The
Phaeacians
(first sidebar) lived on an island not far from Athens.
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome_nodrm
But is there any way to know for certain?
Further Information
Barnes, Timothy. The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine. Cambridge, MA, 1982. Corcoran, Simon. The Empire of the Tetrarchs: Imperial Pronouncements and Government.
Oxford, 2000.
Jones, A. H. M. The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative
Survey. Oxford, 1964. Websites
Edict of Diocletian. http://www. 1911encyclopedia. org/Edict_of_Diocletian
What Things Cost in Ancient Rome. http://www. constantinethegreatcoins. com/edict
Bibliography for Document
Lewis, Naphtali and Meyer Reinhold. Roman Civilization: Sourcebook II; The Empire. New York, 1955.
? ? 68
FOOD AND CLOTHING
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14. PLUTARCH AND FRIENDS TALK DIRTY (LAUNDRY)
INTRODUCTION
Plutarch's Moralia (Moral Essays), the source for the document, encompass a wide variety of subjects, including the kinds of issues that might be discussed at a dinner party.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. The scene: a dinner party in which three of the guests--Plutarch, Theon, and Themistocles--discuss the merits using freshwater instead of seawater for washing clothes.
2. Although the conversation ostensibly concerns laundry issues, notice that Plutarch also manages to incorporate into it a good deal of information about other topics.
3. Artistotle and Homer are generally considered the ultimate authorities on almost any topic, even something as mundane as the weekly washing, so it is not surprising to find that both of them are referenced in the document.
Document: Laundry Day in Ancient Greece
When we were being entertained at the house of Mestrius Florus, Theon the critic raised the question with Themistocles the Stoic why Chrysippus never gave an explanation for any of the strange and extraordinary things he frequently mentions: for example, "salted fish are fresher if wetted with brine"; "fleeces of wool yield less easily if one tears them apart violently than if one parts them gen- tly"; and "people who have fasted eat more deliberately than those who have taken food beforehand. " Themistocles answered that Chrysippus mentioned such things incidentally, by way of example, because we are easily and irrationally trapped by what appears likely, and contrariwise disbelieve what appears unlikely, and turning to Theon, he continued: "But what business have you, sir, to raise a question about these matters? For if you have become inquisitive and speculative in the matter of explanations . . . tell us for what reason Homer has made Nausicaa [see sidebar] do her washing in the river instead of the sea,
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Women doing their laundry. Greek, red-figured pelike (two-handled, free-standing jar), fifth century BCE. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
though the latter was nearby and quite likely was warmer, clearer, and more cleansing. "
"But," said Theon, "this problem you propose to us Aristotle long ago solved by considering the earthy matter in sea water. Much coarse, earthy matter is scat- tered in the sea; being mixed with the water, this matter is responsible for the saltness, and because of it, sea water also supports swimmers better and floats heavy objects, while fresh water lets them sink, since it is light and unsubstantial. For the latter is unmixed and pure, and so because of its light consistency, it soaks into cloth and, as it passes through, dissolves out stains more readily than sea water. Don't you think what Aristotle says is plausible? "
"Plausible," I said, "but not true. For I observe that people frequently thicken their water with ash, or soda, or, if these are not at hand, with a powdery solid. The earthy matter, it would seem, is more easily able by its roughness to wash out dirt, while the water alone because of its lightness and weakness does not do this [equally effectively]. It is not, therefore, the coarseness of sea water that prevents this action, nor is sea water a less efficient cleanser because of its acridness, for this quality cleans out and opens up the mesh of the cloth and sweeps away the dirt. But since everything oily is hard to wash and makes a stain, and the sea is oily, this would surely be the reason for its not cleaning efficiently.
That the sea is oily Aristotle himself has said. For salt water contains fat, so making lamps burn better. And sea water itself, when it is sprinkled into flames, flashes up with them. . .
What is more, the phenomenon can also be explained in another manner. Since cleansing is the aim of washing, and what dries quickest appears cleanest, the washing liquid must depart with the dirt . . . The sun easily evaporates fresh water because of its lightness, but salt water dries up with difficulty since its coarseness holds it in the mesh of the cloth. [Tr. Paul A. Clement. Plutarch's Moralia (626E- 627D). Volume VIII. LCL, 1969. Page numbers: 87, 89, 91, 93. ]
AFTERMATH
Plutarch was born in the little town of Chaeronea, in Greece, not far from Athens. It is known that he visited Rome at some point in his life, but eventually returned to his hometown, where he wrote most of his famous works, including Moral Essays. Toward the end of his life, he became involved in the civic life of Chaeronea, where he held various offices.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What are the main arguments for washing clothes in river water, not seawater? Are these arguments persuasive?
