But Harpocration the Mendesian, in his treatise on Cheesecakes, speaks of a dish which the Alexandrians call παγκαρπία. Now this dish consists of a number of cakes mashed up together and boiled with honey. And after they are boiled, they are made up into round balls, and fastened round with a thin string of byblus in order to keep them together. There is also a dish called πόλτος, which Alcman mentions in the following terms—And then we'll give you poltos made of beans (πυάνιος),And snow-white wheaten groats from unripe corn,And fruit of wax.But the substantive πυάνιον, as Sosibius tells us, means a collection of all kinds of seeds boiled up in sweet wine. And χῖδρος means boiled grains of wheat. And when he speaks here of waxy fruit, he means honey. And Epicharmus, in his Earth and Sea, speaks thus—To boil some morning πόλτος.And Pherecrates mentions the cakes called μελικηρίδων in his Deserters, speaking as follows—As one man smells like goats, but othersBreathe from their mouths unalloy'd μελικήρας.
Ἁρποκρατίων δὲ ὁ Μενδήσιος ἐν τῷ περὶ Πλακούντων τὴν παρ’ Ἀλεξανδρεῦσι καλουμένην παγκαρπίαν … καλεῖ. ᾽ἴτρια δ’ ἐστὶ ταῦτα συντεθρυμμένα μετὰ μέλιτος ἑψόμενα· καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἕψησιν σφαιρηδὸν συντεθέντα περιδεῖται βύβλῳ λεπτῇ ἕνεκα τοῦ συμμένειν. Πόλτου δὲ μνημονεύει Ἀλκμὰν οὕτως· ἤδη παρέξει πυάνιόν τε πολτὸν ὁ χίδρον τε λευκὸν κηρίναν τ’ ὀπώραν. ἐστὶ δὲ τὸ πυάνιον, ὥς φησι Σωσίβιος, πανσπερμία ἐν γλυκεῖ ἡψημένη· χίδρον δὲ οἱ ἑφθοὶ πυροί. κηρίναν δὲ ὀπώραν λέγει τὸ μέλι. καὶ Ἐπίχαρμος δὲ οὕτως λέγει ἐν Γῇ καὶ Θαλάσσῃ· πολτὸν ἕψειν ὄρθριον. καὶ τῶν καλουμένων δὲ μελικηρίδων μνημονεύει Φερεκράτης ἐν Αὐτομόλοις οὕτως· ὥσπερ τῶν αἰγιδίων ὄζειν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος μελικήρας.
And when all this had been said, the wise Ulpian said,—Whence, my most learned grammarians, and out of what library, have these respectable writers, Chrysippus and Harpocration, been extracted, men who bring the names of illustrious philosophers into disrepute by being their namesakes? And what Greek has ever used the word ἡμίνα; or who has ever mentioned the ἄμυλοσ?" And when Laurentius answered him, and said,—Whoever the authors of the poems attributed to Epicharmus were, they were acquainted with the ἡμίνα. And we find the following expressions in the play entitled Chiron—And to drink twice the quantity of cool water,—Two full heminas.And these spurious poems, attributed to Epicharmus, were, at all events, written by eminent men. For it was Chry- sogonus the flute-player, as Aristoxenus tells us in the eighth book of his Political Laws, who wrote the poem entitled Polity. And Philochorus, in his treatise on Divination, says that it was a man of the name of Axiopistos, (whether he was a Locrian or a Sicyonian is uncertain,) who was the author of the Canon and the Sentences. And Apollodous tells us the same thing. And Teleclides mentions the ἄμυλος in his Rigid Men, speaking thus—Hot cheesecakes now are things I'm fond of,Wild pears I do not care about;I also like rich bits of harePlaced on an ἄμυλος.
λεχθέντων καὶ τούτων ὁ σοφὸς Οὐλπιανὸς ἔφη· πόθεν ὑμῖν, ὦ πολυμαθέστατοι γραμματικοί, καὶ ἐκ ποίας βιβλιοθήκης ἀνεφάνησαν οἱ σεμνότατοι οὗτοι συγγραφεῖς Χρύσιππος καὶ Ἁρποκρατίων, διαβάλλοντες καλῶν ὀνόματα φιλοσόφων τῇ ὁμωνυμίᾳ τίς; δὲ καὶ ἡμίναν Ἑλλήνων ὠνόμασεν ἢ τίς ἀμύλου μνημονεύει; ἀπαντήσαντος δ’ αὐτῷ τοῦ Λαρηνσίου καὶ εἰπόντος·τὴν μὲν ἡμίναν οἱ τὰ εἰς Ἐπίχαρμον ἀναφερόμενα ποιήματα πεποιηκότες οἴδασι, κἀν τῷ Χείρωνι ἐπιγραφομένῳ οὕτως λέγεται· καὶ πιεῖν ὕδωρ διπλάσιον χλιαρόν, ἡμίνας δύο, τὰ δὲ ψευδεπιχάρμεια ταῦτα ὅτι πεποιήκασιν ἄνδρες ἔνδοξοι … Χρυσόγονός τε ὁ αὐλητής, ὥς φησιν Ἀριστόξενος ἐν ὀγδόῳ Πολιτικῶν Νόμων, τὴν Πολιτείαν ἐπιγραφομένην … Φιλόχορος δ’ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Μαντικῆς Ἀξιόπιστον τὸν εἴτε Λοκρὸν γένος ἢ Σικυώνιον τὸν Κανόνα καὶ τὰς Γνώμας πεποιηκέναι φησίν. ὁμοίως δὲ ἱστορεῖ καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος, τοῦ δὲ ἀμύλου μνημονεύει Τηλεκλείδης ἐν Στερροῖς οὑτωσὶ λέγων ι φιλῶ πλακοῦντα θερμόν, ἀχράδας οὐ φιλῶ, χαίρω λαγῴοις ἐπ’ ἀμύλῳ καθημένοις.
When Ulpian had heard this, he said—But, since you have also a cake which you call κοπτὴ, and I see that there is one served up for each of you on the table, tell us now, you epicures, what writer of authority ever mentions this word κοπτή? And Democritus replied-Dionysius of Utica, in the seventh book of his Georgics, says that the sea leek is called κοπτή. And as for the honey-cake which is now served up before each of us, Clearchus the Solensian, in his treatise on Riddles, mentions that, saying—"If any one were to order a number of vessels to be mentioned which resemble one another, he might say,A tripod, a bowl, a candlestick, a marble mortar,A bench, a sponge, a caldron, a boat, a metal mortar,An oil-cruse, a basket, a knife, a ladle,A goblet, and a needle.And after that he gives a list of the names of different dishes, thus—Soup, lentils, salted meat, and fish, and turnips,Garlic, fresh meat, and tunny-roe, pickles, onions,Olives, and artichokes, capers, truffles, mushrooms.And in the same way he gives a catalogue of cakes, and sweetmeats, thus—Ames, placous, entiltos, itrium,Pomegranates, eggs, vetches, and sesame;Coptè and grapes, dried figs, and pears and peachesApples and almonds."These are the words of Clearchus. But Sopater the farce writer, in his drama entitled Pylæ, says—Who was it who invented first black cakes (κοπταὶ)Of the uncounted poppy-seed? who mix'dThe yellow compounds of delicious sweetmeats?Here my excellent cross-examiner, Ulpian, you have autho- rities for κοπτή; and so now I advise you ἀπεσθίειν some. And he, without any delay, took and ate some. And when they all laughed, Democritus said;—But, my fine word-catcher, I did not desire you to eat, but not to eat; for the word ἀπεσθίω is used in the sense of abstaining from eating by Theopompus the comic poet, in his Phineus, where he says—Cease gambling with the dice, my boy, and nowFeed for the future more on herbs. Your stomachIs hard with indigestion; give up eating (ἀπέσθιε)Those fish that cling to the rocks; the lees of wineWill make your head and senses clear, and thusYou'll find your health, and your estate too, better.Men do, however, use ἀπεσθίω for to eat a portion of anything, as Hermippus does, in his Soldiers—Alas! alas! he bites me now, he bites,And quite devours (ἀπεσθίει) my ears.
