---
title: "The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί"
author: "Athenaeus"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 9 of 78
url: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/9/
cite: "Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί, section 9. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/9/"
---

# 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.

## 9. Book III · chapters 4–23

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/9/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/9/#p-N

[¶0] With respect to Cucumbers.—There is a proverb—
Eat the cucumber, O woman, and weave your cloak.
And Matron says, in his Parodies—
And I saw a cucumber, the son of the all-glorious Earth,
Lying among the herbs; and it was served up on nine tables.
And Laches says—
But, as when cucumber grows up in a dewy place,
Now the Attic writers always use the word σίκυον as a word of three syllables. But Alcæus uses it as a dissyllble, σίκυς; for he says, δάκῃ τῶν σικύων from the nominative σίκυς, a word like στάχυς, στάχυος. And Phrynichus uses the word σικύδιον as a diminutive, where he says—
εντραγεῖν σικύδιον, to eat a little cucumber.
“[From this point are the genuine words of Athenœus.] ”
I will send radishes and four cucumbers.
And Phrynichus too used the word σικύδιον as a diminutive, in his Monotropus; where he says, κἀντραγεῖν σικύδιον.

> Greek: σίκυος. παροιμία· σικυὸν τρώγουσα, γύναι, τὴν χλαῖναν ὕφαινε. Μάτρων ἐν παρῳδίαις· καὶ σικυὸν εἶδον, γαίης ἐρικυδέος υἱόν, κείμενον ἐν λαχάνοις· ὁ δ’ ἐπ’ ἐννέα κεῖτο τραπέζας. καὶ Λάχης· ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀέξηται σικυὸς δροσερῷ ἐνὶ χώρῳ. Ἀττικοὶ μὲν οὖν ἀεὶ τρισυλλάβως, Ἀλκαῖος δὲ δάκῃ, φησί, τῶν σικύων ἀπὸ εὐθείας τῆς σίκυς, ὡς στάχυς στάχυος. γ στελεόν, ῥαφανίδας …, σικυοὺς τέτταρας. σικύδιον δ’ ὑποκοριστικῶς εἴρηκε Φρύνιχος ἐν Μονοτρόπῳ· κἀντραγεῖν σικύδιον.

[¶1] But Theophrastus says that there are three kinds of cucumbers, the Lacedæmonian, the Scytalian, and the Bœotian; and that of these the Lacedæmonian, which is a watery one, is the best; and that the others do not contain water. “Cucumbers too,” says he, “contain a more agreeable and wholesome juice if the seed be steeped in milk or in mead before it is sown;” and he asserts in his book on the Causes of Plants, that they come up quicker if they are steeped either in water or milk before they are put in the ground. And Euthydemus says, in his treatise on Vegetables, that there is one kind of cucumber which is called δρακοντίας. But Demetrius Ixios states, in the first book of his treatise on Etymologies, that the name σίκυον is derived ἀπὸ τοῦ σεύεσθαι καὶ κιεῖν, from bursting forth and proceeding; for that it is a thing which spreads fast and wide. But Heraclides of Tarentum calls the cucumber ἡδύγαιον, which means growing in sweet earth, or making the earth sweet, in his Symposium. And Diocles of Carystos says that cucumber, if it is eaten with the sium in the first course, makes the eater uncomfortable; for that it gets into the head as the radish does; but that if it is eaten at the end of supper it causes no uncomfortable feelings, and is more digestible; and that when it is boiled it is moderately diuretic. But Diphilus says— “The cucumber being a cooling food is not very manageable, and is not easily digested or evacuated; besides that, it creates shuddering feelings and engenders bile, and is a great preventive against amatory feelings.” But cucumber grow in gardens at the time of full moon, and at that time they grow very visibly, as do the sea-urchins.

> Greek: Θεόφραστος δέ φησι σικυῶν τρία εἶναι γένη, Λακωνικόν, Σκυταλίαν, Βοιώτιον. καὶ τούτων τὸν μὲν Λακωνικὸν ὑδρευόμενον βελτίω γίνεσθαι, τοὺς δ’ ἄλλους ἀνύδρους. γίνονται δέ, φησί, καὶ εὐχυλότεροι οἱ σικυοί, ἐὰν τὸ σπέρμα ἐν γάλακτι βραχὲν σπαρῇ ἢ ἐν μελικράτῳ. ἱστορεῖ δὲ ταῦτα ἐν φυτικοῖς αἰτίοις· θᾶττον αὔξεσθαι, κἂν ἐν ὕδατι κἂν ἐν γάλακτι πρότερον ἢ εἰς τὴν γῆν κατατεθῆναι βραχῇ. Εὐθύδημος δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ λαχάνων εἶδος σικυῶν εἶναι τοὺς προσαγορευομένους δρακοντίας. ὠνομάσθαι δὲ σικυούς φησι Δημήτριος ὁ Ἰξίων ἐν πρώτῃ Ἐτυμολογουμένων ἀπὸ τοῦ σεύεσθαι καὶ κίειν ὁρμητικὸν γὰρ ὑπάρχειν. Ἡρακλείδης δ’ ὁ Ταραντῖνος ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ ἡδύγαιον καλεῖ τὸν σικυόν. Διοκλῆς δ’ ὁ Καρύστιος τὸν σικυόν φησι μετὰ σίων ἐν πρώτοις λαμβανόμενον ἐνοχλεῖν φέρεσθαι γὰρ ἄνω καθάπερ τὴν ῥάφανον τελευταῖον δὲ λαμβανόμενον ἀλυπότερον εἶναι καὶ εὐπεπτότερον ἑφθὸν δὲ καὶ διουρητικὸν μετρίως ὑπάρχειν. Δίφιλος δέ φησιν ὁ σικυὸς ψυκτικὸς ὑπάρχων δυσοικονόμητός ἐστι καὶ δυσυποβίβαστος, ἔτι δὲ φρικοποιὸς καὶ γεννητικὸς χολῆς ἀφροδισίων τε ἐφεκτικός. αὔξονται δ’ ἐν τοῖς κήποις οἱ σικυοὶ κατὰ τὰς πανσελήνους καὶ φανερὰν ἴσχουσι τὴν ἐπίδοσιν, καθάπερ καὶ οἱ θαλάττιοι ἐχῖνοι.

[¶2] With respect to Figs.-The fig-tree, says Magnus, (for I will not allow any one to take what I have to say about figs out of my mouth, not if I were to be hanged for it, for I am most devilishly fond of figs, and I will say what occurs to me;) "the fig-tree, my friends, was the guide to men to lead them to a more civilized life. And this is plain from the fact that the Athenians call the place where it was first discovered The Sacred Fig; and the fruit from it they call hegeteria, that is to say, “the guide,” because that was the first to be discovered of all the fruits now in cultivation. Now there are many species of figs;—there is the Attic sort, which Antiphanes speaks of in his Synonymes; and when he is praising the land of Attica, he says—
A. What fruits this land produces!
Superior, O Hipponicus, to the world.
What honey, what bread, what figs!
Hipp. It does, by Jove!
Bear wondrous figs.
And Isistrus, in his “Attics,” says that it was forbidden to export out of Attica the figs which grew in that country, in order that the inhabitants might have the exclusive enjoyment of them. And as many people were detected in sending them away surreptitiously, those who laid informations against them before the judges were then first called sycophants. And Alexis says, in his “The Poet”—
The name of sycophant is one which does
Of right apply to every wicked person;
For figs when added to a name might show
Whether the man was good and just and pleasant
But now when a sweet name is given a rogue,
It makes us doubt why this should be the case.
And Philomnestus, in his treatise on the Festival of Apollo at Rhodes, which is called the Sminthian festival, says—"Since the sycophant got his name from these circumstance, because at that time there were fines and taxes imposed upon figs and oil and wine, by the produce of which imposts they found money for the public expenses; they called those who exacted these fines and laid these informations sycophants, which was very natural, selecting those who were accounted the most considerable of the citizens.

> Greek: σῦκα. ἡ συκῆ, φησὶν ὁ Μάγνος·
οὐδενὶ γὰρ τῶν περὶ σύκων λόγων παραχωρήσαιμι ἄν, κἂν ἀπὸ κράδης ἀποκρέμασθαι δέῃ· φιλόσυκος γάρ εἰμι δαιμονίως· λέξω τά μοι προσπίπτοντα—ἡ συκῆ, ἄνδρες φίλοι, ἡγεμὼν τοῦ καθαρείου βίου τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐγένετο. δῆλον δὲ τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ καλεῖν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἱερὰν μὲν συκῆν τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ πρῶτον εὑρέθη, τὸν δ’ ἀπ’ αὐτῆς καρπὸν ἡγητηρίαν διὰ τὸ πρῶτον εὑρεθῆναι τῆς ἡμέρου τροφῆς, τῶν δὲ σύκων ἐστὶ γένη πλείονα. Ἀττικὸν μέν, οὗ μνημονεύει Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Ὁμωνύμοις· ἐπαινῶν δὲ τὴν χώραν τὴν Ἀττικὴν τάδε λέγει· οἷα δ’ ἡ χώρα φέρει διαφέροντα πάσης, Ἱππόνικε, τῆς οἰκουμένης, τὸ μέλι, τοὺς ἄρτους, τὰ σῦκα. β. σῦκα μέν, νὴ τὸν Δία, πάνυ φέρει. Ἴστρος δ’ ἐν τοῖς Ἀττικοῖς οὐδ’ ἐξάγεσθαί φησι τῆς Ἀττικῆς τὰς ἀπ’ αὐτῶν γινομένας ἰσχάδας, ἵνα μόνοι ἀπολαύοιεν οἱ κατοικοῦντες· καὶ ἐπεὶ πολλοὶ ἐνεφανίζοντο διακλέπτοντες, οἱ τούτους μηνύοντες τοῖς δικασταῖς ἐκλήθησαν τότε πρῶτον συκοφάνται. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Ποιητῇ φησιν ὁ συκοφάντης οὐ δικαίως τοὔνομα ἐν τοῖσι μοχθηροῖσίν ἐστι κείμενον. ἔδει γὰρ ὅστις χρηστὸς ἦν ἡδύς τ’ ἀνήρ, τὰ σῦκα προστεθέντα δηλοῦν τὸν τρόπον νυνὶ δὲ πρὸς μοχθηρὸν ἡδὺ προστεθὲν ἀπορεῖν πεποίηκε διὰ τί τοῦθ’ οὕτως ἔχει. Φιλόμνηστος δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν Ῥόδῳ Σμινθείων φησίν ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ συκοφάντης ἐντεῦθεν προσηγορεύθη, διὰ τὸ εἶναι τότε τὰ ἐπιζήμια καὶ τὰς εἰσφορὰς σῦκα καὶ οἶνον καὶ ἔλαιον, ἀφ’ ὧν τὰ κοινὰ διῴκουν, καὶ τοὺς ταῦτα εἰσπράττοντας καὶ φαίνοντας ἐκάλουν, ὡς ἔοικε, συκοφάντας, αἱρούμενοι τοὺς ἀξιοπιστοτάτους τῶν πολιτῶν.