2. Aristotle's opinion was that freshwater, because of its "light consistency," soaks into clothing more effectively than saltwater and therefore dissolves stains better. Theon seems to agree, and he asks his friends whether they think Aristotle's view is plau- sible. What do you think?
3. Why does Plutarch believe that Aristotle's view is "plausible but not true"?
Plutarch and Friends Talk Dirty (Laundry)
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Chrysippus: Chrysippus was a third- century BCE Stoic philosopher. He was a very prolific author of books and treatises on Stoicism; his works were so widely circulated and read that, in philosophical circles, he became more well- known than virtually any of his Stoic predecessors.
Mestrius Florus: According to the translator of the document, Paul A. Clement, Florus was a "pro- minent Roman, consul under Vespasian [Roman emperor, reigned 69-79 CE] . . . close friend of Plutarch . . . participant in no less than ten of the Dinner Conversations . . . "
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? LAUNDRY DAY IN PHAEACIA
In Book 6 of the Odyssey, Homer describes a pleasant scene in which Nausicaa, daughter of the king of the Phaeacians, Alcinous, hauls a load of laundry--via mule cart--down to a river, to do the weekly washing. An odd task for a princess, perhaps, but she is accompanied by several servants who will assist her. Homer's description:
When now they came to the fair river's current, where the pools were always full--for in abundance clear water bubbles from beneath to cleanse the foulest stains--they turned the mules loose from the wagon . . . Then from the wagon, they took the clothing in their arms, carried it into the dark water, and stamped it in the pits . . . And after they had washed and cleansed it of all stains, they spread it carefully along the shore, just where the waves washed up the pebbles on the beach. Then bathing and anointing with oil, they presently took dinner on the river bank and waited for the clothes to dry in the sunshine. [Homer. The Odyssey 6; tr. Palmer. ]
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? GET THAT STAIN OUT!
In another one of his dinner conversation dialogues, Plutarch notes that olive oil stains are among the most stubbornly difficult to remove from clothing. He attributes this phenomenon to the high degree of liquidity present in olive oil.
? ? ? TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Plutarch states that Chrysippus the philosopher brought up the topics of "salted fish," "fleeces of wool," and "people who have fasted," but that he never explained why he mentioned those topics, other than to state that they were examples of how people often irrationally believe what appears likely or disbelieve that which does not. How would these examples prove his point?
e Canyoutellifanywhereinthedocument,Plutarchrecommendsanykind of additive--that is, laundry detergent--for use in washing clothes? Or is the consistency and composition of freshwater alone sufficient to launder clothes?
e Why do you suppose Plutarch--and Aristotle--claim that seawater is "oily"? What do you think they mean by this description?
e DoyouagreewithPlutarch'snotionthatsaltwaterisinferiortofreshwater for washing clothes, because "salt water dries up with difficulty since its coarseness holds it in the mesh of the cloth"?
Further Information
Barrow, Reginald Haynes. Plutarch: His Life, His Lives, and His Morals. Bloomington, IN, 1967.
Gianakaris, C. J. Plutarch. New York, 1970.
Pelling, Christopher. Plutarch and History: Eighteen Studies. London, 2002. Russell, D. A. Plutarch. London, 2010.
Website
Plutarch: Moralia. http://www. attalus. org/info/moralia. html Bibliography for Document
Clement, Paul A. (tr. ). Plutarch's Moralia. Volume VIII. [LCL. ] London and Cambridge. 1969.
Palmer, George Herbert (tr. ). The Odyssey: Homer. New York, 1962.
? 74
15. AFTER A LONG DAY OF MARCHING OR FIGHTING, WHAT DID THE HOMERIC HEROES EAT?
INTRODUCTION
Athenaeus's lengthy book on dinner conversations offers an account about the menu options for the Greek epic heroes who fought in the Trojan War, and also some of the foods men- tioned in the Odyssey.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Athenaeus's (fl. ca. 200 CE) Deipnosophistae (Sophists at Dinner) is a vast compen- dium of all kinds of information that one might reasonably expect to be discussed over the dinner table by knowledgeable and clever dinner guests. The work is di- vided into 15 books, all organized as dialogues; 14 guests are present, with the host, Athenaeus, bringing the total number of diners to 15. The translator of the docu- ment, Charles Gulick, aptly notes: "Greek conviviality was not incompatible with more or less sober discussions, and to make a banquet the scene and setting of philo- sophical discourse seemed natural. Plato's Symposium, Xenophon's Symposium, [and] Lucian's Symposium . . . testify to the popularity in ancient times . . . of this lit- erary form" [p. x].
