Deipnosophistae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
12.1
For there if any man, invites another
12.1
To any banquet, eighteen others come;
12.1
Ten chariots, and fifteen pairs of horses,
12.1
And for all these you must provide the food,
12.1
So that 'twere better to invite nobody
12.2
Mars was no god to them, nor gallant War,
12.2
Nor Jupiter the king, nor Saturn old,
12.2
Nor Neptune; Venus was their only queen.
12.2
Her they propitiate and duly worship
12.2
With pious images, with beauteous figures
12.2
Skilfully carved; with fragrant incenses,
12.2
And holy offerings of unmix'd myrrh,
12.2
And sweetly smelling frankincense; and many. .
12.2
A pure libation of fresh golden honey
12.2
They pour'd along the floor.
12.2
He was to music much devoted, and
12.2
Sought ever pleasing sounds to gratify
12.2
His delicate taste.
12.3
Behold, on wrong
12.3
Swift vengeance waits, and art subdues the strong.
12.3
Dwells there a god on all th' Olympian brow
12.3
More swift than Mars, and more than Vulcan slow?
12.3
Yet Vulcan conquers, and the God of arms
12.3
Must pay the penalty for lawless charms.This is a blunder of Athenæus. Mars does not say this but it is the observation made by the gods to each other. ῟ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκε ἰδὼν ἐς πλήσιον ἄλλον. Odys. viii. 28.
12.5
For what kind of human life
12.5
Can be worth desiring,
12.5
If pleasure be denied to it?
12.5
What kingly power even?
12.5
Without pleasure e'en the gods
12.5
Have nothing to be envied for.
12.5
Never obscure fair pleasure in your life;
12.5
A life of pleasure is the best for man.
12.5
How sweet the products of a peaceful reign,—
12.5
The heaven-taught poet and enchanting strain,
12.5
The well-fill'd palace, the perpetual feast,
12.5
A loud rejoicing, and a people blest!
12.5
How goodly seems it ever to employ
12.5
Man's social days in union and in joy;
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The plenteous board high heap'd with cates divine,
12.5
And o'er the foaming bowl the laughing wine.
12.7
. . . . . . . . Thou whom first in sway,
12.7
As first in virtue, these thy realms obey,
12.7
How goodly seems it ever to employ
12.7
Man's social days in union and in joy I
12.7
The plenteous board high heap'd with cates divine,
12.7
And o'er the foaming bowl the laughing wine,
12.7
The well-fill'd palace, the perpetual feast,
12.7
Are of all joys most lasting and the best.
12.7
To dress, to dance, to sing, our sole delight,
12.7
The feast or bath by day, and love by night;
12.7
Remember thou, my son, to always dwell
12.7
In every city cherishing a mind
12.7
Like to the skin of a rock-haunting fish;
12.7
And always with the present company
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Agree, but when away you can change your mind.
12.7
As the wise polypus doth quickly change
12.7
His hue according to the rocks he's near,
12.7
So change your mind and your apparent feelings.
12.7
Imitate the wary cunning of the polypus.
12.7
And now Olympus' shining gates unfold;
12.7
The Gods with Jove assume their thrones of gold;
12.7
Immortal Hebe, fresh with bloom divine,
12.7
The golden goblet crowns with purple wine;
12.7
While the full bowl flows round the Powers employ
12.7
Their careful eyes on long-contended Troy.
12.7
Nor then should aught but death have torn apart
12.7
From me so loving and so glad a heart.
12.7
We sat secure, while fast around did roll
12.7
The dance, and jest, and ever-flowing bowl.
12.12
A. And, besides this, we now will serve you up
12.12
A dish whose name's candaulus.
12.12
B. I've ne'er tasted
12.12
Candaulus, nor have I e'er heard of it.
12.12
A. 'Tis a most grand invention, and 'tis mine;
12.12
And if I put a dish of it before you,
12.12
Such will be your delight that you'll devour
12.12
Your very fingers ere you lose a bit of it.
12.12
We here will get some balls of snow-white wool.
