---
title: "The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί"
author: "Athenaeus"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 51 of 78
url: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/51/
cite: "Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί, section 51. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/51/"
---

# The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί

*Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

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

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

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

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

## 51. Book X · chapters 72–88

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/51/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/51/#p-N

[¶0] And Antiphanes, in his Problem, says—
A. A man who threw his net o'er many fish,
Though full of hope, after much toil and cost,
Caught only one small perch. And 'twas a cestreus,
Deceived itself, who brought this perch within,
For the perch followeth the blacktail gladly.
B. A cestreus, blacktail, perch, and man, and net,—
I don't know what you mean; there's no sense in it.
A. Wait while I clearly now explain myself:
There is a man who giving all he has,
When giving it, knows not to whom he gives it,
Nor knows he has the things he does not need.
B. Giving, not giving, having, and not having,—
I do not understand one word of this.
A. These were the very words of this same griphus.
For what you know you do not just now know,
What you have given, or what you have instead.
This was the meaning.
B. Well, I should be glad
To give you too a griphus.
A. Well, let's have it.
B. A pinna and a mullet, two fish, both
Endued with voices, had a conversation,
And talk'd of many things; but did not say
What they were talking of, nor whom they thought
They were addressing; for they both did fail
In seeing who it was to whom they talk'd.
And so, while they kept talking to each other,
The goddess Ceres came and both destroy'd.

> Greek: Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν τῷ Προβλήματί φησιν ἰχθύσιν ἀμφίβληστρον ἀνήρ πολλοῖς περιβάλλειν οἰηθεὶς μεγάλῃ δαπάνῃ μίαν εἵλκυσε πέρκην καὶ ταύτην ψευσθείς, ὁ ἄλλην κεστρεὺς ἴσον αὐτῇ ἦγεν. βουλομένη δ’ ἕπεται πέρκη μελανούρῳ. β. κεστρεύς, ἀνήρ, μελάνουρος, οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι λέγεις· οὐδὲν λέγεις γάρ. α. ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ σαφῶς φράσω. ἔστι τις ὃς τὰ μὲν ὄντα διδοὺς οὐκ οἶδε δεδωκὼς οἷσι δέδωκ’ οὐδ’ αὐτὸς ἔχων ὧν οὐδὲν ἐδεῖτο. β. διδούς τις οὐκ ἔδωκεν οὐδ’ ἔχων ἔχει; οὐκ οἶδα τούτων οὐδέν. α. οὐκοῦν ταῦτα καὶ ὁ γρῖφος ἔλεγεν. ὅσα γὰρ οἶσθ’ οὐκ οἶσθα νῦν οὐδ’ ὅσα δέδωκας οὐδ’ ὅσ’ ἀντ’ αὐτῶν ἔχεις. τοιοῦτο τοῦτ’ ἦν. β. τοιγαροῦν κἀγώ τινα εἰπεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς βούλομαι γρῖφον. α. λέγε. β. πίννη καὶ τρίγλη φωνὰς ἰχθῦ δύ’ ἔχουσαι πόλλ’ ἐλάλουν, περὶ ὧν δὲ πρὸς ὃν τ’ ᾤοντο λέγειν τι, οὐκ ἐλάλουν οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐμάνθανεν, ὥστε πρὸς ὃν μὲν ἦν αὐταῖς ὁ λόγος, πρὸς δ’ αὑτὰς πολλὰ λαλούσας αὐτὰς ἀμφοτέρας ἡ Δημήτηρ ἐπιτρίψαι.

[¶1] And in his play called Sappho, Antiphanes represents the poetess herself as proposing griphi, which we may call riddles, in this manner: and then some one else is represented as solving them. For she says—
S. There is a female thing which holds her young
Safely beneath her bosom; they, though mute,
Cease not to utter a loud sounding voice
Across the swelling sea, and o'er the land,
Speaking to every mortal that they choose;
But those who present are can nothing hear,
Still they have some sensation of faint sound.
And some one, solving this riddle, says—
B.The female thing you speak of is a city;
The children whom it nourishes, orators;
They, crying out, bring from across the sea,
From Asia and from Thrace, all sorts of presents
The people still is near them while they feed on
And pour reproaches ceaselessly around,
While it nor hears nor sees aught that they do.
S. But how, my father, tell me, in God's name,
Can you e'er say an orator is mute,
Unless, indeed, he's been three times convicted?
B. And yet I thought that I did understand
The riddle rightly. Tell me then yourself.
And so then he introduces Sappho herself solving the riddle, thus—
S. The female thing you speak of is a letter,
The young she bears about her is the writing:
They're mute themselves, yet speak to those afar off
Whene'er they please. And yet a bystander,
However near he may be, hears no sound
From him who has received and reads the letter.

> Greek: ἐν δὲ Σαπφοῖ ὁ Ἀντιφάνης αὐτὴν τὴν ποιήτριαν προβάλλουσαν ποιεῖ γρίφους τόνδε τὸν τρόπον, ἐπιλυομένου τινὸς οὕτως, ἡ μὲν γάρ φησιν ἔστι φύσις θήλεια βρέφη σῴζουσ’ ὑπὸ κόλποις αὑτῆς, ὄντα δ’ ἄφωνα βοὴν ἵστησι γεγωνὸν καὶ διὰ πόντιον οἶδμα καὶ ἠπείρου διὰ πάσης οἷς ἐθέλει θνητῶν, τοῖς δ’ οὐδὲ παροῦσιν ἀκούειν ἔξεστιν κωφὴν δ’ ἀκοῆς αἴσθησιν ἔχουσιν. ταῦτά τις ἐπιλυόμενός φησιν ἡ μὲν φύσις γὰρ ἣν λέγεις ἐστὶν πόλις, βρέφη δ’ ἐν αὑτῇ διατρέφει τοὺς ῥήτορας. οὗτοι κεκραγότες δὲ τὰ διαπόντια τἀκ τῆς Ἀσίας καὶ τἀπὸ Θρᾴκης λήμματα ἕλκουσι δεῦρο. νεμομένων δὲ πλησίον αὐτῶν κάθηται λοιδορουμένων τ’ ἀεὶ ὁ δῆμος οὐδὲν οὔτ’ ἀκούων οὔθ’ ὁρῶν. ς. ληρεῖς ἔχων. πῶς γὰρ γένοιτ’ ἄν, ὦ πάτερ, ῥήτωρ ἄφωνος; β. ἢν ἁλῷ τρὶς παρανόμων. καὶ μὴν ἀκριβῶς ᾠόμην ἐγνωκέναι τὸ ῥηθέν. ἀλλὰ δὴ λέγε. ἔπειτα ποιεῖ τὴν Σαπφὼ διαλυομένην τὸν γράφον οὕτως· θήλεια μὲν νὺν ἐστι φύσις ἐπιστολή, βρέφη δ’ ἐν αὑτῇ περιφέρει τὰ γράμματα ἄφωνα δ’ ὄντα ταῦτα τοῖς πόρρω λαλεῖ οἷς βούλεθ’ ἕτερος δ’ ἂν τύχῃ τις πλησίον ἑστὼς ἀναγιγνώσκοντος οὐκ ἀκούσεται.

[¶2] And Diphilus, in his Theseus, says that there were once three Samian damsels, who, on the day of the festival of Adonis, used to delight themselves in solving riddles at their feasts. And that when some one had proposed to them this riddle, “What is the strongest of all things?” one said iron, and alleged the following reasons for her opinion, because that is the instrument with which men dig and cut, and that is the material which they use for all purposes. And when she had been applauded, the second damsel said that a blacksmith exerted much greater strength, for that he, when he was at work, bent this strong iron, and softened it, and used it for whatever purposes he chose. And the third said, they were both wrong, and that love was the strongest thing of all, for that love could subdue a blacksmith. And Achæus the Eretrian, though he is usually a very clear poet as respects the structure of his poems, sometimes makes his language obscure, and says many things in an enigmatical style; as, for instance, in his Iris, which is a satyric play. For he says, “A cruet of litharge full of ointment was suspended from a Spartan tablet, written upon and twisted on a double stick;” meaning to say a white strap, from which a silver cruet was suspended; and he has spoken of a Spartan written tablet when he merely meant the Spartan scytale. And that the Lacedæmonians put a white strap, on which they wrote whatever they wished, around the scytale, we are told plainly enough by Apollonius Rhodius, in his Treatise on Archilochus. And Stesichorus, in his Helen, speaks of a footpan of litharge; and Ion, in his Phœnix or Cæneus, calls the birdlime the sweat of the oak, saying—
The sweat of oaks, and a long leafy branch
Cut from a bush supports me, and a thread
Drawn from Egyptian linen, clever snare
To catch the flying birds.