2. The document is excerpted from Book 1 of Deipnosophistae.
3. Athenaeus frequently quotes short passages from both the Iliad and the Odyssey,
indicating the primacy of those works and also the high degree of familiarity with
them that Greek (and Roman) authors possessed.
4.
The Phaeacians (first sidebar) lived on an island not far from Athens. Odysseus was
shipwrecked there, on his voyage home from Troy, after the Trojan War. The Phaeacians received him hospitably, and, after a sumptuous banquet, he told them of his many adventures during the voyage. Books Nine through Twelve of Homer's Odyssey are comprised of this recitation.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: Menu Options Described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
The heroes had vegetables . . . served to them at meals. That they are acquainted with the growing of vegetables is clear from the words "beside the farthest line of trimly planted garden beds" [Odyssey 7. 127]. Moreover, they ate onions, too, though they are full of unhealthy juices: "thereto an onion, as relish to the drink" [Iliad 11. 630]. Homer also portrays them as devoted to the culture of fruit trees: "For pear on pear waxes old, fig on fig" [Odyssey 7. 114. ]. Hence he bestows the epithet "beauti- ful" on fruit-bearing trees: "Beautiful trees grow there-- pears, pomegranates, and apples. " [Odyssey 7. 120] . . . The use of these fruit trees was older even than the Trojan war. Tantalus, for example, is not released from his hunger for them even after he is dead, seeing that the god who metes out punishment to him dangles fruit of this kind before him . . . yet prevents him from enjoying them at the moment when he comes near to realizing his hopes. Odysseus, too, reminds [his father] Laertes of what he had given him in his boyhood, "Pear trees thou gavest to me, thirteen," etc. [Odyssey 24. 340].
That they also ate fish is disclosed by Sarpedon [a leader of the Trojan army], when he compares captivity to the catch of a great [fishing net]. And Eubulus [an early comic playwright], with comic wit, says jokingly: "Where has Homer ever spoken of any Achaean [i. e. , Greek] eating fish? " And flesh, too, they only roasted, for he represents nobody as boiling it . . . Nor did the heroes allow the air to be free to the birds, for they set [traps] and nets to catch thrushes and doves. They also trained for bird-shooting . . . But the poet is silent about the eating of vegetables, fish, and birds because that is a mark of greed, and also because it would be unseemly for the heroes to spend time in preparing them for the table, since he judges it beneath the level of heroic and godlike deeds. But that they did use boiled flesh he makes clear when he says: "Even as a cauldron boileth . . . melting the lard of some fatted hog. " [Iliad 21. 362]. Then, too, the ox foot which was hurled at Odysseus [Odyssey 20. 299] is a proof of the boiling, for nobody ever roasts the foot of an ox. Again, the line [Odyssey 1. 141] "he [a servant] took and placed besides them [the suitors who had invaded Odysseus's palace in his absence] platters of all sorts of meat" shows not merely the variety of meats, such as fowl, pork, kid, and beef, but also that their preparation was varied, not uniform, but attended with ingenious skill. [Tr. Charles Burton Gulick. Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists (1. 24-25). Volume I. LCL, 1927. Page numbers: 109, 111. ]
AFTERMATH
Following the descriptions and anecdotes that appear in the first book of the Deipnosophistae, Athenaeus goes on to expound upon many other dining and food-related topics, including
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? fig on fig: See the sidebar, below. Tantalus: The famous mythological figure who, because of a trick that he played on the gods, was con- demned to stand eternally in a pool of water, with the branches of a fruit tree nearby. Each time he bent over to take a drink, the water receded just beyond his mouth, and each time he reached to grab a piece of fruit, a gentle breeze arose, and blew
the branch just out of his reach. etc. : The rest of the passage reads thus: "ten apple [trees], forty figs. And here you marked off fifty rows of vines to give, each one in bearing order. "
[tr. Palmer. ]
? ? ? ? ? 76
After a Long Day of Marching or Fighting, What Did the Homeric Heroes Eat?
? ? ? ? PHAEACIAN BOUNTY
On his long journey home after the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus was shipwrecked for a time on the island of the Phaeacians (not far from the Greek mainland); the Phaeacians received him hospitably. Homer describes in great detail the wide variety of foods cultivated by the Phaeacians, on four acres of ground:
Here grow tall thrifty trees--pears, pomegranates, apples with shining fruit, sweet figs, and thrifty olives. On them fruit never fails; it is not gone in winter or summer, but lasts throughout the year . . . Pear ripens upon pear, apple on apple, cluster on cluster, fig on fig. Here too the teeming vineyard has been planted . . . heating in the sun; elsewhere, men gather grapes, and elsewhere still, they tread them . . . Nearby, two fountains rise, one scattering its streams throughout the garden, one bounding by another course beneath the court-yard gate toward the high house. From this the townsfolk draw their water. [Homer. The Odyssey 7; tr. Palmer. ]
? ? characteristics of various kinds of seafood; the merits of lentils and lentil soup; the use of sil- ver utensils at dinner parties; the best kinds of fish for eating; the themes and scenes embossed onto drinking cups.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What kinds of foods does Athenaeus report that the Greeks ate during the time of the Trojan War and shortly after? For the most part, does this seem like a healthy range of foods?
