Full text of "Moralia, in fifteen volumes, with an English translation by Frank Cole Babbitt"

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68 Rutt obs


THE LOEB CLASSICAL amane


FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB, LL.D.


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[ : EDITED BY
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PLUTARCH’S
MORALIA
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PLUTARCH’S
MORALIA


IN SIXTEEN VOLUMES


Vill
612 B—697 c


WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
PAUL A. CLEMENT


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


HERBERT B. HOFFLEIT


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA





CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD


MCML XIX








© The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1969





;, FEB 2 1971,


by «\
“ERsity of 18S


Printed in Great Britain


CONTENTS OF VOLUME VIII


PAGE
Preratory Nore ‘ . 5 3 . vii


Tue TrapirionaL Orper or THe Books or THE
MORALIA , “ ‘ 5 : ; ix


sf


Taste-Tatx: Booxs I-III


Introduction . : ‘ . : , 1

Text and Translation . ; d . 4
Taste-Tatxk: Booxs IV-VI

Introduction . : - : . . 283

Text and Translation . ; ; . 290
AppirionaL Nore ; . ‘ - . 516
Inpex . - ; : . : , » “OEE


7






~


Uy eo


WAT


tr Ta sod ai roa


aa





S


et,
‘


Tté


PREFATORY NOTE


Books I-III of the Quaestiones Convivales are the work
of Paul A. Clement and Books IV-VI are the work of
Herbert B. Hoffleit. There is no joint responsibility.


vii





‘STO. YROTS


Aeow ott sum elo svined 9 aibir
to shew oi ons TV-V TE ale
ittlidtvooqeas tell an sas


. ;
a
‘
‘
ia
‘
.
ad
—
- | © .
“G, 7 : : se


oy ©. ern pewter a


THE TRADITIONAL ORDER or tue Books of


Il.


Stephanus (1572), and
in edition.


(Ilés dv rs Tov xdAaxa Tod Pidov) .«
Quomodo Br eegin Sinton sentiat profectus
(lds dv ts aicBoirro davrod mpoxdémrovros én’


ght enda ex inimicis utilitate (Ids dy ns


. —Tmanathenie


oeteattn
. Septem Sept spt pe aad (Téy jt eat


Ill.


ovpadavov)
De superstitione co Saipovias
rs et et. (’Azro-


Apo Laconica (’Amo¢0éypara Aa
Instituta Laconica Tamadaud ra NaxeBayiovian
émrndevpara) . : a , .


the Moralia as they y sppeer since the edition of
eir division into volumes


IV.


VI.


THE TRADITIONAL ORDER


Lacaenarum apophthegmata (Aaxawa@y dzo-
p0éypara) : : ’
Mulierum virtutes (T'vvaiaioy dperai)
Quaestiones Romanae (Aizia ‘Pwpaixa).
Quaestiones Graecae (Airva “EAAnvixd) .
Parallela Graeca et Romana (Ewvayeny f ioTo-
pidv tapadAjAwy “EAAnrixdy Kal ‘Pwpaixdy) .
De ioe Romanorum (Ilepi ris "Peomalev


De iO 2355 magni ‘fortuna aut virtute, li-
bri ii (Ilepi ris “AAe~avdpov tixns 7] aperis,
Adyot B’).

Bellone an pace ‘clariores fuerint ‘Athenienses
(Ilérepov ’A@qvaion kara méA€Epov 7; " kata codiav
evdo£orepor)


. De Iside et Osiride (Ilept “"lowSos:xal *Ooipid0s).


De E apud Delphos (Ilepi 706 EI rob ev AcAdois)

De Pythiae oraculis (Ilepi rod pa) xpGv Euperpa
viv tiv Iv8iav) :

De defectu oraculorum (Ilepi ri tahahousbdaa
xpnornpiwy)

An virtus doceri possit (Ee SiBazrdvg q dperd) ..

De virtute morali (Ilepi tijs 7)0uxis aperjs)

De cohibenda ira (Ilepi dopynoias) 3

De tranquillitate animi (Ilepi ed@vpias) .

De fraterno amore (Ilepi ¢iAadeAdias)

De amore prolis (Ilepi rijs eis ta Exyova diAo-
atopyias)

An vitiositas ad infelicitatem sufficiat (Ei


avrapKns 7) KaKia. 7pos Kakodatpoviay) .


__—Animine an corporis affectiones sint peiores


VII.


panier Ta THs Yuxhs 7 Ta TOD ote 7dOn
xelpo ; ;
De garrulitate (Ilept dSoNcoyéas) ; ‘
De curiositate (Ilepi zoAumzpaypoovvns)

De cupiditate divitiarum (Ilepi durorhowrkas) i
De vitioso pudore (Ilepi dvowrias) .


—De invidia et odio (Ilepi d0dvov Kai péoous)
De se ipsum citra invidiam laudando a Too


é€avTov ézawveiv exter
De sera numinis vindicta (epb«: rdw! Sud!'408
Geiov Bpadéws Tiyzwpovpéevwr) :


PAG).


2406
242%
2631
29 |p





3054
316B.


326pD


345¢
35le
384c


394D


4098
4394
440d
452E
464E
478A


4934
4984
5008
5028
5158
523c
528c
5365
5394


5484


VI.


XI.


THE TRADITIONAL ORDER


De fato (Ilepi eiwappévys)

De genio Socratis(Ilepi 705 Zeoxpdrous Sapoviov)

De exilio (Ilepi guys).

Conso lato ad usorein (apap yrnts ps ri
ante


so ae convivalium al vi (Sopmoow-


I, 612¢ : I, 6298 ; ; ih L Ore: IV, 659r: V,
672D ; VI, 6864

Quaestionum convivalium libri iii (Zupwoae-
Kka@v mpoBAnudrwv PiBAia y’) ;

VU, 697c; VIII, 716p; Tx, 736c

Amatorius (. Epurixds) .

Amatoriae narrationes (’ Epwrixal Seqy foes)

Maxime cum principibus philosopho esse dis-
serendum (Ilepi rod 67x rari: Tois Tryepdoe
det tov diddcodoy dradrdyeaGa:)

Ad principem ineruditum (Ilpés tyeudva azrai-


An seni respublica gerenda sit (Ei apeoBurépy
modrevréov
Praecepta gerendac reipublicae (Tloderexd


De unius in republica, dominatione, po bape
statu, et air ag wap (Tlepi povap
02 Brptoxparias xa!

one aere alieno ona Too us Sety Savet-

€

Vitae decem oratorum (Ilepi ri Béxa brs


pwr)
Comparationis Aristophanis et Menandri com-
2 nem ga "Aptoroddavous kab Mev-
De Herodoti matignitate (Ilept vis “Hpobérov
kaxonbeias)
*De tnonien philosophorum, libri v (Ilept Tav


wy Trois pocodas, e) .


ris aetr tates naturales (Alrlas dvoixai)


XII. De facie quae in orbe lunae = apparet Lea


rater era Ms sae? Tis
vs)
- To be added to this edition later.


PAGE
5688
575A
599A
6084


612c


697c .
748E
7T7le
T7764
T79c
783a
798a


826
827p
832n


853A
8545


874pD
91lc


9204


xi


XIII.


XIV.


XV.
XVI.


xii


THE TRADITIONAL ORDER


De primo frigido (Llepi rod mpaéirws yYuxpod)

Aquane an ignis sit utilior (Ilepi rod aérepov
Vdwp H mop xpyowwdrTepov) .

Terrestriane an aquatilia animalia sint eallidi-
ora (IIérepa Tav Cawy promt Ta xEepoaia
97a evvdpa) .

Bruta animalia ratione uti, sive Gryllus (Ilept
Tob Ta ahoya Adyw xpijo8a1) ;

De esu carnium orationes ii (Ilepi od pxogaylas
Adyor B’)

Platonicae quaestiones ([DAareoverd tyripara).

De animae procreatione in Timaeo (Ilepi rijs &v
Tyaiw yvxoyovias) .

Compendium libri de animae procreatione in
Timaeo (’Emcroys) rob epi tis &v TO a?
yuxoyovias) .

De Stoicorum repugnantiis (Tlept Srevixiiw evap-
TLWpaTwv)

Compendium argumenti Stoicos absurdiora
poetis dicere (Zdvoyis Too Ort mapadogdrepa oi
Lrakoi THv TounTav A€yovar) .

De communibus notitiis adversus Stoicos (Tlepi
T&v Kowav Evvoidy mpos Tos UtTwuKovs)

Non posse suaviter vivi secundum Epicurum
(“Ore odd€ Civ Eorw 7d€éws Kat’ "Exixoupov)

Adversus Colotem (IIpés KwAdrnv imép trav


aAAwy dirooddwv)
An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum (Ei
KaAds eipyrat 76 Adfe Budcas) « : :
De musica (Ilepi povoixfjs) . F
Fragments


General Index


PAG -
9451.


955D


9594


985D _


993a
999c


10124


1030D
1033A


1057c

105SE
1086c
1107p


11284
113la


™


TvyH


INTRODUCTION TO BOOKS I-III


Tue text for Books I-III is based on C. Hubert’s
Teubner text of 1938. Notes to text and notes to
translation are in great part excerpted from Hubert’s
critical apparatus and testimonia and, for Books I-II,
also from the commentary in H. Bolkestein’s Adver-
saria critica et exegetica ad Plutarchi Quaestionum Con-
vivalium librum primum et secundum. In these works
there is information not to be found here; conversely,
there is here matter not to be found there. The
archetype of all extant mss. of the Quaestiones Con-
vivales is Codex Vindobonensis Graecus 148 (T) of the
10th or early 11th century, purchased in Constan-
tinople about 1562 (Hubert, Plutarchi Moralia, IV,
pp. xi-xiv). I have worked with photostats of this
manuscript before me, and, where I have checked

_ Hubert’s reports of its readings, I have generally
found them accurate. I have also had before me the
editions of Bernardakis (Teubner, 1892), Hutten
iibingen, 1798), and, more important, Wyttenbach
Oxford, 1797). For emendations by other and older
‘scholars I have generally depended upon these
editors or upon Hubert or upon Bolkestein—to all
of whom my gratitude is due. Most that one may
wish to know either about Plutarch or about the
Quaestiones Convivales is now readily available in the
monograph printed by K. Ziegler as “ Plutarchos ”’


VOL, VIII B 1


*)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopddie, xxi. 1 (1951),
cols. 636-962. To this work must be added, and not
alone for the De facie, Harold Cherniss’s introduction
to that dialogue in Moralia, xii (LCL, 1957), pp. 2-33.


Paut A. CLEMENT
University oF CALIFORNIA
Los ANGELES





a OO LC





TABLE-TALK
(QUAESTIONES CONVIVALES)
BOOK I


(612)


XYMIOXIAKON BIBAIA @
BIBAION IIPQTON}!


PO. pucew pvdpova ovpmotay,” @ Lodoare
Levekiwv, Evior pos Tous emaTabpous elpfjoba
A€yovow, poptiKovs emenk@s Kal avaywyous év
T@ mivew ovtTas* ot yap €v Lucedig Awpueis ws
Eouce TOV emioTabpov ‘S pvapova,”’ _Tpoonyopevov.
evion O€ THV Tapousiay ovovrau TOUS mapa. moTov
Aeyouévois Kal mpaTTopevois apvnotiay émdyeww:
510 THY Te AHOyv ot maT pwor Adyor Kal Tov vapOnKa
TO 8) ovyKabepodow, ws 7 pndevos d€ov pevnpo-
vevew TOV €v ow de aime ts 7 mavTeA@s

aie! begins : BiBAtov A.:. (line 1) [lAourdpyouv cupmoctaxay
BiBria ©: ev 7H A (line 2), after which come the titles of the
ten essays which constitute Book I, arranged in tabular form
and each title numbered (lines 3-19). Line 20 is blank except
for a row of decorative sigla. Line 21 repeats the title of the
first essay: €t det rabies om mapa morov, with Ai in the right


margin. Line 22 begins the preface To picéw pvdpova ovp-
métav, ® XLdcare, the initial capital somewhat elaborated.


* Bergk, Poetae Lyrici Graeci, Adespoton 141; Diehl,
Anthologia Lyrica Graeca, ii (1942), p. 205. 6; H. Bolke-
stein, Adversaria Critica et Exegetica (Amsterdam, 1946), pp.
47-49, has a slightly different interpretation for émioraBos :

‘“* magistratus cuiusdam esse appellationem conicio.”

> See below on 697 c (LCL Mor. ix, p. 4). His greatgrand-
daughter Sosia Flaconilla is known from two honorary inscrip-
tions, one from the Athenian Agora (Hesperia, x [1941], pp.


4








NINE BOOKS OF TABLE-TALK
BOOK ONE


Tue saying “I dislike-a drinking-companion with a

ood memory ”’ “ some say, my dear Sossius Senecio,”
was meant by its author to refer to masters of cere-
monies who are rather tiresome men and wanting in
taste when the drinking is on. For it seems that the
Dorians in Sicily called a master of ceremonies
“remembrancer.’ On the other hand, some think
that the proverb recommends amnesty for all that is
said and done during the drinking ; it is for this
reason that in our traditional legends forgetfulness °
and the wand ¢ are together consecrated to the god,
the implication being that one should remember
either none of the improprieties committed over cups
or only those which call for an altogether light and


pen no. 61) and one from Cirta in Numidia (C.J.L. viii.


¢ For Mneia and Lethé in Bacchic Mysteries at Ephesus in
Hadrian’s time see Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British
Museum, iii. 600. 28-29 (cf. Kroll, RE, s.v. “ Lethé,” col.
2142. 47-51).

4 Cf. Mor. 4628. The narthex (fennel-stalk) served the
Greeks for many ore Prometheus in its pithy stalk
brought fire to earth, schoolmasters used it for canes, doctors
for yo psiee and the religious and convivial for their ritual
wands or thyrsoi: RZ, s.v., and Sir John Beazley, Am. Jour.
Arch. xxxvii (1933), pp. 400 ff. The “* god ” here is Dionysus.


5


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(612) edadpas Kal marduKijs vovectas Seopevwv. émrel
d€ Kal gol dokel THY pev drome 1 Ann T@ OvTt
oogr) kar’ Evperidny elvat, TO 8 GAws apvnpoveiv
TOY €v olvm pn povov T@ gia oTou@ Aeyouevw
pdyeoBar THS tpamelns, ddA Kal TeV prroodgpun
TOUS eMoyywrdrovs d avTyapTupodvTas EXEL, IlAa-
Twva Kal Kevoddvra kai “ApiototéAy* Kal Xzev-
ounrmov ’Ezixoupov te kai Ipiravw Kai “lepwvu-

E pov cai Aiwva tov €€ "Axadnuias, ws a&idv Tivos
omovdns memounpevous epyov avaypaysacbar Adyous
Tapa moTov yevomevous, wHOns te deiv mpas TOV
omopadny TmoAAdcus €v TE ‘Podun pe? tuav Kal
Tap" npiv ev tH “EAAdSt trapovons dpa. Tpamelns
Kat KUAtKos diAoAoynfevtwy ovvayayeivy Ta em-
THOELA, mpos TovTO YEVvOpLevos Tpia pev On cor
TeTrOMpa tov PiBriwv, € éxdoTou déxa mpoBAnpara
TEPLEXOVTOS, mrepapen d€ Kai ta Aorta Tayéws, av


tabra d6&n 1 mavTeA@s dpovoa pnd ampoodiovud’
elvaw.”


1 So T, which Bolkestein (Adv. Crit. p. 51) defends against
its copies and Hubert.

2 In T (folio 2 r, line 18) mpa@rov 8€ mavtwy réraxrac im-
mediately follows efva. The style and location of the heading
here printed are an editorial convention which, with minor
variations, is of long standing.


2 Orestes, 213.

> Cato called the dining-table “* highly friend-making ”’ ;
so Plutarch, Life of Cato, xxv (351 F).

¢ The Symposium of Plato and that of Xenophon are pre-
served.

@ V. Rose, Aristotelis Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1886), pp. 97
ff., for the fragments of Aristotle’s Lupmdovor 7) epi peOns :
see also Sir David Ross, Select Fragments in The Works of
Aristotle Translated, xii (Oxford, 1952), pp. 8-15.

* Plato’s successor as head of the Academy. His Sym-


6








TABLE-TALK I, 612


playful reproof. Since you too, Senecio, believe that
forgetininess of folly is in truth “ wise,” as Euripides
says,* yet to consign to utter oblivion all that occurs
at a drinking-party is not only opposed to what we
call the friend-making character of the dining-table,°
but also has the most famous of the philosophers to
bear witness against it,—Plato, Xenophon,’ Aris-
eerie Speusippus,° Epicurus, f Prytanis,2 Hierony-
mus,” Dio of the Academy,‘ who all considered
the ecinding of conversations held at table a task
worth some effort,—and since, moreover, you thought
that I ought to collect such talk as suits our purpose
from among the learned discussions in which I have
often participated in various places both at Rome in

your company and among us in Greece, with table
Hs, goblet before us, I have applied myself to the
task and now send you three of the books, each
containing ten questions which we have discussed,
and I mean to send you the rest very soon if these
seem to you not altogether lacking in charm nor yet
irrelevant to Dionysus’


is known only from this passage ; Boge g, De Speu-


posium
bi + eeecey-tosd Deewediericates t 1911 UR iF 34, 85.
On the Epicurus see Hi Der Dialog, i,


p. 363. Ls igh Epicurea, pp. 115-119, gives the fragments


sad ee ee
eipatetic philosopher ing of third-centu
cf. ieee 477 e; Hi op. cit. i, p. 361; 9 B.Vay


no. 5.
mh Also a J ace Seco er of the beginning of the
thing century B.C. : rs sols iv. 41; Hirzel,
» pp. 345, note 3, ros 361; RE, s.v., no. 12, cols. 1561 ff.
is Dio is quoted on the subject of wine and “ beer ”
among the Egyptians Athenaeus, i, 34 b; RZ, s.v.“* Dion,”
no.


j ‘Ch. infra 615 a, 671 x; Athenaeus, 494 b with Gulick’s
note; Pohlenz, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gottingen, 1926, p. 302.


7


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(612) IIPOBAHMA A
Ei det diAocodetv mapa mdTov


Collocuntur Aristo, Plutarchus, Crato, Sossius Senecio


~ \ 4 , A A ~
1. IIpérov b€ mdavrwy téraxrat TO epi Tod
didocoodeivy mapa mdoTovV. peuvnoa yap ort,
{ntioews “AOjvno. peta Seimvov yevomevns e€t
F ypnoréov év olvw didocddois Adyous Kal Ti péTpoV
€oTt xpwpevois, "Apiotwv mapwv, “eiaiv yap,”
” (a4 A ~ ~ e / / > 5
edyoe, “ mpos THv Oedv ot didoaddois ywpav er
om pn duddvTes; ”’

> a
Eya 8 efov, “‘ dAdad yap «ioiv, & ératpe, Kal
mdvv ye oeuvds Kateipwvevduevor Aéyovot pu)
deivy womep oikodéoTmowav ev oww Pléyyecbar
613 dirocodiav, kai tovs Ildpoas opb&s dact py tats
yapetais aAAa tats maAAaxkiow ovppebdoKecbar
Kal auvopyeicbar tatto 81) Kal nuads akvobor
Tovey eis TA OVpTOCLA THY PovoLKyY Kal THY
droKpitikny emevodyovtas diAocodiav de pr) Ki-
vodvras, ws ovre ovpmailew éxeivny émitydecov
ovoay ovl Huds ThvikadrTa oTovdacTiK@s ExovTas:
ove yap "looxparn tov codiorny dropetivar deo-
pLévwv eizretvy Tt Tap olvov adr’ 7 ToaodTov: “ ev
= A > \ / ’ ¢ ~ , >. >. €
ols pev éyw Sewds, ody 6 viv Kaipos: ev ols 8 oO

vov Kaipds, ovK eya Sewds.’ ”’

\ ¢ / > 4 ce > > 32

2. Kai 6 Kpatwv avaxpaywv, “ed y’,” elev,





@ Tmitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 1; ef. Mor. 133 8.

» This practice is attributed to Parthians by Macrobius,
Saturnalia, vii. 1. 3; however Bolkestein notes (Adv. Crit.
p. 53) that Macrobius is merely adapting Plutarch. In Hero-
dotus, v. 18, Persians claim the custom of dining with mis-
tresses and wives together.


8








TABLE-TALK I. 1, 612-613


St eee QUESTION 12
'. Whether philosophy is a fitting topic for conversation
; at a drinking-party
Speakers: Ariston, Plutarch, Crato, and Sossius Senecio


1. Tue question of philosophical talk over the cups I
have placed first of all, Senecio ; for surely you recall
that after a dinner at Athens, when the question
arose whether one should engage in philosophical
talk while drinking and what limit those who do so
should observe, Ariston, who was present, said :
‘* By the gods, are there really men who do not offer
siftpopiicen a place at their parties ? ”

And I replied, ‘‘ Certainly there are, my friend,
and the pretext they very solemnly employ is that
philosophy should no more have a part in conversation
over wine than should the matron of the house, They
commend the Persians for doing their drinking and
dancing with their mistresses rather than with their
wives”; this they think we ought to imitate by
introducing music and theatricals into our drinking-
parties, and not disturb philosophy. For they hok
that philosophy is not a suitable thing to make sport
with and that we are not on these occasions inclined
to seriousness. Indeed they claim that not even
Isocrates the sophist yielded to requests to speak at
a drinking-party, except only to say : ‘ What I excel
in suits not the present occasion ; in what suits the
present occasion I do not excel.’ ”

2. Then Crato,° raising his voice, ““ By Dionysus,”’


¢ A relative of Plutarch (RE, s.v., col. 651. 26-43 [see below,
p. 48, note a], and col. 668. 55-68); though presumably a
ysician (of. 669 c), there is no reason to identify him with
pe. an Crato of Gargettos whose tombstone is pre-
(1.4. If*. 5395, end of second century a.p.). In the


VOL. VIII B* 9


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(613) «¢ \ A A / > / ‘ A , , ,
RB . ¥% Tov Avovucor e€dpvuto Tov Adyov, ei ToradTas

” nv, 4 / e »” /
eweAAe arepaivew mepiodous ais eueAAev Xapitwv
avaotatov yevéobat avpmociov. ody scpoov 8
oiwat pnTtopikov e€aipetvy ovptrociov Adyov Kai

, 2\\>2 ¢ / > \ ne ,
diAdaogov, add’ Erepov €oTt TO THs’ PiAogodias,
nv Téxvnv mept Biov odcay ovTE Twos TraldLas OUTE
Twos Hndovans Siaywyhv exyovons amoorateiy eikos
GAAa maou Trapeivar TO EeTPOV Kal TOV KaLpOV E7TL-
dépovoav: 7) nde swhpootyynv pnde dixaroodvny
oimpeba Setv eis Tovs mdtovs Séyeo8ar, KaTe-
pwrevopevot TO cepvov adT@v. Ei ev OvV, WoTrEp
ot Tov “Opéorny éotidvtes, ev Meopobereiw owwrh
Tpwyew Kal trivew éuedAopev, Hv TL TOUTO THs
C apabias odk atuxés tapapvbiov: ei d€ mavTwY fev
¢ / 4, / > ‘\ na rf \
6 Avdvucos Avoids éott Kat Avaios, padwora de
Ths yAwtrns adaipetrar 7a yaAwa Kai mAEioTHV
> , ~ nn / 5 / A
eAcvbepiav TH pwvh didwow, aBéArepov olwat kal
avontov ev Adyois tAcovalovta Kaipov amooTepeiv
TOV apiotwv Adywr, Kai Cnreiv pev ev Tats dvatpi-
a ~ A
Bais wepi ovprotix@v Kalynkovtwv Kat Tis apeETr
cuumotov Kal THs olvw ypnotéov, €€ adtav de TaV

1 zfs added by Reiske; cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 54.





conversation reported in Quaest. Conviv. ii. 6, Plutarch’s
kinsman contributed to the talk on a problem of grafting.

@ Bolkestein, op. cit. pp. 53 f., and Bases, ’A@nvéa, xi (1889),
pp. 220 f. (which Bolkestein cites), understand “ break up a
party of the Graces.”

» Of. Cicero, Acad. ii. 8. 23 with Reid’s note; O. Stahlin,
Clemens Alexandrinus, i, p. 171, on Paedagogus, ii. 25. 3;
P. Wendland, Quaestiones Musonianae (Berlin diss., 1866), p.
12: a definition established among the cary Stoics. —

¢ Cf. Mor. 643 a-8 ; Athenaeus, x, 437 c-d. The legend of
Orestes’ reception at Athens provided an aetiology for the
section of the Anthesteria called Choes (L. Deubner, Attische


10


TABLE-TALK I. 1, 613


he said, “ it’s well he refused to speak if he meant to
finish off such periods as would cause the Graces to
abandon the company.* However, I think that ex-
cluding an orator’s talk from a drinking-party is not
the same thing as excluding a philosopher’s. No,
the nature of philosophy is different. It is the art of
life,” and therefore it is not reasonably excluded from
any amusement or from any pleasure that diverts the
mind, but takes part in all, bringing to them the
qualities of proportion and fitness. Otherwise we
must consider it our duty to refuse even temperance
and justice admission to our drinking-parties, alleging
their solemnity as excuse. The matter comes to this :
if, like Orestes and his hosts, we were about to eat
and drink in silence at the Thesmotheteum,° this
circumstance would be a rather happy remedy for
stupidity ; but if Dionysus is the Looser and the
Liberator of all things, and if especially he unbridles
the tongue and grants the utmost freedom to speech,
it is silly and foolish, I think, to deprive ourselves of
the best conversations at a time when talk abounds,
to debate in our schools about what is appropriate
for drinking-parties, what makes a good drinking-
companion, and how wine ought to be used, but to


Feste, pp. 96 and 98; Jane E. Harrison, Prolegomena to the
Study of Greek Religion, p. 41). The Thesmotheteum was an
official building of the archons, or of the six specifically known
as thesmothetai (Aristotle, Ath. Pol. 3. 5). Form and loca-
tion of the building are uncertain. Pollux, iv. 122 (Hyperei-
des, frag. 139 Blass*) does not explicitly equate croa with
Thesmotheteum, though scholars sometimes assume that he
does (K. Latte in , &.0. Oecpobereiov, col. 33. 18; Mar-
sosierpetin Hesperia, vi [1937], p. 447). Against Judeich’s
ocation on the northwest slope of the Acropolis (Topographie
von Athen*, p. 303) see Miss Crosby’s argument in Hesperia,
loc. cit. :

11


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(613) oupTroatwy dvaupety prrocopiay as epyw BeBavobv
& dvddoKer Ady py) Suvapevyy.”’
3. Lod 8” eimdvros ovK agéwov elvat Kpdreve mepl
TOUTWY dvrireyew, opov dé Twa Kal Xapaxrijpa
TOV Tapa TOTOV Prrocopoupevey Cnreiv exgev-
yovta Todro 81) TO mratlouevov odK and@s mpos
Tovs epilovras Kal cogioTi@vrTas


D viv 3° épyeo® emi Setmvov iva Evvdywpev “Apna,


\ ~ ¢ ~ LA \ / ” , AS
Kal tapaKadobvTos Huds émt Tov Adyov, Edyv eyw
mp@tov oT. por Soket oKxemtéov elvar TO TeV

, coon \ A / ” /
TapovTwy. ““ av pev yap mA€eiovas exn piAoAdyous
TO ovpmoaiov, ws TO "Aydbwvos Lwkpdtas Dai-

/ > / \ A /
dpouvs Ilavoavias “Epv&iudyous Kai to KaAdAiov
Xappidas *Avricbévas ‘Eppoyévas érépovs tovrous
, 2.47 > \ , 1
mapamAnatovs, apr copev avrovs [uvOa] pirooo-
detv, ody HTTov Tats Movoais TOV Avovucov 7 a) Tats
Nvpdas Kepavvivtas: éxetvar bev yap avTov Tots
cwpacw tdkew Kal mpaov, adtar de tals yvyais
E peAiyiov ovtws Kal yapidorny émevcdyovot. Kal
yap av odAlyo. tiwes idi@Tat tap@ow, womep
ddwva ypdupata dwvynévrwy ev peow toAA@v TV
TmemaLSevpevenv enmrepthapBavopevor Ployyis Twos
od TavTeAds dvdpBpov Kal Ovvécews KoWwwvyj cova.
av dé 1ARG0s 7 TovovTwv avOpwwv, ot TavTOS peV


1 uv0w dirocodetv T; pvOw xai Adyw ¢. Hubert (Bolke-
stein approving, op. cit. pp. 55-56).





@ Iliad, ii. 381.

. Tragic poet who, to celebrate his victory at the Lenaea in
February, 416 B.c., gave the dinner described in Plato’s Sym-
posium.

¢ Wealthy Athenian who entertained the sophists in Plato’s


12





TABLE-TALK I. 1, 613


remove philosophy from the parties themselves, as
though it were unable to make good in practice what
it teaches in theory.”

_ 8. Then you, Senecio, said that, rather than argue
with Crato about this, it was worth while to make
‘some inquiry into the province and nature of philo-
sophical talk at parties in order that we might avoid
that pleasant jibe reserved for disputatious wranglers

Now come ye in to dinner, battle must be joined.*


And when you invited us to discuss the matter, I
said that it seemed to me necessary to consider first
the character of the guests. “ For if the majority of
the guests at a party are learned men, like Socrates,
Phaedrus, Pausanias, and Eryximachus at the dinner
of Agathon,® and Charmides, Antisthenes, Hermo-
‘genes, and others like them at the dinner of Callias,°
we shall let them talk philosophy, blending Dionysus
not less with the Muses than with the Nymphs ; for,
while it is the Nymphs who introduce him as a kind
* and gentle god to our bodies, it is the Muses who
present him as one really gracious and a giver of joy
_ to our souls.? In fact, if some few men without erudi-
tion are present, included in a large company of
learned men like mute consonants among sonant
_ vowels, they will take no wholly inarticulate part in
talk and ideas.* But if the company consists mainly of
the kind of men who pay more attention to the note of
preven and the guests here mentioned at the which
gave Xenophon the subject for his Symposium. pind
__.# In simpler terms: mix wine (Dionysus) with wit (the
Sean lal well as water (the Nymphs). Dionysus the Gra-
cious (Meilichios) A eons gave the Naxians the fig: Athe-
naeus, 78 c; Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, v, p. 119.
* Cf. Mor. 710 s; Plato, Protagoras, 347 c, and Sym-
posium, 176 £.
13


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(613) épvéov mavros dé vevpov Kat Evrov paAdov 7
\ / ~
dirooddov dwrvyv sbropevovow, To Tod Lew-
val > col
oTpdTov xpyay.ov: eKeivos yap ev Stadopa tir
mpos Tovs viovs yevopevos, ws NabeTo Tovs €xOpods
yaipovras, ekKAnciav ovvayayav edn Bovrceobar
piev avTos meioar Tovs mratdas, émet dé SvoKdAws
€yovow, avTos exeivois meicecbat Kal dKodov-
A
F @jcew. otrtw 51) Kai dirdcodos avip ev ovpmdtats
/ ~
py Sexouevors todvs Adyous atrod petabépevos
4 \ > /, \ > / / 37°?
epeTat Kal ayamynoe Thy exeivwv SiarpiByv, éd
Goov py exBaiver TO evoynmov, eld@s OTL pNToO-
pevovot pev avOpwror dia Adyou, diAocododar dé
~ / /
Kal owwma@vres Kat matlovtes Kat v7 Ala oxwmrto-
pevol Kal oKWmTOVTEs. ov yap povov ‘ ddiKias
> / > / ’ a / ‘ \ +
614 €oxarns éotiv, ws dyno TlAdtwv, ‘pw dovra
/ > lal , > A ‘ / yY
dixavov elvat Soxeiv, adda Kal ovvécews aKpas
~ \ A ~
didooodobvra pu SoKxeiv didocodety Kat mailovra
diampatrec0a Ta TOV oTovdalovTwv. Ws yap ai
> > / 4 A a ee a
map Evpimidn pawddes avotrAot Kat aaidnpo Tots
Oupoapiots malovoa: Tovs émitileuevous Tpavparti-
A ~ > ~ / \ \
Covow, ovtw tadv adnfwav dirocddwv Kal Ta
¢ \ ~
oKoppata Kal ot yedAwres Tods py) TavTeAds
GTpwTovs KwWovoW apLwoyeTws Kal ouVvETLOTpE-
govow.
7 A
4. “ Otuar d€ kai* dunyjoewv elvat Te cvperoTiKov
/ 39 \ \ ¢ / Ul \ a > ~
yevos, @v Tas pev toTopia didwot, Tas ek TOV
sae | A / A A“ ” AAG A >
Bava yetpa mpaypdrwrv AaBeiv €or, 7oAAa pev eis
1 «ai added by Reiske.