> Greek: Δίφιλος δ’ ἐν Θησεῖ τρεῖς ποτε κόρας Σαμίας φησὶν Ἀδωνίοισιν γριφεύειν παρὰ πότον προβαλεῖν δ’ αὐταῖσι τὸν γρῖφον, τί πάντων ἰσχυρότατον; καὶ τὰν μὲν εἰπεῖν ὁ σίδαρος καὶ φέρειν τούτου λόγου τὰν ἀπόδειξιν, διότι τούτῳ πάντ᾽ ὀρύσσουσίν τε καί τέμνουσι καὶ χρῶντ’ εἰς ἅπαντα, εὐδοκιμούσᾳ δ’ ἐπάγειν τὰν δευτέραν φάσκειν τε τὸν χαλκέα πολὺ κρείττω φέρειν ἰσχύν· ἐπεὶ τοῦτον κατεργαζόμενον καὶ τὸν σίδαρον τὸν σφοδρὸν κάμπτειν, μαλάσσειν, ὅ τι ἂν χρήζῃ ποεῖν. τὰν δὲ τρίταν ἀποφῆναι πέος ἰσχυρότατον πάντων, διδάσκειν δ’ ὅτι καὶ τὸν χαλκέα στένοντα πυγίζουσι τούτῳ. Ἀχαιὸς δ’ ὁ Ἐρετριεὺς γλαφυρὸς ὢν ποιητὴς περὶ τὴν σύνθεσιν ἔσθ’ ὅτε καὶ μελαίνει τὴν φράσιν καὶ πολλὰ αἰνιγματωδῶς ἐκφέρει, ὥσπερ ἐν Ἴριδι σατυρικῇ. λέγει γάρ· λιθάργυρος δ᾽ ὄλπη παρῃωρεῖτο χρίματος πλέα τὸν Σπαρτιάτην γραπτὸν κύρβιν ἐν διπλῷ ξύλῳ. τὸν γὰρ λευκὸν ἱμάντα βουληθεὶς εἰπεῖν, ἐξ οὗ ἡ ἀργυρᾶ λήκυθος ἐξήρτητο, Σπαρτιάτην γραπτὸν ἔφη κύρβιν ἀντὶ τοῦ Σπαρτιᾶτιν σκυτάλην. ὅτι δὲ λευκῷ ἱμάντι περιειλοῦντες τὴν σκυτάλην οἱ Λάκωνες ἔγραφον ἃ ἠβούλοντο εἴρηκεν ἱκανῶς Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Ῥόδιος ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἀρχιλόχου, καὶ Στησίχορος δ’ ἐν Ἑλένῃ ᾽ λιθάργυρον ποδονιπτῆρα ἔφη. Ἴων δὲ ἐν Φοίνικι ἢ Καινεῖ δρυὸς ἱδρῶτα εἴρηκε τὸν ἰξὸν ἐν τούτοις· δρυὸς μ’ ἱδρὼς καὶ θαμνομήκης ῥάβδος ἣ τ’ Αἰγυπτία βόσκει λινουλκὸς χλαῖνα, θήραγρος πέδη.

[¶3] And Hermippus says, that Theodectes of Phaselus, in his book on the Pupils of Isocrates, was a wonderfully clever man at discovering any riddles that might be proposed to him, and that he too could propose riddles to others with great acuteness. As that riddle about shade, for instance;— for he said that there was a nature which is greatest at its birth and at its decease, and least when at its height. And he speaks thus:—
Of all the things the genial earth produces,
Or the deep sea, there is no single one,
Nor any man or other animal
Whose growth at all can correspond to this:
For when it first is born its size is greatest;
At middle age 'tis scarcely visible,
So small it's grown; but when 'tis old and hastens
Nigh to its end, it then becomes again
Greater than all the objects that surround it.
And in the Œdipus, which is a tragedy, he speaks of night and day in the following riddle:—
There are two sisters, one of whom brings forth
The other, and in turn becomes its daughter. And Callisthenes, in his Greek History, tells the following story, that “when the Arcadians were besieging Cromnus, (and that is a small town near Megalopolis,) Hippodamus the Lacedæmonian, being one of the besieged persons, gave a message to the herald who came to them from the Lacedæmonians, showing the condition in which they were by a riddle, and he bade him tell his mother-'to be sure and release within the next ten days the little woman who was bound in the temple of Apollo; as it would not be possible to release her if they let those days elapse.' And by this message he plainly enough intimated what he was desirous to have understood; for the little woman meant is Famine, of which there was a picture in the temple of Apollo, near the throne of Apollo, and it was represented under a woman's form; so it was evident to every one that those who were besieged could hold out only ten days more because of famine. So the Lacedæmonians, understanding the meaning of that had been said, brought succour with great speed to the men in Cromnus.”

> Greek: Θεοδέκτην δὲ τὸν Φασηλίτην φησὶν Ἕρμιππος ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῶν Ἰσοκράτους μαθητῶν ἱκανώτατον γεγονέναι ἀνευρεῖν τὸν προβληθέντα γρῖφον καὶ αὐτὸν προβαλεῖν ἑτέροις ἐπιδεξίως, οἷον τὸν περὶ τῆς σκιᾶς, ἔφη γὰρ εἶναί τινα φύσιν, ἣ περὶ τὴν γένεσιν καὶ φθίσιν ἐστὶ μεγίστη, περὶ δὲ τὴν ἀκμὴν ἐλαχίστη. λέγει δ’ οὕτως· τίς φύσις οὔθ’ ὅσα γαῖα φέρει τροφὸς οὔτε ὅσα πόντος οὔτε βροτοῖσιν ἔχει γυίων αὔξησιν ὁμοίαν, ἀλλ’ ἐν μὲν γενέσει πρωτοσπόρῳ ἐστὶ μεγίστη, ἐν δὲ μέσαις ἀκμαῖς μικρά, γήρᾳ δὲ πρὸς αὐτῷ μορφῇ καὶ μεγέθει μείζων πάλιν ἐστὶν ἁπάντων; κἀν τῷ Οἰδίποδι δὲ τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ τὴν νύκτα καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν εἴρηκεν αἰνιττόμενος· εἰσὶ κασίγνηται διτταί, ὧν ἡ μία τίκτει τὴν ἑτέραν, αὐτὴ δὲ τεκοῦσ’ ὑπὸ τῆσδε τεκνοῦται. τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ Καλλισθένης ἐν ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς φησιν, ὡς Ἀρκάδων πολιορκούντων Κρῶμνον πολίχνιον δ’ ἐστὶν ἱδρυμένον πλησίον Μεγάλης πόλεως Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Λάκων εἷς ὢν τῶν πολιορκουμένων διεκελεύετο τῷ παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἥκοντι κήρυκι, δηλῶν ἐν αἰνιγμῷ τὴν περὶ αὐτοὺς κατάστασιν, ἀπαγγέλλειν τῇ μητρὶ λύεσθαι τὸ γύναιον δέχ’ ἡμερῶν τὸ ἐν Ἀπολλωνίῳ δεδεμένον, ὡς οὐκ ἔτι λύσιμον ἐσόμενον ἐὰν αὗται παρέλθωσι. καὶ διὰ ταύτης τῆς γνώμης ἐμήνυεν σαφῶς τὸ μήνυμα, αὕτη· γάρ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ Ἀπολλωνίῳ παρὰ τὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος θρόνον διὰ γραφῆς ἀπομεμιμημένος Λιμὸς ἔχων γυναικὸς μορφήν. φανερὸν οὖν ἐγένετο πᾶσιν ὅτι δέκα ἡμέρας ἔτι καρτερῆσαι δύνανται οἱ πολιορκούμενοι διὰ τὸν λιμόν. συνέντες οὖν οἱ Λάκωνες τὸ λεχθὲν ἐβοήθησαν κατὰ κράτος τοῖς ἐν τῇ Κρώμνῃ.

[¶4] There are also many other riddles, such as this:—
I saw a man who by the means of fire
Was glueing brass unto another man
So closely that they two became like brothers.
And this expression means the application of a cupping- glass. And a similar one is that of Panarces, mentioned by Clearchus, in his Essay on Griphi, that “A man who is not a man, with a stone which was not a stone, struck a bird which was not a bird, sitting on a tree which was not a tree.” For the things alluded to here are a eunuch, a piece of pumice-stone, a bat, and a narthex. And Plato, in the fifth book of his Laws, alludes to this riddle, where he says, that those philosophers who occupy themselves about minute arts, are like those who, at banquets, doubt what to eat, and resemble too the boys' riddle about the stone thrown by the eunuch, and about the bat, and about the place from which they say that the eunuch struck down the bat, and the engine with which he did it.

> Greek: πολλοὶ δὲ τῶν γρίφων καὶ τοιοῦτοὶ τινὲς εἰσιν οἷον· ἄνδρ’ εἶδον πυρὶ χαλκὸν ἐπ’ ἀνέρι κολλήσαντα οὕτω συγκόλλως ὥστε σύναιμα ποιεῖν. τοῦτο δὲ σημαίνει σικύας προσβολήν. καὶ τὸ Πανάρκους δ’ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον, ὥς φησι Κλέαρχος ἐν τῷ περὶ γρίφων, ὅτι βάλοι ᾽ ξύλῳ τε καὶ οὐ ξύλῳ καθημένην ὄρνιθα καὶ οὐκ ὄρνιθα ἀνήρ τε κοὐκ ἀνὴρ λίθῳ τε καὶ οὐ λίθῳ.᾽ τούτων γάρ ἐστι τὸ μὲν νάρθηξ, τὸ δὲ νυκτερίς, τὸ δὲ εὐνοῦχος, τὸ δὲ κίσηρις. καὶ Πλάτων δὲ ἐν πέμπτῳ Νόμων μνημονεύει· τοὺς τῶν τεχνυδρίων φιλοσόφους τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἑστιάσεσιν ἔφη ἐπαμφοτερίζουσιν ἐοικέναι καὶ τῷ τῶν παίδων αἰνίγματι τῷ περὶ τοῦ εὐνούχου τῆς βολῆς πέρι τῆς νυκτερίδος, ᾧ καὶ ἐφ’ οὗ αὐτὸν αὐτὴν αἰνίττονται βαλεῖν.