τούτων ἀκούσας ὁ Οὐλπιανὸς ἔφη· ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ καὶ κοπτήν τινα καλεῖτε, ὁρῶ δὲ ἑκάστῳ κειμένην ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης, λέγετε ἡμῖν, ὦ λίχνοι, τίς τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου τῶν ἐνδόξων μνημονεύει. καὶ ὁ Δημόκριτος ἔφη·τὸ μὲν θαλάσσιον πράσον κοπτήν φησι καλεῖσθαι Διονύσιος ὁ Ἰτυκαῖος ἐν ἑβδόμῳ Γεωργικῶν. τοῦ δὲ ἡμῖν παρακειμένου μελιπήκτου μέμνηται Κλέαρχος ὁ Σολεὺς ἐν τῷ περὶ Γρίφων· οὑτωσὶ λέγων ᾽ σκεύη κελεύοντι λέγειν ὁποῖα εἰπεῖν τρίπους, χύτρα, λυχνεῖον, ἀκταία, βάθρον, σπόγγος, λέβης, σκαφεῖον, ὅλμος, λήκυθος, σπυρίς, μάχαιρα, τρυβλίον, κρατήρ, ῥαφίς, ἢ πάλιν ὄψων οὕτως· ἔτνος, φακῆ, τάριχος, ἰχθύς, γογγυλίς, σκόροδον, κρέας, θύννειον, ἅλμη, κρόμμυον, σκόλυμος, ἐλαία, κάππαρις, βολβός, μύκης. ἐπί τε τῶν τραγημάτων ὁμοίως· ἄμης, πλακοῦς, ἔντιλτος, ἴτριον, ῥόα, ᾠόν, ἐρέβινθος, σησάμη, κοπτή, βότρυς, ἰσχάς, ἄπιος, πέρσεια, μῆλ᾽, ἀμύγδαλα ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Κλέαρχος. ὁ δὲ φλυακογράφος Σώπατρος ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ Πύλαι δράματί φησιν τίς δ’ ἀναρίθμου μήκωνος εὗρε κοπτὰς ἢ κνηκοπύρους ἡδονὰς τραγημάτων ἔμιξεν; ἀπέχεις, ὦ καλέ μου λογιστὰ Οὐλπιανέ, τὴν κοπτὴν ἧς συμβουλεύω σοι ἀπεσθίειν.καὶ ὃς οὐδὲν μελλήσας ἀνελόμενος ἤσθιεν. γελασάντων δὲ πάντων ἔφη ὁ Δημόκριτος·ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐσθίειν σοι προσέταξα, καλὲ ὀνοματοθήρα, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἐσθίειν· τὸ γὰρ ἀπεσθίειν οὕτως εἴρηκεν ἐν Φινεῖ ὁ κωμῳδιοποιὸς Θεόπομπος· παῦσαι κυβεύων, μειράκιον, καὶ τοῖς βλίτοις διαχρῶ τὸ λοιπόν, κοιλίαν σκληρὰν ἔχεις· τὰ πετραῖα τῶν ἰχθυδίων ἀπέσθιε· ἡ τρὺξ ἄριστόν ἐστιν εἰς εὐβουλίαν. ταῦτ’ ἢν ποῇς, ῥᾴων ἔσει τὴν οὐσίαν. χρῶνται δὲ τῷ ἀπεσθίειν καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπό τινος ἐσθίειν, ὡς Ἕρμιππος ἐν Στρατιώταις· οἴμοι τάλας, δάκνει, δάκνει, ἀπεσθίει μου τὴν ἀκοήν.
The Syrian being convicted by these arguments, and being a good deal annoyed, said—But I see here on the table some pistachio nuts (ψιττάκια); and if you can tell me what author has ever spoken of them, I will give you, not ten golden staters, as that Pontic trifler has it, but this goblet. And as Democritus made no reply, he said, But since you cannot answer me, I will tell you; Nicander of Colophon, in his Theriacans, mentions them, and says—Pistachio nuts (ψιττάκια) upon the highest branches,Like almonds to the sight.The word is also written βιστάκια,, in the line—And almond-looking βιστάκια were there.And Posidonius the Stoic, in the third book of his History, writes thus: "But both Arabia and Syria produce the peach, and the nut which is called βιστάκιον; which bears a fruit in bunches like bunches of grapes, of a sort of tawny white, long shaped, like tears, and the nuts lie on one another like berries. But the kernel is of a light green, and it is less juicy than the pine-cone, but it has a more pleasant smell. And the brothers who together composed the Georgics, write thus, in the third book—“There is also the ash, and the turpentine tree, which the Syrians call πιστάκια.” And these people spell the word πιστάκια with a π, but Nicander writes it φιττάκια, and Posidonius βιστάκια.
ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἐλεγχθεὶς ὁ Σύρος καὶ δηχθεὶς σφόδρα ἀλλὰ μήν, ἔφη, παράκειται ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης καὶ ψιττάκια· ἅπερ ἢν εἴπῃς παρὰ τίνι κεῖται, ᾽ δώσω σοι ᾽ οὐ ᾽ χρυσέους δέκα στατῆρας ᾽ κατὰ τὸν Ποντικὸν λεσχηνευτήν, ἀλλὰ τουτὶ τὸ ἔκπωμα. σιωπήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Δημοκρίτουἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ἀπορεῖς, ἔφη, ἐγώ σε διδάξω. Νίκανδρος μὲν ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἐν τοῖς Θηριακοῖς μνημονεύων αὐτῶν φησιν· ψιττάκι’ ἀκρεμόνεσσιν ἀμυγδαλέοισιν ὅμοια. γράφεται δὲ καὶ βιστάκια … ἀμυγδαλόεντα πέφανται. καὶ Ποσειδώνιος δὲ ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς στοᾶς ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν γράφει οὕτως· φέρει δὲ καὶ τὸ πέρσειον ἡ Ἀραβία καὶ ἡ Συρία καὶ τὸ καλούμενον βιστάκιον· ὃ δὴ βοτρυώδη τὸν καρπὸν ἀφίησι λευκόφαιον ὄντα καὶ μακρόν, παρεμφερῆ τοῖς δακρύοις ἃ δὴ ῥαγῶν τρόπον ἀλλήλοις ἐπιβάλλει, τὰ δ’ ἔνδον ἔγχλωρον καὶ τοῦ κωνίου τῶν στροβίλων ἧττον μὲν εὔχυμον, εὐώδη δὲ μᾶλλον. οἱ δὲ τὰ Γεωργικὰ συγγράψαντες ἀδελφοὶ ἐν τῷ γ’ γράφουσιν οὕτως· καὶ τὴν μελίαν καὶ τὴν τέρμινθον, ἃ δὴ νῦν πιστάκια οἱ Σύροι καλοῦσιν. καὶ οὗτοι μὲν διὰ τοῦ π πιστάκια ταῦτα ὠνόμασαν, ὁ δὲ Νίκανδρος δασέως φιττάκια, ὁ Ποσειδώνιος δὲ βιστάκια.
And when he had said this, looking round on all those who were present, and being praised by them, he, said,—But I mean also to discuss every other dish that there is on the table, in order to make you admire my varied learning. And first of all I will speak of those which the Alexandrians call κόνναρα and παλίουροι. And they are mentioned also by Agathocles of Cyzicus, in the third book of his History of his Country; where he says: "But after the thunderbolt had struck the tomb, there sprung up from the monument a tree which they call κόνναρον. And this tree is not at all inferior in size to the elm or the fir. And it has great numbers of branches, of great length and rather thorny; but its leaf is tender and green, and of a round shape. And it bears fruit twice a year, in spring and autumn. And the fruit is very sweet, and of the size of a phaulian olive, which it resembles both in its flesh and in its stone; but it is superior in the good flavour of its juice. And the fruit is eaten while still green; and when it has become dry they make it into paste, and eat it without either bruising it or softening it with water, but taking it in very nearly its natural state. And Euripides, in the Cyclops, speaks of—A branch of paliurus.But Theopompus, in the twenty-first book of his History of Philip, mentions them, and Diphilus, the physician of Siphnus, also speaks of them, in his treatise on What may be eaten by People in Health, and by Invalids. But I have mentioned these things first, my good friends, not because they are before us at this moment, but because in the beautiful city of Alexandria, I have often eaten them as part of the second course, and as I have often heard the question as to their names raised there, I happened to fall in with a book here in which I read what I have now recounted to you.
