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
35. Asclepiades of Myrlea speaks of a tree which he calls the
Ground-cherry, and says, "In the land of the Bithynians there is found
the ground-cherry, the root of which is not large, nor is the tree, but
like a rose-bush; in all other respects the fruit is like the common
cherry; but it makes those who eat much of it feel heavy, as wine does,
and it gives them head-aches." These are the words of Asclepiades. And
it appears to me that he is speaking of the arbutus. For the tree which
bears the arbutus-berry answers his description, and if a man eats more
than six or seven of the berries he gets a headache. Aristophanes says--
And planted by no hand, the arbutus
Makes red the sunny hills.
Theopompus says--
The myrtle berries and red arbutus.
Crates says--
Beauteous the breast of tender maid,
As arbutus or apples red.
And Amphis--
Mulberries you see, my friend, are found
On the tree which we know as the mulberry;
So the oak bears the acorn round,
And the arbutus shines with its full berry.
And Theophrastus tells us, "The κόμαρος (as he calls it) is the tree
which bears the arbutus berry."
There is question about the "Agen," a satyric drama, whether it was
composed by Python, (and if by him whether he was a native of Catana or
of Byzantium,) or by the king Alexander himself.
Then Laurentius says--"You, O Greeks, lay claim to a good many things,
as either having given the names to them, or having been the original
discoverers of them. But you do not know that Lucullus, the Roman
general, who subdued Mithridates and Tigranes, was the first man who
introduced this plant into Italy from Cerasus, a city of Pontus; and he
it was who gave the fruit the Latin name of Cerasus, _cherry_, after the
name of the city, as our historians relate."
Then Daphnis answers--"But there was a very celebrated man, Diphilus of
Siphnos, many years more ancient than Lucullus, for he was born in the
time of king Lysimachus, (who was one of the successors of Alexander,)
and he speaks of cherries, saying, 'Cherries are good for the stomach,
and juicy, but not very nutritious; if taken after drinking cold water
they are especially wholesome; but the red and the Milesian are the best
kinds, and are diuretic.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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