But Antiphanes says that Pythionica is fond of cured fish, since she had for lovers the sons of Chærephilus, the seller of salt-fish; as Timocles says, in his Icarians,—When that stout Anytus to PythionicaDoes come, to eat with her; for she invites him,As people say, whenever she does getTwo noble tunnies from Chærephilus;So fond is she of all things that are large.And again he says—And Pythionica will receive you gladly,And very likely will devour the giftsWhich you have lately here received from us,For she's insatiable. Still do youBid her give you a basket of cured fish;For she has plenty; and she has indeedA couple of saperdæ; ugly fish,Ill salted, and broad nosed.And before this she had a lover whose name was Cobius.
πυθιονίκην δέ φησι φιληδεῖν ταρίχῳ, ἐπεὶ ἐραστὰς εἶχε τοὺς Χαιρεφίλου τοῦ ταριχοπώλου υἱούς, ὡς Τιμοκλῆς ἐν Ἰκαρίοις φησὶν ᾽ Ἄνυτος ὁ παχὺς πρὸς Πυθιονίκην ὅταν ἐλθὼν φάγῃ τι. καλεῖ γὰρ αὐτόν, ὥς φασιν, ὁπόταν Χαιρεφίλου τοὺς δύο σκόμβρους ξενίσῃ μεγάλους ἡδομένη.᾽ καὶ πάλιν ἡ Πυθιονίκη δ’ ἀσμένως σε δέξεται καὶ σοῦ κατέδεται τυχὸν ἴσως ἃ νῦν ἔχεις λαβὼν παρ’ ἡμῶν δῶρ’ ἄπληστός ἐστι γάρ. ὅμως δὲ δοῦναί σοι κέλευσον σαργάνας αὐτὴν ταρίχους εὐπόρως γὰρ τυγχάνει ἔχουσα καὶ σύνεστι σαπέρδαις δυσὶν καὶ ταῦτ’ ἀνάλτοις καὶ πλατυρρύγχοις τισί. πρὸ τούτων δ’ ἦν ἐραστὴς αὐτῆς Κωβιός τις ὄνομα.
But with respect to Callimedon, the son of Carabus, Timocles, in his Busybody, tells us that he was fond of fish, and also that he squinted:—Then up came Carabus Callimedon,And looking on me, as it seem'd to me,He kept on speaking to some other man.And I, as it was likely, understandingNo word of what they said, did only nod.But all the girls do keep on looking at him,While they pretend to turn their eyes away.And Alexis, in his Crateua, or the Apothecary, says—A. I am now, these last four days, taking care ofThese κόραι for Callimedon.B. Had he thenAny κόραι (damsels) for daughters?A. I mean κόραι,The pupils of the eyes; which e'en Melampus,Who could alone appease the raging Prœtides,Would e'er be able to keep looking straight.And he ridicules him in a similar manner in the play entitled The Men running together. But he also jests on him for his epicurism as to fish, in the Phædo, or Phædria, where he says—A. You shall be ædile if the gods approve,That you may stop Callimedon descendingLike any storm all day upon the fish.B. You speak of work for tyrants, not for ædiles;For the man's brave, and useful to the city.And the very same iambics are repeated in the play entitled Into the Well; but, in his Woman who has taken Mandragora, he says—If I love any strangers more than you,I'll willingly be turn'd into an eel,That Carabus Callimedon may buy me.And in his Crateua he says—And Carabus Callimedon with Orpheus.And Antiphanes says, in his Gorgythus,—'Twould harder be to make me change my mindThan to induce Callimedon to passThe head of a sea-grayling.And Eubulus, in his Persons saved, says—Others prostrating them before the gods,Are found with Carabus, who alone of menCan eat whole salt-fish out of boiling dishesSo wholly as to leave no single mouthful.And Theophilus, in his Physician, ridiculing his coldness of expression, says—“And the slave put before the young man himself with great eagerness a little eel: his father had a fine cuttle-fish before him. 'Father,' says he, ' what do you think of your crawfish ' 'It is cold,' says he; 'take it away, —I don't want to eat any orators.'” And when Philemon says, in his Canvasser,—Agyrrius, when a crawfish was before him,On seeing him exclaim'd, Hail, dear papa!Still what did he do? He ate his dear papa!And Herodicus the Cratetian, commenting on this in his Miscellaneous Commentaries, says that Agyrrius was the name of the son of Callimedon.
περὶ δὲ Καλλιμέδοντος τοῦ Καράβου ὅτι καὶ φίλιχθυς ἦν καὶ διάστροφος τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, Τιμοκλῆς ἐν Πολυπράγμονι· εἶθ’ ὁ Καλλιμέδων ἄφνω ὁ Κάραβος προσῆλθεν. ἐμβλέπων δέ μοι, ὡς γοῦν ἐδόκει, πρὸς ἕτερον ἄνθρωπόν τινα ἐλάλει. συνιεὶς δ’ οὐδὲν εἰκότως ἐγὼ ὧν ἔλεγεν ἐπένευον διακενῆς· τῷ δ’ ἄρα βλέπουσι χωρὶς καὶ δοκοῦσιν αἱ κόραι. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Κρατείᾳ ὁ ἢ Φαρμακοπώλῃ· τῷ Καλλιμέδοντι γὰρ θεραπεύω τὰς κόρας ἤδη τετάρτην ἡμέραν. β. ἦσαν κόραι θυγατέρες αὐτῷ; α. τὰς μὲν οὖν τῶν ὀμμάτων, ἃς οὐδ’ ὁ Μελάμπους, ὃς μόνος τὰς Προιτίδας ἔπαυσε μαινομένας, καταστήσειεν ἄν. ὁμοίως αὐτὸν σκώπτει κἀν τοῖς ἐπιγραφομένοις Συντρέχουσιν. εἰς δὲ ὀψοφαγίαν ἐν μὲν Φαίδωνι ἢ Φαιδρίᾳ οὕτως ἀγορανομήσεις, ἂν θεοὶ θέλωσι, σύ, ἵνα Καλλιμέδοντ᾽ εἰς τοὔψον, εἰ φιλεῖς ἐμέ, παύσῃς καταιγίζοντα δὶς τῆς ἡμέρας. β. ἔργον τυράννων, οὐκ ἀγορανόμων λέγεις. μάχιμος γὰρ ἁνήρ, χρήσιμος δὲ τῇ πόλει. τὰ αὐτὰ ἰαμβεῖα φέρεται κἀν τῇ ἐπιγραφομένῃ Εἰς τὸ φρέαρ. ἐν δὲ Μανδραγοριζομένῃ· εἴ τινας μᾶλλον φιλῶ ξένους ἑτέρους ὑμῶν, γενοίμην ἔγχελυς, ἵνα Καλλιμέδων ὁ Κάραβος πρίαιτό με. ἐν δὲ Κρατείᾳ· καὶ Καλλιμέδων μετ’ Ὀρφέως ὁ Κάραβος. Ἀντιφάνης δ᾽· ἐν Γοργύθῳ ι ἧττόν τ’ ἀποσταίην ἂν ὧν προειλόμην ἢ Καλλιμέδων γλαύκου προοῖτ᾽.ἂν κρανίον. Εὔβουλος δ’ ἐν Ἀνασῳζομένοις· ἕτεροι δὲ θεοῖσι συμπεπλεγμένοι … μετὰ Καράβου σύνεισιν, ὃς μόνος βροτῶν δύναται καταπιεῖν ἐκ ζεόντων λοπαδίων ἅθρους τεμαχίτας, ὥστ’ ἐνεῖναι μηδὲ ἕν. Θεόφιλος δ’ ἐν Ἰατρῷ ἅμα σκώπτων αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἐν λόγοις ψυχρὸν πᾶς δὲ φιλοτίμως πρὸς αὐτὸν τῶν νεανίσκων ἔχει … ἐγχέλειον, παρατέθεικε τῷ πατρί. ‘τευθὶς ἦν χρηστή, πατρίδιον·’ ‘πῶς ἔχεις πρὸς κάραβον;’ ‘ψυχρός ἐστιν, ἄπαγε,’ φησί· ‘ῥητόρων οὐ γεύομαι.’ Φιλήμονος δ’ ἐν Μετιόντι εἰπόντος·Ἀγύρριος δὲ παρατεθέντος καράβου ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὸν χαῖρε πάππα φίλτατε εἴπας — τί ἐποίει; τὸν πατέρα κατήσθιεν.Ἡρόδικος δ’ ὁ Κρατήτειος ἐν τοῖς συμμίκτοις ὑπομνήμασι τοῦ Καλλιμέδοντος υἱὸν ὄντα ἀπέδειξε τὸν Ἀγύρριον.
The following people, too, have all been great epicures about fish. Antagoras the poet would not allow his slave to touch his fish with oil, but made him wash it; as Hegesander tells us. And when in the army, he was once boiling a dish of congers, and had his clothes girt round him, Antigonus the king, who was standing by, said, “Tell me, Antagoras, do you think that Homer, who celebrated the exploits of Agamemnon, ever boiled congers” And it is said that he answered, not without wit, “And do you think that Agamemnon, who performed those exploits, ever busied himself about inquiring who was cooking congers in his army?” And once, when Antagoras was cooking a bird of some kind, he said that he would not go to the bath, because he was afraid that the slaves might come and suck up the gravy. And when Philocydes said that his mother would take care of that, “Shall I,” said he, “entrust the gravy of game to my mother?” And Androcydes of Cyzicus, the painter, being very fond of fish, as Polemo relates, carried his luxury to such a pitch that he even painted with great care the fish which are around Scylla.
γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ οἵδε ὀψοφάγοι. Ἀνταγόρας μὲν ὁ ποιητὴς οὐκ εἴα τὸν παῖδα ἀλεῖψαι τὸν ἰχθύν, ἀλλὰ λοῦσαι, ὥς φησιν Ἡγήσανδρος· ‘ἐν δὲ στρατοπέδῳ ἕψοντι, φησίν,’ ‘αὐτῷ γόγγρων λοπάδα καὶ περιεζωσμένῳ Ἀντίγονος ὁ βασιλεὺς παραστὰς ἆρά γε, εἶπεν, ὦ Ἀνταγόρα, τὸν Ὅμηρον οἴει τὰς τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος πράξεις ἀναγράψαι γόγγρους ἕψοντα; κἀκεῖνον οὐ φαύλως εἰπεῖν· σὺ δὲ οἴει, φησί, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα τὰς πράξεις ἐκείνας ἐργάσασθαι πολυπραγμονοῦντα τίς ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ γόγγρους ἕψει; ὄρνιν δὲ ἕψων ποτὲ ὁ Ἀνταγόρας οὐκ ἔφη βαδιεῖσθαι εἰς τὸ βαλανεῖον, εὐλαβούμενος μή ποτε οἱ παῖδες τὸν ζωμὸν ἐκροφήσωσι. Φιλοκύδους δ’ εἰπόντος ὅτι ἡ μήτηρ τηρήσει, ἐγὼ οὖν, εἶπε, τῇ μητρὶ ὀρνίθειον ζωμὸν πιστεύσω; ᾽ καὶ Ἀνδροκύδης δ’ ὁ Κυζικηνὸς ζωγράφος φίλιχθυς ὤν, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Πολέμων, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἦλθεν ἡδυπαθείας ὡς καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὴν Σκύλλαν ἰχθῦς κατὰ σπουδὴν γράψαι.
But concerning Philoxenus of Cythera, the dithyrambic poet, Machon the comic poet writes thus:—They say Philoxenus, the ancient poetOf dithyrambics, was so wonderfullyAttach'd to fish, that once at SyracuseHe bought a polypus two cubits long,Then dress'd it, and then ate it up himself,All but the head-and afterwards fell sick,Seized with a sharp attack of indigestion.Then when some doctor came to him to see him,Who saw that he was greatly out of order;“If,” said the doctor, "you have any businessNot well arranged, do not delay to settle it,For you will die before six hours are over."Philoxenus replied, "All my affairs,O doctor, are well ended and arranged,Long, long ago By favour of the gods,I leave my dithyrambics all full-grown,And crown'd with many a prize of victory;And I commit them to the guardianshipOf my dear foster-sisters, the Nine Muses,And join to them both Bacchus and fair Venus.This is my will. But now, since Charon givesNo time, but, as in the Niobe of Timotheus,Keeps crying out, 'Now cross;' and deadly fateCalls me away, who can't be disobey'd,That I may go below with all my goods,Bring me the relics of that polypus."And in another part he says—Philoxenus of Cythera, as men say,Wished that he had a throat three cubits long;“That I might drink,” said he, "as long as possible,And that my food may all at once delight me."And Diogenes the Cynic, having eaten a polypus raw, died of a swelling in the belly. But concerning Philoxenus, Sopater the parodist also speaks, saying—For, between two rich courses of fine fish,He pleased himself by looking down the centreOf Aetna's crater.
περὶ δὲ Φιλοξένου τοῦ Κυθηρίου διθυραμβοποιοῦ Μάχων ὁ κωμῳδιοποιὸς τάδε γράφει·ὑπερβολῇ λέγουσι τὸν Φιλόξενον τῶν διθυράμβων τὸν ποιητὴν γεγονέναι ὀψοφάγον. εἶτα πουλύποδα πηχῶν δυεῖν ἐν ταῖς Συρακούσαις ποτ’ αὐτὸν ἀγοράσαι καὶ σκευάσαντα καταφαγεῖν ὅλον σχεδὸν πλὴν τῆς κεφαλῆς. ἁλόντα δ’ ὑπὸ δυσπεψίας κακῶς σφόδρα σχεῖν, εἶτα δ’ ἰατροῦ τινος πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰσελθόντος, ὃς φαύλως πάνυ ὁρῶν φερόμενον αὐτὸν εἶπεν εἲ τί σοι ἀνοικονόμητόν ἐστι διατίθου ταχύ, Φιλόξεν· ἀποθανῇ γὰρ ὥρας ἑβδόμης, κἀκεῖνος εἶπε· ᾽ τέλος ἔχει τὰ πάντα μοι, ἰατρέ φησί, ᾽ καὶ δεδιῴκηται πάλαι· τοὺς διθυράμβους σὺν θεοῖς καταλιμπάνω ἠνδρωμένους καὶ πάντας ἐστεφανωμένους· οὓς ἀνατίθημι ταῖς ἐμαυτοῦ συντρόφοις Μούσαις … Ἀφροδίτην καὶ Διόνυσον ἐπιτρόπους. ταῦθ’ αἱ διαθῆκαι διασαφοῦσιν. ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ὁ Τιμοθέου Χάρων σχολάζειν οὐκ ἐᾷ οὑκ τῆς Νιόβης, χωρεῖν δὲ πορθμίδὲ ἀναβοᾷ, καλεῖ δέ μοῖρα νύχιος, ἧς κλύειν χρεών, ἵν’ ἔχων ἀποτρέχω πάντα τἀμαυτοῦ κάτω, τοῦ πουλύποδὸς μοι τὸ κατάλοιπον ἀπόδοτε.᾽κἀν ἄλλῳ δὲ μέρει φησί· φιλόξενός ποθ᾽, ὡς λέγουσ᾽, ὁ Κυθήριος ηὔξατο τριῶν σχεῖν τὸν λάρυγγα πήχεων, ᾽ ὅπως καταπίνω φησίν, ὅτι πλεῖστον χρόνον καὶ πάνθ’ ἅμα μοι τὰ βρώμαθ’ ἡδονὴν ποῇ.᾽ καὶ Διογένης δὲ ὁ κύων ὠμὸν πολύποδα καταφαγὼν ἐποιδουμένης αὐτῷ τῆς γαστρὸς ἀπέθανε, περὶ δὲ τοῦ Φιλοξένου καὶ ὁ παρῳδὸς Σώπατρος λέγων φησί· δισσαῖς γὰρ ἐν μέσαισιν ἰχθύων φοραῖς ἧσται, τὸν Αἴτνης ἐς μέσον λεύσσων σκοπόν.
And Hyperides the orator was an epicure in fish; as Timocles the comic writer tells us, in his Delos, where he enumerates all the people who had taken bribes from Harpalus: and he writes thus—A. Demosthenes has half-a-hundred talents.B. A lucky man, if no one shares with him.A. And Moerocles has got a mighty sum.B. He was a fool who gave them; lucky heWho got them.A. Demon and CallisthenesHave also got large sums.B. Well, they were poor,So that we well may pardon them for taking them.A. And that great orator Hyperides.B. Why, he will all our fishmongers enrich;An epicure! Gulls are mere Syrians,Compared to him.And in the Icarians, the same poet says—Then cross Hyperides, that fishy river,Which with a gentle sound, bubbling with boastsOf prudent speeches, with mild repetitions* * * * *And hired, bedews the plain of him who gave it.And Philetærus, in his Aesculapius, says that Hyperides, besides being a glutton, was also a gambler. As also Axionicus, in his Lover of Euripides, says that Callias the orator was; and his words are—“A man of the name of Glaucus came to this place, bringing from Pontus a kind of shark, a fish of extraordinary magnitude,—a great dainty for epicures in fish, and, in fact, for all men who are devoted to the pleasures of the table. And he brought it on his shoulders, and said, ' Whom shall I instruct how to dress it, and how shall it be dressed? Will you have it soaked in a sauce of green herbs, or shall I baste its body with basting of warm brine, and then dress it on a fierce fire?' And a man named Moschio, a great flute-player, cried out that he should like to eat it boiled in warm pickle-juice. And this was meant as a reproof for you, O Calaides! for you are very fond of figs and cured fish; and yet you will not taste a most exquisite fish which you have served up to you in pickle.” Reproaching him with the figs as if he were a sycophant; and perhaps concealing under the mention of the cured fish, some intimation of his having been implicated in discreditable conduct. And Hermippus says, in the third book of his treatise on the Pupils of Isocrates, that Hyperides was in the habit of taking a walk, the first thing in the morning, in the fish-market.
καὶ Ὑπερείδης δὲ ὁ ῥήτωρ ὀψοφάγος ἦν, ὥς φησι Τιμοκλῆς ὁ κωμικὸς ἐν Δήλῳ διηγούμενος τοὺς παρὰ Ἁρπάλου δωροδοκήσαντας. γράφει δὲ οὕτως· α. Δημοσθένης τάλαντα πεντήκοντ’ ἔχει, β. μακάριος, εἴπερ μεταδίδωσι μηδενί. α. καὶ Μοιροκλῆς εἴληφε χρυσίον πολύ. β. ἀνόητος ὁ διδούς, εὐτυχὴς δ’ ὁ λαμβάνων, α. εἴληφε καὶ Δήμων τι καὶ Καλλισθένης. β. πένητες ἦσαν, ὥστε συγγνώμην ἔχω. α. ὅ τ’ ἐν λόγοισι δεινὸς Ὑπερείδης ἔχει. β. τοὺς ἰχθυοπώλας οὗτος ἡμῶν πλουτιεῖ· ᾽ ὀψοφάγος γάρ, ὥστε τοὺς λάρους εἶναι Σύρους. καὶ ἐν Ἰκαρίοις δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς ποιητής φησι· τόν τ’ ἰχθυόρρουν ποταμὸν Ὑπερείδην περᾷς, ὃς ἠπίαις φωναῖσιν, ἔμφρονος λόγου κόμποις παφλάζων, ὑπτίοις πυκνώμασι πρὸς πᾶν ἀπαντῶν κλῇθρ’ ὅταν λύσας ἔχῃ, μισθωτὸς ἄρδει πεδία τοῦ δεδωκότος. Φιλέταιρος δ’ ἐν Ἀσκληπιῷ πρὸς τῷ ὀψοφαγεῖν καὶ κυβεύειν αὐτόν φησι, καθάπερ καὶ Καλλίαν τὸν ῥήτορα Ἀξιόνικος ἐν Φιλευριπίδῃ· ἄλλον δ’ ἰχθὺν μεγέθει πίσυνόν τινα τοῖσδε τόποις ἥκει κομίσας Γλαῦκός τις ἐν πόντῳ γ’ ἁλούς, ὁ σῖτον ὀψοφάγων, καὶ λίχνων ἀνδρῶν ἀγάπημα φέρων κατ’ ὤμων. τίνα τῷδ’ ἐνέπω τὴν σκευασίαν; πότερον χλωρῷ τρίμματι βρέξας ἢ τῆς ἀγρίας ἅλμης πάσμασι σῶμα λιπάνας πυρὶ παμφλέκτῳ παραδώσω; ἔφα τις, ὡς ἐν ἅλμῃ θερμῇ τοῦτο φάγοι γ’ ἑφθὸν ἀνὴρ Μοσχίων φίλαυλος. βοᾷ δ’ ὄνειδος ᾽ἴδιον, ὦ Καλλία. ἦ σὺ μὲν ἀμφί τε σῦκα καὶ ἀμφὶ ταρίχι’ ἀγάλλῃ, τοῦ δ’ ἐν ἅλμῃ παρατεθέντος οὐ γεύῃ χαρίεντος ὄψου, τὰ μὲν σῦκα, ὡς ἂν συκοφάντην λοιδορῶν, τὰ δὲ ταρίχη, μήποτε καὶ ὡς αἰσχροποιοῦντος. καὶ Ἕρμιππος δέ φησιν ἐν τρίτῳ περὶ τῶν Ἰσοκράτους μαθητῶν ἑωθινὸν τὸν Ὑπερείδην ποιεῖσθαι ἀεὶ τοὺς περιπάτους ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι.
