* * * * *

Seeking for food which shall not cost him anything,
And he will drink up an entire cask,
As if it were a cupfull.

And he introduces the parasite himself, making the following speech to some one who questioned him—

I sup with any one who likes, if he
Has only got the good sense to invite me;
And with each man who makes a marriage feast,
Whether I'm asked or not, there I am witty;
There I make others laugh, and there I praise
The host, who gives the feast. And if by chance
Any one dares to say a word against him,
I arm myself for contest, and overwhelm him.
Then eating much and drinking plentifully,
I leave the house. No link-boy doth attend me;
But I do pick my way with stumbling steps,
Both dark and desolate; and if sometimes
I do the watchmen meet, I swear to them
By all the gods that I have done no wrong;
But still they set on me. At last, well beaten,
I reach my home, and go to sleep on the ground,
And for a while forget my blows and bruises,
While the strong wine retains its sway and lulls me.

29. And the parasite of Epicharmus makes a second speech of the same kind. And a parasite of Diphilus speaks thus—

When a rich man who gives a dinner asks me,
I look not at the ceiling or the cornices,
Nor do I criticise Corinthian chasings,
But keep my eyes fixed on the kitchen smoke,

[[373]] And if it goes up strong and straight to heaven,
I joy and triumph, and I clap my wings;
But it be but thin and moving sidewise,
Then I perceive my feast too will be thin.

But Homer is the first person, as some say, who introduced the character of a parasite, saying of Podes that he was a beloved guest of Hector—

There stood a Trojan, not unknown to fame,
Eetion's son, and Podes was his name,—
With riches honour'd, and with courage blest,
By Hector loved, his comrade and his guest.[373:1]

For the word εἰλαπίνη comes to the same thing as δεῖπνον, on which account he makes him wounded by Menelaus in the belly, as Demetrius the Scepsian says; as also he represents Pandarus as wounded in the tongue, because of his having perjured himself; and it is a Spartan who wounds him, one of a nation very much devoted to temperance.