Volume 3 / Book 15 — BOOK XV.

1.

as the all-accomplished Euripides says, my good Timocrates—

to recapitulate to you the numerous things which were said in those most admirable banquets, on account of the varied nature of the topics introduced, and the novel mode in which they were continually treated. For there were frequent discussions about the order in which the dishes were served up, and about the things which are done after the chief part of the supper is over, such as I can hardly recollect; and some one of the guests quoted the following iambics from The Lacedæmonians of Plato—

THE COTTABUS.

2. And after this quotation there arose, I think, a discussion about the cottabus and cottabus-players. Now by the term ἀποκοτταβίζοντες, one of the physicians who were present thought those people were meant, who, after the bath, for the sake of purging their stomach, drink a full draught of wine and then throw it up again; and he said that this was not an ancient custom, and that he was not aware of any ancient author who had alluded to this mode of purging. On which account Erasistratus of Julia, in his treatise on Universal Medicine, reproves those who act in this way, pointing out that it is a practice very injurious to the eyes, and having a very astringent effect on the stomach. And Ulpian addressed him thus—

For it was wittily said by one of our companions, that if there were no physicians there would be nothing more stupid than grammarians. For who is there of us who does not know that this kind of ἀποκοτταβισμὸς was not that of the ancients? unless you think that the cottabus-players of Ameipsias vomited. Since, then, you are ignorant of what this is which is the subject of our present discussion, learn from me, in the first place, that the cottabus is a sport of Sicilian invention, the Sicilians having been the original contrivers of it, as Critias the son of Callæschrus tells us in his Elegies, where he says—

And Dicæarchus the Messenian, the pupil of Aristotle, in his treatise on Alcæus, says that the word λατάγη is also a Sicilian noun. But λατάγη means the drops which are left in the bottom after the cup is drained, and which the players used to throw with inverted hand into the κοτταβεῖον. But Clitarchus, in his treatise on Words, says that the Thessalians and Rhodians both call the κότταβος itself, or splash made by the cups, λατάγη.

3. The prize also which was proposed for those who gained the victory in drinking was called κότταβος, as Euripides shows us in his Œneus, where he says—

The vessel, too, into which they threw the drops was also called κότταβος, as Cratinus shows in his Nemesis. But Plato the comic poet, in his Jupiter Ill-treated, makes out that the cottabus was a sort of drunken game, in which those who were defeated yielded up their tools[112] to the victor. And these are his words—

4. There was a kind of cottabus also which they used to call κάτακτος, that is, when lamps are lifted up and then let down again. Eubulus, in his Bellerophon, says—

THE COTTABUS.

And Antiphanes, in his Birthday of Venus, says—

And in a subsequent passage he says—

5. For a man must curve his hand excessively before he can throw the cottabus elegantly, as Dicæarchus says; and Plato intimates as much in his Jupiter Ill-treated, where some one calls out to Hercules not to hold his hand too stiff, when he is going to play the cottabus. They also called the very act of throwing the cottabus ἀπ' ἀγκύλης, because they curved (ἀπαγκυλόω) the right hand in throwing it. Though some say that ἀγκύλη, in this phrase, means a kind of cup. And Bacchylides, in his Love Poems, says—

And Æschylus, in his Bone Gatherers, speaks of ἀγκυλητοὶ κότταβοι, saying—

Now, that he who succeeded in throwing the cottabus properly received a prize, Antiphanes has shown us in a passage already quoted. And the prize consisted of eggs, sweetmeats, and confectionery. And Cephisodorus, in his Trophonius, and Callias or Diocles, in the Cyclopes, (whichever of the two is the author,) and Eupolis, and Hermippus, in his Iambics, prove the same thing.

Now what is called the κατακτὸς cottabus was something of this kind. There is a high lamp, having on it what is called the Manes, on which the dish, when thrown down, ought to fall; and from thence it falls into the platter which lies below, and which is struck by the cottabus. And there was room for very great dexterity in throwing the cottabus. And Nicochares speaks of the Manes in his Lacedæmonians.

6. There is also another way of playing this game with a platter. This platter is filled with water, and in it there are floating some empty saucers, at which the players throw their drops out of their cups, and endeavour to sink them. And he who has succeeded in sinking the greatest number gains the victory. Ameipsias, in his play entitled The Men playing at the Cottabus or Mania, says—

And Cratinus, in his Nemesis, says—

And Aristophanes, in his Feasters, says—

And Hermippus, in his Fates, says—

And Achæus, in his Linus, speaking of the Satyrs, says—

And the poet uses λέγοντες here, because they used to utter the names of their sweethearts as they threw the cottabi on the saucers. On which account Sophocles, in his Inachus, called the drops which were thrown, sacred to Venus—

THE COTTABUS.

And Euripides, in his Pleisthenes, says—

And Callimachus says—

7. There was also another kind of way of playing at the cottabus, in the feasts which lasted all night, which is mentioned by Callippus in his Festival lasting all Night, where he says—

There were also sweetmeats at these nocturnal festivals, in which the men continued awake an extraordinary time dancing. And these sweetmeats used to be called at that time χαρίσιοι, from the joy (χαρὰ) of those who received them. And Eubulus, in his Ancylion, mentions them, speaking as follows—

And presently afterwards he says—

But that kisses were also given as the prize Eubulus tells us in a subsequent passage—

But that the cottabus was a sport to which the Sicilians were greatly addicted, is plain from the fact that they had rooms built adapted to the game; which Dicæarchus, in his treatise on Alcæus, states to have been the case. So that it was not without reason that Callimachus affixed the epithet of Sicilian to λάταξ. And Dionysius, who was surnamed the Brazen, mentions both the λάταγες and the κότταβοι in his Elegies, where he says—

8. After this, Ulpian demanded a larger goblet to drink out of, quoting these lines out of the same collection of Elegies—

For let us be guided by the younger Cratinus, who says in his Omphale—

In answer to whom Cynulcus, who was always ready for a tilt at the Syrian, and who never let the quarrel drop which he had against him, now that there was a sort of tumult in the party, said—What is this chorus of Syrbenians?[116] And I myself also recollect some lines of this poetry, which I will quote, that Ulpian may not give himself airs as being the only one who was able to extract anything about the cottabus out of those old stores of the Homeridæ—

which have a clear reference to the present discussion. For I see the servants now bringing us garlands and perfumes. Why now are those who are crowned said to be in love when their crowns are broken? For when I was a boy, and when I used to read the Epigrams of Callimachus, in which this is one of the topics dilated on, I was anxious to understand this point. For the poet of Cyrene says—

GARLANDS.

So now it is your business, you most accomplished man, to explain this difficulty which has occupied me these thousand years, O Democritus, and to tell me why lovers crown the doors of their mistresses.

