No More Learning

Now Chamaeleon, in his essay on Stesichorus, says that not only the poems of Homer, but those also of Hesiodus and Archilochus, and also of Mimnermus and Phocylides, were often recited to the accompaniment of music; and Clearchus, in the first book of his treatise On Pictures, says- "Simonides of Zacynthus used to sit in the theatres on a lofty chair reciting the verses of Archilochus. " And Lysanias, in the first book of his treatise On Iambic Poets, says that Mnasion the rhapsodist used in his public recitations to deliver some of the Iambics of Simonides. And Cleomenes the rhapsodist, at the Olympic games, recited the Purification of Empedocles, as is asserted by Dicaearchus in his History of Olympia. And Jason, in the third book of his treatise On the Temples of Alexander, says that Hegesias, the comic actor, recited the works of Herodotus in the great theatre at Alexandria, and that Hermophantus recited the poems of Homer.

[13. ] G And the men called hilarodists (whom some people at the present day call simodists, as Aristocles tells us in his first book On Choruses, because Simus of Magnesia was the most celebrated of all the poets of joyous songs,) frequently come to our attention. And Aristocles also gives a regular list of performers in his treatise On Music, where he speaks in the following manner:- "The magodist- but he is the same as the lysiodist. " But Aristoxenus says that magodist is the name given to an actor who acts both male and female characters; but that he who acts a woman's part in male [costume] is called a lysiodist. And they both sing the same songs, and in other respects they are similar.

The ionicologus recites the poems of Sotades, and what before his time were called Ionic poems, such as those of Alexander the Aetolian, and Pyres the Milesian, and Alexas, and other poets of the same kind; and [this reciter] is also called cinaedologus. And Sotades of Maroneia was very notorious for this kind of poetry, as Carystius of Pergamum says in his essay on Sotades; and so was the son of Sotades, Apollonius. This latter also wrote an essay on his father's poetry, from which one may easily see the unbridled licence of language which Sotades allowed himself: abusing Lysimachus the king in Alexandria, and, when at the court ef Lysimachus, abusing Ptolemy Philadelphus, and in different cities speaking ill of different sovereigns; on which account, at last, he met with the punishment that he deserved. [621] # For he had said many bitter things against Ptolemy the king, and especially this, after he had heard that he had married his sister Arsinoe,-
He pierced forbidden fruit with deadly sting.
But when he had sailed from Alexandria (as Hegesander, in his Reminiscences, relates), and thought that he had escaped all danger, Patroclus, the general of Ptolemy, caught him in the island of Caunus. Patroclus shut him up in a leaden vessel, and carried him into the open sea and drowned him. And here is an example of Sotades' poetry: about Philenus, who was the father of Theodorus the flute-player, he wrote these lines:-
And he, opening the door which leads from the back-side,
Sent forth vain thunder from a leafy cave,
Such as a mighty ploughing ox might utter.

* * * * *

[29. ] G [630] But Aristoxenus says that the Pyrrhic dance derives its name from Pyrrhichus, who was a Lacedaemonian by birth; and that even to this day Pyrrhichus is a Lacedaemonian name. And the dance itself, being of a warlike character, shows that it is the invention of some Lacedaemonian; for the Lacedaemonians are a martial race, and their sons learn military marches which they call enoplia. And the Lacedaemonians themselves in their wars recite the poems of Tyrtaeus, and move in time to those tunes. But Philochorus [ Fr_216 ] asserts that the Lacedaemonians, when owing to the generalship of Tyrtaeus they had subdued the Messenians, introduced a regular custom in their expeditions, that whenever they were at supper, and had sung the paean, they should also sing one of Tyrtaeus's hymns as a solo, one after another; and that the polemarch should be the judge, and should give a piece of meat as a prize to him who sang best. [631] But the Pyrrhic dance is not preserved now among any other people of Greece; and at the same time that it has fallen into disuse, their wars also have been brought to a conclusion; but it continues in use among the Lacedaemonians alone, being a sort of prelude preparatory to war: and all who are more than five years old in Sparta learn to dance the Pyrrhic dance. But the Pyrrhic dance as it exists in our time, appears to be a sort of Dionysiac dance, and a little more pacific than the old one; for the dancers carry thyrsi instead of spears, and they point and dart canes at one another, and carry torches. And in their dances, they portray Dionysus and the Indians, and the story of Pentheus: and they require for the Pyrrhic dance the most beautiful melodies, and what are called the "stirring" tunes.

* * * * *

[37. ] G [635] But some people raise a question how, as the magadis did not exist in the time of Anacreon (for instruments with many strings were never seen till after his time), Anacreon can possibly mention it, as he does when he says-
I hold my magadis and sing,
Striking loud the twentieth string,
O Leucaspis.