[¶3] And Aristophanes mentions the fig, in his “Farmers;” speaking as follows:—
I am planting figs of all sorts except the Lacedæmonian,
For this kind is the fig of an enemy and a tyrant:
And it would not have been so small a fruit if it had not been a great hater of the people.
But he called it small because it was not a large plant. But Alexis, in his “Olynthian,” mentioning the Phrygian figs, says—
And the beautiful fig,
The wonderful invention of the Phrygian fig,
The diine object of my mother's care.
And of those figs which are called φιβάλεοι, mention is made by many of the comic writers; and Pherecrates, in his “Crapatalli,” says—
O my good friend, make haste and catch a fever,
And then alarm yourself with no anxiety,
But eat Phibalean figs all the summer;
And then, when you have eaten your fill, sleep the whole of the midday;
And then feel violent pains, get in a fever, and holloa.
And Teleclides, in his Amphictyons, says—
How beautiful those Phibalean figs are!
They also call myrtle-berries Phibalean. As Antiphanes does in his “Cretans”—..... But first of all
I want some myrtle-berries on the table,
Which I may eat when e'er I counsel take;
And they must be Phibalean, very fine,
Fit for a garland.
Epigenes too mentions Chelidonian figs, that is, figs fit for swallows, in his Bacchea—
Then, in a little while, a well-fill'd basket
Of dry Chelidonian figs is brought in.
And Androtion, or Philippus, or Hegemon, in the Book of the Farm, gives a list of these kinds of figs, saying—"In the plain it is desirable to plant specimens of the Chelidonian fig, of the fig called Erinean, of the Leukerinean, and of the Phibalean; but plant the Oporobasilis, the queen of autumn, everywhere; for each kind has some useful qualities; and, above all, the pollarded trees, and the phormynian, and the double bearers, and the Megarian, and the Lacedæmonian kinds are desirable, if there is plenty of water.

> Greek: Λακωνικοῦ δὲ σύκου μνημονεύει ἐν Γεωργοῖς Ἀριστοφάνης ταδὶ λέγων συκᾶς φυτεύω, πάντα πλὴν Λακωνικῆς· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ σῦκον ἐχθρόν ἐστι καὶ τυραννικόν. οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἂν μικρόν, εἰ μὴ μισόδημον ἦν σφόδρα, μικρὸν δὲ αὐτὸ εἶπε διὰ τὸ μὴ μέγα εἶναι φυτόν. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Ὀλυνθίῳ Φρυγίων σύκων μνημονεύων φησί τό τε θειοφανὲς μητρῷον ἐμοὶ μελέδημ’ ἰσχάς, Φρυγίας εὑρήματα συκῆς. τῶν δὲ καλουμένων φιβάλεων σύκων πολλοὶ μὲν μέμνηνται τῶν κωμῳδιοποιῶν ἀτὰρ καὶ Φερεκράτης ἐν Κραπατάλλοις· ὦ δαιμόνιε, πύρεττε μηδὲν φροντίσας καὶ τῶν φιβάλεων τρῶγε σύκων τοῦ θέρους κἀμπιμπλάμενος κάθευδε τῆς μεσημβρίας· κᾆτα σφακέλιζε καὶ πέπρησο καὶ βόα. Τηλεκλείδης δ’ ἐν Ἀμφικτύοσι· ὡς καλοὶ καὶ φιβάλεῳ. καὶ τὰς μυρρίνας δὲ φιβαλέας λέγουσιν, ὡς Ἀπολλοφάνης ἐν Κρησί· πρώτιστα δὲ τῶν μυρρινῶν ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν βούλομαι, ἃς διαμασῶμ’ ὅταν τι βουλεύειν δέῃ, τὰς φιβάλεως δὲ πάνυ καλὰς στεφανωτρίδας … χελιδονείων δὲ σύκων μνημονεύει Ἐπιγένης ἐν Βακχίῳ, εἶτ’ ἔρχεται χελιδονείων μετ’ ὀλίγον σκληρῶν ἁδρὸς πινακίσκος. Ἀνδροτίων δὲ ἢ Φίλιππος ἢ ʽ Ἡγήμων ἐν τῷ Γεωργικῷ γένη συκῶν τάδε ἀναγράφει οὕτως· ἐν μὲν οὖν τῷ πεδίῳ φυτεύειν χρὴ χελιδόνεων, ἐρινεών, λευκερινεών, φιβάλεων ὀπωροβασιλίδας δὲ πανταχοῦ, ἔχει γάρ τι χρήσιμον ἕκαστον τὸ γένος· ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ πλεῖστον αἱ κόλουροι καὶ φορμύνιοι καὶ δίφοροι καὶ Μεγαρικαὶ καὶ Λακωνικαὶ συμφέρουσιν, ἐὰν ἔχωσιν ὕδωρ.

[¶4] Lynceus, too, mentions the fig-trees which grow in Rhodes, in his Epistles; instituting a comparison between the best of the Athenian kinds and the Rhodian species. And he writes in these terms:—“But these fig-trees appear to vie with Lacedæmonian trees of the same kind, as mulberries do with figs; and they are put on the table before supper, not after supper as they are here, when the taste is already vitiated by satiety, but while the appetite is still uninfluenced and unappeased.” And if Lynceus had tasted the figs which in the beautiful Rome are called καλλιστρούθια, as I have, he would have been by far more long-sighted than ever his namesake was. So very far superior are those figs to all the other figs in the whole world. Other kinds of figs grown near Rome are held in high esteem; and those called the Chian figs, and the Libianian; those two named the Chalcidic, and the African figs; as Herodotus the Lycian bears witness, in his treatise on Figs.

> Greek: τῶν δὲ ἐν Ῥόδῳ γινομένων σύκων μνημονεύει Λυγκεὺς ἐν ἐπιστολαῖς σύγκρισιν ποιούμενος τῶν Ἀθήνησι γινομένων καλλίστων πρὸς τὰ Ῥοδιακά. γράφει δὲ οὕτως· τὰ δὲ ἐρινεὰ τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς ὥστε συκάμινα σύκοις δοκεῖν ἐρίζειν. καὶ ταῦτ’ οὐκ ἀπὸ δείπνου καθάπερ ἐκεῖ διεστραμμένης ἤδη διὰ τὴν πλησμονὴν τῆς γεύσεως, ἀλλ’ ἀθίκτου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας οὔσης πρὸ δείπνου παρατέθεικα. τῶν δ’ ἐν τῇ καλῇ Ῥώμῃ καλλιστρουθίων καλουμένων σύκων εἰ ὁ Λυγκεὺς ἐγεύσατο ὥσπερ ἐγώ, ὀξυωπέστερος ἂν ἐγεγόνει παρὰ πολὺ τοῦ ὁμωνύμου· τοσαύτην ὑπεροχὴν ἔχει ταῦτα τὰ σῦκα πρὸς τὰ ἐν τῇ πάσῃ οἰκουμένῃ γινόμενα, ἐπαινεῖται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα. σύκων γένη κατὰ τὴν Ῥώμην γινομένων, τά τε καλούμενα Χῖα καὶ τὰ Λιβιανά, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ Χαλκιδικὰ ὀνομαζόμενα καὶ τὰ Ἀφρικανά, ὡς καὶ Ἡρόδοτος ὁ Λύκιος μαρτυρεῖ ἐν τῷ περὶ σύκων συγγράμματι.

[¶5] But Parmeno the Byzantine, in his Iambics, speaks of the figs which come from Canæ, an Aeolian city, as the best of all: saying—
I am arrived after a long voyage, not having brought
A valuable freight of Canæan figs.
And that the figs from Caunus, a city of Caria, are much praised, is known to all the world. There is another sort of fig, called the Oxalian, which Heracleon the Ephesian makes mention of, and Nicander of Thyatira, quoting what is mentioned by Apollodorus of Carystus, in his play, called the Dress-seller with a Dowry;" where he says—
Moreover, all the wine
Was very sour and thin, so that I felt
Ashamed to see it; for all other farms
In the adjacent region bear the figs
Ycleped Oxalian; and mine bears vines.
Figs also grow in the island of Paros, (for those which are called by the Parians αἱμώνια are a different fig from the common one, and are not what I am alluding to here; for the αἱμώνια are the same with those which are called Lydian figs; and they have obtained this name on account of their red colour, since αἷμα means blood, and they are mentioned by Archilochus, who speaks in this manner:—
Never mind Paros, and the figs which grow
Within that marble island, and the life
Of its seafaring islanders.
But these figs are as far superior to the ordinary run of figs which are grown in other places as the meat of the wild boar is superior to that of all other animals of the swine tribe which are not wild.

