3.1. AT my son Autobulus’s marriage, Sossius Senecio from Chaeronea and a great many other noble persons were present at the same feast; which gave occasion to this question (Senecio proposed it), why to a marriage feast more guests are usually invited than to any other. Nay even those law-givers that chiefly opposed luxury and profuseness have particularly confined marriage feasts to a set number. Indeed, in my opinion, he continued, Hecataeus the Abderite, one of the old philosophers, hath said nothing to the purpose in this matter, when he tells us that those that marry wives invite a great many to the entertainment, that many may see and be witnesses that they being free born take to themselves wives of the same condition. For, on the contrary, the comedians reflect on those who revel at their marriages, who make a great ado and are pompous in their feasts, as such who are marrying with no great confidence and courage. Thus, in Menander, one replies to a bridegroom that bade him beset the house with dishes,... “Your words are great, but what’s this to your bride?”
3.1. ἐν τοῖς Αὐτοβούλου τοῦ υἱοῦ γάμοις συνεώρταζεν ἡμῖν παρὼν ἐκ Χαιρωνείας ὁ Σόσσιος Σενεκίων· καὶ πολλῶν … ἄλλων τε τῇ τόθʼ ἑορτῇ μάλα πρεπόντων παρέσχεν ἀφορμὰς καὶ περὶ τῆς αἰτίας, διʼ ἣν πλεῖστοι τῶν ἄλλων ἐπὶ τὰ γαμικὰ δεῖπνα παραλαμβάνονται, διηπόρησε. καὶ γὰρ τῶν νομοθετῶν τοὺς τῇ πολυτελείᾳ κατὰ κράτος πολεμήσαντας ὁρίσαι μάλιστα τῶν εἰς τοὺς γάμους καλουμένων τὸ πλῆθος. ὁ γὰρ εἰπών ἔφη περὶ τῆς αἰτίας αὐτῆς τῶν παλαιῶν φιλοσόφων οὐδέν, ἐμοὶ γοῦν κριτῇ, πιθανὸν εἴρηκεν, Ἑκαταῖος ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης λέγει δὲ τοὺς ἀγομένους γυναῖκας πολλοὺς; παρακαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑστίασιν, ἵνα πολλοὶ συνειδῶσι καὶ μαρτυρῶσιν ἐλευθέροις οὖσι καὶ παρʼ ἐλευθέρων γαμοῦσι. τοὐναντίον γὰρ οἱ κωμικοὶ τοὺς πολυτελῶς καὶ σοβαρῶς λαμπρότητι δείπνων καὶ παρασκευῆς γαμοῦντας, ὡς οὐ βεβαίως οὐδὲ θαρραλέως ἐπισυνάπτουσιν· ὡς ὁ Μένανδρος πρὸς τὸν κελεύοντα ταῖς λοπάσι περιφράττειν … ωπον δεινῶς … οὐ πρᾶγμα νύμφης λέγεις.
3.2. But lest I should seem to find fault with those reasons others give, only because I have none of my own to produce, continued he, I begin by declaring that there is no such evident or public notice given of any feast as there is of one at a marriage. For when we sacrifice to the Gods, when we take leave of or receive a friend, a great many of our acquaintance need not know it. But a marriage dinner is proclaimed by the loud sound of the wedding song, by the torches and the music, which as Homer expresseth it, “The women stand before the doors to see and hear.” And therefore when everybody knows it, the persons are ashamed to omit the formality of an invitation, and therefore entertain their friends and kindred, and every one that they are any way acquainted with.
3.2. ἀλλʼ ὅπως μή, τὸ ῥᾷστον, ἐγκαλεῖν ἑτέροις δοκῶμεν αὐτοὶ μηδὲν λέγοντες, ἀποφαίνομαι πρῶτος εἶπεν ἐγώ, οὐδεμίαν ἑστιάσεως πρόφασιν οὕτως ἔκδηλον εἶναι καὶ περιβόητον, ὡς τὴν τῶν γαμούντων· καὶ γὰρ θύοντας θεοῖς καὶ προπέμποντας φίλον καὶ ξενίζοντας ἔστι πολλοὺς διαλαθεῖν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἡ δὲ γαμήλιος τράπεζα κατήγορον ἔχει τὸν ὑμέναιον μέγα βοῶντα καὶ τὴν δᾷδα καὶ τὸν αὐλόν, ἅ φησιν Ὅμηρος καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἱσταμένας ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις θαυμάζειν καὶ θεᾶσθαι. διὸ μηδενὸς ἀγνοοῦντος τὴν ὑποδοχὴν καὶ τὴν κλῆσιν, αἰσχυνόμενοι παραλιπεῖν πάντας τοὺς συνήθεις καὶ οἰκείους καὶ ἁμωσγέπως προσήκοντας αὑτοῖς παραλαμβάνουσιν.
3.3. This being generally approved, Well, said Theo, speaking next, let it be so, for it looks like truth; but let this be added, if you please, that such entertainments are not only friendly, but also kindredly, the persons beginning to have a new relation to another family. But there is something more considerable, and that is this; since by this marriage two families join in one, the man thinks it his duty to be civil and obliging to the woman’s friends, and the woman’s friends think themselves obliged to return the same to him and his; and upon this account the company is doubled. And besides, since most of the little ceremonies belonging to the wedding are performed by women, it is necessary that, where they are entertained, their husbands should be likewise invited.
3.3. ἀποδεξαμένων δʼ ἡμῶν, ὑπολαβὼν ὁ Θέων καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔφη κείσθω· οὐκ ἀπίθανον γάρ ἐστι· κἀκεῖνο πρόσθες, εἰ βούλει, τὰς τοιαύτας ἑστιάσεις μὴ μόνον φιλικὰς ἀλλὰ καὶ συγγενικὰς εἶναι, καταμιγνυμένης εἰς τὸ γένος ἑτέρας οἰκειότητος. ὃ δὲ τούτου μεῖζόν ἐστιν, οἴκων εἰς ταὐτὸ συνιόντων δυεῖν, ὅ τε λαμβάνων τοὺς τοῦ διδόντος οἰκείους καὶ φίλους ὅ τε διδοὺς τοὺς τοῦ λαμβάνοντος οἰόμενοι δεῖν φιλοφρονεῖσθαι διπλασιάζουσι τὴν ὑποδοχήν. ἔτι πολλὰ τῶν γαμικῶν ἢ τὰ πλεῖστα δρᾶται διὰ γυναικῶν· ὅπου δὲ γυναῖκες πάρεισι, καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι παραλαμβάνεσθαι.
