I am aware, also, that there have been boys who were great fish-eaters, who are mentioned by Clearchus, in his book on Sands; which says that Psammitichus, king of Egypt, bred up some boys to eat nothing but fish, when he was anxious to discover the source of the Nile; and that he accustomed others to endure a great degree of thirst, who were to be employed in exploring the sands in Libya; of whom, however, very few escaped in safety. I know, too, that the oxen around Mosynus, in Thrace, eat fish, which are given to them in their cribs. And Phœnicides, having set fish before men who had brought their contribution for a banquet, said that the sea was common, but that the fish in it belonged to those who bought them.
36. And, my friends, the noun ὀψοφάγος (an eater of fish), and the verb ὀψοφάγω (to eat fish), are both used. Aristophanes, in his second edition of the Clouds, says—
Not to eat fish (ὀψοφάγειν) nor to giggle.
And Cephisodorus, in his Pig, says—
Not a fish-eater (οψοφαγος) nor a chatterer.
Machon, in his Letter, says—
I am a fish-eater (ὀψοφάγος), and this is now
The whole foundation of the art we practise.
And he who wishes not to spoil the dishes
Served up to others, should be pleased himself.
For he who rightly cares for his own eating
Will not be a bad cook. And if you keep
Your organs, sense and taste, in proper order,
You will not err. But often taste your dishes
While you are boiling them. Do they want salt?
Add some;—is any other seasoning needed?
Add it, and taste again—till you've arrived
At harmony of flavour; like a man
Who tunes a lyre till it rightly sounds.
And then, when everything is well in tune,
Bring in a troop of willing damsels fair,
Equal in number to the banqueters.
In addition to these epicures in fish, my friends, I am aware also that Apollo is honoured among the Eleans, under the title of Fish-eater: and Polemo mentions this name of his in his letter to Attalus. I am aware, also, that in Pisa there is a picture consecrated in the temple of Diana Alpheosa (and it is the work of Cleanthes the Corinthian), in which Neptune is represented as bringing a tunny to Jupiter in labour; as Demetrius tells us, in the eighth book of his Trojan Array.
37. These, then, are the things, said Democritus, which I myself have brought in the way of my contribution, not going to eat fish myself, for the sake of my excellent friend Ulpian; who, on account of the national customs of the Syrians, has deprived us of our fish, continually bringing forward one thing after another. And Antipater of Tarsus, the Stoic philosopher, in the fourth book of his treatise on Superstition, tells us that it is said by some people that Gatis, the queen of the Syrians, was so exceedingly fond of fish, that she issued a proclamation that no one should eat fish without Gatis being invited (ἄτερ γάτιδος); and that the common people, out of ignorance, thought her name was Atergatis, and abstained wholly from fish. And Mnaseus, in the second book of his History of Asia, speaks thus—"But I think that Atergatis was a very bad queen, and that she ruled the people with great harshness, so that she even forbad them by law to eat fish, and ordered them to bring all the fish to her, because she was so fond of that food; and, on account of this order of hers, a custom still prevails, when the Syrians pray to the goddess, to offer her golden or silver fish; and for the priests every day to place on the table before the god real fish also, carefully dressed, both boiled and roasted, which the priests of the goddess eat themselves." And a little further on, he says again—"But Atergatis (as Xanthus the Lydian says), being taken prisoner by Mopsus, king of Lydia, was drowned with her son in the lake near Ascalon, because of her insolence, and was eaten up by fishes."
38. And you, perhaps, my friends, have willingly passed by (as if it were some sacred fish) the fish mentioned by Ephippus the comic poet, which he says was dressed for Geryon, in his play called Geryon. The lines are these:—