2. In the second sidebar, the humorous story is told of the man who gargled with hot water to acclimatize his throat to hot liquids, so that he could eat up all the hot food at a party, before anyone else had a chance to partake of it. What do you think of this story? Would it really be possible to "toughen" one's throat in this way?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e WhydoyousupposeHomerapparentlycharacterizedtheeatingofvegeta- bles, fish, and birds as a "mark of greed"?
e Inthe"KeepinMindasYouRead"section,itwasnotedthatthetranslator of the document, Charles Gulick, suggested that Athenaeus's elaborate story of a dinner party followed in the tradition of similar accounts by Plato, Xenophon, and Lucian. Find out the kinds of stories and topics that
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? SOME LIKE IT VERY HOT!
One of the diners at the banquet described by Athenaeus relates the following amusing anecdote: "I remember a certain gourmand, who was so far lost to all feelings of shame before his companions . . . that in the public baths, he accustomed his hand to heat by plunging it into hot water, and gargled his throat with hot water that he might not shrink from hot food. For they used to say that he had actually won the cooks over to serving the dishes very hot, his object being to eat up everything alone, since nobody was able to follow his example. " [Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists 1. 5; tr. Gulick. ]
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
78
those authors included in their accounts. What similarities and/or differ- ences do you notice between what they wrote and what Athenaeus wrote?
Further Information
Braund, David and John Wilkins. Athenaeus and His World: Reading Greek Culture in the Roman Empire. Exeter, UK, 2000.
Dalby, A. Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece. London, 1996. Wilkins, John, D. Harvey, and M. Dobson. Food in Antiquity. Exeter, UK, 1995.
Website
The Deipnosophists, or, Banquet of the Learned, of Athenaeus. http://digicoll. library. wisc . edu/Literature/subcollections/DeipnoSubAbout. html
Bibliography for Document
Gulick, Charles Burton (tr. ). Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists. Volume I. [LCL. ] London and New York, 1927.
Palmer, George Herbert (tr. ). The Odyssey. Homer. New York, 1962.
16. SPINNING THREAD AND MAKING CLOTHING
INTRODUCTION
The natural scientist Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) provides us with information about wool making and a brief history of fabric making and clothing.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. The Romans used silk and cotton as materials for making clothes, but wool was apparently the most commonly used fabric.
2. Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 BCE), from whom Pliny derives a good deal of his information on these topics, wrote a noted--and still-surviving--treatise on agri- culture, and hence he is regarded as an authority on sheep and other livestock.
3. Pliny the Elder's massive treatise on natural history was a gigantic undertaking: he consulted some 2,000 works, produced by 473 different authors, from whom he derived over 20,000 facts. Every conceivable subject, from astronomy to topogra- phy, to botany, to gems and metals, to plants, birds, and animals--and many more topics--found its way into his writing. So it is perhaps not surprising that he included information on cloth making and clothing production.
Document: Pliny the Elder's Account
of Making Clothing
Marcus Varro informs us . . . that the wool on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil . . . was still preserved in the temple of Sancus; and also in the shrine of Fortune a pleated royal robe made by her, which had been worn by Servius Tullius [her son-in-law]. Hence arose the practice that maidens at their marriage were accompanied by a decorated distaff and a spindle with thread. Tanaquil first wove a straight tunic of the kind that novices wear with the plain white toga, and newly married brides. The pleated robe was the first among those most in favor; consequently the spotted robe went out of fashion. Fenestella writes that togas
? ? ? ? ? 79
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
of smooth cloth and of Phryxian wool began in the lat- est times of the [divine emperor] Augustus. Togas of closely woven poppy-cloth have an older source, being noticed as far back as the [second-century BCE] poet Lucilius . . . Bordered robes found their origin with the Etruscans. I find it recorded that striped robes were worn by kings, and they had embroidered robes as far back as Homer, these being the origin of those worn in triumphs. Embroidering with the needle was discovered by the Phrygians [that is, the Trojans], and conse- quently, embroidered robes are called Phrygian. Gold embroidery was also invented in Asia, by King Attalus, from whom Attalic robes got their name. Weaving dif- ferent colors into a pattern was chiefly brought into vogue by Babylon, which gave its name to this process.