4.1. AEDEPSUS in Euboea, where the baths are, is a place by nature every way fitted for free and gentle pleasures, and withal so beautified with stately edifices and dining rooms, that one would take it for no other than the common place of repast for all Greece. Here, though the ’earth and air yield plenty of creatures for the service of men, the sea no less furnisheth the table with variety of dishes, nourishing a store of delicious fish in its deep and clear waters. This place is especially frequented in the spring; for hither at this time of year abundance of people resort, solacing themselves in the mutual enjoyment of all those pleasures the place affords, and at spare hours pass away the time in many useful and edifying discourses. When Callistratus the sophist lived here, it was a hard matter to dine at any place besides his house; for he was so extremely courteous and obliging, that no man whom he invited to dinner could have the face to say him nay. One of his best humors was to pick up all the pleasant fellows he could meet with, and put them in the same room. Sometimes he did, as Cimon one of the ancients used to do, and satisfactorily treated men of all sorts and fashions. But he always (so to speak) followed Celeus, who was the first man, it is said, that daily assembled a number of honorable persons of good mark, and called the place where they met the Prytaneum.
4.1. τῆς Εὐβοίας ὁ Αἰδηψός, οὗ τὰ Θερμὰ χωρίον ἐστὶν αὐτοφυὲς πολλὰ πρὸς ἡδονὰς ἔχον ἐλευθερίους καὶ κατεσκευασμένον.,οἰκήσεσι καὶ διαίταις, κοινὸν οἰκητήριον ἀποδέδεικται τῆς Ἑλλάδος· πολλῶν δὲ καὶ πτηνῶν καὶ χερσαίων ἁλισκομένων, οὐχ ἧττον ἡ θάλαττα παρέχει τὴν ἀγορὰν εὐτράπεζον, ἐν τόποις καθαροῖς καὶ ἀγχιβαθέσι γενναῖον ἰχθὺν καὶ πολὺν ἐκτρέφουσα. μάλιστα δʼ ἀνθεῖ τὸ χωρίον ἀκμάζοντος ἔαρος· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἀφικνοῦνται τὴν ὥραν αὐτόθι καὶ συνουσίας ποιοῦνται μετʼ ἀλλήλων ἐν ἀφθόνοις πᾶσι, καὶ πλείστας περὶ λόγους ὑπὸ σχολῆς διατριβὰς ἔχουσι. Καλλιστράτου δὲ τοῦ σοφιστοῦ παρόντος, ἔργον ἦν ἀλλαχόθι δειπνεῖν· ἄμαχος γὰρ ἡ φιλοφροσύνη, καὶ τὸ πάντας εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάγειν ἐπιεικῶς τοὺς χαρίεντας ἣδιστον παρεῖχε πολλάκις μὲν γὰρ ἐμιμεῖτο τῶν παλαιῶν τὸν Κίμωνα, πολλοὺς καὶ παντοδαποὺς ἑστιῶν ἡδέως· ἀεὶ δʼ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τὸν Κελεόν, ὃν πρῶτον ἱστοροῦσιν εὐδοκίμων καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν κατασκευάσαντα σύνοδον καθημερινὴν ὀνομάσαι πρυτανεῖον.
4.2. Several times at these public meetings divers agreeable discourses were raised; and it fell out that once a very splendid treat, adorned with variety of dainties, gave occasion for enquiries concerning food, whether the land or sea yielded better. Here when a great part of the company were highly commending the land, as abounding with many choice, nay, an infinite variety of all sorts of creatures, Polycrates calling to Symmachus, said to him: But you, sir, being an animal bred between two seas, and brought up among so many which surround your sacred Nicopolis, will not you stand up for Neptune? Yes, I will, replied Symmachus, and therefore command you to stand by me, who enjoy the most pleasant part of all the Achaean Sea. Well, says Polycrates, the beginning of my discourse shall be grounded upon custom; for as of a great number of poets we usually give one, who far excels the rest, the famous name of poet; so though there be many sorts of dainties, yet custom has so prevailed, that the fish alone, or above all the rest, is called ὄψον, because it is more excellent than all others. For we do not call those gluttonous and great eaters who love beef, as Hercules, who after flesh used to eat green figs; nor those that love figs, as Plato; nor lastly, those that are for grapes, as Arcesilaus; but those who frequent the fish-market, and soonest hear the market-bell. Thus when Demosthenes told Philocrates that the gold he got by treachery was spent upon whores and fish, he upbraids him as a gluttonous and lascivious fellow. And Ctesiphon said pat enough, when a certain glutton cried aloud in the Senate that he should burst asunder: No, by no means let us be baits for your fish! And what was his meaning, do you think, who made this verse, “You capers gnaw, when you may sturgeon eat?” And what, for God’s sake, do those men mean who, inviting one another to sumptuous collations, usually say: To-day we will dine upon the shore? Is it not that they suppose, what is certainly true, that a dinner upon the shore is of all others most delicious? Not by reason of the waves and stones in that place,—for who upon the sea-coast would be content to feed upon a pulse or a caper?—but because their table is furnished with plenty of fresh fish. Add to this, that sea-food is dearer than any other. Wherefore Cato, inveighing against the luxury of the city, did not exceed the bounds of truth, when he said that at Rome a fish was sold for more than an ox. For they sell a small pot of fish for a price which a hecatomb of sheep with an ox would hardly bring. Besides, as the physician is the best judge of physic, and the musician of songs; so he is able to give the best account of the goodness of meat who is the greatest lover of it. For I will not make Pythagoras and Xenocrates arbitrators in this case; but Antagoras the poet, and Philoxenus the son of Eryxis, and Androcydes the painter, of whom it was reported that, when he drew a landscape of Scylla, he drew fish in a lively manner swimming round her, because he was a great lover of them. So Antigonus the king, surprising Antagoras the poet in the habit of a cook, broiling congers in his tent, said to him: Dost thou think that Homer was dressing congers when he writ Agamemnon’s famous exploits? And he as smartly replied: Do you think that Agamemnon did so many famous exploits when he was enquiring who dressed congers in the camp? These arguments, says Polycrates, I have urged in behalf of fishmongers, drawing them from testimony and custom.