And Timæus of Tauromenium says that Aristotle the philosopher was a great epicure in respect of fish. Matron the sophist, also, was a great fish-eater: and Antiphanes, in his Harp-player, intimates this; for that play begins thus—He tells no lie....A man dug out his eye, as Matron doesThe eyes of fish when he comes near to them.And Anaxilas says, in his Morose Man,—Matron has carried off and eaten upA cestris' head; and I am quite undone.It being the very extravagance of gluttony to carry a thing off while eating it, and such a thing too as the head of a cestris; unless, perhaps, you may suppose, that those who are skilful in such things are aware of there being some particular good qualities in the head of a cestris; and if so, it belonged to Archestratus's gluttony to explain that to us.
Τίμαιος δ’ ὁ Ταυρομενίτης καὶ Ἀριστοτέλη τὸν φιλόσοφον ὀψοφάγον φησὶ γεγονέναι. καὶ Μάτων δ’ ὁ σοφιστὴς ὀψοφάγος ἦν· δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Κιθαρῳδῷ, οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ᾽ οὐ ψεῦδος οὐδέν φησιν ὀφθαλμὸν ὤρυττέν τις ὥσπερ ἰχθύος μάτων προσελθών. Ἀναξίλας δ’ ἐν Μονοτρόπῳ· τοῦ κεστρέως κατεδήδοκεν τὸ κρανίον ἀναρπάσας Μάτων ἐγὼ δ’ ἀπόλλυμαι. ὑπερβολὴ γαστριμαργίας τὸ καὶ ἁρπάζειν ἐσθίοντα καὶ ταῦτα κρανίον κεστρέως, εἰ μὴ ἄρα οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοὶ ἴσασιν ἐνόν τι χρήσιμον ἐν κεστρέως κρανίῳ, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τῆς Ἀρχεστράτου λιχνείας ἐμφανίσαι ἡμῖν.
But Antiphanes, in his Rich Man, gives us a catalogue of epicures, in the following lines:—Euthymus too was there, with sandals on,A ring upon his finger, well perfumed,Silently pondering on I know not what.Phœnicides too, and my friend Taureas,Such great inveterate epicures that theyWould swallow all the remnants in the market;They at this sight seem'd almost like to die,And bore the scarcity with small good humour;But gather'd crowds and made this speech to them:—"What an intolerable thing it isThat any of you men should claim the sea,And spend much money in marine pursuits,While not one fin of fish comes to this market!What is the use of all our governorsWho sway the islands? We must make a lawThat there should be copious importationOf every kind of fish. But Matron nowHas carried off the fishermen; and thenThere's Diogeiton, who, by Jove, has broughtThe hucksters over to keep back for himAll the best fish; and he's not popularFor doing this, for there is mighty wasteIn marriage feasts and youthful luxury."But Euphron, in his Muses, says,—But when at some fine banquet of young menPhœnicides perceived a smoking dishFull of the sons of Nereus, he held bachHis hands, with rage excited. Thus he spoke:—"Who boasts himself a clever parasiteAt eating at the public cost? who thinksTo filch the dainty dishes from the middle?Where's Corydus, or Phyromachus, or Nillus?Let them come here, they shall get nought of this."
Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Πλουσίοις κατάλογον ποιεῖται ὀψοφάγων ἐν τούτοις· εὔθυνος δ’ ἔχων σανδάλια καὶ σφραγῖδα καὶ μεμυρισμένος ἐλογίζετ’ ὄψων πραγμάτιον οὐκ οἶδὲ ὅ τι· Φοινικίδης δὲ Ταυρέας θ’ ὁ φίλτατος, ἄνδρες πάλαι ὀψοφάγοι τοιοῦτοί τινες οἷοι καταβροχθίζειν ἐν ἀγορᾷ τὰ τεμάχη, ὁρῶντες ἐξέθνῃσκον ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι ἔφερόν τε δεινῶς τὴν ἀνοψίαν πάνυ. κύκλους δὲ συναγείροντες ἔλεγον τοιάδε,· ὡς οὐ βιωτόν ἐστιν οὐδ’ ἀνασχετὸν τῆς μὲν θαλάττης ἀντιποιεῖσθαί τινας ὑμῶν ἀναλίσκειν τε πολλὰ χρήματα, ὄψου δὲ μηδὲν ἐνθάδ’ εἰσπλεῖν μηδὲ γρῦ. τί οὖν ὄφελος τῶν νησιάρχων; ἔστι δὴ νόμῳ κατακλεῖσαι τοῦτο, παραπομπὴν ποιεῖν τῶν ἰχθύων, νυνδὶ Μάτων συνήρπακεν τοὺς ἁλιέας, καὶ δὴ Διογείτων νὴ Δία ἅπαντας ἀναπέπεικεν ὡς αὑτὸν φέρειν, κοὐ δημοτικόν γε τοῦτο δρᾷ τοσαῦτα φλῶν. γάμοι δ’ ἐκείνοις καὶ πότοι νεανικοὶ ἦσαν … εὔφρων δὲ ἐν Μούσαις· Φοινικίδης δ’ ὡς εἶδεν ἐν πλήθει νέων μεστὴν ζέουσαν λοπάδα Νηρείων τέκνων, ἐπίσχετ’ ὀργῇ χεῖρας ἠρεθισμένας·· τίς φησιν εἶναι δεινὸς ἐκ κοινοῦ φαγεῖν; τίς ἐκ μέσου τὰ θερμὰ δεινὸς ἁρπάσαι; ποῦ Κόρυδος ἢ Φυρόμαχος ἢ Νείλου βία; ἴτω πρὸς ἡμᾶς, καὶ τάχ’ ἂν οὐδὲν μεταλάβοι.
But Melanthus the tragic poet was a person of the same sort; and he also wrote elegies. But Leucon, in his Men of the same Tribe, cuts his jokes upon him in the fashion of the comic writers, on account of his gluttony; and so does Aristophanes in the Peace, and Pherecrates in his Petale. But Archippus, in his play called The Fishes, having put him in chains as an epicure, gives him up to the fishes, to be eaten by them in retaliation. And, indeed, even Aristippus, the pupil of Socrates, was a great epicure,—a man who was once reproached by Plato for his gluttony, as Sotion ad Hegesander relate. And the Delphian writes thus:—“Aristippus, when Plato reproached him for having bought a number of fish, said that he had bought them for two obols; and when Plato said, 'I myself would have bought them at th t price,' 'You see, then,' said he, '0 Plato! that it is not I who am an epicure, but you who are a miser.'” And Antiphanes, in his Female Flute-player, or the Female Twins, laughing at a man named Phoinicides for his gluttony, says—Menelaus warr'd for ten whole years againstThe Trojan nation for one lovely woman.Phoinicides, too, attacks TaureasFor one fine eel.
τῆς αὐτῆς ἰδέας καὶ Μελάνθιος ἦν ὁ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποιητής· ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ ἐλεγεῖα. κωμῳδοῦσι δ’ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ὀψοφαγίᾳ Λεύκων ἐν Φράτερσιν, Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Εἰρήνῃ, Φερεκράτης ἐν Πετάλῃ. ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ἰχθύσιν Ἄρχιππος τῷ δράματι ὡς ὀψοφάγον δήσας παραδίδωσι τοῖς ἰχθύσιν ἀντιβρωθησόμενον. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Ἀρίστιππος ὁ Σωκρατικὸς ὀψοφάγος ἦν· ὅστις καὶ ὑπὸ Πλάτωνός ποτε ὀνειδιζόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ὀψοφαγίᾳ, ὥς φησι Σωτίων καὶ Ἡγήσανδρος, γράφει δὲ οὕτως ὁ Δελφός· ᾽ι Ἀρίστιππος Πλάτωνος ἐπιτιμήσαντος αὐτῷ διότι πολλοὺς ἰχθῦς ἠγόρασε, δυεῖν ὀβολοῖν ἔφησεν ἐωνῆσθαι. τοῦ δὲ Πλάτωνος εἰπόντος διότι καὶ αὐτὸς ἂν ἠγόρασα τοσούτου, ὁρᾷς οὖν, εἶπεν, ὦ Πλάτων, ὅτι οὐκ ἐγὼ ὀψοφάγος, ἀλλὰ σὺ φιλάργυρος. ᾽ Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Αὐλητρίδι ἢ Διδύμαις Φοινικίδην τινὰ ἐπ’ ὀψοφαγίᾳ κωμῳδῶν φησιν ὁ μὲν Μενέλαος ἐπολέμησ’ ἔτη δέκα τοῖς Τρωσὶ διὰ γυναῖκα τὴν ὄψιν καλήν, Φοινικίδης δὲ Ταυρέᾳ δι’ ἔγχελυν.
