνημονεύειν δύναμαι πολυέτη τὴν ἀποδημίαν ἔχων, νάρκη μὲν ἡ ἡδίστη, χοῖρος, σῖμος, φάγρος, ὀξύρυγχος, ἀλλάβης, σίλουρος, συνοδοντίς, ἐλέωτρις, ἔγχελυς, θρίσσα, ἄβραμις, τύφλη, λεπιδωτός, φῦσα, κεστρεύς. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι οὐκ ὀλίγοι.
There is also a kind of shark, called the leiobatus, whose other name is the rhine; and he is a white-fleshed fish, as Epænetus tells us in his Cookery Book. Plato says, in his Sophists—The galeus, the leiobatus, the eel.
λειόβατος. οὗτος καλεῖται καὶ ῥίνη. ἐστὶ δὲ λευκόσαρκος, ὡς Ἐπαίνετος ἐν ᾽ Ὀψαρτυτικῷ. Πλάτων Σοφισταῖς· κἂν ᾖ γαλεός, κἂν λειόβατος, κἂν ἔγχελυς.
There is also the lamprey. Theophrastus, in the fifth book of his treatise on those Animals which can live on dry Land, says that the eel and the lamprey can exist for a long time out of the water, because they have very small gills, and so receive but very little moisture into their system. But Icesius affirms that they are not less nutritious than the eel, nor even, perhaps, than the conger. And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that from the time that they are little they grow very rapidly, and that they have sharp serrated teeth; and that they keep on laying small-sized eggs every season of the year. But Epicharmus, in his Muses, calls them not σμύραινα, but μύραινα, without the ς; speaking in this way of them:—No congers fat were wanting, and no lampreys (μύραιναι).And Sophron, too, spells the word in the same manner. But Plato or Cantharus, in his Alliance, spells the word with the ς, saying—The ray, the lamprey (σμύραινα) too, is here.Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the river lampreys have only one spine, like the kind of cod which is called gallarias. But Andreas, in his treatise on Poisonous Animals, says that those lampreys which are produced by a cross with the viper have a poisonous bite, and that that kind is less round than the other, and is variegated. But Nicander, in his Theriacus, says—That is a terrible deed the lamprey does,When oft its teeth it gnashes and pursuesTh' unhappy fishermen, and drives them headlongOut of their boats in haste, when issuing forthFrom the deep hole in which it long has lain:If that the tale is true that it admitsThe poisonous viper's love, when it desertsIts pastures 'neath the sea, for food on land.But Andreas, in his treatise on Things which are believed erroneously, says that it is quite a mistake to suppose that the lamprey ever breeds with the viper when it comes on marshy ground; for that vipers do not themselves feed in marshes, as they are fond rather of sandy and desert places. But Sostratus, in his books on Animals (and there are two books of his on this subject, and with this title), agrees with those who assert that the lamprey and the viper do breed together.