4.2. ἐγίγνοντο δὴ λόγοι τοιαύτῃ συνουσίᾳ πρέποντες ἑκάστοτε· καί ποτε παρέσχον αἱ τράπεζαι, ποικιλώταται γενόμεναι, ζήτησιν ὑπὲρ ὄψων, πότερον τὰ ἐκ γῆς ἢ τὰ ἐκ θαλάττης ἐπιτηδειότερα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σχεδὸν ἁπάντων ὑμνούντων τὰ ἐκ γῆς πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ καὶ δυσεξαρίθμητα τοῖς γένεσι καὶ ταῖς διαφοραῖς, τὸν Σύμμαχον ὁ Πολυκράτης προσαγορεύσας σὺ δʼ εἶπεν ἀμφίαλον ὢν ζῷον καὶ τοσαύταις ἐντεθραμμένος θαλάτταις, αἳ τὴν ἱερὰν πέριξ ὑμῶν ἑλίττουσι Νικόπολιν, οὐκ ἀμύνεις τῷ Ποσειδῶνι;βούλομαί γε νὴ Δίʼ ὁ Σύμμαχος εἶπε, καὶ σὲ παραλαμβάνω καὶ παρακαλῶ, τὰ ἥδιστα τῆς Ἀχαϊκῆς καρπούμενον θαλάττης. οὐκοῦν ἔφη πρῶτον ὁ Πολυκράτης ἴωμεν ἐπὶ τὴν συνήθειαν. ὡς γὰρ πολλῶν ὄντων ποιητῶν ἕνα τὸν κράτιστον ἐξαιρέτως ποιητὴν καλοῦμεν, οὕτω πολλῶν ὄντων ὄψων ἐκνενίκηκεν ὁ ἰχθὺς μόνος ἢ μάλιστὰ γʼ ὄψον καλεῖσθαι διὰ τὸ πολὺ πάντων ἀρετῇ κρατεῖν. καὶ γὰρ ὀψοφάγους καὶ φιλόψους λέγομεν οὐχὶ τοὺς βοείοις χαίροντας, ὥσπερ Ἡρακλῆς ὃς τοῖς κρέασι χλωρὰ σῦκʼ ἐπήσθιεν οὐδὲ τὸν φιλόσυκον οἷος ἦν Πλάτων, οὐ φιλόβοτρυν οἷος Ἀρκεσίλαος· ἀλλὰ τοὺς περὶ τὴν ἰχθυοπωλίαν ἀναδιδόντας ἑκάστοτε καὶ τοῦ κώδωνος ὀξέως ἀκούοντας. καὶ ὁ Δημοσθένης τὸν Φιλοκράτην φησὶν ἐκ τοῦ προδοτικοῦ χρυσίου πόρνας καὶ ἰχθῦς ἀγοράζειν, ἐπʼ ὀψοφαγίᾳ καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ τὸν ἄνδρα λοιδορῶν. ὁ δὲ Κτησιφῶν οὐ κακῶς, ὀψοφάγου τινὸς ἐν τῇ βουλῇ βοῶντος ῥαγήσεσθαι, μηδαμῶς εἶπεν ὦ ἄνθρωπε ποιήσῃς ἡμᾶς ἰχθυοβρώτους. ὁ δὲ τὸ στιχίδιον τοῦτο ποιήσας πρὸς καππάριον ζῇς δυνάμενος πρὸς ἀνθίαν τί ποτε βούλεται; τί δʼ οἱ πολλοὶ βούλονται, πρὸς θεῶν, ὅταν ἡδέως γενέσθαι παρακαλοῦντες ἀλλήλους λέγωσι σήμερον ἀκτάσωμεν οὐχὶ τὸ παρʼ ἀκτῇ δεῖπνον ἥδιστον ἀποφαίνουσιν ὥσπερ ἔστιν; οὐ διὰ τὰ κύματα καὶ τὰς ψηφῖδας τί γάρ; ἐπʼ ἀκτῆς τις λέκυθον ὀψᾶται καὶ κάππαριν;ʼ ἀλλʼ ὡς ἰχθύος ἀφθόνου καὶ νεαροῦ τὴν παράλιον τράπεζαν εὐποροῦσαν. καὶ μέντοι καὶ πιπράσκεται παρὰ λόγον ἁπάντων τιμιώτατον τὸ θαλάττιον ὄψον· ὁ γοῦν Κάτων οὐχ ὑπερβολικῶς ἀλλʼ ἀληθῶς πρὸς τὴν τρυφὴν καὶ πολυτέλειαν τῆς πόλεως δημηγορῶν εἶπεν, ὅτι πλείονος πιπράσκεται ἐν Ῥώμῃ ἰχθὺς ἢ βοῦς. κεράμιόν τε γὰρ πωλοῦσι τιμῆς, ὅσην οὐκ ἂν ἑκατόμβη βούπρῳρος ἄλφοι κατακοπεῖσα. καίτοι φαρμάκων δυνάμεως ὁ ἰατρικώτατος ἄριστος κριτὴς καὶ μελῶν ἀρετῆς ὁ φιλομουσότατος, οὐκοῦν καὶ ἀρετῆς ὄψων ὁ φιλοψότατος· οὐ γὰρ Πυθαγόρᾳ γε τούτων οὐδὲ Ξενοκράτει διαιτητῇ χρηστέον, Ἀνταγόρᾳ δὲ τῷ ποιητῇ καὶ Φιλοξένῳ τῷ Ἐρύξιδος καὶ τῷ ζωγράφῳ Ἀνδροκύδει, ὅν φασι τὴν Σκύλλαν ζωγραφοῦντα τοὺς περὶ αὐτὴν ἰχθῦς ἐμπαθέστατα καὶ ζωτικώτατα διʼ ὀψοφαγίαν ἐξεργάσασθαι. Ἀνταγόρᾳ δʼ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀντίγονος ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ λοπάδα γόγγρων ἕψοντι περιεζωσμένῳ παραστὰς ἆρά γʼ εἶπε τὸν Ὅμηρον οἴει τὰς τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος πράξεις ἀναγράφειν γόγγρους ἕψοντα; κἀκεῖνος οὐ φαύλως σὺ δʼ οἴει ἔφησε τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα τὰς πράξεις ἐκείνας ἐργάσασθαι πολυπραγμονοῦντα, τίς ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ γόγγρον ἕψει; ταῦτʼ εἶπεν ὁ Πολυκράτης ἔγωγε συμβάλλομαι καὶ ὑμῖν καὶ νὴ Δία τοῖς ἰχθυοπώλαις ἀπὸ τῶν μαρτύρων καὶ τῆς συνηθείας.
4.3. But, says Symmachus, I will go more seriously to work, and more like a logician. For if that may truly be said to be a dainty which gives meat the best relish, it will evidently follow, that that is the best sort of dainty which gets men the best stomach to their meat. Therefore, as those philosophers who were called Elpistics (from the Greek word signifying hope, which above all others they cried up) averred that there was nothing in the world which concurred more to the preservation of life than hope, without whose gracious influence life would be a burden and altogether intolerable; in the like manner that of all things may be said to get us a stomach to our meat, without which all meat would be unpalatable and nauseous. And among all those things the earth yields, we find no such things as salt, which we can have only from the sea. First of all, there would be nothing eatable without salt, which mixed with flour seasons bread also. Hence it was that Neptune and Ceres had both the same temple. Besides, salt is the most pleasant of all relishes. For those heroes who, like champions, used themselves to a spare diet, banishing from their tables all vain and superfluous delicacies, to such a degree that when they encamped by the Hellespont they abstained from fish, yet for all this could not eat flesh without salt; which is a sufficient evidence that salt is the most desirable of all relishes. For as colors need light, so tastes need salt, that they may affect the sense, unless you would have them very nauseous and unpleasant. For, as Heraclitus used to say, a carcass is more abominable than dung. Now all flesh is dead, and part of a lifeless carcass; but the virtue of salt, being added to it, like a soul, gives it a pleasing relish and poignancy. Hence it comes to pass that before meat men use to take sharp things, and such as have much salt in them; for these beguile us into an appetite. And whoever has his stomach sharpened with these sets cheerfully and freshly upon all other sorts of meat. But if he begin with any other kind of food, all on a sudden his stomach grows dull and languid. And therefore salt doth not only make meat but drink palatable. For Homer’s onion, which, he tells us, they were used to eat before they drank, was fitter for seamen and boatmen than kings. Things moderately salt, by being agreeable to the mouth, make all sorts of wine mild and palatable, and water itself of a pleasing taste. Besides, salt creates none of those troubles which an onion does, but digests all other kinds of meat, making them tender and fitter for concoction; so that at the same time it is sauce to the palate and physic to the body. But all other sea-food, besides this pleasantness, is also very innocent; for though it be fleshly, yet it does not load the stomach as all other flesh does, but is easily concocted and digested. This Zeno will’ avouch for me, and Crato too, who confine sick persons to a fish diet, as of all others the lightest sort of meat. And it stands with reason, that the sea should produce the most nourishing and wholesome food, seeing it yields us the most refined, the purest, and therefore the most agreeable air.