> Greek: Παρμένων δ’ ὁ Βυζάντιος ἐν τοῖς ἰάμβοις τὰ ἀπὸ Κανῶν τῆς Αἰολικῆς πόλεως ὡς διάφορα ἐπαινῶν φησιν· ἦλθον μακρὴν θάλασσαν οὐκ ἄγων σῦκα Καναῖα φόρτον. ὅτι δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ Καύνου τῆς Καρίας ἐπαινεῖται κοινόν. ὀξαλείων δὲ σύκων οὕτως καλουμένων μνημονεύει Ἡρακλέων ὁ Ἐφέσιος καὶ Νίκανδρος ὁ Θυατειρηνὸς παρατιθέμενοι Ἀπολλοδώρου τοῦ Καρυστίου ἐκ δράματος Προικιζομένης ἱματιοπώλιδος τάδε· πλὴν τὸ γ’ οἰνάριον πάνυ ἦν ὀξὺ καὶ πονηρόν, ὥστ’ ᾐσχυνόμην. τὰ λοιπὰ μὲν γὰρ ὀξαλείους χωρία συκᾶς φέρει, τοὐμὸν δὲ καὶ τὰς ἀμπέλους. τῶν δ’ ἐν Πάρῳ τῇ νήσῳ—διάφορα γὰρ κἀνταῦθα γίνεται σῦκα τὰ καλούμενα παρὰ τοῖς Παρίοις αἱμώνια, ταὐτὰ ὄντα τοῖς Λυδίοις καλουμένοις, ἅπερ διὰ τὸ ἐρυθρῶδες καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης ἔτυχεν Ἀρχίλοχος μνημονεύει λέγων οὕτως· ἔα Πάρον καὶ σῦκα κεῖνα καὶ θαλάσσιον βίον. τὰ δὲ σῦκα ταῦτα τοσαύτην ἔχει παραλλαγὴν πρὸς τὰ ἀλλαχοῦ γινόμενα ὡς τὸ τοῦ ἀγρίου σῦκα κρέας πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα, τὰ μὴ τῶν ἀγρίων χοίρων κρέα.

[¶6] The λευκερινεὸς is a kind of fig-tree; and perhaps it is that kind which produces the white figs; Hermippus mentions it in his Iambics, in these terms—
There are besides the Leucerinean figs.
And the figs called ἐρινεοὶ, or ἐρινοῖ, are mentioned by Euripides in his “Sciron”—
Or else to fasten him on the erinean boughs.
And Epicharmus says, in his Sphinx,—
But these are not like the erinean figs.
And Sophocles, in his play entitled “The Wedding of Helen,” by a sort of metaphor, calls the fruit itself by the name of the tree; saying—
A ripe ἐρινὸς is a useless thing
For food, and yet you ripen others by
Your conversation.
And he uses the masculine gender here, saying πέπων ἔρινος, instead of πέπον ἔρινον. Alexis also says in his “Caldron”—
And why now need we speak of people who
Sell every day their figs in close pack'd baskets,
And constantly do place those figs below
Which are hard and bad; but on top they range
The ripe and beautiful fruit. And then a comrade,
As if he'd bought the basket, gives the price;
The seller, putting in his mouth the coin,
Sells wild figs (ἔρινα) while he swears he's selling good ones.
Now the tree, the wild fig, from which the fruit meant by the term ἔρινα comes, is called ἐρινὸς, being a masculine noun. Strattis says, in his Troilus—
Have you not perceived a wild fig-tree near her?
And Homer says—
There stands a large wild fig-tree flourishing with leaves.
And Amerias says, that the figs on the wild fig-trees are called ἐρίνακαι.

> Greek: λευκερινεὼς δέ τι εἶδός ἐστι συκῆς, καὶ ἴσως αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ τὰ λευκὰ σῦκα φέρουσα, μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτῆς Ἕρμιππος ἐν Ἰάμβοις οὕτως τὰς λευκερινεὼς δὲ χωρὶς ἰσχάδας. τῶν δ’ ἐρινῶν σύκων Εὐριπίδης ἐν Σκίρωνι· ἢ προσπηγνύναι κράδαις ἐριναῖς. καὶ Ἐπίχαρμος ἐν Σφιγγί· ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὅμοιὰ γ’ ἐρινοῖς οὐδαμῶς. Σοφοκλῆς δ’ ἐν Ἑλένης Γάμῳ τροπικῶς τῷ τοῦ δένδρου ὀνόματι τὸν καρπὸν ἐκάλεσεν εἰπών πέπων ἐρινὸς … ἀχρεῖος ὢν ἐς βρῶσιν ἄλλους ἐξερινάζεις λόγῳ. πέπων δ’ ἐρινὸς εἴρηκεν ἀντὶ τοῦ πέπον ἐρινόν. καὶ Ἄλεξις ἐν Λέβητι· καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν ἔθ’ ἡμᾶς τοὺς τὰ σῦχ’ ἑκάστοτε ἐν τοῖς συρίχοις πωλοῦντας; οἳ κάτωθε μὲν τὰ σκληρὰ καὶ μοχθηρὰ τῶν σύκων ἀεὶ τιθέασιν, ἐπιπολῆς δὲ πέπονα καὶ καλά. εἶθ’ ὁ μὲν ἔδωκεν ὡς τοιαῦτ’ ὠνούμενος τιμήν, ὁ δ’ ἐγκάψας τὸ κέρμ’ εἰς τὴν γνάθον ἐρίν’ ἀπέδοτο σῦκα πωλεῖν ὀμνύων, τὸ δὲ δένδρον ἡ ἀγρία συκῆ, ἐξ ἧς τὰ ἐρινά, ἐρινὸς κατὰ τὸ ἄρρεν λέγεται. Στράττις Τρωίλῳ· ἐρινὸν οὖν τιν’ αὐτῆς πλησίον νενόηκας ὄντα; καὶ Ὅμηρος· τῷ δ’ ἐν ἐρινεός ἐστι μέγας φύλλοισι τεθηλώς. Ἀμερίας δ’ ἐρινάδας καλεῖσθαι τοὺς ὀλόνθους.

[¶7] Hermonax, in his book on the Cretan Languages, gives a catalogue of the different kinds of figs, and speaks of some as ἁμάδεα and as νικύλεα; and Philemon, in his book on Attic Dialects, says, that some figs are called royals, from which also the dried figs are called βασιλίδες, or royal; stating besides, that the ripe figs are called κόλυτρα. Seleucus, too, in his Book on Dialects, says that there is a fruit called γλυκυσίδη, being exceedingly like a fig in shape: and that women guard against eating them, because of their evil effects; as also Plato the comic writer says, in his Cleophon. And Pamphilus says, that the winter figs are called Cydonæa by the Achæans, saying, that Aristophanes said the very same thing in his Lacedæmonian Dialects. Hermippus, in his Soldiers, says that there is a kind of fig called Coracean, using these words—
Either Phibalean figs, or Coracean.
Theophrastus, in the second book of his treatise on Plants, says that there is a sort of fig called Charitian Aratean. And in his third book he says, that in the district around the Trojan Ida, there is a sort of fig growing in a low bush, having a leaf like that of the linden-tree; and that it bears red figs, about the size of an olive, but rounder, and in its taste like a medlar. And concerning the fig which is called in Crete the Cyprian fig, the same Theophrastus, in his fourth book of his History of Plants, writes as follows:— "The fig called in Crete the Cyprian fig, bears fruit from its stalk, and from its stoutest branches; and it sends forth a small leafless shoot, like a little root, attached to which is the fruit. The trunk is large, and very like that of the white poplar, and its leaf is like that of the elm. And it produces four fruits, according to the number of the shoots which it puts forth. Its sweetness resembles that of the common fig; and within it resembles the wild fig: but in size it is about equal to the cuckoo-apple.