[¶5] And of this sort also are those enigmatical sayings of Pythagoras, as Demetrius of Byzantium says, in the fourth book of his treatise on Poets, where, for instance, he says, “A man should not eat his heart;” meaning, “a man should cultivate cheerfulness.” “One should not stir the fire with a sword;” meaning, “One should not provoke an angry man;” for anger is fire, and quarrelsomeness is a sword. “One should not step over a yoke” meaning, “one should avoid and hate all kinds of covetousness, but seek equality.” “One should not travel along the high road;” meaning, One should not follow the opinions of the multitude, (for the common people approve of whatever they take in their heads without any fixed principle,) but one should rather go on the straight road, using sense as one's guide." One should not sit down upon a bushel; meaning, “one should not be content with merely considering what is sufficient for the present day, but one should always have an eye to the future” * * * * * * “For death is the boundary and limit of life;” and this saying is meant to forbid us approaching the subject with anxiety and grief.

> Greek: καὶ τὰ Πυθαγόρου δὲ αἰνίγματα τοιαῦτά ἐστιν, ὥς φησι Δημήτριος ὁ Βυζάντιος ἐν τετάρτῳ περὶ ποιημάτων ᾽ καρδίαν μὴ ἐσθίειν ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀλυπίαν ἀσκεῖν. ᾽ πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ μὴ σκαλεύειν ἀντὶ τοῦ τεθυμωμένον ἄνδρα μὴ ἐριδαίνειν πῦρ γὰρ ὁ θυμός, ἡ δὲ ἔρις μάχαιρα. ᾽ ζυγὸν μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν ἀντὶ τοῦ πᾶσαν πλεονεξίαν φεύγειν καὶ στυγεῖν, ζητεῖν δὲ τὸ ἴσον. λεωφόρους ὁδοὺς μὴ στείχειν ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ γνώμῃ τῶν πολλῶν μὴ ἀκολουθεῖν εἰκῇ γὰρ ἕκαστος ὅ τι ἂν δόξῃ ἀποκρίνεται· τὴν δ’ εὐθεῖαν ἄγειν ἡγεμόνι χρώμενον τῷ νῷ. ` μὴ καθῆσθαι ἐπὶ χοίνικα ἀντὶ τοῦ μὴ σκοπεῖν τὰ ἐφ’ ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἀεὶ προσδέχεσθαι. ‘ἀποδημοῦντα ἐπὶ τοῖς ὅροις μὴ ἐπιστρέφεσθαι,’ ὅριαγὰρ καὶ πέρας ζωῆς ὁ θάνατος· τοῦτον οὖν οὐκ ἐᾷ μετὰ λύπης καὶ φροντίδος προσίεσθαι.

[¶6] And Dromeas the Coan used to play at riddles in much the same way as Theodectes, according to the state- ment of Clearchus: and so did Aristonymus, the player on the harp, without any vocal accompaniment: and so did that Cleon who was surnamed Mimaulus, who was the best actor of Italian mimes that ever appeared on the stage without a mask. For in the style of play which I have mentioned already, he was superior even to Nymphodors. And Ischomachus the herald was an imitator of his, who used to give his representations in the middle of a crowd, and after he had become celebrated, he altered his style and used to act mimes at the jugglers shows. And the riddles which these men used to propose were of the following kind:—A clown once had eaten too much, and was very unwell, and when the physician asked him whether he had eaten to vomit, No, said he, but I ate to my stomach. And another was,— A poor woman had a pain in her stomach, and when the physician asked her whether she had anything in her stomach, How should I, said she, when I have eaten nothing for three days? And the writings of Aristonymus were full of pompous ex- pressions: and Sosiphanes the poet said to Cephisocles the actor, reproaching him as a man fond of long words, “I would throw a stone at your loins, if I were not afraid of wetting the bystanders.” But the logical griphus is the oldest kind, and the one most suited to the natural character of such enigmatical language. “What do we all teach when We do not know it ourselves” and, “What is the same nowhere and everywhere?” and also, “What is the same in the heavens and on the earth and in the sea?” But this is a riddle arising from an identity of name; for there is a bear, and a serpent, and an eagle, and a dog, both in the heavens and on the earth and in the sea. And the other riddle means Time; for that is the same to all people and everywhere, because it has not its nature depending on one place. And the first riddle means “How to live:” for though no one knows this himself he teaches his neighbour. And Callias the Athenian, whom we were discussing just now, and who was a little before Strattis in point of time, wrote a play which he called Grammatical Science; and the plot of it was as follows. The prologue consists of the elements, and the actor should recite it, dividing it into para- graphs, and making the termination in the manner of a dramatic catastrophe, into “Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, eta, theta. For ει is sacred to the God; iota, cappa, lambda, mu, nu, xu, the diphthong ou, pi, rho, sigma, tau, the present u, phi, chi, which is next to psi, all down to omega.” And the chorus consisted of women, in pairs, made of two elements taken together, composed in metre and lyrical odes in this fashion —“Beta alpha ba, beta ei be, beta eta be, beta iota bi, beta ou bo, beta upsilon bu, beta omega bo.” And then, again, in the antistrophe of the ode and of the metre, “Gamma alpha, gamma ei, gamma eta, gamma iota, gamma omicron, gamma upsilon, gamma omega.” And in the same way he dealt with all other syllables—all which have the same melody and the same metre in the antistrophes. So that people not only suspect that Euripides drew all his Medea from this drama, but they think that it is perfectly plain that he drew the system of his choruses from it. And they say that Sophocles, after he had heard this drama, endeavoured to divide his poem in respect of the metre, and did it thus, in the Œdipus,—
I shall not grieve myself nor you,
Being convicted of this action.
On which account, all the rest admitted the system of antistrophes from his example, as it should seem, into their tragedies. Then, after this chorus, Callias introduces another speech of vowels, in this manner: (and this also the reciter must divide into paragraphs in the same way as the previous portions, in order that that delivery may be preserved which the author originally intended)—
Alpha alone, O woman; then one should
Say ει alone in the second place: next,
Still by itself you will say, thirdly, Eta;
Fourth, still alone, Iota; fifthly, Ou.
In the sixth place, Upsilon by itself.
The last of all the seven vowels is
The slow-paced Omega. The seven vowels
In seven verses; and when you've recited
All these, then go and ponder by yourself.