9. And Democritus replied—But that I may quote some of the verses of this Brazen poet and orator Dionysius, (and he was called Brazen because he advised the Athenians to adopt a brazen coinage; and Callimachus mentions the oration in his list of Oratorical Performances,) I myself will cite some lines out of his Elegies. And do you, O Theodorus, for this is your proper name—

You ask, then, why, if the garlands of men who have been crowned are pulled to pieces, they are said to be in love. "Is it, since love takes away the strict regularity of manners in the case of lovers, that on this account they think the loss of a conspicuous ornament, a sort of beacon (as Clearchus says, in the first book of his Art of Love) and signal, that they to whom this has happened have lost the strict decorum of their manners? Or do men interpret this circumstance also by divination, as they do many other things? For the ornament of a crown, as there is nothing lasting in it, is a sort of emblem of a passion which does not endure, but assumes a specious appearance for a while: and such a passion is love. For no people are more careful to study appearance than those who are in love. Unless, perhaps, nature, as a sort of god, administering everything with justice and equity, thinks that lovers ought not to be crowned till they have subdued their love; that is to say, till, having prevailed upon the object of their love, they are released from their desire. And accordingly, the loss of their crown we make the token of their being still occupied in the fields of love. Or perhaps Love himself, not permitting any one to be crowned in opposition to, or to be proclaimed as victor over himself, takes their crowns from these men, and gives the perception of this to others, indicating that these men are subdued by him: on which account all the rest say that these men are in love. Or is it because that cannot be loosed which has never been bound, but love is the chain of some who wear crowns, (for no one else who is bound is more anxious about being crowned than a lover,) that men consider that the loosing of the garland is a sign of love, and therefore say that these men are in love? Or is it because very often lovers, when they have been crowned, often out of agitation as it should seem, allow their crowns to fall to pieces, and so we argue backwards, and attribute this passion to all whom we see in this predicament; thinking that their crown never would have come to pieces, if they had not been in love? Or is it because these loosings happen only in the case of men bound or men in love; and so, men thinking that the loosing of the garland is the loosing also of those who are bound, consider that such men are in love? For those in love are bound, unless you would rather say that, because those who are in love are crowned with love, therefore their crown is not of a lasting kind; for it is difficult to put a small and ordinary kind of crown on a large and divine one. Men also crown the doors of the houses of the objects of their love, either with a view to do them honour, as they adorn with crowns the vestibule of some god to do him honour: or perhaps the offering of the crowns is made, not to the beloved objects, but to the god Love. For thinking the beloved object the statue, as it were, of Love, and his house the temple of Love, they, under this idea, adorn with crowns the vestibules of those whom they love. And for the same reason some people even sacrifice at the doors of those whom they love. Or shall we rather say that people who fancy that they are deprived, or who really have been deprived of the ornament of their soul, consecrate to those who have deprived them of it, the ornament also of their body, being bewildered by their passion, and despoiling themselves in order to do so? And every one who is in love does this when the object of his love is present, but when he is not present, then he makes this offering in the public roads. On which account Lycophronides has represented that goatherd in love, as saying—

GARLANDS.

10. Moreover, that most divine writer Plato, in the seventh book of his Laws, proposes a problem having reference to crowns, which it is worth while to solve; and these are the words of the philosopher:—"Let there be distributions of apples and crowns to a greater and a lesser number of people, in such a way that the numbers shall always be equal." These are the words of Plato. But what he means is something of this sort. He wishes to find one number of such a nature that, if divided among all who come in to the very last, it shall give an equal number of apples or crowns to every one. I say, then, that the number sixty will fulfil these conditions of equality in the case of six fellow-feasters; for I am aware that at the beginning we said that a supper party ought not to consist of more than five. But we are as numerous as the sand of the sea. Accordingly the number sixty, when the party is completed to the number of six guests, will begin to be divided in this manner. The first man came into the banqueting-room, and received sixty garlands. He gives to the second who comes in half of them; and then each of them have thirty. Then when a third comes in they divide the whole sixty, so that each of them may have twenty. Again, they divide them again in like manner at the entrance of a fourth guest, so that each has fifteen; and when a fifth comes in they all have twelve a-piece. And when the sixth guest arrives, they divide them again, and each individual has ten. And in this way the equal division of the garlands is accomplished.

11. When Democritus had said this, Ulpian, looking towards Cynulcus, said—

As Theognetus the comic poet says, in his Apparition,—

For where was it that you got that idea of the Chorus of the Syrbenians? What author worth speaking of mentions that musical chorus? And he replied:—My good friend, I will not teach you, unless I first receive adequate pay from you; for I do not read to pick out all the thorns out of my books as you do, but I select only what is most useful and best worth hearing. And at this Ulpian got indignant, and roared out these lines out of the Suspicion of Alexis—

And the same iambics occur in the Sleep of Antiphanes. And Cynulcus said:—Since there have already been discussions about garlands, tell us, my good Ulpian, what is the meaning of the expression, "The garland of Naucratis," in the beautiful poet Anacreon. For that sweet minstrel says—

And why also does the same poet represent some people as crowned with osiers? for in the second book of his Odes, he says—

For to suppose that these crowns were really made of osiers is absurd, for the osier is fit only for plaiting and binding. So now tell us about these things, my friend, for they are worth understanding correctly, and do not keep us quibbling about words.

GARLANDS.

12. But as he made no reply, and pretended to be considering the matter, Democritus said:—Aristarchus the grammarian, my friend, when interpreting this passage, said that the ancients used to wear crowns of willow. But Tenarus says that the willow or osier is the rustics' crown. And other interpreters have said many irrelevant things on the subject. But I, having met with a book of Menodotus of Samos, which is entitled, A Record of the things worth noting at Samos, found there what I was looking for; for he says that "Admete, the wife of Eurystheus, after she had fled from Argos, came to Samos, and there, when a vision of Juno had appeared to her, she wishing to give the goddess a reward because she had arrived in Samos from her own home in safety, undertook the care of the temple, which exists even to this day, and which had been originally built by the Leleges and the Nymphs. But the Argives hearing of this, and being indignant at it, persuaded the Tyrrhenians by a promise of money, to employ piratical force and to carry off the statue,—the Argives believing that if this were done Admete would be treated with every possible severity by the inhabitants of Samos. Accordingly the Tyrrhenians came to the port of Juno, and having disembarked, immediately applied themselves to the performance of their undertaking. And as the temple was at that time without any doors, they quickly carried off the statue, and bore it down to the seaside, and put it on board their vessel. And when they had loosed their cables and weighed anchor, they rowed as fast as they could, but were unable to make any progress. And then, thinking that this was owing to divine interposition, they took the statue out of the ship again and put it on the shore; and having made some sacrificial cakes, and offered them to it, they departed in great fear. But when, the first thing in the morning, Admete gave notice that the statue had disappeared, and a search was made for it, those who were seeking it found it on the shore. And they, like Carian barbarians, as they were, thinking that the statue had run away of its own accord, bound it to a fence made of osiers, and took all the longest branches on each side and twined them round the body of the statue, so as to envelop it all round. But Admete released the statue from these bonds, and purified it, and placed it again on its pedestal, as it had stood before. And on this account once every year, since that time, the statue is carried down to the shore and hidden, and cakes are offered to it: and the festival is called Τονεὺς, because it happened that the statue was bound tightly (συντόνως) by those who made the first search for it.