But Demosthenes the orator reproaches Pherecrates, because, with the gold which he received for his treason, he bought himself courtesans and fish, and charges him with debauchery and gluttony. But Diodes the epicure, as Hegesander says, when a man once asked him which of the two fish was the best, the conger or the pike, said—“The one when it is boiled, and the other when it is roasted.” And Leonteus the Argive also was an epicure: he was a tragedian, and a pupil of Athenion, and a slave of Juba, king of Mauritania; as Amarantus relates, in his treatise on the Stage, saying that Juba wrote this epigram on him, because he had acted the character of Hypsipyle very badly:—If you should wish to see the geniusOf that devoted artichoke-devourerLeonteus the tragedian, don't regardThe sorrow-stricken heart of Hypsipyle.I once was dear to Bacchus, and his tasteIs ne'er perverted by base bribes t' approveUntuneful sounds. But now the pots and pans,And well-fill'd dishes have destroyed my voice,While I've been anxious to indulge my stomach.
Δημοσθένης δ’ ὁ ῥήτωρ Φιλοκράτην, ἐπειδὴ ἐκ τοῦ προδοτικοῦ χρυσίου πόρνας καὶ ἰχθῦς ἠγόραζεν, εἰς ἀσέλγειαν καὶ ὀψοφαγίαν λοιδορεῖ. Διοκλῆς δὲ ὁ ὀψοφάγος, ὥς φησιν Ἡγήσανδρος, πυθομένου τινὸς αὐτοῦ πότερος χρηστότερος ἰχθύς, γόγγρος ἢ λάβραξ, ᾽ὁ μὲν ἑφθός, ᾽ ἔφη, ὁ δὲ ὀπτός ὀψοφάγος δ’ ἦν καὶ Λεοντεὺς ὁ Ἀργεῖος τραγῳδός, Ἀθηνίωνος μὲν μαθητής, οἰκέτης δὲ γενόμενος Ἰόβα τοῦ Μαυρουσίων βασιλέως, ὥς φησιν Ἀμάραντος ἐν τοῖς περὶ σκηνῆς, γεγραφέναι φάσκων εἰς αὐτὸν τόδε τὸ ἐπίγραμμα τὸν Ἰόβαν, ὅτε κακῶς τὴν Ὑψιπύλην ὑπεκρίνατο μή με Λεοντῆος τραγικοῦ κιναρηφάγου ηχος λεύσσων Ὑψιπύλης ἐς κακὸν ἦτορ ὅρα. ἤμην γάρ ποτ’ ἐγὼ Βάκχῳ φίλος, οὐδὲ τιν’ ὧδε γῆρυν χρυσολόβοις οὔασιν ἠγάσατο. νῦν δέ με χυτρόποδες, κέραμοι καὶ ξηρὰ τάγηνα χήρωσαν φωνῆς, γαστρὶ χαριζόμενον.
And Hegesander tells us that Phoryscus, the fish-eater, once, when he was not able to take exactly as much fish as he wished, but when a greater part of it was following his hand, as he was helping himself, said,—But what resists is utterly destroy'd,and so ate up the whole fish. And Bion, when some one had been beforehand with him, and had already taken the upper part of the fish, having turned it round himself, and eating abundantly of it, said, after he had done,—But Ino finish'd all the rest o' the business.And Theocritus the Chian, when the wife of Diocles the epicure died, and when the widowed husband, while making a funeral feast for her, kept on eating delicacies and crying all the time, said—“Stop crying, you wretched man; for you will not remedy your grief by eating all that fish.” And when the same Diodes had also eaten up his land through gluttony, and was one day, while bolting down some hot fish, complaining that his palate (οὐρανὸς) was burnt, Theocritus, who was present, said to him—“Then it only remains for you to drink up the sea, and then you will have got rid of the three greatest things in the world,—earth, and sea, and heaven (οὐρανός).” And Clearchus, in his Lives, describing some person who was fond of fish, says—“Technon, one of the old flute-players, when Charmus the flute-player died, (and he, too, was very fond of fish,) sacrificed to the dead man a large dish of every sort of fish on his tomb.” Alexis the poet, also, was a great epicure in fish, as Lynceus the Samian tells us; and being once ridiculed by some chattering fellows on account of his epicurism, when they asked him what he liked most to eat, Alexis said, “Roasted chatterers.” Hermippus mentions also Nothippus the tragic poet, in his Tales, thus—But if such a race of menWere to wage a present warWith those who now exist on earth,And if a roast ray led them on,Or a fine side of well-fed pork,The rest might safely stay at home,And trust Nothippus by himself,For he alone would swallow upThe whole Peloponnesus:—and that the man meant here was the poet, Teleclides shows plainly, in his Hesiods. Myniscus, the tragic actor, is ridiculed by Plato, the comic writer, in his Syrphax, as an epicure in respect of fish; where he says—A. Here is an Anagyrasian orphus for you,Which e'en my friend Myniscus the ChalcideanCould hardly finish.B. Much obliged to you.And for a similar reason, Callias, in his Pedetæ, and Lysippus, in his Bacchæ, ridicule Lampon the soothsayer. But Cratinus, in his Female Runaways, speaking of him, says—“Lam- pon, whom nothing which men said of him could keep away from any banquet of his friends;” and adds, “But now again he is belching away; for he devours everything which he can see, and he would fight even for a mullet.”
Φόρυσκον δέ φησιν Ἡγήσανδρος τὸν ἰχθυοφάγον οὐ δυνηθέντα ὅσον ἤθελεν ἀφελεῖν τοῦ ἰχθύος, ἀλλ’ ἀκολουθήσαντος αὐτῷ πλείονος εἰπεῖν τὰ δ᾽ ἀντιτείνοντ’ αὐτόπρεμν’ ἀπόλλυται, καὶ ὅλον τὸν ἰχθὺν ἀναλῶσαι. βίων δὲ προαρπάσαντός τινος τὰ ἐπάνω τοῦ ἰχθύος στρέψας καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν ἰχθὺν ἀπέσυρε καὶ δαψιλῶς φαγὼν ἐπεῖπεν· Ἰνὼ δὲ τἀπὶ θάτερ’ ἐξειργάζετο. Θεόκριτος δ’ ὁ Χῖος τελευτησάσης τῆς γυναικὸς Διοκλεῖ τῷ ὀψοφάγῳ, ἐπειδὴ ποιῶν αὐτῇ τὸ περίδειπνον πάλιν ὠψοφάγει κλαίων ἅμα, ᾽παῦσαι φησί, κλαίων, ὦ πόνηρε· οὐδὲν γὰρ πλέον ὀψοφαγῶν ποιήσεις τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν ἀγρὸν καταβεβρωκότος εἰς ὀψοφαγίαν, ἐπειδὴ θερμόν ποτε καταβροχθίσας ἰχθὺν ἔφησε τὸν οὐρανὸν κατακεκαῦσθαι, ‘λοιπόν,’ ἔφησεν, ‘ἐστίν,’ ὁ Θεόκριτος, ‘σοι καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ἐκπιεῖν, καὶ ἔσῃ τρία τὰ μέγιστα ἠφανικώς, γῆν καὶ θάλατταν καὶ οὐρανόν.’ Κλέαρχος δ’ ἐν τοῖς περὶ βίων φίλιχθύν τινα ἀναγράφων φησὶν οὕτως· ᾽ Τέχνων ὁ παλαιὸς αὐλητὴς Χάρμου τοῦ αὐλητοῦ τελευτήσαντος ἦν δὲ φίλιχθυς ἀποπυρίδας ἐπὶ τοῦ μνήματος ἐνήγιζεν αὐτῷ.` καὶ Ἄλεξις δ’ ὁ ποιητὴς ἦν ὀψοφάγος, ὡς ὁ Σάμιός φησι Λυγκεύς· καὶ σκωπτόμενος ὑπό τινων σπερμολόγων εἰς ὀψοφαγίαν ἐρομένων τε ἐκείνων τί ἂν ἥδιστα φάγοι, ὁ Ἄλεξις ᾽ σπερμολόγους ἔφη, ᾽ πεφρυγμένους.᾽ Νόθιππον δὲ τὸν τραγῳδιοποιόν, ὃν Ἕρμιππος ἐν ταῖς Μοίραις φησὶν εἰ δ’ ἦν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν νῦν τοιόνδε μάχεσθαι, καὶ βατὶς αὐτῶν ἡγεῖτ᾽ ὀπτὴ μεγάλη καὶ πλευρὸν ὕειον, τοὺς μὲν ἄρ’ ἄλλους οἰκουρεῖν χρῆν, πέμπειν δὲ Νόθιππον ἑκόντα. εἷς γὰρ μόνος ὢν κατεβρόχθισεν ἂν τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἅπασαν. ὅτι δὲ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ποιητὴς σαφῶς παρίστησι Τηλεκλείδης ἐν Ἡσιόδοις. Μυννίσκος ὁ τραγικὸς ὑποκριτὴς κωμῳδεῖται ὑπὸ Πλάτωνος ἐν Σύρφακι ὡς ὀψοφάγος οὕτως· α. ὁδὶ μὲν Ἀναγυράσιος Ὀρφώς ἐστί σοι, β. οἶδ᾽, ᾧ φίλος Μυννίσκος ἔσθ’ ὁ Χαλκιδεύς. α. καλῶς λέγεις. καὶ Λάμπωνα δὲ τὸν μάντιν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὁμοίοις κωμῳδοῦσι Καλλίας Πεδήταις καὶ Λύσιππος Βάκχαις. Κρατῖνος δ’ ἐν Δραπέτισιν εἰπὼν περὶ αὐτοῦ· Λάμπωνα, τὸν οὐ βροτῶν ψῆφος δύναται φλεγυρὰ δείπνου φίλων ἀπείργειν, ἐπιφέρει· νῦν δ’ αὖθις ἐρυγγάνει. βρύκει γὰρ ἅπαν τὸ παρόν, τρίγλης δὲ κᾂν μάχοιτο.