@ The same sort of story is told of Pisistratus and certain
14








TABLE-TALK I. 1, 613-614


every bird, of every cithara-string and sounding-
board than to the voice of a philosopher, then it is
useful to recall the story and example of Pisistratus.
For when some quarrel arose between Pisistratus
and his sons, and he saw the pleasure it gave his
‘enemies, he summoned the assembly into session and
announced that, though he wished to persuade his
sons, since they were stubborn, he would be persuaded
by them and follow them.* In just such a manner a
pidlosdplied too, when with drinking-companions who
are illing to listen to his homilies, will change his
role, fall in with their mood, and not object to their
activity so long as it does not transgress out A
For he knows that, while men practise oratory only
when they talk, they practise philosophy when they
are silent, when they jest, even, by Zeus, when they
are the butt of jokes and when they make fun of
; others. Indeed, not only is it true that ‘ the worst
injustice is to seem just when one is not,’ as Plato
says,” but also the height of sagacity is to talk
philosophy without seeming to do so, and in jesting
to accomplish all that those in earnest could. Just as
_ the Maenads in Euripides,’ without shield and with-
out sword, strike their attackers and wound them
with their little thyrsoi, so true philosophers with their
jokes and laughter somehow arouse men who are not
altogether invulnerable and make them attentive.


4. “ Then, too, there are, I think, topics of dis- ,


cussion that are particularly suitable for a drinking-
p Some are supplied by history ; others it is
possible to take from current events ; some contain


of his friends who had revolted against his rule and estab-
lished themselves in Phylé: Mor. 189 s. Both are doubtless


hal (RE, s.v. “‘Peisistratos,” col. 158).
Bare Leet 361 a, freely quoted. ° Bacchae, 734 ff.
15


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(614) dirocodiav wapadelypata modAa 8° eis edoéBevav
exovoas, avdpik@v te mpdgewv Kal peyadobdpwv
r Ee \ ~ A / lon > /
evias d€ xpyoTav Kai diravOpwirwv ChArov érayov-
cas’ als qv Tis avuTomTws xpwevos Siamravdaywyh
Tovs mivovtas, od Ta eAdyioTa THY KaKa@v adai-

/ ~ /
pyoer THs weOns.

“ec ¢ \ on A 4, Av 4, >

Oi pev odv ta BovyAwooa KatapuyvivTes eis

Tov olvov Kat Tots amoBpéywact T@v apioTe-

/ 1 A LO / A 25 / C2 0b ¢
pewvwv' Kat ddiavtwv Ta daddy palvortes, ws
ToUTWY TWa TOS EOTUMPLEVOUS evOupiay kat ¢dudo-
Ppoovyny evo.0ovTwr, ArrOMLULOV[LEVOL THY ‘Opnpi-
Kn “EXevny dropapparrovoay TOV akpartov, ov

C cuvopHcow ott KaKeivos 6 pd0os exmepreAbay an
Aiydrrov pakpav odov eis Adyous émetkets Kal
mpéemovras erededrnoev’ 4 yap “EXévy mivovow
advtots Siunyetras epi tod “Odvocews, ‘ ofov epete
Kal €TAn KapTepos avip, adtov pw mAnyhoww
aeikeAinor Sapdooas ’* TobTO yap Hv ws EoiKEe TO
€ A > / \ > 4 / ”

vytrevbes’ dapywakov Kat avewduvov, Adyos exwv
Kaipov appolovta tois dmoKeysevors mafeot Kal

>

mpaypaow. ot d€ xapievtes, Kav am eveias
dirocogHow, tnvikabra da Tod mBavod padArov 4
BiaotiKotd THv amrodei~ewv dyovot Tov Adyov. dpas

\ @ \ TIA , > ~ > / ‘ £r.
yap ort kal IlAdrwv év TH Lvptrociw epi téAovs

D diadeyopevos Kal tod mpwdtov ayalod Kai ddws

a >
Roh oysit ovK evTeiver THY amrddeéwv odd d7oOKO-


1 dprotepewvev (apiorepéwv T) Bolkestein (Adv. Crit. p. (583
ef. Chantraine, Rev. de Phil. xxii [1948], p. 97); weprorepedvew
Junius.





*¢ This property of alkanet and vervain is noted by the
medical writer Dioscorides Pedanius (De Materia Medica, iv.


16


Ce n>


TABLE-TALK I, 1, 614


many lessons bearing on philosophy, many on piety ;
some induce an emulous enthusiasm for courageous
and great-hearted deeds, and some for charitable and
humane deeds. If one makes unobtrusive use of
them to entertain and instruct his companions as
they drink, not the least of the evils of intemperance
will be taken away.

““Now those who mix alkanet in their wine and
sprinkle their floors with infusions of vervain and
maidenhair because, as they believe, these things to
some extent contribute to the cheerfulness and gaiety
of their guests,* do so in imitation of Homer’s Helen,
who secretly added a drug to the undiluted wine? ;
but they do not see that that legend too, having
fetched a long course from Egypt, has its end in the
telling of appropriate and suitable stories. For as
they drink, Helen tells her guests a tale about
Odysseus,


What deed he dared to do, that hero strong,
His body with unseemly stripes o’ercome. °


This, I take it, was the ‘ assuaging ’ and pain-allaying


drug, a story with a timeliness appropriate to the
experiences and circumstances of the moment. Men
of breeding, then, even if they talk straightforward
philosophy, manage the conversation at such times
by the persuasiveness rather than the compulsion of
their arguments. Indeed, you see that Plato in his
Symposium, even when he talks about the final cause
and the primary good,—in short, when he discourses
upon divine matters,—does not labour his proof nor
60 and 127) and by his contemporary the elder Pliny (Nat.
Hist, xxv. 81 and 107).

© Odyssey, iv. 220.

° Odyssey, iv. 242 and 244.


17


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/ \ \ ° ” »” ~ ‘
(614) vierar, tiv AaBhv womrep ciwhev edTovov Troidy Kai
»” itAX’ ¢ / Xr / ‘
apuKTov, a vypotepors Arjupace Kat Trapa-
delypact Kai pv0odAoyiats mpoodyerar Tovs avdpas.
5. “* Kiva dé det kat adras tas Cyrioeis bypo-
Tépas Kal yvwpiia Ta mpoBAjwaTta Kal Tas meVoELS
a /
emieikeis Kal pun) yAioxpas, iva pr) mviywou Tods
>
avontoTepous pnd amoTpéemwow. woTep yap Ta
> /
owpata’ mwovtwy Ot opyjnoews Kal yopelas vevo-
4 “ > ¢ ~ > / bal
puctar cadevew, av & omdAopayeiy avacrdvTas 7
duokevew avaykalwpev adtovs, o povov ateptres
> \ A \ ” \ / A \
E adda Kat BAaBepov eotar TO cupmdciov, oVTW Tas
\ e \ bl \ / > ~ A
yuyas at pev éAadpat Cyrioces eupeAd@s Kat
] / ~ €73 / ? \ A /
Wdediws Kwotoww, ‘ epidavtewv’ d€ Kata Anpo-
e's / ’ / > 7 a b)
Kpitov Kal ‘ iuavteAuktéwv’ Adyous aderéov, ot ad-
U A
Tous TE KaTaTEivovow ev mpayyac yAioxpots Kai
dSvabewpytois Tovs TE TapaTuyydvovTas avi@ow-
A / e
Set yap ws Tov olvov Kowov elvat Kat Tov Adyov, od
/ / ¢ \ lon /
mavtes peOeEovow. ot S€ tovaita mpoBAjpara
4, 2QO\ ba) ~ > , / \
Kabiévtes ovdev av THs Alowzretov yepavov Kat
/ A
GAwmeKos emletKeaTEpoL mpos KoLWwviav dpavetev"
Py ¢ sei r \ \ 0 r ,
dv » pev etvos tt Avmapov Kata AiBov mAaretas
,
KaTayeapevn <T7v yepavov eiaTiacev, odK EVWYOU-
1 Meziriacus (cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. pp. 59-60); cup-


mood.





4 The observation is copied by Macrobius, Saturnalia, i.
13.


18





TABLE-TALK I. 1, 614


gird himself for a fight and get his customary tight
and unbreakable hold, but with simple and easy
remises, with examples, and with mythical legends
he brings the pempaty into agreement with him.?
5. “ The matters of inquiry must be in themselves
_ rather simple and easy, the topics familiar, the
subjects for investigation suitably uncomplicated, so
that the less intellectual guests may neither be
_ stifled nor turned away. For just as the bodies of
men who are drinking are accustomed to sway in
* time with pantomimic and choral dancing, but if we
compel them to get up and exercise in heavy armour
or throw the discus, they will find the party not only
unpleasant but even harmful, just so their spirits are
harmoniously and profitably stirred by subjects of
inquiry that are aay to handle ; but one must banish
the talk of ‘ wranglers,’ as Democritus calls them,?
and of ‘ phrase-twisting ’ sophists, talk which in-
volves them in strenuous argument about complex
and abstruse subjects and irritates those who happen |
to be present. Indeed, just as the wine must be |
common to all, so too the conversation must be one
in which all will share, and those who propose complex
and abstruse topics for discussion would manifestly
be no more fit for society than the crane and the fox |
of oo The fox entertained the crane at dinner, |
serving her a clear broth poured out upon a flat stone.
The crane not only went without her dinner, but in


> Diels and Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, ii!
(1960), p. 172, frag. 150. On the trickster’s game of
eAvypds, sad oa thong-twisting,”’ see Pollux, ix. 118.
¢ The fable is included in the Aesopic corpus on the testi-
mony of this passage; it is also found in Phaedrus, i. 26 ; in
La Fontaine, i. 18; and in numerous Latin versions (see
A.J.P. Ixvi [1945], pp. 195 ff.).


19


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(614) wevn)v,’ adda yeéAwra mdoxovaar,’ e&éhevye yap
dypoTnTt TO ETvos THY AertTOTHTA TOD oTdmaTOS
avThs* €v pepe. Tolvuy yepavos adTH KaTay-

F yeihaca Seimvov év Aayuvidi mpovOnxe Aemtov
eyovon Kat paKpov tpaynAov, wor avdTiy pev
Kabievat TO oTopa padiws Kai aodavew, tHv 5?
> / \ / / A
aAdmeka pt) Suvapevnv KopilecPar cupBodrds mpe-
movcas. ovTw Tolvuv, dtav ot giAdcodor mapa

/ > A \ A ,

motov ets Aemta Kai diadrextixa mpoPAjpata
KaTadvvtes evoxyA@at tots moAdAois é€mecBar pur)
4 > ~ \ / 2. 2 > 4, \

615 duvapevois, exeivor d€ madw ém wdds Twas Kal
Sinyjnpata dAvapwdn Kat Adyous Bavataouvs Kai
ayopaious euBddwow® EavTovs, olyeTat THS oUpTTO-
TUKHS Kowwvias TO TéeAos Kat Kab¥BpicTtar o
Avdvucos. worep otv, Dpuviyou Kat AicyvAov tiv
tpaywodiav* eis pvbovs Kat mdOn mpoaydrvtwr,
ehéxOn 76 ‘ ti Tatra mpos Tov Arovucov;’, ovdTws
emouye ToAAdxts eizretv TapéoTyn mpos TOUS EAKovTas
els Ta ovptrocia Tov Kupievovta ‘ & avOpwre, Ti
Tatta mpos tov Audvucov;’ addew pev yap tows
Ta Kadovpeva oKddAia, KpaThpos €v péow mpo-

B Keysévov Kai oreddvwv diavepopevwy, ots 6 Beds
e > ~ ¢ ~ > / ” /
ws eAevOepdv huds emitibnow, CevAoyov: Adyots

1 xataxeapern .. . edwyxoupevnv Bolkestein, Mnemosyné, iv
(1951), pp. 304-307, od« edwyoupevny from a glossator’s note
in the margin of T; see further 4.J.P. Ixvi (1945), pp. 1992-
196: xarayeapevny T, the final nu erased by a later hand.

2 The reading of T is defended by Bolkestein, loc. cit. p.
307 ; mapéyoucay Wyttenbach.


3’ Defended by Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 60; é€uBadAwow
Bernardakis. 4 So Stephanus: 77 before Dpuvixou.


20


TABLE-TALK I. 1, 614-615


addition was made ridiculous because the broth, being
liquid, always slipped out of her bill, which was so
thin. In turn, then, the crane invited the fox and
served up the dinner in a jar with a long and narrow
neck; into this she easily 2 oh a bill and
enjoyed the food, while the fox, unable to put his
mouth inside, got for himself the portion he deserved.
And so philosophers, whenever they plunge into
subtle and disputatious arguments at a drinking-
party, are always irksome to most of the guests,
who cannot follow; and these in turn throw them-
selves into the singing of any kind of song, the
telling of foolish stories, and talk of shop and market-
place. Gone then is the aim and end of the good
fellowship of the party, and Dionysus is outraged.
erg , just as le said when Phrynichus
and ylus introduced old legends and tales of
suffering into tragedy, ‘ What has all this to do with
Dionysus ? ’,* just so it has often occurred to me to say
to those who drag ‘ The Master’ ® into table-talk,
‘Sir, what has this to do with Dionysus?’ Indeed,
when the great bowl is placed in our midst and the
crowns are distributed which the god gives as token
of our freedom, I dare say it is a reasonable thing to
sing those songs called scolia, but to engage in pedan-
® Cf. , 612 x, with note 7; further, Pickard-Cam-
b wh Dithyr ‘ Prepay; ed Comedy p. 117 and 166-
168 (=pp. 85 and 124-126 of the 2nd edition revised by
T. B. L. Webster). Plutarch’s statement suggested to Grace
H. Macurdy, Class. Weekly, xxxvii (1943-44), pp. 239-240,
that Phrynichus was first to present women Savacters in
situations of terror.

» A name given to a particular kind of syllogism (¢f. Mor.
1070 c and 133 c with Wyttenbach’s note on the latter and


Babbitt’s note 6, LCL Mor. ii, p. 270; Aulus Gellius, i. 2.
4; Epictetus, ii. 19).


21


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


15 \ / A / “ A
(615) d€ yAtoypors mapa métov Kexphobar codiotiKov
pev,)* od Kadov 8 o8d€ ouptroTiKoV.

“°Emet tow Kat ta oxdAd dacw ov yévos
> 4 / > ~ > > hd
Ggopatwv elvat memroinpevwy aoad@s, aA ste
Tp@Tov pev Hoov wdonv Tod Deot Kow@s damavtes

~ “a > lod
pd dwvyn maravilovtes, Sevtepov 8° epeEHs ExdoTw
Lupoivns trapadidopevns, nv atcakov olwar dia
TO ddew Tov SeEdpevov exddovv, emt dé TovTw
Avpas trepipepopevyns 6 pev tremradevpevos eAdp-

~ >

Bave kai dev dppoldpevos, tHv 8° dpotaowy ov
TpooreLevwyv oKoALov wWvoydabn TO 7) KoWOV av-
~ A cs a / \ / >
Tod pnde pddiov. dAdo dé dacr Tv pwupaivyny od
~ / > \ 77 > A / >» 4%
KabeEfs Badilew, ddAAa Kal? Exactov amo KXivns emi
/ / \ ‘ ~ x ~
C KAuqv Svapepeobar Tov yap mp&rov goavta 7H
mpwTtw THs Sevtépas KAivns dmooréAAew, exetvov
5€ TH TpWTW THs TpiTys, elra TOV SevTEpoV Opoiws
T@ devtépw, Kal TO moikidov Kal moAvKapmes ds

EouKE THS TrEpLddov oKoALOV Wrvopdacby.”’
1 evAoyov . . . Kexpho8a added in the margin by the


glossator of 614 © (Hubert, Moralia, iv, Ps xiii) who also
deleted 8’ after od xadov; codiorixoy pev added by P. A. C.


* As if aicaxos were derived from déew, “ to sing.”
®» From the secondary meaning of oxodAids, “* puzzling,”





** obscure.”
¢ Correctly, no doubt, from the primary meaning
“ curved,” “‘ winding.’’ On these etymological speculations


22


TABLE-TALK I. 1, 615


tic argumentation over one’s wine is a sophistical

thing to do, and it is not seemly nor is it suitable to

a party.

_ “ As for the scolia, some say that they do not belong
to a type of obscurely constructed songs, but that
first the guests would sing the god’s song together,
all raising their hymn with one voice, and next when
to each in turn was given the myrtle spray (which
they called aisakos, I think, because the man to
receive it sings) * and too the lyre was passed around,
the guest who could play the instrument would take
it and tune it and sing, while the unmusical would
refuse, and thus the scolium owes its name to the
fact that it is not sung by all and is not easy.” But
others say that the myrtle spray did not proceed
from each guest to his neighbour in orderly sequence,
but was passed across from couch to couch each
time, that the first man to sing sent it over to the
first man on the second couch, and the latter to the
first man on the third couch, then the second man to
the second on the neighbouring couch, and so on ; so,
they say, it seems the song was named scolium be-
cause of the intricate and twisted character of its

“path.” ¢

us, frags. 88-89 with Wehrli’s commentary, Die


- Dicaearch
le des Aristoteles, i, pp. 69-71; see also Bolkestein, Adv.
Crit. p. 9 and particularly note 8.


(615)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA B}?
Ildrepov adrov det KataxAivew Tods €aTuwpévous Tov
brodexduevov 7 em’ adtois exeivors mrovetoban


Collocuntur Timo, pater Plutarchi, Plutarchus, Lamprias, alii


/ ¢ > \ ¢ ~ / °¢

1. Tiwwy 6 ddeAdos €oriv mAclovas ExacTov
> / ~ > / 4 / /
exéAeve TOV elovdvTwv drrou BovAerar trapeuParrew
Kal KatakAivecbar, dia TO Kat E€vous Kal moAitas
Kal ovv7Ges” Kal oiKetouvs Kat dAws travTodamrods
tovs KekAnpevous elvar. mroAAdy ody dn TrapdvTwr
Eévos tis womep edmdpudos ek Kwuwdias, eobAri
TE TEpLITTH Kal akoAovia zraidwy drocoAoLKOTEpos,
hKev axypt Tov Ovp@v Tod avdp@vos, Kai KiKAw
tats dpeow émehav tos KatTaKeysevous ovK
> / > ~ > > ” > > / ‘ ~
nOéAncev eicedOciv adn’ wer’ amiadv: Kal moAAdv
petabedvtwy ovK edn TOV aktov €avTod TOmToV Opav
Aei@opevov. €xeivov pev odv TOAA@ yEeAwrt


yaipovras eddynpodvtas éxméurrew Sdpwv


> / ¢ / ‘ A ‘
€xéAevov of KaTaKeijmevou’ Kal ‘yap joav oAXol
peTpiws UroTETWKOTES.

2. ’Emel 5€ 7a epi 76 Seimvov téAos elyev, 6
TATHp Ee TOPPWTEpwW KATAKElLEVOY TPOTELTTWY,
ce Té >?) ” ce > \ / / 6

inwv,” édn, “ Kayo Kpitiv oe tremompeda
~ > a
Siadepopevor’ mdAar yap aKxover KaKk@s br’ Epod

1 The heading in T omits zpéfAnua, and B stands in the

right margin,—the normal arrangement in T.


2 dovvifes Reiske (cf. Chantraine, Rev. de Phil. xxii,
[1948], p. 97).


* The situation here described is used again by Plutarch in
Septem Sapientium Convivium where Alexidemus takes
offence and leaves the party of Periander (Mor. 148 & ff.).
The word here translated ‘“‘ grandee ” (cf. also Mor. 57 a) is


24





TABLE-TALK I, 2, 615


Qs : QUESTION 2
Whether the host should arrange the placing of his guests or
leave it to the guests themselves


Speakers: Timon, Plutarch, the father of Plutarch, Lam-
a prias, and others


1. My brother Timon, upon an occasion when he was
host to a considerable number of guests, bade them
each as they entered take whatever place they wished
and there recline, for among those who had been
invited were foreigners as well as citizens, friends as
well as kinsmen, and, in a word, all sorts of people.
Now when many guests were already assembled, a
foreigner came up to the door of the banquet room,
like a grandee out of a comedy,? rather absurd with
his extravagant clothes and train of servants; and,
when he had run his eyes round the guests who
had settled in their places, he refused to enter, but
withdrew and was on his way out when a number of
the guests ran to fetch him back, but he said that he
saw no place left worthy of him. Thereupon the
guests at table with much laughter urged them


With joy and blessings send him from the house,”


for the fact is there were many who had had a little
something to drink. .

2. When the dinner had come to an end, my father,
whose place was rather far from mine, spoke to me
and said, “ Timon and I have made you judge of our
dispute, for I have long been scolding him now on


used of a luxurious pit connected with New Comedy

(Pollux, vii. 46 ; ¢f. Kock, Com. Att. Frag. ii, p. 222. 9) and

then of the men who wore them.

A eapiteaie frag. 449, line 4 (Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag. p.
25


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(615) dca tov E€vov: ei yap Suerdrrer’ an’ dpyfs, Womep


F


616


> / > 4 \ / >? ”“ ? 4 ¢c /
exéXevov ey, Tas KAiceis, odK av evOdvas breElxo-
pev atakias avdpi dewd


Koopnoat immous TE Kal avepas aomidwTas.


Kat yap 67 IlaiAov Aipidvov orpatnyov Aéyovow,
éte Ilepoéa xataroXcunoas ev Maxedovia mdtous
cuvekpoTer, KOouw TE YavpacTd mepl mavTa Kal
mepitTH Tae xpwpevov eimeivy Ott TOO avdTov
> / > \ / ~ /
avdpos €oTt Kat dadayya ovorijca: poPepwrdrny
Kal oupmdciov novoTtov, auddorepa yap edtakias
elvat. Kal Tods apiotovs Kat BactAiKwrdatous 6
~ /
mountns ewe ‘ koopntopas Aadv ’ mpooayopevew.
Kal Tov péyav Bedv tpyeis mov dare tiv aKoopiav
edtatia petaBareiv eis Kdopov ott’ adedovta THY
évTwy ovdev ovte mpocbevta, TH S Exacrov emi
THY TMpoonkovoav YwWpav KaTaoTHoat TO KdAALCTOV
> ~ >
ef aduoppotatov oxyja epi THY pow armrepya-
odpevov.
ec ae) Aa ~ A A / ‘ ,
Adda Tatra pev Ta ceuvorepa Kai petlova
~ ‘
map vudv pavOdvouev: adroit dé Kal THY meEpl Ta
deirva Samdvnv op@uev oddév Exovoay emuiTepmes
*#Q> > , > \ / 4 ‘ ‘
od’ éAevbepiov, et pu) TaEEWS peTdoyot. S10 Kal
yedotov éott Tots ev dxsorrovois Kal TpamreloKopmots
/ 4 Ul ~ >! / / nn / nn
opddpa péAew Ti mp@tov 7 Ti SevTEpov 7 pecov 7
teAevtaiov émafovow, Kat v7 Aia pvpov Twa Kal
oteddvwy Kat padrpias, av tTUyn Tapodoa, ywpav
Kat Taéw elvat, Tos 8 emi tatta Kadoupevous
1 Hubert: 77 Aour# (defended by Bolkestein).


@ Jliad, ii. 554.
> In 168 B.c. See Life of Aemilius Paulus, xxviii. 5 ; Mor.
198 B. ¢ e.g. Iliad, i. 16.


26





TABLE-TALK I. 2, 615-616


account of the foreigner. If he had arranged the
placing of his guests at the beginning, as I told him
to do, we would not be under suspicion of disorderli-
ness and liable to public audit under the rule of a man
' in marshalling horses and shield-bearing men.
Indeed, the story is told of the general Aemilius
Paullus that, when he had conquered Perseus in
* Macedonia,’ he gave drinking-parties which were
_ eharacterized by wonderfully order and remark-
able organization in all their details, holding it to be
__ the same man’s duty to organize infantry divisions to
be as terrifying and dinner-parties to be as agreeable
as possible, for he claimed that both were the result
of good organization. And the Poet is accustomed to
call the bravest and most kingly men


marshallers of the people.


Moreover, you philosophers, I suppose, admit that it
was by good organization that the great god changed
chaos into order,’ neither taking anything from what
existed nor adding anything, but working the fairest
form in nature out of the most shapeless by settling
each element into its fitting place.

“ However, in these very solemn and important
matters we are your pupils, but we see for ourselves
that extravagant dinners are not pleasant or munifi-
cent without organization. Thus it is ridiculous for
our cooks and waiters to be greatly concerned about
what they shall bring in first, or what second or middle

' or last,—also, by Zeus, for some place to be found and
arrangement made for perfume and crowns and a
there is a girl,—yet for thosé invited to


# Plato, Timaeus, 30 a; infra, 719 c-p.


27


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> A ‘ ” >
(616) etkA Kal as ervxev katakhivavra xXopralew, pn?
mArKig LAT apyh pnt aArkw tui TOv dpoiwv a7
dpporrovoay aTroo.oovTa rééw, ev 7) TLLATAL MEV O
mpoeywv €Bilerar 8’ 6 Sevtepedwv yupvalerar d°
6 TdaTTwv mpos SidKpiow Kal orToyacpov Tob
TpemovTos. ov yap €dpa pev €oT Kal OTdaLs TOD
>
Kpeitrovos, KatdkAtais 8 ovK éotw: ovde mpo-
mieTar pev’ ETépw mpo EeTtépov paddov 6 éoridyv,
\ \ A / / \ /
mept dé Tas karakhioets Trapoypetar Tas Siadopds,
/
ev0ds ev apxh Hy Acyopevny ‘ pray Muxovoyr ’
anodivas TO oupmdovoy.’ %) pev ovv TOU TraTpOsS
dixatoAoyia TovavTy Tis Tv.

C 3. ‘O & adeAdos elrev 6ti Tob Biavros odK €in
4 ov 52 / an / > /
copwtepos wor exeivov dveiv diAwy amreitapevov
diaitav avTos 600 TocOUTwY MEV OiKElwY TOGOUTWY

/
5° éraipwv yivecbar Kpitis, od} mepi ypnudTwv
/ > a
GAAa mEepi mpwreitwv amodatvouevos, womep ov
lA A > 2.4.2 “~ \

dirodpovicacba tapakekAnkws aad’ avdcat tods

> / cc om A M > 327 ce \
emityndeious. ‘‘ dtomros pev ovv,”” édny, “ Kal trap-
/ / w / 95.58 \
ouuwwdyns MevéAaos, et ye atpBovdos eyéveto 11)

> ~

TapakekAnpéevos: atomwtepos 5 6 TowWv EavToV

\ ~
av?’ éotidtopos SikaoTHy Kal KpiTnv TOV ovK

/ > /
emitpeTrovTwy ovde Kplvopevwy, Tis eote BeATiwv
Tivos ) yelpwv: od yap eis ayadva Kabeixacw"
aA > >
D GAd’ emi Seimvov jrovow. aAd’ otd’ edyeprs 7
1 Added by Benseler. 2 Aldine edition: xafjKxaow.


@ Strabo explains (x. 5. 9, p. 487) that the proverb derives
from the myth that giants vain by Heracles were buried
under Myconos and “ is applied to those who bring under
one title even those things which are by nature separate ”


28





TABLE-TALK I. 2, 616


this entertainment to be fed at places selected hap-
hazardly and by chance, which give neither to age nor
to rank nor to any other distinction the position that
suits it, one which does honour to the outstanding man,
leaves the next best at ease, and exercises the judge-
ment and sense of propriety of the host. For the
man of quality does not have his honour and his
station in the world, yet fail to receive recognition
in the place he occupies at dinner ; nor will a host
+ drink to one of his guests before another, yet overlook
their distinctions in placing them at table, and im-
mediately at the beginning declare the dinner subject
to the proverbial‘ Myconos Equality.’ ’’ * Some such
as this was my father’s plea.
8. My brother, however, replied that he for his
art was not wiser than Bias that he should become a
judge over so many comrades and so many relatives
too when Bias had refused to arbitrate between two
of his friends, and should hand out decisions, not
about indeed, but about precedence, as
though he had invited his friends not to entertain
them, but to annoy them. “Certainly,” he con-
tinued, “ it was inept of Menelaiis, proverbially so, to
become an adviser without being asked” ; more inept
is the man who, instead of playing the host, makes
himself a juryman and a judge over people who do
not call upon him to decide an issue and are not on
trial as to who is better than who, or worse; for they
have not entered a contest, but have come for dinner.


(trans. H. L. Jones, LCL Strabo, v, p. 171); Strabo further
notes that bald men are called Myconians because baldness
is prevalent on the island. Further: Leutsch and Schneide-
win, Corpus Paroemiographorum Graecorum, i, p. 445 ; Kock,
Com. Att. Frag. iii, Adespoton 515.

> Iliad, ii. 408.