13. "But they relate that about that time the Carians, being overwhelmed with superstitious fears, came to the oracle of the god at Hybla, and consulted him with reference to these occurrences; and that Apollo told them that they must give a voluntary satisfaction to the god of their own accord, to escape a more serious calamity,—such as in former times Jupiter had inflicted upon Prometheus, because of his theft of the fire, after he had released him from a most terrible captivity. And as he was inclined to give a satisfaction which should not cause him severe pain, this was what the god imposed upon him. And from this circumstance the use of this kind of crown which had been shown to Prometheus got common among the rest of mankind who had been benefited by him by his gift of fire: on which account the god enjoined the Carians also to adopt a similar custom,—to use osiers as a garland, and bind their heads with the branches with which they themselves had bound the goddess. And he ordered them also to abandon the use of every other kind of garland except that made of the bay-tree: and that tree he said he gave as a gift to those alone who are employed in the service of the goddess. And he told them that, if they obeyed the injunctions given them by the oracle, and if in their banquets they paid the goddess the satisfaction to which she was entitled, they should be protected from injury: on which account the Carians, wishing to obey the commands laid on them by the oracle, abolished the use of those garlands which they had previously been accustomed to wear, but permitted all those who were employed in the service of the goddess still to wear the garland of bay-tree, which remains in use even to this day.

14. "Nicænetus also, the epic poet, appears to make some allusion to the fashion of wearing garlands of osier in his Epigrams. And this poet was a native of Samos, and a man who in numberless passages shows his fondness for mentioning points connected with the history of his country. And these are his words:—

GARLANDS.

But in the selines Nicænetus speaks ambiguously, for it is not quite plain whether he means that the osier is to make his bed or his garland; though afterwards, when he calls it the ancient garland of the Carians, he alludes clearly enough to what we are now discussing. And this use of osiers to make into garlands, lasted in that island down to the time of Polycrates, as we may conjecture. At all events Anacreon says—

15. And the Gods know that I first found all this out in the beautiful city of Alexandria, having got possession of the treatise of Menodotus, in which I showed to many people the passage in Anacreon which is the subject of discussion. But Hephæstion, who is always charging every one else with thefts, took this solution of mine, and claimed it as his own, and published an essay, to which he gave this title, "Concerning the Osier Garland mentioned by Anacreon." And a copy of this essay we lately found at Rome in the possession of the antiquary Demetrius. And this compiler Hephæstion behaved in the same way to our excellent friend Adrantus. For after he had published a treatise in five books, Concerning those Matters in Theophrastus in his books on Manners, which are open to any Dispute, either as to their Facts, or the Style in which they are mentioned; and had added a sixth book Concerning the Disputable Points in the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle; and in these books had entered into a long dissertation on the mention of Plexippus by Antipho the tragic poet, and had also said a good deal about Antipho himself; Hephæstion, I say, appropriated all these books to himself, and wrote another book, Concerning the Mention of Antipho in the Memorabilia of Xenophon, not having added a single discovery or original observation of his own, any more than he had in the discussion on the Osier Garland. For the only thing he said that was new, was that Phylarchus, in the seventh book of his Histories, mentioned this story about the osier, and knew nothing of the passage of Nicænetus, nor of that of Anacreon; and he showed that he differed in some respects from the account that had been given by Menodotus.

But one may explain this fact of the osier garlands more simply, by saying that Megisthes wore a garland of osier because there was a great quantity of those trees in the place where he was feasting; and therefore he used it to bind his temples. For the Lacedæmonians at the festival of the Promachia, wear garlands of reeds, as Sosibius tells us in his treatise on the Sacrificial Festivals at Lacedæmon, where he writes thus: "On this festival the natives of the country all wear garlands of reeds, or tiaras, but the boys who have been brought up in the public school follow without any garland at all."

16. But Aristotle, in the second book of his treatise on Love Affairs, and Ariston the Peripatetic, who was a native of Ceos, in the second book of his Amatory Resemblances, say that "The ancients, on account of the headaches which were produced by their wine-drinking, adopted the practice of wearing garlands made of anything which came to hand, as the binding the head tight appeared to be of service to them. But men in later times added also some ornaments to their temples, which had a kind of reference to their employment of drinking, and so they invented garlands in the present fashion. But it is more reasonable to suppose that it was because the head is the seat of all sensation that men wore crowns upon it, than that they did so because it was desirable to have their temples shaded and bound as a remedy against the headaches produced by wine."

They also wore garlands over their foreheads, as the sweet Anacreon says—

They also wore garlands on their breasts, and anointed them with perfume, because that is the seat of the heart. And they call the garlands which they put round their necks ὑποθυμιάδες, as Alcæus does in these lines—

And Sappho says—

And Anacreon says—

Æschylus also, in his Prometheus Unbound, says distinctly—

GARLANDS.

And again, in the play entitled the Sphinx, he says—

But Sappho gives a more simple reason for our wearing garlands, speaking as follows—

In which lines she enjoins all who offer sacrifice to wear garlands on their heads, as they are beautiful things, and acceptable to the Gods. Aristotle also, in his Banquet, says, "We never offer any mutilated gift to the Gods, but only such as are perfect and entire; and what is full is entire, and crowning anything indicates filling it in some sort. So Homer says—

And in another place he says—

That is to say, eloquence in speaking makes up in the case of some men for their personal ugliness. Now this is what the στέφανος seems intended to do, on which account, in times of mourning, we do exactly the contrary. For wishing to testify our sympathy for the dead, we mutilate ourselves by cutting our hair, and by putting aside our garlands."

17. Now Philonides the physician, in his treatise on Ointments and Garlands, says, "After the vine was introduced into Greece from the Red Sea, and when most people had become addicted to intemperate enjoyment, and had learnt to drink unmixed wine, some of them became quite frantic and out of their minds, while others got so stupified as to resemble the dead. And once, when some men were drinking on the sea-shore, a violent shower came on, and broke up the party, and filled the goblet, which had a little wine left in it, with water. But when it became fine again, the men returned to the same spot, and tasting the new mixture, found that their enjoyment was now not only exquisite, but free from any subsequent pain. And on this account, the Greeks invoke the good Deity at the cup of unmixed wine, which is served round to them at dinner, paying honour to the Deity who invented wine; and that was Bacchus. But when the first cup of mixed wine is handed round after dinner, they then invoke Jupiter the Saviour, thinking him the cause of this mixture of wine which is so unattended with pain, as being the author of rain. Now, those who suffered in their heads after drinking, certainly stood in need of some remedy; and so the binding their heads was what most readily occurred to them, as Nature herself led them to this remedy. For a certain man having a headache, as Andreas says, pressed his head, and found relief, and so invented a ligature as a remedy for headache.

Accordingly, men using these ligatures as assistants in drinking, used to bind their heads with whatever came in their way. And first of all, they took garlands of ivy, which offered itself, as it were, of its own accord, and was very plentiful, and grew everywhere, and was pleasant to look upon, shading the forehead with its green leaves and bunches of berries, and bearing a good deal of tension, so as to admit of being bound tight across the brow, and imparting also a certain degree of coolness without any stupifying smell accompanying it. And it seems to me that this is the reason why men have agreed to consider the garland of ivy sacred to Bacchus, implying by this that the inventor of wine is also the defender of men from all the inconveniences which arise from the use of it. And from thence, regarding chiefly pleasure, and considering utility and the comfort of the relief from the effects of drunkenness of less importance, they were influenced chiefly by what was agreeable to the sight or to the smell. And therefore they adopted crowns of myrtle, which has exciting properties, and which also represses any rising of the fumes of wine; and garlands of roses, which to a certain extent relieve headache, and also impart some degree of coolness; and garlands also of bay leaves, which they think are not wholly unconnected with drinking parties. But garlands of white lilies, which have an effect on the head, and wreaths of amaracus, or of any other flower or herb which has any tendency to produce heaviness or torpid feelings in the head, must be avoided."