Further Information
Barnes, Timothy. The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine. Cambridge, MA, 1982. Corcoran, Simon. The Empire of the Tetrarchs: Imperial Pronouncements and Government.
Oxford, 2000.
Jones, A. H. M. The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative
Survey. Oxford, 1964. Websites
Edict of Diocletian. http://www. 1911encyclopedia. org/Edict_of_Diocletian
What Things Cost in Ancient Rome. http://www. constantinethegreatcoins. com/edict
Bibliography for Document
Lewis, Naphtali and Meyer Reinhold. Roman Civilization: Sourcebook II; The Empire. New York, 1955.
? ? 68
FOOD AND CLOTHING
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14. PLUTARCH AND FRIENDS TALK DIRTY (LAUNDRY)
INTRODUCTION
Plutarch's Moralia (Moral Essays), the source for the document, encompass a wide variety of subjects, including the kinds of issues that might be discussed at a dinner party.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. The scene: a dinner party in which three of the guests--Plutarch, Theon, and Themistocles--discuss the merits using freshwater instead of seawater for washing clothes.
2. Although the conversation ostensibly concerns laundry issues, notice that Plutarch also manages to incorporate into it a good deal of information about other topics.
3. Artistotle and Homer are generally considered the ultimate authorities on almost any topic, even something as mundane as the weekly washing, so it is not surprising to find that both of them are referenced in the document.
Document: Laundry Day in Ancient Greece
When we were being entertained at the house of Mestrius Florus, Theon the critic raised the question with Themistocles the Stoic why Chrysippus never gave an explanation for any of the strange and extraordinary things he frequently mentions: for example, "salted fish are fresher if wetted with brine"; "fleeces of wool yield less easily if one tears them apart violently than if one parts them gen- tly"; and "people who have fasted eat more deliberately than those who have taken food beforehand. " Themistocles answered that Chrysippus mentioned such things incidentally, by way of example, because we are easily and irrationally trapped by what appears likely, and contrariwise disbelieve what appears unlikely, and turning to Theon, he continued: "But what business have you, sir, to raise a question about these matters? For if you have become inquisitive and speculative in the matter of explanations . . . tell us for what reason Homer has made Nausicaa [see sidebar] do her washing in the river instead of the sea,
? ? ? ? ? 71
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? 72
Women doing their laundry. Greek, red-figured pelike (two-handled, free-standing jar), fifth century BCE. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
though the latter was nearby and quite likely was warmer, clearer, and more cleansing. "
"But," said Theon, "this problem you propose to us Aristotle long ago solved by considering the earthy matter in sea water. Much coarse, earthy matter is scat- tered in the sea; being mixed with the water, this matter is responsible for the saltness, and because of it, sea water also supports swimmers better and floats heavy objects, while fresh water lets them sink, since it is light and unsubstantial. For the latter is unmixed and pure, and so because of its light consistency, it soaks into cloth and, as it passes through, dissolves out stains more readily than sea water. Don't you think what Aristotle says is plausible? "
"Plausible," I said, "but not true. For I observe that people frequently thicken their water with ash, or soda, or, if these are not at hand, with a powdery solid. The earthy matter, it would seem, is more easily able by its roughness to wash out dirt, while the water alone because of its lightness and weakness does not do this [equally effectively]. It is not, therefore, the coarseness of sea water that prevents this action, nor is sea water a less efficient cleanser because of its acridness, for this quality cleans out and opens up the mesh of the cloth and sweeps away the dirt. But since everything oily is hard to wash and makes a stain, and the sea is oily, this would surely be the reason for its not cleaning efficiently.
That the sea is oily Aristotle himself has said. For salt water contains fat, so making lamps burn better. And sea water itself, when it is sprinkled into flames, flashes up with them. . .
What is more, the phenomenon can also be explained in another manner. Since cleansing is the aim of washing, and what dries quickest appears cleanest, the washing liquid must depart with the dirt . . . The sun easily evaporates fresh water because of its lightness, but salt water dries up with difficulty since its coarseness holds it in the mesh of the cloth. [Tr. Paul A. Clement. Plutarch's Moralia (626E- 627D). Volume VIII. LCL, 1969. Page numbers: 87, 89, 91, 93. ]
AFTERMATH
Plutarch was born in the little town of Chaeronea, in Greece, not far from Athens. It is known that he visited Rome at some point in his life, but eventually returned to his hometown, where he wrote most of his famous works, including Moral Essays. Toward the end of his life, he became involved in the civic life of Chaeronea, where he held various offices.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What are the main arguments for washing clothes in river water, not seawater? Are these arguments persuasive?