29


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(616) dvdxpiois €ort, TOV pev HAtkia ta&v Se Svvdper
~ A / ~ > >’ / / > \
T&v dé ypeia TaV BS oikevornTtt SiadepovTwv, adda.
Set kabdamep brdbecow peAeT@vta ovyKpitiKhy Tovs
7A ‘r T / ”“ \ / *T
ptototéAous Todzrous 7) Tods Opacupayou ‘Ymep-
BdadAovras Eéxewv mpoxeipovs oddev THY ypnoipwv
/ > \ \ \ / > a
Suampatropevov adda tHhv Kevnv dd€av ex Tis
ayopas Kat TOv Oedtpwv eis Ta OvpTdcLa peET-
ayovta, Kal Ta prev GAAa m7dOy meipmpevov avievat!
, \ > 3 , 2 > , a
auvovaia, Tov & ex Tvyns” €micKevalovta Todov
ov® 7oAd paAAov oluar mpoojKe: THs buys H* Tov
myAdov azrovusayéevouvs Ttav modav éeAadpds Kal
E adeAds rapa motov addAndows cvupdépecbar. viv
dé tHv pev e& opyis Tiwos 7} mpaypatwy €yOpav
Teipwpeba THV KekAnuevwy adaipeiv, TH Se dido-
Tyla maAw drexKdopev Kal avalwrupodpuev, Tods
fev Tamewobvtes Tovs 5 dyKobvTes. Kaito y’,
ei ev akoAovbyjcovet TH KataKAice: mpomdcets TE
cuvexéotepar Kal mapabéoes ett 5° oOptdAiar Kal
Tpocayopevoes, TavTaTAcL yevnoeTat CaTpamiKoV
Cc a > ‘ r ~ ‘ / > de \ GAA
netv avTi PiAcKod TO cupTdaiov: et Se wept TAaAAa
Thy iodtnTa Tois avdpaor dudAdfopev, Ti ovK evTed-
Jev apEduevor tp@rov eBilopev atidws Kal adeAds
/ > > , 279% > ‘ ~
KataKrivesbar per adAAjAwv, edOds amd TaV
F 6updv opavras, ort Snpoxparixov €ott To Setmrvov*
1 Schott: da (not a) before an erasure of 5-6 letters in which
a later hand has written ¢a:peiv ris and then added s to
ovvovoia.
2 8 €x téyns Hubert: 5€ rvyn, the last changed by a later
hand to ridov.


3 ridov 6v Turnebus: lac. 5 ov T, later corrected to dv
presumably by the hand which changed rvyn to ridov.


30





TABLE-TALK I. 2, 616


Moreover the decision is not easy, differing as the
guests do in age, in influence, in intimacy, and in kin-
ship ; on the contrary, one must have at hand, like the
student of a principle of comparison, the Methodology
of Aristotle * or the Dominants of Thrasymachus,?
even though he accomplishes nothing useful, but
rather transfers empty fame from market-place and
theatre to social gatherings, and, in his attempt to
relax by fellowship the other passions, accidentally
refurbishes a vanity which I think much more fitting
for men to have washed from their soul than the mud
from their feet, if they are to meet at drink with each
other easily and without affectation. As things are
now, we try to remove our guests’ aris ia a no matter
what angry passion or troubles it comes from ; but if
we humble some of them and exalt others, we shall
rekindle their hostility and set it aflame again through
ambitious rivalry. And indeed, if the continuous
toasts and the serving of food, and the conversation
and discourse as well, shall be in strict conformity
with the order of the guests’ seating, our party will
become in all respects a completely viceregal affair
instead of a friendly gathering. If in other matters we
are to preserve equality among men, why not begin
with this first and accustom them to take their places
with each other without vanity and ostentation, be-
cause they understand as soon as they enter the door


* Topics, 116 ff. The title Tézoe used by Plutarch is ap-
propriate for the content of this section of the Tomxd; it
also aS him a pun on rézo, “* Vacs at table.”

> Diels-Kranz, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, ii, p. 325, frag. 7.





4 Added by resumably the same later hand in T.
5 Snporixov (Eqnonparucdy Pohlenz) éort ro Setxvov Kronen-
berg : Snudxpitos emi rd Setmvov.


31


(616)


617


B


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ > ” , 1 4 PF ¢ > , 2
Kal ovK €xeL TOTOV’ eLaipeTov Womep akpdrroA,
>74?> aA
ep ob KatakABels 6 trAovowos evtpudyaet Tots €d-
teAcatépais ; ’”*

> 4 A \ a> 2" > / \ \ / >

4. “Ezei 5€ Kat tabr’ éppyiOn Kat THv Kpiow ar-
/ ¢ / ” > \ ¢ /
HTovv ol TapovTes, Epnv eya SiarryTHs Hpynwevos

> A “~ \ 4, ce / A
ov xKpitns Badietobar dia péocov. “ véovs pev

/ ” i CC Fe ~ \ At \ 40
yap, €lmov, €oTi@vras Kal ToXTas Kal cuv7beis
> ~
eiatéov, ws gdynor Tiwv, adedAds Kat artidws
KaTavEepLELY adTOVS Els HY av TUYWaL Ywpav, Kadov
eis piAdiay epddiov tHv evKoAtav AapBavovtas: ev

\ 4 vu a“ / ~
de E€vois 7) apxovow 7) mpecButépoas diAocodpodvtes

/ \ ~ a > / \ ~ >
dédia put) SoK@pev 7TH addciw tov toidov azo-
Kielovtes elodyew TH Tapabipw peta odds
> t > a \ / , Boaters:
advapopias. ev @ Kal ovvybeia Te Kal vouw
doréov 7) Kal mpomrdcElts Kal mpocayopetces av-
, e 24 hh , 2902 9 ,
éhwpev, alomep od* tovs emituyxavovtas odd axpi-
tws arr’ ws évdexetar puddior’ evrAaBas” ypudpevor
TUL LEV


4 / / > 394 / /
eOpn TE Kpeaciv T dé mAElois Semdecow


~ \ /
ws dynow 6 Tav “EXAjvwv Bacireds, tHv TAEw ev
mpwTn Tun TiWeuevos. ématvodmev Sé Kal Tov
> / Ld \ / ¢ 4 > et &
Adkivouv, ote tov E€vov tSpver map’ adtov


1 éye. térov added by Kronenberg : lac. 3-4,

2 wo lac. 5-6 wodw as restored by a later hand in T.

3 éyrpudjaer Trois edreAcotépos Hubert: ev rie xaraxAice
Tois evTEAcoTaToLs.

4 alowep od Bases: als mpos.


32


TABLE-TALK I. 2, 616-617


that the dinner is a democratic affair and has no out-
standing place like an acropolis where the rich man is
to recline and lord it over meaner folk ?”’

4. When these arguments had been delivered and
those present were demanding the decision, I said
that, since I had been chosen arbitrator, not judge, I
would take a middle course. “ Now if,” I said, “ we
are entertaining young men, fellow citizens and inti-
mates, we must accustom them, as Timon says, to

for themselves without ostentation and vanity
whatever places they happen to find, taking good
humour as a fine viaticum to friendship ; but when
we are occupied with learned talk in the company of
forei istrates or older men, I am afraid
that, if we shut vanity out at the court-yard gate, we
may seem to be letting it in by the side gate, and
with plenty of non-distinctions. In this we must
_yield something to custom and usage; otherwise, let
| us do away with the drinking of toasts and with
familiar greetings, of which we make use when we
are doing honour not just to anyone nor carelessly,

but as carefully as possible

With place at table, meat, and many a cup,


as the king of the Greeks says,* putting order in
highest honour. And we praise Alcinoiis too because
he seats the stranger beside himself :


@ The verse stands in a speech of Hector’s at Jliad, viii.
162, in a speech of Sarpedon’s at Iliad, xii. 311. Like mis-
takes are made by Plutarch elsewhere (for example, 630 © and
741 r). As Hubert notes, the error at 617 a may indeed be
due to the confused recollection of Agamemnon’s remarks
about dinners in honour of the Elders (Jliad, iv. 348 ff.).


5 e Ss Capps, woTa Te iske :
sg evAaBds Capps, pad duAaypévws Reiske


VOL. VIII c 33





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(617) viov dvaorioas, ayamyvopa Aaopédovra,
¢ ¢ ; e , , ,
os ot mAnoiov fle, wddAvora bé pw diAcecker.


A \ > \ ~ / 4 / \
TO yap els THY TOD diAovpévov ywpav Kabioas Tov
¢ / > / > ~ \ / ”
ikeTnv emidetiov eupeAds Kai diAdvOpwrov. €att
d€ Kal mapa Tots Deots Sidkpiots TOV TorvovTwY" 6
pev yap Iloceddv Kaimep votatos eis THY €eK-
KAnotay TapayeVvopLevos ‘ilev dp’ ev pécooow,’

>
ws tavTns abT@ Tijs ywpas TpoonKovons. y) 8

"AOnva paiverar TOV mAnatov det tod Atos TOmTOV

efaiperov €xovoa: Kal TodTo mapeudaiver prev o
> wii ~
TounTys Ou wv emt THs M€ridds dyowv


C 7» 8 dpa map Au marpi xabélero, elf &
"AOnvn,


diappndnv 8° 6 Ilivdapos Aéyer


¢


mip mveovTos a TE KEpavvod
ayXLoTa HLEevn.


/ , / b) al ) aA ~

Kaito. dyoe Tinwy od Setv adaipetobar trav
\

dAAwy évi mpoovemovTa THY TYyYLHV. OmEp adbTos
€ouxe mrovetv padAdov: adapetrar yap 6 Kowov

~ x. ww A \ > 7¢/ ¢ 4
mouov TO lduov (idtov dé TO Kat afiay EKdoTov)
Kal moet Spdpov Kai o7rovdys TO mpwTEtov apEeTH
Kal ovyyeveia’ Kal apy Kal Tots TovovTois operdd-
pevov. Kat Td Avmnpos elvat Tots KexAnpévors

§ a ~ a se > e “~ A
devyew Soxdv waddov éféAxetar kal” adrod- AuTret
yap atooTep@v THs ovvyiBovs Tyshs EKaoTov.


1 edyeveia Herwerden.


* Odyssey, vii. 170 f. Plutarch’s Laomedon is a variant
(found also in some mss. of Homer) on Laodamas.
> Iliad, xx. 15. ¢ Iliad, xxiv. 100.


34





6%


TABLE-TALK I. 2, 617


His manly son Laomedon, who sat
Beside him, dearest of his sons, he caused
To rise and gave the guest his place.*


For it is exquisitely courteous and considerate to seat
a suppliant in the place of a loved one. Furthermore,
among the gods too a distinction prevails in such


matters. Poseidon, for instance, even though he


came last into the assembly,
Took his seat in the middle,”


implying that this place belonged to him. And
Athena is always seen to occupy the place of honour
beside Zeus; this the Poet shows incidentally by
what he says of Thetis,


She then sat down next Father Zeus,
Athena giving place to her®;


and Pindar expressly says of Athena,


She sat beside the thunderbolt
That breathes out fire.¢


Nevertheless Timon will say that one ought not to
rob the other guests of the honour due to position by
granting the position of honour to one of them. Yet
this is just what he himself seems to do by preference ;
for the man who turns an individual’s prerogative
(each man’s according to his worth) into common
property is committing a theft, and the recognition
due to virtue, kinship, public service, and such things
he is giving to the foot-race and to speed. Though he
thinks that he avoids being offensive to his guests, he
draws it down all the more upon himself to be so, for
he offends each one of them by depriving him of his
accustomed honour.


4 Frag. 146 (Snell) with omissions.
35


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(617) ‘“‘’Epot & od Alav yademov elvar Soke? TO meEpi
A / an \ \ > / a
Driv didxpiow: mp@tov pev yap eddptAdAor ois
> 4 \ \ / ~ > e /
a€wuspact moAAoi mpos piav KAfow ov padiws
amavT@ow* €meita TAEovwv Tow ev SdEn yeyo-
votwv adbovia tis Suavouas €oTw, av Tis edoToxetv
dvvntar, TOV pev OTL mp@Tos, Tov 8 Stu péoos,
A > 4 > e \ “” \ / A mal
tov 8 ort map adTrov 7» peta gdidrov twos 7
/ ” ~ \ ¢ / ~ >
ouv7ifous 7 Kabnyntod, didods ExdoTw Ta afiw-
patik@v Aeyouevwy, tots 8 dAAois Swpeds Kai
diroppootvnv, adAvmov' avdmavAay paAdov Tijs
ma ” > » 2 ‘ ¢ 367 , >
TyLns. av & axKpitow” pev at a€iar dvaKoAa 5
ot avopes Mow, dpa Tiva pynyarvny éemdyw Kata-
/ A > \ ” / , nn \
KAivw yap «is Tov evdokov pdAioTa Tomov, av pev
TaTip, TodTov apdpevos, et S€ py, wammov 7
‘ an“ A > \ ” ~ ¢
E zrevOepov 7) matpos adeAdov 7 twa tTav dpodo-
youpevny Kai idiav eyovTwy mapa T@ Seyouevw Ti-
ps brepoynv, €x TOv “Opurpov To Vewpynua Todto
AapBdvwv KabynkdvTwv. Kai yap exe? SHmrovbev 6
’"AytAreds tov MevéAewv Kai tov “Avtidoyov mepi
Tov Sevtepeiwy Tis immodpouias op@v d.adepo-
pévous Kai SedoiKws pr) Toppwrépw mpoeAPwow
> lon \ / t 2 4 Da
opyjs Kal diroverxias étépw BovAeTrar TO emrabAov
> / / A ” > Ul ‘
amroéidevat, Adyw pev EvdpndAov oiktipwv Kai Ti-
pa@v, epyw dé tis exeivwy Siadopas thy aitiav
apaipav.””
5. "Euod 5€ tovatira Adyovtos 6 Aapmpias €x
mapaBvetov Kabrjyevos Kabdmep ciwler peéya
? > , \ , > /
F dbeyEdpevos Hpwra tods mapdvras, «i diddacw
1 Wyttenbach: éd:zov.
2 8 dxpiro. Capps, Helmbold, Bolkestein: 8é lac. 3-4 rot.
36





TABLE-TALK I. 2, 617


“To me, however, the matter of making distinc-
tions among one’s guests does not seem Pear hant: In
the first place it does not easily happen that many
men who are rivals in honour meet at one party.
Next, inasmuch as there are a number of places which
have come to be held in honour, their distribution
does not arouse jealousy if the host is able to guess
rightly and give to each of the so-called dignitaries the
place a likes,—because it is the first, or in the middle,
or beside the host himself, or some friend of the guest,
or intimate, or teacher,—and receive the other guests
with gifts and friendly courtesies, an undisturbed
tranquillity rather than honour of place. But if the
honours are hard to decide, and the guests are touchy,
then see what device I apply. If my father is present,
I do him the honour of putting him in the most dis-
tinguished place ; if he is not present, I honour my
grandfather, or my father-in-law, or my father’s
brother, or any one among those guests who admit-
tedly have a particular claim to precedence at the
hands of the host, and it is from the poems of Homer
that I get this rule of propriety. There, you may re-
call, when Achilles sees Menelaiis and Antilochus dis-
puting about the second prize in a horse-race,* he is
afraid that they may become too angry and quarrel-
some and so proposes to give the prize to another,
ostensibly because he feels sorry for Eumelus, whom
he thus honours, but actually in order to remove the
cause of the quarrel between Menelaiis and Anti-
lochus.”

5. As I was speaking in this fashion, Lamprias
from a small couch which he occupied asked the
assembled company in his customary loud voice if


* Iliad, xxiii. 534 ff.
37


(617)


618


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


avT@ vouberfjoa Anpodvra Sucaoriy: KeAevovtwv
dé mavT ov xphobas mappyoia Kal 441) peiSeoBar,
“ris 8 ay,” epn, geicaito Ppiroaddou yevect Kai
mAovrous Kal dpyais wotep Oday ev ovptrociw
KATOVELOVTOS ] mpoedpias Pnpropdrov apdi-
KTVOVLK@V d:d0vT0s, Orrws pnd ev olvw Tov Topo
dnoddywpyev; otre yap mpds 76 evSofov GAAd
mpos TO Ov Set mrovetoPar Tas KaTaKXices, oUTE
TV €vos ExdoTov oKoTeiv afiav adAa THY éTépov
mpos €TEpov oxéow Kal appoviavy, womep aAAwv!
TwOv eis lav Kowwviav trapadapBavoyevwv. ovde
yap 6 oikoddpos Tov ’Artikov Aibov 7 Tov Aakwvi-
Kov po Tob BapBapixod 51a” thy edyeverav TiOnow
ovo” 6 Cwypados TH Tohureheorarwp Xpwpare THhv
Tyoupevny drro8iSwou xapav odd” 6 vauTrnyos
TpoTarret THY “To8puxny mit 7 Thy Kpnrixjy
Kumapittov, GAN’ ws av addndAois Exacta ovvTe-
Oévra Kat cvvappoobévta péeAAn TO KoWwov Epyov
ioxupov Kat KaAov Kal ypioywov mapéxew, ovTW
KaTaveu“ovow. Kal tov Yedv opds, dv ‘ apioTto-
texvav’ piv’? 6 Ilivdapos mpocetmev, od mavtaxod
TO Top dvw TaTToVvTa Kal KdTw THY yhv, aAd’ ws
av at ypetar TOV cwudtwv amraiT@ow:

TobTo pev ev Kdyxatot Baraccovepos Bapuved-

TOUS,
val unv Knpvkwy te Aoppivwy yedAdwv Te,


dnotv "EpredoxdAfs,
” > w+ / \ e / 4,
ev?’ oer yOova ypwros bréprata vareTaovaar,


1 JAdév Kronenberg.
2 Added by Vulcobius.


38





TABLE-TALK I. 2, 617-618


they gave him leave to reprove a judge who was
Dee nonsense. When all urged him to speak his
mind freely and show no mercy, ““ But who could,” he
said, ““ show mercy to a philosopher who assigns places
at a dinner-party to family, wealth, and official posi-
tion as one would assign seats at a show, a philosopher
who grants honours of precedence after the fashion
of amphictyonic decrees, so that not even when we
sit over wine may we flee conceit? For it is not
prestige, but pleasure which must determine the
placing of guests; it is not the rank of each which
must be considered, but the affinity and suitability of
each to each, as is done when other things are associ-
ated for a common purpose. The builder does not
value Attic or Laconian stone more highly because
of its noble origin than he does foreign stone, nor does
the painter give foremost place to the most expensive
pigment, nor the shipwright prefer Isthmian pine or
Cretan cypress, but they select such materials as may
be likely, when combined and joined with each other,
to render the finished product strong, beautiful, and
useful. And you yourself see that god, whom Pindar
named the ‘ master artisan,’ * does not in all cases
place fire above and earth below, but disposes them
as the needs of bodies require. Empedocles says :


In heavy-backed sea-mussels this is found
And turtles stony skinned and herald-fish,
Where you will see the earth-material

At rest upon the highest parts of flesh,”


e aoe 57, line 2 (Snell). The god is Zeus of Dodona.
Diels-Kranz, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, i*®, p. 339, frag. 76.
“* Herald-fish,” the purple mollusc.





3 Bolkestein : #yudv, with a superfluous acute accent to the
left of the circumflex, but no separation between p and w.


39


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(618) ody qv 4 pvows didwor ywpav, ard Hv % mpos TO
C Kkowov épyov mole? ovvrakis, ravrnv Eéyovcar.
TavTaxov jev ovv atakia mrovnpov, ev 8 avOpwrois,
Kal TavTa Tivovow, eyywopnervn padLoTa THY avTHAS

> / / 7 \ a »~
avadeikvuct poxOnpiavy vBper Kal KaKois dAdots
> / “a wD / ‘\ / ~
apvOytois, & mpoidéobar Kai duddkacbar taxtiKod

Kal appoviKod avdpds é€otiv.”

6. "OpOds odv edapev A€yew adrov Hels, Kal,
“ri 89 pOoveis THv TaxTiK@v juiv Kal apyov-

a yx Tre WA 2\7
Kav; ’’ [dv] €Aéyouev.

“ Oddeis,” Efn, “ POdvos, dv pwedAnte rreiPecbar
PEeTaKWWobVYTi ot Kal EeTAKOOpLOdVTL TO GUpETOOLOY,
womep TO "Enapewdvda tiv dddayya.” ovve-

D ywpodpev odv ovTw moteiv dmavtes. 6 S€ Tods
lal > / / / /
matdas ek pecov Kedevoas yeveobo, KataPrébas
LA ce 3 , > 99 ek / ,
exaoTov, ‘‘dxovoat’,” elev, “‘ ws uéAAw ovvtTdt-

e ~ > 7, / \ a)
Tew duds aAArAois: BovAopar yap mpoeieiv.
Sokel yap pot Kat tov “Opnpov ovK adikws 6
@nBatos aitiacacba: Iappévys ws tOv épwrikdv
+ 7 ~ , / ‘ /
ameipov, ott didra PvAois ovverakev Kat Ppatpias
>
dpatpias ouveuitev, S€ov epaotivy pet epwpevov
>
mapeuparAew tv’ 4 ovpmvous 4 ddday€ di’ Ans
” ” / ~ > \ ,
euibvyov €xovoa Seopov. Towdto Kayw BovrAojar
Touncat TO GupTrOaLoV HUdV, OV TAOVoiw mAovaLOV
ovdé véw veov odd’ apyovTt cvyKaTakAivwy apyovTa
‘ / / > / A 7 oe A A
E kat didw didov: axivntos yap avTn Kal apy mpos


edvoias émidoow 7 yéveow 4 Takis: adda TO


é


1 dv deleted by Xylander (translation); dy €Aéyopev de-
leted by Bolkestein.


40


TABLE-TALK I. 2, 618


_ that is, not occupying the position which nature allots,
_but the position which the functional order of the
organism demands. Now disorder is everywhere a
mischievous thing, but when it occurs among men,
and that too when they are drinking, then especially
it reveals its viciousness by the insolence and other
unspeakable evils it engenders ; to foresee these and
guard against them is the duty of a man with any pre-
pei to being an organizer and an arranger.
6. “So why grudge us our organizers and arran-
oe ?” I said, admitting the truth of his statement.
“There is no grudging,” he replied, “ if you will
allow me to change and rearrange our party as Epa-
minondas changed infantry formations.” We all
agreed to do so. He then ordered the servants to
leave the room and with a glance of appraisal at each
of us continued : “ Hear, then, how I intend to array
you with each other,—for I want to tell you before-
hand. The fact is I think that Pammenes* the
Theban was not unfair in accusing Homer of being a
om without skill in the ways of love because he
ed clans with clans and joined brotherhoods with
edt hoods,” when he ought to have brigaded lover
with beloved in order that throughout its whole the
army might possess a living bond and be animated by
one spirit. Such acompany I wish to make our dinner-
party, not seating rich men with rich man, nor young
man with young man, nor official with official and
friend with friend, for this arrangement is static and
inefficient in the promotion and creation of good-
fellowship ; but I supply what suits him to the man


* Pelopidas, xviii; Amatorius, 7618. For Epaminondas’
apts ace by tactic at Leuctra see Kl. P. ii. 281.


VOL. VIII c* 41


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(618) deopevw 7d oixetov mpocapyottwv Kedetw dido-
oyw pev droxatakrivecbar diropaby SvoxdAw
be mpaov ddoreaxy be mpeoBury pudrjKoov vea-
vicxov T@ 8 adalovt Tov elpwrva TH 8 opyiAw Tov
cuwmnrdv: édv 8€ mov Karidw mAovotov peya-
Addwpov, d&w mpdos adbrov éx ywrias Twos dava-
oTHoas mevnTa ypnoTov, iv’ womep ex TrArpous
KUALKOS Eis KEVT}V GTrOppon Tis yeévynTaL. scodioT7yV
d¢ kwrhtiw ovyKkatakAivecbar codioTH Kal TrovnTnY
TOUNTY) *

F arTwyxos yap mrwxyd Plover’ Kai dowdds aoda-


Kaito. LwoikAns otros Kal Méddeoros evradba
cuvepeloovtes Eros Trap’ Eros advalwrupeiv® drdya
? 4 , X , ’ ‘
peyaAny* Kwdvvedovow Ta Kadota. SiioTnpe Se
Kal otpayyadiavras Kal diAoAoddpous Kal o€v-
Odpovs mpddv’ twa mapevTileis péecov wWor7ep
619 pddaypa Tihs dvritumias, dAeumTiKovs dé Kal
KUYNYETLKOUS Kal VEWpyLKods cuvdyw* TaV yap
Opovory} Tey 7 pev HAXUL0S WoTrEp dNextpvoveny,
a S €TLELK1)S domepel! Tov Kodoviiy. ouvdyw de
Kal ToTUKOUS eis TAUTO Kai épwrixous, ov povoy
‘éc0is €pwros Shypa maduckav’ mpdceotw, ws
~ > A \ \ >, ‘ ‘
dno. LodokAfs, aAAa Kat Tovs emi yuvarki Kai
Tovs émt maplévois Saxvopevovs: TH yap av’T@
Badropevor mupt paAdov adAdAjAwy avriAjpovrat,
pOoveer added by Xylander.
map €ros Stephanus: rapa lac. 6-8.
Bernardakis : Cwzvpiwr.
Bernardakis: ev dAAa.
Bernardakis : lac. 3-4.


Doehner: woz7ep ot (sic).
madiuxav added by Bernardakis from Mor. 77 8, which


ay ocwrFf © WS


42


a <q


TABLE-TALK I. 2, 618-619


who lacks it and invite him who is eager to learn to


sit with a learned man, the gentle with the peevish,
the young who like to listen with the old who like to
talk, the reticent with the braggart, the calm with the
irascible. And if by chance I see a guest who is rich
and munificent, I shall rout out from some corner an
honest poor man and introduce him, so that an out-
pouring from a full into an empty goblet may take
place. But sophist I shall forbid to sit with sophist


_and poet with poet,


For beggar is jealous of beggar and bard of bard.*


Indeed, Sosicles and Modestus here, as they set verse
against verse,” run a very fair risk of kindling a great
flame. My way is to separate contentious, abusive,
and quick-tempered men by placing between them
some easy-going man as a cushion to soften their
clashing ; and athletes, hunters, and farmers I intend
to bring together ; for the characteristic which unites
the former group is a contentiousness like that of
cocks, while the latter group have the gentleness of
daws. And I shall put together men who like to


drink,—and lovers too, not only those


Who feel the bite of love for lads,


as Sophocles says,° but also those bitten by love for
women and for girls. For they will cleave to each
other all the more for being heated by the same fire,


* Hesiod, Works and Days, 26.

» Cf. Aristophanes, Clouds, 1375.

© Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag.*, p. 309, frag. 757; Pearson,
ave hg tag of Sophocles, iii, p. 55, frag. 841. Quoted also
at Mor. 77 s.


Pearson misjudges (Sophocles, frag. 841) and Babbitt mis-
translates (LCL Mor. i, p. 413).





43


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(619) kabdrep 6 O KoAAuspevos aténpos, a av pa) vy Ala rod
adtobd TUYwaw 7) Ths abtis épa@vres.’


IIPOBAHMA T
B Ava ti t&v témwv 6 KaAovpevos tratiKds Eoxe TYHy


Collocuntur iidem qui in qu. II


°Ex’ tovrov mept TOV TOTwY everrece Cnrjots.
aAXou yap aAAots evtiwor, Llépoais pev 6 peoaitaros
ep ob KkataxXiverau Baotreds, “EAAnar 8° 6 mpAros,
“Pepators 8° 6 Ths péons xhovns te\evtaios 6v
UTaTLKOV mpocayopevovow, TOV O€ TEpi TOV Ilévrov
‘EM gvev eviots, WOTTEp “Hpakdecirais, eumradw 6
Ths péons mp@tos. aAdAa zrepi Tob y drrariKod
Aeyopevov pddora Sunmopobpev. obtos yap empos-
TEve TH TYLH Kal pas, Kal THY aitiay ov as
C 6 mp@Tos ov0’ ws 6 péoos elev vevopiapevyy
eTL, Kal TOV ovpBeBn orev atT@ Ta bev ovK TV
iova TovTOV povou Ta, 5 obdepids agia omovd7s
epaivero. many Tpia ye tav AcexyOévTwr exiver,
T™p@Tov pev ort Tous Baotrets kataAvoavtes ot
vTrarou Kal ™mpos TO SnpotiKdrepov & dmavra MeTaKO-
opnoavres ex Tis péons Kal Baothuchs Xapas
darfjyov avrovs Kare ovyxwpobrres, ws pn de
TOUTO Tis apyfs adTav Kal é€ovoias éemraybes ein


ex added by Reiske, é« 5¢ by Xylander (see Bolkestein,
Adv Crit. p. 70).





* IT accept Bolkestein’s interpretation of xaé” jas (Adv.
Crit. p. 70). For the imperfects of the Greek in this sentence
see Kiihner-Gerth, Ausfiih. Gr. Gram. i, p. 145. 5; Smyth,
Gr. Gram. 1901.


44


TABLE-TALK I, 2-3, 619


like welded iron,—unless, by Zeus, they happen to be
in love with the same lad or the same girl.”’


QUESTION 3


Why the place at banquets called the consul’s
acquired honour


The speakers are the same as in the preceding conversation


Next our inquiry fell upon the subject of the places
atabanquet. It did so because different peoples hold
different places in honour: the Persians the most
central place, occupied by the king ; the Greeks the
first place ; the Romans the last place on the middle
couch, called the consul’s place ; and some of the
Greeks who dwell around the Pontus (the people of
Heraclea, for example) contrariwise the first place of
the middle couch. However, it was about the so-
called consuls place that we were particularly puzzled.
For in our time ¢ this place is held first in honour, and
yet the reason is no longer recognized as it is in the
case of the first or the middle place; and of the
characteristics of the consul’s place some do not be-
long to it alone and the rest seem worthy of no serious
consideration. Yet three of the explanations ad-
vanced made an impression upon us.? The first was
\that the consuls, when they had put down the
monarchy and rearranged everything in a more demo-
cratic fashion, by way of concession demoted them-
selves from the royal central place, in order that not
even this mark of their office and their power should


> For the oes tara of the following see
Becker and Gdll, lus, iii (Berlin, 1882), pp. 380 ff. ; ef.
RE, s.v. “ Triclinium,” col. 95.


45


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(619) tots ovvotow: Sevtepov 8 ori, Trav Svety KAwav
amrodedopevwv Tots tapakekAnpevois, 4 TpiTn Kal
D TavrNs ) mp@Tos Toros pahvora Too EOTL@VTOS
€oTw: evtadba yap Gorep nvioxos 4) KuBepv7jrys
emt dekud ™pos thy emiPAepw eLucvetrar THS
dmmpecias Kal Tob prrogpoveiabas Kai diahéyecBa
Tots mrapodow | ovK darpryrae: TOV be ouveyylora
TOTWY oO ev" bm” adToV 7) yuvaKos 7 Taldwy €oTiV,
6 8 bmep adrov eikéTws TH pddioTta Tipwpevn
TOV KekAnpévwv ameddbn, Ww’ eyyds 7 Tod éoTL-
@vtos. tpitov 8 éyew idiov obdtos 6 Témos eddKet
TO Tpos THY mpakiw eddhves: od yap eoTW 6 THY
‘Pwpaiwv v fos “Apyias 6 OnBaiwy modé-
wuatwy vmatos olos “Apyias 6 On
papyos, Wore, ypappdtwv 7 Adywv adT@ perakd
E deirvotyvte ppovridos afiwy mpoomecdvtTwy, émi-
PleyEdpevos, “eis Ew Ta Omovdaia,’ THY peEv
emiotoAnv mapHoat AaBeiv dé tHv OnpixdAccov,
GAAd war’ eéupenaws


b)


a / lal
Kal TEepieckempevos €v Tots ToLOUTOLS KaLpots. ov
yap jLovov
wdiva tikres vE KuBepyntyn copa


\ \ > , 4 2 ‘ \ , A ‘
kata tov AioyvdAov, aAAa Kal woTOV maoa Kal
avécews Wpa oTpaTny® Kal apyovtt dpovridos
+ ” 6 @ / 7 9 ~ / 2? “a 5 ~ 5
agévov Epyov. wa TolWvy aKovaat a O€l KQL

1 Added by Vulcobius.

2 yap after ev deleted by Vulcobius.