GARLANDS.

And Apollodorus, in his treatise on Perfumes and Garlands, has said the same thing in the very same words. And this, my friends, is enough to say on this subject.

18. But concerning the Naucratite Crown, and what kind of flowers that is made of, I made many investigations, and inquired a great deal without learning anything, till at last I fell in with a book of Polycharmus of Naucratis, entitled On Venus, in which I found the following passage:—"But in the twenty-third Olympiad Herostratus, a fellow-countryman of mine, who was a merchant, and as such had sailed to a great many different countries, coming by chance to Paphos, in Cyprus, bought an image of Venus, a span high, of very ancient workmanship, and came away meaning to bring it to Naucratis. And as he was sailing near the Egyptian coast, a violent storm suddenly overtook him, and the sailors could not tell where they were, and so they all had recourse to this image of Venus, entreating her to save them. And the goddess, for she was kindly disposed towards the men of Naucratis, on a sudden filled all the space near her with branches of green myrtle, and diffused a most delicious odour over the whole ship, when all the sailors had previously despaired of safety from their violent sea-sickness. And after they had been all very sick, the sun shone out, and they, seeing the landmarks, came in safety into Naucratis. And Herostratus having disembarked from the ship with his image, and carrying with him also the green branches of myrtle which had so suddenly appeared to him, consecrated it and them in the temple of Venus. And having sacrificed to the goddess, and having consecrated the image to Venus, and invited all his relations and most intimate friends to a banquet in the temple, he gave every one of them a garland of these branches of myrtle, to which garlands he then gave the name of Naucratite." This is the account given by Polycharmus; and I myself believe the statement, and believe that the Naucratite garland is no other than one made of myrtle, especially as in Anacreon it is represented as worn with one made of roses. And Philonides has said that the garland made of myrtle acts as a check upon the fumes of wine, and that the one made of roses, in addition to its cooking qualities, is to a certain extent a remedy for headache. And, therefore, those men are only to be laughed at, who say that the Naucratite garland is the wreath made of what is called by the Egyptians biblus, quoting the statement of Theopompus, in the third book of his History of Greece, where he says, "That when Agesilaus the Lacedæmonian arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians sent him many presents, and among them the papyrus, which is used for making garlands." But I do not know what pleasure or advantage there could be in having a crown made of biblus with roses, unless people who are enamoured of such a wreath as this should also take a fancy to wear crowns of garlic and roses together. But I know that a great many people say that the garland made of the sampsychon or amaracus is the Naucratite garland; and this plant is very plentiful in Egypt, but the myrtle in Egypt is superior in sweetness to that which is found in any other country, as Theophrastus relates in another place.

19. While this discussion was going on, some slaves came in bringing garlands made of such flowers as were in bloom at the time; and Myrtilus said;—Tell me, my good friend Ulpian, the different names of garlands. For these servants, as is said in the Centaur of Chærephon—

And the same poet says, in his play entitled Bacchus—

Do not, however, quote to me passages out of the Crowns of Ælius Asclepiades, as if I were unacquainted with that work; but say something now besides what you find there. For you cannot show me that any one has ever spoken separately of a garland of roses, and a garland of violets. For as for the expression in Cratinus—

that is said in a joke.

And he, laughing, replied,—The word στέφανος was first used among the Greeks, as Semos the Delian tells us in the fourth book of his Delias, in the same sense as the word στέφος is used by us, which, however, by some people is called στέμμα. On which account, being first crowned with this στέφανος, afterwards we put on a garland of bay leaves; and the word στέφανος itself is derived from the verb στέφω, to crown. But do you, you loquacious Thessalian, think, says he, that I am going to repeat any of those old and hacknied stories? But because of your tongue (γλῶσσα), I will mention the ὑπογλωττὶς, which Plato speaks of in his Jupiter Ill-treated—

GARLANDS.

And Theodorus, in his Attic Words, as Pamphilus says in his treatise on Names, says, that the ὑπογλωττὶς is a species of plaited crown. Take this then from me; for, as Euripides says,

20. There is the Isthmiacum also, and there was a kind of crown bearing this name, which Aristophanes has thought worthy of mention in his Fryers, where he speaks thus—

But Silenus, in his Dialects, says, "The Isthmian garland." And Philetas says, "Στέφανος. There is an ambiguity here as to whether it refers to the head or to the main world.[119] We also use the word ἴσθμιον, as applied to a well, or to a dagger." But Timachidas and Simmias, who are both Rhodians, explain one word by the other. They say, ἴσθμιον, στέφανον: and this word is also mentioned by Callixenus, who is himself also a Rhodian, in his History of Alexandria, where he writes as follows—

21. But since I have mentioned Alexandria, I know that in that beautiful city there is a garland called the garland of Antinous, which is made of the lotus, which grows in those parts. And this lotus grows in the marshes in the summer season; and it bears flowers of two colours; one like that of the rose, and it is the garlands woven of the flowers of this colour which are properly called the garlands of Antinous; but the other kind is called the lotus garland, being of a dark colour. And a man of the name of Pancrates, a native poet, with whom we ourselves were acquainted, made a great parade of showing a rose-coloured lotus to Adrian the emperor, when he was staying at Alexandria, saying, that he ought to give this flower the name of the Flower of Antinous, as having sprung from the ground where it drank in the blood of the Mauritanian lion, which Hadrian killed when he was out hunting in that part of Africa, near Alexandria; a monstrous beast which had ravaged all Libya for a long time, so as to make a very great part of the district desolate. Accordingly, Hadrian being delighted with the utility of the invention, and also with its novelty, granted to the poet that he should be maintained for the future in the Museum at the public expense; and Cratinus the comic poet, in his Ulysseses, has called the lotus στεφάνωμα, because all plants which are full of leaf, are called στεφανώματα by the Athenians. But Pancrates said, with a good deal of neatness, in his poem—

22. There is the word πυλέων. And this is the name given to the garland which the Lacedæmonians place on the head of Juno, as Pamphilus relates.

I am aware, also, that there is a kind of garland, which is called Ἰάκχας by the Sicyonians, as Timachidas mentions in his treatise on Dialects. And Philetas writes as follows:—"Ἰάκχα —this is a name given to a fragrant garland in the district of Sicyon—

Seleucus also, in his treatise on Dialects, says, that there is a kind of garland made of myrtle, which is called Ἐλλωτὶς, being twenty cubits in circumference, and that it is carried in procession on the festival of the Ellotia. And he says, that in this garland the bones of Europa, whom they call Ellotis, are carried. And this festival of the Ellotia is celebrated in Corinth.

GARLANDS.