2. Aristotle's opinion was that freshwater, because of its "light consistency," soaks into clothing more effectively than saltwater and therefore dissolves stains better. Theon seems to agree, and he asks his friends whether they think Aristotle's view is plau- sible. What do you think?
3. Why does Plutarch believe that Aristotle's view is "plausible but not true"?
Plutarch and Friends Talk Dirty (Laundry)
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Chrysippus: Chrysippus was a third- century BCE Stoic philosopher. He was a very prolific author of books and treatises on Stoicism; his works were so widely circulated and read that, in philosophical circles, he became more well- known than virtually any of his Stoic predecessors.
Mestrius Florus: According to the translator of the document, Paul A. Clement, Florus was a "pro- minent Roman, consul under Vespasian [Roman emperor, reigned 69-79 CE] . . . close friend of Plutarch . . . participant in no less than ten of the Dinner Conversations . . . "
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? LAUNDRY DAY IN PHAEACIA
In Book 6 of the Odyssey, Homer describes a pleasant scene in which Nausicaa, daughter of the king of the Phaeacians, Alcinous, hauls a load of laundry--via mule cart--down to a river, to do the weekly washing. An odd task for a princess, perhaps, but she is accompanied by several servants who will assist her. Homer's description:
When now they came to the fair river's current, where the pools were always full--for in abundance clear water bubbles from beneath to cleanse the foulest stains--they turned the mules loose from the wagon . . . Then from the wagon, they took the clothing in their arms, carried it into the dark water, and stamped it in the pits . . . And after they had washed and cleansed it of all stains, they spread it carefully along the shore, just where the waves washed up the pebbles on the beach. Then bathing and anointing with oil, they presently took dinner on the river bank and waited for the clothes to dry in the sunshine. [Homer. The Odyssey 6; tr. Palmer. ]
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? GET THAT STAIN OUT!
In another one of his dinner conversation dialogues, Plutarch notes that olive oil stains are among the most stubbornly difficult to remove from clothing. He attributes this phenomenon to the high degree of liquidity present in olive oil.
? ? ? TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Plutarch states that Chrysippus the philosopher brought up the topics of "salted fish," "fleeces of wool," and "people who have fasted," but that he never explained why he mentioned those topics, other than to state that they were examples of how people often irrationally believe what appears likely or disbelieve that which does not. How would these examples prove his point?
e Canyoutellifanywhereinthedocument,Plutarchrecommendsanykind of additive--that is, laundry detergent--for use in washing clothes? Or is the consistency and composition of freshwater alone sufficient to launder clothes?
e Why do you suppose Plutarch--and Aristotle--claim that seawater is "oily"? What do you think they mean by this description?
e DoyouagreewithPlutarch'snotionthatsaltwaterisinferiortofreshwater for washing clothes, because "salt water dries up with difficulty since its coarseness holds it in the mesh of the cloth"?
Further Information
Barrow, Reginald Haynes. Plutarch: His Life, His Lives, and His Morals. Bloomington, IN, 1967.
Gianakaris, C. J. Plutarch. New York, 1970.
Pelling, Christopher. Plutarch and History: Eighteen Studies. London, 2002. Russell, D. A. Plutarch. London, 2010.
Website
Plutarch: Moralia. http://www. attalus. org/info/moralia. html Bibliography for Document
Clement, Paul A. (tr. ). Plutarch's Moralia. Volume VIII. [LCL. ] London and Cambridge. 1969.
Palmer, George Herbert (tr. ). The Odyssey: Homer. New York, 1962.
? 74
15. AFTER A LONG DAY OF MARCHING OR FIGHTING, WHAT DID THE HOMERIC HEROES EAT?
INTRODUCTION
Athenaeus's lengthy book on dinner conversations offers an account about the menu options for the Greek epic heroes who fought in the Trojan War, and also some of the foods men- tioned in the Odyssey.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Athenaeus's (fl. ca. 200 CE) Deipnosophistae (Sophists at Dinner) is a vast compen- dium of all kinds of information that one might reasonably expect to be discussed over the dinner table by knowledgeable and clever dinner guests. The work is di- vided into 15 books, all organized as dialogues; 14 guests are present, with the host, Athenaeus, bringing the total number of diners to 15. The translator of the docu- ment, Charles Gulick, aptly notes: "Greek conviviality was not incompatible with more or less sober discussions, and to make a banquet the scene and setting of philo- sophical discourse seemed natural. Plato's Symposium, Xenophon's Symposium, [and] Lucian's Symposium . . . testify to the popularity in ancient times . . . of this lit- erary form" [p. x].