$ So Xylander from Aeschylus: tixre: «vB lac. 6-8. -

4 zov AioyvAov Emperius (so Bolkestein, op. cit. p. 71) :
lae. 5-7.

5 dvé<cews 7S0v7 oTpatrn>y@ Stephanus, ape for 78ov7)
Pohlenz: lac. 5-8.


46


TABLE-TALK I. 3, 619


remain to offend their associates. The second explana-
tion was that, inasmuch as two of the couches are}
given over to the guests, the third couch and the first.
place on it certainly belongs to the host,—for here, like’
a charioteer or a pilot, he is favourably placed to watch |
over the service and is not prevented from entertain-
ing and conversing with those who are present,—and |
of the places nearest him the one which is below him
belongs either to his wife or his children, while the one
above him was given properly enough to the guest of
honour in order that he might be near his host.
__ Thirdly, this place seemed to have peculiar advan-
_* tages for the transaction of business ; for the consul
of the Romans is not like the Theban polemarch
Archias,* and, when letters or messages deserving
notice are brought to his attention in the midst of a
dinner, does not push the letter aside with the remark
“ serious things tomorrow ! ” and take up his Theri-
clean goblet ®; on the contrary the consul “ is very
stern’ and prudent at such times. For not only does
Night bring a skilful pilot
The misery of fear,
as Aeschylus °® says, but also every hour spent in
drinking and in dethsition brings to a general or gov-
ernor some business worthy of close attention. In
order, then, that he may be able to hear about all


@ See Mor. 596 x-r, and Life of Pelopidas, x, for more
details and some variants of this anecdote ; ¢f. Nepos, Pelo-


pidas, 3.
> For the Thericlean cylix see Athenaeus, 470 e, and RE,
s.v. “* Therikles,” no. 2.
_* Suppliants, 770; of. Mor. 1090 a.


sites or tt (se. tixrec) Pohlenz; éorw. “Ita vero longius
a tione aberrabimus”: Bolkestein, loc. cit.
* Added by Bernardakis: lac. 3-4.





47


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(619) zpoordfa: Kai troypdyar Svvntrar, Todrov e€aipe-
Tov €xyet TOV TOToV: ev @ THs Sevtépas KAivyns TH
TpiTy! ovvamrovans, uy) ywvia SudAeupupra mowodoa
Th Kah Sidwow Kal ypapparel Kal oanpery Kal

F dvAaxt owpatos Kat ayyéAw tov amo oTpato-
méSou mpoceAbetv SiadrexOjvar mvbécOar, pire Twos
évoyAobvtos atvT@ pyre Twos éevoyAovpévov TV
ouptroT@v, aAAa Kai yeipa Kal dwvyv trepdeEvov
€yovTt Kal aKwdAutov.


620 ITPOBAHMA A


al a
Tlotév twa det Tov ovptrociapyov elvat


Collocuntur Plutarchus, Crato, Theo


/ ¢ ‘ e ~ \ / 4. ¢@ a
1. Kpatwv 6 yauBpos judy kat @éwv 6 Eetaipos
év twe méTw Tapowias apynv AaBovons efra
TavoopLevns Adyov ETOLNOAVTO TEPL THS ovpTrocvap-
ylas, oldpevoi pe Seiv oTepaynpopobvra LL) Tept-
Letv maNavov" €Jos exerpbev TavTaTracw, add’
dvaxahetv Kal karaorhoa madw Tis dpxfis THY
VevopLiopevny emloTaciav mept TO ovpmToava Kal
dvakdopnow. eddxet de Tabra Kat. Tots aAAo.s,
B wore OdpuBov éx ravTwy Kal TapaKkAnow yevecbat.

¢¢> \ / +> > 7 ce a ~ ~
Exel toivuv,” ednv éeyw, “ doxet tadta maou,


1 Meziriacus: mpdwérp.
2 Added by Bernardakis:. lac. 5.


@ Presumably the husband of a niece (so Ziegler, after
Wilamowitz, RE, s.v. “ Plutarchos,” col. 651. 26-43). Fur-
ther, see above, p. 9, note c.

> Cherniss (LCL Mor. xii, p. 7) believes that O¢wv 6 éraipos
here and in De EF, 386 p, is probably the Theon of De Pythiae
Oraculis, Non Posse Suaviter Vivi, and Quaest. Conviv. iv. 3
(667 a) and viii. 6 (726 a ff.); further, that the Theon of De


48








TABLE-TALK I. 3-4, 619-620


=——$——


the contrary, the consul can write and speak under
favourable conditions and without hindrance.


QUESTION 4
What sort of man the symposiarch must be
Speakers: Plutarch, Crato, Theon


1. Craro, my relative by marriage,* and my friend
Theon,” at a drinking-party at which tipsy fun had
and then quieted down, got into a discussion
about the office of symposiarch, being of the opinion
that I ought to assume the chaplet and not allow an
old custom to be altogether abandoned, but should
revive and establish again the traditional authority of
the office in regard to drinking-parties and their regu-
lation. The other guests were of the same opinion, so
that a great clamour arose from all sides and insistence
that I should serve.
_“ Since, then,” I said, “you are all of one opinion, I


Facie, whose home was in t (939 Hie is probably the
Odaw 6 ypapparixds of Quaest. Conviv. i. 9 (626 £) and viii. 8
(728 r); and finally, that certainly @éwy 6 éraipos is not the
same as the Theon of De Facie. ers have other solutions
(Flacelitre, Sur V'E de Delphes, p. 11; Ziegler, RE, s.v.
* Plutarchos,” col. 686, and s.v. “ Theon,” no. 10),—much
less reasonable in my opinion.


49


(620)


C


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> ec ~ ~
€“avTOV atpobjat ovutrociapyov buadv Kal KeAevw
4 A »” e , Ul > ~
tovs prev aAdovs ws BovdAovrar mivew ev TH
/ K / be \ @® / ‘ > ‘
mapovTt, Kpatwva d€ Kal Oéwva, tods elonyntas
Kat vonob€etas Tod Sdypatos, ev mw Bpayé
pe S ypatos, ev Twi TUTw Bpayews
8 NG] Cal ¢ A + a A / e cal
teAGeiv, omrotov ovta Set TOv cuptrociapyov aipei-
‘ / , / ¢ e ‘ + ‘
afar Kal Ti trovovpevos TéAos 6 aipeDeis adpEer Kai
~ , 1 A A \2 / /
TOS xpioeTat’ Tols KaTAa TO” ovprootov’ dieAeoBar
de® tov Adyov édeEfs* adrots émutpémw.’”®
\ \ s > / ,
2. Mixpa pev odv HKKicavTo mapatTovpevot’
/ \ / / ~ »+ ‘
KeAevovtwy dé mavtwv meifecbar TH apyovTe Kal
~ A / ” / e /
To.etvy TO TpooTaTTOMEVov, Edn mpoTepos 6 Kpdtrwv
4 ~ \ \ / + 7
ort det Tov prev dvddKwv apyovta dvdakiKwTaTov,
ws dyow 6 IlAdtwv, elvar, tov S€ ocupmordv
, cc mM \ ~ vn , ~
cuptoTiKwTtatov. ““ €at. d€ ToLodTos av pnTE TO
/ a 7 > /, A A / > ,
peOvew eddAwros 7 pte mpos TO Tivew ampo-
~ \
Oupos, aA ws 6 Képos eAeyev mpos Aakedat-
> a > ~
povious ypadwy ott ta T GAAa Tod adeAdod
~ 4 Ld
BaowiKwtepos ein Kai dépor Kadds moddv akpa-
Ld A ~ e \ \ > la @
Tov 6 Te yap Trapowav bBpioTns Kal aoxyLwY, O
> A \ a
T ad mavtdrac. vidwv andjs Kal maidaywyeiv
~ a / ¢ A >
pGAAov 7) cuptrooapyetv® emityidevos. oO pev ovv
~ e / ¢ / ‘ >
IlepixAfjs, oodkis npnuevos orpatnyos avadap-


1 Amyot: xpio8a.
50








TABLE-TALK I. 4, 620


appoint myself your symposiarch, and I bid the rest
of you drink as you like for the present, but Crato and
Theon, the instigators and authors of this resolution,
I order to sketch in brief outline the qualities a man
ought to have to be chosen symposiarch, the objec-
tives the man selected will keep in view in the ad-
ministration of his office, and the manner in which he
will make use of drinking-party customs. I leave to
their discretion to determine between themselves the
order of their speaking.”’

2. Thus summoned to speak, with some small
degree of affected diffidence they tried to beg off, but
when all commanded them to obey the leader and do
his bidding, Crato began by saying that the com-
mander of guardsmen must be the quintessence of a
guardsman, to use Plato’s phrase,* and the leader of
a company of drinkers must be the quintessence of a
convivialman. ‘ And he is such if he is neither easily
overcome by drunkenness nor reluctant to drink,’ but

e Cyrus,° who said in a letter to the Lacedaemo-
nians that he was in general more kingly than his
brother and besides found no difficulty in carrying a
great deal of undiluted wine,—for the drunkard is
insolent and rude and, on the other hand, the com-
plete teetotaler is disagreeable and more fit for tend-
ing children than for presiding over a drinking-party.
Now Pericles, after he had been elected head of


® Republic, 412 c.
> Cf. 645 a and 715 p.


* The Younger: cf. Mor. 173 ©; Life of Artaverves, vi.


® Added by Wilamowitz.
8% Amyot: 5e7.
* Hubert, éxeivois Bolkestein: é lac. 3-5.
5 Amyot: émrpérwy.
® Basel edition : zocapyeiv.





51


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA
(620)

D Bavor rhv xAapvda, mp@rov' eidber SvadéyecOar
mpos avTov Bomep drropivnckwy, ‘ dpa, Ilepi-
KAeus: éAevfepwr apYets, “EAAjvaw Gpxets, ‘AOn-
vatwv apXets 6 de ovproaiapxos pay exeivos
Aeyerw mpos. avror, * pido EpXELs,, iva pnt
doxnwovety Em iTpEeTN pare Tas ndovas dpaupi)
det de Kad a7mrovd7ns TOV apxYovTa muvovtTwy oiKketov
elvat Kal moudias py adAXddtpiov, GAN ed mws
ovyKeKpapevov mpos dpporepa, opuKp@ de padov,
Bomep olvov d aoretov, darovevovra. Th gpuoet mpos TO
avoTnpov: 6 yap olvos afer TO WOos eis TO pé-
Tpiov padaKWTEpov TroL@v Kal avuypaivwy. worrep
yap 0 Hevoddr eAeyev tot KAedpyov 76 oxvipwaov

E Kai dypouxov dAdws ev tais pdyas 760 Kal
daidpov emidaivecbar dia TO Bappadréov, ottws 6
pn pdoet miKpos GAA cevos Kai adornpos ev TO
mivew aviewevos Hdiwy yiyverar Kal mpoadiAcore-
pos. €7t Tolvuv adt@ Set mpoceivar TO pddAvora
bev ExdoTov THY aupTroT@v eputreipws Exew, Tiva
AapBaver petaBodAnv év oivw Kal mpdos ti maos
akpoopadrys €ott Kai THs hepet TOv akpatov (ov yap
olvov pev €oT mpos Vdwp ETEpov éTépa pitis, Hv
ot BaowArtkol yuyvwdoKovtes oivoydoot viv pev mA€ov


1 Franke: mpdros. 2 Hubert: exeiva.
p





* The anecdote is repeated in Regum et Imperatorum
Apophthegmata (Mor. 186 c), where it is applied to military
command (cf. Babbitt, LCL Mor. iii, p. 97). It is also re-
peated in Praecepta Gerendae Reipublicae ( Mor. 813 ®).
Gomme conflates 186 c and 813 £ ts pplies both to military
command (Commentary on Thucydides i, pp. 23-24), but the
context at 813 © and here at 620 c suggests to me not so much


52








TABLE-TALK I. 4, 620


state,* every time he took up his cloak, would first say
to himself, as though reminding himself, ‘ Keep in
mind, Pericles, you govern free men, you govern
Greeks, you govern Athenians’; so let that sym-
posiarch of ours say to himself, ‘ You govern friends,’
in order that he may neither allow them to misbehave
nor deprive them of their pleasures. Further, one
who governs drinkers must be congenial to serious-
ness and no stranger to play, must have both qualities
properly blended, and yet, like a choice wine, incline
a little towards austerity, for the wine he drinks will
bring his character to a happy mean, making it softer
and more pliant. Clearchus’s sullen and churlish
aspect, according to Xenophon,’ appeared in com-
bat paradoxically pleasant and cheerful because of
the man’s courage ; just so one who is not naturally
bitter, but dignified and austere, becomes pleasanter
and more lovable when he is relaxed in drinking.
Moreover the symposiarch must have a very good
understanding of each of the drinkers, knowing what
change drinking produces in each, into what emotional
state he is apt to fall, and how he carries strong drink
—for just as mixtures of wine and water vary with
different waters, which the royal wine-stewards know
and so pour into the wine now more water and now
the s cally military as the general political as f

sratagi, an ofice to which Percis was elected year afte
year and which did in fact provide him the basis of his politi-
cal control of Athens (cf. Vite of Pericles, xvi. 3). I there-
fore paraphrase orparnyds, literally ‘“‘ general’ (there were
ten such elected each year), with “ head of state,” though the
Athenian constitution made no provision for an office legally
so called. For the strategia see C. Hignett, A History “if the
Athenian Constitution, pp. 244-251 and 347-356; A. H. M.


Jones, Athenian Democracy, pp. 124-127.
> Anabasis, ii. 6. 11 f.


53


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(620) viv 8 €datrov troxéovow, avOpamov dé mpos
olvov odvK €or idia Kpdo.s, iv TO ovprrocidpyw
F yuyva@oKe TMPoonKEel Kat yeyvaboKovrt puddrrew,
iy @amep appoviKos TOV [Lev emureiveuy Th moet
tov dveels Kal vTropEeoopevos ets opadornra Kal
ouppoviay eK Svagpopas KaTAOTHOY Tas dvceis),
OWS [A1) KoTvAy a € Kuadlois TO toov, aAAa
KaLpod TLL METPW Kal OWmaTos SuVaLEeL TO OiKETOV
621 Exdotw Kal mpocpopov amoveunta. et d€ TOOTS
ye SvoKxodov, éxeiva de’ mavtws e€edevar TH
CULOOLAPXYW TMpOO|KEL, TA KOWG TEpPL Tas PUoeEts
Kat Tas AtKias’ olov mpeaBorar Taxvov pweOVoKov-
Tat vewy, cadevdpevor 5’ hpewovvtwyv, €AAvTrow” dé
Kal medpovtikdtes edOUuwv Kal ihapdv, of de
py? avédnv Kat Katakdpws* didyovres® TOV aced-
yawovtwy. KddAa To1adO’ a° yryyacKwv av’ Tis
padXov tot ayvoodvtos evaxynpwootyvny Kal opo-
vo.av ovprociov mpuTavevoeev. Kal pv OTL ye
def TOV ovptrociapyov oikeiws Exew Kal PidiKas
mpos amavras UmovAov dé pndevi pnd amexOA THV
€oTiwpevwy elvat mavti mov dAov- ovTe yap
ETITATTWY GVEKTOS OUT GTrove“wY Laos OUTE TpOC-
B railwy duws avéykAntos €otat. Tovdrov,’ Edy,
“Gor, O€wr, ey Tov dpyovTa ovptrociov mAdoas

womep EK KNpod TOD Adyov Trapadidwp.””
8. Kai 6 Odwr, “adda Séyowar pév,” elmer,


1 81) Pohlenz.
2 Stephanus: dAvzou lac. 4-6.
3 of dé uw) Hubert, of uw) Doehner: lac. 4-6.
4 Stephanus: «xara lac. 6-8.
5 Doehner: dzdyovres.
6 Hubert: kal rovadra.
*7 Emperius: peév partially erased.


54


TABLE-TALK I. 4, 620-621


less, so does toleration for wine vary from person to


person, which it is the duty of the symposiarch to
know and, knowing, to watch over, that, like a musi-
cian, keying one up to drinking and relaxing another
and scanting him a little, he may bring the natural
se etl of the guests from diversity into smooth
and harmonious accord,—the symposiarch, I say,
must know how each guest carries his wine so that he
may serve to each not an equal amount kotylé by
kotylé or kyathos by kyathos but the amount which is
a proper and suitable measure for each man’s tem-
por ‘ondition or permanent capacity. If this is
Nificelt, then it is the syimpostarch’s ie by all
means to know the characteristics common to men
of the same temperament or to men of the same age:
namely, that old men get drunk more quickly than
young men, tempestuous men more quickly than
calm men, gloomy and apprehensive men more
quickly than happy and cheerful men, and those who
are not immoderate and intemperate in their living
than those whose life is dissipated. With knowledge
of these and like characteristics he can regulate the
decorum and harmony of a party better than the man
who knows them not. And certainly it is obvious to
everyone, I imagine, that the symposiarch must be
intimate and friendly with all of the guests, and
cankerous and hateful to none,—for he will be un-
bearable when imposing his orders upon them,
inequitable when serving them, and, though he joke
with them, yet will he not avoid giving offence.
Such,” Crato concluded, “ is the leader of the dinner-
party that I turn over to you, Theon, fashioned out
of the wax of talk, as it were.”

8. And Theon replied, “ Well, I accept the man


55


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ce A ¢ \ >
(621) “ ovrws opuadov' azeipyacuévoy tov dvdpa Kat
/ ~
ovptoTiKov’ et d€ xpioowat Kata TpoTov® adT@
\ \ ~
Kal 1) KaTatoxuv® TO Epyov, ovK olda* evKparov®
dé pow Soke? Tovwodros* dv Td ovpmdoov SiadvdAd-
5 ¢ aA \ / ~
Eew® piv Kal pr) treproyecOar® viv pev éexxAnoiav
\ ~ \ ~
Snuokpatixny vov dé oxoAjy copiaTob yeyvopevny
abs de KuBevripiov eitd mov oxnvny Kal Oupedny.
Hh yap ovy opéire TOUS eV Onpaywyobvras Kal
dixalopevovs mapa Seimvov, tods dSé peAera@vras
C kal avayvyyvackovtas abT&v twa ovyypdupara,
tovs d€ pipots Kal dpynotais dywvoberobvras ;
“AAKiBiddns dé Kal Oecdwpos teheoTaptov € eTroinaav
TO ILovAuriwvos" oupmdovov darojLupLovpLevou dadov-
xlas Kai lepodavrias. av oddév oluar TH apyovte
mepiomtTéov: aAAa Kai Adyois Kal OBedpact Kai
mavd.ats Swoet Térov EkEivois Ovois, OG POS TO
\ / > a ~ > /
cupmotikov téAos e€ixveitar: todto 8 Hv diAlas
éritacw } yeveow di Hdovqs evepyaoacbat Tots
mapotow: diaywyi ydp €oTw ev oww TO cupTO-
o.ov eis piAiav bro ydpitos TeAevTHoa.
~ \ ~
“Karel b€ mavrayod mAjopuov Kat mroAAayod
\ \ + e \ a e n“ > ~
D BraBepov ro axpartov, 7 de pikis, ols av ev Kaip@
/ > “a
Kal META METPOV TAapayevyTaL TpdypacW, apapet
+ #29 \ r / \ To) / ‘ Xr Cal A
Tayav, @ Kal BArAawres Ta dea Kat AvTEt Ta
1 odtws ouaddv Hubert: obrw paAdov.
2 «ata tpdmov Hubert: xara wav.
$ Paton: lac. 6 Tov.
4 Stephanus: tov lac. 1-2 owy (sic).
5 Wyttenbach: lac. 5- 7 ot


6 Reiske: decbar. | eae Ben Gs igh *
8 Bolkestein : ivilssbiie ass


56





TABLE-TALK I. 4, 621


fashioned to be so equable and convivial. But
whether I shall make fitting use of him and not bring
dishonour upon your work of art, I do not know ; yet
it seems to me that such a man will keep our party
temperate and will not allow it to become now a
rabble-ruled congress, now a sophist’s school, and
+ he lp roe and then perhaps a
stage a dancing-floor. For do you not see men
who play the politician and harangue a jury at dinner,
others who declaim and read selections from their
own writings, and others who put on shows with
mummers and dancers? Alcibiades and Theodorus
made Poulytion’s party a Telesterion with their
mimicry of the torch ceremony and the initiation


' ritual. None of this, I think, must our leader allow ;


rather he will only give a place to that talk, that
spectacle, that amusement which accomplishes a
party’s aim, and this aim is through pleasure to pro-
duce among those who are present the heightening
of friendship or to bring it into existence ; for the
drinking-party is a passing of time over wine which,
guided by gracious behaviour, ends in friendship.
“What is undiluted is everywhere surfeiting and
often harmful, but dilution, on those occasions when
timely and measured use is made of it, takes away the
excess which makes pleasure harmful and profit dis-


Andocides, i. 11 ff. ; [Plato], Eryette, 394 8. The record of
the sale of property confiscated by the Athenian state from
these two and from their friends is in part preserved: W. K.
Pritchett and D. A. Amyx, “ The Attic Stelai,”” Hesperia,
xxii (1953), pp. 225-299; xxv (1956), pp. 178-328; xxvii
(1958), pp. 163-310; xxx (1961), pp. 23-29.


9 ddaipet rayav & Bernardakis : ddapetrar dvw.





57


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(621) wPeAya, SHAov Sti Kai Tots wivovew 6 emorarns
pewypevnv tia mrape€er Siaywyrv. akovwv odv
ToAAGY Aeyovtwy, Ott TAods pev 6 mapa yihv
mepimatos 8 6 mapa OddAatray 7dvoTds e€oTwW,
ovTws tapaBaret’ tH omovdy thy matdidv, dws
ol Te trailovtes duwoyemws omovdns Twos Exwvrat
Kal 7aAw ot amovdalovres avabappdow, womep oi
vauTi@vTes eyytlev eis yiv® thy maidiav dzo-
BA€émovtes. €oTt yap Kal yéAwr. yphobat mpos
ToAka T&v wheAiwv Kal omovdnv detav mapa-

E oyetv,


2:3 3 / ~
Ws av exwwdrrodas Kal ava TpnxEtav Ovwviv
dvovrar wadakadv avlea AevKoiwv.


doa 8 dvev orrovdys ereroxwydlovaww Tots auptro-
clots mratdiai, TavTas émipeAds Siakedevoerar Tos
, > = \ , ¢ \ 3
ovpmotais evAaBetobar, 7) AdPwow vBpw mKpav
Kabdrep tooxvapov éuBaddvres* olvw, ws° Tots
Aeyouéevois tpootaypacw e€vBpilovow, mpoorat-
a a a” / ~ n”
tovtes aoew yeAdois 7 xrevileoBat dadaKkpois 7
aokwrialew ywdois. worep “Ayapnarope’ TO
"Axadnuaik® emrov € exovre Kal KerepOunos TO
F oxédos érnpedlovres of Evprdtar mavras exédevoav
emi Tod SeEvod odds EoTMras €xmelv TO TOTHPLOV
7) Cnpiav KataBadeiv: tod 5é mpooraccew trepteA-
1 Stephanus: zapaBaAAe. 2 Added by Doehner.
* Pohlenz: lac. 4-6, 4 Salmasius: AaBovres.
5 &s Bernardakis, ofov Hubert, «ai (which avoids hiatus)...


efuBpilwow (but euBpiLovow T) Wyttenbach.
® Basel edition: *Ayamjoropt.





* Diehl, Anth. Lyr. Gr. i, p. 111, no. 1; quoted also at
58


TABLE-TALK I. 4, 621


tressful ; therefore, it is clear that the gentleman who
presides will provide for the drinkers a mixed pro-
gramme of entertainment. And so, giving heed to
the testimony of many that the pleasantest sailing is
along the coast, while the pleasantest walk is by the
sea, he will accordingly throw in something playful
alongside the serious in order that men of playful
dispositions may in some fashion make contact with
a certain degree of seriousness and again that serious
men, like seasick voyagers catching sight of land near
by, may cheer up as they catch sight of something
playful. For laughter serves for many useful pur-
poses and seriousness can be pleasant,


As flowering soft white violets grow
Mid urchin’s-foot and rough restharrow.*


He will take care to bid the drinkers beware of all
those games that, with no intent of seriousness, come
enter ng. into parties like a drunken crowd, lest un-
awares the members of the party introduce an inso-
lent violence bitter as henbane in their wine as they
run riot with their so-called commands, ordering
stammerers to sing, or bald men to comb their hair,
or the lame to dance on a greased wine-skin. Thus,
by way of rudely mocking Agamestor the Academi-
cian,? who had a weak and withered leg, his fellow-
banqueters proposed that each man of them all drain
off his cup while standing on his right foot, or pay a
penalty. But when it came the turn of Agamestor
Mor, 44 © and 485 a and at Athenaeus, 97 d._ In the Index
of Plants in vol. vii of Pliny, Nat. Hist. (LCL) éxywézous is
identified as the broom Genista acanthoclada.

» According to Apollodorus (frag. 47, Jacoby, Frag.
Griech. Historiker, ii, p. 1033) the philosopher Agamestor
died in the archonship of Xenocles, 168/7 s.c. (Meritt, Ath.
Year, p. 236.)

59


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/ > > / b / , 7 ~
(621) @dvros «eis adrov, exédevoe mavtas ovTws mElv,
Ws av adrov tdwow: Kat KEepapiov otevod’ Kopt-
/ > a“ \ > a“ / \ es \
abévros eis TobTO TOV aobevf wdda Kabeis e&éme TO
/ ¢ > ” / ce > 7
ToTHpiov, ol 7) dAXo \mavres, ws epaiveto Tmeu-
622 pwpevors advvatov, améticav THv Cypiav. Xapiers
oy “Ayapnotwp,” Kal TrounTéov evKoAous ovTw
Kat tAapas tas dptvas: tots S€° mpooTdypactw
eOiotéov xphoba: mpos Hdovnv Kai wdeAccav, Ta
oikeia Kal duvata Kai Koopotvta tov dpavra
mpooTaccovtas, @mdiKois Goat pnTopiKois eizretv
dirooddoais Adcat ti. THY amopovpevwy Trointais
mpoeveyKacba* otixous. ndews yap eis Tol
ExaoTos ayeTat Kal 7pobJpws,
rae) 2 A page 4s , ”
iv’ adtos abtod Tuyyavn’® KpatioTos wr.
““Q pev otv trav “Acovpiwvy Baotdeds aOAov
bo KipuKos KaTHyyeirev TH Kauvny mdovny e€-
eupovre- oupiTroatou de Baowreds aotetov dOXov
B dv Kal yépas mpobein" T@ Travduav dvvBprorov
elonynoapevep Kal Tepibw dpéhpov Kal yeAwra LA)
PapLov pnd UBpewv add XapiTos Kal prrogpo-
ovvns € éTatpov" ev ols Ta mrA€ioTa vavayet oupmroo.a
pn TvxOvTA TraLdaywyias opOAs. €aT. de awdpovos
> \ ” / \ > 7 > > ~
avdpos €xOpav dvdAdrrecbat Kai opyyv, ev ayopa
1 Amyot: xevod, defended by Paton, perhaps rightly.
2 Basel edition: ’Ayamjorwp.
3 zois 5€ P. A. C., efra Capps, adda xai Vulcobius: lac.
5-7. 4 Stephanus: zpocevéyxac8a.
5 rvyxaver Bernardakis: ruyydvn (sic). E. R. Dodds de-
nies that the generic subjunctive can properly omit av with


iva (Plato, Gorgias, note on 484 £ 7).
§ Vulcobius: zpoodein.





* Euripides, frag. 183, line 3 (Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag.*, p.
413). Cf. Moralia, 43 8, 514 a, 630 B.


60


ee ee eT ee Te ee ee ee ee an


TABLE-TALK I. 4, 621-622


to give the order, he commanded them all to drink
as they saw him drink. Then he had a narrow jar
brought to him, put his defective foot inside it, and
drained off his cup ; but all the others, since it was
ore impossible for them to do so, though they
aE the penalty. Thus Agamestor showed
an urbane gentleman; and, following his
example, one should make his ripostes good-
natured and merry. As for the hazards, one must
accustom the banqueters to use those conducive to
pleasure and profit, setting commands that are suit-
able, possible, and such as display the talents of the
performer, as, for example, for the musical to sing,
orators to declaim, philosophers to resolve some crux,
poets to recite their verses. For gladly is each man
led, and willingly, to that activity


as capee ee eal erie open
Chance to lie. .


“ The king of the Ravinne proclaimed by herald
a prize for man who discovered a new Hern .
and the king of a drinking-party could offer a charm-
ing prize and reward to the man introducing a game
free from offence, a delight that has usefulness in it,
and a laughter that is the companion not of ridicule
and insolence, but of goodwill and friendliness. It is
in these ny pial that most drinking-parties, without
i s a area ys suffer shipwreck. The sensible

guard against the Mateos and anger which


eta aretegence is also credited to the Persians,

» Tuse. , and Valerius Maximus, 9. 1, Ext. 3

(Xerae Sy Miotienate’ to which Bolkestein oe ot Crit. . 81)

mide Athenaeus, 144 e ee . 125 Wim-

rir om agai cwmen en bE. 90), 629, an
b (the Darius who lost to Alexander


61


(622)


C


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Tv ex mAeovegias, ev yupvaciots Kal maAaloTpats
ex diAovkias, ev 5 dpyats Kal dirAotyiaws é€x
pirodo€gias, ev dé deimvw Kal mapa méTov eK Tat-
duds émutiewernv.”’


ILPOBAHMA E


Il@s eipnra 76 “ rrounri? 8 dpa "Epws dddoKer’


Collocuntur Sossius Senecio et alii


1. Il@s etpnras To
>
mountnv’ 5 dpa
"BE 5 8 /, a“ LA * \ /
pws diddoKet, Kav dpovcos 7 TO mpiv
eCnteito mapa Locoiw Lamdikav twov aoblévtwyr,
6mov Kat tov KixdAwma ‘“‘ povoas edpodvois
IA ”? y Se ‘ ” +) / >\ 7
ido8a’’ dyoi “ tov Epwra’”’ Dirdkevos. €AéyOn
Lev ovv OTL T7pdos TavTa TOAMaY 6 Epws Kal KaLVvo-
onl a
Topiavy ovyyopnynoa Sewds é€oTw, Womep Kal
TlAdrwy “ irny’”* adrov Kai “‘ mavros émiyerpntny”’


D wvopacev: Kal yap AdAov trove? TOV GvwmnAdcv Kal


OepamrevtiKov Tov aicyuvTnAdv, éemipeA SE Kai
/ A > ~ A es “a > cA

diAdrovov Tov apeA Kat pabuuov 6 8 av tis
pdAtora Oavpdoeev, PerdwAds avip TE Kal puKpO-
Adyos éumrecay eis Epwra Kabdzep cis mip aidnpos

1 zointiy T in table of contents fol. 1 7, here poverx written
by a later hand above an erasure of 5 (?) letters before nv.