There is also the Θυρεατικός. This also is a name given to a species of garland by the Lacedæmonians, as Sosibius tells us in his treatise on Sacrifices, where he says, that now it is called ψίλινος, being made of branches of the palm-tree. And he says that they are worn, as a memorial of the victory which they gained, in Thyrea,[120] by the leaders of the choruses, which are employed in that festival when they celebrate the Gymnopædiæ.[121] And there are choruses, some of handsome boys, and others of full-grown men of distinguished bravery, who all dance naked, and who sing the songs of Thaletas and Alcman, and the pæans of Dionysodotus the Lacedæmonian.

There are also garlands called μελιλώτινοι, which are mentioned by Alexis in his Crateva, or the Apothecary, in the following line—

There is the word too, ἐπιθυμίδες, which Seleucus explains by "every sort of garland." But Timachidas says, "Garlands of every kind which are worn by women are called ἐπιθυμίδες."

There are also the words ὑποθυμὶς and ὑποθυμιὰς, which are names given to garlands by the Æolians and Ionians, and they wear such around their necks, as one may clearly collect from the poetry of Alcæus and Anacreon. But Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says, that the Lesbians call a branch of myrtle ὑποθυμὶς, around which they twine violets and other flowers.

The ὑπογλωττὶς also is a species of garland. But Theodorus, in his Attic Words, says, that it is a particular kind of garland, and is used in that sense by Plato the comic poet, in his Jupiter Ill-treated.

23. I find also, in the comic poets, mention made of a kind of garland called κυλιστὸς, and I find that Archippus mentions it in his Rhinon, in these lines—

And Alexis, in his Agonis, or The Colt, says—

and in his Sciron he says—

Antiphanes also mentions it in his Man in Love with Himself. And Eubulus, in his Œnomaus, or Pelops, saying—

What, then, is this κυλιστός? For I am aware that Nicander of Thyatira, in his Attic Nouns, speaks as follows,—"Ἐκκυλίσιοι στέφανοι, and especially those made of roses." And now I ask what species of garland this was, O Cynulcus; and do not tell me that I am to understand the word as meaning merely large. For you are a man who are fond of not only picking things little known out of books, but of even digging out such matters; like the philosophers in the Joint Deceiver of Baton the comic poet; men whom Sophocles also mentions in his Fellow Feasters, and who resemble you,—

Since, then, you are sated not only with the heads of glaucus, but also with that evergreen herb, which that Anthedonian Deity[122] ate, and became immortal, give us an answer now about the subject of discussion, that we may not think that when you are dead, you will be metamorphosed, as the divine Plato has described in his treatise on the Soul. For he says that those who are addicted to gluttony, and insolence, and drunkenness, and who are restrained by no modesty, may naturally become transformed into the race of asses, and similar animals.

24. And as he still appeared to be in doubt;—Let us now, said Ulpian, go on to another kind of garland, which is called the στρούθιος; which Asclepiades mentions when he quotes the following passage, out of the Female Garland-Sellers of Eubulus—

GARLANDS.

And this garland is made of the flower called στρούθιον (soap-wort), which is mentioned by Theophrastus, in the sixth book of his Natural History, in these words—"The iris also blooms in the summer, and so does the flower called στρούθιον, which is a very pretty flower to the eye, but destitute of scent." Galene of Smyrna also speaks of the same flower, under the name of στρύθιον.

There is also the πόθος. There is a certain kind of garland with this name, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us in his treatise on Words. And this, too, perhaps is so named as being made of the flower called πόθος, which the same Theophrastus mentions in the sixth book of his Natural History, where he writes thus—"There are other flowers which bloom chiefly in the summer,—the lychnis, the flower of Jove, the lily, the iphyum, the Phrygian amaracus, and also the plant called pothus, of which there are two kinds, one bearing a flower like the hyacinth, but the other produces a colourless blossom nearly white, which men use to strew on tombs.

Eubulus also gives a list of other names of garlands—

And then in the subsequent lines he says—

25. There is the philyrinus also. Xenarchus, in his Soldier, says—

Some garlands also are called ἑλικτοὶ, as they are even to this day among the Alexandrians. And Chæremon the tragic poet mentions them in his Bacchus, saying—

But concerning the evergreen garlands in Egypt, Hellanicus, in his History of Egypt, writes as follows—"There is a city on the banks of the river, named Tindium. This is a place where many gods are assembled, and in the middle of the city there is a sacred temple of great size made of marble, and the doors are marble. And within the temple there are white and black thorns, on which garlands were placed made of the flower of the acanthus, and also of the blossoms of the pomegranate, and of vine-leaves. And these keep green for ever. These garlands were placed by the gods themselves in Egypt when they heard that Babys was king, (and he is the same who is also called Typhon.)" But Demetrius, in his History of the Things to be seen in Egypt, says that these thorns grow about the city of Abydos, and he writes thus—"But the lower district has a tree called the thorn, which bears a round fruit on some round-shaped branches. And this tree blooms at a certain season; and the flower is very beautiful and brilliant in colour. And there is a story told by the Egyptians, that the Æthiopians who had been sent as allies to Troy by Tithonus, when they heard that Memnon was slain, threw down on the spot all their garlands on the thorns. And the branches themselves on which the flower grows resemble garlands." And the before-mentioned Hellanicus mentions also that Amasis, who was king of Egypt, was originally a private individual of the class of the common people; and that it was owing to the present of a garland, which he made of the most beautiful flowers that were in season, and sent to Patarmis, who was king of Egypt, at the time when he was celebrating the festival of his birthday, that he afterwards became king himself. For Patarmis, being delighted at the beauty of the garland, invited Amasis to supper, and after this treated him as one of his friends; and on one occasion sent him out as his general, when the Egyptians were making war upon him. And he was made king by these Egyptians out of their hatred to Patarmis.

26. There are also garlands called συνθηματιαῖοι, which people make and furnish by contract. Aristophanes, in his Thesmophoriazusæ, says—

We find also the word χορωνόν. Apion, in his treatise on the Roman Dialect, says that formerly a garland was called χορωνόν, from the fact of the members of the chorus in the theatres using it; and that they wore garlands and contended for garlands. And one may see this name given to garlands in the Epigrams of Simonides—

GARLANDS.

There are ἀκίνιοι too. There are some garlands made of the basil thyme (ἄκινος) which are called by this name, as we are told by Andron the physician, whose words are quoted by Parthenius the pupil of Dionysius, in the first book of his treatise on the Words which occur in the Historians.

27. Now Theophrastus gives the following list of flowers as suitable to be made into garlands—"The violet, the flower of Jupiter, the iphyum, the wallflower, the hemerocalles, or yellow lily. But he says the earliest blooming flower is the white violet; and about the same time that which is called the wild wallflower appears, and after them the narcissus and the lily; and of mountain flowers, that kind of anemone which is called the mountain anemone, and the head of the bulb-plant. For some people twine these flowers into garlands. And next to these there comes the œnanthe and the purple violet. And of wild flowers, there are the helichryse, and that species of anemone called the meadow anemone, and the gladiolus, and the hyacinth. But the rose is the latest blooming flower of all; and it is the latest to appear and the first to go off. But the chief summer flowers are the lychnis, and the flower of Jupiter, and the lily, and the iphyum, and the Phrygian amaracus, and also the flower called the pothus." And in his ninth book the same Theophrastus says, if any one wears a garland made of the flower of the helichryse, he is praised if he sprinkle it with ointment. And Alcman mentions it in these lines—

And Ibycus says—

And Cratinus, in his Effeminate People, says—

But the helichryse is a flower like the lotus. And Themistagoras the Ephesian, in his book entitled The Golden Book, says that the flower derives its name from the nymph who first picked it, who was called Helichrysa. There are also, says Theophrastus, such flowers as purple lilies. But Philinus says that the lily, which he calls κρίνον, is by some people called λείριον, and by others ἴον. The Corinthians also call this flower ambrosia, as Nicander says in his Dictionary. And Diocles, in his treatise on Deadly Poisons, says—"The amaracus, which some people call the sampsychus."