4.3. ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἔφη τῷ πράγματι μετὰ σπουδῆς πρόσειμι καὶ διαλεκτικώτερον. εἰ γὰρ ὄψον ἐστὶ τὸ τὴν τροφὴν ἐφηδῦνον, ἄριστον ἂν ὄψον εἴη τὸ μάλιστα τὴν ὄρεξιν ἐπὶ τῷ σίτῳ κατασχεῖν δυνάμενον. ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ προσαγορευθέντες Ἐλπιστικοὶ φιλόσοφοι συνεκτικώτατον εἶναι τοῦ βίου τὸ ἐλπίζειν ἀποφαίνονται τῷ ἀπούσης ἐλπίδος οὐδʼ ἡδυνούσης οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν εἶναι τὸν βίον, οὕτω καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν τροφὴν ὀρέξεως συνεκτικὸν θετέον, οὗ μὴ παρόντος ἄχαρις γίγνεται τροφὴ πᾶσα καὶ δυσπρόσοιστος. τῶν μὲν οὖν ἐκ γῆς τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν εὑρήσεις, τῶν δὲ θαλαττίων τὸν ἅλα πρῶτον, οὗ χωρὶς οὐδὲν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἐστιν ἐδώδιμον· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἄρτον οὗτος ἐμμιγνύμενος συνηδύνει· διὸ καὶ Δήμητρος σύνναος ὁ Ποσειδῶν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὄψων οἱ ἅλες ἥδιστον ὄψον εἰσίν. οἱ γοῦν ἥρωες εὐτελοῦς καὶ λιτῆς ἐθάδες ὥσπερ ἀσκηταὶ διαίτης ὄντες καὶ τῆς τροφῆς πᾶσαν ἡδονὴν ἐπίθετον καὶ περίεργον ἀφελόντες, ὡς μηδʼ ἰχθύσι χρῆσθαι παρὰ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον στρατοπεδεύοντες, οὐχ ὑπέμενον τὰ κρέα χωρὶς ἁλῶν προσφέρεσθαι, μαρτυροῦντες ὅτι τοῦτο τῶν ὄψων μόνον ἀπαραίτητόν ἐστιν. ὡς γὰρ τὰ χρώματα τοῦ φωτός, οὕτως οἱ χυμοὶ τοῦ ἁλὸς δέονται πρὸς τὸ κινῆσαι τὴν αἴσθησιν εἰ δὲ μή, βαρεῖς τῇ γεύσει προσπίπτουσι καὶ ναυτιώδεις. νέκυες γὰρ κοπρίων ἐκβλητότεροι καθʼ Ἡράκλειτον, κρέας δὲ πᾶν νεκρόν ἐστι καὶ νεκροῦ μέρος· ἡ δὲ τῶν ἁλῶν δύναμις, ὥσπερ ψυχὴ παραγενομένη, χάριν αὐτῷ καὶ ἡδονὴν προστίθησι. διὸ καὶ προλαμβάνουσι τῆς ἄλλης τροφῆς τὰ δριμέα καὶ τὰ ἁλμυρά, καὶ ὅλως ὅσα μάλιστα τῶν ἁλῶν μετέσχηκε· γίγνεται γὰρ φίλτρα ταῦτα τῇ ὀρέξει πρὸς τἄλλα ὄψα, καὶ δελεασθεῖσα διὰ τούτων ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνα πρόσεισι νεαλὴς καὶ πρόθυμος· ἐὰν δʼ ἀπʼ ἐκείνων ἄρξηται, ταχέως ἀπαγορεύει. οὐ μόνον τοίνυν πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ποτὸν ὄψον εἰσὶν οἱ ἅλες. τὸ μὲν γὰρ Ὁμηρικὸν ἐκεῖνο κρόμυον ποτῷ ὄψον ναύταις καὶ κωπηλάταις μᾶλλον ἢ βασιλεῦσιν ἐπιτήδειον ἦν· τὰ δʼ ὑφαλμυρίζοντα μετρίως τῶν σιτίων διʼ εὐστομίαν πᾶν μὲν οἴνου γένος ἡδὺ τῇ γεύσει καὶ λεῖον ἐπάγει, πᾶν δʼ ὕδωρ προσφιλὲς παρέχεσθαι ἄλκιμον· ἀηδίας δὲ καὶ δυσχερείας, ἣν ἐμποιεῖ τὸ κρόμμυον, οὐδʼ ὀλίγον μετέσχηκεν ἀλλὰ καὶ διαφορεῖ τὴν ἄλλην τροφὴν καὶ παραδίδωσιν εὐπειθῆ καὶ μαλακωτέραν τῇ πέψει, εὔχαριν μὲν χάριν ὄψου δύναμιν δὲ φαρμάκου τῷ σώματι τῶν ἁλῶν προσφερομένων. καὶ μὴν τὰ γʼ ἄλλα θαλάττης ὄψα πρὸς τῷ ἡδίστῳ καὶ τὸ ἀβλαβέστατον ἔχει· κρεώδη μὲν γάρ ἐστιν οὐ βαρύνει δʼ ὁμοίως, ἀλλὰ καταπέττεται καὶ διαφορεῖται ῥᾳδίως. μαρτυρήσει δʼ οὑτοσὶ Ζήνων καὶ νὴ Δία Κράτων, οἳ τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἐπὶ τὸν ἰχθὺν ἄγουσιν ὡς κουφότατον ὄψων. καὶ λόγον ἔχει τὴν θάλατταν ὑγιεινὰ καὶ διαπεπονημένα τοῖς σώμασιν ἐκτρέφειν, εἴ γε καὶ ἡμῖν ἀέρα λεπτότητι καὶ καθαρότητι πρόσφορον ἀναδίδωσιν.
4.4. You say right, says Lamprias, but let us think of something else to confirm what you have spoken. I remember my old grandfather was used to say in derision of the Jews, that they abstained from most lawful flesh; but we will say that that is most lawful meat which comes from the sea. For we can claim no great right over land creatures, which are nourished with the same food, draw the same air, wash in and drink the same water, that we do ourselves; and when they are slaughtered, they make us ashamed of what we are doing, with their hideous cries; and then again, by living amongst us, they arrive at some degree of familiarity and intimacy with us. But sea creatures are altogether strangers to us, and are born and brought up as it were in another world; neither does their voice, look, or any service they have done us plead for their life. For this kind of creatures are of no use at all to us, nor is there any necessity that we should love them. But that place which we inhabit is hell to them, and as soon as ever they enter upon it they die.
