The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 1 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
General
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
And it is not foreign to the present discussion to mention an epigram
which was made with reference to you, which Hegesander the Delphian has
quoted, in the sixth book of his Commentaries--
Men drawing up your eyebrows, and depressing
Your scornful nostrils till they reach the chin,
Wearing your beards in sacks, strippers of dishes,
Wearing your cloak outside, with unshod feet
Looking like oil, and eating stealthily
Like hungry vagrants 'neath night's friendly cover,
Cheaters of youth, spouters of syllables,
Pretenders to vain wisdom, but pretending
To make your only object Virtue's self.
54. But Archestratus of Gela, in his treatise on Gastronomy, (which is
the only poetical composition which you wise men admire; following
Pythagoras in this doctrine alone, namely silence, and doing this only
because of your want of words; and besides that, you profess to think
well of the Art of Love of Sphodrias the Cynic, and the Amatory
Conversation of Protagorides, and the Convivial Dialogues of that
beautiful philosopher Persæus, compiled out of the Commentaries of
Stilpon and Zeno, in which he inquires, How one may guard against guests
at a banquet going to sleep; and, How one ought to use drinking of
healths; and, When one ought to introduce beautiful boys and girls into
a banquet; and when one ought to treat them well as if they were
admired, and when one ought to send them away as disregarding them; and
also, concerning various kinds of cookery, and concerning loaves, and
other things; and all the over-subtle discussions in which the son of
Sophroniscus has indulged concerning kissing. A philosopher who was
continually exercising his intellect on such investigations as these,
being entrusted, as Hermippus relates, with the citadel of Corinth by
Antigonus, got drunk and lost even Corinth itself, being outwitted and
defeated by Aratus the Sicyonian; who formerly had argued in his
Dialogues against Zeno the philosopher, contending that a wise man would
in every respect be a good general; and this excellent pupil of Zeno
proved this especial point admirably by his own achievements. For it was
a witty saying of Bion the Borysthenite, when he saw a brazen statue of
his, on which was the inscription, PERSÆUS OF CITIUM, THE PUPIL OF ZENO,
that the man who engraved the inscription had made a blunder, for that
it ought to have been, Persæus the servant (οἰκιτίεα not κιτίεα) of Zeno;
for he had been born a slave of Zeno, as Nicias of Nicæa relates, in
his History of Philosophers; and this is confirmed by Sotion the
Alexandrian, in his Successions. And I have met with two books of that
admirable work of Persæus, which have this title, "Convivial Dialogues."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account