And Hedylus, in his Epigrams, giving a list of epicures in fish, mentions a man named Phaedo, in these lines:—But Phædo, that great harpist, praises phyces,And sausages, he's such an epicure.And he mentions Agisoto, in these lines:—The fish is boil'd, now firmly bar the doors,Lest Agis, Proteus of the dishes, enter;For he'll be fire, water,—what he likes;But bar the door......For he, transform'd, like Jupiter, to goldWill hasten to this rich Acrisian dish.He also speaks of a woman named Clio, on a similar account, saying—Clio's an epicure. Let's shut our eyes.I beg you, Clio, by yourself to feed.This conger costs a drachma; leave a pledge,A band, an earring, or some ornament.But we cannot endure the sight of you;You're our Medusa; and we're turn'd to stone,Not by the Gorgon, but by that whole conger.
Ἡδύλος δ’ ἐν ἐπιγράμμασιν ὀψοφάγους καταλέγων Φαίδωνος μὲν τινος ἐν τούτοις μέμνηται· Φαίδων δὲ … φύσκι’ ἐνείκαι χορδὰς θ’ ὁ ψάλτης· ἐστὶ γὰρ ὀψοφάγος. Ἄγιδος δ’ ἐν τούτοις· ἑφθὸς ὁ κάλλιχθυς· νῦν ἔμβαλε τὴν βαλανάγραν, ἔλθῃ μὴ Πρωτεὺς Ἆγις ὁ τῶν λοπάδων· γίνεθ’ ὕδωρ καὶ πῦρ καὶ ὃ βούλεται, ἀλλ’ ἀπόκλειε … ἥξει γὰρ τοιαῦτα μεταπλασθεὶς τυχὸν ὡς Ζεὺς χρυσορόης ἐπὶ τήνδ’ Ἀκρισίου λοπάδα. καὶ γυναῖκα δέ τινα Κλειὼ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὁμοίοις σκώπτων φησίν· ὀψοφάγει, Κλειοῖ· καταμύομεν· ἢν δὲ θελήσῃς, ἔσθε μόνη. δραχμῆς ἐστιν ὁ γόγγρος ἅπας. θὲς μόνον ἢ ζώνην ἢ ἐνώτιον ἤ τι τοιοῦτον σύσσημον. τὸ δ’ ὁρᾶν μαινομένου λέγομεν. ἡμετέρη σὺ Μέδουσα· λιθούμεθα πάντες ἀπλάτου οὐ Γοργοῦς, γόγγρου δ’ οἱ μέλεοι λοπάδι.
And Aristodemus, in his Catalogue of Laughable Sayings, says that Euphranor the epicure, having heard that another epicure in fish was dead from having eaten a hot slice of fish, cried out, “What a sacrilegious death!” And Cindon the fish-eater, and Demylus (and he also was an epicure in fish), when a sea-grayling was set before them, and nothing else, the former took one eye of the fish, and then Demylus seized hold of Cindon's eye, crying, “Let his eye go, and I will let your's go.” And once at a feast, when a fine dish of fish was served up, Demylus, not being able to contrive any way by which he might get the whole of it to himself, spat upon it. And Zeno the Cittiæan, the founder of the Stoic school, when he had lived a long time with a great epicure in fish, (as Antigonus the Carystian tells us, in his life of Zeno,) once, when a very large fish was by chance served up to them, and when no other food was provided, took the whole fish from the platter, pretending to be about to eat it all himself; and, when the other looked at him, said—“What do you think, then, that those who live with you must suffer every day, if you cannot endure my being a glutton for a single day?” And Ister says that Chœrilus the poet used to receive four minæ every day from Archelaus, and that he spent them all on fish, of which he was so exceedingly fond. I am aware, also, that there have been boys who were great fish-eaters, who are mentioned by Clearchus, in his book on Sands; which says that Psammitichus, king of Egypt, bred up some boys to eat nothing but fish, when he was anxious to discover the source of the Nile; and that he accustomed others to endure a great degree of thirst, who were to be employed in exploring the sands in Libya; of whom, however, very few escaped in safety. I know, too, that the oxen around Mosynus, in Thrace, eat fish, which are given to them in their cribs. And Phœnicides, having set fish before men who had brought their contribution for a banquet, said that the sea was common, but that the fish in it belonged to those who bought them.
Ἀριστόδημος δ’ ἐν τοῖς γελοίοις ἀπομνημονεύμασιν Εὐφράνορά φησι τὸν ὀψοφάγον ἀκούσαντα ὅτι ἄλλος ἰχθυοφάγος ἀπέθανε θερμὸν ἰχθύος τέμαχος καταπιὼν ἀναφωνῆσαι· ἱερόσυλος ὁ θάνατος.᾽ Κίνδων δὲ ὁ ὀψοφάγος καὶ Δημύλος ὀψοφάγος δὲ καὶ οὗτος γλαύκου παρατεθέντος, ἄλλου δ’ οὐδενός, ὁ μὲν τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν κατελάβετο, καὶ ὁ Δημύλος ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκείνου ὀφθαλμὸν ἐπιβαλὼν ἐβιάζετο φωνῶν ἄφες καὶ ἀφήσω.᾽ ἐν δείπνῳ δέ ποτε καλῆς λοπάδος ὄψου παρατεθείσης ὁ Δημύλος οὐκ ἔχων ὅπως αὐτὴν μόνος καταφάγῃ ἐνέπτυσεν εἰς αὐτήν. Ζήνων δ’ ὁ Κιτιεὺς ὁ τῆς στοᾶς κτίστης πρὸς τὸν ὀψοφάγον ᾧ συνέζη ἐπὶ πλείονα χρόνον, καθά φησιν Ἀντίγονος ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν τῷ Ζήνωνος βίῳ, μεγάλου τινὸς κατὰ τύχην ἰχθύος παρατεθέντος, ἄλλου δ’ οὐδενὸς παρεσκευασμένου, λαβὼν ὅλον ὁ Ζήνων ἀπὸ τοῦ πίνακος οἷος ἦν κατεσθίειν. τοῦ δ’ ἐμβλέψαντος αὐτῷ, ᾽ τί οὖν, ᾽ ἔφη, ᾽ τοὺς συζῶντάς σοι οἴει πάσχειν, εἰ σὺ μίαν ἡμέραν μὴ δεδύνησαι ἐνεγκεῖν τὴν ἐμὴν ὀψοφαγίαν;᾽ Ἴστρος δέ φησι Χοιρίλον τὸν ποιητὴν παρ’ Ἀρχελάου τέσσαρας μνᾶς ἐφ’ ἡμέρᾳ λαμβάνοντα ταύτας καταναλίσκειν εἰς ὀψοφαγίαν, γενόμενον ὀψοφάγον. οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἰχθυοφάγους παῖδας, ὧν Κλέαρχος μνημονεύει ἐν τῷ περὶ θινῶν, φάσκων Ψαμμήτιχον τὸν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα παῖδας θρέψαι ἰχθυοφάγους, τὰς πηγὰς τοῦ Νείλου βουλόμενον εὑρεῖν· καὶ ἄλλους δὲ ἀδίψους ἀσκῆσαι τοὺς ἐρευνησομένους τὰς ἐν Λιβύῃ ψάμμους, ὧν ὀλίγοι διεσώθησαν, οἶδα δὲ καὶ τοὺς περὶ Μόσσυνον τῆς Θρᾴκης βοῦς, οἳ ἰχθῦς ἐσθίουσι παραβαλλομένους αὐτοῖς εἰς τὰς φάτνας. Φοινικίδης δὲ τοὺς ἰχθῦς παρατιθεὶς τοῖς τὰς συμβολὰς δεδωκόσι τὴν μὲν θάλασσαν ἔλεγε κοινὴν εἶναι, τοὺς δ’ ἐν αὐτῇ ἰχθῦς τῶν ὠνησαμένων.
And, my friends, the noun ὀψοφάγος (an eater of fish), and the verb ὀψοφάγω (to eat fish), are both used. Aristophanes, in his second edition of the Clouds, says—Not to eat fish (ὀψοφάγειν) nor to giggle.And Cephisodorus, in his Pig, says—Not a fish-eater (ὀψοφάγος) nor a chatterer.Machon, in his Letter, says—I am a fish-eater (ὀψοφάγος), and this is nowThe whole foundation of the art we practise.And he who wishes not to spoil the dishesServed up to others, should be pleased himself.For he who rightly cares for his own eatingWill not be a bad cook. And if you keepYour organs, sense and taste, in proper order,You will not err. But often taste your dishesWhile you are boiling them. Do they want salt?Add some;—is any other seasoning neededAdd it, and taste again-till you've arrivedAt harmony of flavour; like a manWho tunes a lyre till it rightly sounds.And then, when everything is well in tune,Bring in a troop of willing damsels fair,Equal in number to the banqueters.In addition to these epicures in fish, my friends, I am aware also that Apollo is honoured among the Eleans, under the title of Fish-eater: and Polemo mentions this name of his in his letter to Attalus. I am aware, also, that in Pisa there is a picture consecrated in the temple of Diana Alphosa (and it is the work of Cleanthes the Corinthian), in which Neptune is represented as bringing a tunny to Jupiter in labour; as. Demetrius tells us, in the eighth book of his Trojan Array.