But Poseidonius [ Fr_107 ] asserts that Anacreon mentions three kinds of melodies, the Phrygian, the Dorian, and the Lydian; for that these were the only melodies with which he was acquainted. And as every one of these is executed on seven strings, he says that it was very nearly correct of Anacreon to speak of twenty strings, as he only omits one for the sake of speaking in round numbers. But Poseidonius is ignorant that the magadis is an ancient instrument, though Pindarus says plainly enough that Terpander invented the barbitos to correspond to, and answer the pectis in use among the Lydians-
The sweet responsive lyre
Which long ago the Lesbian bard,
Terpander, did invent, sweet ornament
To the luxurious Lydian feasts, when he
Heard the high-toned pectis.

Now the pectis and the magadis are the same instrument, as Aristoxenus tells us, and Menaechmus the Sicyonian too, in his treatise On Artists. And this latter author says that Sappho, who is more ancient than Anacreon, was the first person to use the pectis. Now, that Terpander is more ancient than Anacreon, is evident from the following considerations:- Terpander was the first man who ever got the victory at the Carneian games, as Hellanicus tells us in his Victors at the Carneia, which he wrote in verse and in prose.

The first establishment of the Carneia took place in the twenty-sixth Olympiad [ 676-673 B. C. ], as Sosibius tells us in his essay On Dates. But Hieronymus, in his treatise On Harp-players, which is the subject of his fifth book On Poets, says that Terpander was a contemporary of Lycurgus the law-giver, who, it is agreed by all men, was, with Iphitus of Elis, the author of that establishment of the Olympic games from which the first Olympiad is reckoned [ 776 B. C. ]. But Euphorion, in his treatise On the Isthmian Games, says that the instruments with many strings are altered only in their names; but that the use of them is very ancient.

[38. ] G [636] However, Diogenes the tragic poet represents the pectis as differing from the magadis; for in his Semele he says-
And now I hear the turban-wearing women,
Votaries of the Asiatic Cybele,
The wealthy Phrygians' daughters, loudly sounding
With drums, and bull-roarers, and brazen-clashing
Cymbals, their hands each striking in concert,
Pour forth a wise and healing hymn to the gods.
Likewise the Lydian and the Bactrian maids
Who dwell beside the Halys, loudly worship
The Tmolian goddess Artemis, who loves
The laurel shade of the thick leafy grove,
Striking the clear three-cornered pectis, and
Raising responsive tunes upon the magadis,
While flutes in Persian manner neatly joined
Accompany the chorus.

And Phillis of Delos, in the second book of his treatise On Music, also asserts that the pectis is different from the magadis. And his words are these- "There are the phoenix, the pectis, the magadis, the sambuca, the iambyca, the triangles, the clepsiambus, the scindapsus, and the nine-string. " For, he says that "the lyre to which they sang iambics, they called the iambyca, and the instrument to which they sang them in such a manner as to vary the metre a little, they called the clepsiambus, while the magadis was an instrument uttering a sound an octave apart, and equally in tune for every portion of the singers. And besides these there were instruments of other kinds also; for there was the barbitos, or barmus, and many others, some with strings, and some with sounding-boards. "

[39. ] G There were also some instruments besides those which were blown into, and those which were used with different strings, which gave forth only sounds of a simple nature, such as the castanets (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), which are mentioned by Dicaearchus, in his essay On the Manners and Customs of Greece, where he says, that formerly certain instruments were in very frequent use, in order to accompany women while dancing and singing; and when any one touched these instruments with their fingers they uttered a shrill sound. And he says that this is plainly shown in the hymn to Artemis, which begins thus-
Artemis, now my mind will have me utter
A pleasing song in honour of your deity,
While this my comrade strikes with nimble hand
The well-gilt brazen-sounding castanets.

And Hermippus, in his play called The Gods, gives the word for rattling the castanets, ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , saying-
And beating down the limpets from the rocks,
They make a noise like castanets (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ).

But Didymus says, that some people, instead of the lyre, are in the habit of striking oyster-shells and cockle-shells against one another, and by these means contrive to play a tune in time to the dancers, as Aristophanes also intimates in his Frogs [ 1304 ].