4.4. ὀρθῶς ἔφη λέγεις ὁ Λαμπρίας, ἀλλʼ ἔτι τῷ λόγῳ προσφιλοσοφήσωμεν. ὁ γὰρ ἐμὸς πάππος εἰώθει λέγειν ἑκάστοτε τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐπισκώπτων, ὅτι τὸ δικαιότατον κρέας οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν· ἡμεῖς δὲ φήσομεν δικαιότατον ὄψον εἶναι τὸ ἐκ θαλάττης· πρὸς μὲν γὰρ ταυτὶ τὰ χερσαῖα κἂν ἄλλο μηδὲν ἡμῖν δίκαιον, ἀλλὰ τρέφεταί γε τοῖς αὐτοῖς καὶ λαμβάνει τὸν αὐτὸν ἀέρα, καὶ λουτρὰ καὶ ποτὸν αὐτοῖς ἅπερ ἡμῖν ἔστιν· καὶ σφάττοντες ἐδυσωποῦντο φωνὴν ἀφιέντα γοερὰν καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα πεποιημένοι συνήθη καὶ σύντροφα ταῖς διαίταις. τὸ δὲ τῶν ἐναλίων γένος ἔκφυλον ὅλως καὶ ἄποικον ἡμῶν, ὥσπερ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ κόσμῳ γεγονότων καὶ ζώντων, οὔτʼ ὄψις οὔτε φωνή τις οὔθʼ ὑπουργία παραιτεῖται τῆς προσφορᾶς, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄν τις ἔχοι χρήσασθαι ζῶσιν, ἃ μηδʼ ὅλως ζῇ παρʼ ἡμῖν· οὐδὲ δεῖ τινος ἐπʼ αὐτὰ στοργῆς, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ Ἅιδης αὐτοῖς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ παρʼ ἡμῖν τόπος· ἐλθόντα γὰρ εἰς αὐτὸν εὐθέως τέθνηκεν.
5.1. AFTER these things were spoken, and some in the company were minded to say something in defence of the contrary opinion, Callistratus interrupted their discourse and said: Sirs, what do you think of that which was spoken against the Jews, that they abstain from the most lawful flesh? Very well said, quoth Polycrates, for that is a thing I very much question, whether it was that the Jews abstained from swine’s flesh because they conferred divine honor upon that creature, or because they had a natural aversion to it. For whatever we find in their own writings seems to be altogether fabulous, except they have some more solid reasons which they have no mind to discover.
5.1. ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐρρήθη, βουλομένων τινῶν ἀντικατατείνειν, τὸν ἕτερον λόγον ἐκκρούων ὁ Καλλίστρατος ἔφη πῶς ὑμῖν δοκεῖ λελέχθαι τὸ πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ὅτι τὸ δικαιότατον κρέας οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν; ὑπερφυῶς ἔφη ὁ Πολυκράτης, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ προσδιαπορῶ, πότερον οἱ ἄνδρες τιμῇ τινι τῶν ὑῶν ἢ μυσαττόμενοι τὸ ζῷον ἀπέχονται τῆς βρώσεως αὐτοῦ· τὰ γὰρ παρʼ ἐκείνοις λεγόμενα μύθοις ἔοικεν, εἰ μή τινας ἄρα λόγους σπουδαίους ἔχοντες οὐκ ἐκφέρουσιν.
5.2. Hence it is, says Callistratus, that I am of an opinion that this nation has that creature in some veneration; and though it be granted that the hog is an ugly and filthy creature, yet it is not quite so vile nor naturally stupid as a beetle, griffin, crocodile, or cat, most of which are worshipped as the most sacred things by some priests amongst the Egyptians. But the reason why the hog is had in so much honor and veneration amongst them is, because, as the report goes, that creature breaking up the earth with its snout showed the way to tillage, and taught them how to use the ploughshare, which instrument for that very reason, as some say, was called hynis from ὖς, a swine. Now the Egyptians inhabiting a country situated low, and whose soil is naturally soft, have no need of the plough; but after the river Nile hath retired from the grounds it overflowed, they presently let all their hogs into the fields, and they with their feet and snouts break up the ground, and cover the sown seed. Nor ought this to seem strange to any one, that there are in the world those who abstain from swine’s flesh upon such an account as this; when it is evident that among barbarous nations there are other animals had in greater honor and veneration for lesser, if not altogether ridiculous, reasons. For the field-mouse only for its blindness was worshipped as a God among the Egyptians, because they were of an opinion that darkness was before light, and that the latter had its birth from mice about the fifth generation at the new moon; and moreover that the liver of this creature diminishes in the wane of the moon. But they consecrate the lion to the sun, because the lioness alone, of all clawed quadrupeds, brings forth her young with their eyesight; for they sleep a moment, and when they are asleep their eyes sparkle. Besides, they place gaping lions’ heads for the spouts of their fountains, because Nilus overflows the Egyptian fields when the sign is Leo: they give it out that their bird ibis, as soon as hatched, weighs two drachms, which are of the same weight with the heart of a new-born infant; and that its legs being spread with the bill make an exact equilateral triangle. And yet who can find fault with the Egyptians for these trifles, when it is left upon record that the Pythagoreans worshipped a white cock, and of sea creatures abstained especially from the mullet and urtic. The Magi that descended from Zoroaster adored the land hedgehog above other creatures, but had a deadly spite against water-rats, and thought that man was dear in the eyes of the Gods who destroyed most of them. But I should think that if the Jews had such an antipathy against a hog, they would kill it as the magicians do mice; when, on the contrary, they are by their religion as much prohibited to kill as to eat it. And perhaps there may be some reason given for this; for as the ass is worshipped by them as the first discoverer of fountains, so perhaps the hog may be had in like veneration, which first taught them to sow and plough. Nay, some say that the Jews also abstain from hares, as abominable and unclean.