28. Cratinus also speaks of the hyacinth by the name of κοσμοσάνδαλον in his Effeminate People, where he says—

And Clearchus, in the second book of his Lives, says—"You may remark the Lacedæmonians who, having invented garlands of cosmosandalum, trampled under foot the most ancient system of polity in the world, and utterly ruined themselves; on which account Antiphanes the comic poet very cleverly says of them, in his Harp-player—

And Hicesius, in the second book of his treatise on Matter, says—"The white violet is of moderately astringent properties, and has a most delicious fragrance, and is very delightful, but only for a short time; and the purple violet is of the same appearance, but it is far more fragrant." And Apollodorus, in his treatise on Beasts, says—"There is the chamæpitys, or ground pine, which some call olocyrum, but the Athenians call it Ionia, and the Eubœans sideritis." And Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, (the words themselves I will quote hereafter, when I thoroughly discuss all the flowers fit for making into garlands,) says—"The violet (ἴον) was originally given by some Ionian nymphs to Ion."

GARLANDS.

And in the sixth book of his History of Plants, Theophrastus says that the narcissus is also called λείριον; but in a subsequent passage he speaks of the narcissus and λείριον as different plants. And Eumachus the Corcyrean, in his treatise on Cutting Roots, says that the narcissus is also called acacallis, and likewise crotalum. But the flower called hemerocalles, or day-beauty, which fades at night but blooms at sunrise, is mentioned by Cratinus in his Effeminate People, where he says—

Concerning the ground thyme, Theophrastus says—"The people gather the wild ground thyme on the mountains and plant it around Sicyon, and the Athenians gather it on Hymettus; and other nations too have mountains full of this flower, as the Thracians for instance." But Philinus says that it is called zygis. And Amerias the Macedonian, speaking of the lychnis in his treatise on Cutting up Roots, says that "it sprang from the baths of Venus, when Venus bathed after having been sleeping with Vulcan. And it is found in the greatest perfection in Cyprus and Lemnos, and also in Stromboli and near mount Eryx, and at Cythera."

"But the iris," says Theophrastus, "blooms in the summer, and is the only one of all the European flowers which has a sweet scent. And it is in the highest beauty in those parts of Illyricum which are at a distance from the sea." But Philinus says that the flowers of the iris are called λύκοι, because they resemble the lips of the wolf (λύκος). And Nicolaus of Damascus, in the hundred and eighth book of his History, says that there is a lake near the Alps, many stadia in circumference, round which there grow every year the most fragrant and beautiful flowers, like those which are called calchæ. Alcman also mentions the calchæ in these lines:—

And Epicharmus, too, speaks of them in his Rustic.

29. Of roses, says Theophrastus in his sixth book, there are many varieties. For most of them consist only of five leaves, but some have twelve leaves; and some, near Philippi, have even as many as a hundred leaves. For men take up the plants from Mount Pangæum, (and they are very numerous there,) and plant them near the city. And the inner petals are very small; for the fashion in which the flowers put out their petals is, that some form the outer rows and some the inner ones: but they have not much smell, nor are they of any great size. And those with only five leaves are the most fragrant, and their lower parts are very thorny. But the most fragrant roses are in Cyrene: on which account the perfumes made there are the sweetest. And in this country, too, the perfume of the violets, and of all other flowers, is most pure and heavenly; and above all, the fragrance of the crocus is most delicious in those parts." And Timachidas, in his Banquets, says that the Arcadians call the rose εὐόμφαλον, meaning εὔοσμον, or fragrant. And Apollodorus, in the fourth book of his History of Parthia, speaks of a flower called philadelphum, as growing in the country of the Parthians, and describes it thus:—"And there are many kinds of myrtle,—the milax, and that which is called the philadelphum, which has received a name corresponding to its natural character; for when branches, which are at a distance from one another, meet together of their own accord, they cohere with a vigorous embrace, and become united as if they came from one root, and then growing on, they produce fresh shoots: on which account they often make hedges of them in well-cultivated farms; for they take the thinnest of the shoots, and plait them in a net-like manner, and plant them all round their gardens, and then these plants, when plaited together all round, make a fence which it is difficult to pass through."

30. The author, too, of the Cyprian Poems gives lists of the flowers which are suitable to be made into garlands, whether he was Hegesias, or Stasinus, or any one else; for Demodamas, who was either a Halicarnassian or Milesian, in his History of Halicarnassus, says that the Cyprian Poems were the work of a citizen of Halicarnassus: however, the author, whoever he was, in his eleventh book, speaks thus:—

GARLANDS.

And this poet appears also to have been acquainted with the use of garlands, when he says—

31. Nicander also, in the second book of his Georgics, gives a regular list of the flowers suitable to be made into garlands, and speaks as follows concerning the Ionian nymphs and concerning roses:—

(but by the word θρῖα he does not here mean the leaves of fig-trees, but of the poppy).

GARLANDS.

(But for ἐφελκόμεναι χροιῇσιν some copies have ἐφελκόμεναι φιλοχροιαῖς).

32. From these lines it is plain that the chelidonium is a different flower from the anemone (for some people have called them the same). But Theophrastus says that there are some plants, the flowers of which constantly follow the stars, such as the one called the heliotrope, and the chelidonium; and this last plant is named so from its coming into bloom at the same time as the swallows arrive. There is also a flower spoken of under the name of ambrosia by Carystius, in his Historical Commentaries, where he says—"Nicander says that the plant named ambrosia grows at Cos, on the head of the statue of Alexander." But I have already spoken of it, and mentioned that some people give this name to the lily. And Timachidas, in the fourth book of his Banquet, speaks also of a flower called theseum,—

And he says that the garland of Ariadne was made of this flower.

Pherecrates also, or whoever the poet was who wrote the play of the Persians, mentions some flowers as fit for garlands, and says—

And the author of the Miners, whoever he was, (and that poem is attributed to the same Pherecrates,) says—

But here I want to know what this trefoil is; for there is a poem attributed to Demarete, which is called The Trefoil. And also, in the poem which is entitled The Good Men, Pherecrates or Strattis, whichever is the author, says—

And he speaks of thyme, and of cosmosandalum. And Cratinus, in his Effeminate Persons, says—

33. Formerly the entrance of garlands and perfumes into the banqueting rooms, used to herald the approach of the second course, as we may learn from Nicostratus in his Pseudostigmatias, where, in the following lines, he says—

GARLANDS.