περιβλέψας οὖν ἐν τούτοις τοὺς παρόντας καὶ τυχὼν ἐπαίνου ἔφη· ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων τῶν παρακειμένων λελέξεταί μοι, ἵνα με τῆς πολυμαθίας ἀγασθῆτε ἐρῶ δὲ πρότερον περὶ τῶν παρὰ Ἀλεξανδρεῦσιν καλουμένων κοννάρων καὶ παλιούρων. μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτῶν Ἀγαθοκλῆς ὁ Κυζικηνὸς ἐν γ’ τῶν περὶ τῆς πατρίδος λέγων οὕτως κεραυνοῦ δὲ σκήψαντος εἰς τὸν τάφον ἀνεβλάστησεν ἐκ τοῦ σήματος δενδρίον, ὃ ἐκεῖνοι κόνναρον ἐπονομάζουσιν. ἐστὶ δὲ τὸ δενδρίον μεγέθει μὲν πτελέης καὶ πεύκης οὐθέν τι μεῖον, ἀκρεμόνας δὲ ἔχει θαμέας καὶ δολιχοὺς καὶ ἐπ’ ὀλίγον ἀκανθώδεας, τὸ δὲ φύλλον τέρεν καὶ χλωρόν, τῇ φυῇ περιφερές, καρποφορεῖ δὲ δὶς τοῦ ἔτεος, ἦρός τε καὶ φθινοπώρου, γλυκὺς δὲ πάνυ ὁ καρπός, μέγεθος κατὰ φαυλίην ἐλάην καὶ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὸ ὀστέον ταύτῃ προσείκελον, διαλλάσσον δὲ τῇ τοῦ χυμοῦ ἡδονῇ, καὶ τρώγεται ἔτι χλωρὸς ὁ καρπός· καὶ ἐπὴν αὐανθῇ, ποιοῦσιν ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἄλευρα, καὶ πατέονται ταῦτα οὐ μάξαντες οὐδ’ ὕδατι δεύοντες, ἀλλὰ φαύλως ὁκοῖά περ πέφυκεν. καὶ Εὐριπίδης ἐν Κύκλωπί φησι· παλιούρου κλάδῳ. Θεόπομπός τε ἐν εἰκοστῇ πρώτῃ Φιλιππικῶν μνημονεύει αὐτῶν καὶ Δίφιλος ὁ Σίφνιος ἰατρὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν Προσφερομένων τοῖς Ὑγιαίνουσι καὶ τοῖς νοσοῦσιν. τούτων δὲ πρῶτον ἐμνήσθην, ἄνδρες φίλοι, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμῖν παράκειται νῦν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι πολλάκις ἐν τῇ καλῇ Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἐπὶ τῶν δευτέρων τραπεζῶν παρακείμενα ἔλαβον καὶ ζητηθέντος ἐκεῖ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἐνθάδε τῷ βιβλίῳ ἐντυχὼν ἀνελεξάμην.
And I will now take the pears (ἄπιον), which I see before me, and speak of them, since it is from them that the Peloponnesus was called ἀπία, because plants of the pear- tree were abundant in the country, as Ister tells us, in his treatise on the History of Greece. And that it was customary to bring up pears in water at entertainments, we learn from the Breutias of Alexis, where we read these lines—A. Have you ne'er seen pears floating in deep waterServed up before some hungry men at dinner?B. Indeed I have, and often; what of that?A. Does not each guest choose for himself, and eatThe ripest of the fruit that swims before him?B. No doubt he does.But the fruit called ἁμαμηλίδες are not the same as pears, as some people have fancied, but they are a different thing, sweeter, and they have no kernel. Aristomenes, in his Bacchus, says—Know you not how the Chian garden growsFine medlarsAnd Aeschylides too, in the third book of his Georgics, shows us that it is a different fruit from the pear, and sweeter. For he is speaking of the island Ceos, and he expresses himself thus,—“The island produces the very finest pears, equal to that fruit which in Ionia is called hamamelis; for they are free from kernels, and sweet, and delicious.” But Aethlius, in the fifth book of his Samian Annals, if the book be genuine, calls them homomelides. And Pamphilus, in his treatise on Dialects and Names, says, “The epimelis is a species of pear.” Antipho, in his treatise on Agriculture, says that the phocides are also a kind of pear.
ἑξῆς οὖν λέξω περὶ τῶν παρακειμένων Ἀπίων· ἐπεὶ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ Πελοπόννησος Ἀπία ἐκλήθη διὰ τὸ ἐπιδαψιλεύειν ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ φυτόν, φησὶν Ἴστρος ἐν τοῖς Ἀργολικοῖς. ὅτι δὲ τὰς ἀπίους ἐν ὕδατι εἰσέφερον εἰς τὰ συμπόσια Ἄλεξις ἐν Βρεττίᾳ παρίστησι διὰ τούτων εἶδές ποτε πίνουσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀπίους παρακειμένας ἐν ὕδατι; β. πολλοῖς πολλάκις δήπου. τί οὖν; α. οὐκοῦν ἕκαστος ἐκλεγόμενος λαμβάνει τῶν ἐπινεουσῶν τὴν πεπαιτάτην ἀεί; β. δηλονότι. αἱ δ’ ἁμαμηλίδες οὔκ εἰσιν ἄπιοι, ὥς τινες οἴονται, ἀλλ’ ἕτερόν τι καὶ ἥδιον καὶ ἀπύρηνον. Ἀριστομένης ἐν Διονύσῳ φησίν ὁ Χῖος οὐκ οἶσθ’ ὡς ἁμαμηλίδας ποιεῖ; ὅτι δ’ ἐστὶν ἕτερον τῆς ἀπίου καὶ ἥδιον Αἰσχυλίδης παρίστησιν ἐν τρίτῳ Γεωργικῶν. περὶ Κέω γοῦν τῆς νήσου λέγων γράφει οὕτως· ἀπίους ἡ νῆσος φέρει κρατίστας κατὰ τὰς ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ καλουμένας ἁμαμηλίδας· εἰσὶ γὰρ ἀπύρηνοί τε καὶ ἡδεῖαι καὶ γλυκεῖαι. Ἀέθλιος δὲ ἐν εʹ ῝ Ὥρων Σαμίων, εἰ γνήσια τὰ συγγράμματα, ὁμομηλίδας αὐτὰς καλεῖ. Πάμφιλος δ’ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Γλωσσῶν καὶ Ὀνομάτων ἐπιμηλίς, φησίν, ἀπίου γένος. Ἀνδροτίων δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ Γεωργικῶν φωκίδας φησὶν εἶδος ἀπίων εἶναι.
Then there are pomegranates. And of pomegranates some kinds are said to be destitute of kernels, and some to have hard ones. And those without kernels are mentioned by Aristophanes in his Farmers; and in his Anagyrus he says—Except wheat flour and pomegranates.He also speaks of them in the Gerytades; and Hermippus, in his Cercopes, says—Have you e'er seen the pomegranate's kernel in snow?And we find the diminutive form ῥοΐδιον, like βοΐδιον. Antiphanes also mentions the pomegranates with the hard kernels in his Bœotia—I bade him bring me from the farm pomegranatesOf the hard-kernell'd sort.And Epilycus, in his Phoraliscus, says—You are speaking of apples and pomegranates.Alexis also, in his Suitors, has the line—He took the rich pomegranates from their hands.But Agatharchides, in the nineteenth book of his History of Europe, tells us that the Bœotians call pomegranates not ῥοιαὶ but σίδαι, speaking thus:—“As the Athenians were disputing with the Bœotians about a district which they called Sidæ, Epaminondas, while engaged in upholding the claims of the Bœotians, suddenly lifted up in his left hand a pomegranate which he had concealed, and showed it to the Athenians, asking them what they called it, and when they said ῥοιὰ, But we,' said he, ' call it σίδη..' And the district bears the pomegranate-tree in great abundance, from which it originally derived its name. And Epaminondas prevailed.” And Menander, in his Heauton-Timorumenos, called them ῥοΐδια, in the following lines—And after dinner I did set before themAlmonds, and after that we ate pomegranates.There is, however, another plant called sida, which is something like the pomegranate, and which grows in the lake Orchomenus, in the water itself; and the sheep eat its leaves, and the pigs feed on the young shoots, as Theophrastus tells us, in the fourth book of his treatise on Plants; where he says that there is another plant like it in the Nile, which grows without any roots.