εἴρηται δὲ καὶ ὁ ὀψοφάγος, ὦ ἑταῖροι, καὶ τὸ ὀψοφαγεῖν. Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Νεφέλαις δευτέραις· οὐδ’ ὀψοφαγεῖν οὐδὲ κιχλίζειν. Κηφισόδωρος Ὑί· οὐδ᾽ ὀψοφάγος οὐδ’ ἀδολέσχης. Μάχων Ἐπιστολῇ· ὀψοφάγος εἰμί. τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶ τῆς τέχνης θεμέλιος ἡμῖν· προσπεπονθέναι τι δεῖ τὸν μὴ τὰ παραδοθέντα· λυμανούμενον. ὁ πεφροντικὼς αὑτοῦ γάρ οὐκ ἔσται κακός, ἔπειτ’ ἐπὰν ᾖ καθαρὰ τᾀσθητήρια, οὐκ ἂν διαμάρτοις. ἕψε καὶ γεύου πυκνά, ἅλας οὐκ ἔχει· προσένεγκ᾽. ἔτ’ ἐπιδεῖταί τινος ἑτέρου· πάλιν γεύου σὺ μέχρι ἂν ἡδὺς ᾖ· ὥσπερ λύραν ἐπίτειν’ ἕως ἂν ἁρμόσῃ. εἶθ’ ὁπόταν ἤδη πάντα συμφωνεῖν δοκῇ εἴσαγε τὸ διὰ πασῶν, … … νικολαίδας μυκόνιος … πρὸς τούτοις τοῖς ὀψοφάγοις, ἄνδρες ἑταῖροι, οἶδα καὶ τὸν παρ’ Ἠλείοις τιμώμενον Ὀψοφάγον Ἀπόλλωνα, μνημονεύει δὲ αὐτοῦ Πολέμων ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἄτταλον ἐπιστολῇ. οἶδα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ Πισάτιδι γραφὴν ἀνακειμένην ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀλφειώσας Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερῷ Κλεάνθους δ’ ἐστὶ τοῦ Κορινθίου, ἐν ᾗ Ποσειδῶν πεποίηται θύννον τῷ Διὶ προσφέρων ὠδίνοντι, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Δημήτριος ἐν ὀγδόῳ Τρωικοῦ διακόσμου.
These, then, are the things, said Democritus, which I myself have brought in the way of my contribution, not going to eat fish myself, for the sake of my excellent friend Ulpian; who, on account of the national customs of the Syrians, has deprived us of our fish, continually bringing forward one thing after another. And Antipater of Tarsus, the Stoic philosopher, in the fourth book of his treatise on Superstition, tells us that it is said by some people that Gatis, the queen of the Syrians, was so exceedingly fond of fish, that she issued a proclamation that no one should eat fish without Gatis being invited (ἄτερ γάτιδος); and that the common people, out of ignorance, thought her name was Atergatis, and abstained wholly from fish. And Mnaseus, in the second book of his History of Asia, speaks thus—“But I think that Atergatis was a very bad queen, and that she ruled the people with great harshness, so that she even forbad them by law to eat fish, and ordered them to bring all the fish to her, because she was so fond of that food; and, on account of this order of hers, a custom still prevails, when the Syrians pray to the goddess, to offer her golden or silver fish; and for the priests every day to place on the table before the god real fish also, carefully dressed, both boiled and roasted, which the priests of the goddess eat themselves.” And a little further on, he says again—“But Atergatis (as Xanthus the Lydian says), being taken prisoner by Mopsus, king of Lydia, was drowned with her son in the lake near Ascalon, because of her insolence, and was eaten up by fishes.” And you, perhaps, my friends, have willingly passed by (as if it were some sacred fish) the fish mentioned by Ephippus the comic poet, which he says was dressed for Geryon, in his play called Geryon. The lines are these:—A. When the natives of the landCatch a fish which is not common,But fine, as large as the whole isleOf Crete, he furnishes a dishAble to hold a hundred such;And orders all who live around,Sindi, and Lycians, and Paphians,Cranai, and Mygdoniotæ,To cut down wood, because the kingIs boiling this enormous fish.So then they bring a load of wood,Enough to go all round the city,And light the fire. Then they bringA lake of water to make brine,And for eight months a hundred cartsAre hard at work to carry salt.And around the dish's edgeFive five-oar'd boats keep always rowing;And bid the slaves take care the fireBurns not the Lycian magistrates.B. Cease to blow this cold air on us,King of Macedon, extinguishThe Celts, and do not burn them more.But I am not ignorant that Ephippus has said the very same thing in his play called the Peltast; in which the following lines also are subjoined to those which I have just quoted:—Talking all this nonsense, heRaises the wonder of the youthsWith whom he feasts, though knowing notThe simplest sums and plainest figures;But drags his cloak along the groundWith a most lordly, pompous air.But, with reference to whom it is that Ephippus said this, it is now proper for you to inquire, my good friend Ulpian, and then to tell us; and in this inquiry—If you find aught hard and inexplicable,Repeat it over, understand it clearly,—For I have much more leisure than I like;as Prometheus says in Aeschylus.
καὶ τοσαῦτα μέν,ἔφη ὁ Δημόκριτος, καὶ αὐτὸς ὑμῖν προσοψωνήσας οὐκ ὀψοφαγήσων παρῆλθον διὰ τὸν πάντα ἄριστον Οὐλπιανόν, ὃς διὰ τὰ Σύρων πάτρια καὶ ἡμᾶς τῶν ἰχθύων ἀπεστέρησεν ἕτερ’ ἐκ Συρίας παρεισφέρων. καίτοι γε Ἀντίπατρος Ταρσεὺς ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς στοᾶς ἐν τετάρτῳ περὶ δεισιδαιμονίας λέγεσθαί φησι πρός τινων ὅτι Γάτις ἡ τῶν Σύρων βασίλισσα οὕτως ἦν ὀψοφάγος ὥστε κηρῦξαι ἄτερ Γάτιδος μηδένα ἰχθὺν ἐσθίειν ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς αὐτὴν μὲν Ἀταργάτιν ὀνομάζειν, ἰχθύων δὲ ἀπέχεσθαι.᾽ Μνασέας δ’ ἐν δευτέρῳ περὶ Ἀσίας φησὶν οὕτως ᾽ ἐμοὶ μὲν ἡ Ἀταργάτις δοκεῖ χαλεπὴ βασίλισσα γεγονέναι καὶ τῶν λαῶν σκληρῶς ἐπεστατηκέναι, ὥστε καὶ ἀπονομίσαι αὐτοῖς ἰχθὺν μὴ ἐσθίειν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀναφέρειν διὰ τὸ ἀρέσαι αὐτῇ τὸ βρῶμα. καὶ διὰ τόδε νόμιμον ἔτι διαμένειν, ἐπὰν εὔξωνται τῇ θεῷ, ἰχθῦς ἀργυροῦς ἢ χρυσοῦς ἀνατιθέναι· τοὺς δὲ ἱερεῖς πᾶσαν ἡμέραν τῇ θεῷ ἀληθινοὺς ἰχθῦς ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν ὀψοποιησαμένους παρατιθέναι, ἑφθούς τε ὁμοίως καὶ ὀπτούς, οὓς δὴ αὐτοὶ καταναλίσκουσιν οἱ τῆς θεοῦ ἱερεῖς.᾽ καὶ μικρὸν προελθὼν πάλιν φησίν ᾽ ἡ δέ γε Ἀταργάτις, ὥσπερ Ξάνθος λέγει ὁ Λυδός, ὑπὸ Μόψου τοῦ Λυδοῦ ἁλοῦσα κατεποντίσθη μετὰ Ἰχθύος τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐν τῇ περὶ Ἀσκάλωνα λίμνῃ διὰ τὴν ὕβριν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἰχθύων κατεβρώθη.᾽ τάχα δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, ἄνδρες φίλοι, ἑκόντες παρελίπετε ὡς ἱερόν τινα ἰχθὺν τὸν παρ’ Ἐφίππῳ τῷ κωμῳδιοποιῷ, ὅν φησι τῷ Γηρυόνῃ σκευάζεσθαι ἐν τῷ ὁμωνύμῳ δράματι διὰ τούτων λέγωντούτῳ δ’ ὁπόταν ναέται χώρας ἰχθὺν τιν’ ἕλωσ’ οὐχ ἡμέριον, τῆς περικλύστου δ’ ἁλίας Κρήτης μείζω μεγέθει, λοπὰς ἐστ’ αὐτῷ δυνατὴ τούτους χωρεῖν ἑκατόν. καὶ περιοίκους εἶναι ταύτῃ Σινδούς, Λυκίους, Μυγδονιώτας, Κραναούς, Παφίους. τούτους δ’ ὕλην κόπτειν, ὁπόταν βασιλεὺς ἕψῃ τὸν μέγαν ἰχθὺν καὶ προσάγοντας καθ’ ὅσον πόλεως ἕστηκεν ὅρος, τοὺς δ’ ὑποκαίειν. λίμνην δ᾽ ἐπάγειν ὕδατος μεστὴν εἰς τὴν ἅλμην, τοὺς δ’ ἅλας αὐτῷ ζεύγη προσάγειν μηνῶν ὀκτὼ συνεχῶς ἑκατόν. περιπλεῖν δ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄμβωσιν ἄνω πέντε κέλητας πεντασκάλμους, περιαγγέλλειν τ᾽· οὐχ ὑποκαίεις, Λυκίων πρύτανι; ψυχρὸν τουτί· παύου φυσῶν, Μακεδὼν ἄρχων· σβέννυ, Κέλθ᾽, ὡς μὴ προσκαύσῃς.οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δ’ ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα εἴρηκεν ὁ Ἔφιππος κἀν Πελταστῇ τῷ δράματι, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ταῦτα ἐκείνοις ὑποτέτακται· τοιαῦθ’ ὑθλῶν δειπνεῖ καὶ ζῇ θαυμαζόμενος μετὰ μειρακίων, οὐ γινώσκων ψήφων ἀριθμούς, σεμνὸς σεμνῶς χλανίδ’ ἕλκων. εἰς τίνα δὲ ταῦτ’ ἀποτεινόμενος ὁ Ἔφιππος εἴρηκεν ὥρα σοι ζητεῖν, καλὲ Οὐλπιανέ, καὶ διδάσκειν ἡμᾶς καὶ τῶν εἰρημένων τούτων εἲ τί σοι ψελλόν τε καὶ δυσεύρετον, ἐπαναδίπλαζε καὶ σαφῶς ἐκμάνθανε· σχολὴ δὲ πλείων ἢ θέλω πάρεστί μοι, κατὰ τὸν Αἰσχύλου Προμηθέα.
