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
46. Having said this much about the ἐγγυθήκη, let us now go on to speak of
those kings who are and have been fond of good cheer. For the king, who
is the namesake of the above-mentioned Antiochus, and the son of
Demetrius, according to the account of Posidonius, used to entertain a
great crowd of people every day, and in addition to what they ate on
the spot, he would give every one of the guests large heaps, consisting
of entire joints of meat of beasts, and birds, and fishes, undivided and
ready dressed, enough to fill a wagon. And besides all this, he gave
them heaps of honey-cakes, and of garlands, of myrrh, and frankincense,
with large fillets and bandages of golden embroidery as long as a man.
And another king, Antiochus, when celebrating the games at Daphne,
himself also made very sumptuous entertainments, as Posidonius himself
relates; and he was the first person who ever made a distribution among
the guests of whole joints of meat; and also of geese, and hares, and
antelopes alive. And golden chaplets were also given to the guests, and
a great quantity of silver plate, and of slaves, and horses, and camels.
And each man was bound to get on the camel and drink a draught of wine,
and then to accept of the camel and of the boy who stood by it. "And,"
says he, "all the natives and inhabitants of Syria, on account of the
fertility of the land, are accustomed to make frequent feasts after
their necessary labours, in order that they may rejoice together, using
their gymnasia as baths, and anointing themselves with expensive oil and
perfumes; and at their grammatea (for that is the name which they give
to their public entertainments) living as if in their own houses, and
gratifying their stomachs the greater part of the day with wine and
meat, and also carrying away a quantity of the same to their own homes,
they thus spend the day, listening also to the music of the loud lyre
made of the tortoise shell, so that whole cities resound with noises of
this kind."
47. And I, my friends, praise very much the entertainment which was
given by Alexander the king of Syria. And this Alexander was a
supposititious son of Antiochus Epiphanes, substituted on account of the
hatred which all men bore to Demetrius, concerning whom our companion
Athenæus has spoken in his treatise on the Kings who have reigned in
Syria. Now that entertainment was conducted as nearly as may be in this
fashion.
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