ῥοῶν] … δὲ σκληροκόκκων, τῶν γὰρ ἀπυρήνων Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Γεωργοῖς μνημονεύει, καὶ ἐν Ἀναγύρῳ· πλὴν ἀλεύρου καὶ ῥόας. καὶ ἐν Γηρυτάδῃ. Ἕρμιππος δ’ ἐν Κέρκωψί φησιν ἤδη τεθέασαι κόκκον ἐν χιόνι ῥόας; ῥοίδιον μέντοι ὡς βοίδιον τὸ ὑποκοριστικόν. Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Βοιωτίδι. ἐνεγκεῖν ἐξ ἀγροῦ μοι τῶν ῥοιῶν τῶν σκληροκόκκων. Ἐπίλυκος Κωραλίσκῳ· μῆλα καὶ ῥόας λέγεις, Ἄλεξις Μνηστῆρσιν· ῥόαν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν. σίδας δ’ ὅτι τὰς ῥοιὰς καλοῦσι Βοιωτοὶ Ἀγαθαρχίδης ἐν τῇ ἐννεακαιδεκάτῃ τῶν Εὐρωπιακῶν οὕτως γράφει·ἀμφισβητούντων Ἀθηναίων πρὸς Βοιωτοὺς περὶ τῆς χώρας ἣν καλοῦσι Σίδας, Ἐπαμινώνδας δικαιολογούμενος ἐξαίφνης ἐκ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς μεταλαβὼν κεκρυμμένην ῥόαν καὶ δείξας ἤρετο τί καλοῦσι τοῦτο. τῶν δ’ εἰπόντων ῥόαν ἀλλ’ ἡμεῖς, εἶπε, σίδαν ὁ δὲ τόπος τοῦτ’ ἔχει τὸ φυτὸν ἐν αὑτῷ πλεῖστον, ἀφ’ οὗ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἴληφε προσηγορίαν· καὶ ἐνίκησεν.Μένανδρος δ’ ἐν Αὑτὸν Τιμωρουμένῳ ῥοίδια αὐτὰς ὠνόμασεν διὰ τούτων μετ’ ἄριστον γὰρ ὡς ἀμυγδάλας ἐγὼ παρέθηκα καὶ τῶν ῥοιδίων ἐτρώγομεν. λέγεται δέ τι καὶ φυτὸν σίδη ὅμοιον ῥοιᾷ, γινόμενον ἐν τῇ περὶ Ὀρχομενὸν λίμνῃ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ὕδατι, οὗ τὰ μὲν φύλλα τὰ πρόβατα ἐσθίει, τὸν δὲ βλαστὸν αἱ ὕες, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Θεόφραστος ἐν τετάρτῳ περὶ φυτῶν, γίνεσθαι λέγων κἀν τῷ Νείλῳ ὁμώνυμόν τι αὐτῇ ἄνευ ῥιζῶν.
The next thing to be mentioned are dates. Xenophon, in the second book of his Anabasis, says—“And there was in the district a great deal of corn, and wine made of the dates, and also vinegar, which was extracted from them; but the berries themselves of the date when like what we see in Greece, were set apart for the slaves. But those which were destined for the masters were all carefully selected, being of a wonderful size and beauty, and their colour was like amber. And some they dry and serve up as sweetmeats; and the wine made from the date is sweet, but it produces headache.” And Herodotus, in his first book, speaking of Babylon says,— “There are palm-trees there growing over the whole plain, most of them being very fruitful; and they make bread, and wine, and honey of them. And they manage the tree in the same way as the fig-tree. For those palm-trees which they call the males they take, and bind their fruit to the other palm-trees which bear dates, in order that the insect which lives in the fruit of the male palm may get into the date and ripen it, and so prevent the fruit of the date-bearing palm from being spoilt. For the male palm has an insect in each of its fruits, as the wild fig has.” And Polybius of Megalopolis, who speaks with the authority of an eye-witness, gives very nearly the same account of the lotus, as it is called, in Libya, that Herodotus here gives of the palm-tree; for he speaks thus of it: “And the lotus is a tree of no great size, but rough and thorny, and its leaf is green like that of the rhamnus, but a little thicker and broader. And the fruit at first resembles both in colour and size the berries of the white myrtle when full grown; but as it increases in size it becomes of a scarlet colour, and in size about equal to the round olives; and it has an exceedingly small stone. But when it is ripe they gather it. And some they store for the use of the servants, bruising it and mixing it with groats, and packing it into vessels. And that which is preserved for freemen is treated in the same way, only that the stones are taken out, and then they pack that fruit also in jars, and eat it when they please. And it is a food very like the fig, and also like the palm-date, but superior in fragrance. And when it is moistened and pounded with water, a wine is made of it, very sweet and enjoyable to the taste, and like fine mead; and they drink it without water; but it will not keep more than ten days, on which account they only make it in small quantities as they want it. They also make vinegar of the same fruit.”
Φοίνικες. Ξενοφῶν μὲν ἐν β’ Ἀναβάσεώς φησιν ἐνῆν δὲ σῖτος πολὺς καὶ οἶνος φοινίκων καὶ ὄξος ἑψητὸν ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν, αὐταὶ δὲ αἱ βάλανοι τῶν φοινίκων οἵας μὲν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τοῖς οἰκέταις ἀπέκειντο· αἱ δὲ τοῖς δεσπόταις ἀποκείμεναι ἦσαν ἀπόλεκτοι, θαυμάσιοι· τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος, ἡ δὲ ὄψις ἠλέκτρου οὐδὲν διέφερεν τὰς δέ τινας ξηραίνοντες τραγήματα παρετίθεντο. καὶ ἦν παρὰ πότον ἡδὺ μέν, κεφαλαλγὲς δέ. Ἡρόδοτος δ’ ἐν τῇ αʹ περὶ Βαβυλῶνος λέγων φησίν εἰσὶ δ’ αὐτόθι φοίνικες πεφυκότες ἀνὰ πᾶν τὸ πεδίον, οἱ πλεῦνες αὐτῶν καρποφόροι, ἐκ τῶν καὶ σιτία καὶ οἶνον καὶ μέλι ποιέονται τοὺς συκέων τρόπον θεραπεύουσιν. τῶν γὰρ φοινίκων οὓς ἔρσενας καλέουσι, τούτων τὸν καρπὸν περιδέουσι τῇσι βαλανηφόροισι τῶν φοινίκων, ἵνα τε πεπαίνῃ σφιν ὁ ψὴν τὴν βάλανον ἐνδύνων καὶ μὴ ἀπορρείῃ ὁ καρπὸς τοῦ φοίνικος, ψῆνας γὰρ δὴ φορέουσιν ἐν τῷ καρπῷ οἱ ἔρσενες καθάπερ οἱ ὄλονθοι. τὰ παραπλήσια τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἡρόδοτον ἱστορεῖ περὶ τοῦ ἐν Λιβύῃ καλουμένου λωτοῦ αὐτόπτης γενόμενος ὁ Μεγαλοπολίτης Πολύβιος ἐν τῇ ι ` τῶν Ἱστοριῶν λέγων οὕτως· ἐστὶ δὲ τὸ δένδρον ὁ λωτὸς οὐ μέγα, τραχὺ δὲ καὶ ἀκανθῶδες, ἔχει δὲ φύλλον χλωρὸν παραπλήσιον τῇ ῥάμνῳ, μικρὸν βαθύτερον καὶ πλατύτερον. ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ὅμοιός ἐστιν καὶ τῇ χρόᾳ καὶ τῷ μεγέθει ταῖς λευκαῖς μυρτίσι ταῖς τετελειωμέναις, αὐξανόμενος δὲ τῷ μὲν χρώματι γίνεται φοινικοῦς, τῷ δὲ μεγέθει ταῖς γογγύλαις ἐλαίαις παραπλήσιος, πυρῆνα δὲ ἔχει τελέως μικρόν. ἐπὰν δὲ πεπανθῇ, συνάγουσι καὶ τὸν μὲν τοῖς οἰκέταις μετὰ χόνδρου κόψαντες σάττουσιν εἰς ἀγγεῖα, τὸν δὲ τοῖς ἐλευθέροις ἐξελόντες τὸν πυρῆνα συντιθέασιν ὡσαύτως καὶ σιτεύονται τοῦτον, ἐστὶ δὲ τὸ βρῶμα παραπλήσιον σύκῳ καὶ φοινικοβαλάνῳ, τῇ δὲ εὐωδίᾳ βέλτιον. γίνεται δὲ καὶ οἶνος ἐξ αὐτοῦ βρεχομένου καὶ τριβομένου δι’ ὕδατος, κατὰ μὲν τὴν γεῦσιν ἡδὺς καὶ ἀπολαυστικός, οἰνομέλιτι χρηστῷ παραπλήσιος, ᾧ χρῶνται χωρὶς ὕδατος· οὐ δύναται δὲ πλέον δέκα μένειν ἡμερῶν καὶ ποιοῦσι κατὰ βραχὺ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν. ποιοῦσι δὲ καὶ ὄξος ἐξ αὐτοῦ.