2. The document is excerpted from Book 1 of Deipnosophistae.
3. Athenaeus frequently quotes short passages from both the Iliad and the Odyssey,
indicating the primacy of those works and also the high degree of familiarity with
them that Greek (and Roman) authors possessed.
4.
The Phaeacians (first sidebar) lived on an island not far from Athens. Odysseus was
shipwrecked there, on his voyage home from Troy, after the Trojan War. The Phaeacians received him hospitably, and, after a sumptuous banquet, he told them of his many adventures during the voyage. Books Nine through Twelve of Homer's Odyssey are comprised of this recitation.
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? Document: Menu Options Described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
The heroes had vegetables . . . served to them at meals. That they are acquainted with the growing of vegetables is clear from the words "beside the farthest line of trimly planted garden beds" [Odyssey 7. 127]. Moreover, they ate onions, too, though they are full of unhealthy juices: "thereto an onion, as relish to the drink" [Iliad 11. 630]. Homer also portrays them as devoted to the culture of fruit trees: "For pear on pear waxes old, fig on fig" [Odyssey 7. 114. ]. Hence he bestows the epithet "beauti- ful" on fruit-bearing trees: "Beautiful trees grow there-- pears, pomegranates, and apples. " [Odyssey 7. 120] . . . The use of these fruit trees was older even than the Trojan war. Tantalus, for example, is not released from his hunger for them even after he is dead, seeing that the god who metes out punishment to him dangles fruit of this kind before him . . . yet prevents him from enjoying them at the moment when he comes near to realizing his hopes. Odysseus, too, reminds [his father] Laertes of what he had given him in his boyhood, "Pear trees thou gavest to me, thirteen," etc. [Odyssey 24. 340].
That they also ate fish is disclosed by Sarpedon [a leader of the Trojan army], when he compares captivity to the catch of a great [fishing net]. And Eubulus [an early comic playwright], with comic wit, says jokingly: "Where has Homer ever spoken of any Achaean [i. e. , Greek] eating fish? " And flesh, too, they only roasted, for he represents nobody as boiling it . . . Nor did the heroes allow the air to be free to the birds, for they set [traps] and nets to catch thrushes and doves. They also trained for bird-shooting . . . But the poet is silent about the eating of vegetables, fish, and birds because that is a mark of greed, and also because it would be unseemly for the heroes to spend time in preparing them for the table, since he judges it beneath the level of heroic and godlike deeds. But that they did use boiled flesh he makes clear when he says: "Even as a cauldron boileth . . . melting the lard of some fatted hog. " [Iliad 21. 362]. Then, too, the ox foot which was hurled at Odysseus [Odyssey 20. 299] is a proof of the boiling, for nobody ever roasts the foot of an ox. Again, the line [Odyssey 1. 141] "he [a servant] took and placed besides them [the suitors who had invaded Odysseus's palace in his absence] platters of all sorts of meat" shows not merely the variety of meats, such as fowl, pork, kid, and beef, but also that their preparation was varied, not uniform, but attended with ingenious skill. [Tr. Charles Burton Gulick. Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists (1. 24-25). Volume I. LCL, 1927. Page numbers: 109, 111. ]
AFTERMATH
Following the descriptions and anecdotes that appear in the first book of the Deipnosophistae, Athenaeus goes on to expound upon many other dining and food-related topics, including
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? fig on fig: See the sidebar, below. Tantalus: The famous mythological figure who, because of a trick that he played on the gods, was con- demned to stand eternally in a pool of water, with the branches of a fruit tree nearby. Each time he bent over to take a drink, the water receded just beyond his mouth, and each time he reached to grab a piece of fruit, a gentle breeze arose, and blew
the branch just out of his reach. etc. : The rest of the passage reads thus: "ten apple [trees], forty figs. And here you marked off fifty rows of vines to give, each one in bearing order. "
[tr. Palmer. ]
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After a Long Day of Marching or Fighting, What Did the Homeric Heroes Eat?
? ? ? ? PHAEACIAN BOUNTY
On his long journey home after the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus was shipwrecked for a time on the island of the Phaeacians (not far from the Greek mainland); the Phaeacians received him hospitably. Homer describes in great detail the wide variety of foods cultivated by the Phaeacians, on four acres of ground:
Here grow tall thrifty trees--pears, pomegranates, apples with shining fruit, sweet figs, and thrifty olives. On them fruit never fails; it is not gone in winter or summer, but lasts throughout the year . . . Pear ripens upon pear, apple on apple, cluster on cluster, fig on fig. Here too the teeming vineyard has been planted . . . heating in the sun; elsewhere, men gather grapes, and elsewhere still, they tread them . . . Nearby, two fountains rise, one scattering its streams throughout the garden, one bounding by another course beneath the court-yard gate toward the high house. From this the townsfolk draw their water. [Homer. The Odyssey 7; tr. Palmer. ]
? ? characteristics of various kinds of seafood; the merits of lentils and lentil soup; the use of sil- ver utensils at dinner parties; the best kinds of fish for eating; the themes and scenes embossed onto drinking cups.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What kinds of foods does Athenaeus report that the Greeks ate during the time of the Trojan War and shortly after? For the most part, does this seem like a healthy range of foods?