> Greek: Ἑρμῶναξ δ’ ἐν Γλώτταις Κρητικαῖς σύκων γένη ἀναγράφει ἁμάδεα καὶ νικύλεα. Φιλήμων δ’ ἐν Ἀττικαῖς λέξεσι καλεῖσθαι φησί τινα σῦκα βασίλεια, ἀφ’ ὧν καλεῖσθαι καὶ τὰς βασιλίδας ἰσχάδας, προσιστορῶν ὅτι κόλυθρα καλεῖται τὰ πέπονα σῦκα. Σέλευκος δ’ ἐν ταῖς Γλώσσαις καὶ γλυκυσίδην τινὰ καλεῖσθαί φησι σύκῳ τὴν μορφὴν μάλιστα ἐοικυῖαν, φυλάσσεσθαι δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας ἐσθίειν διὰ τὸ ποιεῖν ματαισμούς, ὡς καὶ Πλάτων ὁ κωμῳδιοποιός φησιν ἐν Κλεοφῶντι. τὰ δὲ χειμερινὰ σῦκα Πάμφιλος καλεῖσθαί φησιν κωδωναῖα ὑπὸ Ἀχαιῶν, τοῦτο λέγων Ἀριστοφάνην εἰρηκέναι ἐν Λακωνικαῖς Γλώσσαις. κοράκεων δὲ σύκων εἶδος Ἕρμιππος ἐν Στρατιώταις παραδίδωσι διὰ τούτων τῶν φιβάλεων μάλιστ’ ἂν ἢ τῶν κοράκεων. Θεόφραστος δ’ ἐν δευτέρω φυτῶν ἱστορίας συκῶν φησι γένος τοιοῦτόν τι εἶναι οἷον ἡ Ἀράτειος καλουμένη, ἐν δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ περὶ τὴν Τρωικήν φησιν Ἴδην γίνεσθαι συκῆν θαμνώδη, φύλλον ὅμοιον ἔχουσαν τῷ τῆς φιλύρας·
φέρειν δὲ σῦκα ἐρυθρὰ ἡλίκα ἐλαία τὸ μέγεθος, στρογγυλώτερα δέ, εἶναι δὲ τὴν γεῦσιν μεσπιλώδη. περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐν Κρήτῃ καλουμένης Κυπρίας συκῆς ὁ αὐτὸς Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῆς φυτικῆς ἱστορίας τάδε γράφει ἡ ἐν Κρήτῃ καλουμένη Κυπρία συκῆ φέρει τὸν καρπὸν ἐκ τοῦ στελέχους καὶ τῶν παχυτάτων ἀκρεμόνων, βλαστὸν δέ τινα ἀφίησι μικρὸν ἄφυλλον ὥσπερ ῥίζιον, πρὸς ᾧ ὁ καρπός, τὸ δὲ στέλεχος μέγα καὶ παρόμοιον τῇ λεύκῃ, φύλλον δὲ τῇ πτελέᾳ. πεπαίνει δὲ τέτταρας καρπούς, ὅσαιπερ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ βλαστήσεις, ἡ δὲ γλυκύτης προσεμφερὴς τῷ σύκῳ καὶ τὰ ἔσωθεν τοῖς ἐρινοῖς· μέγεθος δὲ ἡλίκον κοκκύμηλον.

[¶8] Again, of the figs called prodromi, or precocious the same Theophrastus makes mention in the third book of his Causes of Plants, in this way—“When a warm and damp and soft air comes to the fig-tree, then it excites the germination, from which the figs are called prodromi.” And proceeding further, he says—“And again, some trees bear the prodromi, namely, the Lacedæmonian fig-tree, and the leucomphaliac, and several others; but some do not bear them.” But Seleucus, in his book on Languages, says that there is a kind of fig called προτερικὴ, which bears very early fruit. And Aristophanes, in his Ecclesiazusæ, speaks of a double-bearing fig-tree—
Take for a while the fig-tree's leaves
Which bears its crop twice in the year.
And Antiphanes says, in his Scleriæ—
'Tis by the double-bearing fig-tree there below.
But Theopompus, in the fifty-fourth book of his Histories, says—“At the time when Philip reigned about the territory of the Bisaltæ, and Amphipolis and Græstonia of Macedon, when it was the middle of spring, the fig-trees were loaded with figs, and the vines with bunches of grapes, and the olive-trees, though it was only the season for them to be just pushing, were full of olives. And Philip was successful in all his undertakings.” But in the second book of his treatise on Plants, Theophrastus says that the wild fig also is double-bearing; and some say that it bears even three crops in the year, as for instance, at Ceos.

> Greek: τῶν δὲ προδρόμων καλουμένων σύκων ὁ αὐτὸς Θεόφραστος μνημονεύει ἐν ε φυτικῶν αἰτίων οὕτως· τῇ συκῇ ὅταν ἀὴρ ἐπιγένηται μαλακὸς καὶ ὑγρὸς καὶ θερμός, ἐξεκαλέσατο τὴν βλάστησιν ὅθεν καὶ οἱ πρόδρομοι. καὶ προελθὼν τάδε λέγει· πάλιν δὲ τοὺς προδρόμους αἱ μὲν φέρουσιν, ἥ τε Λακωνικὴ καὶ ἡ λευκομφάλιος καὶ ἕτεραι πλείους, αἱ δ’ οὐ φέρουσι. Σέλευκος δ’ ἐν Γλώσσαις πρῳτερικήν φησι καλεῖσθαι γένος τι συκῆς, ἥτις φέρει πρώιον τὸν καρπόν. διφόρου δὲ συκῆς μνημονεύει καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Ἐκκλησιαζούσαις· ὑμᾶς δὲ τέως θρῖα λαβόντας διφόρου συκῆς. καὶ Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Σκληρίαις· ἔστι γὰρ παρ’ αὐτὴν τὴν δίφορον συκῆν κάτω. ὁ Θεόπομπος δὲ ἐν τῇ πεντηκοστῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν κατὰ τὴν Φιλίππου φησὶν ἀρχὴν περὶ τὴν Βισαλτίαν καὶ Ἀμφίπολιν καὶ Γραστωνίαν τῆς Μακεδονίας ἔαρος μεσοῦντος τὰς μὲν συκᾶς σῦκα, τὰς δ’ ἀμπέλους βότρυς, τὰς δ’ ἐλαίας ἐν ᾧ χρόνῳ βρύειν εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτὰς ἐλαίας ἐνεγκεῖν, καὶ εὐτυχῆσαι πάντα Φίλιππον. ἐν δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ περὶ φυτῶν ὁ Θεόφραστος καὶ τὸν ἐρινεὸν εἶναί φησι δίφορον οἱ δὲ καὶ τρίφορον, ὥσπερ ἐν Κέῳ.

[¶9] Theophrastus also says, that the fig-tree if planted among squills grows up faster, and is not so liable to be destroyed by worms: and, in fact, that everything which is planted among squills both grows faster and is more sure to be vigorous. And in a subsequent passage Theophrastus says, in the second book of his Causes—“The fig called the Indian fig, though it is a tree of a wonderful size, bears a very small fruit; and not much of it; as if it had expended all its strength in making wood.” And in the second book of his History of Plants, the philosopher says—“There is also another kind of fig in Greece, and in Cilicia and Cyprus, which bears green figs; and that tree bears a real fig, σῦκον, in front of the leaf, and a green fig, ὄλυνθος, behind the leaf. And these green figs grow wholly on the wood which is a year old, and not on the new wood.” And this kind of fig-tree produces the green fig ripe and sweet, very different from the green fig which we have; and it grows to a much greater size than the genuine fig. And the time when it is in season is not long after the tree has made its wood. And I know, too, that there are many other names of fig-trees; there are the Royal, and the Fig Royal, and the Cirrocæladian, and the Hyladian, and the Deerflesh, and the Lapyrian, and the Subbitter, and the Dragon-headed, and the White-faced, and the lack-faced, and the Fountain fig, and the Mylaic, and the Asclonian.

> Greek: λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν συκῆν ἐὰν ἐν σκίλλῃ φυτευθῇ θᾶττον παραγίνεσθαι καὶ ὑπὸ σκωλήκων μὴ διαφθείρεσθαι· καὶ πάντα δὲ τὰ ἐν σκίλλῃ, φυτευθέντα καὶ θᾶττον αὐξάνεσθαι καὶ εὐβλαστῆ γίγνεσθαι, πάλιν δὲ ὁ Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ β τῶν αἰτίων ἡ Ἰνδική, φησί, συκῆ καλουμένη θαυμαστὴ οὖσα τῷ μεγέθει μικρὸν ἔχει τὸν καρπὸν καὶ ὀλίγον, ὡς ἂν εἰς τὴν βλάστησιν ἐξαναλίσκουσα ἅπασαν τὴν τροφήν. ἐν δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ τῆς φυτικῆς ἱστορίας ὁ φιλόσοφός φησιν ἔστι καὶ ἄλλο γένος συκῆς ἔν τε τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ περὶ Κιλικίαν καὶ Κύπρον ὀλονθοφόρον, ὃ τὸ μὲν σῦκον ἔμπροσθε φέρει τοῦ θρίου, τὸν δὲ ὄλονθον ἐξόπισθεν. αἱ δὲ ὅλως ἐκ τοῦ ἔνου βλαστοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ νέου. πρῶτον δὲ τοῦτο τῶν σύκων πέπονά τε καὶ γλυκὺν ἔχει καὶ οὐχ ὥσπερ τὸν παρ’ ἡμῖν. γίνεται δὲ καὶ μείζων οὗτος πολὺ τῶν σύκων ἡ δ’ ὥρα μετὰ τὴν βλάστησιν οὐ πολύ. οἶδα δὲ καὶ ἄλλα σύκων ὀνόματα λεγόμενα· βασίλεια, συκοβασίλεια, κιρροκοιλάδια, σαρκελάφεια, καπύρια, πικρίδια, δρακόντια, λευκόφαια, μελανόφαια, κρήνεια, μυλαικά, ἀσκαλώνια.

[¶10] Tryphon also speaks of the names of figs in the second book of his History of Plants, and says that Dorion states, in his book of the Farm, that Sukeas, one of the Titans, being pursued by Jupiter, was received in her bosom as in an asylum by his mother Earth; and that the earth sent forth that plant as a place of refuge for her son; from whom also the city Sukea in Cilicia has its name. But Pherenicus the epic poet, a Heraclean by birth, says that the fig-tree (συκῆ) is so called from Suke the daughter of Oxylus: for that Oxylus the son of Orius, having intrigued with his sister Hamadryas, had several children, and among them Carya (the nut-tree), Balanus (the acorn-bearing oak), Craneus (the cornel-tree), Orea (the ash), Aegeirus (the poplar), Ptelea (the elm), Am- pelus (the vine), Suke (the fig-tree): and that these daughters were all called the Hamadryad Nymphs; and that from them many of the trees were named. On which account Hipponax says—
The fig-tree black, the sister of the vine.
And Sosibius the Lacedæmonian, after stating that the fig-tree was the discovery of Bacchus, says that on this account the Lacedæmonians worship Bacchus Sukites. But the people of Naxus, as Andriscus and Aglaosthenes related, state that Bacchus is called Meilichius, because of his gift of the fruit of the fig-tree: and that on this account the face of the god whom they call Bacchus Dionysus is like a vine, and that of the god called Bacchus Meilichius is like a fig. For figs are called μείλιχα by the Naxians.