And Melanippides the Melian, in his Danaides, calls the fruit of the palm-tree by the name of φοίνιξ, mentioning them in this manner:—“They had the appearance of inhabitants of the shades below, not of human beings; nor had they voices like women; but they drove about in chariots with seats, through the woods and groves, just as wild beasts do, holding in their hands the sacred frankincense, and the fragrant dates (φοίνικας), and cassia, and the delicate perfumes of Syria.” And Aristotle, in his treatise on Plants, speaks thus:— “The dates (φοίνικες) without stones, which some call eunuchs and others ἀπύρηνοι..” Hellanicus has also called the fruit φοίνιξ, in his Journey to the Temple of Ammon, if at least. the book be a genuine one; and so has Phormus the comic poet, in his Atalantæ. But concerning those that are called the Nicolaan dates, which are imported from Syria, I can give you this information; that they received this name from Augustus the emperor, because he was exceedingly fond of the fruit, and because Nicolaus of Damascus, who was his friend, was constantly sending him presents of it. And this Nicolaus was a philosopher of the Peripatetic School, and wrote a very voluminous history.
Μελανιππίδης δ’ ὁ Μήλιος ἐν ταῖς Δαναίσιν φοίνικας τὸν καρπὸν οὕτως ὀνομάζει τὸν λόγον ποιούμενος περὶ αὐτῶν τῶν Δαναίδων· οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων φόρευν μορφᾶεν εἶδος, ὁ οὐδὲ τὰν αὐδὰν γυναικείαν ἔχον ἀλλ’ ἐν ἁρμάτεσσι διφρούχοις ἐγυμνάζοντ’ ἀν’ εὐήλι’ ἄλσεα πολλάκι θήραις φρένα τερπόμεναι, πολλάκι δὲ ἱερόδακρυν λίβανον εὐώδεις τε φοίνικας κασίαν τε ματεῦσαι, τέρενα Συρίας σπέρματα. καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τῷ περὶ Φυτῶν οὕτως· φοινίκων ἀνόρχων, οὕς τινες εὐνούχους καλοῦσιν, οἱ δ’ ἀπυρήνους. φοίνικα δὲ τὸν καρπὸν καὶ Ἑλλάνικος κέκληκεν ἐν τῇ εἰς Ἄμμωνος Ἀναβάσει, εἰ γνήσιον τὸ σύγγραμμα, καὶ Φόρμος ὁ κωμικὸς ἐν Ἀταλάνταις. περὶ δὲ τῶν Νικολάων καλουμένων φοινίκων τοσοῦτον ὑμῖν εἰπεῖν ἔχω τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Συρίας καταγομένων, ὅτι ταύτης τῆς προσηγορίας ἠξιώθησαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ αὐτοκράτορος σφόδρα χαίροντος τῷ βρώματι, Νικολάου τοῦ Δαμασκηνοῦ ἑταίρου ὄντος αὐτῷ καὶ πέμποντος φοίνικας συνεχῶς. τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ περιπάτου δ’ ὢν ὁ Νικόλαος καὶ ἱστορίαν συνέγραψεν, πολλήν.
Now with respect to dried figs. Those which came from Attica were always considered a great deal the best. Accordingly Dinon, in his History of Persia, says—“And they used to serve up at the royal table all the fruits which the earth produces as far as the king's dominions extend, being brought to him from every district as a sort of first-fruits. And the first king did not think it becoming for the kings either to eat or drink anything which came from any foreign country; and this idea gradually acquired the force of a law. For once, when one of the eunuchs brought the king, among the rest of the dishes at dessert, some Athenian dried figs, the king asked where they came from. And when he heard that they came from Athens, he forbade those who had bought them to buy them for him any more, until it should be in his power to take them whenever he chose, and not to buy them. And it is said that the eunuch did this on purpose, with a view to remind him of the expedition against Attica.” And Alexis, in his Pilot, says—Then came in figs, the emblem of fair Athens,And bunches of sweet thyme. And Lynceus, in his epistle to the comic poet, Posidippus, says—“In the delineation of the tragic passions, I do not think that Euripides is at all superior to Sophocles, but in dried figs, I do think that Attica is superior to every other country on earth.” And in his letter to Diagoras, he writes thus:—"But this country opposes to the Chelidonian dried figs those which are called Brigindaridæ, which in their name indeed are barbarous, but which in delicious flavour are not at all less Attic than the others. And Phœnicides, in his Hated Woman, says—They celebrate the praise of myrtle-berries,Of honey, of the Propylæa, and of figs;Now these I tasted when I first arrived,And saw the Propylæa; yet have I found nothingWhich to a woodcock can for taste compare.In which lines we must take notice of the mention of the woodcock. But Philemon, in his treatise on Attic Names, says that “the most excellent dried figs are those called Aegilides; and that Aegila is the name of a borough in Attica, which derives its name from a hero called Aegilus; but that the dried figs of a reddish black colour are called Chelidonians.” Theopompus also, in the Peace, praising the Tithrasian figs, speaks thus—Barley cakes, cheesecakes, and Tithrasian figs.But dried figs were so very much sought after by all men, (for really, as Aristophanes says—There's really nothing nicer than dried figs;)that even Amitrochates, the king of the Indians, wrote to Antiochus, entreating him (it is Hegesander who tells this story) to buy and send him some sweet wine, and some dried figs, and a sophist; and that Antiochus wrote to him in answer, "The dried figs and the sweet wine we will send you; but it is not lawful for a sophist to be sold in Greece. The Greeks were also in the habit of eating dried figs roasted, as Pherecrates proves by what he says in the Corianno, where we find—But pick me out some of those roasted figs.And a few lines later he says—Will you not bring me here some black dried figsDost understand? Among the Mariandyni,That barbarous tribe, they call these black dried figsTheir dishes.I am aware, too, that Pamphilus has mentioned a kind of dried figs, which he calls προκνίδες.
ἰσχάδες. σφόδρα τῶν ἰσχάδων ἐθαυμάζοντο αἱ Ἀττικαί. Δίνων γοῦν ἐν τοῖς Περσικοῖς φησιν παρετίθεντο δ’ ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης τῆς βασιλέως ὅσα ἡ γῆ βρώματα φέρει ἧς ἄρχει βασιλεύς, ἀφ᾽· ἑκάστου ὅσον ἀπαρχήν. ξενικῷ δὲ οὐδενὶ οὔτε βρώματι οὔτε ποτῷ ᾤετο δεῖν ὁ Ξέρξης τοὺς βασιλεῖς χρῆσθαι· ὅθεν καὶ νόμος τις ὕστερον ἐγένετο, εἰσενέγκαντος γάρ ποτε τῶν εὐνούχων τινὸς ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς τραγήμασιν ἰσχάδας Ἀττικάς, ἐρωτῆσαι ποταπαὶ εἶεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπύθετο ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν, τοὺς ἀγοραστὰς ἐκώλυεν ὠνεῖσθαι, ἕως ἂν ἐξουσία γένηται αὑτῷ λαμβάνειν ὅταν ἐθέλῃ καὶ μὴ ἀγοράζειν. λέγεται δὲ τὸν εὐνοῦχον ἐπίτηδες τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ἵνα αὐτὸν ὑπομνήσῃ τῆς ἐπὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας στρατείας. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Κυβερνήτῃ φησὶν εἰσέβαινον ἰσχάδες, τὸ παράσημον τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, καὶ θύμου δέσμαι τινές. Λυγκεὺς δὲ ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν κωμικὸν Ποσείδιππον ἐπιστολῇ ἐν τοῖς τραγικοῖς, φησίν, πάθεσιν Εὐριπίδην νομίζω Σοφοκλέους οὐδὲν διαφέρειν ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἰσχάσι τὰς Ἀττικὰς τῶν ἄλλων πολὺ προέχειν. κἀν τῇ πρὸς Διαγόραν δὲ Ἐπιστολῇ γράφει οὕτως· ἡ δὲ γῆ ταῖς μὲν χελιδονείοις ἰσχάσιν ἀντιπαρατιθεῖσα τὰς Βριγινδαρίδας καλουμένας, τῷ μὲν ὀνόματι βαρβαριζούσας, ταῖς δὲ ἡδοναῖς οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐκείνων ἀττικιζούσας. Φοινικίδης δ᾽· ἐν Μισουμένῃ φησὶν μύρτων λέγουσιν καὶ μέλιτος ἐγκώμια καὶ τῶν προπυλαίων καὶ τέταρτον ἰσχάδων. τούτων ἐγευσάμην καταπλεύσας εὐθέωσ—β. καὶ τῶν προπυλαίων; α. κοὐδὲν ἦν τούτων ὅλως πρὸς ἀτταγῆνα συμβαλεῖν τῶν βρωμάτων. ἐν τούτοις τηρητέον καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀτταγῆνος μνήμην. Φιλήμων δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν Ἀττικῶν Ὀνομάτων Αἰγιλίδας φησὶν εἶναι τὰς καλλίστας ἰσχάδας· Αἴγιλα δ’ εἶναι δῆμον τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἀπὸ Αἰγίλου τινὸς ἥρωος ὠνομασμένον χελιδονίας δὲ καλεῖσθαι τὰς ἐρυθρομελαίνας ἰσχάδας. Θεόπομπος δ’ Εἰρήνῃ τὰς Τειθρασίας ἐπαινῶν ἰσχάδας φησὶν οὕτως· μᾶζαι πλακοῦντες, ἰσχάδες Τειθράσιαι. οὕτω δὲ ἦσαν περισπούδαστοι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις αἱ ἰσχάδες ὄντως γὰρ κατὰ τὸν Ἀριστοφάνην οὐδὲν γὰρ ὄντως γλυκύτερον τῶν ἰσχάδων· ὡς καὶ Ἀμιτροχάτην τὸν τῶν Ἰνδῶν βασιλέα γράψαι Ἀντιόχῳ ἀξιοῦντα, φησὶν Ἡγήσανδρος, πέμψαι αὐτῷ γλυκὺν καὶ ἰσχάδας καὶ σοφιστὴν ἀγοράσαντα. καὶ τὸν Ἀντίοχον ἀντιγράψαι· ἰσχάδας μὲν καὶ γλυκὺν ἀποστελοῦμέν σοι, σοφιστὴν δ’ ἐν Ἕλλησιν οὐ νόμιμον πωλεῖσθαι. ὅτι δὲ καὶ πεφωσμένας ἰσχάδας ἤσθιον Φερεκράτης δείκνυσιν ἐν Κοριαννοῖ λέγων οὕτως· ἀλλ᾽ ἰσχάδας μοι πρόελε τῶν πεφωσμένων. καὶ μετ’ ὀλίγα δέ· οὐκ ἰσχάδας οἴσεις τῶν μελαινῶν; μανθάνεις, ἐν τοῖς Μαριανδυνοῖς ἐκείνοις βαρβάροις χύτρας καλοῦσι τὰς μελαίνας ἰσχάδας. οἶδα δὲ καὶ Πάμφιλον εἰρηκότα πρόκνιδας γένος ἰσχάδων.
That the word βότρυς is common for a bunch of grapes is known to every one; and Crates, in the second book of his Attic Dialect, uses the word σταφυλὴ, although it appears to be a word of Asiatic origin; saying that in some of the ancient hymns the word σταφυλὴ. is used for βότρυς, as in the following line:—Thick hanging with the dusky grapes (σταφυλῆσι) themselves. And that the word σταφυλὴ is used by Homer is known to every one. But Plato, in the eighth book of his Laws, uses both βότρυς and σταφυλὴ, where he says—“Whoever tastes wild fruit, whether it be grapes (βοτρύων) or figs, before the time of the vintage arrives, which falls at the time of the rising of Arcturus, whether it be on his own farm, or on any one else's land, shall be fined fifty sacred drachmas to be paid to Bacchus, if he plucked them off his own land; but a mina if he gather them on a neighbour's estate; but if he take them from any other place, two-thirds of a mina. But whoever chooses to gather the grapes (τὴν σταφυλὴν), which are now called the noble grapes, or the figs called the noble figs, if he gather them from his own trees, let him gather them as he pleases, and when he pleases; but if he gathers them from the trees of any one else without having obtained the leave of the owner, then, in accordance with the law which forbids any one to move what he has not placed, he shall be invariably punished.” These are the words of the divine Plato; but I ask now what is this noble grape (γενναῖα), and this noble fig that he speaks of? And you may all consider this point while I am discussing the other dishes which are on the table. And Masurius said—But let us not postpone this till to-morrow,Still less till the day after. When the philosopher says γενναῖα, he means εὐγενῆ,, gene- rous, as Archilochus also uses the word—Come hither, you are generous (γενναῖος);or, perhaps, he means ἐπιγεγενημένα; that is to say, grafted. For Aristotle speaks of grafted pears, and calls them ἐπεμβολάδες. And Demosthenes, in his speech in defence of Ctesiphon, has the sentence, “gathering figs, and grapes (βότρυς), and olives.” And Xenophon, in his (Economics, says, “that grapes (τὰς σταφυλὰς) are ripened by the sun.” And our ancestors also have been acquainted with the practice of steeping grapes in wine. Accordingly Eubulus, in his Catacollomenos, says—But take these grapes (βότρυς), and in neat wine pound them.And pour upon them many cups of water.Then make him eat them when well steep'd in wine.And the poet, who is the author of the Chiron, which is generally attributed to Pherecrates, says—Almonds and apples, and the arbutus first,And myrtle-berries, pastry, too, and grapesWell steep'd in wine; and marrow.And that every sort of autumn fruit was always plentiful at Athens, Aristophanes testifies in his Horæ. Why, then, should that appear strange which Aethlius the Samian asserts in the fifth book of his Samian Annals, where he says, “The fig, and the grape, and the medlar, and the apple, and the rose grow twice a-year?” And Lynceus, in his letter to Diagoras, praising the Nicostratian grape, which grows in Attica, and comparing it to the Rhodiacan, says, “As rivals of the Nicostratian grapes they grow the Hipponian grape; which after the month Hecatombæon (like a good servant) has constantly the same good disposition towards its masters.”
βότρυς δὲ ὅτι μὲν κοινὸν δῆλον. σταφυλῆς δὲ μέμνηται, καίτοι, δοκοῦντος τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἀσιαγενοῦς εἶναι, Κράτης ἐν δευτέρῳ Ἀττικῆς Διαλέκτου, ἐν τοῖς Ὕμνοις τοῖς ἀρχαίοις φάσκων ἀντὶ τοῦ βότρυος τὴν σταφυλὴν κεῖσθαι διὰ τούτων αὐτῇσι σταφυλῇσι μελαίνῃσιν κομόωντες, ὅτι δὲ καὶ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ ἐστὶν παντὶ δῆλον. Πλάτων δὲ ἐν ὀγδόῳ Νόμων καὶ βότρυς καὶ σταφυλὰς ὀνομάζει διὰ τούτων ὃς ἂν ἀγροίκου ὀπώρας γεύσηται, βοτρύων εἴτε καὶ σύκων, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὴν ὥραν τὴν τοῦ τρυγᾶν ἀρκτούρῳ σύνδρομον, εἴτ’ ἐν τοῖς αὑτοῦ χωρίοις εἴτε καὶ ἐν ἄλλων, ἱερὰς μὲν ν’ ὀφειλέτω τῷ Διονύσῳ δραχμάς, ἐὰν ἐκ τῶν αὑτοῦ δρέπῃ, ἐὰν δ’ ἐκ τῶν γειτόνων, μνᾶν, ἐὰν δ’ ἐξ ἄλλων, δύο μέρη τῆς μνᾶς. ὃς δ’ ἂν τὴν γενναίαν νῦν λεγομένην σταφυλὴν ἢ τὰ γενναῖα σῦκα ἐπονομαζόμενα ὀπωρίζειν βούληται, ἐὰν μὲν ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων λαμβάνῃ, ὅπως ἂν ἐθέλῃ καὶ ὁπόταν βούληται καρπούσθω, ἐὰν δ’ ἐξ ἄλλων μὴ πείσας, ἑπομένως τῷ νόμῳ τῷ μὴ κινεῖν ὅ τι μὴ κατέθετο, ἐκείνως αἰεὶ ζημιούσθω. ταῦτα μὲν ὁ θεῖος Πλάτων, ἐγὼ δὲ πάλιν ζητῶ τίς ἡ γενναία σταφυλὴ καί τίνα τὰ γενναῖα σῦκα, ὥρα οὖν ὑμῖν ζητεῖν, ἕως ἐγὼ περὶ τῶν ἑξῆς παρακειμένων διεξέλθω.” καὶ ὁ Μασσούριος ἔφη· μηδ’ ἀναβάλλεσθαι ἒς τ’ αὔριον ἒς τε ἔνηφι. γενναῖα λέγει τὰ εὐγενῆ ὁ φιλόσοφος, ὡς καὶ Ἀρχίλοχος· πάρελθε, γενναῖος γὰρ εἶς. ἢ τὰ ἐπιγεγεννημένα οἷον τὰ ἐπεμβεβλημένα. ᾽ὁ γὰρ Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ ἐπεμβολάδας ἀπίους ὀνομάζει τὰς ἐγκεκεντρισμένας. Δημοσθένης ἐν τῷ ὑπὲρ Κτησιφῶντος· σῦκα καὶ βότρυς καὶ ἐλαίας συλλέγων. Ξενοφῶν ἐν Οἰκονομικῷ· ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου γλυκαίνεσθαι τὰς σταφυλάς. οἴδασιν δὲ οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς ἐν οἴνῳ συντιθεμένους βότρυς. Εὔβουλος γοῦν ἐν Κατακολλωμένῳ φησὶν ἀλλὰ παραλαβὼν ἀκράτῳ κροῦε καὶ δίδου πυκνὰς καὶ βότρυς τρώγειν ἀνάγκαζ᾽· αὐτὸν ἐξ οἴνου συχνούς. ὁ δὲ τὸν Χείρωνα πεποιηκὼς τὸν εἰς Φερεκράτην ἀναφερόμενόν φησιν ἀμυγδάλας καὶ μῆλα καὶ μιμαίκυλα καὶ μύρτα καὶ σέλινα κἀξ οἴνου βότρυς καὶ μυελόν. ὅτι δ’ ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις διηνεκεῖς ἦσαν αἱ ὀπῶραι πᾶσαι, μαρτυρεῖ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Ὥραις. τί οὖν παράδοξον ἱστορεῖν δοκεῖ Ἀέθλιος ὁ Σάμιος ἐν πέμπτῳ Σαμίων Ὥρων λέγων; σῦκον καὶ σταφυλὴ καὶ ὁμομηλὶς καὶ μῆλα καὶ ῥόδα δὶς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐγίνετο. Λυγκεὺς δ’ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Διαγόραν Ἐπιστολῇ ἐπαινῶν τὸν κατὰ τὴν Ἀττικὴν γινόμενον Νικοστράτειον βότρυν καὶ ἀντιτιθεὶς αὐτῷ τοὺς Ῥοδιακούς φησιν· τῷ δ’ ἐκεῖ καλουμένῳ βότρυι Νικοστρατείῳ τὸν Ἱππώνειον ἀντεκτρέφουσι βότρυν, ὃς ἀπὸ Ἑκατομβαιῶνος μηνὸς ὥσπερ ἀγαθὸς οἰκέτης διαμένει τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχων εὔνοιαν.
But as you have had frequent discussions about meats, and birds, and pigeons, I also will tell you all that I, after a great deal of reading, have been able to find out in addition to what has been previously stated. Now the word περιστέριον (pigeon), may be found used by Menander in his Concubine, where he says—He waits a little while, and then runs upAnd says—“I've bought some pigeons (περιστέρια) for you.”And so Nicostratus, in his Delicate Woman, says—These are the things I want,—a little bird,And then a pigeon (περιστέριον) and a paunch.And Anaxandrides, in his Reciprocal Lover, has the line—For bringing in some pigeons (περιστέρια) and some sparrows.And Phrynichus, in his Tragedians, says—Bring him a pigeon (περιστέριον) for a threepenny piece. Now with respect to the pheasant, Ptolemy the king, in the twelfth book of his Memorabilia, speaking of the palace which there is at Alexandria, and of the animals which are kept in it, says, “They have also pheasants, which they call τέταροι, which they not only used to send for from Media, but they also used to put the eggs under broody hens, by which means they raised a number, so as to have enough for food; for they call it very excellent eating.” Now this is the expression of a most magnificent monarch, who confesses that he himself has never tasted a pheasant, but who used to keep these birds as a sort of treasure. But if he had ever seen such a sight as this, when, in addition to all those which have been already eaten, a pheasant is also placed before each individual, he would have added another book to the existing twenty-four of that celebrated history, which he calls his Memorabilia. And Aristotle or Theophrastus, in his Commentaries, says, “In pheasants, the male is not only as much superior to the female as is usually the case, but he is so in an infinitely greater degree.”
ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλάκις ὑμῖν εἴρηται περί τε κρεῶν καὶ ὀρνίθων καὶ περιστεριδίων, ἔρχομαι κἀγὼ λέξων ὅσα ἐκ πολυαναγνωσίας εὑρεῖν ἠδυνήθην παρὰ τὰ προειρημένα. περιστέριον οὕτως ἔστιν εὑρεῖν εἰρημένον παρὰ Μενάνδρῳ ἐν Παλλακῇ·μικρὸν ἐπιμείνας προστρέχει, ἠγόρακά σοι περιστέρια ταδί ὁ λέγων,ὁμοίως Νικόστρατος Ἅβρᾳ· ταῦτ’ ἀξιῶ· τοὐρνιθάριον, τὸ περιστέριον, τὸ γάστριον· Ἀναξανδρίδης ἐν Ἀντέρωτι· περιστέρια γὰρ εἰσάγων καὶ στρουθία. Φρύνιχος Τραγῳδοῖς· περιστέριον δ’ αὐτῷ τι λαβὲ τριωβόλου. Φασιανικός. Πτολεμαῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν τῷ δωδεκάτῳ τῶν Ὑπομνημάτων περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ βασιλείων λέγων καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ζῴων τρεφομένων φησίν τά τε τῶν φασιανῶν, οὓς τετάρους ὀνομάζουσιν οὓς οὐ μόνον ἐκ Μηδίας μετεπέμπετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ νομάδας ὄρνιθας ὑποβαλὼν ἐποίησε πλῆθος, ὥστε καὶ σιτεῖσθαι· τὸ γὰρ βρῶμα πολυτελὲς ἀποφαίνουσιν. αὕτη ἡ τοῦ λαμπροτάτου βασιλέως φωνή, ὃς οὐδὲ φασιανικοῦ ὄρνιθός ποτε γεύσασθαι ὡμολόγησεν, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ τι κειμήλιον ἀνακείμενον εἶχε τούσδε τοὺς ὄρνιθας, εἰ δὲ ἑωράκει ὡς ἡμῶν ἑκάστῳ εἷς ἐστι παρακείμενος χωρὶς τῶν ἤδη κατανηλωμένων, προσαναπεπληρώκει ἂν ταῖς πολυθρυλήτοις ἱστορίαις τῶν Ὑπομνημάτων τούτων τῶν εἰκοσιτεσσάρων καὶ ἄλλην μίαν. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἢ Θεόφραστος ἐν τοῖς Ὑπομνήμασι· τῶν φασιανῶν, φησίν, οὐ κατὰ λόγον ἡ ὑπεροχὴ τῶν ἀρρένων, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μείζων.
But if the before-mentioned king had seen the number of peacocks also which exists at Rome, he would have fled to his sacred Senate, as though he had a second time been driven out of his kingdom by his brother. For the multitude of these birds is so great at Rome, that Antiphanes the comic poet, in his Soldier or Tychon, may seem to have been inspired by the spirit of prophecy, when he said—When the first man imported to this cityA pair of peacocks, they were thought a rarity,But now they are more numerous than quails;So, if by searching you find one good man,He will be sure to have five worthless sons.And Alexis, in his Lamp, says—That he should have devour'd so vast a sum!Why if (by earth I swear) I fed on hares' milkAnd peacocks, I could never spend so much.And that they used to keep them tame in their houses, we learn from Strattis, in his Pausanias, where he says—Of equal value with your many trifles,And peacocks, which you breed up for their feathers.And Anaxandrides, in his Melilotus, says—Is 't not a mad idea to breed up peacocks,When every one can buy his private ornaments?And Anaxilaus, in his Bird Feeders, says—Besides all this, tame peacocks, loudly croaking.Menodotus the Samian also, in his treatise on the Treasures in the Temple of the Samian Juno, says: “The peacocks are sacred to Juno; and perhaps Samos may be the place where they were first produced and reared, and from thence it was that they were scattered abroad over foreign countries, in the same way as cocks were originally produced in Persia, and the birds called guinea-fowl (μελεαγρίδες) in Aeolia.” On which account Antiphanes, in his Brothers by the same Father, says—They say that in the city of the SunThe phœnix is produced; the owl in Athens;Cyprus breeds doves of admirable beauty:But Juno, queen of Samos, does, they say,Rear there a golden race of wondrous birds,The brilliant, beautiful, conspicuous peacock.On which account the peacock occurs on the coins of the Samians.