But Philoxenus the Dithyrambic poet, in his poem entitled The Banquet, represents the garland as entering into the commencement of the banquet, using the following language:

And Eubulus, in his Nurses, says—

And this was the fashion also among the Egyptians, as Nicostratus says in his Usurer; for, representing the usurer as an Egyptian, he says—

But you may go on gorging yourself, O Cynulcus; and when you have done, tell us why Cratinus has called the melilotus "the ever-watching melilotus." However, as I see you are already a little tipsy (ἔξοινον)—for that is the word Alexis has used for a man thoroughly drunk (μεθύσην), in his Settler—I won't go on teasing you; but I will bid the slaves, as Sophocles says in his Fellow Feasters,

And there is a man of the same kind mentioned by Aristias of Phlius; for he, too, in his play entitled The Fates, says—

However, as he gives no answer whatever to all these things which have been said, I order him (as it is said in the Twins of Alexis) to be carried out of the party, crowned with χύδαιοι garlands. But the comic poet, alluding to χύδαιοι garlands, says—

But, after this, I will not carry on this conversation any further to-day; but will leave the discussion about perfumes to those who choose to continue it: and only desire the boy, on account of this lecture of mine about garlands, as Antiphanes....

for then I shall wind up my speech like the conclusion of a play.

And not many days after this, as if he had been prophesying a silence for himself [which should be eternal], he died, happily, without suffering under any long illness, to the great affliction of us his companions.

DYES.

34. And while the slaves were bringing round perfumes in alabaster boxes, and in other vessels made of gold, some one, seeing Cynulcus, anointed his face with a great deal of ointment. But he, being awakened by it, when he recollected himself, said;—What is this? O Hercules, will not some one come with a sponge and wipe my face, which is thus polluted with a lot of dirt? And do not you all know that that exquisite writer Xenophon, in his Banquet, represents Socrates as speaking thus:—"'By Jupiter! O Callias, you entertain us superbly; for you have not only given us a most faultless feast, but you have furnished us also with delicious food for our eyes and ears.'—'Well, then,' said he, 'suppose any one were to bring us perfumes, in order that we might also banquet on sweet smells?'—'By no means,' said Socrates; 'for as there is one sort of dress fit for women and another for men, so there is one kind of smell fit for women and another for men. And no man is ever anointed with perfume for the sake of men; and as to women, especially when they are brides,—as, for instance, the bride of this Niceratus here, and the bride of Critobulus,—how can they want perfumes in their husbands, when they themselves are redolent of it? But the smell of the oil in the gymnasia, when it is present, is sweeter than perfume to women; and when it is absent, they long more for it. For if a slave and a freeman be anointed with perfume, they both smell alike in a moment; but those smells which are derived from free labours, require both virtuous habits and a good deal of time if they are to be agreeable and in character with a freeman.'" And that admirable writer Chrysippus says that perfumes (μύρα) derive their name from being prepared with great toil (μόρος) and useless labour. The Lacedæmonians even expel from Sparta those who make perfumes, as being wasters of oil; and those who dye wool, as being destroyers of the whiteness of the wool. And Solon the philosopher, in his laws, forbade men to be sellers of perfumes.

35. "But now, not only scents," as Clearchus says in the third book of his Lives, "but also dyes, being full of luxury, tend to make those men effeminate who have anything to do with them. And do you think that effeminacy without virtue has anything desirable in it? But even Sappho, a thorough woman, and a poetess into the bargain, was ashamed to separate honour from elegance; and speaks thus—

making it evident to everybody that the desire of life that she confessed had respectability and honour in it; and these things especially belong to virtue. But Parrhasius the painter, although he was a man beyond all measure arrogant about his art, and though he got the credit of a liberal profession by some mere pencils and pallets, still in words set up a claim to virtue, and put this inscription on all his works that are at Lindus:—

And a wit being indignant at this, because, I suppose, he seemed to be a disgrace to the delicacy and beauty of virtue, having perverted the gifts which fortune had bestowed upon him to luxury, proposed to change the inscription into ῥαβδοδίαιτος ἀνήρ: Still, said he, the man must be endured, since he says that he honours virtue." These are the words of Clearchus. But Sophocles the poet, in his play called The Judgment, represents Venus, being a sort of Goddess of Pleasure, as anointed with perfumes, and looking in a glass; but Minerva, as being a sort of Goddess of Intellect and Mind, and also of Virtue, as using oil and gymnastic exercises.

36. In reply to this, Masurius said;—But, my most excellent friend, are you not aware that it is in our brain that our senses are soothed, and indeed reinvigorated, by sweet smells? as Alexis says in his Wicked Woman, where he speaks thus—

And that most valiant, and indeed warlike poet, Alcæus, says—

And the wise Anacreon says somewhere—

for he recommends anointing the breast with unguent, as being the seat of the heart, and considering it an admitted point that that is soothed with fragrant smells. And the ancients used to act thus, not only because scents do of their own nature ascend upwards from the breast to the seat of smelling, but also because they thought that the soul had its abode in the heart; as Praxagoras, and Philotimus the physician taught; and Homer, too, says—

And again he says—

And in the Iliad he says—

And this they consider a proof that the most important portion of the soul is situated in the heart; for it is as evident as possible that the heart quivers when under the agitation of fear. And Agamemnon, in Homer, says—

And Sophocles has represented women released from fear as saying—

But Anaxandrides makes a man who is struggling with fear say—

PERFUMES.

And Plato says, "that the great Architect of the universe has placed the lungs close to the heart, by nature soft and destitute of blood, and having cavities penetrable like sponge, that so the heart, when it quivers, from fear of adversity or disaster, may vibrate against a soft and yielding substance." But the garlands with which men bind their bosoms are called ὑποθυμιάδες by the poets, from the exhalations (ἀναθυμίασις) of the flowers, and not because the soul (ψυχὴ) is called θυμὸς, as some people think.

37. Archilochus is the earliest author who uses the word μύρον (perfume), where he says—

And in another place he says—

And the word μύρον is derived from μύῤῥα, which is the Æolic form of σμύρνα (myrrh); for the greater portion of unguents are made up with myrrh, and that which is called στακτὴ is wholly composed of it. Not but what Homer was acquainted with the fashion of using unguents and perfumes, but he calls them ἔλαια, with the addition of some distinctive epithet, as—

And in another place he speaks of an oil as perfumed[134] (τεθυωμένον). And in his poems also, Venus anoints the dead body of Hector with ambrosial rosy oil; and this is made of flowers. But with respect to that which is made of spices, which they called θυώματα, he says, speaking of Juno,—

38. But the choicest unguents are made in particular places, as Apollonius of Herophila says in his treatise on Perfumes, where he writes—"The iris is best in Elis, and at Cyzicus; the perfume made from roses is most excellent at Phaselis, and that made at Naples and Capua is also very fine. That made from crocuses is in the highest perfection at Soli in Cilicia, and at Rhodes. The essence of spikenard is best at Tarsus; and the extract of vine-leaves is made best in Cyprus and at Adramyttium. The best perfume from marjoram and from apples comes from Cos. Egypt bears the palm for its essence of cypirus; and the next best is the Cyprian, and Phœnician, and after them comes the Sidonian. The perfume called Panathenaicum is made at Athens; and those called Metopian and Mendesian are prepared with the greatest skill in Egypt. But the Metopian is made of oil which is extracted from bitter almonds. Still, the superior excellence of each perfume is owing to the purveyors and the materials and the artists, and not to the place itself; for Ephesus formerly, as men say, had a high reputation for the excellence of its perfumes, and especially of its megallium, but now it has none. At one time, too, the unguents made in Alexandria were brought to high perfection, on account of the wealth of the city, and the attention that Arsinoe and Berenice paid to such matters; and the finest extract of roses in the world was made at Cyrene while the great Berenice was alive. Again, in ancient times, the extract of vine-leaves made at Adramyttium was but poor; but afterwards it became first-rate, owing to Stratonice, the wife of Eumenes. Formerly, too, Syria used to make every sort of unguent admirably, especially that extracted from fenugreek; but the case is quite altered now. And long ago there used to be a most delicious unguent extracted from frankincense at Pergamus, owing to the invention of a certain perfumer of that city, for no one else had ever made it before him; but now none is made there.