> Greek: περὶ δὲ τῆς προσηγορίας τῶν σύκων λέγων. Τρύφων ἐν δευτέρῳ φυτῶν ἱστορίας Ἀνδροτίωνά φησιν ἐν Γεωργικῷ ἱστορεῖν Συκέα ἕνα τινὰ τῶν Τιτάνων διωκόμενον ὑπὸ Διὸς τὴν μητέρα Γῆν ὑποδέξασθαι καὶ ἀνεῖναι τὸ φυτὸν εἰς διατριβὴν τῷ παιδί, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ Συκέαν πόλιν εἶναι ἐν Κιλικίᾳ, Φερένικος δ’ ὁ ἐποποιός, Ἡρακλεώτης δὲ γένος, ἀπὸ Συκῆς τῆς Ὀξύλου θυγατρὸς προσαγορευθῆναι· Ὄξυλον γὰρ τὸν Ὀρείου Ἁμαδρυάδι τῇ ἀδελφῇ μιγέντα μετ’ ἄλλων γεννῆσαι Καρύαν, Βάλανον, Κράνειαν, Μορέαν, Αἴγειρον, Πτελέαν, Ἄμπελον, Συκῆν καὶ ταύτας Ἁμαδρυάδας νύμφας καλεῖσθαι καὶ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν πολλὰ τῶν δένδρων προσαγορεύεσθαι. ὅθεν καὶ τὸν Ἱππώνακτα φάναι· συκῆν μέλαιναν ἀμπέλου κασιγνήτην. Σωσίβιος δ’ ὁ Λάκων ἀποδεικνὺς εὕρημα Διονύσου τὴν συκῆν διὰ τοῦτό φησι καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους Συκίτην Διόνυσον τιμᾶν. Νάξιοι δέ, ὡς Ἀνδρίσκος, ἔτι δ’ Ἀγλαοσθένης, ἱστοροῦσι Μειλίχιον καλεῖσθαι τὸν Διόνυσον διὰ τὴν τοῦ συκίνου καρποῦ παράδοσιν. διὸ καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ τοῖς Ναξίοις τὸ μὲν τοῦ Βακχέως Διονύσου καλουμένου εἶναι ἀμπέλινον, τὸ δὲ τοῦ Μειλιχίου σύκινον. τὰ γὰρ σῦκα μείλιχα καλεῖσθαι.

[¶11] Now that the fig is the most useful to man of all the fruits which grow upon trees is sufficiently shown by Herodotus the Lycian, who urges this point at great length, in his treatise on Figs. For he says that young children grow to a great size if they are fed on the juice of figs. And Pherecrates, who wrote the Persæ, says—
If any one of us, after absence, sees a fig,
He will apply it like a plaster to his children's eyes:
as if there were no ordinary medicinal power in the fig. And Herodotus, the most wonderful and sweet of all writers, says in the first book of his Histories, that figs are of the greatest good, speaking thus:—“O king, you are preparing to make war upon men of this character, who wear breeches of leather, and all the rest of their garments are made of leather; and they eat not whatever they fancy, but what they have, since they have but a rough country; moreover they do not, by Jove, use wine, but they drink water; they have no figs to eat, nor any other good thing.” And Polybius of Megalopolis, in the twelfth book of his Histories, says—“Philip, the father of Perseus, when he overran Asia, being in want of provisions, took figs for his soldiers from the Magnesians, as they had no corn. On which account, too, when he became master of Myus, he gave that place to the Magnesians in return for their figs.” And Ananius, the writer of Iambics, says—
He who should shut up gold within his house,
And a few figs, and two or three men,
Would see how far the figs surpass the gold. And when Magnus had said all this about figs, Daphnus the physician said: Philotimus, in the third book of his treatise on Figs, says, "There is a great deal of difference between the various kinds of figs when fresh; both in their sorts, and in the times when each is in season, and in their effects; not but what one may lay down some general rules, and say that the juicy ones and those which are full ripe are quickly dissolved and are digested more easily than any other fruit whatever, nor do they interfere with the digestion of other sorts of food; and they have the ordinary properties of all juicy food, being glutinous and sweet, and slightly nitrous in taste. And they make the evacuations more copious and fluid, and rapid and wholly free from discomfort; and they also diffuse a saltish juice, having a good deal of harshness, when they are combined with anything at all salt. They are very quickly dissolved by the digestion, because, though many heavy things may be taken into the stomach, we still after a short time feel as if we had become excessively empty: but this could not have happened if the figs had remained in the stomach, and were not immediately dissolved. And figs are dissolved more easily than any other fruit; as is proved not only by the fact that though we eat a great many times as great a quantity of figs as of all other fruits put together, we still never feel inconvenienced by them; and even if we eat a quantity of figs before dinner, and then eat as much of other things as if we had never touched them, we still feel no discomfort. It is plain, therefore, that if we can manage both them and the rest of our food, they must be easily digested; and that is why they do not interfere with the digestion of the rest of our food. “Figs, then, have the qualities which I have mentioned. That they are glutinous and rather salt is proved by their being sticky and cleansing the hands; and we see ourselves that they are sweet in the mouth. And it certainly needs no arguments to prove that our evacuations after eating them take place without any convulsions or trouble, and that they are more numerous and more rapid and more easy in consequence. And they do not go through any great decomposition in the stomach, which arises not from their being indigestible, but because we drink while eating them, without waiting for the action of the stomach to soften them, and also because they pass through the stomach so quickly. And they generate a salt juice in the stomach, because it has been already shown that they contain something of nitre in them: and they will make that food taste rather salt and harsh which is combined with them. For salt increases the briny taste of anything, but vinegar and thyme increase the harsh qualities of food.”

> Greek: ὅτι δὲ πάντων τῶν καλουμένων ξυλίνων καρπῶν ὠφελιμώτερά ἐστι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ σῦκα ἱκανῶς Ἡρόδοτος ὁ Λύκιος διὰ πολλῶν ἀποδείκνυσιν ἐν τῷ περὶ σύκων συγγράμματι, εὐτραφῆ λέγων γίνεσθαι τὰ νεογνὰ τῶν παιδίων, ἐν τῷ χυλῷ τῶν σύκων εἰ διατρέφοιτο. Φερεκράτης δὲ ἢ ὁ πεποιηκὼς τοὺς Πέρσας φησὶν ἢν δ’ ἡμῶν σῦκόν τις ἴδῃ διὰ χρόνου νέον ποτέ, τὠφθαλμὼ τούτῳ περιμάττομεν τὼ τῶν παιδίων, ὡς καὶ ἰάματος οὐ τοῦ τυχόντος τῶν σύκων ὑπαρχόντων, ὁ δὲ θαυμασιώτατος καὶ μελίγηρυς Ἡρόδοτος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν καὶ μέγα ἀγαθόν φησιν εἶναι τὰ σῦκα οὑτωσὶ λέγων· βασιλεῦ, σὺ δ’ ἐπ’ ἄνδρας τοιούτους παρασκευάζεαι στρατεύεσθαι, οἳ σκυτίνας μὲν ἀναξυρίδας, σκυτίνην δὲ τὴν ἄλλην ἐσθῆτα φορέουσι, σιτέονταὶ τ’ οὐχ ὅσα ἐθέλουσιν, ἀλλ’ ὅσα ἔχουσι, χώρην ἔχοντες τρηχείην πρὸς δὲ οὐκ οἴνῳ διαχρέονται, ἀλλ’ ὑδροποτέουσιν· οὐ σῦκα ἔχουσι τρώγειν, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐθὲν ἀγαθόν. Πολύβιος δ’ ὁ Μεγαλοπολίτης ἐν τῇ ισ’ τῶν ἱστοριῶν Φίλιππος, φησίν, ὁ Περσέως πατήρ ὅτε τὴν Ἀσίαν κατέτρεχεν ἀπορῶν τροφῶν τοῖς στρατιώταις παρὰ Μαγνήτων, ἐπεὶ σῖτον οὐκ εἶχον, σῦκα ἔλαβε. διὸ καὶ Μυοῦντος κυριεύσας τοῖς Μάγνησιν ἐχαρίσατο τὸ χωρίον ἀντὶ τῶν σύκων. καὶ Ἀνάνιος δ’ ὁ ἰαμβοποιὸς ἔφη· εἴ τις καθείρξαι χρυσὸν ἐν δόμοις πολλὸν καὶ σῦκα βαιὰ καὶ δύ’ ἢ τρεῖς ἀνθρώπους, γνοίη χ’ ὅσῳ τὰ σῦκα τοῦ χρυσοῦ κρέσσω. τοσαῦτα τοῦ Μάγνου συκολογήσαντος Δάφνος ὁ ἰατρὸς ἔφη· Φυλότιμος ἐν γ’ περὶ τροφῆς τὰ ἁπαλά, φησί, σῦκα διαφορὰς μὲν ἔχει πλείους πρὸς ἄλληλα καὶ τοῖς γένεσι καὶ τοῖς χρόνοις ἐν οἷς ἕκαστα γίγνεται καὶ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καθόλου εἰπεῖν τά τε ὑγρὰ τὰ πεπεμμένα καὶ μάλιστα αὐτῶν διαλύεται ταχέως καὶ κατεργάζεται μᾶλλον τῆς ἄλλης ὀπώρας καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν τροφὴν οὐ κωλύει κατεργάζεσθαι. δυνάμεις δ’ ἔχει τῶν ὑγρῶν κολλώδεις τε καὶ γλυκείας ὑπονιτρώδεις τε, καὶ τὴν διαχώρησιν ἀθρουστέραν καὶ διακεχυμένην καὶ θάττω καὶ λίαν ἄλυπον παρασκευάζει, χυλὸν δ’ ἁλυκὸν δριμύτητα ἔχοντα ἀναδίδωσι μεθ’ ἁλῶν καταπινόμενα. διαλύεται μὲν οὖν ταχέως, διότι πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ὄγκων εἰσενεχθέντων μετὰ μικρὸν χρόνον λαγαροὶ γινόμεθα καθ’ ὑπερβολήν. ἀδύνατον δ’ ἦν τοῦτο συμβαίνειν διαμενόντων καὶ μὴ ταχὺ διαλυομένων τῶν σωμάτων. κατεργάζεται δὲ μᾶλλον τῆς ἄλλης οὐ μόνον ὅτι πολλαπλασίονα λαμβάνοντες αὐτὴν τῆς λοιπῆς. ὀπώρας ἀλύπως διάγομεν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὴν εἰωθυῖαν τροφὴν ἴσην λαμβάνοντες τούτων προχειρισθέντων οὐθὲν ἐνοχλούμεθα. δῆλον οὖν ὡς εἰ κρατοῦμεν ἀμφοτέρων, ταῦτά τε πέττεται μᾶλλον καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν οὐ κωλύει κατεργάζεσθαι τροφήν. τὰς δὲ δυνάμεις ἔχει τὰς λεγομένας· τὴν μὲν κολλώδη τε καὶ τὴν ἁλυκὴν ἐκ τοῦ κολλᾶν τε καὶ ῥύπτειν τὰς χεῖρας, τὴν δὲ γλυκεῖαν ἐν τῷ στόματι γινομένην ὁρῶμεν. τὴν δὲ διαχώρησιν ἄνευ στρόφων τε καὶ ταραχῆς καὶ πλείω καὶ θάττω καὶ μαλακωτέραν ὅτι παρασκευάζει, λόγου προσδεῖν οὐθὲν νομίζομεν. ἀλλοιοῦται δ’ οὐ λίαν, οὐ διὰ τὸ δύσπεπτον αὐτῶν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι καταπίνομέν τε ταχέως οὐ λεάναντες, καὶ τὴν διέξοδον διότι ταχεῖαν ποιεῖται. χυμὸν δ’ ἁλυκὸν ἀναδίδωσι, διότι τὸ μὲν νιτρῶδες ἀπεδείχθη τὰ σῦκα ἔχοντα, ἁλυκώτερον δὲ ποιήσει ἢ δριμύν, ἐκ τῶν ἐπιπινομένων. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἅλες τὸν ἁλυκόν, τὸ δ’ ὄξος καὶ τὸ θύμον τὸν δριμὺν αὔξει χυμόν.