εἰ δ’ ὁ προειρημένος βασιλεὺς καὶ τὸ τῶν ταώνων πλῆθος ἑωράκει τῶν κατὰ τὴν ʽ Ῥώμην, καταπεφεύγει ἂν ἐπὶ τὴν ἱερὰν σύγκλητον, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ πάλιν τῆς βασιλείας ἐξεληλαμένος. τοσοῦτον γάρ ἐστι τούτων τῶν ὀρνίθων τὸ πλῆθος ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ ὡς δοκεῖν προμεμαντευμένον τὸν κωμῳδιοποιὸν Ἀντιφάνην ἐν Στρατιώτῃ ἢ Τύχωνι εἰρηκέναι τάδε· τῶν ταὧν μὲν ὡς ἅπαξ τις ζεῦγος ἤγαγεν μόνον, σπάνιον ὂν τὸ χρῆμα, πλείους εἰσὶ νῦν τῶν ὀρτύγων. χρηστὸν ἄνθρωπον δ’ ἐάν τις ἕνα μόνον ζητῶν ἴδῃ, ὄψετ’ ἐκ τούτου πονηροὺς πέντε παῖδας γεγονότας Ἄλεξις. δ’ ἐν Λαμπάδι· καταφαγεῖν αὐτὸς τοσοῦτ’ ἀργύριον. οὐδ’ εἰ γάλα λαγοῦ εἶχον, μὰ τὴν Γῆν, καὶ ταὧς κατήσθιον. ὅτι δὲ καὶ τιθασοὺς εἶχον αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις Στράττις παρίστησιν ἐν Παυσανίᾳ διὰ τούτων πολλῶν φλυάρων καὶ ταὧν ἀντάξια, οὓς βόσκεθ’ ὑμεῖς ἕνεκα τῶν ὠκυπτέρων, Ἀναξανδρίδης ἐν Μελιλώτῳ· οὐ μανικὸν ἐστ’ ἐν οἰκίᾳ τρέφειν ταὧς, ἐξὸν τοσουτουὶ δύ’ ἀγάλματ’ ἀγοράσαι; Ἀναξίλας Ὀρνιθοκόμοις· καὶ πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις τιθασὸς οἰμώζων ταὧς. Μηνόδοτος δ’ ὁ Σάμιος ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Σαμίας Ἥρας φησὶν οἱ ταοὶ ἱεροί εἰσι τῆς Ἥρας. καὶ μήποτε πρώτιστοι καὶ ἐγένοντο καὶ ἐτράφησαν ἐν Σάμῳ καὶ ἐντεῦθεν εἰς τοὺς ἔξω τόπους διεδόθησαν, ὡς καὶ οἱ ἀλεκτρυόνες ἐν τῇ Περσίδι καὶ αἱ καλούμεναι μελεαγρίδες ἐν τῇ Αἰτωλίᾳ. διὸ καὶ Ἀντιφάνης ἐν τοῖς Ὁμοπατρίοις φησὶν ἐν ʽ Ἡλίου μὲν φασι γίνεσθαι πόλει φοίνικας, ἐν Ἀθήναις δὲ γλαῦκας. ἡ Κύπρος ἔχει πελείας διαφόρους, ἡ δ’ ἐν Σάμῳ Ἥρα τὸ χρυσοῦν, φασίν, ὀρνίθων γένος, τοὺς καλλιμόρφους καὶ περιβλέπτους ταὧς. διόπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ νομίσματος τῶν Σαμίων ταὧς ἐστιν.
But since Menodotus has mentioned the guinea-fowl, we ourselves also will say something on that subject. Clytus the Milesian, a pupil of Aristotle, in the first book of his History of Miletus, writes thus concerning them—“All around the temple of the Virgin Goddess at Leros, there are birds called guinea-fowls. And the ground where they are bred is marshy. And this bird is very devoid of affection towards its young, and wholly disregards its offspring, so that the priests are forced to take care of them. And it is about the size of a very fine fowl of the common poultry, its head is small in proportion to its body, having but few feathers, but on the top it has a fleshy crest, hard and round, sticking up above the head like a peg, and of a wooden colour. And over the jaws, instead of a beard, they have a long piece of flesh, beginning at the mouth, redder than that of the common poultry; but of that which exists in the common poultry on the top of the beak, which some people call the beard, they are wholly destitute; so that their beak is mutilated in this respect. But its beak is sharper and larger than that of the common fowl; its neck is black, thicker and shorter than that of common poultry. And its whole body is spotted all over, the general colour being black, studded in every part with thick white spots something larger than lentil seeds. And these spots are ring-shaped, in the middle of patches of a darker hue than the rest of the plumage: so that these patches present a variegated kind of appearance, the black part having a sort of white tinge, and the white seeming a good deal darkened. And their wings are all over variegated with white, in serrated, wavy lines, parallel to each other. And their legs are destitute of spurs like those of the common hen. And the females are very like the males, on which account the sex of the guinea-fowls is hard to distinguish.” Now this is the account given of guinea-fowls by the Peripatetic philosopher.
ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν μελεαγρίδων Μηνόδοτος ἐμνήσθη, λέξομέν τι καὶ ἡμεῖς περὶ αὐτῶν. Κλύτος ὁ Μιλήσιος, Ἀριστοτέλους δὲ μαθητής, ἐν τῷ α᾽ περὶ Μιλήτου γράφει περὶ αὐτῶν οὕτως· περὶ δὲ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Παρθένου ἐν Λέρῳ εἰσὶν οἱ καλούμενοι ὄρνιθες μελεαγρίδες. ὁ δὲ τόπος ἐστὶν ἑλώδης ἐν ᾧ τρέφονται, ἐστὶ δὲ ἄστοργον πρὸς τὰ ἔκγονα τὸ ὄρνεον καὶ ὀλιγωρεῖ τῶν νεωτέρων ὥστε ἀνάγκη τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι αὐτῶν. ἔχει δὲ τὸ μὲν μέγεθος ὄρνιθος γενναίου, τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν μικρὰν πρὸς τὸ σῶμα καὶ ταύτην ψιλήν, ἐπ’ αὐτῆς δὲ λόφον σάρκινον, σκληρόν, στρογγύλον, ἐξέχοντα τῆς κεφαλῆς ὥσπερ πάτταλον, καὶ τὸ χρῶμα ξυλοειδῆ, πρὸς δὲ ταῖς γνάθοις ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος ἀρξαμένην ἀντὶ πώγωνος μακρὰν σάρκα καὶ ἐρυθροτέραν τῶν ὀρνίθων, τὴν δὲ τοῖς ὄρνισιν ἐπὶ τῷ ῥύγχει γινομένην, ἣν ἔνιοι πώγωνα καλοῦσιν, οὐκ ἔχει· διὸ καὶ ταύτῃ κολοβόν ἐστιν, ῥύγχος δὲ ὀξύτερον καὶ μεῖζον ἢ ὄρνις ἔχει. τράχηλος μέλας, παχύτερος καὶ βραχύτερος τῶν ὀρνίθων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἅπαν ποικίλον, μέλανος ὄντος τοῦ χρώματος ὅλου, πτίλοις λευκοῖς καὶ πυκνοῖς διειλημμένου οὐ μείζοσιν φακῶν, οὗτοι δ’ εἰσὶν ἐν ῥόμβοις οἱ κυκλίσκοι ἧσσον μέλασι τοῦ ὅλου χρώματος· διὸ καὶ ποικιλίαν τινὰ οἱ ῥόμβοι παρέχονται, τοῦ μὲν μέλανος ἔχοντες λευκότερον τὸ χρῶμα, τοῦ δὲ λευκοῦ πολὺ μελάντερον. τὸ δὲ κατὰ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐταῖς πεποίκιλται λευκῷ πριονώδεσιν σχήμασιν παρ’ ἄλληλα κειμένοις. σκέλη δὲ ἄκεντρα ὅμοια τοῖς ὀρνιθίοις. παραπλήσιαι δ’ εἰσὶν αἱ θήλειαι τοῖς ἄρρεσιν διὸ καὶ δυσδιάκριτόν ἐστι τὸ τῶν μελεαγρίδων γένος. τοσαῦτα καὶ ὁ περιπατητικὸς φιλόσοφος περὶ τῶν μελεαγρίδων ἱστόρησεν.