12.12
You will serve up an egg well shred, and twice
12.12
Boil'd till it's hard; a sausage, too, of honey;
12.12
Some pickle from the frying-pan, some slices
12.12
Of new-made Cynthian cheese; and then
12.12
A bunch of grapes, steep'd in a cup of wine:
12.12
But this part of the dish is always laugh'd at,
12.12
And yet it is the mainstay of the meal.
12.12
B. Laugh on, my friend; but now be off, I beg,
12.12
With all your talk about candauli, and
12.12
Your sausages, and dishes, and such luxuries.
12.12
For I have all these witnesses in the city,
12.12
That I'm the only one can dress a sausage,
12.12
A candaulus, eggs, a thrium, all in no time:
12.12
Was there any error or mistake in this?
12.12
A man who could not even dress black broth,
12.12
But only thria and candauli.
12.12
Here comes a very rich Ionian,
12.12
And so I make a good thick soup, and eke
12.12
A rich candaulus, amatory food.
12.16
For is it not, I pray you, better far
12.16
For one man, who can well afford such acts,
12.16
To rear a man, than a loud gaping goose,
12.16
Or sparrow, or ape—most mischievous of beasts?
12.18
You shall be happy, Sybarite,—very happy,
12.18
And all your time in entertainments pass,
12.18
While you continue to th' immortal gods
12.18
The worship due: but when you come, at length,
12.18
To honour mortal man beyond the gods,
12.18
Then foreign war and intestine sedition
12.18
Shall come upon you, and shall crush your city.
12.25
For there is not on earth a place so sweet,
12.25
Or lovely, or desirable as that
12.25
Which stands upon the stream of gentle Siris.
12.26
Once on a time Milesians were brave."
12.26
My heart is grieved for the defenceless Gergithæ,
12.26
So helplessly destroy'd; and for the fate
12.26
Of the poor pitch-clad bands, and for the tree
12.26
Which never more shall flourish or bear fruit.
12.28
What has become of that luxurious
12.28
Ionia, with the sumptuous supper-tables?
12.28
Tell me, how does it fare?
12.28
A. I do rejoice when I behold an army
12.28
From o'er the sea,—to see how soft they are
12.28
And delicate to view, with flowing hair,
12.28
And well-smooth'd muscles in their tender arms.
12.28
B. Have you heard Abydus has become a man?
12.28
Then all the other eminent foreigners
12.28
Who were at hand, kept following steadily,
12.28
And much they press'd him, begging he would take
12.28
The boy with him to Chios, and there sell him:
12.28
Another hoped he'd take him to Clazomenæ;
12.28
A third was all for Ephesus; a fourth
12.28
Preferred Abydus on the Hellespont:
12.28
And all these places in his way did lie.
12.30
And they march'd, with carefully comb'd hair
12.30
To the most holy spot of Juno's temple,
12.30
Clad in magnificent robes, whose snow-white folds
12.30
Reach'd to the ground of the extensive earth,
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And golden knobs on them like grasshoppers,
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And golden chaplets loosely held their hair,
12.30
Gracefully waving in the genial breeze;
12.30
And on their arms were armlets, highly wrought,
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. . . . . . . . . and sung
12.30
The praises of the mighty warrior.
12.31
They learnt all sorts of useless foolishness
12.31
From the effeminate Lydians, while they
12.31
Were held in bondage to sharp tyranny.
12.31
They went into the forum richly clad
12.31
In purple garments, in numerous companies,
12.31
Whose strength was not less than a thousand men,
12.31
Boasting of hair luxuriously dress'd,
12.31
Dripping with costly and sweet-smelling oils.
12.31
Say, from what country do you come, what land
12.31
Call you your home? Is this a delicate
12.31
Luxurious band of long and soft-robed men
12.31
From cities of Ionia that here approaches?
12.34
But after that I sent you, you did not
12.34
Learn this at all; but only learnt to drink,
12.34
And sing loose songs at Syracusan feasts,
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And how to share in Sybaritic banquets,
12.34
And to drink Chian wine in Spartan cups.
12.37
And their luxurious curls, like a fond girl's,
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On which account they call'd him κουρῆτες. From κείρω, to cut and dress the hair.