2 Cobet from 405 Fr and 762 B: povorxiy.

8 Madvig (cf. Helmbold, C.P. xxxvi, 1941, p. 85; Bolke-
stein, Adv. Crit. p. 82): ovyxwpioat.

4 Wyttenbach: ov.





* Euripides, frag. 663 Nauck, quoted also at 405 r and at
7628. The verse is borrowed by Aristophanes ( Wasps, 1074),
by Plato (Symposium, 196 ©), by Theocritus’s friend the
physician Nicias of Miletus (in the scholia on Jdyll xi: see


62


TABLE-TALK I. 4-5, 622


in the market-place is imposed by covetousness, in
the gymnasia and the palaestrae by rivalry, in politics
and public munificences by eagerness for glory, at
dinner and in drinking by frivolity.”


QUESTION 5
Why it is held that “‘ love teaches a poet ”
Speakers: Sossius Senecio and others


1. Ar one of Sossius’s dinners, after the singing of
some Sapphic verses, a discussion arose on why it is


held that


Love instructs a poet then,
Though he before was songless,*


whereas Philoxenus claims that actually
Cyclops cured his love with fair-voiced song.”


It was said, then, that love is skilful at supplying
boldness and initiative for all situations ; Plato, for
example, called it “ dashing’ and “ ready for any
undertaking.” © And in fact, love makes the silent
man talkative, the bashful man attentive, the careless


and easy-going man careful and industrious, and—
most amazing—the man who is penurious and penny-
pinching, when he falls in love, melted and softened


Gow, Theocritus, ii, p. 209), by Aristides (i, pp. 51 and 322),
and by the author of the [lepi dyous (39. 2). The passages
are conveniently collected by Nauck, loc. cit.

> Philoxenus’s poem on Cyclops and Galatea preceded
Theocritus’s Jdyll xi. For the extant fragments of the poem,
and an account of Philoxenus as good as it is convenient, see
Pickard-Cambridge, Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy, pp.
61-64; cf. Gow, op. cit. ii, p. 210, note on line 7.

¢ Symposium, 203 vp; Timaeus, 69 v.


63


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


¢


(622) dveBeis Kai padaybeis dmadds Kal dbypos Kal


5S a ‘\ ‘ , A Pe /
nOlwv, WoTE TovTi TO Tralopevov jut) Mave paive-
6 r a 4 ia¢ / SAA 4 ~ >, , 1
aba yedotov ort “ rpacov PvAAw 70 TOV epeivtwv
/ ff 3
déderar BadAavriov.
"EA , 6 de ‘\ a ~ 6 FA A | @ ,
éxOn dé Kai ott TH peOVew TO Epav Gpo.dy
’ A
€oTw* tovet yap Oeppods Kai iAapovds Kal diaxe-
xXupevous, yevopevor 5€ Towodrot mpos Tas emwdods
>
Kal epeTpous” pddioTa dwvas exdépovtar: Kal
tov AisyvAov daci tas tpaywdias mivovTa zrovety
A / S A SP. oie /
Kat dvabeppawopevov. Av 5€ Aaumpias 6 héerepos
mammos ev T@ Tivew edpeTiKwTAaTos adTos adTod
A ys pnd \ / a ~ ~
Kat Aoyuitatos: eiddber dé A€yew Ste TH APavwrd
mapatAnoiws to Oepudrntos avabujuadrar. Kal
iA ~
Env ndvota Tods epwpyevous dp@vres ody Frrov
noews eyKwpialovow 7 op@ow, Kal mpos mdvTa
~ > ,
AdAros wv Epws AaXioratds eotw ev Tots Eemaivois.
avTOl TE yap OUTWS TETELOMEVOL TUyYaVOVOW Kal
nA ~ A > ~
BovAovrat trerretabar mavras ws Kad@v Kai ayabav
~ ~ nw ,
ép@vres. todto Kal tov Avddv émfpev KavdavrAnv*
“~ ~ ~ \ , A
Ths €avTod yuvaikos émiomacba: Bearny eis TO
, A , , 4 5A. A € >; »”
Swyudtiov tov oixérnv*: BovAovras yap bm adAdAwyv
~ , > 4 ~
paptupetobar: S10 Kat ypadovtes eyKmpia Tov
~ ~ ‘A 7 ‘\
KaAdv émixoopotow attra péAeot Kal péTpois Kat
a ~ 7
@dats, Womep eixdvas ypvo@ KaddAwmilovtes,
@ > 4 / ~ € 4 AA 7~ ‘A
omws axovntal Te waAAov bro ToAA@Y Kat pvnLo-
, nn
veUnTat' Kal yap av immov Kat adextpvdva Kav
1 Turnebus: épadrwr. 2 Reiske : ovppérpovs.


’ Stephanus: lac. 4-6.
4 Xylander, oixérny ov BovdAdpevov Capps: lac. 3 riv- ov.


64


TABLE-TALK I. 5, 622


_ like iron in fire, he is malleable, pliant, and more
_ agreeable, so that the proverb “ the purse of lovers


is fastened with a leek’s leaf,” * though meant as a


jest, does not seem altogether a joke.

Furthermore, it was said that love is like drunken-
ness, for it makes men hot, gay, and distraught, and
when they get in that condition, they are carried
away into song-like and quite metrical speech:
Aeschylus allegedly wrote his tragedies while drink-
ing, indeed thoroughly heated with wine. My grand-
father Lamprias was his most ingenious and eloquent
self when drinking, and it was his habit to say that,
much as incense is volatilized by heat, so was he by
wine. Furthermore, men find their greatest pleasure
in seeing those whom they love and are not less

to sing their praises than to see them ; it is in
praise that love, loquacious in everything, is most
loquacious. For inasmuch as ieren bales persuaded
themselves that the objects of their affections are fair
and noble, they want everybody to be persuaded.
This desire incited the Lydian Candaules ® to drag
his servant into his own wife’s bedroom to gaze upon
her: for lovers want others to bear them witness.
Thus, when they write eulogies of their fair beloved,
they adorn their eulogies with melody and rhythm
and song, as men beautify statues with gold, so that
the praise of their beloved may be more likely to
come to the ears of many people and be remembered.
And indeed, if they give their beloved a horse, a cock,


@ Leutsch and Schneidewin, Paroemiogr. Graec. i, p. 447,
and ii, p.47. By transposing the first two words and expand-
ing the verb to its compound ouvdddera: Cobet obtained an
incomplete and a complete iambic trimeter (Kock, Com. Att.
Frag. iii, p. 446, no. 197).

4 Heecdioton; i. 8 f.

VOL. VIII D 65


623


B


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


aAAo tt Tots epwpevors S:d@0r1, Kadov elvar Kal
KeKOO[NMEVOV exmpeTt@s BovAovrat Kal mepitt@s
TO S@pov, paAvora de Adyov KoAaKka mpoapepovres
nddv eBerovar paivecbar Kal yadpov Kal TepitTov,
olos 6 TOUnTLKos €OTUV.

2. “O pévror Xdcowos erawéoas exeivous elzev
ws ov yelipov av Tis’ emiyerpyoerev Oppnbets agp’
av Ocoppactos elpnKev TEpL HovoLKis: “Kal yap
Evaryxos, eon, TO BiBAtov aveyvwv. Aéyer dé
povauKiis dpxas Tpeis civat, ddan, mSovny , evBov-
ovaopov @s EkdOTOU TOV malay ToUTwY" TapaTpe-
movros® €k Tob avvnous Kal arapeykAivovros* THY
pouviy. al TE yap Adrrar® TO yoepov Kai Opnvy-
TUKOV 6AvoOnpov els WOnv Exovow, 510 Kal Tous
pytopas ev Tots éemAdyous Kat Tods bmoKpiTas év
Tois dduppois atpewa TH peAwdeiv mpoodyovtas
op@pev Kal TapevTEtvovTas THhVv pany. al TE
opodpat Tepixdperat Tijs puxiis TOV pev e Aadpo-
Tepwv TO HOE kad TO ope cuvetraipovow® Kai
mapakadodow eis evpvOuov Kivnow, e€adAoperwy
Kal KpoTovvTwr elmep opyetobar pr) SUvavTat’*


paviat 7 dAadai® 7” Opwopeveny pubadyer® odv
KAov@


Kara Ilivdapov- ot de Xaptevres ev TO maber ToUTw


YEvopeEvor THY peoviy pLovnv els TO Sew Kal bbéy-


¢


tite pétpa” Kai péAn mpotevrar. puddvora 8 6


1 yeipov av tis Xylander: ye:pduavris with the beginning of
a erasure at oe
2 raldv rovrwy Bernardakis : lac. 3-4 adrayv.
3 Xylander: zaparpe lac. 4.
4 xal mapeyxAivovtos Bernardakis: lac. 4-5 éyxAivartos.
5 So a later hand in T and the Basel edition: Avoca.


66


\


TABLE-TALK I. 5, 623


or anything else, they want the gift to be beautiful
and splendidly, exquisitely groomed ; if itis a flatter-
ing address they offer, they particularly want it to
appear agreeable, elegant, and exquisite, qualities
which are characteristic of poetry.

2. Sossius, however, after praising them, said that
one would not make a bad attempt at a solution by
ore ern with what Theophrastus has to say about
music. “For I have recently read the book,” he
continued, “ and Theophrastus ¢ holds that music has
three sources, sorrow, joy, and religious ecstasy ; for
each of these emotions diverts and deflects the voice
from its cutomary range. Sorrows, as we know,
involve weeping and wailing that naturally slips into
song; this is why we find that our orators in their
perorations and our actors in their laments by degrees
raise the pitch of their speaking voice and approach
song. And the soul’s intense joys stir men of light
character to bodily activity and invite them to
rhythmic movement,—they jump up and clap their
hands if they can’t dance,

. The madness and shrieking of men


Excited by neck-breaking clash
Of the fight,


as Pindar ” has it,—but men of wit and taste who ex-
perience these emotions raise their voice alone to
re and recite verses and lyrics. Ecstasy, especially,





. 90 Wimmer.
. 208 Dithyramb ii, lines 13 f. (Snell), quoted also
‘dite variation rive 417 c, 706 FE.
5 Relske « may vow. 7 Bernardakis : d0vwvrat.


8 Xylander (cf. 706 £): dAAa.
- * Turnebus (cf. 706 £, 417 c): é ,
10 Faehse (cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 77): péya.


67


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(623) 0 A +¢/ ‘ / / ~

¢, ovovaopios e€ioTnot Kal mapatpéemer TO TE CHa

Kat THY dwvynv tod ovvyovs Kal KaleoTrnKOTOs.
a a ~ \ ‘
d0ev at te Baxyetar puluots yp@vrar Kat TO ypn-
a a /
opmdety eupéerpws mapéyeta Tots evbealopevois,
~ / a ”
TOV TE pawopevwy ddAiyous idely EoTWw avev peé-
~ ~ >
Tpov Kal wohs Anpodvtas. ovTw de TovUTwV ExXdv-
~ > , \
twv et BovrAowo Kabopay tm’ adbyas duamtvéas Tov
” \ / > a” a “4 A
Epwra Kal KatapavOave, odK av dAdo mdfos «v-
/ /
pots ovte Avrras Spysvtéepas Eyov ovTe apodporepas
Teptyapeias ovTE peilovas exoTacets Kal Tapadpo-
, 3\\>2 « \ , 1 , > ‘
avvas, GAN’ worep thy LoddxdAcov’ wéAw avdpos
€pwtikod yuynv
Opod pev Ovucapatwv
yépovoar,
¢ A \ na A /
D Omod dé maidvwy TE Kal oTEvayuaTwr.


2O\ Md ” +9O\ / > / 7

ovdev odv atotov ovdé Gavpaororv, El mdcas, doar
“~ > > / / ¢ » > ¢ ~

JLovo.Kjs €low apyal, mepiexwv 6 Epws ev atTa@

\ 7 , e \ > / / >
Kal ovvetAndus, Avanv Hdovnv evOovotacmov, TA T
” , ,2 9 \ , ” 7
dAAa dirddwvds* éotr Kai AdAos els TE Toinow

~ \ / e 2O 4 ” / Po 2

peAadv Kai pétpwv ws oddev aAAo 7dBos éemidopos

\ / )
Kal KaTaVTNS.


IIPOBAHMA
Ilepi ris "AAcEdvdSpov sroAvrocias
Collocuntur Philinus, Plutarchus, alii


1. Adyos Hv wept “ArcEdvdpov tod BaciAdws ws
od moAv mivovtos aAAa zoAdbv ypdovov €v TH mivew
EK xai® diaréyecBar tots ¢idows €AKovTos. amre-
1 Bolkestein, citing Life of Antony, xxiv. 3, 7 LoddxdAevos
exeivn mods 3 THY LopoxA€ovs Xylander: tov LodoxdAéa.
68


TABLE-TALK I. 5-6, 623


changes and diverts both body and voice from their
usual habits. Hence the Bacchic celebrations make
use of rhythmic movements, to the god-inspired it is
given to chant oracles in metre, and few madmen can
one find whose ravings are not in verse and song. In
view of these facts, if you should care to spread love
out beneath the rays of the sun, to examine it and
understand it, you would find that there is no other
emotion which contains more bitter sorrows, more
violent joy, or greater ecstasy and delirium ; the soul
of a man in love, like Sophocles’ city, is full


Of incense-smoke and simultaneously
Of hymns triumphant and of lamentation.*


It is neither strange nor remarkable, then, if love,

containing and comprehending within itself all the

sources of music,—namely, sorrow, joy, and ecstasy ,—

is itself a noisy and talkative emotion in general and

also one more conducive and inclined to the making
of songs and verses than any other.”


QUESTION 6
Concerning Alexander’s excessive drinking °
Speakers: Philinus, Plutarch, others


1. Tue conversation was about Alexander the king,
and the consensus was that he did not drink exces-
sively, but did spend much time in drinking and con-

* Oedipus Tyrannus, 4; cited also at Mor. 95 c, 169 pb,
445 p, and Life of Antony, xxiv. 3. Here Plutarch adapts the


yéuer of Sophocles.
» The title is only partially descriptive of the content.


? Faehse (cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 77): DAdzovos.
8 Added by Stephanus.
69





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/ ~ a ~
(623) detxvuev 8’ adrods dAvapotytas Dirivos é€x Tov
Baciricdv édynpepidwv, ev ais cuveyéorata yeypa-
mTaL Kat TAELoTaKIs OTL ‘ THVOE THY Huepav ex TOD
7oTov Kabevdwv”’ Eat 8 OTe ‘kal thy edbeEfs””* 51d
\ \ A / > / Lath \ ‘
Ka mpos Tas avvovoias apydrepos Hv, ofds dé Kal
Ouproerdys a direp €oTt TwpariKis Depuornros. Aéye-
Tat d€ Kal Tob Xpwros 0vaTov amomvely wore
kaTamiumAdvat Tovs xyiTwvioKkous edwoias dpwpati-
Covons, 6 Soxet Kal adTo Oepydtynros elvar: 810
Kal THs oltKovpervns ot Enpdtator Kal Beppdraror
TOTOL THY TE Kaciav Kal TOV ABavwrov expépovow
/ / ~ e ~ ¢ 4 ,

F réper ydp tur t&v bypav 6 Oeddpaords dyoww
emiylyvec0ar Hv edwdiav, dtav e€aipeOAR To
BAaBepov mepicodv' tro Bepyotryntos. SoKet? dé

a 3
kat Kaddrobevns® ev dtaBoAH yevéobar pos adrov,
ws dvoxepaivwr* 76 ovvdermveiv’ dua TOV aKpatov*’
evel Kat KUALKa Aeyomuevnv *ArcEdvSpov peyaAnv

624 €hfotcav én’ attov dmewoato dyoas odK €OéAcw
’"AdrcEdvdpov muav "AckAnmos Setobar. tadra pev
eu \ “~ "AX / 5 Xr /
obv mept THs “AAeEdvdpov moAvmocias.
1 Hubert: puccor.
2 Turnebus: lac. 4.
3 yeveobat mpos adrév Turnebus: ye lac. 3-5 rov.
* Turnebus: dvoxepar lac. 3 deczveiv.


5 +6 ovvderrvetv Bolkestein, cuvdemveiv Faehse.
6 Bolkestein from Athenaeus, 434 d: lac. 3-4.


* See Life of Alexander, xxiii; Athenaeus, 434 b, f.

» A friend and fellow townsman of Plutarch (RE, 8.0.
‘* Plutarchos,” col. 681). J. H. Oliver offers to identify an
Athenian branch of the family in an ephebe inscription of the
latter part of the 3rd century after Christ (Hesperia, ii [1933],
p. 510, and, for a more complete text, xi [1942], p. 71, no. 37).

¢ See note a and cf. RE, s.v. ‘‘ Ephemerides.”


70










~TABLE-TALK I. 6, 623-624


-yersing with his friends.* Philinus,® however, showed
_their talk nonsense, taking his proof from the royal
ournal ° where, with repetitious frequency, it is writ-
ten, “after a bout of drinking Alexander slept this day
through,” sometimes with the addition of “ and the
_ following day also.”’* Accordingly he was very lazy
_ about love-making, though his bold and choleric
_ temperament indicated a hot-natured body. Further-
more a very pleasant odour is said to have emanated
from his skin ; and his clothing, as a result, was filled
with a ‘ant aroma,—which too seems indicative
- of heat. Thus cassia and frankincense are produced
in the driest and hottest parts of our world, for frag-
rance, according to Theophrastus, comes from a sort
of distillation of moistures when their harmful excess
is removed by heat.* It seems, moreover, that Cal-
| listhenes / incurred the enmity of Alexander because,
so the story goes, he could not endure to dine with
the king on account of the strong drink. Indeed, even
the great pete Sup called Alexander’s, when once it
was passed to , he thrust aside with the remark
that he did not wish to drink from Alexander’s cup
and so stand in need of Asclepius’s.2 This, then,
was the conversation about Alexander’s excessive
« Of. Aclian, Varia Hist, ti. 29.
1 i ics of Alexander are also reported in the
exp


| ame


en


@ (ch. iv), there on the authority of Aristoxenus, and their
lanation is again found in Theophrastus’s hypothesis con-
cerning fragrance: cf. Wehrli, Aristoxenus, frag. 132 with
commentary (Die Schule des Aristoteles, ii, pp. 40 and 87-88).
* An Olynthian, Aristotle’s nephew, and an Alexander
historian executed for participation in the Pages’ Conspiracy
(Jacoby, Frag. Griech. Historiker, no. 124).
a Te anecdote is found again at 454 p and at Athenaeus,


71


(624)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


2. MiOpidarnv 5€ tov zroAcuhoavra “Pwpatlors év

A > ~ “A > / / a
Tois ay@ow, ovs émeréder todvdayias GOAa Oeivar

\ / / ~ > : > /
Kal moAutocias daciv, vkjoa 8° avrov audorepa,
Kal OAws metv mAcioTov TOV’ Kal?’ adtov avOparwr,
510 Kai Aidvucov émuxdnOivar. tobdl’ jets eirropev
€v TL TOV €lKH TemLOTEVpLEVWY Elval, TO TEpL THY
aitiay THs émiKAnoews: vymiov yap ovtos adtob
Kepavvos emédAcke Ta oTdpyava, ToD dé awyaTos
ody abaro, mAnv Gaov tyvos Te TOO muUpos ev TH


B petwé7w KpuTTopevov" bro THs Kons (Srapev)ecv®


2 oA , , 24 «2° ‘ ” , > \
avT@ mail yeyovotos 8* avdpos dn mwaAw eri
TO OWUATLOV euTTEcwWY KEpavVos avTOD peVv Tape-
mecev’ Kabevdovtos, ths 5é€ dapétpas sbmepKpe-
papevns® SveEHAVe 7a BéAn mvpaKtwoas. ot pev

a“ >
obv partes atediyvavto mAcioTov abrov icyvcew
onl ~ ~ c

amo Ths To€iukns Kat Kovdns otpatids, ot de

\ / eee > A ~ ~
moAAvot Aidvucov attov amd ta&v KepavvoPodayv
Opo.oTnt. ToD mafous mpoonydpevoay.

> , , 7 \ A ‘ ,

3. °Ex tovtov mddw’" rept tOv Todd TLdvTWwY Fv

/ > e \ A 4 € / > ¢
Adyos: év ois Kal TOV TUKTHV “HpakdAeidnv eriBecar,

1 Added by Turnebus.

2 Bernardakis, xpatovpevoy Bolkestein : xpatoupéev.

8 Bernardakis, wévew exemplum Turnebi: lac. 5-6 ew.

4 madi: yeyovotos 8 Ziegler; wavdé* kai exemplum Turnebi,
Amyot (cf. Wyttenbach ad loc.) : az lac. 4-6.

5 Emperius: xarézecev.


6 Reiske: broxpeyaperns.
7 Added by Hubert.





@ Mithridates the Great of Pontus, who fought Sulla, Lu-
cullus, and Pompey. For the anecdote cf. Athenaeus, 415 e,


72


TABLE-TALK I. 6, 624


2. According to report, the Mithridates * who made
war against the Romans put up prizes for the greatest
eater and the greatest drinker in the contests he

sponsored, himself won the prizes for both, was by
far the greatest drinker among his contemporaries,
and so was nicknamed Dionysus.’ In my opinion
that account of the reason for his nickname was one
of those stories that gain credence without good
grounds. Actually, when he was a baby, a bolt of
lightning burned his swaddling-clothes, but did not
touch his body, except for a trace of the fire which
remained upon his forehead as a youth and was con-
cealed by his hair. When he became a man, a bolt of
lightning again fell near him, striking his house as he
slept, passing through the quiver which hung above
his head, and charring the arrows init.° His prophets
thereupon sichated thet he would derive his greatest
strength from archers and light-armed troops, but
the multitude called him Dionysus because of the
similarity of his experience with bolts of lightning.?

8. From this the conversation returned to the sub-
ject of those who drink excessively. Among them was
placed the boxer Heraclides,’ who lived in the time


from Nicolaiis of Damascus, frag. 73 (Jacoby, Frag. Griech.


La Historiker, ii, p. 377).


Gf. Pi onius, frag. 36 (Jacoby) in Athenaeus, v,
212 d. ° Cf. infra, 665 B-E.

4 An allusion to the story that Dionysus’s mother Semelé
was struck and killed by Zeus’s Bit when she was
pregnan regnant with the me tobe fat. Rose in O.C.D., s.v.

“Semelé”’); the | tng ht killed Semelé made Diony-
sus immortal and he ication is not without flattery to
Mithridates.

¢ Included in a short list of heavy drinkers by Aelian,
Varia Hist. xii. 26. The nickname, as Bolkestein notes
cae HG 90), De Speerenty occurs as an ordinary name in

1


VOL. VIII p* 73


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(624) ov ‘Hpaxdoty *AXeEavdpeis simexopilovro, Kara

Tovs TaTépas HuUa@v yevdopevov. odTos amopav

C ovprrotov mapapévovtos exdAer Tovs pev emt mpo-

moa Tovs 6 ém’ dpiotov aAAous 8 emi Setmvov,

€oxdtous dé twas emt K@pov: amadAatTopevwy

Sé€ TOV mpwTtwv ot’ Sevtepor ovvimrov elt’ ede€fs

ol TpiTow Kal TéTapTo. KaKeivos ovbEev didAcipa

Tov amacw e€jpKer Kal Tos Téacapas TOTOUS
auvoredepev.

4. Tadv de Apotow T@ TiBepiov Kaioapos vid
ovpBrovvtwn 6 6 mavras €v TH Trivew mporpemrpevos®
tapos édAw T&v muKp@v dpvydadrcv mevt 7) €&
ExdoToTe mpoAapPavwy evexa TOO pr peOvoKecbar-
KkwAvleis S€ Kal rapadvAaybels odd’ émi puKpov

D avréoyev. eviot pev odv WovTo Tas apvydadidas
SnKTuKOV TL Kal puTTLKOV ExeW THS GapKds, WoTE
Kal TOV Tpocwmwy Tas epnAidas e€apeiv: Stay
obv mpoAndbaat, TH miuKpoTnTt Tovs TOpous apvto-
cew Kal dnypov eumroveiv, td’ od TO bypov KaTa-
om@ow amo ths Kepadjs Siatpildpuevov. nyiv dé
parAov 7 Tis TUK POTHTOS eddxer Svvapis ava-
Enpavtikn Kat dazavos byp@v elvan 510 TH TE
yevoet TAVTWY €oTl THY yVABV 6 6 TuKpOs and€oTatos
(Ta yap prcBra Tijs yAarrns, ws 6 IlAdraw gnoiy,


padaka Kal pavorep’ ovta ovvteiveTar® mapa pv-


. , Added by Franke.
> mpoTpexopevos Xylander (citing Athenaeus, 52 d) ; map-
epxyopuevos Bernardakis (which Gulick prefers, also citing t7ep-
Bavra at Athenaeus, 52d: A.J.P. lx [1939], p. 493).


3 Hubert: ovrteivet.





@ Athenaeus at 52 d quotes this passage from Plutarch,
whom he names (cf. Gulick, A.J.P. lx [1939], p. 493). Pliny


74


TABLE-TALK I. 6, 624


of our fathers and was affectionately called Heraclous
by the Alexandrians. Unable to find a drinking-
companion to stay with him, he was in the habit of
inviting people in for a round of drinks before
luncheon, others for luncheon itself, still others for
dinner, and finally new people again for an after-
dinner bout of drinking. As the first group departed,
the second arrived, then the third in their turn, and
the fourth. Heraclides, without any let-up, was a
match for them all and fully carried his part of the
four sessions of drinking.

4. Among the companions of Drusus, the son of
Tiberius Caesar, a doctor outstripped them all in
drinking, and it was proved on him that before each
party he took five or six bitter almonds to avoid
getting drunk. When he was stopped from doing
so and closely watched, he did not hold out against
the power of the wine even for a short time. Some
were of the opinion that the almonds had an irritant,
cathartic property affecting the flesh, so that they
even removed pimples” from the face ; thus, when
taken before drinking, they were thought by reason
of their bitterness to excite and irritate the pores
and by this action to draw moisture from the head in
the form of vapour. To me, however, the action of
bitterness seemed to be desiccant and moisture-
dissipating ; for this reason a bitter flavour is the
most unpleasant of all to the taste (for, as Plato says,°
the small veins of the tongue, which are soft and
widely spaced, are unnaturally contracted by dryness


et Hist, xxiii. 145) claims the same property for almonds
ef. Dioscorides, i. 123. 2).
» Perhaps “ freckles.”

¢ The allusion rather garbles Timaeus, 65 c ff., on which
see A. E. Taylor, Commentary, pp. 465 f.


75


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(624) ow do tis Enpdrntos, exTynKopevwy TOV bypdv)
Kal Ta EAKY Tots TLUKpOts amLoxVaivovelt PapEaKots,
ws 6 TounTHs dyow

E emt dé pilav Bare TUK PHY
yepat diatpixsas oduriparov, 7) 7 ol dmdoas
€oyx” odvvas: TO pev €Akos éTépoeTo,’ mavaaTo


& afua.


TO yap Th yevoet TiKpov TH Svvaper EnpayTuKov
opbas Tpoonyopevaev. paiveras d€ Kal Ta Sua
TACpaTA THY _yovaikay, ols dvapmalovat tovs
idparas, TmuKpa. Th yevoe” Kal oTumTiKa OvTa,
opodpornte Tob oTpupvod Enpaivew.* * ovrws
ovv,” édnv, “ TovTwY éyovTwr, etxoTws a) TOV
dpvydarav mixkpotns Bonet mpos tov axkparor,
avatnpaivovoa Tob ocwpuaros Ta évTos Kal ovK
F é60a riptAacba tas dréBas, dv dvaTdoe Paci Kai
Tapayh ovpPaiver TO peOvew. Texunptov de Tod
625 Adyou péya TO ovpBaivov mepit Tas aGAdmeKas* av
yap apvyddAas muxpas dayodoar pi‘ émutiwow,
amobvncKovar Tav typ@v abpdws éexAevTovTwr.’’®


TIPOBAHMA Z
Ava ti pGAAov axpdtw yxaipovow oi yépovres


Colloecuntur Plutarchus et alii


*"Elnreiro mrepl TOV YEpovTwy, 51d wt paMov
aKpaToTEepw TO TOTO Xatpovow. of pev ovv
KaTepuypevnv TV ééw adbtav kat Svoexbéppavrov

1 amdoas ... erépoero added by Xylander from J/liad, xi.


847-848.
2 Hubert: ducer.


76


TABLE-TALK I. 6-7, 624-625


as moisture is dissipated), and this is why festering
wounds are dried up by the use of bitter drugs, as
the Poet says,?
_.._... Thereon he placed a bitter drug,

One crushed by hand, a killer of pain,


py Which checked that warrior’s suffering ;
_ . It dried the wound and staunched the blood.


He rightly called desiccant in action what is bitter in
taste. Moreover, the dusting-powders which women
use to dry perspiration have a bitter, puckery taste
and seem to act as desiccants because of their vigor-
ous astringency. “ Since this is so,’’ I concluded, “ the
bitterness of almonds is naturally helpful against
wine, for it dries up the inside of the body end does
not let the veins become full; and drunkenness, in
common opinion, is due to the dilation and distur-
bance of the veins. A great proof of this opinion is
what happens to foxes: if they eat bitter almonds
and drink nothing afterwards, they die of complete
desiccation.”


QUESTION 7
_ Why old men are very fond of strong wine
Speakers: Plutarch and others _


Unper discussion was the question why old men are
very fond of drink that is rather strong. Some thought
the constitution of old men, being chill and hard to


* Iliad, xi. 846 ff.


3 Enpaivew Reiske: 76 mxpov.
* Exemplum Turnebi: lac. 3.
5 émumiwmor<y amobvicxover> exemplum Turnebi: lac. 5-7.
® GOpd<ws éxAew>adévTwv exemplum Turnebi: lac. 9.