[¶12] Now Heraclides the Tarentine asks this question; “Whether it is best to drink warm water or cold after the eating of figs?”And he says, that those who recommend the drinking of cold water do so because they have an eye to such a fact as this,—that warm water cleanses one's hands more quickly than cold; on which account it is reasonable to believe that food in the stomach will be quickly washed away by warm water. And with respect to figs which are not eaten, warm water dissolves their consistency and connexion, and separates them into small pieces; but cold coagultes and consolidates them. But those who recommend the drinking of cold water say, the taking of cold water bears down by its own weight the things which are heavy on the stomach; (for figs do not do any extraordinary good to the stomach, since they heat it and destroy its tone; on which account some people always drink neat wine after them;) and then too it quickly expels what is already in the stomach. But after eating figs, it is desirable to take an abundant and immediate draught of something or other; in order to prevent those things from remaining in the stomach, and to move them into the lower parts of the bowels. Others however say, that it is not a good thing to eat figs at midday; for that at that time they are apt to engender diseases, as Pherecrates has said in his Crapatalli. And Aristophanes, in his Proagon, says—
But once seeing him when he was sick in the summer,
In order to be sick too himself, eat figs at midday.
And Eubulus says, in his Sphingocarion—
No doubt it was; for I was sick, my friend,
From eating lately figs one day at noon.
And Nicophon says, in the Sirens—
But if a man should eat green figs at noon,
And then go off to sleep; immediately
A galloping fever comes on him, accursed,
And falling on him brings up much black bile.

> Greek: ʽ ʽἩρακλείδης δ’ ὁ Ταραντῖνος ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ ᾽ ζητεῖ πότερον ἐπιλαμβάνειν δεῖ μετὰ τὴν τῶν σύκων προσφορὰν θερμὸν ὕδωρ ἢ ψυχρόν. καὶ τοὺς μὲν λέγοντας θερμὸν δεῖν ἐπιλαμβάνειν προορῶντας τὸ τοιοῦτο παρακελεύεσθαι, διότι καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ταχέως τὸ θερμὸν ῥύπτει διὸ πιθανὸν εἶναι καὶ ἐν κοιλίᾳ συντόμως αὐτὰ τῷ θερμῷ διαλύεσθαι. καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκτὸς δὲ τῶν σύκων τὸ θερμὸν διαλύει τὴν συνέχειαν αὐτῶν καὶ εἰς λεπτομερεῖς τόμους ἄγει, τὸ δὲ ψυχρὸν συνίστησιν. οἱ δὲ ψυχρὸν λέγοντες προσφέρεσθαι ἡ τοῦ ψυχροῦ, φασί, πόματος λῆψις τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ στομάχου καθήμενα τῷ βάρει καταφέρει· τὰ γὰρ σῦκα οὐκ ἀστείως διατίθησι ᾽ τὸν στόμαχον, καυσώδη καὶ ἀτονώτερον αὐτὸν ποιοῦντα διόπερ τινὲς καὶ τὸν ἄκρατον συνεχῶς προσφέρονται, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἑτοίμως καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ προωθεῖ. δεῖ δὲ πλέονι καὶ ἀθρουστέρῳ χρῆσθαι τῷ πόματι μετὰ τὴν τῶν σύκων προσφορὰν ἕνεκα τοῦ μὴ ὑπομένειν αὐτὰ ἐν κοιλίᾳ, φέρεσθαι δὲ εἰς τὰ κάτω μέρη τῶν ἐντέρων ι ἄλλοι δέ φασιν ὅτι μὴ δεῖ σῦκα προσφέρεσθαι μεσημβρίας ι νοσώδη γὰρ εἶναι τότε, ὡς καὶ Φερεκράτης ἐν Κραπατάλλοις εἴρηκεν. Ἀριστοφάνης δ’ ἐν Προαγῶνι· κάμνοντα δ’ αὐτὸν τοῦ θέρους ἰδών ποτε ἔτρωγ’ ἵνα κάμνοι, σῦκα τῆς μεσημβρίας. καὶ Εὔβουλος ἐν Σφιγγοκαρίωνι· νὴ τὸν Δί᾽, ἠσθένουν γάρ, ὦ βέλτιστε σύ, φαγοῦσα πρῴην σῦκα τῆς μεσημβρίας. Νικοφῶν δ’ ἐν Σειρῆσιν ἐὰν δὲ γ’ ἡμῶν σῦκά τις μεσημβρίας τραγὼν καθεύδῃ χλωρά, πυρετὸς εὐθέως ἥκει τρέχων οὐκ ἄξιος τριωβόλου κᾆθ’ οὗτος ἐπιπεσὼν ἐμεῖν ποιεῖ χολήν.

[¶13] Diphilus of Siphnos says, that of figs some are tender, and not very nutritious, but full of bad juice, nevertheless easily secreted, and rising easily to the surface; and that these are more easily managed than the dry figs; but that those which are in season in the winter, being ripened by artificial means, are very inferior: but that the best are those which are ripe at the height of the summer, as being ripened naturally; and these have a great deal of juice; and those which are not so juicy are still good for the stomach, though somewhat heavy. And the figs of Tralles are like the Rhodian: and the Chian, and all the rest, appear to be inferior to these, both in the quality and quantity of their juice. But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Eatables, says— “But with respect to whatever of these fruits are eaten raw, such as pears, and figs, and Delphic apples, and such fruits, one ought to watch the opportunity when they will have the juice which they contain, neither unripe on the one hand, nor tainted on the other; nor too much dried up by the season.” But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the fifteenth book of the Trojan Preparation, says, that those who never eat figs have the best voices. At all events, he says, that Hegesianax the Alexandrian, who wrote the Histories, was originally a man with a very weak voice, and that he became a tragedian and a fine actor, and a man with a fine voice, by abstaining from figs for eighteen years together. And I know too that there are some proverbs going about concerning figs, of which the following are samples:—
Figs after fish, vegetables after meat.
Figs are agreeable to birds, but they do not choose to plant them.