And on this Cynulcus exclaimed:—And what great subject of inquiry,—I do not say great fish,—can this fellow admit into his mind?-a man who is always picking out the spines of hepseti and atherintæ, and even of worse fish than these, if there be any such, passing over all finer fish. For, as Eubulus says, in the Ixion,—As if a man at a luxurious feast,When cheese-cakes are before him, chooses noughtBut anise, parsley, and such silly fare,And ill-dress'd cardamums....so, too, this Pot-friend, Ulpian,—to use a would of my fellow-Megalopolitan, Cercidas,—appears to me to eat nothing that a man ought to eat, but to watch those who are eating, to see if they have passed over any spine or any callous or gristly morsel of the meat set before them; never once considering what the admirable and brilliant Aeschylus has said, who called his tragedies, “Relics of the noble banquets of Homer.” But Aeschylus was one of the greatest of philosophers,—a man who, being once defeated undeservedly, as Theophrastus or Chamæleon (whichever was really the author of the book), in his treatise on Pleasure, has related, said that he committed his tragedies to time, well knowing that he should hereafter receive the honour due to him.
καὶ ὁ Κύνουλκος ἀνεβόησε· καὶ τίν’ ἂν τῶν μεγάλων οὗτος, οὐκ ἰχθύων, ἀλλὰ ζητήσεων, ἐπὶ νοῦν λάβοι; ὃς τὰς ἀκάνθας ἀεὶ ἐκλέγει ἑψητῶν τε καὶ ἀθερινῶν καὶ εἴ τι τούτων ἀτυχέστερόν ἐστιν ἰχθύδιον, τὰ μεγάλα τεμάχη παραπεμπόμενος, καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς γεννικαῖς εὐωχίαις, φησὶν ἐν Ἰξίονι Εὔβουλος, ἀμύλων παρόντων ἐσθίουσ’ ἑκάστοτε ἄνηθα καὶ σέλινα καὶ φλυαρίας καὶ κάρδαμ’ ἐσκευασμένα, οὕτω μοι δοκεῖ καὶ ὁ ` λεβητοχάρων ᾽ Οὐλπιανός, κατὰ τὸν ἐμὸν Μεγαλοπολίτην Κερκιδᾶν, μηδὲν μὲν ἐσθίειν τῶν ἀνδρὶ προσηκόντων, τηρεῖν δὲ τοὺς ἐσθίοντας εἰ παρεῖδον ἢ ἄκανθαν ἢ τῶν τραγανῶν τι ἢ χονδρῶδες τῶν παρατεθέντων, οὐδ’ ἐπὶ νοῦν βαλλόμενος τὸ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ λαμπροῦ Αἰσχύλου, ὃς τὰς αὑτοῦ τραγῳδίας τεμάχη εἶναι ἔλεγεν τῶν Ὁμήρου μεγάλων δείπνων, φιλόσοφος δὲ ἦν τῶν πάνυ ὁ Αἰσχύλος, ὃς καὶ ἡττηθεὶς ἀδίκως ποτέ, ὡς Θεόφραστος ἢ Χαμαιλέων ἐν τῷ περὶ ἡδονῆς εἴρηκεν, ἔφη χρόνῳ τὰς τραγῳδίας ἀνατιθέναι, εἰδὼς ὅτι κομιεῖται τὴν προσήκουσαν τιμήν.
But whence could Ulpian know what Stratonicus the harp-player said about Propis the Rhodian harp-player? For Clearchus, in his book on Proverbs, says that Stratonicus, when he had seen Propis, who was a man of great size, but a very inferior artist, with a mind much less than his body, said to some one who asked him what sort of player he was,οὐδεὶς κακὸς μέγας ἰχθῖς·speaking enigmatically, and saying, first of all, that he is οὐδεὶς, no one, or good for nothing; secondly, that he is κακὸς, bad; and, in addition to this, that he is μέγας, great; and, lastly, ἰχθὺς, a fish, as having no voice. But Theophrastus, in his book on The Laughable, says that this was a proverb originating with Stratonicus, but applied to Simmychas the actor; for that he uttered the proverb, dividing the words distinctly—μέγας οὐδεὶς σαπρὸς ἰχθῦς.And Aristotle, in his Constitution of the Naxians, speaks thus of this proverb—“Of the rich men among the Naxians, the greater part lived in the city, but the remainder lived scattered about in the villages. Accordingly, in one of these villages, the name of which was Lestadæ, Telestagoras lived, a man of great riches and of very high reputation, and greatly honoured by the people in other respects, and also with daily presents which they used to send him. And whenever people from the city, going down to the market, wanted to drive a hard bargain for anything they wished to purchase, the sellers would say that they would rather give it to Telestagoras than sell it for such a price as was offered. So some young men, buying a large fish, when the fisherman made this speech, being annoyed at hearing this so often, having already drunk a good deal, went to his house to sup; and Telestagoras received them in a very friendly and hospitable manner, but the young men insulted him, and his two marriageable daughters. At which the Naxians were very indignant, and took up arms and attacked the young men; and there was a great sedition, Lygdamis being the leader of the Naxians, who, having got the chief command in this sedition, became the tyrant of his country.” And I do not think it unseasonable myself, since I have mentioned the harp-player Stratonicus, to say some- thing also concerning his readiness in repartee. For when he was teaching people to play the harp, and as he had in his school nine statues of the nine Muses, and one of Apollo, and had also two pupils, when some one asked him how many pupils he had, he said, “Gods and all, twelve.” And once when he had travelled to Mylassa, and saw thee a great number of temples, but very few citizens, standing in the middle of the forum, he cried out—Ἀκούετε ναοί.And Macho has recorded some memorials of him in these lines;—Once Stratonicus travell'd down to Pella,And having heard from many men beforeThat the baths of that city were accustom'dTo give the bathers spleen; and finding, too,That many of the youths did exerciseBefore the fire, who preserved their colourAnd vigour of their body unimpair'd;He said that those who told him so were wrong.But finding afterwards, when he left the bath,A man whose spleen was twice his belly's size,—“This man,” said he, "appears to me here nowTo sit and keep the garments of the menWho go to bathe, and all their spleens beside,That all the people may have room enough."A miserable singer once did giveA feast to Stratonicus and his friends,And, while the cup was freely going round,Exhibited his art to all the company.And as the feast was rich and liberal,'Poor Stratonicus, wearied with the song,And having no one near him he could speak to,Knock'd down his cup, and asked for a larger.And when he'd drunk full many a draught, he madeA last libation to the glorious sun,And then composed himself to sleep, and leftThe rest to fortune. Presently more guestsCame, as good luck would have it, to the singer,To feast with him; still Stratonicus slept,Heavy with wine; and when they ask'd him whyA man so much accustom'd to drink wineHad been so soon o'ercome by drink this day,“This treacherous, cursed singing man,” said he,"Treated me like a bullock in a stall;For first he fed me up, and then he kill'd me."Once Stratonicus to Abdera went,To see some games which there were celebrated;And seeing every separate citizenHaving a private crier to himself,And each of them proclaiming a new moonWhene'er he pleased, so that the criers wereQuite out of all proportion to the citizens,He walk'd about on tiptoes through the city,Looking intently on the ground beneath.And when some stranger ask'd him what had happen'dTo his feet, to make him look so gravely at them:—He said, "I'm very well all over, friend,And can run faster to an entertainmentThan any parasite; but I'm in fearLest I should tread by hazard on some κῆρυξ,And pierce my foot with its spikes and lame myself."Once, when a wretched flute-player was preparingTo play the flute at a sacred festival,“Let us have only sounds of omen good,”Said Stratonicus; "let us pour libationsAnd pray devoutly to the mighty gods."There was a harper, and his name was Cleon,But he was nick-named Ox; he sang most vilelyWithout th' accompaniment of the lyre.When Stratonicus heard him, then he said,"I've often heard of asses at the lyre,But now I see an ox in the same case."The harper Stratonicus once had sail'dTo Pontus, to see king Berisadæs.And when he'd staid in Pontus long enough,He thought he would return again to Greece.But when the king refused to let him go,They say that Stratonicus said to him—“Why, do you mean to stay here long yourself?”The harper Stratonicus once was stayingSome time at Corinth; when an aged womanOne day stood looking at him a long time,And would not take her eyes off: then said he,"Tell me, I pray you, in God's name, good mother,What is 't you wish, and why you look thus on me?"“I marvell'd,” said she, "how 'twas your motherHeld you nine months, without her belly bursting,While this town can't endure you one whole day."Fair Biothea, Nicotheon's wife,Once at a party with a handmaid fairMade some strange noise; and after that, by chance,She trod upon a Sicyonian almond.Then Stratonicus said, “The noise is different.”But when night came, for this heedless word,He wash'd out his free-speaking in the sea.Once, when at Ephesus, as rumour goes,A stupid harper was exhibitingOne of his pupils to a band of friends;Stratonicus, who by chance was present, said,"He cannot make himself a harp-player,And yet he tries to teach the art to others."