77





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(625) odcav oidpevor Sia Tobto TH adhodpdrnTi Tis
Kpdcews éevapoTrew edhaivovto Kowdv TL Kal
,
mpoxetpov ody ixavov S€ mpos THY aitiay odd
> \ / ‘ \ 2 AX ~ + > 7,
adnbeés Aéyovtes: Kai yap émt TOV ddAwv aicbjcewv
To adtTo ovpPeBnKev: SvoKkivnto. yap eiot Kal
/ A \ > , ~ ,
B dvopetaBAnror mpos Tas avriAnibers THv TowoTHTwr,
av py) KatdKopo. Kal ododpal’ mpooméswow.
pe > ¢ ~ v7 + > / A ‘
aitia 6 1» THs E€ews aveois: exAvopevn yap Kal
atovotdcaa mAjtrecbar didct. Sid TH TE yevoer
/ >
pddtora tovs SyKtiKods mpocievtar yupovs, % T
~ /
dodpyats avTav Guowa mémovOe mpos Tas dopas,
Kweita. yap v0 Tay aKxpdtwv Kal adodpar®
“Ps e S° ¢ A A. g A Er 8 0 /, 4 ,
ndtov: 7) 8 adn mpos* Ta EAky Svotrabyjs,* tpavpara
‘ > 7 5 r , > ‘\ 6 i
yap eviote’ AapPdvovtes od padra® movodcw-
~ ~ ©
opodtatov" de yiyverar 70° THs aKons, of yap
~ 5
povatkol ynp@vtes d€dTepov apuolovra: Kal oKAn-
~ ~ 4 ~
potepov otov bio mAnyhs® tis ovvtdvov dwyrijs
> / \ > l4 id \ /, ‘
C éeyeipovtes TO aicOyripiov. 6 TL yap ovdnpw mpos
> A 4 ~ 4 ~
aKUnV OTOUMEA, TOOTO OwMpaTL TVEdMA TrapeyeL
,
mpos ata@naww: éevdovtos d€ TovTov Kai yaAdoavTos,
a /
apyov amroAeizeTar Kal ye@des TO aicbyrHpiov Kai
~ ~ / >
apodpotd tot vitTovTos, olov 6 akpatds €oTt
dedpevov.


1 Reiske: odddpa.
2 xai ofodpav exemplum Turnebi: lac. 4-6.
3 Exemplum Turnebi: lac. 5-7.
4 Exemplum Turnebi: dvoza lac. 4-6.


78


TABLE-TALK I. 7, 625


_ warm, was on this account compatible with a strong
mixture of wine and water; obviously their argu-
ment was platitudinous and facile, and neither an
adequate nor an accurate analysis of the causation.
For the same thing occurs in regard to an old man’s
_ perception of other stimuli; in apprehending sensa-
_ tions he is hard to stir and hard to rouse, unless they
strike him with excessive strength. The cause is the
decline of his physical vigour; enfeebled and ex-
hausted, his system likes shock. Thus an old man
likes flavours very pungent to his taste ; and odours
affect in like manner his sense of smell, for it is
pleasantly stimulated by scents which are un-
adulterate and strong. His tactile sense is dulled to
wounds, for, though he is sometimes hurt, he does
not feel much pain. And his sense of hearing is much
the same, for a musician, as he grows old, tunes
more sharply and harshly, as though to waken his
hearing by the whip-lashes of high-pitched sound.
What tempering gives the steel’s edge, is given the
body’s perception by the breath of life *; when this
gives in and grows weak, the senses are left blunted
and clod-like and in need of a vigorous stimulant,
which strong wine is.


® Cf. 666 A, below.


5 Exemplum Turnebi: lac. 6-8.

5 od pdAa exemplum Turnebi: lac. 4-6 a,
7 Exemplum Turnebi: é lac. 3-5 rarov.
8 Added by Bernardakis.
® «al after wAnyis deleted by Reiske.





79


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(625) TIPOBAHMA H


Ava ti ra ypdppara moppobev ot mpeaBvrepor aGAAov
dvayvyvwoKovow


Collocuntur Lamprias, Plutarchus, alii


1. Tatra 8 mpOv eis TO TpoKetpevov evpnot-
AoyotvTey eddKet 70 Tis oypews dvrumimrew. ot
D yap mpeoBvrepor Topp TO ypdppata TOV oupatwv
dmdyovres dvayryveakovow, eyyvbev & od S¥vavrat:
Kal TobTo mapadynA@v 6 Aicyvios dyaiv:


od O° ef a domo! avTov, ov ‘yap eyyvbev_
dvvaid y’ av*> yépwv dé ypappateds yevod
cadis.


evdnrdtepov Sé€ LodoxdAfs 76 adro mepi Tav ye-
povTwy"


Bpadeta pev yap év Adyouat mpooBohn
pohes bu WTOs EpyeTat puTrwpevov" °
mpocw* dé Aevoowr, eyyvbev Sé as TuddAds.


elmep ovv ™mpos Ty éritacw Kal o Spérnra
pdAAov drraKover 7a TOV yepovTey aicOnrypra,

E 7s €v TO avayvyvwoKew TOV eyyvbev dvripwtt-
opov ov pépovow, aAAd mpodyovres® drrewrépeo TO
BiBAiov €xAvovat THY Aapmpornra TO aépt Kablarep
olvov VdaTt KATAKEpaVVULLEVHY ;


1 od 8 && améntov Headlam (Journal of Philology, xxiii,
1895, p. 271; for the hiatus cf. Sophocles, Philoctetes, 446,
and Oedipus Tyrannus, 332: ovS€ azo lac. 3.

2 diva y’ dv P. A. C.: lac. 6.

3 Meineke: tpuzwpévov.

4 Dindorf: zméppw.

80


TABLE-TALK I. 8, 625


QUESTION 8
Why old men hold writing at a greater distance for reading
| Speakers: Lamprias, Plutarch, others


1. Tue phenomena of sight seemed to oppose the
solution I devised for the preceding problem, for old
men place writing far from their eyes to read it, and
when the writing is near, they are unable to decipher
it. Aeschylus intimates this when he says ® :


But you must read it far away,
For close up you could surely not,
And you must be a lucid scribe,
Though old.


And Sophocles more clearly says the same thing
about old men ? :


The sound of talking falls with slow impress,
And hardly penetrates the stopped-up ear ;
But each man sees afar, is blind when close.


If, then, the senses of old men respond better to
intensity and strength, why is it that in reading they
do not endure the impact of light from near by, but
destroy its brightness by moving the book farther
away and so diluting that brightness with air as wine
is diluted with water?


@ Frag. 358 Nauck (Trag. Gr. Frag. p. 107), 196 Smyth
(LCL Aeschylus, ii, P. 493).

> Frag. 774 Nauck (op. cit. pp. 312 f.), 858 Pearson (Frag-
ments of Sophocles, iii, p. 64). The translation here printed
for lines 1-2 is Headlam’s except for one word (cf. Pearson’s
note, loc. cit.).





5 Added by Meziriacus.
6 Hubert: aapdyovres.
81


(625)


626


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


7H \ Ss ¢ A ~ / 1 e
2. “Hoav pev obv ot mpos tobro Aéyovtes,* ws
dmdyouat Tov oewv TO BiBAéov ov pahaxcirepov
TO PHS ToLovrTEs, aA’ otov em parTopevor Kal
mreptapBdvovres adyny mAeiova Kal mAnpobvres
aépos Aapumrpod THhV peerage TOV Oppedroov Kal TOV
ypapparwv xywpav. ertepor de tots avuBaAdovor
Tas avyas peTetyov' Emel yap amoreivetar TV
“ ~ ‘ ~
od0aduav éxatépov Kavos, mpos TH Oupat. THv
\ A 7 \ \ 7 a“ /
Kopudyy exwy, copay de Kat Bdow 7 meprAapBaver
> F ~
TO OpwWp_Evov, axXpt MEV TWos ElKOsS €oTW dia TAY
/ / , > >
Kwvwv exatepov pepecbar: yevopevor 8 amwrépw
\ / > , a \ ~ ~ A
Kal ovptrecovTes aAAjAois Ev TO HAS TroLodat S10
~ a“ ,
Kal TOV Spwevwv ExaoTov Ev od Svo daiverat,
a A A
Kaimep audotépois apa Tots oupact Katadatvo-
e a / > \
jevov" aitia yap n TOV KavoV odvarbis eis Tabro
Kat oMaipis €k Oveiy peiav orbw dmeipyaopern.
¢
TOUTWV oe ovTws €yovTwy ot pev eyyds mpoo-
dyovres TA ypappata mpeoBirar, pndérw Tov
~ > > / \ >
avydv*? cvyKeyupevwy add’ éxatépa® ywpis émbvy-
> if ec
ydvovtes, aobevéorepov émiAauBavovray ot S&
amwrépw* mpobeuevor, mewypevov ToD dwtos HOH
~ / ~ > ~ Ad
Kal 7oAAob yeyovotos, waAdov e€axpiBodaw, womep
A ~ \ 4 “a m 182.2 \
ot Tats duolv Ouod yepol KaTéxovTes 6 TH ETEPA LH
dvvavrat.
> ‘ \ c 4 /
3. Aapmpias 8’ 6 adeAdos® rv ‘lepwvdpov dd€av*
3 5 \ Pap | Vash \ 38 > sh > A
ovK aveyvwKas wev,’ adtos dé du'* eddhuiav e€utrecav
a / > \ ~ ~
elmev® OTL TOs mMpoomimTovow amo THV dpaTav
A Oh shea Aéyorres Hubert : ot . « « A€yovow.
* Stephanus: avrav.
Xylander (translation) : éxatepa (sic).
4 Stephanus: avwrépw.


5 Stephanus: lac. 5-6.
6 Pohlenz: lac. 4-5.


82



























TABLE-TALK I. 8, 625-626


_ 2. Now there were some who replied to this that
1 men hold the book away from their eyes not
0 soften the light, but, as it were, to lay hold of and
encompass more light and fill with bright air the
space between their eyes and the wri may others
_agreed with the joined-rays school Ry ee Sp : in-
~asmuch as a cone of rays extends from each of the
yes, its apex at the eye, its base and foundation
encompassing the object viewed, it is probable that
each 0: the cones proceeds separately up to a certain
| point, but when they have attained a greater distance
and merged with each other, they unite their light,
and consequently each object viewed appears as one,
not two, even though it appears to both eyes at the
same time ; the reason for this is the simultaneous
| of the cones on the same object, and a union
f t which produces single rather than dual vision.
Since this is so, the elderly gentlemen who bring
parser’ near their eyes, the rays of vision being not
, , contact the writing with each cone separ-
Bey and lay weaker hold upon it; but those who
place the writing farther away, the light now fused
intensified, apprehend the writing with greater
| Dietactnets: like men who master wi with both hands
together what they can not with either alone.
. 8. My brother Lamprias expressed the opinion
‘that we see by means of the forms which fall upon
the vision from the objects viewed, the hypothesis of


© This concept is attributed to Hi eigen. in De Placitis,
901 s. Further, see Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. pp. 93-94, and
Hubert, ad loc.


J dveyvenndrs pév Pohlenz: dvéyvwxev.
sila avros 5é &’ Pohlenz: lac. 4-5.
ter [ en oa Paton: lac. 2,








83


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(626) eideow" mpos tiv oypw dpduev, & mp@tov pev
amépyeTrar peydAa Kal trayupeph, S10 Tovs yépov-
Tas eyyobev emiraparret Bpadumépov Kal onAnpav

Be exovras TV Opacww: dvevexPevreny 5° eis Tov aépa
Kat AaBdvrwy didoTnua, Ta pev yewdn mrepiOpav-
ETAL Kal amominter, Ta Sé AemTA mpoomeAdlovTa
tats opeow advmws Kal opuadds evapporre: Tots
mopos, wot? rrov tapattouevous paAdAov avti-
AapBavecOar. Kat yap at trav avOdv copal mdp-
pwlev etwdéoTepar mpoomintovow, av 8 éyytbev
ayav mpoodyyns, ody ovTw Kalapov odd’ aKpatov
odwdacw: aitiov 8° Ott mohha TOV yewodv Kal
Oohepav ovvatropepetar TH SoLy Kal Svapbetper
TV edw diay eyyubev AapBavopevns,” dy 8° dmwbev,
Ta pev® Oorepa Kat yeddn mepippe? Kal drrominres,
To © eidtkpives Kal Oeppov adrijs* do AemTOTHTOS

C Siacwlera mpos THY aicOnovw.

4. “Hyets d€ tHv TAatwvixny dvddrrovres apynv
ehéyouev OTL mvetUA TOV oupdtwv adyoedes
€xTimTov avaKkipvatat TH TEepl TA OWpaTa pwTi
Kat AapBaver ovurnkw, wol ev && audoitv cdua
du dAov cuptrabes yeveobar. KepavyvuTas 8° eTepov
ETEpw auppeTpias AdOyw TE Kal TOGOTHTOS* Od yap
avaipeOjvar Set Odrepov tro Barépov Kparnber,
GAN an’ apdotv eis TL WeoOV apmovia Kal KoLWwVia
ovvaybevtwy piav dSvvayw aotedcobivar. OvTos
obv Tob THY TrapyAikwv, elite peda xp) mpocayo-

1 Stephanus: lac. 2-3 ow.
z Hubert : AapBavopevny.


3 dnwhev, Ta bev Stephanus : : do per.
4 Hubert: adrod.





* The peripatetic from Rhodes mentioned supra, 612 vp;
84











TABLE-TALK I. 8, 626


dieronymus,* which Lamprias had not read, but had
it upon by his own cleverness. These forms, when
y first come off, are large and coarse, and so at
close quarters they disturb old men whose vision is
‘slow and stiff; but where they rise into the air and
_ gain distance, their earthy parts are broken and fall
away, while the light parts, as they approach the eyes,
pal essly and evenly fit into the passageways, and
thus old men are less disturbed and more readily
_apprehend the forms. The scent of flowers, too, is
sweeter when it reaches you from a distance, but if
you bring them too close, their odour is not so pure
and unadulterated. The reason is that much that is
earthy and coarse accompanies the scent and destroys
its pleasant odour when received near by, but if from
a distance, the coarse and earthy parts slip off all
round and fall, while the pure and fresh part of the
scent by its lightness is brought intact to the sense
of saath
4. But I took my stand on the Platonic principle ®
and argued that a bright emanation which flows out
from the eyes mixes with the light which surrounds
_ objects and undergoes a fusion with it, so that from
the two one body is formed compatible through its
entirety. Each mingles with the other in proportion
to their commensurability and quantity; for one
must not be overwhelmed and destroyed by the
other, but a single power must be created from both
brought together on common ground in concord and
partnership. Now inasmuch as the stream—whether
cf. RE, s.v. no. 12, where (col. 1562) it is suggested that the
— theory was put forward in the Suspension of


> Timaeus, 45 Bf. ; of. Republic, 507 v-E, 508 p, and Mor.
390 B, 433 D, 436 D, 921 p-r.


85


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(626) pevew 70 dia tijs Kdpys Pepdpevov eite Tvejpa —
\ i ) 7, > ~ k 2s ~ BE |
D dwroeides eit’ adyiv, dobevots Kat adpavods, ov
eyylyveTat KpGois mpos TO PMs” TO eKTOS OvdE
i“ > \ \ \ , 3.4 \ ‘ \
pigis aAAa Plopa Kai avyyvois,* av pa) wakpayv Ta
ypdupata TOV oupatrwv amayovtes exAvwou TH
ayav Aampdtnta Tob dwrtds, woTe pH ToAA}V
> » %\\> « ~4 ‘ , >
und axpatov add’ opovoTraby* Kai odppetpov am-
avTioat mpos THY oy. 6 82) Kal TOO TEpl TA VU-


KTivoua TOV Cowv abypwatos aitidv éotw* 7 yap
dys atTt@v bro Tob peOnpepwot dwrds adpavis
ovoa KkatakAvlerar Kal KpaTetrat, 7 Suvaevyn mpos
TOAD Kai icyupov am” aobevois Kat dAlyns apyfs
Kepavvucbat: mpos dé TO dpavpov Kal Aemrov ofov
E aorépos das adyiy dvapkh Kal ovppetpov e€inow,
WoTE KoLWwveiv Kal ovvepyetabar THY aicByaow.


ITPOBAHMA ©
Ava ti 7T@ trotium pwaGAdAov 7 7@ Oadatriw mAvveTat Ta iparia


Collocuntur Theo, Themistocles, Plutarchus


1. O€wv 6 ypappatiKos coTimpevwr HUY Tapa
Meortpiw DAwpw mpos OepioroKAda Tov Urwikov


1 Added by Xylander.

2 mpos TO dds P. A. C. (T. C., “‘ with the Light about the
Object’: Morals, Translated ... by Several Hands, vol. ii,
London [1691], p. 442), ef. Mor. 433 p and Plato, Timaeus,
45. C3 mpoonimrovts mpos Hubert: poco lac. 5-6.

3 Meziriacus: ovyxpvots.

4 Bernardakis (ef. Cherniss, De Facie, 921 e [LCL Mor.
xii, p. 44, note 6]): dpo7aA7.

5 Added by Reiske.


86


TABLE-TALK I. 8-9, 626


_ one ought to apply this term to what passes through
the pupil of the eye, or call it “luminous emanation,”
or “ ray "—is weak and powerless in men past their
_ prime, no mixing and mingling is effected with the
: light outside, but only the extinction and disintegra-
_ tion of vision, unless by removing the writing to a
distance from their eyes old men destroy the exces-
sive brilliance of the outside light, so that a sym-
pathetic and commensurate rather than a large and
unadulterate amount of it meets the vision. It is
_ this phenomenon too which is responsible for the
behaviour of night-ranging animals ; for their vision,
without strength, is overwhelmed and mastered by
the mid-day light because it is unable, by reason of
its weak and small beginning, to mix with the great,
strong light of mid-day ; but with light that is dim
and faint, such as that of a star, their vision sends
forth a ray that is sufficient and commensurate, so
that ray and outside light join and produce sight.








QUESTION 9
Why fresh water instead of sea water is used to wash clothes ¢
Speakers: Theon, Themistocles, Plutarch


1, WueEN we were being entertained at the house of
Mestrius Florus,® Theon the critic ° raised the ques-


* Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 13, 17-27.

» RE, s.v. “ Plutarchos,”’ col. 687: prominent Roman,
consul under Vespasian, later proconsul of Asia, close friend
of Plutarch, his byes to the battle-field of Betriacum, where
Florus had fought (Life of Otho, xiv), participant in no less
than ten of the Dinner Conversations, ¢.g. iii. 3 ff., v. 7, vii. 1
(where see note on 698 r).

_ © See p. 48, note b above.


87


(626)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


duntopynoev, ti Sitrote Xpvowmmos év moAXois THv
Trapardyev Kal aTtomwv emysvnobeis, ofdv €ore TO

TAPLXOS, av Gun Bpéxnrar, yAundrepov yive-
ofa” Kat To “ tv éepiwy Tovs mdKous rrov
drakovew Tots Big. Svaomaow 7 Tots drpépa


F diadvovaw GET TO. ct vnotevoayras. d.pyorepov


627


eobiew 7 Tpopayovras, ovdevds atT@v aitiav
amédwkev. 6 O€ OcuroroKArs eim@v OTL Tabra
Xpvoinzos dws €v Tapadelyparos Aoyy mpou-
Beto, padiws pay Kal dAdyus bo Tob <iKOTOs
dAvcKopévwv Kal mdAw dmvoTrouvrey T@ Tapa TO
eikos, emoTpepuy, “ool 6°,” Eby, t) BeArore, Tt
mpaypa Trept TOUTWV Siamopetvs el yap jpiv airiov
{ntytiKos Kat OYewpyntiKos yéyovas, 1) paKpav
oUTwWs amooKivou Tav idSiwv, GAN eimé Sv Fy
aitiav “Opnpos €v T@ ToTALe m7\dvovoay ovK eV
Th Oaddrry, Kalzrep eyyds ovon, TH Navowxdav
TETOLNKEV. Kalrou fepporépay ye Kal diadaveore-
pav €iKos Kal pumTiKwrépav elvat.”’

2. Kai 6 @€wv, “adda tobr6 y’,” etme, “ dia"
TOV yewd@v ‘AptororéAns maXau Siaédvxev, 6
mpoBeBAnras® npuiv. odd yap* TH Baddrrn TO
Tpaxo Kat yeddes evOueoTraprat Kad Tobro move
THY ddvKornTa [LeLLvyLEVvoY" 7) Kal paAAov a Oa-
Aarra Tovs TE vnyouevous eLavadeper Kal oreyet
ta Bapn, Tod yAuKéos evdiddvTos bia KoudorynTra


1 Added by Hubert. 2 6 mpoBéBAnxas Xylander : BéBAnkas.
3 zoAd yap Hubert: lac. 6-8.





* The great Themistocles’s descendant, whom Plutarch
knew as a fellow student under Ammonius (Life of Themi-
stocles, xxxii. 6).

>’ Head of the Stoics from 232 B.c. to his death in 207


88


:


_ tion 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
San as ; and “people who have fasted eat more
deliberately than those who have taken food before-
hand.” Themistocles answered that Chrysippus men-
‘tioned 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 con-
tinued: “ 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, do not camp so far away from your own
province, but tell us for what reason Homer has made
Nausicaa do her washing in the river instead of the
_sea,? though the latter was near by and quite likely
was warmer, clearer, and more cleansing.”

2. “ 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 scattered 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


TABLE-TALK I. 9, 626-627


4 Odyssey, vi. 59.
¢ Frag. 217 Rose.


89


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(627) kal doOéverav: €oTt yap auuKTov Kal Kabapdov: o-
Bev evdverar dia Aerrornra Kai dveEvov Tob Padar-
tiov “aAAov extnKet Tas KnAidas. 7) od Soke? cou
edt mibavas Acyew “Apuororedgs ; *

“ THdards,”" edyv eyes, “od pny dAn Bas
Spa yap OTL Kal Tédpa Kal Aitpe," Kav pn Tap
d€ Tavita, KoviopT@ moAAdKis maxvvovet TO Vdwp,
ws padAdrov TOV yewoav TH TpaxdTynTL KaTamAvveww
duvayevwv Tov pvmov, avtod dé Tod vdaTos dia
C Xerrétnta Kai aobéveray ody dpoiws TtodTo Spav-
TOS. TO pev ovv TaXUpLepes Tis Daddrrns ovdev
Kwdvew ye TodTO Troveiv ovd HTTOV mpos TV
Kdbapow ouvepyet dua" TV Spyvryra: Kal yap
avTn Tovs mopous® dvacropoica Kal dvotyovca*
KaTaovper TOV pUmov. émel Sé av TO AvTapov
SvcéKmAutov é€ott Kai KnAida zrovet, Avrapa 8 7
Odracca, Todr’ dv aitiov ein pddvota tod py
Kard@s mAvvew. ott 8 €oti Aiwapa, Kai adros
eipnxev “ApiotoréAns: of te yap aXes Aimros Exovow
Kal Tos Adxvous BéAtiov TapeXOvat KQO[LEVOUS,
abTyn 8 4 OdAarra Tpoopaivopevy Tats Progi our-
exAdprret, Kal Kderat pdAwora TeV dddrwv 70 Oa-
D ddrriov: ws & eydpar, dua TodTo Kai Oepudorardv
€oTw.

“Od pry add Kal Kar’ a\ov TpoTrov: €mEl THS
mAvoews téXos 7 a pros” €oTl Kal padvora. paiverar
Kkalapov To TAXLOTA.” _Snpov yuyvomevor, bet 57) TO
mbvov bypov T@ pirw' ovve€edOciv, worep TO


1 Doehner: AéOor.

2 otSév . . . Ska Bernardakis from Macrobius, Saturnalia,
vii. 13. 22: od lac. 5-6 mwerourdmore lac. 5-6 mpos Ti xa lac.
6 de.

3 Stephanus: lac. 3-4, 4 Stephanus: lac. 4-5.


90


i TABLE-TALK I. 9, 627
fk
_ sink since it is light and unsubstantial. For the latter
is unmixed and pure, and so because of its light con-
‘sistency 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 ?”’
_ 8. “ 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 with equal ape It is
, therefore, the coarseness of sea-water that pre-
vents 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
eps 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 contains fat, so making lamps burn
better ; and sea-water itself, when it is sprinkled into
flames, flashes up with them. Indeed among waters
itis particularly sea-water that is flammable, and, in
my view, this is the reason why it is also the warmest.
__“ What is more, the phenomenon can also be ex-
plained in another manner. Since cleansing is the
aim of washing, and what dries quickest appears
cleanest, the washing liquid must depart with the


ie Bar ) @ Cf. 696 v, below.
> Cf. 684 B-c, below.
° [Aristotle], Problems, 933 a 18 ff.; cf. Mor. 911 8.


5 pvyis P. Maas: iets. § Doehner: padAora.
7 Stephanus: lac. 4-5 o.
91





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(627) voonjpartt Tov €AA€Bopov. Td pev obv yAvKD padiws
6 TpAvos efdyet bud KougpoTnTa, 70 5’ adApuvpov ev-
Lox opevov Tots mépos dia Tpay’TnTa SvoéjpavTov
€oTw.

4. Kat 6 @dwv brrohaBaw, * ovdev,” eon, “ de-
yews” ‘AptororéAns yap ev TO atvT@ BuBri iw $1-
alv Tovs eéV Oadrarry Aoveapevovs TaxXLoV a.7ro-
Enpaivesbar THv yAvKel ypnoapevwr, av ev HAW

~ +)
oTa@ow.

Ko Aéyer ydp,” elzov: “ dA @pnv ce padArov
‘Opnpw tavavtia A€yovts muotevoew. 06 yap
‘Odvaceds PETA TO vavadyLov evTvyxaver 7H Nav-
ouda opepdanéos * opOFvar ‘ kekakwpevos adAun,’
Kal mpos Tas Depazrawidas dyoiv:


dppimronor, orH® ovTw amdmpobev, odp [av]?
eyo avTos
dAunv wyouv atroAovoopat,®


A > > \ \ 2 2 ~ ”
KkataBas 5 eis Tov motapov ‘ ex Kedadts eopnyev
ards yvoov,’ treppu@s Tod mowntod To yeyvopevov
OUVEWpAKOTOS” oTay yap ék Tis bararrns dva-
duvres €v TO iri oraow, 70 XemtoTaTov Kal

F xovddtratov tis bypacias 4 Oepudorns Siepdpyoer,
\ 24 \ b) \ \ \ \ >j7
To 8 dAuupov atro Kal Tpayd Katadedpbev efpiora-
Tat Kal Tapapéever Tots cwpacw adwddns éeritrayos,
péexpt av adto motinw Kal yAvKel KataxAvowow.”
1 Xylander from Homer: otrws.
? Deleted by Xylander, omitted in text of Homer and at


Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 13. 26.
8 Xylander from Homer (aor. subj.) : azoAovowpat.


92


f TABLE-TALK I. 9, 627


‘
a as hellebore does with the sickness it ey pat
‘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.”

4. Theon interrupted and said, “ You are talking

nonsense, for Aristotle in the same book says * that
those who wash themselves in the sea, if they stand
in the sun, dry off faster than those who use fresh
water.”
_ “He does say so,” I replied, “ but I thought you
would put your confidence rather in Homer, who im-
plies the opposite. For it chanced that Odysseus,
after his shipwreck, was seen by Nausicaa


i terribly dirtied with brine.”

And to her maidservants he says,

_ Girls, stay away, while I wash from my shoulders the brine
\ of the sea. °


‘And going down to the river, he


r; washed from his head all the foam of the sea,


the poet understanding very well what happens. For
when men come out of the sea and stand in the sun,
the heat evaporates the finest and lightest part of the
moisture,’ and the salty, coarse residue itself remains
coated upon their bodies, a briny scum, until they
wash it away with fresh drinking water.”


* [Aristotle], Problems, 932 b 25.
> Odyssey, vi. 137.
* Odyssey, vi. 218 f.
4 Odyssey, vi. 226.
* Cf. infra, 697 B.


93


628


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA I


Ava ti ris Aiavridos duds "AOnvnow oddémote Tov xopov
Explvov VoTaToV


Collocuntur Marcus, Milo, Philopappus, Glaucias,
Plutarchus, alii


1. ’Ev 5€ tots Lapamiwvos émiwikiows, OTe TH
Aeovrids dvAq tov yopov diatagas evixnoev, éoti-
wpevois juiv ate 87 Kal dudAérais odor Snporrow7-
Tots olketor Adyou THs ev yep didoTipias Taphoarv.
€oxye yap 6 aywv évtovwraTnvy aptAdav, aywvo-
betobvtos evddEws Kal peyaAomper@s DidoTmar70v


* To Sarapion is dedicated De EH apud Delphos (384 pv)
and he is a member of the company in De Pythiae Oraculis
(396 pb), where it appears that he is both a poet and a Stoic
philosopher (cf. RE, s.v. “‘ Plutarchos,”’ cols. 683-684). Two
rather bitter iambic trimeters perhaps by this Sarapion are
preserved in Stobaeus (iii. 10. 2 Hense). Presumably also
by this Sarapion are the dactylic hexameters on the duties of
a physician published on the “ Sarapion Monument ”’ appar-
ently erected in the Asclepieum on the south slope of the
Athenian Acropolis by Q. Statins Sarapion, who would then
be the grandson of Plutarch’s friend Sarapion; several
generations later a paean of Sophocles and the names of the
paeanistae who recited it were added to the monument (see
Paul Maas and James H. Oliver, “‘ An Ancient Poem on the
Duties of a Physician,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine,
vii [1939], pp. 315-323, particularly pp. 321-323; ef. also R.
Flacelitre, Rev. Et. Gree. Ixiv [1951], pp. 323-327 ; and fur-
ther, James H. Oliver, Hesperia, Suppl. viii [1949], pp. 243-
248, where, too, necessary references to the earlier literature
can be found).

» Syrian prince, Roman consul, Athenian archon, and
demesman of Besa. His grave monument (a.p. 114-116) still
stands, in part, on the summit of the hill Mouseion across
from the south-west corner of the Acropolis (Judeich, Topo-
graphie von Athen*®, pp. 100 and 388-389 ; the inscriptions,
I.G. ii®. 3451; cf. Kirchner, RE, s.v. “ Philopappos”’). ‘To him


O4





TABLE-TALK I. 10, 628


QUESTION 10


Why the chorus of the phylé Aiantis at Athens is never
. . judged last


" Ca


Speakers: Marcus, Milo, Philopappus, Glaucias,
MC 3 Plutarch, and others


1. Wuen Sarapion ¢ won the prize with the chorus he

lirected for the phylé Leontis, he entertained at a
_ victory celebration at which I was present,—for I was
an adopted member of the phylé,—and suitably
enough our talk was concerned with the recent com-
petition. For the contest had produced intense

valry since King Philopappus ” had presided in a


Plutarch dedicated the De Adulatore et Amico. In I.G. ii®.
. a (a.D. Ut ab /8) the phylé Oeneis, which had contes-
d with a yramb, honoured Philopappus as no-
thetes of the Dionysia in the year of his archonship. Pickard-
_ Cambridge’s text of this document reads 4 Oivnis dvd) da
trav ed dywricapéevow ..., and “*.. . the inscription,” he writes,
“ suggests that the Oeneid tribe had just won a victory. . .”
(Dramatic Festivals of Athens, p. 74 and note 6). But
actually the ed, though cut on the stone, was erased and so
must be deleted from the text (see x sis aah A See hei
eriptions attiques, p. 23, no. 26, and pl. ¥ umably
Oeneis honoured Stee for his munificence rather
than for their victory, a victory which, if indeed the document
of Oeneis and Plutarch’s essay both refer to the same occasion,
had actually been won by Leontis, Boulon, the choregus for
Oeneis, and Sarapion, ig rve the like for Leontis, would
be only nominally so, for Philopappus was, as well as agono-
thetes, the de facto snoregiis who defrayed the expenses of
choruses for all the phylae together. The inscription of
Oeneis would also be evidence that the subject matter of the
Quaestiones Convivales ran through some twenty to
irty years, more or less, of Plutarch’s life, if the Favorinus
of 10 is indeed Favorinus of Arles (the same, Ziegler,
RE, s.v. “ Plutarchos,” col. 713 ; “‘ probably the same...”
Sandbach on 734 r [LCL Mor. ix, p. 205, note c] infra).