> Greek: Δίφιλος δ’ ὁ Σίφνιός φησι τῶν σύκων εἶναι τὰ μὲν ἁπαλὰ ὀλιγότροφα καὶ κακόχυλα, εὐέκκριτα δὲ καὶ ἐπιπολαστικὰ εὐοικονομητότερά τε τῶν ξηρῶν, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τῷ χειμῶνι γινόμενα βίᾳ πεπαινόμενα χείρονα τυγχάνει· τὰ δ’ ἐν τῇ ἀκμῇ τῶν ὡρῶν κρείττονα ὡς ἂν κατὰ φύσιν πεπαινόμενα. τὰ δὲ πολὺν ὀπὸν ἔχοντα, καὶ. ᾽τὰ σπάνυδρα δ’ εὐστομώτερα μέν, βαρύτερα δέ. τὰ δὲ Τραλλιανὰ ἀναλογεῖ τοῖς Ῥοδίοις, τὰ δὲ Χῖα καὶ τἄλλα. πάντα τούτων εἶναι κακοχυλότερα. Μνησίθεος δ’ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐδεστῶν φησιν· ὅσα δὲ ὠμὰ προσφέρεται τῶν τοιούτων, οἷον ἄπιοι καὶ σῦκα καὶ μῆλα Δελφικὰ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, δεῖ παραφυλάττειν τὸν καιρὸν ἐν ᾧ τοὺς χυλοὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς μήτε ἀπέπτους μήτε σαπροὺς μήτε κατεξηραμμένους λίαν ὑπὸ τῆς ὥρας ἕξει. Δημήτριος δ’ ὁ Σκήψιος ἐν τῷ ιεʹ τοῦ Τρωικοῦ διακόσμου εὐφώνους φησὶ γίνεσθαι τοὺς μὴ σύκων ἐσθίοντας. Ἡγησιάνακτα γοῦν τὸν Ἀλεξανδρέα τὸν τὰς ἱστορίας γράψαντα κατ’ ἀρχὰς ὄντα πένητα καὶ τραγῳδὸν φησι γενέσθαι καὶ ὑποκριτικὸν καὶ εὔηχον, ὀκτωκαίδεκα ἔτη σύκων μὴ γευσάμενον. καὶ παροιμίας δὲ οἶδα περὶ σύκων λεγομένας τοιάσδε· σῦκον μετ’ ἰχθύν, ὄσπρεον μετὰ κρέα. σῦκα φίλ’ ὀρνίθεσσι, φυτεύειν δ’ οὐκ ἐθέλουσι.

[¶14] Apples are an universal fruit. Mnesitheus the Athe- nian, in his treatise on Eatables, calls them Delphian apples; but Diphilus says, that “those apples which are green and which are not yet ripe, are full of bad juice, and are bad for the stomach; but are apt to rise to the surface, and also to engender bile; and they give rise to diseases, and produce sensations of shuddering. But of ripe apples, he says, that the sweet ones are those with most juice, and that they are the most easily secreted, because they have no great inflammatory qualities. But that sharp apples have a more disagreeable and mischievous juice, and are more astringent. And that those which have less sweetness are still pleasant to the palate when eaten; and, on account of their having some strengthening qualities, are better for the stomach. And moreover, that of this fruit those which are in season in the summer have a juice inferior to the others; but those which are ripe in the autumn have the better juice. And that those which are called ὀρβίκλατα, have a good deal of sweetness combined with their invigorating properties, and are very good for the stomach. But those which are called σητάνια, and also those which are called πλατώνια, are full of good juice, and are easily secreted, but are not good for the stomach. But those which are called Mordianian are very excellent, being produced in Apollonia, which is called Mordius; and they are like those which are called ὀρβίκλατα, But the Cydonian apples, or quinces, some of which are called στρούθια, are, as a general rule, better for the stomach than any other kind of apple, most especially when they are full ripe.” But Glaucides asserts that the best of all fruits which grow upon trees are the Cydonian apples, and those which are called phaulia, and strouthia. And Philotimus, in his third book, and also in his tenth book of his treatise on Food, says— "Of apples, those which come in season in spring are by far more indigestible than pears, whether they are both unripe, or whether they are both ripe. But they have the properties of juicy fruits; the sharp apples, and those which are not yet ripe, resembling those pears which have a harsher taste and which are in a certain degree sour; and they diffuse over the body a juice which is said to be corrosive. And, as a general rule, apples are not so digestible as pears; on which account those who are less addicted to eating them are less troubled with indigestions, and those who are most fond of them are the most liable to such inconvenience. But, as I said before, a corrosive juice is engendered by them, as is stated by Praxagoras, and as is shown by the fact that those things which are not digested will have the juice thicker. (And I have already said that, as a general rule, apples are less digestible than pears.) And the harsh and sour apples are in the habit of engendering thicker juices. But of those apples which are in season in the winter, the Cydonian give out the more bitter juices, and those called strouthian give out juice more sparingly; though what they do give out is not so harsh tasted, and is more digestible." But Nicander of Thyatira says, that the Cydonian apples themselves are called στρούθεια; but he says this out of ignorance. For Glaucides asserts plainly enough that the best of all fruits which grow on trees are the Cydonian apples and those called phaulian and strouthian.

> Greek: μῆλα. ταῦτα Μνησίθεος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐδεστῶν μῆλα Δελφικὰ καλεῖ. Δίφιλος δέ φησι τῶν μήλων τὰ χλωρὰ καὶ μηδέπω πέπονα κακόχυλα εἶναι καὶ κακοστόμαχα ἐπιπολαστικά τε καὶ χολῆς γεννητικὰ νοσοποιά τε καὶ φρίκης παραίτια. τῶν δὲ πεπόνων εὐχυλότερα μὲν εἶναι τὰ γλυκέα καὶ εὐεκκριτώτερα διὰ τὸ στῦψιν μὴ ἔχειν, κακοχυλότερα δὲ εἶναι τὰ ὀξέα καὶ στατικώτερα. τὰ δὲ τῆς γλυκύτητος ὑφειμένα, προσλαμβάνοντα δ’ εὐστομεῖν διὰ τὴν ποσὴν στῦψιν εὐστομαχώτερα. εἶναι δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ μὲν θερινὰ κακοχυλότερα, τὰ δὲ φθινοπωρινὰ εὐχυλότερα. τὰ δὲ καλούμενα ὀρβικλᾶτα μετὰ στύψεως ἡδείας ἔχοντα καὶ γλυκύτητα εὐστόμαχα εἶναι. τὰ δὲ σητάνια λεγόμενα, προσέτι δὲ τὰ πλατάνια εὔχυλα μὲν καὶ εὐέκκριτα, οὐκ εὐστόμαχα δέ. τὰ δὲ Μορδιανὰ καλούμενα γίνεται μὲν κάλλιστα ἐν Ἀπολλωνίᾳ τῇ Μορδίῳ λεγομένῃ, ἀναλογεῖ δὲ τοῖς ὀρβικλάτοις. τὰ δὲ κυδώνια, ὧν ἔνια καὶ στρουθία λέγεται, κοινῶς ἁπάντων ἐστὶ τῶν μήλων εὐστομαχώτατα καὶ μάλιστα τὰ πέπονα. Γλαυκίδης δέ φησιν ἄριστα τῶν ἀκροδρύων εἶναι μῆλα κυδώνια, φαύλια, στρουθία. Φυλότιμος δ’ ἐν γ’ καὶ ι’ περὶ τροφῆς τὰ μῆλα, φησί, τὰ μὲν ἐαρινὰ δυσπεπτότερα πολὺ τῶν ἀπίων καὶ τὰ ὠμὰ τῶν ὠμῶν καὶ τὰ πέπονα τῶν πεπόνων. τὰς δὲ δυνάμεις ἔχει τῶν ὑγρῶν τὰ μὲν ὀξέα καὶ μήπω πέπονα στρυφνοτέρας καὶ ποσῶς ὀξείας χυμόν τε ἀναδίδωσιν εἰς τὸ σῶμα τὸν καλούμενον ξυστικόν. καθόλου τε τὰ μῆλα τῶν ἀπίων δυσπεπτότερα εἶναι, διότι τὰ μὲν ἐλάττω φαγόντες ἧττον, τὰς δὲ πλείους προσαράμενοι μᾶλλον πέττομεν. ξυστικὸς δὲ γίνεται χυμὸς ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ λεγόμενος ὑπὸ Πραξαγόρου ὑαλώδης, διότι τὰ μὴ κατεργαζόμενα παχυτέρους ἕξει τοὺς χυμούς· ἀπεδείχθη δὲ καθόλου τὰ μῆλα δυσκατεργαστότερα τῶν ἀπίων, καὶ ὅτι τὰ στρυφνὰ μᾶλλον ἔτι παχυτέρους παρασκευάζειν εἴωθεν αὐτούς. τὰ δὲ χειμερινὰ τῶν μήλων τὰ μὲν κυδώνια στρυφνοτέρους, τὰ δὲ στρουθία τοὺς χυμοὺς ἐλάττους ἀναδίδωσι καὶ στρυφνοτέρους ἧττον πέττεσθαί τε μᾶλλον δύναται Νίκανδρος δ’ ὁ Θυατειρηνὸς τὰ κυδώνια μῆλα στρουθία φησὶ καλεῖσθαι ἀγνοῶν. Γλαυκίδης γὰρ ἱστορεῖ ἄριστα λέγων τῶν ἀκροδρύων εἶναι μῆλα κυδώνια, φαύλια, στρουθία.

[¶15] Stesichorus also mentions the Cydonian apples, in his Helena, speaking thus:
Before the king's most honour'd throne,
I threw Cydonian apples down;
And leaves of myrrh, and crowns of roses,
And violets in purple posies.
Alcman mentions them too. And Cantharus does so like- wise, in the Tereus; where he says—
Likening her bosom to Cydonian apples.
And Philemon, in his Clown, calls Cydonian apples strouthia. And Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that apples by their sweet fragrance can blunt the efficacy of even deadly poisons. At all events, he says, that some Phariacan poison having been cast into a chest still smelling from having had some of these apples stored away in it, lost all its effect, and preserved none of its former power, but was mixed and given to some people who were plotted against, but that they escaped all harm. And that afterwards it was ascertained, by an investigation and examination of the man who had sold the poison; and that he felt sure that it arose from the fact of the apples having been put away in the chest.