[40. ] G But Artemon, in the first book of his treatise On the Dionysiac System, as he calls it, says that Timotheus the Milesian appears to many men to have used an instrument of more strings than were necessary, namely, the magadis, on which account he was chastised by the Lacedaemonians as having corrupted the ancient music. And when some one was going to cut away the superfluous strings from his lyre, he showed them a little statue of Apollo which they had, which held in its hand a lyre with an equal number of strings, and which was tuned in the same manner; and so he was acquitted. But Duris, in his treatise On Tragedy, says that the magadis was named after Magodis, who was a Thracian by birth. But Apollodorus, in his Reply to the Letter of Aristocles, says- "That which we now call psalterium is the same instrument which was formerly called magadis; but that which used to be called the clepsiambus, and the triangle, and the elymus, and the nine-string, have fallen into comparative disuse. " [637] And Alcman says-
And put away the magadis.

And Sophocles, in his Thamyras, says-
And well-compacted lyres and magadides,
And other highly-polished instruments,
From which the Greeks do make the sweetest sounds.

But Telestes, in his dithyrambic poem, called Hymenaeus, says that the magadis was an instrument with five strings, using the following expressions-
And each a different strain awakens,-
One struck the loud horn-sounded magadis,
And in the five-fold number of tight strings
Moved his hand to and fro most rapidly.

I am acquainted, too, with another instrument which the Thracian kings use in their banquets, as Nicomedes tells us in his essay on Orpheus. Now Ephorus, and Scamon in his treatise On Inventions, say that this instrument called the phoenix derives its name from having been invented by the Phoenicians. But Semus of Delos, in the first book of his History of Delos, says that it is so called because its ribs are made of the palm-tree (? ? ? ? ? ? ) which grows in Delos. The same writer, Semus, says that the first person who used the sambuca was Sibylla . . . the before-mentioned Scamon, and that the instrument derives its name from having been invented by a man named Sambyx.

[41. ] G And concerning the instrument called the tripod (this also is a musical instrument) the before-mentioned Artemon writes as follows- "And that is how it is that there are many instruments, as to which it is even uncertain whether they ever existed; as, for instance, the tripod of Pythagoras of Zacynthus. For as it was in fashion but a very short time, and as, either because the fingering of it appeared exceedingly difficult, or for some other reason, it was very soon disused, it has escaped the notice of most writers altogether. But the instrument was in form very like the Delphian tripod, and it derived its name from it; but it was used like a triple harp. For its feet stood on some pedestal which admitted of being easily turned round, just as the legs of movable chairs are made; and along the three intermediate spaces between the feet, strings were stretched; an arm being placed above each, and tuning-pegs, to which the strings were attached, below. And on the top there was the usual ornament of a basin, and of some other ornaments which were attached to it; all which gave it a very elegant appearance, and it emitted a very powerful sound. And Pythagoras assigned the three harmonies - the Dorian, the Lydian, and Phrygian - to the three spaces. And he himself sitting on a chair made on the same principles and after the same pattern, putting out his left hand so as to take hold of the instrument, and using the plectrum in his other hand, moved the pedestal with his foot very easily, so as to use whichever side of the instrument he chose to begin with; and then again turning to the other side he went on playing, and then he changed to the third side. And so rapidly did the easy movement of the pedestal, when touched by the foot, bring the various sides under his hand, and so very rapid was his fingering and execution, that if a person had not seen what was being done, but had judged only by his ear, he would have fancied that he was listening to three harp-players all playing on different instruments. But this instrument, though it was so greatly admired, after his death rapidly fell into disuse. "

[42. ] G Now the system of playing the harp without any vocal accompaniment, was, as Menaechmus informs us, first introduced by Aristonicus the Argive, who was a contemporary of Archilochus, and lived in Corcyra. But Philochorus, in the third book of his Atthis [ Fr_23 ], says- "Lysander the Sicyonian harp-player was the first person who ever changed the art of pure instrumental performance, dwelling on the long tones, and producing a very rich sound, and adding also to the harp the music of the flute; and this last addition was first introduced by Epigonus; [638] and taking away the jejuneness which existed in the music of those who played the harp alone without any vocal accompaniment, he first introduced various beautiful modifications on that instrument; and he played on the different kinds of harp called iambyca and magadis, and the so-called syrigmus. And he was the first person who ever attempted to change his instrument while playing. And afterwards, adding dignity to the business, he was the first person to institute a chorus [of players]. " And Menaechmus says that Dion of Chios was the first person who ever played on the harp an ode such as is used at libations to the honour of Dionysus. Timomachus, in his History of Cyprus, says that Stesander the Samian added further improvements to his art, and was the first person who at Delphi sang to the accompaniment of his lyre the battles narrated by Homer, beginning with the Odyssey. But others say that the first person who ever played amatory songs on his harp was Ametor, the Eleuthernaean, who did so in his own city; and his descendants are called Ametoridae.

