And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, ridiculing the feast made at the marriage of Iphicrates when he married the daughter of Cotys king of the Thracians, says—

7.

If you do this as I bid you,
You will ask us all to a supper,
Not to such as that in Thrace,
Given by Iphicrates—
Though, indeed, they say that
Was a very noble feast.

[[215]] For that all along the market
Purple carpets there were spread
To the northern corner;
And a countless host of men
With dirty hands and hair uncomb'd
Supped on butter. There were too,
Brazen goblets, large as cisterns,
Holding plenty for a dozen
Of the hardest drinkers known.
Cotys, too, himself was there,
Girt around, and bearing kindly
Rich soup in a gold tureen;
Tasting all the brimming cups,
So as to be the first to yield
Of all the guests t' intoxication.
There was Antigenides
Delighting all with his soft flute,
Argas sung, and from Acharnæ
Cephisodotus struck the lyre,
Celebrating Lacedæmon
And the wide land of the Heraclidæ,
And at other times they sung
Of the seven-gated Thebes,
Changing thus their strain and theme.
Large was the dowry which 'tis said
Fell to the lucky bridegroom's share:
First, two herds of chestnut horses,
And a herd of horned goats,
A golden shield, a wide-neck'd bowl,
A jar of snow, a pot of millet,
A deep pit full of leeks and onions,
And a hecatomb of polypi.
This they say that Cotys did,
King of Thrace, in heartfelt joy
At Iphicrates's wedding.
But a finer feast by far
Shall be in our master's houses;
For there's nothing good or fine
Which our house does stand in need of.
There is scent of Syrian myrrh,
There is incense, there is spice;
There are delicate cakes and loaves,
Cakes of meal and polypi,
Tripe, and fat, and sausages,
Soup, and beet, and figs, and pease,
Garlic, various kinds of tunnies,
Ptisan, pulse, and toast and muffins,
Beans, and various kinds of vetches,
Honey, cheese, and cheesecakes too,
Wheat, and nuts, and barley-groats,
Roasted crabs, and mullets boil'd,

[[216]] Roasted cuttle-fish, boil'd turbot,
Frogs, and perch, and mussels too,
Sharks, and roach, and gudgeons too,
Fish from doves and cuckoos named,
Plaice, and flounders, shrimps, and rays.
Then, besides these dainty fish
There is many another dish,—
Honeycombs and juicy grapes,
Figs and cheesecakes, apples, pears,
Cornels, and the red pomegranate,
Poppies, creeping thyme, and parsley,
Peaches, olives, plums and raisins,
Leeks and onions, cabbages,
Strong smelling assafœtida,
Fennel, eggs, and lentils cool,
And well-roasted grasshoppers,
Cardamums and sesame,
Ceryces, salt, and limpets firm,
The pinna, and the oyster bright,
The periwinkle, and the whelk;
And besides this a crowd of birds,
Doves and ducks, and geese and sparrows,
Thrushes, larks, and jays, and swans,
The pelican, the crane and stork,
Wagtails and ousels, tits and finches;
And to wash all these dainties down
There's wine, both native and imported,
White and red, and sweet and acid,
Still or effervescent.

8. But Lynceus, in his Centaur, ridiculing the Attic banquets, says—

A.Yon cook, the man who makes the sacrifice
And seeks now to receive me as my host,
Is one of Rhodes. And I, the guest invited,
Am call'd a citizen of fair Perinthus.
And neither of us likes the Attic suppers;
For melancholy is an Attic humour;
May it be always foreign unto me.
They place upon the table a large platter
Holding five smaller plates within its space,
One full of garlic, while another holds
Two boil'd sea-urchins; in the third, a cake;
The fourth displays ten cockles to the guest,
The last has caviar.—While I eat this,
He falls on that: or while he dines on this,
I make that other dish to disappear.
But I would rather eat up both myself,
Only I cannot go beyond my powers;
For I have not five mouths, nor twice five lips.
True, these detain the eyes with various sights,
[[217]] But looking at them is not eating them:
I but appease my eyes and not my belly.
What shall I do then? Have you oysters? Give me
A plate of them, I beg; and that a large one;
Have you some urchins?
B.Here's a dish of them
To which you're welcome; this I bought myself,
And paid eight obols for it in the market.
A.Put then this dish on table by itself,
That all may eat the same at once, and not
One half the guests eat one thing, half another.

But Dromeas the parasite, when some one once asked him, as Hegesander the Delphian relates, whether the banquets in the city or at Chalcis were the best, said that the prelude to the banquets at Chalcis was superior to the whole entertainment in the city, calling the multitudes of oysters served up, and the great variety of fish, the prelude to the banquet.

9. But Diphilus, in his Female Deserter, introduces a cook, and represents him as saying—

A.What is the number of the guests invited
To this fine marriage feast? And are they all
Athenian citizens, or are there some
Foreigners and merchants?
B.What is that to you,
Since you are but the cook to dress the dinner?
A.It is the first part of my art, O father,
To know the taste of those who are to eat.
For instance, if you ask a Rhodian,
Set a fine shad or lebias before him,
Well boil'd and hot, the moment that he enters.
That's what he likes; he'll like it better so
Than if you add a cup of myrine wine.
A.Well, that idea of shads is not a bad one.
B.Then, if a Byzantine should be your guest,
Steep all you offer such a man in wormwood.
And let your dishes taste of salt and garlic.
For fish are all so plenty in their country,
That the men all are full of rheum and phlegm.