5.2. ἐγὼ μὲν τοίνυν εἶπεν ὁ Καλλίστρατος οἶμαί τινα τιμὴν τὸ ζῷον ἔχειν παρὰ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν· εἰ δὲ δύσμορφον ἡ ὗς καὶ θολερόν, ἀλλʼ οὐ κανθάρου καὶ γυπὸς καὶ κροκοδείλου καὶ αἰλούρου τὴν ὄψιν ἀτοπώτερον ἢ τὴν φύσιν ἀμουσότερον οἷς ὡς ἁγιωτάτοις ἱερεῖς Αἰγυπτίων ἄλλοις ἄλλοι προσφέρονται. τὴν δʼ ὗν ἀπὸ χρηστῆς αἰτίας τιμᾶσθαι λέγουσι· πρώτη γὰρ σχίσασα τῷ προύχοντι τῆς ὀρυχῆς, ὥς φασι, τὴν γῆν ἴχνος ἀρόσεως ἔθηκε καὶ τὸ τῆς ὕνεως ὑφηγήσατο ἔργον· ὅθεν καὶ τοὔνομα γενέσθαι τῷ ἐργαλείῳ λέγουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ὑός. οἱ δὲ τὰ μαλθακὰ καὶ κοῖλα τῆς χώρας Αἰγύπτιοι γεωργοῦντες οὐδʼ ἀρότρου δέονται τὸ παράπαν ἀλλʼ ὅταν ὁ Νεῖλος ἀπορρέῃ καταβρέξας τὰς ἀρούρας, ἐπακολουθοῦντες τὰς ὗς κατέβαλον αἱ δὲ χρησάμεναι πάτῳ καὶ ὀρυχῇ ταχὺ τὴν γῆν ἔστρεψαν ἐκ βάθους καὶ τὸν σπόρον ἀπέκρυψαν. οὐ δεῖ δὲ θαυμάζειν, εἰ διὰ τοῦτό τινες ὗς οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν, ἑτέρων ζῴων μείζονας ἐπʼ αἰτίαις γλίσχραις, ἐνίων δὲ καὶ πάνυ γελοίαις, τιμὰς ἐχόντων παρὰ τοῖς βαρβάροις. τὴν μὲν γὰρ μυγαλῆν ἐκτεθειάσθαι λέγουσιν ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων τυφλὴν οὖσαν, ὅτι τὸ σκότος τοῦ φωτὸς ἡγοῦντο πρεσβύτερον τίκτεσθαι δʼ αὐτὴν ἐκ μυῶν πέμπτῃ γενεᾷ νουμηνίας οὔσης· ἔτι δὲ μειοῦσθαι τὸ ἧπαρ ἐν τοῖς ἀφανισμοῖς τῆς σελήνης. τὸν δὲ λέοντα τῷ ἡλίῳ συνοικειοῦσιν, ὅτι τῶν γαμψωνύχων τετραπόδων βλέποντα τίκτει μόνος· κοιμᾶται δʼ ἀκαρὲς χρόνου καὶ ὑπολάμπει τὰ ὄμματα καθεύδοντος· κρῆναι δὲ κατὰ χασμάτων λεοντείων ἐξιᾶσι κρουνούς, ὅτι Νεῖλος ἐπάγει νέον ὕδωρ ταῖς Αἰγυπτίων ἀρούραις, ἡλίου τὸν λέοντα παροδεύοντος. τὴν δʼ ἶβίν φασιν ἐκκολαφθεῖσαν εὐθὺς ἕλκειν δύο δραχμάς, ὅσον ἄρτι παιδίου γεγονότος καρδίαν· ποιεῖ δὲ τῇ τῶν ποδῶν ἀποτάσει πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ πρὸς τὸ ῥύγχος ἰσόπλευρον τρίγωνον. καὶ τί ἄν τις Αἰγυπτίους αἰτιῷτο τῆς τοσαύτης ἀλογίας, ὅπου καὶ τοὺς Πυθαγορικοὺς ἱστοροῦσι καὶ ἀλεκτρυόνα λευκὸν σέβεσθαι καὶ τῶν θαλαττίων μάλιστα τρίγλης καὶ ἀκαλήφης ἀπέχεσθαι, τοὺς δʼ ἀπὸ Ζωροάστρου μάγους τιμᾶν μὲν ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα τὸν χερσαῖον ἐχῖνον, ἐχθαίρειν δὲ τοὺς ἐνύδρους μῦς καὶ τὸν ἀποκτείνοντα πλείστους θεοφιλῆ καὶ μακάριον νομίζειν; οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, εἴπερ ἐβδελύττοντο τὴν ὗν, ἀποκτείνειν ἄν, ὥσπερ οἱ μάγοι τοὺς μῦς ἀποκτείνουσι· νῦν δʼ ὁμοίως τῷ φαγεῖν τὸ ἀνελεῖν ἀπόρρητόν ἐστιν αὐτοῖς. καὶ ἴσως ἔχει λόγον, ὡς τὸν ὄνον ἀναφήναντα πηγὴν αὐτοῖς ὕδατος τιμῶσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὴν ὗν σέβεσθαι σπόρου καὶ ἀρότου διδάσκαλον γενομένην εἰ μή, νὴ Δία, καὶ τοῦ λαγωοῦ φήσει τις ἀπέχεσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας, ὡς μυσαρὸν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον δυσχεραίνοντας τὸ ζῷον.
5.3. They have reason for that, said Lamprias, because a hare is so like an ass which they detest; for in its color, ears, and the sparkling of its eyes, it is so like an ass, that I do not know any little creature that represents a great one so much as a hare doth an ass; unless in this likewise they imitate the Egyptians, and suppose that there is something of divinity in the swiftness of this creature, as also in its quickness of sense; for the eyes of hares are so unwearied that they sleep with them open. Besides they seem to excel all other creatures in quickness of hearing; whence it was that the Egyptians painted the ear of a hare amongst their other hieroglyphics, as an emblem of hearing. But the Jews do hate swine’s flesh, because all the barbarians are naturally fearful of a scab and leprosy, which they presume comes by eating such kind of flesh. For we may observe that all pigs under the belly are overspread with a leprosy and scab; which may be supposed to proceed from an ill disposition of body and corruption within, which breaks out through the skin. Besides, swine’s feeding is commonly so nasty and filthy, that it must of necessity cause corruptions and vicious humors; for, setting aside those creatures that are bred from and live upon dung, there is no other creature that takes so much delight to wallow in the mire, and in other unclean and stinking places. Hogs’ eyes are said to be so flattened and fixed upon the ground, that they see nothing above them, nor ever look up to the sky, except when forced upon their back they turn their eyes to the sun against nature. Therefore this creature, at other times most clamorous, when laid upon his back, is still, as astonished at the unusual sight of the heavens; while the greatness of the fear he is in (as it is supposed) is the cause of his silence. And if it be lawful to intermix our discourse with fables, it is said that Adonis was slain by a boar. Now Adonis is supposed to be the same with Bacchus; and there are a great many rites in both their sacrifices which confirm this opinion. Others will have Adonis to be Bacchus’s paramour; and Phanocles an amorous love-poet writes thus,Bacchus on hills the fair Adonis saw,And ravished him, and reaped a wondrous joy.