"Now, when a valuable unguent is poured on the top of one that is inferior, it remains on the surface; but when good honey is poured on the top of that which is inferior, it works its way to the bottom, for it compels that which is worse to rise above it."

39. Achæus mentions Egyptian perfumes in his Prizes; and says—

"And perhaps," says Didymus, "he means in this passage that which is called στακτὴ, on account of the myrrh which is brought to Egypt, and from thence imported into Greece."

PERFUMES.

And Hicesius says, in the second book of his treatise on Matter,—"Of perfumes, some are rubbed on, and some are poured on. Now, the perfume made from roses is suitable for drinking parties, and so is that made from myrtles and from apples; and this last is good for the stomach, and useful for lethargic people. That made from vine-leaves is good for the stomach, and has also the effect of keeping the mind clear. Those extracted from sampsychum and ground thyme are also well suited to drinking parties; and so is that extract of crocus which is not mixed with any great quantity of myrrh. The στακτὴ, also, is well suited for drinking parties; and so is the spikenard: that made from fenugreek is sweet and tender; while that which comes from white violets is fragrant, and very good for the digestion."

Theophrastus, also, in his treatise on Scents, says, "that some perfumes are made of flowers; as, for instance, from roses, and white violets, and lilies, which last is called σούσινον. There are also those which are extracted from mint and ground thyme, and gopper, and the crocus; of which the best is procured in Ægina and Cilicia. Some, again, are made of leaves, as those made from myrrh and the œnanthe; and the wild vine grows in Cyprus, on the mountains, and is very plentiful; but no perfume is made of that which is found in Greece, because that has no scent. Some perfumes, again, are extracted from roots; as is that made from the iris, and from spikenard, and from marjoram, and from zedoary."

40. Now, that the ancients were very much addicted to the use of perfumes, is plain from their knowing to which of our limbs each unguent was most suitable. Accordingly, Antiphanes, in his Thoricians, or The Digger, says—

And Cephisodorus, in his Trophonius, says—

Anaxandrides, too, in his Protesilaus, says—

And Theopompus also mentions this perfumer, Peron, in his Admetus, and in the Hedychares. Antiphanes, too, says in his Antea—

41. Now, there is a sort of ointment called βάκκαρις by many of the comic poets; and Hipponax uses this name in the following line:—

And Achæus, in his Æthon, a satyric drama, says—

But Ion, in his Omphale, says—

And when he speaks of Sardian ornaments, he means to include perfumes; since the Lydians were very notorious for their luxury. And so Anacreon uses the word Λυδοπαθὴς (Lydian-like) as equivalent to ἡδυπαθὴς (luxurious). Sophocles also uses the word βάκκαρις; and Magnes, in his Lydians, says—

Perhaps, however, μύρον and βάκκαρις were not exactly the same thing; for Æschylus, in his Amymone, makes a distinction between them, and says—

And Simonides says—

And Aristophanes, in his Thesmophoriazusæ, says—

PERFUMES.

42. Pherecrates mentions an unguent, which he calls βρένθιον, in his Trifles, saying—

And Crates mentions what he calls royal unguent, in his Neighbours; speaking as follows:—

But Sappho mentions the royal and the brenthian unguent together, as if they were one and the same thing; saying—

Aristophanes speaks of an unguent which he calls ψάγδης, in his Daitaleis; saying—

And Eupolis, in his Marica, says—

Eubulus, in his Female Garland-seller's, says—

Polemo, in his writings addressed to Adæus, says that there is an unguent in use among the Eleans called plangonium, from having been invented by a man named Plangon. And Sosibius says the same in his Similitudes; adding, that the unguent called megallium is so named for a similar reason: for that that was invented by a Sicilian whose name was Megallus. But some say that Megallus was an Athenian: and Aristophanes mentions him in his Telmissians, and so does Pherecrates in his Petale; and Strattis, in his Medea, speaks thus:—

Amphis also, in his Ulysses, mentions the Megallian unguent in the following passage—

Anaxandrides, too, in his Tereus, says—

Menander speaks of an unguent made of spikenard, in his Cecryphalus, and says—

43. And anointing oneself with an unguent of this description, Alcæus calls μυρίσασθαι, in his Palæstræ, speaking thus—

But Aristophanes uses not μυρίσματα, but μυρώματα, in his Ecclesiazusæ, saying—

There was also an unguent called sagda, which is mentioned by Eupolis in his Coraliscus, where he writes—

And it is spoken of likewise by Aristophanes, in his Daitaleis; and Eupolis in his Marica says—

which expression Nicander of Thyatira understands to be meant as an attack upon a man who is too much devoted to luxury. But Theodoras says, that sagda is a species of spice used in fumigation.

44. Now a cotyla of unguent used to be sold for a high price at Athens, even, as Hipparchus says in his Nocturnal Festival, for as much as five minæ; but as Menander, in his Misogynist, states, for ten. And Antiphanes, in his Phrearrus, where he is speaking of the unguent called stacte, says—

Now the citizens of Sardis were not the only people addicted to the use of unguents, as Alexis says in his Maker of Goblets—

PERFUMES.

but the Athenians also, who have always been the leaders of every refinement and luxury in human life, used them very much; so that among them, as has been already mentioned, they used to fetch an enormous price; but, nevertheless, they did not abstain from the use of them on that account; just as we now do not deny ourselves scents which are so expensive and exquisite that those things are mere trifles which are spoken of in the Settler of Alexis—

45. Just think, in God's name, my friends, what luxury, or I should rather say, what profuse waste it was to have one's garments sprinkled in this manner, when a man might have taken up a little unguent in his hands, as we do now, and in that manner have anointed his whole body, and especially his head. For Myronides says, in his treatise on Unguents and Garlands, that "the fashion of anointing the head at banquets arose from this:—that those men whose heads are naturally dry, find the humours which are engendered by what they eat, rise up into their heads; and on this account, as their bodies are inflamed by fevers, they bedew their heads with lotions, so as to prevent the neighbouring humours from rising into a part which is dry, and which also has a considerable vacuum in it. And so at their banquets, having consideration for this fact, and being afraid of the strength of the wine rising into their heads, men have introduced the fashion of anointing their heads, and by these means the wine, they think, will have less effect upon them, if they make their head thoroughly wet first. And as men are never content with what is merely useful, but are always desirous to add to that whatever tends to pleasure and enjoyment; in that way they have been led to adopt the use of unguents."