Scaife ATLAS

CTS Library / The Deipnosophists

The Deipnosophists (1.22)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0008.tlg001.perseus-eng2:1.22
Refs {'start': {'reference': '1.22', 'human_reference': 'Book 1 Chapter 22'}}
Ancestors [{'reference': '1'}]
Children []
prev
plain textXML
next

Now Homer represents the men of his time as eating fish and birds: at all events, in Sicily the companions of Ulysses catch

All fish and birds, and all that come to hand
With barbed hooks.[*]
But as the hooks were not forged in Sicily, but were brought by them in their vessel; it is plain that they were fond of and skilful in catching fish. And again, the poet compares the companions of Ulysses, who were seized by Sylla, to fish caught with a long rod and thrown out of doors; and he speaks more accurately concerning this act than those who have written poems or treatises professedly on the subject. I refer to Cæcilius of Argos, and Numenius of Heraclea, and Pancrates the Arcadian, and Posidonius the Corinthian, and Oppianus the Cilician, who lived a short time ago; for we
v.1.p.21
know of all those men as writers of heroic poems about fishing. And of prose essayists on the subject we have Seleucus of Tarsus, and Leonidas of Byzantium, and Agathocles of Atracia. But he never expressly mentions such food at his banquets, just as he also forbears to speak f the meat of young animals, as such food was hardly considered suitable to the dignity of heroes of reputation. However, they did eat not only fish, but oysters; though this sort of food is neither very wholesome nor very nice, but the oysters lie at the bottom of the sea, and one cannot get at them by any other means, except by diving to the bottom.
An active man is he, and dives with ease;[*]
as he says of a man who could have collected enough to satisfy many men, while hunting for oysters.