12.37
At least (say they) we cut and dress'd our hair,
12.37
To be an evidence of our luxury,
12.37
A lovely action of a cheerful mind;
12.37
And thence we gain'd the glory of a name,—
12.37
To be κουρῆτες, from our well-cut (κούριμος) hair."
12.39
Sardanapalus
12.39
The king, and son of Anacyndaraxes,
12.39
In one day built Anchiale and Tarsus;
12.39
But now he's dead.
12.39
I was the king, and while I lived on earth,
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And saw the bright rays of the genial sun,
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I ate and drank and loved; and knew full well
12.39
The time that men do live on earth was brief,
12.39
And liable to many sudden changes,
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Reverses, and calamities. Now others
12.39
Will have th' enjoyment of my luxuries,
12.39
Which I do leave behind me. For these reasons
12.39
I never ceased one single day from pleasure.
12.39
Sardanapalus
12.39
The king, and son of Anacyndaraxes,
12.39
In one day built Anchiale and Tarsus.
12.39
Eat, drink, and love; the rest's not worth e'en this,—
12.40
His hands are clean, but sure his mind is not.
12.40
There was a man named Ninus, as I hear,
12.40
King of Assyria, who had a sea
12.40
Of liquid gold, and many other treasures,
12.40
More than the whole sand of the Caspian sea.
12.40
He never saw a star in all his life,
12.40
But sat still always, nor did wish to see one;
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He never, in his place among the Magi,
12.40
Roused the sacred fire, as the law bids,
12.40
Touching the God with consecrated wand;
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He was no orator, no prudent judge,
12.40
He never learn'd to speak, or count a sum,
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But was a wondrous man to eat and drink
12.40
And love, and disregarded all besides:
12.40
And when he died he left this rule to men,
12.40
Where Nineveh and his monument now stands:—
12.40
"Behold and hear, whether from wide Assyria
12.40
You come, or else from Media, or if
12.40
You're a Choraxian, or a long-hair'd native
12.40
Of the lake country in Upper India,
12.40
For these my warnings are not vain or false:
12.40
I once was Ninus, a live breathing man,
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Now I am nothing, only dust and clay,
12.40
And all I ate, and all I sang and jested,
12.40
And all I loved. . . .
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But now my enemies have come upon me,
12.40
They have my treasures and my happiness,
12.40
Tearing me as the Bacchæ tear a kid;
12.40
And I am gone, not taking with me gold,
12.40
Or horses, or a single silver chariot;
12.40
Once I did wear a crown, now I am dust.
12.43
But when he caught the dunghill cock of Philip
12.43
Crowing too early in the morn, and straying,
12.43
He killed him; for he had not got his crest on.
12.43
And having killed this one, then Chares gave
12.43
A splendid banquet to the Athenian people;
12.43
So liberal and magnificent was he.
12.43
And Duris gives the same account.
12.46
And Periphoretus Artemon
12.46
Is loved by golden-hair'd Eurypyle,
12.46
Having before a poor berberium cloak,
12.46
And scanty cap, and his poor ears
12.46
With wooden earrings decorated,
12.46
And wearing round his ribs a newly-bought
12.46
Raw ox-hide, fitter for a case
12.46
For an old-fashion'd shield, this wretch
12.46
Artemon, who long has lived
12.46
With bakers' women, and the lowest of the low,
12.46
Now having found a new style of life,
12.46
Often thrusts his neck into the yoke,
12.46
Or beneath the spear doth crouch;
12.46
And many a weal he can display,
12.46
Mark'd on his back with well-deserved scourge;
12.46
And well pluck'd as to hair and beard.
12.46
But now he mounts his chariot, he the son
12.46
Of Cyca, and his golden earrings wears;
12.46
And like a woman bears
12.46
An ivory parasol o'er his delicate head.
12.48
A. Let Alcibiades leave the women's rooms.
12.48
B. Why do you jest. . . . . . . .
12.48
Will you not now go home and try your hand
12.48
On your own wife?
12.48
For Alcibiades, who's no man (ἀνὴρ) at all,
12.48
Is, as it seems, now every woman's husband (ἀνήρ).