> Greek: τῷ δὲ Θεοδέκτῃ παραπλησίως ἔπαιζε γρίφους καὶ δρομέας ὁ Κῷος, ὥς φησι Κλέαρχος, καὶ Ἀριστώνυμος ὁ ψιλοκιθαριστής, ἔτι δὲ Κλέων ὁ μίμαυλος ἐπικαλούμενος, ὅσπερ καὶ τῶν ᾽ Ἰταλικῶν μίμων ἄριστος γέγονεν αὐτοπρόσωπος ὑποκριτής· καὶ γὰρ Νυμφοδώρου περιῆν ἐν τῷ μνημονευομένῳ μίμῳ. τούτου δὲ καὶ Ἰσχόμαχος ὁ κῆρυξ ἐγένετο ζηλωτής, ὃς ἐν τοῖς κύκλοις ἐποιεῖτο τὰς μιμήσεις· ὡς δ’ εὐδοκίμει, μεταβὰς ἐν τοῖς θαύμασιν ὑπεκρίνετο μίμους. τοιοῦτοι δ’ ἦσαν οὓς ἐποίουν γρίφους, οἷον ἀγροίκου τινὸς ὑπερπλησθέντος καὶ κακῶς ἔχοντος, ὡς ἠρώτα αὐτὸν ὁ ἰατρὸς μὴ εἰς ἔμετον ἐδείπνησεν, ᾽ οὐκ ἔγωγε, ᾽ εἰπεῖν, ᾽ ἀλλ’ εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν.᾽ καὶ πτωχῆς τινος τὴν γαστέρα πονούσης, ἐπεὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐπυνθάνετο μὴ ἐν γαστέρα ἔχει, ‘πῶς γάρ,’ εἶπε, ‘τριταία μὴ βεβρωκυῖα;’ τῶν Ἀριστωνυμ … ων δ’ ἦν εὐπαρύφων λόγων. καὶ Σωσιφάνης ὁ ποιητὴς εἰς Κηφισοκλέα τὸν ὑποκριτὴν εἶπεν λοιδορῶν αὐτὸν ὡς εὐρύστομον ᾽ ἐνέβαλον γὰρ ἄν σου φησίν, ᾽ εἰς τὰ ἰσχία λίθον, εἰ μὴ καταρραίνειν· ἔμελλον τοὺς περιεστηκότας., ἀρχαιότατος δ’ ἐστὶ λογικὸς γρῖφος καὶ τῆς τοῦ γριφεύειν φύσεως οἰκειότατος· ᾽ τί πάντες οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι διδάσκομεν; ᾽ καὶ ᾽ τί ταὐτὸν οὐδαμοῦ καὶ πανταχοῦ; ᾽ καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ᾽ τί ταὐτὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ἐν θαλάττῃ; ᾽ τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν ὁμωνυμία· καὶ γὰρ ἄρκτος καὶ ὄφις καὶ αἰετὸς καὶ κύων ἐστὶν ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐν γῇ καὶ ἐν θαλάσσῃ. τὸ δὲ χρόνον σημαίνει· ἅμα γὰρ παρὰ πᾶσιν ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ οὐδαμοῦ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐν ἑνὶ τόπῳ τὴν φύσιν ἔχειν. τὸ δὲ προάγον ἐστὶ ψυχὰς ἔχειν τοῦτο γὰρ οὐθεὶς ἡμῶν ἐπιστάμενος διδάσκει τὸν πλησίον. ὁ δὲ Ἀθηναῖος Καλλίας ἐζητοῦμεν γὰρ ἔτι πρότερον περὶ αὐτοῦ μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν γενόμενος τοῖς χρόνοις Στράττιδος ἐποίησε τὴν καλουμένην γραμματικὴν θεωρίαν οὕτω διατάξας. πρόλογος μὲν αὐτῆς ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν στοιχείων, ὃν χρὴ λέγειν διαιροῦντας κατὰ τὰς παραγραφὰς· καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν καταστροφικῶς ποιουμένους εἰς τἄλφα τὸ ἄλφα, βῆτα, γάμμα, δέλτα, θεοῦ γὰρ εἶ, ζῆτ᾽, ἦτα, θῆτ᾽, ἰῶτα, β κάππα, λάβδα, μῦ, νῦ, ξεῖ, τὸ οὖ, πεῖ, ῥῶ, τὸ σίγμα, ταῦ, τὸ ὖ, παρὸν φεῖ χεῖ τε τῷ ψεῖ εἰς τὸ ὦ. ὁ χορὸς δὲ γυναικῶν ἐκ τῶν σύνδυο πεποιημένος αὐτῷ ἐστιν ἔμμετρος ἅμα καὶ μεμελοπεποιημένος τόνδε τὸν τρόπον βῆτα ἄλφα βᾱ, βῆτα εἶ βα, βῆτα ἦτα βε, βῆτα ἰῶτα βī, βῆτα οὖ βο, βῆτα ὖ βυ, βῆτα ὦ βω, καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἀντιστρόφῳ τοῦ μέλους καὶ τοῦ μέτρου γάμμα ἄλφα, γάμμα εἶ, γάμμα ἦτα, γάμμα ἰῶτα, γάμμα οὖ, γάμμα ὖ γάμμα ὦ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν συλλαβῶν ὁμοίως ἑκάστων τό τε μέτρον καὶ τὸ μέλος ἐν ἀντιστρόφοις ἔχουσι πᾶσαι ταὐτόν, ὥστε τὸν Εὐριπίδην μὴ μόνον ὑπονοεῖσθαι τὴν Μήδειαν ἐντεῦθεν πεποιηκέναι πᾶσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ μέλος αὐτὸ μετενηνοχότα φανερὸν εἶναι. τὸν δὲ Σοφοκλέα διελεῖν φασιν ἀποτολμῆσαι τὸ ποίημα τῷ μέτρῳ τοῦτ’ ἀκούσαντα καὶ ποιῆσαι ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι οὕτως· ἐγὼ οὔτ’ ἐμαυτὸν οὔτε σ’ ἀλγυνῶ. τί ταῦτ᾽ ἄλλως ἐλέγχεις; διόπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τὰς ἀντιστρόφους ἀπὸ τούτου παρεδέχοντο πάντες, ὡς ἔοικεν, εἰς τὰς τραγῳδίας, καὶ μετὰ τὸν χορὸν εἰσάγει πάλιν ἐκ τῶν φωνηέντων ῥῆσιν οὕτως ἣν δεῖ κατὰ τὰς παραγραφὰς ὁμοίως τοῖς πρόσθεν λέγοντα διαιρεῖν, ἵν’ ἡ τοῦ ποιήσαντος ὑπόκρισις σῴζηται κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν ἄλφα μόνον, ὦ γυναῖκες, εἶ τε δεύτερον λέγειν μόνον χρή. χ. καὶ τρίτον μόνον γ’ ἐρεῖς. α. ἦτ’ ἄρα φήσω. χ. τὸ τε τέταρτόν αὖ μόνον ἰῶτα, πέμπτον οὖ, τὸ θ’ ἕκτον υ μόνον λέγε· α. λοίσθιον λέγειν· δὲ φωνῶ σοι τὸ ὦ τῶν ἑπτὰ φωνῶν, ἑπτὰ δ’ ἐν μέτροις μόνον. καὶ τοῦτο λέξασ’ εἶτα δὴ σαυτῇ λάλει.

[¶7] Callias was also the first man who taught the elements of learning by iambics, in a licentious sort of language, described in the following manner—
For I'm in labour, ladies; but from shame,
I will, my dear, in separate lines and letters,
Tell you the name of the child. There is a line
Upright and long; and from the middle of it
There juts forth on each side a little one,
With upward look: and next a circle comes,
On two short feet supported.
And afterwards, following this example, as any one may suspect, Mæandrius the prose writer, turning away a little from the usual pronunciation in his descriptions, wrote those things which are found in his Precepts, in a less polished style than the above-mentioned Callias. And Euripides appears to have followed the same model when he composed those verses, in his Theseus, in which the elements of writing are described. But the character is an illiterate shepherd, who is showing that the name of Theseus is inscribed in the place in this way—
For I indeed do nothing know of letters,
But I will tell you all their shapes, and give
Clear indications by which you may judge.
There is a circle, round as though 't had been
Work'd in a lathe, and in its centre space
It has a visible sign. Then the second
Has first of all two lines, and these are parted
By one which cuts them both across the middle.
The third's a curly figure, wreathed round.
The fourth contains one line which mounts right up,
And in a transverse course three others hang
From its right side. The letter which cones fifth
Admits of no such easy explanation;
For there are two diverging lines above,
Which meet in one united line below.
The letter which comes last is like the third.
[So as to make θ η ς ε υ ς.] And Agathon the tragic poet has composed a similar passage, in his Telephus; for there also some illiterate man explains the way of spelling Theseus thus:—
The letter which comes first is like a circle,
Divided by a navel in the middle;
Then come two upright lines well-join'd together;
The third is something like a Scythian bow:
Next comes a trident placed upon its side;
And two lines branching from one lower stem:
The last again the same is as the third.
And Theodectes of Phaselus introduces an illiterate clown, who also represents the name of Theseus in his own way—
The letter which comes first a circle is,
With one soft eye; then come two upright lines
Of equal and exact proportions,
United by one middle transverse line;
The third is like a wreathed curl of hair;
The next a trident lying on its side;
The fifth two lines of equal length above,
Which below join together in one base;
The sixth, as I have said before, a curl.
And Sophocles has said something like this, in his Amphiaraus, which is a satyric drama, where he introduces an actor dancing in unison with his explanation of the letters.

> Greek: δεδήλωκε δὲ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἰαμβείων γράμμα πρῶτος οὗτος ἀκολαστότερον μὲν κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν, πεφρασμένον δὲ τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· κύω γὰρ, ὦ γυναῖκες, ἀλλ’ αἰδοῖ, φίλαι, ἐν γράμμασι σφῷν τοὔνομ’ ἐξερῶ βρέφους, ὀρθὴ μακρὰ γραμμὴ ᾽ στιν ἐκ δ’ αὐτῆς μέσης μικρὰ παρεστῶσ’ ἑκατέρωθεν ὑπτία, ἔπειτα κύκλος πόδας ἔχων βραχεῖς δύο. ὅθεν ὕστερον, ὡς ἂν ὑπονοήσειέ τις, Μαιάνδριος μὲν ὁ συγγραφεὺς μικρὸν διὰ τῆς ἑρμηνείας τῇ μιμήσει παρεγκλίνας συνέγραψεν ἓν τῶν παραγγελμάτων φορτικώτερον τοῦ ῥηθέντος, Εὐριπίδης δὲ τὴν ἐν τῷ Θησεῖ τὴν ἐγγράμματον ἔοικε ποιῆσαι ῥῆσιν. βοτὴρ δ’ ἐστὶν ἀγράμματος αὐτόθι δηλῶν τοὔνομα τοῦ Θησέως ἐπιγεγραμμένον οὕτως· ἐγὼ πέφυκα γραμμάτων μὲν οὐκ ἴδρις, μορφὰς δὲ λέξω καὶ σαφῆ τεκμήρια, κύκλος τις ὡς τόρνοισιν ἐκμετρούμενος· οὗτος δ’ ἔχει σημεῖον ἐν μέσῳ σαφές. τὸ δεύτερον δὲ πρῶτα μὲν γραμμαὶ δύο, ταύτας διείργει δὲ ἐν μέσαις ἄλλη μία. τρίτον δὲ βόστρυχός τις ὣς εἱλιγμένος, τὸ δ’ αὖ τέταρτον ἡ μὲν εἰς ὀρθὸν μία, λοξαὶ δ’ ἐπ’ αὐτῆς τρεῖς κατεστηριγμέναι εἰσίν. τὸ πέμπτον δ’ οὐκ ἐν εὐμαρεῖ φράσαι γραμμαὶ γάρ εἰσιν ἐκ διεστώτων δύο, αὗται δὲ συντρέχουσιν εἰς μίαν βάσιν. τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ προσεμφερές, τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ πεποίηκε καὶ Ἀγάθων ὁ τραγῳδιοποιὸς ἐν τῷ Τηλέφῳ. ἀγράμματος γάρ τις κἀνταῦθα δηλοῖ τὴν τοῦ Θησέως ἐπιγραφὴν οὕτως γραφῆς ὁ πρῶτος ἦν μεσόμφαλος κύκλος· ὀρθοί τε κανόνες ἐζυγωμένοι δύο, Σκυθικῷ τε τόξῳ τὸ τρίτον ἦν προσεμφερές. ἔπειτα τριόδους πλάγιος ἦν προσκείμενος· ἐφ’ ἑνός τε κανόνος ἦσαν ὕπτιοι δύο. ὅπερ δὲ τρίτον· ἦν καὶ τελευταῖον πάλιν. καὶ Θεοδέκτης δ’ ὁ Φασηλίτης ἄγροικόν τινα ἀγράμματον παράγει καὶ τοῦτον τὸ τοῦ Θησέως ὄνομα διασημαίνοντα· γραφῆς ὁ πρῶτος ἦν μεσόφθαλμος κύκλος. ἔπειτα δισσοὶ κανόνες ἰσόμετροι πάνυ· τούτους δὲ πλάγιος διαμέτρου συνδεῖ κανών· τρίτον δ’ ἑλικτῷ βοστρύχῳ προσεμφερές. ἔπειτα τριόδους πλάγιος ὣς ἐφαίνετο, πέμπται δ’ ἄνωθεν ἰσόμετροι ῥάβδοι δύο, αὗται δὲ συντείνουσιν εἰς βάσιν μίαν. ἕκτον δ’ ὅπερ καὶ πρόσθεν εἶπον βόστρυχος. καὶ Σοφοκλῆς δὲ τούτῳ παραπλήσιον ἐποίησεν ἐν Ἀμφιαράῳ σατυρικῷ τὰ γράμματα παράγων ὀρχούμενον.