Tokens

Now 1 w 3
Homer 1 w 8
represents 1 w 18
the 1 w 21
men 1 w 24
of 1 w 26
his 1 w 29
time 1 w 33
as 1 w 35
eating 1 w 41
fish 1 w 45
and 1 w 48
birds 1 w 53
at 2 w 56
all 1 w 59
events 1 w 65
in 2 w 68
Sicily 1 w 74
the 2 w 77
companions 1 w 87
of 2 w 89
Ulysses 1 w 96
catch 1 w 101
All 1 w 104
fish 2 w 108
and 2 w 111
birds 2 w 116
and 3 w 120
all 2 w 123
that 1 w 127
come 1 w 131
to 1 w 133
hand 1 w 137
With 1 w 141
barbed 1 w 147
hooks 1 w 152
Odyss 1 w 158
xii 1 w 162
322 1 w 166
But 1 w 170
as 2 w 172
the 3 w 175
hooks 2 w 180
were 1 w 184
not 1 w 187
forged 1 w 193
in 3 w 195
Sicily 2 w 201
but 1 w 205
were 2 w 209
brought 1 w 216
by 1 w 218
them 1 w 222
in 4 w 224
their 1 w 229
vessel 1 w 235
it 2 w 238
is 4 w 240
plain 1 w 245
that 2 w 249
they 1 w 253
were 3 w 257
fond 1 w 261
of 3 w 263
and 5 w 266
skilful 1 w 273
in 6 w 275
catching 1 w 283
fish 3 w 287
And 1 w 291
again 1 w 296
the 7 w 300
poet 1 w 304
compares 1 w 312
the 8 w 315
companions 2 w 325
of 4 w 327
Ulysses 2 w 334
who 1 w 338
were 4 w 342
seized 1 w 348
by 2 w 350
Sylla 1 w 355
to 2 w 358
fish 4 w 362
caught 1 w 368
with 1 w 372
a 25 w 373
long 1 w 377
rod 1 w 380
and 6 w 383
thrown 1 w 389
out 1 w 392
of 5 w 394
doors 1 w 399
and 7 w 403
he 9 w 405
speaks 1 w 411
more 1 w 415
accurately 1 w 425
concerning 1 w 435
this 1 w 439
act 1 w 442
than 1 w 446
those 1 w 451
who 2 w 454
have 1 w 458
written 1 w 465
poems 1 w 470
or 4 w 472
treatises 1 w 481
professedly 1 w 492
on 6 w 494
the 9 w 497
subject 1 w 504
I 1 w 506
refer 1 w 511
to 3 w 513
Cæcilius 1 w 521
of 7 w 523
Argos 1 w 528
and 8 w 532
Numenius 1 w 540
of 8 w 542
Heraclea 1 w 550
and 9 w 554
Pancrates 1 w 563
the 10 w 566
Arcadian 1 w 574
and 10 w 578
Posidonius 1 w 588
the 11 w 591
Corinthian 1 w 601
and 11 w 605
Oppianus 1 w 613
the 12 w 616
Cilician 1 w 624
who 3 w 628
lived 1 w 633
a 48 w 634
short 1 w 639
time 2 w 643
ago 1 w 646
for 2 w 650
we 5 w 652
know 1 w 656
of 9 w 658
all 3 w 661
those 2 w 666
men 3 w 669
as 3 w 671
writers 1 w 678
of 10 w 680
heroic 1 w 686
poems 2 w 691
about 1 w 696
fishing 1 w 703
And 2 w 707
of 11 w 709
prose 1 w 714
essayists 1 w 723
on 8 w 725
the 13 w 728
subject 2 w 735
we 6 w 737
have 2 w 741
Seleucus 1 w 749
of 12 w 751
Tarsus 1 w 757
and 12 w 761
Leonidas 1 w 769
of 13 w 771
Byzantium 1 w 780
and 13 w 784
Agathocles 1 w 794
of 14 w 796
Atracia 1 w 803
But 2 w 807
he 16 w 809
never 1 w 814
expressly 1 w 823
mentions 1 w 831
such 1 w 835
food 1 w 839
at 11 w 841
his 3 w 844
banquets 1 w 852
just 1 w 857
as 5 w 859
he 17 w 861
also 1 w 865
forbears 1 w 873
to 4 w 875
speak 2 w 880
f 27 w 881
the 14 w 884
meat 1 w 888
of 15 w 890
young 1 w 895
animals 1 w 902
as 6 w 905
such 2 w 909
food 2 w 913
was 1 w 916
hardly 1 w 922
considered 1 w 932
suitable 1 w 940
to 5 w 942
the 15 w 945
dignity 1 w 952
of 16 w 954
heroes 1 w 960
of 17 w 962
reputation 1 w 972
However 1 w 980
they 2 w 985
did 1 w 988
eat 4 w 991
not 2 w 994
only 1 w 998
fish 6 w 1002
but 2 w 1006
oysters 1 w 1013
though 1 w 1020
this 2 w 1024
sort 1 w 1028
of 18 w 1030
food 3 w 1034
is 14 w 1036
neither 1 w 1043
very 1 w 1047
wholesome 1 w 1056
nor 1 w 1059
very 2 w 1063
nice 1 w 1067
but 3 w 1071
the 18 w 1074
oysters 2 w 1081
lie 1 w 1084
at 15 w 1086
the 19 w 1089
bottom 1 w 1095
of 19 w 1097
the 20 w 1100
sea 1 w 1103
and 14 w 1107
one 1 w 1110
cannot 1 w 1116
get 1 w 1119
at 16 w 1121
them 2 w 1125
by 3 w 1127
any 1 w 1130
other 1 w 1135
means 1 w 1140
except 1 w 1147
by 4 w 1149
diving 1 w 1155
to 7 w 1157
the 23 w 1160
bottom 2 w 1166
An 3 w 1169
active 1 w 1175
man 1 w 1178
is 15 w 1180
he 29 w 1182
and 15 w 1186
dives 1 w 1191
with 2 w 1195
ease 1 w 1199
Iliad 1 w 1205
xvi 1 w 1209
745 1 w 1213
as 9 w 1216
he 30 w 1218
says 1 w 1222
of 20 w 1224
a 92 w 1225
man 2 w 1228
who 5 w 1231
could 1 w 1236
have 3 w 1240
collected 1 w 1249
enough 1 w 1255
to 9 w 1257
satisfy 1 w 1264
many 1 w 1268
men 5 w 1271
while 1 w 1277
hunting 1 w 1284
for 4 w 1287
oysters 3 w 1294