5.3. οὐ δῆτʼ ἔφη ὁ Λαμπρίας ὑπολαβών ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν λαγωοῦ φείδονται διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν μένον ὑπʼ αὐτῶν μυ … στα θηρίον ἐμφερέστατον. ὁ γὰρ λαγὼς μεγέθους ἔοικε καὶ πάχους ἐνδεὴς ὄνος εἶναι· καὶ γὰρ ἡ χρόα καὶ τὰ ὦτα καὶ τῶν ὀμμάτων ἡ λιπαρότης καὶ τὸ λαμυρὸν ἔοικε θαυμασίως· ὥστε μηδὲν οὕτω μηδὲ μικρὸν μεγάλῳ τὴν μορφὴν ὅμοιον γεγονέναι. εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ὁμοιότητας αἰγυπτιάζοντες τὴν ὠκύτητα τοῦ ζῴου θεῖον ἡγοῦνται καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῶν αἰσθητηρίων· ὅ τε γὰρ ὀφθαλμὸς ἄτρυτός ἐστιν αὐτῶν, ὥστε καὶ καθεύδειν ἀναπεπταμένοις τοῖς ὄμμασιν ὀξυηκοΐᾳ δὲ δοκεῖ διαφέρειν, ἣν Αἰγύπτιοι θαυμάσαντες ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν ἀκοὴν σημαίνουσιν οὖς λαγωοῦ γράφοντες. τὸ δʼ ὕειον κρέας οἱ ἄνδρες ἀφοσιοῦσθαι δοκοῦσιν, ὅτι μάλιστα … οἱ βάρβαροι τὰς ἐπιλευκίας καὶ λέπρας δυσχεραίνουσι, καὶ τῇ προσβολῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα καταβόσκεσθαι πάθη τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἴονται. πᾶσαν δʼ ὗν ὑπὸ τὴν γαστέρα λέπρας ἀνάπλεων καὶ ψωρικῶν ἐξανθημάτων ὁρῶμεν· ἃ δή, καχεξίας τινὸς ἐγγενομένης τῷ σώματι καὶ φθορᾶς, ἐπιτρέχειν δοκεῖ τοῖς σώμασιν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ θολερὸν περὶ τὴν δίαιταν τοῦ θρέμματος ἔχει τινὰ πονηρίαν οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο βορβόρῳ χαῖρον οὕτω καὶ τόποις ῥυπαροῖς καὶ ἀκαθάρτοις ὁρῶμεν, ἔξω λόγου τιθέμενοι τὰ τὴν γένεσιν καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔχοντα τούτοις. λέγουσι δὲ καὶ τὰ ὄμματα τῶν ὑῶν οὕτως ἐγκεκλάσθαι καὶ κατεσπάσθαι ταῖς ὄψεσιν, ὥστε μηδενὸς ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι μηδέποτε τῶν ἄνω μηδὲ προσορᾶν τὸν οὐρανόν, ἂν μὴ φερομένων ὑπτίων ἀναστροφήν τινα παρὰ φύσιν αἱ κόραι λάβωσι· διὸ καὶ μάλιστα κραυγῇ χρώμενον τὸ ζῷον ἡσυχάζειν, ὅταν οὕτω φέρηται, καὶ σιωπᾶν κατατεθαμβημένον ἀηθίᾳ τὰ οὐράνια καὶ κρείττονι, φόβῳ τοῦ βοᾶν συνεχόμενον. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ τὰ μυθικὰ προσλαβεῖν, λέγεται μὲν ὁ Ἄδωνις ὑπὸ τοῦ συὸς διαφθαρῆναι· τὸν δʼ Ἄδωνιν οὐχ ἕτερον ἀλλὰ Διόνυσον εἶναι νομίζουσι, καὶ πολλὰ τῶν τελουμένων ἑκατέρῳ περὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς βεβαιοῖ τὸν λόγον. οἱ δὲ παιδικὰ τοῦ Διονύσου γεγονέναι· καὶ Φανοκλῆς, ἐρωτικὸς ἀνήρ, ὧδέ που πεποίηκενεἰδὼς θεῖον Ἄδωνιν ὀρειφοίτης Διόνυσοςἥρπασεν, ἠγαθέην Κύπρον ἐποιχόμενος.
6.1. HERE Symmachus, greatly wondering at what was spoken, says: What, Lamprias, will you permit our tutelar God, called Evius, the inciter of women, famous for the honors he has conferred upon him by madmen, to be inscribed and enrolled in the mysteries of the Jews? Or is there any solid reason that can be given to prove Adonis to be the same with Bacchus? Here Moeragenes interposing, said: Do not be so fierce upon him, for I who am an Athenian answer you, and tell you, in short, that these two are the very same. And no man is able or fit to hear the chief confirmation of this truth, but those amongst us who are initiated and skilled in the triennial παντέλεια, or great mysteries of the God. But what no religion forbids to speak of among friends, especially over wine, the gift of Bacchus, I am ready at the command of these gentlemen to disclose.
6.1. θαυμάσας δὲ τὸ ἑπιρρηθὲν ὁ Σύμμαχος ἆρʼ ἔφη σὺ τὸν πατριώτην θεόν, ὦ Λαμπρία εὔιον, ὀρσιγύναικα, μαινομέναις ἀνθέοντα τιμαῖσι Διόνυσον ἐγγράφεις καὶ ὑποποιεῖς τοῖς Ἑβραίων ἀπορρήτοις; ἢ τῷ ὄντι λόγος ἔστι τις ὁ τοῦτον ἐκείνῳ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀποφαίνων; ὁ δὲ Μοιραγένης ὑπολαβών ἔα τοῦτον εἶπεν· ἐγὼ γὰρ Ἀθηναῖος ὢν ἀποκρίνομαί σοι καὶ λέγω μηδένʼ ἄλλον εἶναι· καὶ τὰ μὲν πολλὰ τῶν εἰς τοῦτο τεκμηρίων μόνοις ἐστὶ ῥητὰ καὶ διδακτὰ τοῖς μυουμένοις παρʼ ἡμῖν εἰς τὴν τριετηρικὴν παντέλειαν· ἃ δὲ λόγῳ διελθεῖν οὐ κεκώλυται πρὸς φίλους ἄνδρας, ἄλλως τε καὶ παρʼ οἶνον ἐπὶ τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ δώροις, ἂν οὗτοι κελεύωσι, λέγειν ἕτοιμος.
6.2. When all the company requested and earnestly begged it of him; first of all (says he), the time and manner of the greatest and most holy solemnity of the Jews is exactly agreeable to the holy rites of Bacchus; for that which they call the Fast they celebrate in the midst of the vintage, furnishing their tables with all sorts of fruits, while they sit under tabernacles made of vines and ivy; and the day which immediately goes before this they call the day of Tabernacles. Within a few days after they celebrate another feast, not darkly but openly, dedicated to Bacchus, for they have a feast amongst them called Kradephoria, from carrying palm-trees, and Thyrsophoria, when they enter into the temple carrying thyrsi. What they do within I know not; but it is very probable that they perform the rites of Bacchus. First they have little trumpets, such as the Grecians used to have at their Bacchanalia to call upon their Gods withal. Others go before them playing upon harps, which they call Levites, whether so named from Lusius or Evius,—either word agrees with Bacchus. And I suppose that their Sabbaths have some relation to Bacchus; for even at this day many call the Bacchi by the name of Sabbi, and they make use of that word at the celebration of Bacchus’s orgies. And this may be made appear out of Demosthenes and Menander. Nor would it be absurd, were any one to say that the name Sabbath was imposed upon this feast from the agitation and excitement (σόβησις) which the priests of Bacchus indulged in. The Jews themselves testify no less; for when they keep the Sabbath, they invite one another to drink till they are drunk; or if they chance to be hindered by some more weighty business, it is the fashion at least to taste the wine. Some perhaps may surmise that these are mere conjectures. But there are other arguments which will clearly evince the truth of what I assert. The first may be drawn from their High-priest, who on holidays enters their temple with his mitre on, arrayed in a skin of a hind embroidered with gold, wearing buskins, and a coat hanging down to his ankles; besides, he has a great many little bells hanging at his garment which make a noise as he walks the streets. So in the nightly ceremonies of Bacchus (as the fashion is amongst us), they make use of musical instruments, and call the God’s nurses χαλκοδρυσταί. High up on the wall of their temple is a representation of the thyrsus and timbrels, which surely can belong to no other God than Bacchus. Moreover they are forbidden the use of honey in their sacrifices, because they suppose that a mixture of honey corrupts and deads the wine. And honey was used for sacrificing in former days, and with it the ancients were wont to make themselves drunk, before the vine was known. And at this day barbarous people who want wine drink metheglin, allaying the sweetness of the honey by bitter roots, much of the taste of our wine. The Greeks offered to their Gods these sober offerings or honey-offerings, as they called them, because that honey was of a nature quite contrary to wine. But this is no inconsiderable argument that Bacchus was worshipped by the Jews, in that, amongst other kinds of punishment, that was most remarkably odious by which malefactors were forbid the use of wine for so long a time as the judge was pleased to prescribe. Those thus punished … … … … … What is your opinion at present, Sossius Senecio, of the pleasures of mind and body, is not evident to me;Because us two a thousand things divide,Vast shady hills, and the rough ocean’s tide.