12.50
Pausanias, the general of broad Greece,
12.50
Offered this goblet to the royal Neptune,
12.50
A fit memorial of his deathless valour,
12.50
Here in the Euxine sea. He was by birth
12.50
A Spartan, and Cleombrotus's son,
12.50
Sprung from the ancient race of Hercules."
12.55
He fell by purple πορφύρεος is a common epithet of death in Homer. Liddell and Scott say—The first notion of πορφύρεος was probably of the troubled sea, v. πορφύρω, —and refer the use of it in this passage to the colour of the blood, unless it be = μέλας θάνατος. death and mighty fate.
12.60
And above all the noble prince
12.60
Demetrius, like the sun in face,
12.60
Honours you, Bacchus, with a holy worship.
12.62
Parrhasius, a most luxurious man,
12.62
And yet a follower of purest virtue,
12.62
Painted this work.
12.62
Parrhasius, a most luxurious man,
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And yet a follower of purest virtue,
12.62
Painted this work: a worthy citizen
12.62
Of noble Ephesus. His father's name
12.62
Evenor was, and he, his lawful son,
12.62
Was the first artist in the whole of Greece.
12.62
This will I say, though strange it may appear,
12.62
That clear plain limits of this noble art
12.62
Have been discovered by my hand, and proved.
12.62
And now the boundary which none can pass
12.62
Is well defined, though nought that men can do
12.62
Will ever wholly escape blame or envy.
12.62
Here you may see the god as oft he stood
12.62
Before Parrhasius in his sleep by night.
12.63
E'en in the midst of Bacchanalian revels
12.63
A modest woman will not be corrupted.
12.63
For this my master once did turn his thoughts
12.63
To study, when he was a stripling young,
12.63
And set his mind to learn philosophy.
12.63
And then a Cyrenean, as he calls himself,
12.63
Named Aristippus, an ingenious sophist,
12.63
And far the first of all the men of his time,
12.63
But also far the most intemperate,
12.63
Was in the city. Him my master sought,
12.63
Giving a talent to become his pupil:
12.63
He did not learn, indeed, much skill or wisdom,
12.63
But got instead a sad complaint on his chest.
12.63
My friend, now do you know who this old man
12.63
Is called By his look he seems to be a Greek.
12.63
His cloak is white, his tunic fawn-colour'd,
12.63
His hat is soft, his stick of moderate size,
12.63
His table scanty. Why need I say more,
12.63
I seem to see the genuine Academy.
12.65
The golden face of justice;
12.65
The golden eye of justice.
12.66
O thou whose senses are all dimm'd with wine,
12.66
Thou dog in forehead.
12.66
E'en in my mirth, and at the friendly feast,
12.66
O'er the full bowl the traitor stabb'd his guest;
12.68
For when men utterly forsake all pleasure,
12.68
I reckon such a man no longer living,
12.68
But look upon him as a breathing corpse.
12.68
He may have, if you like, great wealth at home,
12.68
And go in monarch's guise; but if his wealth
12.68
And power bring no pleasure to his mind,
12.68
I would not for a moment deem it all
12.68
Worthy a moment's thought compared with pleasure.
12.70
And anointing one's skin with a gold-colour'd ointment,
12.70
And wearing long cloaks reaching down to the ground,
12.70
And the thinnest of slippers, and eating rich truffle
12.70
And the richest of cheese, and the newest of eggs;
12.70
And all sorts of shell-fish, and drinking strong wine
12.70
From the island of Chios, and having, besides,
12.70
A lot of Ephesian beautiful letters,
12.70
In carefully-sewn leather bags.
12.72
For a fat pig was lying on his face;
12.72
He gave himself to luxury so wholly,
12.72
That he could not last long to practise it;
12.72
Forming desires for myself, this death
12.72
Does seem the only happy one,—to grow
12.72
Fat in my heart and stomach, and so lie
12.72
Flat on my back, and never say a word,
12.72
Drawing my breath high up, eating my fill,
12.72
And saying, Here I waste away with pleasure.
12.75
For poor men now to sacrifice to you
12.75
But maim'd and crippled oxen; thinner far
12.75
Than e'en Thoumantis or Leotrophides.
