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
so, too, this Pot-friend, Ulpian,—to use a word of my
fellow-Megalopolitan, Cercidas,—appears to me to eat nothing that a
man ought to eat, but to watch those who are eating, to see if they
have passed over any spine or any callous or gristly morsel of the
meat set before them; never once considering what the admirable and
brilliant Æschylus has said, who called his tragedies, "Relics of
the noble banquets of Homer." But Æschylus was one of the greatest
of philosophers,—a man who, being once defeated undeservedly, as
Theophrastus or Chamæleon (whichever was really the author of the
book), in his treatise on Pleasure, has related, said that he committed
his tragedies to time, well knowing that, he should hereafter receive
the honour due to him.
40. But whence could Ulpian know what Stratonicus the harp-player said
about Propis the Rhodian harp-player? For Clearchus, in his book on
Proverbs, says that Stratonicus, when he had seen Propis, who was a man
of great size, but a very inferior artist, with a mind much less than
his body, said to some one who asked him what sort of player he was,
οὐδεὶς κακὸς μέγας ἰχθῖς;
speaking enigmatically, and saying, first of all, that he is οὐδεὶς,
no one, or good-for-nothing; secondly, that he is κακὸς, bad; and, in
addition to this, that he is μέγας, great; and, lastly, ἰχθὺς, a fish,
as having no voice. But Theophrastus, in his book on The Laughable,
says that this was a proverb originating with Stratonicus, but applied
to Simmychas the actor; for that he uttered the proverb, dividing the
words distinctly—
μέγας οὐδεὶς σαπρὸς ἰχθῦς.
And Aristotle, in his Constitution of the Naxians, speaks thus of this
proverb—"Of the rich men among the Naxians, the greater part lived
in the city, but the remainder lived scattered about in the villages.
Accordingly, in one of these villages, the name of which was Lestadæ,
Telestagoras lived, a man of great riches and of very high reputation,
and greatly honoured by the people in other respects, and also with
daily presents which they used to send him. And whenever people from
the city, going down to the market, wanted to drive a hard bargain for
anything they wished to purchase, the sellers would say that they would
rather give it to Telestagoras than sell it for such a price as was
offered. So some young men, buying a large fish, when the fisherman
made this speech, being annoyed at hearing this so often, having
already drunk a good deal, went to his house to sup; and Telestagoras
received them in a very friendly and hospitable manner, but the young
men insulted him, and his two marriageable daughters. At which the
Naxians were very indignant, and took up arms and attacked the young
men; and there was a great sedition, Lygdamis being the leader of the
Naxians, who, having got the chief command in this sedition, became the
tyrant of his country."
[Sidenote: STRATONICUS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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