Aristoxenus says that just as some men have composed parodies on hexameter verses, for the sake of exciting a laugh; so, too, others have parodied the verses which were sung to the harp, in which pastime Oenopas led the way. And he was imitated by Polyeuctus the Achaean, and by Diocles of Cynaetha. There have also been poets who have composed indecent songs, concerning whom Phaenias of Eresus speaks in his writings Against the Sophists, where he writes thus:- "Telenicus the Byzantian, and also Argas, being both authors of indecent songs, were men who, as far as that kind of poetry could go, were accounted clever. But they never even attempted to rival the songs of Terpander or Phrynis. " And Alexis mentions Argas, in his Bareback Rider, thus-
(A) Here is a poet who has gained the prize
In choruses.
(B) What is his style of poetry ?
(A) A noble kind.
(B) How will he stand comparison
With Argas?
(A) He's a whole day's journey better.

And Anaxandrides, in his Heracles, says-
For he appears a really clever man.
How gracefully he takes the instrument,
Then plays at once . . .
When I have eaten my fill, I then incline
To send you off to sing a match with Argas,
That you, my friend, may thus the sophists conquer.

* * * * *

[53. ] G [645] There was also a kind [of cake] called diaconium. Pherecrates says-
He was so greedy that he ate a whole
Diaconium up, besides an amphiphon.

But the amphiphon was a kind of cheesecake consecrated to Artemis, having figures of lighted torches round it. Philemon, in his Beggar, or Woman of Rhodes, says-
Artemis, mistress dear, I bring you now
This amphiphon, and these libations holy.

Diphilus also mentions it in his Hecate. Philochorus [ Fr_86 ] also mentions the fact of its being called amphiphon, and of its being brought into the temples of Artemis, and also to the crossroads, on the day when the moon is overtaken at its setting by the rising of the sun; and so the sky is doubly light (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ).

There is the basynias too. Semus, in the second book of his History of Delos, says- "In the island of Hecate, the Delians sacrifice to Iris, offering her the cheesecakes called basyniae; and this is a cake of wheat-flour, and suet, and honey, boiled up together: and what is called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? consists of a fig and three nuts. "

There are also cheesecakes called strepti and ne? lata. Both these kinds are mentioned by Demosthenes the orator, in his Speech in defence of Ctesiphon concerning the Crown [ 260 ].

There are also epichyta. Nicochares, in his Handicrafts-men, says-
I've loaves, and barley-bread, and bran, and flour,
And rolls, a toasted bun, and honeyed cheesecakes,
Moulded cakes (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), barley-gruel, and common cheesecakes,
Barley-cakes (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), and fried bread.

But Pamphilus says that the epichyton is the same kind of cheesecake as that which is called attanites. And Hipponax mentions the attanites in the following lines-
Not eating hares or woodcocks,
Nor mingling small fried loaves with cakes of sesame,
Nor dipping fried cakes (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) in honeycombs.

There is also the creium. This is a kind of cheesecake which, at Argos, is brought to the bridegroom from the bride; and it is roasted on the coals, and the friends of the bridegroom are invited to eat it; and it is served up with honey, as Philetas tells us in his Miscellanies.

There is also the glycinas: this is a cheesecake in fashion among the Cretans, made with sweet wine and oil, as Seleucus tells us in his Dialects.

There is also the empeptas.
The same author speaks of this as a cheesecake made of wheat, hollow and well-shaped, like those which are called crepides; being rather a kind of casing into which they put those cheesecakes which are really made with cheese.

* * * * *

[61. ] G [649] The Syrian being refuted by these arguments, and being a good deal annoyed, said- But I see here on the table some pistachio nuts (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ); and if you can tell me what author has ever spoken of them, I will give you, not ten golden staters, as that Pontic trifler [Heracleides] has it, but this goblet. And as Democritus made no reply, he said, But since you cannot answer me, I will tell you; Nicander of Colophon, in his Theriaca [ 891] , mentions them, and says-
Pistachio nuts (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) upon the highest branches,
Like almonds to the sight.

The word is also written ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , in the line-
And almond-like pistachios (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) were there.

And Poseidonius the Stoic, in the third book of his History [ Fr_3 ], writes thus: "But both Arabia and Syria produce the peach, and the nut which is called pistachio (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ); which bears a fruit in bunches like bunches of grapes, of a sort of tawny white, long shaped, like tears, and the nuts lie on one another like berries. But the kernel is of a light green, and it is less juicy than the pine-cone, but it has a more pleasant smell. " And the brothers [Quintilii] who together composed the Georgics, write thus, in the third book- "There is also the ash, and the turpentine tree, which the Syrians call ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . " And these people spell the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? with a ? , but Nicander writes it with an aspirate, ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , and Poseidonius ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .

* * * * *

[66. ] G [651] And Melanippides of Melos, in his Danaides, calls the fruit of the palm-tree by the name of ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , mentioning [the daughters of Danaus] in this manner:- "They had the appearance of inhabitants of the shades below, not of human beings; nor had they voices like women; but they drove about in chariots with seats, through the woods and groves, just as wild beasts do, holding in their hands the sacred frankincense, and the fragrant dates (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), and cassia, and the delicate perfumes of Syria. "

[652] And Aristotle, in his treatise On Plants, speaks thus: "The dates (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) without stones, which some call eunuchs and others call seedless. " Hellanicus has also called the fruit ? ? ? ? ? ? , in his Journey to the Temple of Ammon, if at least the book be a genuine one; and so has Phormus the comic poet, in his Atalantae. But concerning those that are called the Nicolaus-dates, which are imported from Syria, I can give you this information; that they received this name from Augustus the emperor, because he was exceedingly fond of the fruit, and because Nicolaus of Damascus, who was his friend, was constantly sending him presents of it. And this Nicolaus was a philosopher of the Peripatetic school, and wrote a very voluminous history.

[67. ] G Now with respect to dried figs: those which came from Attica were always considered a great deal the best. Accordingly Dinon, in his History of Persia, says- "And they used to serve up at the royal table all the fruits which the earth produces as far as the king's dominions extend, being brought to him from every district as a sort of first-fruits. And (? ) Xerxes did not think it fitting for the kings either to eat or drink anything which came from any foreign country; and this idea gradually acquired the force of a law. For once, when one of the eunuchs brought the king, among the rest of the dishes at dessert, some Athenian dried figs, the king asked where they came from. And when he heard that they came from Athens, he forbade those who had bought them to buy them for him any more, until it should be in his power to take them whenever he chose, and not to buy them. And it is said that the eunuch did this on purpose, with a view to remind him of the expedition against Attica. " And Alexis, in his Pilot, says-
Then came in figs, the emblem of fair Athens,
And bunches of sweet thyme.

And Lynceus, in his letter to the comic poet, Poseidippus, says- "In the delineation of the tragic passions, I do not think that Euripides is at all superior to Sophocles, but in dried figs, I do think that Attica is superior to every other country on earth. " And in his letter to Diagoras, he writes thus:- "But this country opposes to the chelidonian dried figs those which are called brigindarides, which in their name indeed are barbarous, but which in delicious flavour are not at all less Attic than the others. And Phoenicides, in his Hated Woman, says-
(A) They celebrate the praise of myrtle-berries,
Of honey, of the Propylaea, and of figs;
Now these I tasted when I first arrived-
(B) And the Propylaea?
(A) Yet have I found nothing
Which to a woodcock can for taste compare.

In which lines we must take notice of the mention of the woodcock. But Philemon, in his treatise On Attic Names, says that "the most excellent dried figs are those called aegalides; and that Aegila is the name of a deme in Attica, which derives its name from a hero called Aegilus; but that the dried figs of a reddish black colour are called chelidonian. " Theopompus also, in the Peace, praising the Teithrasian figs, speaks thus-
Barley cakes, cheesecakes, and Teithrasian figs.

But dried figs were so very much sought after by all men, (for really, as Aristophanes says- "There's really nothing nicer than dried figs;") that even Amitrochates, the king of the Indians, wrote to Antiochus, entreating him (it is Hegesander who tells this story) to buy and send him some sweet wine, [653] and some dried figs, and a sophist; and that Antiochus wrote to him in answer, "The dried figs and the sweet wine we will send you; but it is not lawful for a sophist to be sold in Greece. " The Greeks were also in the habit of eating dried figs roasted, as Pherecrates proves by what he says in the Coriann? , where we find-
But pick me out some of those roasted figs.

And a few lines later he says-
Will you not bring me here some black dried figs ?
Do you understand ? Among the Mariandyni,
That barbarous tribe, they call these black dried figs
Their pots.

I am aware, too, that Pamphilus has mentioned a kind of dried figs, which he calls procnides.

[68. ] G That the word ? ? ? ? ? ? is common for a bunch of grapes is known to every one; and Crates, in the second book of his Attic Dialect, uses the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , although it appears to be a word of Asiatic origin; saying that in some of the ancient hymns the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? is used for ? ? ? ? ? ? , as in the following line-
Thick hanging with the dusky grapes (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) themselves.

And that the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? is used by Homer is known to every one. But Plato, in the eighth book of his Laws [ 844'd ], uses both ? ? ? ? ? ? and ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , where he says- "Whoever tastes wild fruit, whether it be grapes (?