[¶8] But Neoptolemus the Parian, in his treatise on Inscriptions, says that this inscription is engraved on the tomb of Thrasymachus the sophist at Chalcedon—
My name is Theta, ro, alpha, and san,
Upsilon, mu, alpha, chi, ou, san again:
Chalcedon was my home, wisdom my trade.
And there is a poem of this kind upon Pan, by Castorion the Solensian, as Clearchus says: every foot consists of one entire word, and so every line has its feet in pairs, so that they may either precede or follow each other; as for instance—
σὲ τὸν βόλοις νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον
ναίονθ’ ἕδος, θηρονόμε πὰν, χθόν’ Ἀρκάδων,
κλήσω γραφῇ τῇδ’ ἐν σοφῇ, πάγκψειτ’ ἔπη
συνθεὶς, ἄναξ, δύσγνωστα μὴ σοφοῖς κλύειν,
μουσοπόλε θὴρ, κηρόχυτον ὅς μείλιγμ’ ἱεῖς.
[Which may be translated thus—
O thou that dwellest on the lofty plain,
Stormy with deep loud-sounding falls of snow,
Th' Arcadian land,—lord of the forest kinds,
Thee, mighty Pan, will I invoke in this
Sagacious writing, carefully compounding
Words difficult for ignorant men to know,
Or rightly understand. Hail, friend o' the Muse,
Who pourest forth sweet sounds from waxen flute.]
And so on in the same manner. And in whatever order you place each of these pairs of feet it will give the same metre; as you may, for instance, transpose the first line, and instead of—
σὲ, τὸν βόλοις νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον,
you may read it—
νιφοκτύποις σὲ τὸν βόλοις δυσχείμερον.
You may also remark that each pair of feet consists of ten letters; and you may produce the same effect not in this way, but in a different one, so as to have many ways of putting one line; for instead you may read—
μέτρον φράσον μοι, τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβών·
or this way—
λαβὼν μέτρον μοι τῶν ποδῶν, μέτρον φράσον.
[And you may take this line too—]
οὐ βούλομαι γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβεῖν,
[and transpose it thus—]
λαβεῖν μέτρον γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν οὐ βούλομαι.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος δὲ ὁ Παριανὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐπιγραμμάτων ἐν Χαλκηδόνι φησὶν ἐπὶ τοῦ Θρασυμάχου τοῦ σοφιστοῦ μνήματος ἐπιγεγράφθαι τόδε τὸ ἐπίγραμμα· τοὔνομα θῆτα ῥῶ ἄλφα σὰν ὖ μῦ ἄλφα χεῖ οὖ σάν. πατρὶς Χαλκηδών· ἡ δὲ τέχνη σοφίη. τὸ δὲ Καστορίωνος τοῦ Σολέως, ὡς ὁ Κλέαρχός φησιν, εἰς τὸν Πᾶνα ποίημα τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· τῶν ποδῶν ἕκαστος ὅλοις ὀνόμασιν περιειλημμένος πάντας ὁμοίως ἡγεμονικοὺς καὶ ἀκολουθητικοὺς ἔχει τοὺς πόδας, οἷον σὲ τὸν βολαῖς νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον ναίονθ’ ἕδραν, θηρονόμε Πάν, χθόν’ Ἀρκάδων κλήσω γραφῇ τῇδ’ ἐν σοφῇ πάγκλειτ’ ἔπη συνθείς, ἄναξ, δύσγνωστα μὴ σοφῷ κλύειν, μουσοπόλε θήρ, κηρόχυτον ὃς μείλιγμ’ ἱεῖς, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον. τούτων δὲ ἕκαστον τῶν ποδῶν, ὡς ἂν τῇ τάξει θῇς, τὸ αὐτὸ μέτρον ἀποδώσει, οὕτως· σὲ τὸν βολαῖς νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον, νιφοκτύποις σὲ τὸν βολαῖς δυσχείμερον. καὶ ὅτι τῶν ποδῶν ἕκαστός ἐστι ἑνδεκαγράμματος. ἔστι καὶ μὴ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἀλλ’ ἑτέρως ποιῆσαι, ὥστε πλείω πρὸς τὴν χρῆσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἔχειν οὕτω λέγοντας· μέτρον φράσον μοι τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβὼν. λαβὼν μέτρον μοι τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον φράσον. οὐ βούλομαι γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβεῖν. λαβεῖν μέτρον γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν οὐ βούλομαι.

[¶9] But Pindar, with reference to the ode which was composed without a ς in it, as the same Clearchus tells us, as if some griphus had been proposed to him to be expressed in a lyric ode,—as many were offended because they considered it impossible to abstain from the ς, and because they did not approve of the way in which the idea was executed, uttered this sentence—
Before long series of songs were heard,
And the ill-sounding san from out men's mouths.
And we may make use of this observation in opposition to those who pronounce the sigma-less ode of Lasus of Hermione to be spurious, which is entitled The Centaurs. And the ode which was composed by Lasus to the Ceres in Hermione, has not a ς in it, as Heraclides of Pontus says, in the third book of his treatise on Music, which begins—
I sing of Ceres and her daughter fair,
The bride of Clymenus. And there are great numbers of other griphi. Here is one—
In a conspicuous land I had my birth,
The briny ocean girds my country round,
My mother is the daughter fair of Number.
By the conspicuous land (φανερὰ) he means Delos (as δῆλος is synonymous with φανερὸς), and that is an island surrounded by the sea. And the mother meant is Latona, who is the daughter of Coius, and the Macedonians use κοῖος as synonymous with ἀριθμός. And the one on barley-water (πτυσάνη)—
Mix the juice of peel'd barley, and then drink it.
And the name πτισάνη is derived from the verbs πτίσσω, to pound, and ἄνω, to bruise. There is also the one on the snail, which is quoted in the Definitions of Teucer—
An animal destitute of feet and spine
And bone, whose back is clad with horny shell,
With long, projecting, and retreating eyes.
And Antiphanes, in the Man who admires himself, says—
Coagulated, tender-bodied milk.
lost understand me not? I mean new cheese.
And Anaxandrides, in his Ugly Woman, says—
He's lately cut it up; then he confined
The long, unbroken portions of the body
In earthen vases, wrought in crackling fire,—
A phrase, my men, invented by Timotheus,
Who meant to say in dishes.
And Timocles, in his Heroes, says—
A. And when the nurse of life was taken away,
Fierce hunger's foe, sweet friendship's guardian,
Physician of voracious hunger, which
Men call the table...
B. How you tire yourself,
When you might say “the table” in a word.
And Plato, in his Adonis, saying that an oracle was given to Cinyras concerning his son Adonis, reports it in these words—
O Cinyras, king of hairy Cyprians,
Your son is far the fairest of all men,
And the most admirable: but two deities
Lay hands upon him; one is driven on
By secret courses, and the other drives.
He means Venus and Bacchus; for both of them loved Adonis. And the enigma of the Sphinx is reported by Asclepiades, in his essay on the Subjects on which Tragedies have been written, to have been such as this—
There is upon the earth an animal
With two feet, and with four, and eke with three,
And with one voice; and it alone, of all
The things which move on earth, or in the heavens,
Or o'er the boundless sea, doth change its nature;
But when its feet are of the greatest number,
Then is its speed the slowest, and strength least.