μύραιναι. Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ διαιτωμένων ἔγχελύν φησιν καὶ μύραιναν πολὺν χρόνον δύνασθαι ἔξω τοῦ ὑγροῦ ζῆν διὰ τὸ μικρὰ ἔχειν βράγχια καὶ ὀλίγον δέχεσθαι τὸ ὑγρόν. τροφίμους δ’ αὐτὰς εἶναί φησιν ὁ Ἱκέσιος οὐχ ἧττον τῶν ἐγχέλεων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν γόγγρων. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν δευτέρῳ ζῴων μορίων ἐκ μικροῦ φησιν αὐτὴν ταχεῖαν τὴν αὔξησιν λαμβάνειν καὶ εἶναι καρχαρόδουν τίκτειν τε πᾶσαν ὥραν μικρὰ ᾠά. Ἐπίχαρμος δ’ ἐν Μούσαις χωρὶς τοῦ ς μυραίνας αὐτὰς καλεῖ οὑτωσὶ λέγων οὔτε οἱ γόγγρων τι παχέων οὔτε μυραινᾶν ἀπῆς. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Σώφρων. Πλάτων δ’ ἢ Κάνθαρος ἐν τῇ Συμμαχίᾳ σὺν τῷ ς· βατίς τε καὶ σμύραινα πρόσεστιν. Δωρίων δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ ἰχθύων τὴν ποταμίαν φησὶ μύραιναν ἔχειν μίαν ἄκανθαν μόνην, ὁμοίαν τῷ ὀνίσκῳ τῷ καλουμένῳ γαλλαρίᾳ. Ἀνδρέας δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ δακέτων τῶν μυραινῶν φησιν δακούσας ἀναιρεῖν τὰς ἐξ ἔχεως, εἶναι δ’ αὐτὰς ἧττον καὶ περιφερεῖς καὶ ποικίλας. Νίκανδρος δ’ ἐν Θηριακοῖς, μυραίνης δ’ ἔκπαγλον, ἐπεὶ μογεροὺς ἁλιῆας πολλάκις ἐμβρύξασα κατεπρήνιξεν ἐπάκτρων εἰς ἅλα φυζηθέντας, ἐχετλίου ἐξαναδῦσα· εἰ ἔτυμον κείνην γε σὺν οὐλοβόροις ἐχίεσσι θόρνυσθαι, προλιποῦσαν ἁλὸς νόμον, ἠπείροισιν. Ἀνδρέας δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν ψευδῶς πεπιστευμένων ψεῦδός φησιν εἶναι τὸ μύραιναν ἔχει μίγνυσθαι προερχομένην ἐπὶ τὸ τεναγῶδες· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ τενάγους ἔχεις νέμεσθαι, φιληδοῦντας ἀμμώδεσιν ἐρημίαις. Σώστρατος δὲ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ζῴων ἐστὶ δὲ δύο ταῦτα βιβλία συγκατατίθεται τῇ μίξει.
There is another kind of eel also, called the myrus. But the myrus, as Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, differs from the lamprey; this latter being a variegated fish, and less powerful than the other; while the myrus is a fish of one uniform colour, and strong, and its whole colour is like that of the wryneck, and it has teeth both within and without. And Dorion says, that the myrus has no small bones running through its flesh, but that it is in every part eatable, and exceedingly soft; and that there are two kinds of it, for some are black, and some are of rather a fiery colour, but those which are dark are best. And Archestratus, the voluptuary philosopher, say—Between th' Italian and Sicilian shore,Where the strait parts them with its narrow waves,Whenever that most dainty fish is caughtWhich men the lamprey call, be sure to buy it;For in those waters'tis the best of food.
μῦρος. ὁ δὲ μῦρος, ὥς φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν πέμπτῳ ζῴων μορίων, διαφέρει τῆς σμυραίνης. ἡ μὲν γὰρ ποικίλον καὶ ἀσθενέστερον, ὁ δὲ μῦρος λειόχρως καὶ ἰσχυρὸς καὶ τὸ χρῶμα ὅμοιον ἔχει ἴυγγι ὀδόντας τε ἔσωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν. Δωρίων δὲ τὸν μῦρόν φησι τὰς διὰ σαρκὸς ἀκάνθας οὐκ ἔχειν, ἀλλ’ ὅλον εἶναι χρήσιμον καὶ ἁπαλὸν ὑπερβολῇ, εἶναι δὲ αὐτῶν γένη δύο· εἰσὶ γὰρ οἱ μὲν μέλανες, οἱ δ’ ὑποπυρρίζοντες, κρείσσονες δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ μελανίζοντες. Ἀρχέστρατος δὲ ὁ ἡδονικὸς φιλόσοφός φησιν Ἰταλίας τε μεταξὺ κατὰ στενοκύμονα πορθμὸν ἡ πλωτὴ μύραινα καλουμένη ἄν ποτε ληφθῇ, ὠνοῦ τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἐκεῖ θαυμαστὸν ἔδεσμα.