> Greek: κυδωνίων δὲ μήλων μνημονεύει Στησίχορος ἐν Ἑλένῃ οὕτως πολλὰ μὲν κυδώνια μᾶλα ποτερρίπτουν ποτὶ δίφρον ἄνακτι, πολλὰ δὲ μύρσινα φύλλα καὶ ῥοδίνους στεφάνους ἴων τε κορωνίδας οὔλας, καὶ Ἀλκμάν, ἔτι δὲ Κάνθαρος ἐν Τηρεῖ· κυδωνίοις μήλοισιν εἰς τὰ τιτθία. καὶ Φιλήμων δ’ ἐν Ἀγροίκῳ τὰ κυδώνια μῆλα στρουθία καλεῖ. Φύλαρχος δ’ ἐν τῇ σ’ τῶν ἱστοριῶν τὰ κυδώνιά φησι μῆλα τῇ εὐωδίᾳ καὶ τὰς τῶν θανασίμων φαρμάκων δυνάμεις ἀπαμβλύνειν. τὸ γοῦν Φαριακὸν φάρμακον ἐμβληθέν, φησίν, εἰς ῥίσκον ἔτι ὀδωδότα ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν μήλων τούτων συνθέσεως ἐξίτηλον γενέσθαι μὴ τηρῆσαν τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν. κερασθὲν γοῦν καὶ δοθὲν πιεῖν τοῖς εἰς τοῦτο ἐνεδρευθεῖσιν ἀπαθεῖς αὐτοὺς διατηρῆσαι. ἐπιγνωσθῆναι δὲ τοῦτο ὕστερον ἐξ ἀνακρίσεως τοῦ τὸ φάρμακον πωλήσαντος καὶ ἐπιγνόντος τὸ γενόμενον ἐκ τῆς τῶν μήλων συνθέσεως.

[¶16] Hermon, in his Cretan Dialects, says that Cydonian apples are called κοδύμαλα. But Polemo, in the fifth book of the treatise against Timæus, says that some people affirm that the κοδύμαλον is a kind of flower. But Alcman asserts that it is the same as the στρούθιον apple, when he says, “less than a κοδύμαλον.” And Apollodorus and Sosibius understand the Cydonian apple by κοδύμαλον. But that the Cydonian apple differs from the στρούθιον, Theophrastus has asserted clearly enough in the second book of his History. Moreover, there are excellent apples grown at Sidus, (that is, a village in the Corinthian territory,) as Euphorion or Archytas says, in the poem called “The Crane:” —
Like a beautiful apple which is grown on the clayey banks
Of the little Sidus, refulgent with purple colour.
And Nicander mentions them in his Transformed, in this manner:—
And immediately, from the gardens of Sidoeis or Pleistus
He cut green apples, and imitated the appearance of Cadmus.
And that Sidus is a village of the Corinthian territory, Rhianus assures us, in the first book of the Heraclea; and Apollodorus the Athenian confirms it, in the fifth book On the Catalogue of the Ships. But Antigonus the Carystian says, in his Antipater—
More dear to me was he than downy apples
Of purple hue, in lofty Corinth growing.

> Greek: Ἕρμων δ’ ἐν Κρητικαῖς Γλώσσαις κοδύμαλα καλεῖσθαί φησι τὰ κυδώνια μῆλα. πολέμων δ’ ἐν εʹ τῶν πρὸς Τίμαιον ἄνθους γένος τὸ κοδύμαλον εἶναί τινας ἱστορεῖν. Ἀλκμὰν δὲ τὸ στρουθίον μῆλον, ὅταν λέγῃ· μεῖον ἢ κοδύμαλον. Ἀπολλόδωρος δὲ καὶ Σωσίβιος τὸ κυδώνιον μῆλον ἀκούουσιν. ὅτι δὲ διαφέρει τὸ κυδώνιον μῆλον τοῦ στρουθίου σαφῶς εἴρηκε Θεόφραστος ἐν β’ τῆς ἱστορίας. διάφορα δὲ μῆλα γίνεται ἐν Σιδοῦντι, κώμη δ’ ἐστὶν αὕτη Κορίνθου, ὡς Εὐφορίων ἢ Ἀρχύτας ἐν Γεράνῳ φησὶν ὥριον οἷά τε μῆλον, ὅ τ’ ἀργιλώδεσιν ὄχθαις πορφύρεον ἐλαχείῃ ἐνιτρέφεται Σιδόεντι. μνημονεύει δ’ αὐτῶν καὶ Νίκανδρος ἐν Ἑτεροιουμένοις οὕτως· αὐτίχ’ ὅ γ’ ἢ Σιδόεντος ἠὲ Πλείστου ἀπὸ κήπων μῆλα ταμὼν χνοάοντα τύπους ἐνεμάσσετο Κάδμου. ὅτι δ’ ἡ Σιδοῦς τῆς Κορίνθου ἐστὶ κώμη Ῥιανὸς εἴρηκεν ἐν αʹ Ἡρακλείας καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν εʹ περὶ νεῶν καταλόγου. Ἀντίγονος δὲ ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν Ἀντιπάτρῳ φησὶν ᾗχι μοι ὡραίων πολὺ φίλτερος ἡ δὲ ἀριμήλων πορφυρέων, Ἐφύρῃ τὰ τ’ ἀέξεται ἠνεμοέσσῃ.

[¶17] And Teleclides mentions the Phaulian apples, in his Amphictyons, in these terms:—
O men, in some things neat, but yet in others
More fallen than phaulian apples!
And Theopompus also speaks of them, in the Theseus. But Androtion, in his Book of the Farm, says, that some apple-trees are called φαύλιαι, and others στρούθιαι; “for,” says he, “the apple does not fall from the footstalk of the strouthian apple-tree.” And that others are called spring-trees, or Lace- dæmonian, or Siduntian, or woolly. But I, my friends, admire above all others the apples which are sold at Rome, which are called the Mattianian; and which are said to be brought from a certain village situated on the Alps near Aquileia. And the apples which grow at Gangra, a city of Paphlagonia, are not much inferior to them. But that Bacchus was the discoverer of the apple we have the testimony of Theocritus the Syracusan, who writes thus:—
Guarding the apples in the bosom of Bacchus;
And having on his head a poplar garland,
The silv'ry tree, sacred to Theban Hercules.
But Neoptolemus the Parian testifies himself, in his Dionysias, that the apple was discovered by Bacchus, as were all other fruits which grow on trees. There is a fruit called epimelis; which is, says Pamphilus, a description of pear. But Timachides asserts, in the fourth book of The Banquet, that it is an apple, the same as that called the apple of the Hesperides. And Pamphilus asserts that at Lacedæmon they are set before the gods; and that they have a sweet smell, but are not very good to eat; and are called the apples of the Hesperides. At all events, Aristocrates, in the fourth book of his Affairs of Lacedæmon, says, “And besides that apples, and those which are called Hesperides.”

> Greek: Φαυλίων δὲ μήλων μνημονεύει Τηλεκλείδης ἐν Ἀμφικτύοσιν οὕτως· ὦ τὰ μὲν κομψοί, τὰ δὲ φαυλότεροι φαυλίων μήλων. καὶ Θεόπομπος ἐν Θησεῖ. Ἀνδροτίων δὲ ἐν τῷ Γεωργικῷ τὰς δὲ μηλέας, φησί, φαυλίας καὶ στρουθίας· οὐ γὰρ ἀπορρεῖ τὸ μῆλον ἀπὸ τοῦ μίσχου τῶν στρουθιῶν τὰς δὲ ἠρινὰς ἢ Λακωνικὰς ἢ Σιδουντίας ἢ χνοωδίας. ἐγὼ δ᾽, ἄνδρες φίλοι, πάντων μάλιστα τεθαύμακα τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ῥώμην πιπρασκόμενα μῆλα τὰ Ματιανὰ καλούμενα, ἅπερ κομίζεσθαι λέγεται ἀπό τινος κώμης ἱδρυμένης ἐπὶ τῶν πρὸς Ἀκυληίᾳ Ἄλπεων, τούτων δ’ οὐ πολὺ ἀπολείπεται τὰ ἐν Γάγγροις πόλει Παφλαγονικῇ. ὅτι δὲ καὶ τῶν μήλων εὑρετής ἐστι Διόνυσος μαρτυρεῖ Θεόκριτος ὁ Συρακόσιος οὑτωσί πως λέγων μᾶλα μὲν ἐν κόλποισι Διωνύσοιο φυλάσσων, κρατὶ δ’ ἔχων λεύκαν, Ἡρακλέος ἱερὸν ἔρνος. Νεοπτόλεμος δ’ ὁ Παριανὸς ἐν τῇ Διονυσιάδι καὶ αὐτὸς ἱστορεῖ ὡς ὑπὸ Διονύσου εὑρεθέντων τῶν μήλων, καθάπερ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀκροδρύων. ἐπιμηλὶς δὲ καλεῖται, φησὶ Πάμφιλος, τῶν ἀπίων τι γένος. Ἑσπερίδων δὲ μῆλα οὕτως καλεῖσθαί τινά φησι Τιμαχίδας ἐν δ’ Δείπνων. καὶ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι δὲ παρατίθεσθαι τοῖς θεοῖς φησι Πάμφιλος ταῦτα· εὔοσμα δὲ εἶναι καὶ ἄβρωτα, καλεῖσθαι δὲ Ἑσπερίδων μῆλα. Ἀριστοκράτης γοῦν ἐν δ’ Λακωνικῶν ἔτι δὲ μῆλα καὶ μηλέας τὰς λεγομένας ἑσπερίδας.