The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 2 (of 3) — John Shaqi
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 2 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Philosophy
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
Are you at Rhodes? e'en if about to die,
Still, if a man would sell you a fox shark,
The fish the Syracusans call the dog,
Seize on it eagerly; at least, if fat:
And then compose yourself to meet your fate
With brow serene and mind well satisfied.
25. The acharnus is mentioned by Callias in his Cyclops—
A harp-fish roast, besides a ray,
The head too of a tunny,
And eel, some crabs, and this acharnus,
The great Ænean dainty.
26. The ray, roach, or sea-frog may also be mentioned. They are
mentioned under the two former names by Aristotle in his treatise on
Animals, where he classes them under the head of cartilaginous fish.
And Eupolis, in his Flatterers, says—
At Callias's house there is much pleasure,
For he has crabs for dinner, rays besides,
And hares, and women with light twinkling feet.
And Epicharmus says, in his Marriage of Hebe—
And there were rays and sea-frogs, sawfish, sharks,
Camitæ, roach, and lobsters with hard shells.
And in his Megarian Woman he writes—
Its sides were like a ray,
Its back was altogether like a roach, Its head was
long, far more like a stag's, Its flanks were like a
scorpion's, son of the sea.
And Sannyrion says, in his Laughter—
O rays, O dainty grayling.
And Aristotle in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of
Animals, says that the following are cartilaginous fish; the ray, the
turtle, the sea-cow, the lamprey, the sea-eagle, the sea-frog, and the
whole of the shark tribe. But Sophron in his Farces, gives one fish
the name of botis, saying, "The cestres eat the botis," though it is
possible that he may be speaking of some herb. But with respect to the
sea frog, the wise Archestratus gives us the following advice in his
Apophthegms—
Whenever you behold a frog, why roast him
* * * *
And . . . . prepare his stomach.
And concerning the ray, he says—
A boiled ray is good about mid-winter.
Eat it with cheese and assafœtida;
But all the sons o' the sea whose flesh is lean
Should, as a rule, be dress'd in such a fashion;
And thus I recommend you now again.
And Ephippus the comic poet, in his play called Philyra, (now Philyra is
the name of a courtesan), says—
_A._ Shall I first cut a ray in slender slices
And boil it? aye? or like the cooks in Sicily
Shall I prefer to roast it?
_B._ Copy Sicily.
27. There are also fish called boaxes. Aristotle, in his treatise
entitled Concerning Animals or Fish, says, "The following animals
are marked on the back; the boax and others—the following are marked
transversely, the kind of tunny-fish called colias." And Epicharmus in
his Marriage of Hebe, speaks thus—
And in addition to all these the boax, The smarides,
anchovies, crabs and lobsters.
And Numenius, in his Art of Fishing, calls them boeces, saying—
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