The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 3 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Philosophy
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
And Aristoxenus, in the fourth book of his treatise on Music,
says—"Anciently the women used to sing a kind of song called Calyca.
Now, this was a poem of Stesichorus, in which a damsel of the name
of Calyca, being in love with a young man named Euathlus, prays in a
modest manner to Venus to aid her in becoming his wife. But when the
young man scorned her, she threw herself down a precipice. And this
disaster took place near Leucas. And the poet has represented the
disposition of the maiden as very modest; so that she was not willing
to live with the youth on his own terms, but prayed that, if possible,
she might become the wedded wife of Euathlus; and if that were not
possible, that she might be released from life." But, in his Brief
Memoranda, Aristoxenus says—"Iphiclus despised Harpalyce, who was in
love with him; but she died, and there has been a contest established
among the virgins of songs in her honour, and the contest is called
from her, Harpalyce." And Nymphis, in the first book of his History
of Heraclea, speaking of the Maryandyni, says—"And in the same way
it is well to notice some songs which, in compliance with a national
custom, they sing, in which they invoke some ancient person, whom they
address as Bormus. And they say that he was the son of an illustrious
and wealthy man, and that he was far superior to all his fellows in
beauty and in the vigour of youth; and as he was superintending the
cultivation of some of his own lands, and wishing to give his reapers
something to drink, he went to fetch some water, and disappeared.
Accordingly, they say that on this the natives of the country sought
him with a kind of dirge and invocation set to music, which even to
this day they are in the habit of using frequently. And a similar kind
of song is that which is in use among the Egyptians, and is called
Maneros."
[Sidenote: RHAPSODISTS.]
12. Moreover, there were rhapsodists also present at our
entertainments: for Laurentius delighted in the reciters of Homer to
an extraordinary degree; so that one might call Cassander the king of
Macedonia a trifler in comparison of him; concerning whom Carystius, in
his Historic Recollections, tells us that he was so devoted to Homer,
that he could say the greater part of his poems by heart; and he had a
copy of the Iliad and the Odyssey written out with his own hand. And
that these reciters of Homer were called Homeristæ also, Aristocles
has told us in his treatise on Choruses. But those who are now called
Homeristæ were first introduced on the stage by Demetrius Phalereus.
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