> Greek: Πίνδαρος δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀσιγμοποιηθεῖσαν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ αὐτός φησι Κλέαρχος, οἱονεὶ γρίφου τινὸς ἐν μελοποιίᾳ προβληθέντος, ὡς πολλῶν τούτῳ προσκρουόντων διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἀποσχέσθαι τοῦ σίγμα καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ δοκιμάζειν, ἐποίησε· πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις. ταῦτα σημειώσαιτ’ ἄν τις πρὸς τοὺς νοθεύοντας Λάσου τοῦ Ἑρμιονέως τὴν ἄσιγμον ᾠδήν, ἥτις ἐπιγράφεται Κένταυροι, καὶ ὁ εἰς τὴν Δήμητρα δὲ τὴν ἐν Ἑρμιόνῃ ποιηθεὶς τῷ Λάσῳ ὕμνος ἄσιγμός ἐστιν, ὥς φησιν Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς ἐν τρίτῳ περὶ μουσικῆς, οὗ ἐστιν ἀρχή Δάματρα μέλπω Κόραν τε Κλυμένοι᾽ ἄλοχον. ἔστιν εὐπορῆσαι καὶ ἄλλων γρίφων ἐν Φανερᾷ γενόμαν, πάτραν δέ μου ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ ἀμφὶς ἔχει· μήτηρ δ’ ἔστ’ ἀριθμοῖο πάις. φανερᾷ μὲν οὖν λέγει τῇ Δήλῳ, ἥτις ὑπὸ θαλάσσης περιέχεται, μήτηρ δ’ ἡ Λητώ, ἥτις Κοίου ἐστὶ θυγάτηρ Μακεδόνες δὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν κοῖον προσαγορεύουσι. καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πτισάνης· κριθῆς ἀφλοίου χυλὸν ὀργάσας πίε. πεποίηται δὲ τῆς πτισάνης τοὔνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ πτίσσειν καὶ ἀνεῖν. καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κοχλίου· φέρεται δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τοῖς Τεύκρου Ὁρισμοῖς· ζῷον ἄπουν ἀνάκανθον ἀνόστεον ὀστρακόνωτον ὄμματά τ’ ἐκκύπτοντα προμήκεα κεἰσκύπτοντα. Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Αὑτοῦ ἐρῶντί φησι· τροφαλίδας τε λινοσάρκους. μανθάνεις; τυρὸν λέγω. Ἀναξανδρίδης Αἰσχρᾷ· ἀρτίως διηρτάμηκε, καὶ ‘τὰ μὲν διανεκῆ σώματος μέρη δαμάζετ’ ἐν πυρικτίτῳ στέγᾳ’· Τιμόθεος ἔφη ποτ᾽, ἄνδρες, τὴν χύτραν οἶμαι λέγων. Τιμοκλῆς δ’ ἐν Ἥρωσιν ὡς δ’ ἦν ἠρμένη βίου τιθήνη, πολεμία λιμοῦ, φύλαξ φιλίας, ἰατρὸς ἐκλύτου βουλιμίας, τράπεζα β. περιέργως γε, νὴ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξὸν φράσαι τράπεζα συντόμως. Πλάτων δ’ ἐν τῷ Ἀδώνιδι χρησμὸν δοθῆναι λέγων Κινύρᾳ ὑπὲρ Ἀδώνιδος τοῦ υἱοῦ φησιν ὦ Κινύρα, βασιλεῦ Κυπρίων, ἀνδρῶν δασυπρώκτων, παῖς σοι κάλλιστος μὲν ἔφυ θαυμαστότατός τε πάντων ἀνθρώπων, δύο δ’ αὐτὸν δαίμον’ ὀλεῖτον, ἡ μὲν ἐλαυνομένη λαθρίοις ἐρετμοῖς, ὁ δ’ ἐλαύνων. λέγει δ’ Ἀφροδίτην καὶ Διόνυσον ἀμφότεροι γὰρ ἤρων τοῦ Ἀδώνιδος. καὶ τὸ τῆς Σφιγγὸς δὲ αἴνιγμα Ἀσκληπιάδης ἐν τοῖς Τραγῳδουμένοις τοιοῦτον εἶναί φησιν ἔστι δίπουν ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ τετράπον, οὗ μία φωνή, καὶ τρίπον, ἀλλάσσει δὲ φύσιν μόνον ὅσσ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἑρπετὰ γίνονται καὶ ἀν’ αἰθέρα καὶ κατὰ πόντον ἀλλ’ ὁπόταν πλείστοισιν ἐρειδόμενον ποσὶ βαίνῃ, ἔνθα τάχος γυίοισιν ἀφαυρότατον πέλει αὑτοῦ.

[¶10] And there are also some sayings partaking of the character of griphi, composed by Simonides, as is reported by Chamæleon of Heraclea, in his treatise on the Life and Writings of Simonides—
The father of a kid which roves for food,
And a sad fish, had their heads near together;
And when they had received beneath their eyelids
The son of Night, they did not choose to cherish
The bull-slaying servant of the sovereign Bacchus.
But some say that these verses were inscribed on some one of the ancient offerings which were dedicated at Chalcis; and that on it were represented the figures of a goat and a dolphin; to which animals allusion is made in the above lines. And others say that a dolphin and a goat were embossed in that part of a psaltery where the strings are put in, and that they are what is meant here; and that the bull-slaying servant of Bacchus is the dithyrambic. And others say that the ox which is sacrificed to Bacchus in the town of Iulis is struck with an axe by some one of the young men: and that the festival being near, the axe had been sent to a forge, and Simonides, being then a young man, went to the smith to fetch it; and that when he found the man asleep, and his bellows and his tongs lying loosely about with their fore parts touching one another, he then came back, and told the before-mentioned problem to his friends. For the father of a kid he called the bellows, and the sad fish the tongs (which is called καρκῖνος, or the crab). The son of Night is sleep, and the bull-slaying servant of Bacchus is the axe. And Simonides composed also another epigram which causes perplexity to those who are ignorant of history—
I say that he who does not like to win
The grasshopper's prize, will give a mighty feast
To the Panopeiadean Epeus.
And it is said, that when he was sojourning at Carthea he used to train choruses; and that the place where these exercises took place was in the upper part of the city, near the temple of Apollo, a long way from the sea; so that all the rest of the citizens, and Simonides himself, went down to get water, to a place where there was a fountain; an that an ass, whose name was Epeus, used to carry the water up for them; and they gave him this name, because there was a fable that Epeus himself used to do this; and there was also represented in a picture, in the temple of Apollo, th Trojan fable, in which Epeus is represented as drawing water for the Atridæ; as Stesichorus also relates—
For the great daughter of Jove pitied him
Bearing incessant water for the kings.
And as this was the case, they say that it was a burden imposed on every member of the choruses who was not present at the appointed time, that he should give the ass a chœnix of barley; and that this is stated by the same poet; and that what is meant by not liking to win the grasshopper's prize, is not liking to sing; and that by Panopeiadean is meant the ass, and the mighty feast is the chœnix of barley. And of the same kind is the epigram of Theognis the poet,—
For a sea-corpse has call'd me now back home,
Which, though dead, speaketh with a living mouth.
Where he means the cockle. And we may consider of the same character those sentences in which we use words which resemble men's names, as—
λαβὼν ἀριστόνικον ἐν μάχῃ κράτος·
He gain'd in battle a glorious victory;
where ἀριστόνικος sounds like the name of a man, Aristonicus. And there is also that riddle which is so frequently repeated—
Five men came to one place in vessels ten,
And fought with stones, but might not lift a stone,
And died of thirst while water reach'd their chins.

> Greek: γριφώδη δ’ ἐστὶ καὶ Σιμωνίδῃ ταῦτα πεποιημένα, ὥς φησι Χαμαιλέων ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης ἐν τῷ περὶ Σιμωνίδου· μιξονόμου τε πατήρ ἐρίφου καὶ σχέτλιος ἰχθὺς πλησίον ἠρείσαντο καρήατα· παῖδα δὲ νυκτὸς δεξάμενοι βλεφάροισι Διωνύσοιο ἄνακτος βουφόνον οὐκ ἐθέλουσι τιθηνεῖσθαι θεράποντα. φασὶ δ’ οἱ μὲν ἐπί τινος τῶν ἀρχαίων ἀναθημάτων ἐν Χαλκίδι τοῦτ’ ἐπιγεγράφθαι, πεποιῆσθαι δ’ ἐν αὐτῷ τράγον καὶ δελφῖνα, περὶ ὧν εἶναι τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, οἱ δὲ εἰς ἐπιτόνιον ψαλτήριον δελφῖνα καὶ τράγον ἐπειργασμένον εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ εἶναι τὸν βουφόνον καὶ τοῦ Διονύσου θεράποντα τὸν διθύραμβον. οἱ δέ φασιν ἐν Ἰουλίδι τὸν τῷ Διονύσῳ θυόμενον βοῦν ὑπό τινος τῶν νεανίσκων παίεσθαι πελέκει. πλησίον δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς οὔσης εἰς χαλκεῖον δοθῆναι τὸν πέλεκυν τὸν οὖν Σιμωνίδην ἔτι νέον ὄντα βαδίσαι πρὸς τὸν χαλκέα κομιούμενον αὐτόν, ἰδόντα δὲ καὶ τὸν τεχνίτην κοιμώμενον καὶ τὸν ἀσκὸν καὶ τὸν καρκίνον εἰκῇ κείμενον καὶ ἐπαλλήλως ἔχοντα τὰ ἔμπροσθεν, οὕτως ἐλθόντα εἰπεῖν πρὸς τοὺς συνήθεις τὸ προειρημένον πρόβλημα, τὸν μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ἐρίφου πατέρα τὸν ἀσκὸν εἶναι, σχέτλιον δὲ ἰχθὺν τὸν καρκίνον, νυκτὸς δὲ παῖδα τὸν ὕπνον, βουφόνον δὲ καὶ Διονύσου θεράποντα τὸν πέλεκυν. πεποίηκε δὲ καὶ ἕτερον ἐπίγραμμα ὁ Σιμωνίδης ὃ παρέχει τοῖς ἀπείροις τῆς ἱστορίας ἀπορίαν· φημὶ τὸν οὐκ ἐθέλοντα φέρειν τέττιγος ἄεθλον τῷ Πανοπηιάδῃ δώσειν μέγα δεῖπνον Ἐπειῷ. λέγεται δὲ ἐν τῇ Καρθαίᾳ ὁ διατρίβοντα αὐτὸν διδάσκειν τοὺς χορούς, εἶναι δὲ τὸ χορηγεῖον ἄνω πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερῷ οὐ μακρὰν τῆς θαλάσσης. ὑδρεύεσθαι οὖν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὸν Σιμωνίδην κάτωθεν, ἔνθα ἦν ἡ κρήνη, ἀνακομίζοντος δ’ αὐτοῖς τὸ ὕδωρ ὄνου, ὃν ἐκάλουν Ἐπειὸν διὰ τὸ μυθολογεῖσθαι τοῦτο δρᾶν ἐκεῖνον καὶ ναγεγράφθαι ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερῷ τὸν Τρωικὸν μῦθον, ἐν ᾧ ὁ Ἐπειὸς ὑδροφορεῖ τοῖς Ἀτρείδαις, ὡς καὶ Στησίχορός φησιν ᾤκτειρε γὰρ αὐτὸν ὕδωρ αἰεὶ φορέοντα Διὸς κούρα βασιλεῦσιν. ὑπαρχόντων οὖν τούτων ταχθῆναί φασι τῷ μὴ παραγινομένῳ τῶν χορευτῶν εἰς τὴν ὡρισμένην ὥραν παρέχειν τῷ ὄνῳ χοίνικα κριθῶν, τοῦτ’ οὖν κἀν τῷ ποιήματι λέγεσθαι, καὶ εἶναι τὸν μὲν οὐ φέροντα τὸ τοῦ τέττιγος ἄεθλον τὸν οὐκ ἐθέλοντα ᾄδειν, Πανοπηιάδην δὲ τὸν ὄνον, μέγα δὲ δεῖπνον τὴν χοίνικα τῶν κριθῶν, τοιοῦτόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ Θεόγνιδος τοῦ ποιητοῦ· ἤδη γάρ με κέκληκε θαλάσσιος οἴκαδε νεκρός, τεθνηκὼς ζῳῷ φθεγγόμενος στόματι. σημαίνει γὰρ κόχλον. τοιοῦτον δ’ ἐστὶν καὶ τὸ ῥήματα λέγειν ἀνθρώπων ὀνόμασιν ὅμοια, οἷον λαβὼν ἀριστόνικον ἐν μάχῃ κράτος. καὶ τὸ περιφερόμενον πέντ’ ἄνδρες δέκα ναυσὶ κατέδραμον εἰς ἕνα χῶρον, ἐν δὲ λίθοις ἐμάχοντο, λίθον δ’ οὐκ ἦν ἀνελέσθαι· δίψῃ δ’ ἐξώλλυντο, ὕδωρ δ’ ὑπερεῖχε γενείου.