95


(628)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


B 700 Baoréws tais Pudais dod mdoais yopnyodv-


tos. eétdyyave S€ cuveotudpevos quiv Kat Tov

A ~ \ 4 A / A 5° > , 5 A r
TaAaav Ta pev Aéywy Ta 8 akovwv dia didrav-
Opwriav ody Arrov 7) didopabevav.

2. ITpoeBAj@n 5€ te Tovodrov tad Mapxov tod
ypappatixod. NeavOn tov Kulixnvov edn Aé¢yew
> al A / a ¢ ~ > / ~
ev Tois Kata TOAW pvOikois, ote TH Alavtids dvd
yepas dmipyev TO wn KpivecOar Tov TadTys* Yopov
” Ta \ 2 \ > 99 “e \ ew,
eoxatov: “ edyepns® ev ody,” &dn, ““ mpods amo-
8 3 ¢ , a) , ise? A ay bis? 25
evéw® totopias 6 avaypaisas,* ef dé TobrTd y’? od
volever, mpoKxeicOw Tis aitias ev Kow@ maow 1

, ”
tyros.

Eizovros 5€ tot éraipov Midwvos, “ dy ody

~ Ss A / 2, €¢ > Ii AFF R. ce / ”
peddos 7 TO Aeyopevov;’’, “ oddev,” Edn, “ Secor,
¢ / ce > chew , /

Oo Didcrannos, et TavTo trevodueba Anpuoxpitw


C 7H° cob@ dia priodoyiay. Kal yap é€Keivos as


EOLKE Tpdbyav aikvov, ws edavn pehirebdns 6
xupos, Npwtynoe THV SiaKovotcav, omdbev mpiato:
Ths b€ KHmov Twa dpalovons, éxéAevoev eEavactas
nyetobar Kat Sevxvdvar Tov TOomov-: Oavpalovros dé
Tob yuvaiov Kai muvOavouevov ti BovAeTar, ‘ THV
aitiav,’ en, ‘ det pe THs yAvKUTnTOS edpeiv, edprow
S€ Tod ywpiov yevdopuevos Dears.’
1 Hubert: lac. 3-4. 2 Pohlenz: lac. 5-7.
3 mpos amdderéwv Wyttenbach : mpo lac. 5-6 gu.


4 Mueller: dva lac. 4-6.
5 y’ od Vulcobius: yodv. § Added by Stephanus.





@ Who is a member of the com i aed also at ix. 5 (740 £).
’ There are two writers of Cyzicus so named. One
flourished at the beginning of the third century, the other at


96


TABLE-TALK I. 10, 628
notable manner and, with great munificence, had


_ furnished choruses for all the phylae together. It


happened that he was one of the guests with us and


spoke of antiquarian matters and listened to anti-


quarian talk because of his courtesy not less than his
eagerness to learn. i

~ 2. One such subject was introduced by the critic
Marcus.* He remarked that Neanthes of Cyzicus °
said in his Legends of the States that the phylé Aiantis


_ had the honour of not having its chorus judged last.


“So,” he continued, “‘in spite of the fact that this
writer is reckless in the history he publishes, if in this
matter at least he does not falsify, let us all join in
seeking out the reason.”’

_ His companion Milo ¢ said, ‘‘ What if actually the
information is false ?”’

“No matter!’ said Philopappus. “ It’s not bad if
the same thing does happen to us that happened to
ie wise Democritus because of love for learning.?
It seems that the juice of a cucumber he was eating
appeared to have a honeylike taste, and he questioned
his serving-woman about where she had bought it.
When she indicated a certain garden, he got up and
told her to take him and show him the tach The
woman was astonished and asked what-he had in
mind. ‘I must find,’ he replied, ‘ the explanation
for the sweetness, and I shall find it if I see the place.’


the end; and most references cannot with certainty be
assigned to one or to the other: Jacoby, Frag. Griech.
Historiker, no. 84 (Neanthes) with Commentary II C, pp.
144 ff. (who assigns this passage to the earlier man, as indeed
he does all but one); ¢f. Richard Laqueur, RZ, s.v. ‘‘ Nean-


© Miloa only here (RE, s.v. ‘‘ Plutarchos,” col. 668).
4 Diels-Kranz, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, ii, p. 87, 17 a.


VOL, VIII E 97


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(628) “ ‘Kardxevoo 6%,’ Td yivarov etre pedidv, ‘éyad
yap ayvorjcaca TO aikvov eis ayyetov ebéunv pepe-
tTwLevov.
ee ‘O 8° ev > a a] / tlP / , t
womep axlecbeis, ‘améxvaoas,’ elrev,
D * Kat oddev Frrov émiOjoopa TH Adyw Kat Cythow
THV aitiav, ws av oiKelov Kal ovyyevots ovans TO
alK¥@ THs. yAvKUTHTOS.’
ce O > ~ 5° ¢ Aa \ N / 6 > > 7s b] /
dKobv yd’ ets THY NedvOous ev eviois edyé-
pevav amodpdcews trovnowpela’ mpdodacw: éyyv-
/ / > \ + a ¢ /
pvacacba: yap, « pndev aAro xpyjomov, 6 Adyos
mapeéer.” .
/ Ss c ~ > U4 \ ‘ A
3. Ilavres otv opadds €ppinoay mpos td TH
pudnvy eykwpidlew, et tr Kaddov mpos ddéav adri
dmipyev avareyouevor. Kal yap 6 Mapabdy eis
/ @ a xn > / a a \
Légov elAketo, Siuos wv exeiwns THs dvdqs- Kal
\ Ave / > / > / >
tovs mept “Apyodiov Atavridas amédpawov, *Adi-
dvaious ye 57 Ta&v SHuwv yeyovdtas. TAavxias
E38’ 6 pirwp* Kai 7d de€vdv Kepas Aiavridais THs
ev Mapaldu mapatdtews adrodobfjva, tats Aicyv-
1 Bernardakis: ownodpueba.


2 elme added by Bernardakis (cf. 698 p where &¢y was
added by 'Turnebus).


¢ Presumably an empty honey-jar not yet cleaned. Bolke-
stein suggested a jar the interior of which had been smeared
with honey to preserve the food stored in it, and he cited three

assages (Adv. Crit. p. 97); of these one refers to the em-

balskee’s art (Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxii. 108) and the other two
have nothing to do with the case (Columella, ix. xvi. 13;
Horace, Hodes, ii. 15).

> RE, s.v. “* Marathon,” col. 1427.

¢ The younger of the “ Tyrannicides ’’ who paradoxically
became “ Heroes of the Revolution.”’ in the literature con-
cerned with the fall of the Pisistratids towards the end of the
6th century B.c. (cf. RE, s.v. “ Aristogeiton” and s.v.
** Harmodios ’’).


98





e TABLE-TALK I. 10, 628


_ “Sit down,’ said the woman with asmile, ‘ the fact
is I accidentally put the cucumber in a honey-jar.’*
““That was very annoying of you,’ said Demo-
critus with pretended anger, ‘ and I shall apply my-
self not the less to the problem and seek the explana-
tion as if sweetness were proper and natural to this
acumber,’
_ * Let us not, then, make Neanthes’s recklessness in
some items a pretext for running away, for this dis-
cussion will be a good exercise, if nothing else useful.”
_ 8. Thereupon all together proceeded to praise the
phylé, taking for their theme any claim to distinction
it possessed. Marathon was drawn into the talk, it
being a deme of that phylé’ ; and Harmodius ° and
his coterie, it was pointed out, belonged to Aiantis,
for they were from Aphidna, also a deme of the phylé.
The orator Glaucias ¢ said that the right flank of the
battle line at Marathon was given to men of Aiantis ;
this he based on the elegiac poem of Aeschylus*. . .


¢ A member of the company at vii. 9 and 10 (714 a ff.) and
at ix. 12 and 13 (741 c ff.).

_¢ This passage may be added to the convenient collection
of testimonia and elegiac fragments in the second edition of
Professor Gilbert Murray’s Aeschyli ... Tragoediae (Oxford,
1955), p. 371 (lines 2-4, 15-18) and pp. 373-374. ~The present

“. . . attests an elegiac poem precisely about the

ttle of Marathon, though the corruption of its title is not
healed and seems to be incurable” (Jacoby, Hesperia, xiv
[1945], p. 182, note 101). But the Marathon epigram, Murray,
a cit, p. 374, no. 5 should be deleted from the collection (cf.
acoby, ibid. pp. 179-185). For the Marathon ae see
now (in addition to + pm 4 ibid. pp. 161-185) B. D. Meritt,
The Aegean and the Near East ; Studies Presented to Hetty
Goldman (1956), pp. 268-280 ; A.J.P. lxxxiii (1962), pp. 294-
298, and lxxxv (1964), p. 417; and ef. W. K. Pritchett, Uni-
versity of California lications in Classical Archaeology,
iv. 2 (1960), pp. 160-168, and 4.J.P. lxxxv (1964), pp. 50-55.


99


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(628) Aov. trjv peBopiart* éAeyelars muoTovpevos, Tywvi-
apevou THV paynv éekeivynv éemidavas: ett Se Kal
KadXiwayov amedeixvuev Tov moAguapyov €& éxeivyns
ovrTa THs pudtjs, ds adrov Te Tapéayev apioTov av-
dpa Kal THs payns peta ye MiAriddny aitiiratos
KatéoTn ovpyndos exeivw yevopwevos. eyo de TH
PAavkia mpocetiOnv, ott Kat TO PHdiopa, Kal” 6
tovs “A@nvaious eéjnyayev, tis Alavridos dvds
mpuTavevovons ypadein, Kal ort mepi THY ev I1Aa-

“a / > / c \ 4 A
Taais paynv eddokiuinoeev » pvr padvota* S10
\ A / 7, \ 23 el \
Kat Tats UPpayitior Nvpdais tHv emuwikiov Kat
F mvdoypnotov amfyov Aiavrida: Ouaiav eis Kibar-
p@va, THs woAews TO tepeiov Kal Ta dAAa Trapexov-
ons adrots. “‘ aAX’ dps,” ednv, “ dtu 7OAAG Kai

a »” a ¢ / A uA ; \
tats adAAais gdvAais bmdpyet, Kal mpwTHV ye THY
629 éunv tote 57) THY Acovtida pndemsad Sd&ys* bd-
leevnv. oKorreite Ox, 7) MUDavedtepov A€yeTas TO°
Tapapvbiov Tod érwvdpou THs dvds Kat Tapairy-
ow elvar TO yuyvopevov: ov yap €UKoAos €veyKeiv
1 ziv peOopiay presumably an “ incurable ’’ corruption of

the title of Aeschylus’s poem on Marathon (Jacoby).


2 Turnebus: d0&n.
3 7. Bolkestein.





* The reference is to Herodotus, vi. 109-110, Callimachus,
who perished in the battle (id. vi.. 114), was by virtue of his
office commander-in-chief at Marathon ;. Miltiades was one
of the commander-in-chief’s ten generals (id. vi. 103). For
the problem of the relationship between polemarch and
generals see C. Hignett, A History of the Athenian Constitu-
tion, pp. 166-173. For fragments of the dedication made by
Callimachus before the battle and a supplement added after


100















TABLE-TALK I. 10, 628-629


pibed fought brilliantly in that battle. Further- |
esalencias pointed out that the polemarch Calli-
s was of that phylé, a man who proved himself
as brave and by casting his vote with Miltiades
Mss inost responsible, at least next to Miltiades, for
the eedidon to commit the Athenians to battle. I
_ added to the remarks of Glaucias the fact that the
decree by the stipulations of which the polemarch
_ led the Athenians out to battle was passed during the
: ny of the phylé Aiantis, furthermore that the
lé hed itself in the highest degree at
. Witeek of Plataea. It was because of this that
men of Aiantis conducted to Cithaeron the victory
' sacrifice ordained by the Pythian oracle in honour of
the Sphragitid Nymphs, and the state supplied them
_ the sacrificial victim and other things needful.’ “ How-
ever,” I continued, “ you are to take cognizance
of the fact that the other phylae, too, possess many

_ honours, and you all know well enough that my own
phylé Leontis is among the foremost and inferior to
none in distinction. Now consider, is it not more
| plausible to say that the preference shown Aiantis in
_ never judging its chorus last is for the purpose of
_ appeasing and mollifying the eponym of the phylé ?
__ For the son of Telamon is not good natured about en-


the battle see /.G. i?. 609 =Tod, Gr. Hist. Inser. no. 13, with
Jacoby’s interpretation in Hesperia, xiv (1945), p. 158, note
8; and cf. Shefton, B.S.A. xlv (1950), pp. 140-164.

? This account of the réle of Aiantis at Plataea is repeated
with greater detail in the Life of Aristeides, xix. 6, where
Kleidemos is cited for “‘ an enlargement ”’ of the record of
Herodotus, ix. 70. The Sphragitid Nymphs reappear at
Arist. xi. 3-4, and at Pausanias, ix. 3. 9. The evidence is
collected and discussed by Jacoby, Frag. Griech. Historiker,
no. 323 (Kleidemos), frag. 22, and 3 b Suppl., vol. i, pp. 82-83,
with notes in vol. ii, p. 76.


101





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(629) Array 6 Tedapcdvios, GAN’ olos apedetv TavTwv
tm’ opyfhs Kat diAoverkias: tv’ oby pt) xaderos i]
pnd dmapapsnros, edoke Tijs "TTS adereiv To
Svoxepeoraror, eis THY e€oxdTnvy ywpav pndémoTe
thv pvdnv adrod KataBaddvtas.

ein iF xataBaddvras ends line 14, fol. 35 r; line 15,


IlAourdpyov cvprociaxaévy &; line 16, a decorative row of
sigla; line 17, the heading for Book II.


¢ W. K. Pritchett noted that the discussion reaches no
satisfactory conclusion (U.C. Pub. Class. Arch. iv. 2 [1960],
p. 148, note 7 6). W. S. Ferguson suggested the possibility of
finding other “ privileges ’’ for Aiantis in the operation of the





102


TABLE-TALK I. 10, 629










uring a position of inferiority ; on the contrary,
when driven by passion and envy, he is the sort who
is reckless of everything. Therefore, to keep him
rom being harsh and implacable, it was decided to
remove the worst feature of inferiority by never put-
ting his phylé down in last place.” ¢


| tribal cycles (Athenian Tribal Cycles [1932], pp. 78-80). It

may be that Plutarch’s own solution and indeed the subject

____ of the problem are a jeu de littérature based on the fact that

_ Aiantis in the official order for listing the Athenian phylae

| (A. G. Woodhead, The Study of Greek Inscriptions, pp. 112-

114) occupied the penultimate or at times the antepenultimate
‘position reins aathd-n-aheiays clone ta: tusk: but hover last.


b |
5
¢


E 103


z
a





cian) orp? fal
Tipe = ae
ue op } re =


7
+ be ryt
cla ei aver Posh ty
















2 LOW ans. Ve Aaa


Rp IMaTyre WT 1A misiiet ae MY ands
. eae gets steed yarns
robo] ‘ABLE-TALK | irs
ye Ome Pt “Qe sEET jewh {aks
Reve \ STIC I ES CONVIVALES) *
Lay POioke eit Ta Bes Gael
FG _ BOOK dl OT BD teikinal
he TasGvon sah Ys awe otto ox)
4 pees. HOOST D> 38 ‘5 Zi) 0 ONES


fc A Cth pisay iy : ay, SuoT : roncgh. : eT
2 BOT, esas ey dp sensu Sty ahs LUT
PI PAOA LOT 1% NG epider. UMOuewD parr
: ae saya, SALON OT coe es PaRIGOS. P vr ”
. 5 ' wich Venilge’e isn sok, NA piag i: ute Tr a1
Feed ao ies) yay SOOPTOGR M64)
bur pret oT eer dom “eer whe ee
aaah mae atin clive’ sant > Cretan 6


e.9 *” a
T C : i a A = teat Ts s +Q: 2 yt won? sem ey ur
Ne ru tte i ce es


¥' se sra syn taut ad it +b altohy Pari #
oT faodl | Of an ann ullenup * add hy aoitet cae tio) 3
a Sal it wi rye 9 cHtactonsh Two wheter ts





Al mort)

‘ Dyes --- “iplowenn---guademrot a +
ws. thge ‘rDugiehe abe: Hoi *

may


(028)


(629) SYMILOSIAKON
BIBAION AEYTEPON?


C Tév eis ra Seimva Kal Ta ovptrdcia TapacKevalo-
pevwv, @ Looove Levekiwv, Ta pev avayKaiwy®
exer TAEW, Worrep olvos Kal ouria Kal oTpwpval
5nAad1) kad Tpamrelau Td, 5° emevoodua _ Veyovey
7oviis EveKev, ypelas 2) ouvayoperns womrep
akpodpata Kal Oedpara Kat _yedwroroves TLS év
KaAAiov Didirros, ofs wapodo. pev ydovTat, 7)
mapovta 8 od mavu Toodow od’ aiti@vtTar TH
cuvovoiay ws évdeeoTepov Exovoav. ovTw 81) Kal
TOV Adywv Tods pev ET XpEia TH TEpl TA CVvpTTOGLA
mapaAauBavovow ot péetpiot, Tods 8 aAAous déxov-

D tar Oewpiav mibaviv Kai TH Kaip@ paddrov avAod

BapBitov mpémovoav €xyovtas. Wv Kal TO
™p@Tov Hiv BiBAcov elye HELy Leva. delypata,
Too ev TPOoTepov yéevous TO TEpt TOO pirocogeiv
Tapa 7oTov Kal mepl Tod Siavewew avTov 7 Tots
deimvotow eéedi€var tas KAicers Kal Ta ToLladTa*:
Tob dé Sevrépou mepl Tod Tods ep@vras mowriKovs


1 In T, folio 35 7, the heading cuproc.axdéy B’ is followed by
a tabulation of the ‘‘ questions ” as in Book I. On folio 35 »,
after a row of decorative sigla, the proem of Book II begins at
line 15.

2 Kronenberg: dvayxaiav.

8 Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. pp. 101 f., defends the text.


106


TABLE-TALK
BOOK TWO







g of the preparations which are made for dinners
drinking-parties rank as necessities, my dear Sos-
ius Senecio ; such are the wine, the food, the cuisine, ,

| and of course the couches and tables. Others are
_} diversions introduced for pleasure’s sake, and no es-
‘sential function attaches to them; such are music,
les, and any buffooning Philip-at-Callias’s.*
_ With these latter, if they are present, the guests are
_ pleased, but if they are absent, the guests do not very
much desire them or criticize the party as being very
_ deficient. So it is with the conversation ; some topics
re accepted by the average run of men as the proper
Asayend of drinking-parties, while other topics are
entertained because they possess an attractive theme
_ more suitable to the moment than pipe and lyre.
of these were mixed together in my first

book. To the first category belong the conversation ._
on philosophical talk at drinking-parties, that on the
subject whether the host himself assigns places or
allows the guests to take their own, and such matters ;
_ to the second category belong the conversation on the


_ ® Philip oe a at Callias’s party in Xenophon’s
4 1 .





* xal ra Tovatra Salmasius: lac. 4-6 aéra.
107





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(629) elvat Kal mepi ths Alavridos duds. av Ta per"
KaA@ Sita Kat adros® idia® ovpmotikd: Ta Se
cuvappotepa® Kow@s ovpTociaKd.

Lmopadynv 8 avayéyparrat Kal od Svakexpyeves
adn’ ws Eexaotov eis pryiunv HAGev. od Set Se
Bavpdlew rods davayvyywoKovtas, ef col mpoo-

E dwvoivrés twa ta&v mote pynbévtwr’ Kal* trod cod
ovvnydyouev’ Kal yap av at pabyjces avapvicets
pn Tow@ow, modddKis eis tadTo TH pavOdvew 7d
avapipynoKeabar Kabiornaw.


IIPOBAHMA A?


Eevoddv mapa dtov 7dvov epwraabai ono Kai
oxwmrTeoba 7} [27


73> 3 A a
Ti’ €or a


Collocuntur Sossius Senecio et Plutarchus


1. Aéka dé mpoPAnpdrwv «is Exaotov veveun-
/ / > / ~ / > a“
péevwv BiBrLlov, év TovTw mp@tov €otw 6 Tpdmov
\ ran ~ ¢ \ > es / 8
Twa Eevoddy 6 LwKpatikos tiv mpoPéBAnxev.
A \ , \ “~ ~ /
tov yap LwBpiav dynot ovvdervoivta TO Kipw
/ > »+ / ~ “~ \g¢ ~
ta T dAAa Gavpalew trav Ilepodv Kai or Tovadra


dv 7a pev Hubert: lac. 2.

adros Stephanus : lac. 4.

idia Bernardakis: ra.

de owappdrepa Bolkestein: 6 lac. 3-4 repa.

more pnbevtwy Wilamowitz : mpoppnfévtwy.

xai Bolkestein: 7.

The text of Question 1 follows the proem without caption
or break, but with a’ in the margin. The title comes from the
index prefixed to the proem in ‘T.

8 apoBéBAnxev Meziriacus: mapaPéBAnxev.


108


ya oc fF © WN


TABLE-TALK II. 1, 629





poetical disposition of lovers and the one concerned
_ with the phylé Aiantis. The first group indeed I also
call RPsatcelly drinking-party topics, but both to-

4 gether generally suitable table-talk.

_ The conversations which follow have been written
_ ina haphazard manner, not systematically but as each
came to mind. Nor must my readers be surprised if,
though addressing myself to you, I have introduced
_ some of your own past conversation also ; for indeed,
_ if the getting of knowledge does not insure that one
_ remembers it,* frequently the same end is attained
_ by recollection as by learning.


a ;
boa urisen<- S QUESTION 1


What the subjects are about which Xenophon says people,
_ when they are drinking, are more pleased to be questioned
and teased than not ” !


Speakers : Sossius Senecio and Plutarch





“i ;
1. Tue first of the ten questions allocated to each
_book is here one which Xenophon the Socratic has in
a manner of speaking placed before us. He tells us
that Gobryas,° when dining with Cyrus, admired the
“qualities of the Persians, in particular the fact that


_. * Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. pp. 103 f., follows Vollgraff in
transposing af to dvayrijoers and translating ‘‘ etsi enim re-
| tiones nullas efficiunt novarum rerum cognitiones,”’ ete. :
“if memory does not actually produce new knowledge, yet
to be reminded of certain things often amounts to the same
ont as learning.” Cf. infra, 686 B.
_ © [mitated in Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 2 f.; ef. Aris-
totle, Eth. Nic. iv. 8.

¢ Friend and relative by marriage to Cyrus the Elder.
The present anecdote is from Xenophon, Cyropaedia, v. 2.


18.
109











PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ ~
(629) wev aAArjAovs Hpwdtwv a jndvov Hv epwrynOHvar 7) 7),
” 5° Ay 07 “P.) n“ 42 > \
EokwTTov a} oxwdbfvar Advov 7 p> ef yap
> ~
erawvobtvres eTepot moAAdKis Avmodov® Kat mpoc-
F (oravtar, ms odK abiov Hv adyao8at thy edtpa-
meAlav éxeivwv Kal THY OvVEOW, MV Kal TA OKW[-
A A A
para Tois oKwrTopEevois HOoViY Kal Yap Tapetyev;
/ Ss ¢ ~ > 4 ¢ / an“ ” 4
dexopevos obv Huds ev Ildtpars 7déws av edns
mvbécbat Ta Tovatr’ épwrhpuata toiov yévous ein
Kal tis adT&v TUmos* “od ydp Tt puKpov,”’ edns,°
A a ¢ \ \ > va
“rhs OptAntiKhs PopLov 7 TEpl TAS Epwrnoets Kal
fot 7 /
Tas Tradias TOO eppedAods emioTHUN Kal THPHOIS.”
630 2. “‘ Méeya pev ody,” ednv eyw, “ aAd’ dpa pr
Kal avTos 6 Hevoddy &v te TH Lwxpatick@ Kal
a A /
tois Ilepouxots émideikvuor ovptrociots TO yévos.
> de 8 A 41. £ ~ > 62 0. A6 A / ~
ef d€ Soke? Kal Huds émiéoba 7H° AOyw, TpArov
¢ / > ~ / 7 a € / > ’
ndews epwrdobai wor Soxotow a padiws azoxpi-
vacba. Svvavra: Tatra 8 é€otiv wv éumrepiav
~ A
éxovow. a yap ayvootouw, 7’ wn A€éyovtes ayBovrat
/ > / a ~ A 4, b>! /
Kabdrep aitnbévtes 6 Sodvar py Sdvavrar 7 Xé-
> \ / 4 ° / > /
yovtes amo dSd€ns Kal eixacias od PeBaiov dia-
A
TapaccovTar Kal Kwduvevovow. av de pu [Oovov
” A c/s > \ / 8 4 ¢ > /
€yn TO pddtov aAAa Kai Ti’ TEpiTTOV 7) aTroKpLots,
nn A >
B 7diwy éott TH arroKpwopevw: trepitrai 8° eioiv ai
~ \
Tov emoTapevwv & pu) TOAAOL yryvmoKovot fund?
axnkoacw, olov dotpoAoyiKay, SiadexTiK@v, avrrep
1 éoxwrrov & a Bernardakis, cai ds éoxwmrov ofa Xylan-
der; lac. 8.
2 ydvov 7) uy Nylander: oxwdAijvar «ar lac. 4.
3 Bernardakis: lac. 6.
4 Wyttenbach: én E, édvT. °° Wyttenbach: édyce.
110





TABLE-TALK II. 1, 629-630


Dthey asked each other such questions as it is more

_ agreeable to be asked than not and joked each other

_ on matters about which it was more agreeable to be
teased than not; for if other men often vex and

3 annoy by their praise, as they do, surely it was right
for Gobryas to admire the urbanity and understand-

F _ ing of men whose very jokes offered pleasure and
_ gratification to those who were the butts? And so,
_ when you were entertaining me at Patras, you said
_ you would be glad to learn what kind such questions
you wo and what their general character. “ For no
small portion of the art of conversation,” you said,
“is the knowledge and observance of good taste in
| Si ercntii : and fun-making.”

OT ae y, a great portion,” I replied ; ‘ but
2 surely Xenophon himself, in the Socratic Symposium
__ as well as in his writing about Persian drinking-parties,
shows what kind such questions are. And yet if it is
decided that we too apply ourselves to the problem,
it seems to me, in the first place, that men are glad to
be asked what they are able to answer easily, that is,
questions about matters in which they have experi-
ence ; for about what they do not know, either they
say nothing and are chagrined as though asked for
what they cannot give or they reply with a guess and
an uncertain conjecture and so find themselves in a
distressing and dangerous situation. However, if the
answer is not only easy but somehow striking, it is
more agreeable to the answerer. Striking are the
answers of those who have knowledge of matters
which many neither understand nor have heard about:
for example, astronomy or dialectics, if it is in these





® Hubert: rut. 7 Jannot: of.
8 + added by Hubert, 76 Reiske.


111


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(630) e€wv ev adrois Eywouw. od yap mpatTwv pdovov exa-
atos ovde Sinpepedwv, ods Edpumidns dyaiv, adda
kat dtadeyomevos

v3 > \ e ~ / / nn
iv’ adtos abdtod Tuyydvn KpaTLoTos WY
ndews Siatiberar.
ce K \ / a > ~ “A 7 >
al Yaipovat Tots _pwraow & yryvwoKovtes ay-
a \ / > / A A 5
voetobat Kai AavOavew od OéAovow. 810 Kail zreEpi
4 > / \ / / Lys a!
xX@pas azoixov Kal ێvyns Gaddrryns Ody te Bap-
Bapik@v Kal vopwv ot wemAavnpéevot Kai mremdAev-
KOTES YOLOV epwravrar Kal mpobdpuws dSinyodvrar
Kal Swaypddovor KdAmovs Kal Tdzous, oidpevor
C Kal ydpw twa Tov rover TadTny Kal Tapapvbiav
/ / > 4 A > ~
Kopilecbar. KalddAov 8 daa pndevos epwrdvtos
> ‘ a“ \ / San = ~ 77
avTo. dunyetobar Kal Aédyew ad’ éavTdv <iwfaper,
yotov epwrapeba, yapileobar tovtois dSoKodvres,
dv epyov nv evoxAoupevwy amrooxéobat. Kal Todo
pev ev Tots 7AwTiKois pdALoTa dveTat TO yevos TOD
voonpatos: of dé Kopydrepo. tatr éepwradcbar
/ “A / / > ~ \ /
Gédovow a Bovddcpevor Adyew aidodivrar Kai dei-
Sovtat THY TapdvTwy* olov doa Tuyxavovow adroi
Suamempaypevor Kai KatwpOwxKdres. dp0ds yotiv
e / A / a >? / > ,
6 Néotwp rhv didotipiav tod *Odvocéws émora-
pLevos
ein” aye p, @ modvaw’ *Odvoed,—dyoi,—_péeya
Kddos “Ayadr,
D o6z27ws* tovod’ immovs AdBerov.


1 6amws Xylander from Homer: 6émws 5%).
112














TABLE-TALK II. 1, 630


subjects that the answerers have skill. For not only
the activity in which he passes his days but also in
iis conversation each man is agreeably occupied
goer Where the best of his abilities
~~) 595 400°) Chance to lie,
_ as Euripides has it.*
ei: People are pleased with those who ask them ques- |
_ tions on subjects which, because they ieniselval have :
‘knowledge of them, they are unwilling to let go un-
kno the hidden. Thus ravellors and wails are |
ery glad to be questioned about a far-away place’
ad a foreign sea and about the customs and laws of

: alien men, and they willingly describe and delineate
_ gulfs and localities with the notion that thus they

obtain for themselves a kind of reward and a consola-
tion for their labours. In general we are glad to be
_ questioned on matters which we are in the habit of
; ribing and solking about of our own accord even
_ when no one asks us, for so we think we give pleasure
_ to those whose business it was to refrain from putting


& eager to us if our conversation annoyed them.


is kind of disease is rampant among seafaring men,


- and the more courteous prefer to be questioned about


what, in spite of their desire, they hesitate to speak
because of modesty and their consideration for the
_ company, as, for example, all that they themselves
have accomplished and achieved. And so it was right
for Nestor, knowing Odysseus’s love for fame, to say


Come tell me, famed Odysseus, glorious


And great Achaean, how you both did take
These horses.”