12.75
A. And who is this who dares to pierce the gates
12.75
Of lurid darkness, and the realms o' the dead?
12.75
B. We're by unanimous agreement chosen,
12.75
(Making the choice in solemn convocation,)
12.75
One man from each department of our art,
12.75
Who were well known to be frequenters of the Shades,
12.75
As often voluntarily going thither.
12.75
A. Are there among you any men who thus
12.75
Frequent the realms of Pluto?
12.75
B. Aye, by Jove,
12.75
And plenty; just as there are men who go
12.75
To Thrace and then come back again. You know
12.75
The whole case now.
12.75
A. And what may be their names?
12.75
First, there's Sannyrion, the comic poet;
12.75
Then, of the tragic chori, Melitus;
12.75
And of the Cyclic bards, Cinesias.
12.75
On what slight hopes did you then all rely!
12.75
For if a fit of diarrhea came
12.75
Upon these men, they'd all be carried off.
12.75
The leathern aid of wise Sannyrion.
12.75
Melitus, that carcase from Leanæum rising.
12.76
φθιῶτ’ Ἀχιλλεῦ.—
12.77
O Mercury, sent by the gods above,
12.77
You who've obtained Philippides by lot;
12.77
And you, too, eye of darkly-robed night.
12.77
A. I will within these three days make this man
12.77
Thinner than e'en Philippides.
12.77
B. How so?
12.77
Can you kill men in such a very short time?
12.77
If hunger should attack your well-shaped person,
12.77
'Twould make you thinner than Philippides.
12.77
A. You must be ill. You are, by Jove, the very
12.77
Leanest of sparrows—a complete Philippides (πεφιλιππίδωσαι).
12.77
B. Don't tell me such strange things: I'm all but dead.
12.77
A. I pity your sad case.
12.77
This man then, such a sot and glutton is he,
12.77
And so enormous is his size of body,
12.77
Is called by all his countrymen the Bladder.
12.78
Then to anoint my body go and buy
12.78
Essence of lilies, and of roses too,
12.78
I beg you, Xanthias; and also buy
12.78
For my poor feet some baccaris.
12.78
. . . . Lying full softly in a bed-chamber;
12.78
Around him were most delicate cloaks, well suited
12.78
For tender maidens, soft, voluptuous;
12.78
Such as those are, who well perfumed and fragrant
12.78
With amaracine oils, do rub my feet.
12.78
A. Strew, then, soft carpets underneath the dog,
12.78
And place beneath cloths of Milesian wool;
12.78
And put above them all a purple rug.
12.78
B. Phœbus Apollo!
12.78
A. Then in goose's milk
12.78
Soak him some groats.
12.78
B. O mighty Hercules!
12.78
A. And with Megallian oils anoint his feet.
12.78
He bade the damsel take some choice perfumes
12.78
From the altar of the goddess, and then, first,
12.78
Anoint his feet with it, and then his knees:
12.78
But the first moment that the girl did touch
12.78
His feet, he leaped up.
12.78
Have I not, then, a right to be fond of women,
12.78
And to regard them all with tender love,
12.78
For is it not a sweet and noble thing
12.78
To be treated just as you are; and to have
12.78
One's feet anointed by fair delicate hands?
12.78
He bathes completely-but what is't he does?
12.78
He bathes his hands and feet, and well anoints them
12.78
With perfume from a gold and ample ewer.
12.78
And with a purple dye he smears his jaws
12.78
And bosom; and his arms with oil of thyme;
12.78
His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram;
12.78
His knees and neck with essence of wild ivy.
12.78
Ointment from Peron, which this fellow sold
12.78
But yesterday to Melanopus here,
12.78
A costly bargain fresh from Egypt, which
12.78
Anoints to day Callistratus's feet.
12.78
There was a scent of delicate thyme besides,
12.78
And roses too, and lilies by my ear;
12.78
And in my hands I held an apple, and.
12.78
A staff, and thus I did harangue the people.
12.79
I saw a lovely maiden gathering flowers.
12.80
There was a pair of καλλίπυγοι women
12.80
At Syracuse.