[¶11] And what punishment had the Athenians who could not solve this riddle when proposed to them, if it was only to drink a bowl of mixed wine, as Clearchus has stated in his Definition? And, in the first book of his treatise on Proverbs, he writes thus—“The investigation of riddles is not unconnected with philosophy; for the ancients used to make a display of their erudition by such things; for they used at their entertainments to ask questions, not such as the men of the present day ask one another, as to what sort of amorous enjoyment is the most delicious, or what kind of fish is nicest, or what is most in season at the moment; or again, what fish is best to eat at the time of Arcturus, or what after the rising of the Pleiades, or of the Dogstar. And then they offer kisses as prizes for those who gain the victory in such questions; such as are hateful to men of liberal sentiments; and as a punishment for those who are defeated they enjoin them to drink sheer wine; which they drink more willingly than the cup of health. For these things are well adapted to any one who has devoted his attention to the writings of Philænis and Archestratus, or who has studied the books called Gastro- logies. They preferred such plays as these;—when the first person had recited a verse, the others were bound to quote the verse following; or if any one had quoted a sentence from some poet, the rest were bound to produce a sentence from some other poet expressing the same sentiments. After that, every one was bound to repeat an iambic. And then, each person was to repeat a line of such and such a number of syllables precisely; and so on with everything that related to any acquaintance with letters and syllables. And in a similar manner they would be bound to repeat the names of all the commanders in the army which attacked Troy, or of all the Trojan leaders: or to tell the name of some city in Asia beginning with a given letter; and then the next person was to tell the name of a city in Europe: and then they were to go through the rest according as they were desired to give the names of Grecian or barbarian cities; so that this sport, not being an inconsiderate one, was a sort of exhibition of the ability and learning of each individual. And the prizes given were a garland and applause, things by which love for one another is especially sweetened.” This, then, was what Clearchus said; and the things which he says one ought to propose, are, I imagine, such as these. For one person to quote a line in Homer beginning with Alpha, and ending with the same letter, such as—
Ἀγχοῦ δ’ ἱσταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα.
Ἀλλ’ ἄγε νῦν μάστιγα καὶ ἡνία σιγαλόεντα.
ʽἁσπίδας εὐκύκλους λαισήαϊ τε πτερόεντα.
And, again, they quoted iambics on a similar principle—
Ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ λέγοιτ’ ἄν, ὁ φέρων τ’ ἀγαθά.
Ἀγαθὸς ἂν εἴη καὶ ὁ φέρων καλῶς κακά.
Or lines in Homer beginning and ending with ε, as—
Εὗρε λυκάονος υἷον ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε.
Ἐν πόλει ὑμετέρῃ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔμελλον ἔγωγε.
And iarabics on the same principle—
Εὐκαταφρόνητός ἐστι πενία, δέρκυλε·
Ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσι τὸν βίον διάπλεκε.
And lines of Homer beginning and ending with η, as—
Ἡ μὲν ἄπ’ ὥς εἰποῦσ’ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
Ἡ δ’ ἐν γούνασι πίπτε διώνης δῖ Ἀφροδίτη.
And iambics—
Ἡ τῶν φίλων σοι πίστις ἔστω κεκριμένη.
Lines in Homer beginning and ending with ι, as—
Ἰλίου ἐξαπολοίατ’ ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄφαντοι·
Ἱππόλοχος δέ μ’ ἔτικτε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φημὶ γενέσθαι.
Beginning and ending with ς, as—
Συμπάντων δαναῶν, οὐδ’ ἢν Ἀγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς.
And iambics as—
Σοφος ἐστιν ὁ φέρων τἀπὸ τῆς τύχης καλῶς.
And beginning and ending with ω, as—
Ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀπ’ οὐλύμπου νέφος ἔρχεται οὐρανὸν εἴσω.
And iambics as—
Ὠρθωμένην πρὸς ἅπαντα τὴν ψύχην ἔχω.
Sometimes too, it is well to propound lines without a sigma, as—
Πάντ’ ἐθέλω δόμεναι, καὶ ἔτ’ οἴκοθεν ἄλλʼ ἐπιθεῖναι·
and again, to quote lines of Homer, of which the first syllable when connected with the last, will make some name, such as—
Ἄιας δ’ ἐκ σαλαμῖνος ἄγεν δύο καὶ δεκα νῆας·
Φυλείδης ὃν τίκτε διῒ φίλος ἵπποτα φυλευς.
Ἰητὴρ δ’ ἀγαθὸς ποδαλείριος ἠδὲ μάχαων.
There are also other lines in Homer expressing the names of vessels from the first and last syllable, such as—
Ὀλψυμένων δαναῶν ὀλοφύρεται ἐν φρεσὶ θυμος,
which makes ῞ὅλμος, a mortar;
Μυθεῖται κατὰ μοῖραν ἅπερ κ’ οἴοιτο καὶ ἄλλος,
which makes μύλος, a millstone;
Λυγρός ἐὼν μή πού τι κακὸν καὶ μεῖζον ἐπαύρῃ,
which makes λύρη, a lyre. And other lines, the first and last syllables of which give some eatable, as—
Ἀργυρόπεζα θέτις θυγατὴρ ἁλίοιο γέροντος,
which makes ἄρτος, bread;
μητι σὺ ταῦτα ἕκαστα διείρεο, μὴ δὲ μετάλλα,
which makes Μῆλα, apples.