6.2. πάντων οὖν κελευόντων καὶ δεομένων πρῶτον μέν ἔφη τῆς μεγίστης καὶ τελειοτάτης ἑορτῆς παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὁ καιρός ἐστι καὶ ὁ τρόπος Διονύσῳ προσήκων. τὴν γὰρ λεγομένην νηστείαν ἄγοντες ἀκμάζοντι τρυγητῷ τραπέζας τε προτίθενται παντοδαπῆς ὀπώρας ὑπὸ σκηναῖς καὶ καλιάσιν ἐκ κλημάτων μάλιστα καὶ κιττοῦ διαπεπλεγμέναις· καὶ τὴν προτέραν τῆς ἑορτῆς σκηνὴν ὀνομάζουσιν. ὀλίγαις δʼ ὕστερον ἡμέραις ἄλλην ἑορτήν, οὐκ ἂν διʼ αἰνιγμάτων ἀλλʼ ἄντικρυς Βάκχου καλουμένην, τελοῦσιν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ κραδηφορία τις ἑορτὴ καὶ θυρσοφορία παρʼ αὐτοῖς, ἐν θύρσους ἔχοντες εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν εἰσίασιν. εἰσελθόντες δέ, ὅ τι δρῶσιν, οὐκ ἴσμεν· εἰκὸς δὲ βακχείαν εἶναι τὰ ποιούμενα· καὶ γὰρ σάλπιγξι μικραῖς, ὥσπερ Ἀργεῖοι τοῖς Διονυσίοις, ἀνακαλούμενοι τὸν θεὸν χρῶνται· καὶ κιθαρίζοντες ἕτεροι προΐασιν, οὓς αὐτοὶ Λευίτας προσονομάζουσιν, εἴτε παρὰ τὸν Λύσιον εἴτε μᾶλλον παρὰ τὸν Εὔιον τῆς ἐπικλήσεως γεγενημένης. οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τὴν τῶν σαββάτων ἑορτὴν μὴ παντάπασιν ἀπροσδιόνυσον εἶναι. Σάβους γὰρ καὶ νῦν ἔτι πολλοὶ τοὺς Βάκχους καλοῦσι καὶ ταύτην ἀφιᾶσι τὴν φωνὴν ὅταν ὀργιάζωσι τῷ θεῷ· βεβαίωσιν δʼ ἔστι δήπου καὶ παρὰ Δημοσθένους λαβεῖν καὶ παρὰ Μενάνδρου. καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου τις ἂν φαίη τοὔνομα πεποιῆσθαι πρός τινα σόβησιν, ἣ κατέχει τοὺς βακχεύοντας. αὐτοὶ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ μαρτυροῦσιν, ὅταν σάββατον τιμῶσι, μάλιστα μὲν πίνειν καὶ οἰνοῦσθαι παρακαλοῦντες ἀλλήλους· ὅταν δὲ κωλύῃ τι μεῖζον, ἀπογεύεσθαί γε πάντως ἀκράτου νομίζοντες. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εἰκότα φαίη τις ἂν εἶναι· κατὰ κράτος δὲ τοὺς ἐναντίους πρῶτον μὲν ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἐλέγχει, μιτρηφόρος τε προϊὼν ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς καὶ νεβρίδα χρυσόπαστον ἐνημμένος, χιτῶνα δὲ ποδήρη φορῶν καὶ κοθόρνους· κώδωνες δὲ πολλοὶ κατακρέμανται τῆς ἐσθῆτος, ὑποκομποῦντες ἐν τῷ βαδίζειν, ὡς καὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν· ψόφοις δὲ χρῶνται περὶ τὰ νυκτέλια, καὶ χαλκοκρότους τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ τιθήνας προσαγορεύουσι· καὶ ὁ δεικνύμενος ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις τοῦ νεὼ θύρσος ἐντετυπωμένος καὶ τύμπανα· ταῦτα γὰρ οὐδενὶ δήπουθεν ἄλλῳ θεῶν ἢ Διονύσῳ προσῆκει. ἔτι τοίνυν μέλι μὲν οὐ προσφέρουσι ταῖς ἱερουργίαις, ὅτι δοκεῖ φθείρειν τὸν οἶνον κεραννύμενον, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἦν σπονδὴ καὶ μέθυ, πρὶν ἄμπελον φανῆναι. καὶ μέχρι νῦν τῶν τε βαρβάρων οἱ μὴ ποιοῦντες οἶνον μελίτειον πίνουσιν, ὑποφαρμάσσοντες τὴν γλυκύτητα οἰνώδεσι ῥίζαις καὶ αὐστηραῖς Ἕλληνές τε νηφάλια ταὐτὰ καὶ μελίσπονδα θύουσιν, ὡς ἀντίθετον φύσιν μάλιστα τοῦ μέλιτος πρὸς τὸν οἶνον ἔχοντος, ὅτι δὲ τοῦτο νομίζουσι, κἀκεῖνο σημεῖον οὐ μικρόν ἐστι, τὸ πολλῶν τιμωριῶν οὐσῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς μίαν εἶναι μάλιστα διαβεβλημένην, τὴν οἴνου τοὺς κολαζομένους ἀπείργουσαν, ὅσον ἂν τάξῃ χρόνον ὁ κύριος τῆς κολάσεως· τοὺς δʼ οὕτω κολα … λείπει τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ τετάρτου. … … … … περὶ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἡδονῶν, ὦ Σόσσιε Σενεκίων, ἣν σὺ νῦν ἔχεις γνώμην, ἐμοὶ γοῦν ἄδηλόν ἐστιν,ἐπειὴ μάλα πολλὰ μεταξὺοὔρεά τε σκιόεντα θάλασσά τε ἠχήεσσα·