πόθεν δὲ καὶ εἰδέναι δύναται ἅπερ εἶπεν Στρατόνικος ὁ κιθαριστὴς εἰς Πρόπιν τὸν Ῥόδιον κιθαρῳδόν; Κλέαρχος γὰρ ἐν τοῖς περὶ παροιμιῶν φησιν ὡς ὁ Στρατόνικος θεασάμενος τὸν Πρόπιν ὄντα τῷ μὲν μεγέθει μέγαν, τῇ δὲ τέχνῃ κακὸν καὶ ἐλάττονα τοῦ σώματος, ἐπερωτώντων αὐτὸν ποῖός τίς ἐστιν εἶπεν οὐδεὶς κακὸς μέγας ἰχθύς, αἰνισσόμενος ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν οὐδείς ἐστιν, εἶθ’ ὅτι κακός, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις μέγας μέν, ἰχθὺς δὲ διὰ τὴν ἀφωνίαν. Θεόφραστος δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ γελοίου λεχθῆναι μέν φησι τὴν παροιμίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Στρατονίκου, ἀλλ’ εἰς Σιμύκαν τὸν ὑποκριτήν, διελόντος τὴν παροιμίαν ᾽ οὐδεὶς μέγας σαπρὸς ἰχθύς.᾽ Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ἐν τῇ Ναξίων πολιτείᾳ περὶ τῆς παροιμίας οὕτως γράφει· ʽ τῶν παρὰ Ναξίοις εὐπόρων οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ τὸ ἄστυ ᾤκουν, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι διεσπαρμένοι κατὰ κώμας. ἐν οὖν δή τινι τῶν κωμῶν, ᾗ ὄνομα ἦν Ληιστάδαι, Τελεσταγόρας ᾤκει, πλούσιός τε σφόδρα καὶ εὐδοκιμῶν καὶ τιμώμενος παρὰ τῷ δήμῳ τοῖς τ’ ἄλλοις ἅπασι καὶ τοῖς καθ’ ἡμέραν πεμπομένοις. καὶ ὅτε καταβάντες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως δυσωνοῖντό τι τῶν πωλουμένων, ἔθος ἦν τοῖς πωλοῦσι λέγειν ὅτι μᾶλλον ἂν προέλοιντο Τελεσταγόρᾳ δοῦναι ἢ τοσούτου ἀποδόσθαι. νεανίσκοι οὖν τινες ὠνούμενοι μέγαν ἰχθὺν εἰπόντος τοῦ ἁλιέως τὰ αὐτὰ λυπηθέντες τῷ πολλάκις ἀκούειν ὑποπιόντες ἐκώμασαν πρὸς αὐτόν. δεξαμένου δὲ τοῦ Τελεσταγόρου φιλοφρόνως αὐτοὺς οἱ νεανίσκοι αὐτόν τε ὕβρισαν καὶ δύο θυγατέρας αὐτοῦ ἐπιγάμους. ἐφ’ οἷς ἀγανακτήσαντες οἱ Νάξιοι καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἀναλαβόντες ἐπῆλθον τοῖς νεανίσκοις, καὶ μεγίστη τότε στάσις ἐγένετο προστατοῦντος τῶν Ναξίων Λυγδάμιδος, ὃς ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς στρατηγίας τύραννος ἀνεφάνη τῆς πατρίδος … οὐκ ἄκαιρον δ’ εἶναι νομίζω ἔτι καὶ αὐτός, ἐπειδήπερ ἐμνήσθην τοῦ κιθαριστοῦ Στρατονίκου, λέξαι τι περὶ τῆς εὐστοχίας αὐτοῦ τῶν ἀποκρίσεων. διδάσκων γὰρ κιθαριστάς, ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῷ διδασκαλείῳ εἶχεν ἐννέα μὲν εἰκόνας τῶν Μουσῶν, τοῦ δὲ ᾽ Ἀπόλλωνος μίαν, μαθητὰς δὲ δύο, πυνθανομένου τινὸς πόσους ἔχοι μαθητάς, ἔφη ᾽ σὺν τοῖς θεοῖς δώδεκα εἰς Μύλασα δὲ ἐπιδημήσας καὶ κατιδὼν ναοὺς μὲν πολλούς, ἀνθρώπους δὲ ὀλίγους στὰς ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἔφη ᾽ ἀκούετε, νεῴ Μάχων δ’ αὐτοῦ ἀναγράφει τάδε ἀπομνημονεύματα· Στρατόνικος ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς Πέλλαν ποτέ, παρὰ πλειόνων ἔμπροσθε τοῦτ᾽ ἀκηκοὼς ὡς σπληνικοὺς εἴωθεν ἡ πόλις ποιεῖν. ἐν τῷ βαλανείῳ καταμαθὼν οὖν πλείονας γυμναζομένους τῶν μειρακίσκων παρὰ τὸ πῦρ, κομψῶς τό τε χρῶμα καὶ τὸ σῶμ’ ἠσκηκότας, διαμαρτάνειν ἔφασκε τοὺς εἰρηκότας αὑτῷ καταμαθὼν δ᾽, ἡνίκ’ ἐξῄει πάλιν τῆς κοιλίας τὸν σπλῆν’ ἔχοντα διπλάσιον. ᾽ ᾽καθήμενος γὰρ ἐνθάδ’ οὗτος φαίνεται τὰ θ’ ἱμάτια τῶν εἰσιόντων λαμβάνων τηρεῖν ἅμα καὶ τοὺς σπλῆνας, εὐθέως ἵνα μηδ’ ἡτισοῦν τοῖς ἔνδον ᾖ στενοχωρία ψάλτης κακὸς Στρατόνικον ἑστιῶν ποτε ἐπεδείκνυτ’ αὐτῷ τὴν τέχνην παρὰ τὸν πότον. οὔσης δὲ λαμπρᾶς καὶ φιλοτίμου τῆς δοχῆς, ψαλλόμενος ὁ Στρατόνικος, οὐκ ἔχων δ’ ὅτῳ διαλέξεθ’ ἑτέρῳ, συγκατέθλα τὸ ποτήριον. ᾔτησε μεῖζον καὶ κυάθους πολλοὺς λαβὼν τῷ θ’ ἡλίῳ τὴν κύλικα δείξας συντόμως πιὼν καθεῦδε, τἄλλ’ ἐπιτρέψας τῇ τύχῃ. ἐπὶ κῶμον ἐλθόντων δὲ τῷ ψάλτῃ τινῶν ἑτέρων κατὰ τύχην, ὡς ἔοικε, γνωρίμων ἔξοινος ὁ Στρατόνικος ἐγένετ’ εὐθέως. προσπυνθανομένων δ’ ὅ τι πολὺν πίνων ἀεὶ οἶνον ἐμεθύσθη συντόμως, ἀπεκρίνατο· ‘ὁ γὰρ ἐπίβουλος κἀναγὴς ψάλτης,’ ἔφη, ‘ὡς βοῦν ἐπὶ φάτνῃ δειπνίσας ἀπέκτονεν.’ Στρατόνικος εἰς Ἄβδηρ᾽ ἀποδημήσας ποτὲ ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν τιθέμενον αὐτόθι, ὁρῶν ἕκαστον τῶν πολιτῶν κατ’ ἰδίαν κεκτημένον κήρυκα κηρύττοντά τε ἕκαστον αὐτῶν, ὅτε θέλοι, νουμηνίαν, σχεδόν τε τοὺς κήρυκας ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ ὄντας πολὺ πλείους κατὰ λόγον τῶν δημοτῶν, ἐπ’ ἄκρων ἐβάδιζε τῶν ὀνύχων ἐν τῇ πόλει σχέδην, δεδορκὼς ἀτενὲς εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω. πυνθανομένου δὲ τῶν ξένων αὐτοῦ τινος τὸ πάθος τὸ γεγονὸς ἐξαπίνης περὶ τοὺς πόδας, τοῦτ’ εἶπε· ᾽τοῖς ὅλοις μὲν ἔρρωμαι, ξένε, καὶ τῶν κολάκων πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ δεῖπνον τρέχω· ἀγωνιῶ δὲ καὶ δέδοικα παντελῶς, μὴ ποτ’ ἐπιβὰς κήρυκι τὸν πόδ’ ἀναπαρῶ αὐλεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖσιν αὐλητοῦ κακοῦ μέλλοντος ὁ Στρατόνικος ᾽ εὐφήμει, μέχρι σπείσαντες εὐξώμεσθα φησί, ᾽ τοῖς θεοῖς.᾽ Κλέων τις ἦν κιθαρῳδός, ὃς ἐκαλεῖτο Βοῦς, δεινῶς ἀπᾴδων τῇ λύρᾳ παραχρώμενος. τούτου διακούσας ὁ Στρατόνικος εἶφ’ ὅτι ᾽ ὄνος λύρας ἐλέγετο, νῦν δὲ βοῦς λύρας. Στρατόνικος ὁ κιθαρῳδὸς ὡς Βηρισάδην ἔπλευσεν εἰς τὸν Πόντον ὄντα βασιλέα, πολλοῦ χρόνου δ’ ἤδη γεγονότος ἀποτρέχειν ἠβούλετο Στρατόνικος εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ὡς δ’ αὐτὸν, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ προσίετο, τοῦτ’ ἀποκριθῆναί φασι τῷ Βηρισάδῃ· ‘σὺ γὰρ διανοεῖ φησίν, ‘αὐτοῦ καταμένειν;’ ἐν τῇ Κορίνθῳ παρεπεδήμησέν ποτε Στρατόνικος ὁ κιθαρῳδός, εἶτα γρᾴδιον ἐνέβλεπεν αὐτῷ κοὐκ ἀφίστατ’ οὐδαμοῦ. κᾆθ’ ὁ Στρατόνικος ᾽ πρὸς θεῶν, μῆτερ, φράσον τί ἔσθ’ ὃ βούλει καὶ τί μ’ εἰσβλέπεις ἀεί;᾽ διηπόρησα φησίν, ᾽ εἰ μήτηρ σε μὲν δέκα μῆνας εἶχε κἀκράτει τῆς κοιλίας, πόλις δ’ ἔχουσὰ σ’ ἡμέραν ἀλγεῖ μίαν ἡ Νικοκρέοντος εἰσιοῦσ’ Ἀξιοθέα γυνὴ μετὰ παιδίσκης ἅβρας εἰς τὸν πότον ἀπεψόφησε κᾆτα τῷ Σικυωνίῳ ἀμυγδάλην ἐπιβᾶσα συνέτριβεν συνεὶς Στρατόνικος εἶπεν ᾽ οὐχ ὅμοιος ὁ ψόφος ὑπὸ νύκτα τῆς φωνῆς δὲ ταύτης οὕνεκα ἐν τῷ πελάγει διέλυσε τὴν παρρησίαν. ἐπιδεικνυμένου πόθ᾽, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐν Ἐφέσῳ ἀφυοῦς κιθαρῳδοῦ τὸν μαθητὴν τοῖς φίλοις, παρὼν κατὰ τύχην ὁ Στρατόνικος τοῦτ’ ἔφη· ᾽ ὃς αὐτὸς αὑτὸν οὐ κιθαρίζει φαῦλος ὤν, ἄλλους κιθαρίζων φαυλότατος ὢν δείκνυται.