> Greek: τίνα δὲ κόλασιν ὑπέμενον Ἀθήνησιν οἱ μὴ λύσαντες τὸν προτεθέντα γρῖφον, εἴ γε ἔπινον φιάλην ἅλμῃ κεκερασμένην, ὡς καὶ ὁ Κλέαρχος προεῖπεν ἐν τῷ ὅρῳ; κἀν τῷ πρώτῳ δὲ περὶ παροιμιῶν γράφει οὕτως· ʽ τῶν γρίφων ἡ ζήτησις οὐκ ἀλλοτρία φιλοσοφίας ἐστί, καὶ οἱ παλαιοὶ τὴν τῆς παιδείας ἀπόδειξιν ἐν τούτοις ἐποιοῦντο. προέβαλλον γὰρ παρὰ τοὺς πότους οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ νῦν ἐρωτῶντες ἀλλήλους, τίς τῶν ἀφροδισιαστικῶν συνδυασμῶν ἢ τίς ἢ ποῖος ἰχθὺς ἥδιστος ἢ τίς ἀκμαιότατος, ἔτι δὲ τίς μετ’ Ἀρκτοῦρον ἢ μετὰ Πλειάδα ἢ τίς μετὰ Κύνα μάλιστα βρωτός. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἆθλα μὲν τοῖς νικῶσι φιλήματα μίσους ἄξια τοῖς ἐλευθέραν αἴσθησιν ἔχουσι, ζημίαν δὲ τοῖς ἡττηθεῖσιν τάττουσιν ἄκρατον πιεῖν, ὃν ἥδιον τῆς ὑγιείας πίνουσι· κομιδῇ γάρ ἐστι ταῦτά γὲ τινος τοῖς Φιλαινίδος καὶ τοῖς Ἀρχεστράτου συγγράμμασιν ἐνῳκηκότος, ἔτι δὲ περὶ τὰς καλουμένας Γαστρολογίας ἐσπουδακότος· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τὰς τοιαύτας, τῷ πρώτῳ ἔπος ἢ ἰαμβεῖον εἰπόντι τὸ ἐχόμενον ἕκαστον λέγειν καὶ τῷ κεφάλαιον εἰπόντι ἀντειπεῖν τὸ ἑτέρου ποιητοῦ τινος, ὅτι εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν εἶπε γνώμην ἔτι δὲ λέγειν ἕκαστον ἰαμβεῖον. πρός τε τούτοις ἕκαστον εἰπεῖν ὅσων ἂν προσταχθῇ συλλαβῶν ἔμμετρον, καὶ ὅσα ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν γραμμάτων καὶ συλλαβῶν ἔχεται θεωρίας, ὁμοίως δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἡγεμόνος ἑκάστου λέγειν ὄνομα τῶν ἐπὶ Τροίαν ἢ τῶν Τρώων, καὶ πόλεως ὄνομα τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ λέγειν ἀπὸ τοῦ δοθέντος γράμματος, τὸν δ’ ἐχόμενον τῶν ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐναλλάξαι, ἄν τε Ἑλληνίδος ἄν τε βαρβάρου τάξῃ τις. ὥστε τὴν παιδιὰν μὴ ἄσκεπτον οὖσαν μήνυμα· γίνεσθαι τῆς ἑκάστου πρὸς παιδείαν οἰκειότητος· ἐφ’ οἷς ἆθλον ἐτίθεσαν στέφανον καὶ εὐφημίαν, οἷς μάλιστα γλυκαίνεται τὸ φιλεῖν ἀλλήλους.᾽ ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Κλέαρχος εἴρηκε. καὶ ἃ προβάλλειν δεῖ τοιαῦτά τινα εἶναι ἡγοῦμαι· στίχον εἰπεῖν Ὁμηρικὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄλφα ἀρχόμενον καὶ εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ στοιχεῖον καταλήγοντα ἀγχοῦ δ’ ἱσταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα. ἀλλ’ ἄγε νῦν μάστιγα καὶ ἡνία σιγαλόεντα. ἀσπίδας εὐκύκλους λαισήιά τε πτερόεντα. καὶ πάλιν ὁμοίως ἰαμβεῖα ἀγαθὸς ἀνήρ λέγοιτ’ ἂν ὁ φέρων τἀγαθά ἀγαθὸς ἂν εἴη χὠ φέρων καλῶς κακά. Ὁμηρικοὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ε ἐπὶ τὸ ε· εὗρε Λυκάονος υἱὸν ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε. ἐν πόλει ὑμετέρῃ, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἄρ’ ἔμελλον ἔγωγε. ὁμοίως καὶ ἰαμβεῖα εὐκαταφρόνητός ἐστι πενία, Δερκύλε, ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσι τὸν βίον διάπλεκε. Ὁμήρου ἀπὸ η ἐπὶ τὸ η· ἡ μὲν ἄρ’ ὣς εἰποῦσ’ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη. ἡ δ’ ἐν γούνασι πῖπτε Διώνης δῖ’ Ἀφροδίτη, ἴαμβοι· ἡ τῶν φίλων σοι πίστις ἔστω κεκριμένη. ἀπὸ τοῦ ī ἐπὶ τὸ ī Ὁμήρου· Ἰλίου ἐξαπολοίατ’ ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄφαντοι. Ἱππόλοχος δὲ μ’ ἔτικτε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φημι γενέσθαι. ἀπὸ τοῦ ς εἰς τὸ ς συμπάντων Δαναῶν, οὐδ’ ἢν Ἀγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς. σοφός ἐστιν ὁ φέρων τἀπὸ τῆς τύχης καλῶς. ἀπὸ τοῦ ω εἰς τὸ ω· ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀπ’ Οὐλύμπου νέφος ἔρχεται οὐρανὸν εἴσω. ὠρθωμένην πρὸς ἅπαντα τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχω. προβάλλειν δὲ δεῖ καὶ στίχους ἀσίγμους οἷον· πάντ’ ἐθέλω δόμεναι καὶ ἔτ’ οἰκόθεν ἄλλ’ ἐπιθεῖναι. καὶ πάλιν στίχους Ὁμηρικοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης συλλαβῆς καὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης δηλοῦντας ὄνομα οἷον Αἴας δ’ ἐκ Σαλαμῖνος ἄγεν δύο καὶ δέκα νῆας. Φυλείδης, ὃν τίκτε Διὶ φίλος ἱππότα Φυλεύς. ἰητῆρ’ ἀγαθώ, Ποδαλείριος ἠδὲ Μαχάων. Ἴων. εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλοι στίχοι Ὁμηρικοὶ δηλοῦντες σκευῶν ὀνόματα ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης καὶ ἐσχάτης συλλαβῆς οἶον· ὀλλυμένων Δαναῶν ὀλοφύρεται ἐν φρεσὶ θυμός, ὅλμος. μυθεῖται κατὰ μοῖραν ἅπερ κ’ οἴοιτο καὶ ἄλλος. μύλος. λυγρὸς ἐὼν μή που τι κακὸν καὶ μεῖζον ἐπαύρῃ. λύρη. ἄλλοι στίχοι δηλοῦντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τοῦ τέλους τῶν ἐδωδίμων τί· ἀργυρόπεζα Θέτις, θυγάτηρ ἁλίοιο γέροντος, ἄρτος. μή τι σὺ ταῦτα ἕκαστα διείρεο μηδὲ μετάλλα, μῆλα. ἐπεὶ

[¶12] And since we have made a pretty long digression about griphi, we must now say what punishment those people underwent who failed to solve the griphus which was proposed to them. They drank brine mingled with their drink, and were bound to drink the whole cup up at one draught; as Antiphanes shows in his Ganymede, where he says—
A. Alas me! what perplexing things you say,
O master, and what numerous things you ask me.
B. But now I will speak plainly: if you know
One circumstance about the rape of the child,
You must reveal it quick, before you're hang'd.
A. Are you then asking me a riddle, master,
Bidding me tell you all about the rape
Of the child? What's the meaning of your words?
B. Here, some one, bring me out a halter quickly.
A. What for?
B. Perhaps you'll say you do not know.
A. Will you then punish me with that? Oh don't!
You'd better make me drink a cup of brine.
B. Know you then how you ought to drink that up?
A. Indeed I do.
B. How?
A. So as to make you pledge me.
B. No, but first put your hands behind your back,
Then drink it at a draught, not drawing breath.
So when the Deipnosophists had said all this about the griphi, since it has taken us till evening to recollect all they said, we will put off the discussion about cups till to-morrow. For as Metagenes says in his Philothytes—
I'll change my speech, by way of episode,
So as to treat the theatre with many
New dishes rich with various seasonings;
taking the discussion about cups next.

> Greek: δὲ ἱκανὴν παρέκβασιν πεποιήμεθα περὶ τῶν γρίφων, λεκτέον ἤδη καὶ τίνα κόλασιν ὑπέμενον οἱ μὴ λύσαντες τὸν προτεθέντα γρῖφον. ἔπινον οὗτοι ἅλμην παραμισγομένην τῷ αὑτῶν ποτῷ καὶ ἔδει προσενέγκασθαι τὸ ποτήριον ἀπνευστί, ὡς Ἀντιφάνης δηλοῖ ἐν Γανυμήδει διὰ τούτων· οἴμοι περιπλοκὰς λίαν ι ἐρωτᾷς. λ. ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ σαφῶς φράσω· τῆς ἁρπαγῆς τοῦ παιδὸς εἰ ξύνοισθά τι, ταχέως λέγειν χρὴ πρὶν κρέμασθαι. δ. πότερά μοι γρῖφον προβάλλεις τοῦτον εἰπεῖν, δέσποτα, τῆς ἁρπαγῆς τοῦ παιδὸς εἰ ξύνοιδά τι, ἤ τί δύναται τὸ ῥηθέν; λ. ἔξω τις δότω ἱμάντα ταχέως. δ. οἷον οὐκ ἔγνων ἴσως· ἔπειτα τοῦτο ζημιοῖς με; μηδαμῶς· ἅλμης δ’ ἐχρῆν τι παραφέρειν ποτήριον. λ. οἶσθ’ οὖν ὅπως δεῖ τοῦτό σ’ ἐκπιεῖν; δ. ἐγὼ κομιδῇ γε. λ. πῶς; δ. ἐνέχυρον ἀποφέροντά σου λ. οὔκ, ἀλλ’ ὀπίσω τὼ χεῖρε ποιήσαντα δεῖ ἕλκειν ἀπνευστί. τοσαῦτα καὶ περὶ τῶν γρίφων εἰπόντων τῶν δειπνοσοφιστῶν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἑσπέρα καταλαμβάνει ἀναπεμπαζομένους τὰ εἰρημένα τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐκπωμάτων λόγον εἰς αὔριον ἀναβαλώμεθα. κατὰ γὰρ τὸν Μεταγένους Φιλοθύτην κατ’ ἐπεισόδιον μεταβάλλω τὸν λόγον, ὡς ἂν καιναῖσι παροψίσι καὶ πολλαῖς εὐωχήσω τὸ θέατρον, περὶ τῶν ἐκπωμάτων τὸν λόγον ἑξῆς ποιούμενος.