2. In the second sidebar, the humorous story is told of the man who gargled with hot water to acclimatize his throat to hot liquids, so that he could eat up all the hot food at a party, before anyone else had a chance to partake of it. What do you think of this story? Would it really be possible to "toughen" one's throat in this way?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e WhydoyousupposeHomerapparentlycharacterizedtheeatingofvegeta- bles, fish, and birds as a "mark of greed"?
e Inthe"KeepinMindasYouRead"section,itwasnotedthatthetranslator of the document, Charles Gulick, suggested that Athenaeus's elaborate story of a dinner party followed in the tradition of similar accounts by Plato, Xenophon, and Lucian. Find out the kinds of stories and topics that
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? SOME LIKE IT VERY HOT!
One of the diners at the banquet described by Athenaeus relates the following amusing anecdote: "I remember a certain gourmand, who was so far lost to all feelings of shame before his companions . . . that in the public baths, he accustomed his hand to heat by plunging it into hot water, and gargled his throat with hot water that he might not shrink from hot food. For they used to say that he had actually won the cooks over to serving the dishes very hot, his object being to eat up everything alone, since nobody was able to follow his example. " [Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists 1. 5; tr. Gulick. ]
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those authors included in their accounts. What similarities and/or differ- ences do you notice between what they wrote and what Athenaeus wrote?
Further Information
Braund, David and John Wilkins. Athenaeus and His World: Reading Greek Culture in the Roman Empire. Exeter, UK, 2000.
Dalby, A. Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece. London, 1996. Wilkins, John, D. Harvey, and M. Dobson. Food in Antiquity. Exeter, UK, 1995.
Website
The Deipnosophists, or, Banquet of the Learned, of Athenaeus. http://digicoll. library. wisc . edu/Literature/subcollections/DeipnoSubAbout. html
Bibliography for Document
Gulick, Charles Burton (tr. ). Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists. Volume I. [LCL. ] London and New York, 1927.
Palmer, George Herbert (tr. ). The Odyssey. Homer. New York, 1962.
16. SPINNING THREAD AND MAKING CLOTHING
INTRODUCTION
The natural scientist Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) provides us with information about wool making and a brief history of fabric making and clothing.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. The Romans used silk and cotton as materials for making clothes, but wool was apparently the most commonly used fabric.
2. Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 BCE), from whom Pliny derives a good deal of his information on these topics, wrote a noted--and still-surviving--treatise on agri- culture, and hence he is regarded as an authority on sheep and other livestock.
3. Pliny the Elder's massive treatise on natural history was a gigantic undertaking: he consulted some 2,000 works, produced by 473 different authors, from whom he derived over 20,000 facts. Every conceivable subject, from astronomy to topogra- phy, to botany, to gems and metals, to plants, birds, and animals--and many more topics--found its way into his writing. So it is perhaps not surprising that he included information on cloth making and clothing production.
Document: Pliny the Elder's Account
of Making Clothing
Marcus Varro informs us . . . that the wool on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil . . . was still preserved in the temple of Sancus; and also in the shrine of Fortune a pleated royal robe made by her, which had been worn by Servius Tullius [her son-in-law]. Hence arose the practice that maidens at their marriage were accompanied by a decorated distaff and a spindle with thread. Tanaquil first wove a straight tunic of the kind that novices wear with the plain white toga, and newly married brides. The pleated robe was the first among those most in favor; consequently the spotted robe went out of fashion. Fenestella writes that togas
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of smooth cloth and of Phryxian wool began in the lat- est times of the [divine emperor] Augustus. Togas of closely woven poppy-cloth have an older source, being noticed as far back as the [second-century BCE] poet Lucilius . . . Bordered robes found their origin with the Etruscans. I find it recorded that striped robes were worn by kings, and they had embroidered robes as far back as Homer, these being the origin of those worn in triumphs. Embroidering with the needle was discovered by the Phrygians [that is, the Trojans], and conse- quently, embroidered robes are called Phrygian. Gold embroidery was also invented in Asia, by King Attalus, from whom Attalic robes got their name. Weaving dif- ferent colors into a pattern was chiefly brought into vogue by Babylon, which gave its name to this process.