@ Prag. 183 Nauck, line 3. Cf. Moralia, 622 a, 5144,
43 B. , > Iliad, x. 544 f,


113


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(630) ay@ovrat yap tots atrovs émawotow Kal Tas éav-
tav edtvxias due€votow, av pn KeAevon dAXos tis

TOV TapovTwv Kat olov Braldpevou® Aéywouw.
““Hééws* yodv épwravrar mepi® mpeoBedv Kai
mepi' todure@v doo péya Te Kat Aaprpov eipya-
opévo Tuyxyavovow. lev HKioTa Tept TovTwY ot°
P0ovepoi Kat Kaxoybers épwrdar, Kav aAdAos tis
Epyntar’ Ta Toiatra, SuaKkpovovrar Kal mapatpe-
Tova, xwpav TH Sinyjcer py dSiddvTes nde Bov-
Adpevot Adyou Tov A€yovta KoopobvTos adopyas
mpocobar. Kat tadr’ odv épwravres yapilovra®
Tois amroKpivopevois, & Tods €xOpods Kai duvopeveis

aicbdvovrar pn BovAopévous axoverv.
E 3. “ Kat phy 6 y’ ’Odvoceds 7H ’AAkwow


\ WD Rare / \ > / /
col 6 é€ua K7jdea Ovpos eetpdmeto oTovdevTa
” sig > 4 ~ > / /
eipec’, opp’ Ett UGAAov ddupdpevos orevayilw.


\ \ A A e 3907
Kal 7pos Tov yopov 6 Oidizous


A A A / / ” / >
Sewov pev TO mdaAat Keipevov On Kakov, @
civ’, émeyeipew*:


6 8 Edpuridns todvavriov

¢ egos / a 4 10

Ws Ov Tor owlévTa peuvnobar trovwr,
<kairot Kat adtos SnrABOv ws Hdd pdvois Tots 7dn


kai olov Bialowevor Bernardakis: lac. 6-9 (opevor.
%5€ws Turnebus : lac. 5-7.
mept Turnebus: lac. 4-5.
mept Turnebus: lac. 3-5.
doo. Hubert: ei Turnebus: lac. 4.
oi Stephanus: «s.
7 dAXos tis Epntat Cobet, adAos adrovs épwrd Bollaan (Helm-
bold, Class. Phil. xxxvi [1941], p. 87): dAdo lac. 6-7 rat.


114


aon r WO hw eH





+


.


TABLE-TALK II. 1, 630


For people are irritated by those who praise them-
selves and recount at length their own successes, un-
less some other member of the company bid them do
so, and they are, as it were, compelled to speak.


_ “ At any rate everybody who happens to have


achieved some great and brilliant success on foreign
mission or in political office at home is glad to be
asked about it. That is why spiteful and malicious


| oh api in the habit of asking about such matters


east of all and resist and turn aside such questions
if asked by some one else, granting the story no place,
nor willing to countenance the first words of a tale
reflecting credit upon the teller. Accordingly, those
who ask about matters they know the disaffected
enemies of the questioned do not wish to hear, are
the men who please their interlocutors.
8. “ To proceed : Odysseus said to Alcinoiis,


Thy heart inclined to ask about my mournful
fate, that I might cry and moan still more.*


And Oedipus said to the chorus,


It is dreadful, O Stranger, to stir
Such an evil, long dormant till now.


But the opposite we find in Euripides,
To remember toil, how sweet—when one is safe. °
Yet he himself makes plain how sweet to those alone
@ Odyssey, ix. 12 f.


» Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 510; see su oes,
note a. Don Frag. 133 Nauck. fate





8 yapilovrac Meziriacus: yapilecOa.
: * Rey, éneyeipeww Xylander from Sophocles: feive lac, 4-
yeupev.
10 rot owbdvra peuvfjo8a added by Turnebus from Macro-
bius, Saturnalia, vii. 2.9: lac. 4-5.


115


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(630) cwéeiow)' od tots ett mAavwpévois Kal KaKd?
pépovaw. Ta&v ody Kak@v dvdakréov é€ott Tas
> , oF foie
Epwrnoes* avidvTa. yap Sinyovpevor Katadikas

~ “ A ~
F aitaév 7 tafas maidwy 4 Twas KaTa yHVY ovK
edTvyets 4 Kata Oddarrav éeumopias. TO b€ mas
/ > \ 7, “a
evnuepynoav emt Pyuatos 7 mpoonyopevOnoay t70
~ ”“ ~ ~
Tod BactAéws 7) TOV GAAwY TEepiTecdvTwY YEyLdoww
a r OTat av \ PS) £7) ‘ / PS) we) /
9 Anotats adrot dvédvyov tov Kivdvvov, Hdéws
epwT@vTat ToAAdKis Kai TpdTrov Twa TO Adyw TOO
, > ~
mpaywatos atoAavovtes amAnoTws €xovat Tod d:-
631 nyetoPat Kal pvnpwovevew. yatpovor d€ Kal epi
dilwy edtvyovvTwy epwrdpevor Kal mepl taidwyr
mpokoTTovTwy ev palyuacw %° avvnyopias 7
/ /
diriats Baorrdéwv.


ce


"ExyOpav S€ Kai dvopevdv dveidn Kai BAdBas
Kal Katadixas e€eAeyybévrwv Kai odaddvtwy 7d10v
epwTwpevor Kail mpobupdtepov eEayyéAAovaww: ad-

‘ > > 43> e a > lon / /
to. & ad atrav dxvodo. dvdatropevor Sd€av
emiyaipekakias. dtov d€ Kal Trepl KUVaY avdpa
Onpevtikov épwrav Kal didabAnrhy mepi yupuiKav
> 4 \ \ ~ > / c > > \
aywvwv Kal mept Kad@v épwrikdv. 6 8 edaeBys

\ 4 A > / \ ¢
Kat dtAobdrns, Sinynuatikos Oveipwv Kai doa

/ hal , ”“ ¢ a4 ~ > U
ypyoduevos 7 druas 7 tepots’ Oe@yv evdpeveia
, eqs ” \ \ , > a 5

B xatwp0woev, idéws av Kal TEpit TOUTWY EpwT@To.

a de 4, bal de ¢ rs) / <4
tois Sé mpeoBdras, Kav pndev y Sujynos 7


1 Text in brackets added by Hubert: lac. 25-28 -ois
ovxert for ov tots €rt Helmbold, loc. cit.


116

















TABLE-TALK II. 1, 630-631


have now been saved, not to those who still en-
lure misfortunes in their wanderings, It is therefore
necessary to keep one’s questions away from the sub-
ect of misfortunes, for it distresses people to speak
of lawsuits lost, of children buried, of any unsuccessful
_ business-deals on land or sea. But they are glad to be
_ asked over and over how they met with success in the
_ Assembly, or were addressed by the king, or, when
_ others fell in with storms or pirates, they themselves
avoided the danger; and they are insatiable in re-
calling and relating their experience because their
talk in a sense enables them to continue their pleasure
in it. And they are happy to be asked about friends
vho are successful and about children who are making
ss in studies or in lawsuits or in the friendship


___yieted and ruined ; about such matters they are very

willing to report in detail, but of their own accord
_ they hesitate to do so, bewaring of a reputation for
_ Spite. It is also very agreeable to ask a huntsman


: 1 ; questions about dogs, a keen athlete about games,


and an amorist about his handsome loves. The pious
_ ritualist, fond of recounting dreams and all that he
by the gods’ goodwill has brought to success through
use of omens or of sacrifices, would very gladly be
asked about these matters. Those who address
questions to elderly men please them very much and
* «ai xaxa Stephanus, «avias Bernardakis: xawds.
8 7 added by Bernardakis.
4 4 after fepots deleted by Hubert.
5 Duebner: éepwravrat.








117





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(631) mpoojKovoa, mavTws ot epwrdvres yapilovra Kal
Kiwodat BovAopeévous.
& Néorop NyAnidin, od & ddnbés éeviomes,
mas bar’ *"Atpeidns;
mod Mevédaos env;
4 ovk “Apyeos jev “AxauKod;
TOAN epwrdv dua Kat moAAdv Adywv adoppas
mpolewevos,’ ody Womrep evior avatéAAovtTes Eis TO
dvayKatov avto Kal ovveAatvovtes Tas amoKpicets
adaipodvrar THs yepovtTixys SvatpiPhs TO HdvoTov.
oAws 8° of Oédovres eddpaivew paddrAov 7 Avzeiv
TOLAVTAS EpwTHoets mpopepovTat, WY Tats a7roKpi-
C ceow ov pdyos add’ Emawos, ode picos 7) vépmecis
GAN evvoia Kal ydpis EmeTar Tapa THY akov-
odvTwy. Tatra pev obv TA TEpl Tas epwTHoets.
“ Vewppatos 5€ TH pr) Svvapévw pet? evAa-
pparos 5é 7G pn Svvapévp per” edda
Betas Kail téyvns Kata Kaipov amtecbat TmavTdra-
ow adbextéov: womep yap Tovs® ev dAvcbnp@ rorw,
Kav Oiywow ék Tapadpopfs povov, avarpemovow,
ovTws €v oww mpos macav dadoppny Adyov pe)
KaTd. oxhpwa yeyvowevny emogarads € Exopev. Tots
d€ oxwbupaow eorlv ore padov 7 % Tats AowWdopiacs
exkwovpela, TO pev on opyijs mohdxus aBov-
Ajrws 6 Op@vrTes yLyvopevor, To 8 ws ovK avayKatov
aA’ Epyov UBpews Kal kaxon Betas mpoBaAAdpevo:
D kai KafoAov 7H* Siaréyecbar tots aoreilopevors*
parXr\ov 7 Tots «ix ddAvapodo. yadreraivomer:
1 Anonymous note in the margin of a copy of the Basel
edition preserved at Leyden, Reiske: -poordpevos (mpoc-
venevous wrongly Hubert).


2 yap tous added by Stephanus. yap Xylander.
3 +@ added by Paton.


118


TABLE-TALK II. 1, 631







up willing talkers, even if the subject matter in
way relates to the speaker :


- O Nestor, son of Neleus, speak the truth.
How perished the son of Atreus.. .?
And where was Menelaiis.. .?

In Achaean Argos was he not, for sure ? ¢


Many were the questions he (‘Telemachus] put at one
the same time and many were the stories for
yhich he offered the occasion, not like some men, who
arty the most pleasant pastime of old age by
using the answers they receive to be contracted
ra, shige to bare essentials. Tosum up: those
ho wish to give happiness rather than distress put
- questions of such sort that the answers are attended
not by blame from the audience but by praise, not by
hatred and anger but friendliness and goodwill. This,
then, is what I have to say upon the subject of
_ questions.
_ 4, “ The man who cannot engage in joking at a
suitable time, discreetly and skilfully,” must avoid |
_ jokes altogether ; for just as men in a slippery place
are upset however lightly brushed, so in drinking we
( are apt to be overthrown at every unseemly outburst
_ of talk that arises. And there are times when we are
more roused by jokes than by insults, for we may
frequently see that insults are the unintended result
of anger, while we may suppose that jokes are the
gratuitous result of insolence and bad character.
Further, we are generally more offended when the
talk is with clever men than when it is with heedless


* Odyssey, iii, 247 ff.
» Cf. Precepts of Statecraft, vii, 803 8 ff.


4 Paton: lac. 6-7 vous. 5 Pohlenz: lac. 4.
119








PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(631) etddres* ore ddAos TO” bBpiopare® mpooeori.*
Soxet yap" TO oKOp pa Aovddpynpwa Sedoypevor"
elvaw Kal TETOLNMEVOV eK TapacKEUysS. oO yap
elev TaprxomebAny avTolev edowddpyaer, 6 de
djoas, ‘ pepripede. ce TO Bpaxtove droput-
TOMEVOV,” coxupev. kat Kixépwy ampds "Oxra-
oviov, ex AtBdns elvar Soxobvra éyovtos 8° adrob
dacKkovTa p7) akovew, “Kal pny TeTpuTnpevor,”
” cc 7 \ Ss 99 \ 4 ¢ A A
egy, “‘ exes’ TO ods.” Kal MeddvOtos td Tob

~ , yw ce ° > /
Kwuwd.oTrood Katayehudpevos edn, “ odK dpetrd-
LLEVvOV [Lot a7rodiOws epavov.”
“ce MaéAA > A 7 Py , A , \
GAAov otv Ta oKwppata SdKver, Kabdrep Ta
E TapnyKLoTpopeva BéAn mAciova xpovov €[LLEVOVTC..
Kat Auret TOUS oxupbevras 1) n TEpyus TH Kopuporytt
Kal dgov’ ndvvEL TOUS Tapovras: 7)00}LevoL yap
emt TO Acyoueven, morevew dSoKovar Kal ouv-
Svacvpew® TO Aéyorrt. dverduapos”” P €or
THs'' auapTias Tapecynuatiopevos TO” Kaa
Kata Tov Meddpactov: dbev €€ adtot TH trovoia
mpooti@now 6 aKovoas Td €dXeirov ws €ldws Kal
mioTevwV. 6 yap yeAdoas Kat Hobeis, TOO Oeoxpi-
~ ~ ~ >
Tov mpos Tov doKobvTa Awtroduteiy épwravra 5


1 Paton: lac. 2-3.
2 8dAos 7H Paton: 8 ddAws 7d.
3 JBpiowart Paton: lac. 2-4 pare.
4 mpodocott Reiske: mpooéorat.
5 doxe? yap Paton: lac. 4-5.
8 Sedoypuevov Paton: 8¢ lac. 4-5.
7 Xylander: €yee. 8 xa’ doov Post: kal.
® Soxodcr Kai ovv- Duebner: lac. 3-4.
10 Turnebus: lac. 2 cpos.
11 Turnebus, tivos Bolkestein : lac. 2.
12 rapecxynpatiomevos TO Turnebus: rape lac. 5.





* Literally, ‘on your arm.” Bion of Borysthenes attri-
120


:




























TABLE-TALK II. 1, 631


ools, for in the case of the clever man we know that
anni ips compounded with his offensiveness,—in-
deed his joke seems to be deliberate abuse purposel
lel ae The man who calls you ‘ Fo i ‘ is
Obviously being insulting, but it’s joking when some-
one says, ‘I remember when you used to wipe your
-mose on your sleeve.’* And when a man named
Octavius, who was supposed to be from Libya, said
_to Cicero that he did not hear what Cicero was saying,
the latter’s answer was, ‘ And yet you have holes in
| your ears! ’® Again, when Melanthius ¢ was ridiculed
| by the comic poet, he said, ‘ It’s not the coin you owe
that you pay me back.’

_ “ Thus jokes are more biting, for like barbed arrows
they lie longer embedded. The delight in their clever-
ness distresses the victims in the degree it gives
pleasure to the company, for by taking pleasure in
what is said the company seem to believe the speaker
and join in with his ridicule. The joke, as Theo-
‘phrastus has it, is a disguised reproach for error ¢ ;
| accordingly the listener of his own accord supplies in
| thought what is missing as though he knew it and
believed it. For example, Theocritus,’ in reply to
the question of a man reputed to be a robber, who


butes both. the habit and the occupation to his father:
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Philosphers, iv. 46.
© Life of Cicero, xxvi. 4; Mor. 2058. In Xenophon, Ana-
e , iii. 1. 31, pierced ears are given as proof of non-Hellenic
, as of non-Roman ; see further John E. B. Mayor,
; 1. 104, with note; Macrobius’s version of this
passage is explicit in citing this as a Libyan practice.
* Aristophanes, Peace, 804, Birds, 151; a tragic poet
ridiculed by Eupolis, Plato comicus, Pherecrates, etc.
~ * Cf. Tract. Coisl. 4 f. in Kaibel, Com. Gr. Frag. I. i, p.
50; Lane Cooper, Aristotelian Theory of aie pp- 259 fr
~* Of Chios, F.H.G. ii. 87, cf. infra, 683 c; RE, s.v., no. 2.


121


(631)


F


632


B


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


adrov et emt Seimvov Badiler dyoavtos Badilew,
exe prevtor Kabevdew, BeBarotvt. tiv SdvaBoAry
Gpotds eat. 810 Kal mpocavamipmAnot Ttods
TapovTas 6 oKwWTTWY Tapa péeAos Kakonfeias, Ws
epndopevovs Kal ovvuBpilovras.’ €v b€ TH Kady
Aakedaipou tTOv pabyydtwv eddxer TO oKwmTew
addmws Kal oxwrropevov dépew: ei dé Tis amelmot
okwrrTopevos, evOds 6 oKaTTWY emémavTO. TAs
otv ov yxadAemov edpetv oKOmpa TH oKwrTopeve
Kexaplopevov, Orrov Kal TO 1) AvTObY* TOD oKwp-
patos ov¥ Ths Tuxovons eumerpias Kal de€vornTOs
€oTw;

5. “Od pay GAAa mpSrd por Soxet ta AvTOGvTA
Tovs €vdyous oKwppaTa Tots paKpav ovo TAS
diaBoAfs ydovniv twa Kal ydpw moveivy. olov o
Revodav tov tvréparoypov Kal brépdacvv ekeivov
Ws Talika ToD LayPavAa oxwmTdopevov cicayet
peta tradids. Kal Kujrov tod jerépov, weuvnoat
yap, ev aobeveia Tas yelpas eyew uypas A€yovrTos,
Addidios Modeoros, ‘ dAAa pv,’ ébn, ‘ Beppas
amo Ths émapylas KekopiKas adtds’+ TodTo yap
exelvw pev yeAwra Kai dudyvow mapéoxev, KAéeTTH
S’ avOuratw Aowddpnua Kat dvedos jv. S10 Kat
KpitoBovrAov 6 XwKpdtys edmpoowrdtatov ovTa
mpokaAovpevos eis avyKpiow edpopdias €malev


1 Reiske: cuvuBpilopevous.
2 Stephanus, Auzeiy dca Ziegler: Avzeiv.





*@ In Xenophon, Cyropaedia, ii. 2. 28 f.
> To whom, if the emendation at these places is correct, are
122








TABLE-TALK II. 1, 631-632


Bee aking whether Theocritus was going out to
r, said that he was indeed going out to dinner,
_ but was passing the night there ; whoever laughs at
the remark and takes pleasure in it is in the position
_ of one who confirms the slander. Thus the ill-bred
joker infects the company with his bad manners,
since they too are delighted and join in his malice.
In fair Lacedaemon it was thought that one of the
things a man must learn was to tease without giving
offence and to endure being teased; and if anyone
should ever succumb under teasing, the teaser always
_ stopped at once. How then can it fail to be hard to
a joke agreeable to the man at whom it is
directed when joking without offending is a matter
of no ordinary skill and cleverness ?
_ 5. “ Nevertheless, it seems to me that jokes which
distress the guilty are foremost in causing a certain
pleasure and mirth in men of unimpeachable reputa-
tion. An example is Xenophon’s playful introduction
of that exceedingly ugly and shaggy individual who
is teased as the ‘ darling’ of Sambaulas.* When our
own Quietus ” during his illness remarked that his
hands were cold,—surely you remember,—Aufidius
Modestus ° said, ‘ But you have brought them back
hot from your province.’ This made Quietus laugh
merrily, though for a thieving proconsul it would
have been an insulting rebuke. So too Socrates,
when he challenged the very handsome Critobulus @
to a beauty-contest, was teasing him amiably, not


dedicated De Fraterno Amore (with Nigrinus; see 478 B with
note [LCL]) and De Sera Numinis Vindicta (548 a).

¢ RE, s.v. ** Aufidius,” no. 30; above, 618 F.

@ Xenophon, Symposium, iv. 19; rather, it is Critobulus
who is ironic at Socrates’s expense, but Socrates lightly
returns the irony.


123


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


>
(632) odk éxAevalev. Kal Lwxpdtynv mddAw >AAKiBiadns
éoxwntev eis Cndorumiav tHv mept “Aydbwvos.
““Hoovrat d€ kat BaotAets tots Aeyouevois ads ets
mevntas adbrovs Kal iduwTas, womep bro DiAimzov
oxwleis 6 mapaoutos elzrev: ‘ odK e€yw oe Tpedw; ’
\ \ > / A / > /
Ta yap ov mpooovta daira AéyovTes, Eudaivovar
Ta TMpooovta xpynoTd. Set &° duodoyoupevws Kal
BeBaiws mpooceivai tu ypnorov: «i dé PA TO
C Aeyopevov Todvavriov" approByrnoiov exer THY
birévoiav. 6 yap TO mv mAovaoiw Tovs daveroras
erafew A€ywv 7) Tov SSpordrny Kal owdpova
mapowelv Kai peOvew 7) TOV evddTravov Kal peya-
AompeT Kal yapiotiKov KiwPiKa Kal KuUpuvoTpt-
OTynVY Mpocayopevwy % TOV €v ovVHyopiats Kai
modTeias péeyav ameAdv ev ayopa Arjiseobar
dudyvow Kal pediapa tapéoyev. ovtws 6 Kipos
ev ois éAcimeto THY ETaipwv eis Tadta mpoKa-
Aovpevos eylyveto mpoonvis Kal Kexapltapevos. Kal
Tob “lopnviov TH Ovcia mpocavdocdytos, ws ovK
> / / \ ] A e \
éxaAAréper, trapeAduevos Tovs avAods 6 pucbwros
nuance yeAoiws: aitriwpévwr® d€ Tav TapdvTwr,
cou ’ ” ‘ \ / >? ~ / ?
D ‘ éorw, €dbn, ‘7d KEexapiopevws adAciv Oedber’-
e 8 4 | / r / ‘ LAN’ > ~ \ DA ~
6 opnvias yeAdoas, ‘ aAX’ éuod pev adbdAodvrTos
nddopevor SietpiBov ot Beot, cod 8 amadAayyvac
,
omevdoovtes ed€€avTo THV Ouaiav.
6. "Eri roivey of ta ypnoTa Tay mpaypatwv


> Pohlenz deletes 76 before Aeyopevov, Hartman deletes 76
from évavriov.

4 Xylander : : KUpuvov.

3 dvuwpéevwv Naber (Helmbold, Class, Phil. xxxvi [1941], p.
87).
124





















TABLE-TALK II. 1, 632


| ¢ him, And it was again Socrates whom
| | leib ibiades teased for his jealousy over Agathon.*
‘ ic Kir igs are pleased to be addressed like mere
labourers and common men : for example, the para-
sit y to Philip’s teasing, ‘ Do I not feed you ?”’
For by phedee to a disability which does not exist
one s the merit which does. The presence
* merit of some sort, certain and generally re-
cognized, is essential ; otherwise the real meaning of
atement of the contrary is ambiguous. Mirth
nt ihn are the result when someone says that
hintroduce money-lenders to the very wealthy
0-and-so, or asserts that a sober water-drinker gets
sly drunk, or calls the free-spending, magnifi-
jounteous mene gear y skinflint, or threatens
in prominent at the bar and in government
th ibNvilFeatch him in the Agora.” So it was a kind
a agteenble act for Cyrus © to challenge his com-
nions to contests in which his skill was inferior to
t _ And when Ismenias ¢ was playing the pipe
ta Faabeifinc, was not obtaining favourable omens,
_and the professional took the pipe, played in a
ridiculous manner, and answered n reproaches of
_ the bystanders’ with ‘ To play the pipe agreeably is
yi the png eg Ismenias mane and pugs With





* Plato, Symposium, 213 c.
_-» The implication is that the Agora is the centre of judicial
and litical activity, as indeed it was at Athens.
enophon, Cyropaedia, i. 4.4; ef. Mor. 5148. -
a Presumably a member of the Theban family: RE, s.v.,
| no. 6; cf Life of Pericles, i. 5.





125





)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(632) tots AowWopovpevors dvdouacr pera mardias Kadodv-
bd) > ~ ~ al lanl
TES, av EupeAds troiBow, avt@v padAdov eddpai-
vovot TOV am evleias emawwotvTwy. Kal ‘yap
/ ~ ~
ddxvovot paAdov oi dia TOV eddjpwv overdilovtes,
¢ ¢ \
WS ol TOUS Tovnpods ’ApioTeidas Kal Tods SevAods
> a ~ ~
AyxtAreis Kadoivtes Kal 6' Tod Lodoxdéous
Oidimous . ..
tavTns Kpéwv 6 motos obd€& apyns diros.”
- prem” a » , > , 3 ‘
avtioTpopov ovv €ouke yevos eipwveias elvar® Td
E wept rods éraivous: d kal LwKpdrys eypioato, Tod
> / A A \ A > 7
Avtiabévous 76 didAoroiov Kai cvvaywyov avOpa-
>

Twv els evvolay jLacTpoTreiay Kal* mpoaywyeiav®
> , 6 , ‘ \ , ;
dvouacas .. .° Kpdryta de tov diAdcodgov, eis
macav otkiay elo.wvTa peTa TYLnS Kal drAodpo-
oH, Sexopevey, : Ouperavoixrny ” éxdAouv.

* Tovet 5° evyapt oKOppa Kal pepilis €udai-
vovoa yap: ws Avoyévns epi *Avricbévous €Ae-
yev

’ ¢, 97 9 » > ,
Os pe paxy’ 7 Humoye KaénvayKacev
aE
mTwyxov yeveobar Kak Souwv avacratov’
b] \ a) ¢ / 6 A A / ce
od yap av dpoiws mubavos tv Aéywv: ‘ 6s pe co-
dov Kal avtapKn Kal paKkdpiov émoincev. Kal 6
~ / /
F Adkwv dxarva €vAa TH yupvaciapyw TapacyovTe
a > “ >
mpoomo.ovpevos eyKaNeivy eAeyev, ‘dv dv ovd
: Kat 6 Stephanus : : 6 Kal.
> zadrns and dpyijs Xylander from Sophocles: lac. 6 ys
and a lac. 5-6 ys; after Oidimous perhaps no omission except
ztav, Hubert. ;
3 Bernardakis: elva: eipwveias.


4 xal cvvaywyiav deleted by Wyttenbach before «ai.
126


eee Ee






TABLE-TALK II. 1, 632


_ words to anything praiseworthy, if they do so with
tact, give more pleasure than even men straightfor-
hats in their praise. And those who are fairspoken
in their censure are actually more bitingly effective,
like one who calls a rascal an Aristides and a coward
an Achilles, and like Sophocles’s Oedipus,*

For this the trusted Creon, long my friend . . . [sc. desires

a +“ _ to cast me out, has caught me with his tricks].
_ Now it seems that for praise there is a corresponding
" kind of irony. Socrates ® used it when he applied
_ the terms ‘pandering’ and ‘pimping’ to Antisthenes’s
_ habit of bringing men together in fellowship and good-
1... lacuna of c. 45 letters . .. And Crates the
losopher,° who had entry to every house and the
i esteem of his hosts, was called ‘ Gate-


‘Stor






4 ae

7. “ Censure too, provided it shows gratification,
“makes an agreeable pleasantry. As Diogenes said of
In rags he clothed me and compelled that I

| eos - dine and from my home coleeiet

‘He would not be equally effective if he said, ‘ He
_ made me wise, independent, and happy.’ And there
_ is the Laconian who pretended to bring suit against
_ the gymnasium-master who furnished ‘smokeless
faggots: ‘ Because of him,’ said the Laconian, ‘ even


cond ney say Tyrannus, 385; “ For this’’=to obtain my
positon or himself, sc. i i a’ apxis ovvexa from two lines
j 3 >» Xenophon, Symposium, iv. 61 ff.
_ © Diogenes Laertius, vi. 86.

# Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag., Adespoton 394.


i mpoayuryeiay Wyttenbach from Xenophon: dywyiay.
Lac. 45. ? Stephanus: xdpy.





127





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(632) avodaxpdca yéyovey’ hiv.’ Kat 6? tov Seurvi-
Covra Kal? Tpepav dvdpamodiariy Kady Kal
Tepavvoy, du’ ov é€rdv tocovTwv ovx ecbpakev THY
€avTod Tpdmelav. Kal o Acywy b bo TOU Bagidéws
emiBeBovAevpevos adynphobar tiv oxoAnv. Kal Tov
Umvov, mAovaLos yeyovws eK TévnTOS. Kal Eel Tis
> / > a ,' > tA /
avTiotpepas aitiato tovs AtoyvAov Kafeipous

633 ‘ ofous omavilew S5Oua’ moujoavtas, WoTrep avToi
mailovres HmelAnoav. amreTar yap Tatta paAdov
€xovTa Spyurepay Xap, WoTE p41) yo cte
ais Avmetv Tovs EmrauvoUpevors.

‘““ Aet b€ Tov éeppedds oKappare Xpnoopevov
“iBévar Kal voorjpatos Suahopav mpos émiTHdevpa,
Aéyw 5é didapyupias Kai diAowias mpos diAopov-
atav Kal diAobnpiav: én’ exeivois pev yap axPovrat
okwmTopevol, mpos Tadta 6° ydéws Exovow. ovK
ayndas yotv Anpoobévns 6 MitvAnvaios, didwdob
Tivos Kat diroKxiBapiotod pay Kosas, traKkovcav-
Tos avtod Kal KeAevoavtos eicedOeiv, ‘ av mpa-

B Tov, é€dy, “ THV Kuldpay dnjons.’ adds 5’ 6 tod
Avowdxov" mapadarros, €p.BaAddvros avrod okoptriov
Evdwov eis TO iudtiov exrapayleis Kal avamndyoas,

e ” \ / ‘ > , ? / CaP
ws nabero Thy mradidv, ‘ Kayo ae,’ dynotr, * exdo-
~ vA > ~ / 4 ?
Bijoar BovAopar, & Bactred: dds prot TaAavTov.
9. ‘‘ Kict 5é Kat. wept ta owpatiKa Tovadrar
Siadopal tHv moioritwv.* ofov eis ypuTornra
. év after yéyovev deleted by Stephanus.
2 6 added by Franke.
3 Basel edition, cf. Athenaeus, vi, 246 e: Avoiov.


4 Helmbold (Class. Phil. xxxvi [1941], p. 87), Bolkestein,
tav tov Madvig (Bolkestein) : trav zoAAav.


128


TABLE-TALK II. 1, 632-633


tears are denied us.’ A dinner-guest called the
host who dined him day after day ‘slave-dealer’
and tyrant ’ on whose account he had not seen his
own table these many years. And the man who rose
_ from poverty to riches complained that he was now
os Diem saa of leisure and sleep by the plotting of

_ the king. Again, one might reverse the réles and
_ seold the Cabiri in Aeschylus * for ‘ emptying the
house of vinegar,’ as they themselves playfully
threatened to do. The gratification these remarks
P-¢ is the more telling because they are a bit tart
and aime do not vex and annoy those who are
_ 8. “ The man who would make tactful use of joking
must w the diffe _between a diseased and a
- normal habit (for example, between miserliness or
a nness and love of music or hunting), Teased
_ about the former, men are annoyed ; about the latter,
4 apex are pleased. At any rate, when Demosthenes of
itylené ® knocked on the door of a man who was


devoted to song and the cithara, and his friend





answered and invited him to enter, it was not offensive
for Demosthenes to reply, ‘ If first you will lock up
_ your cithara.’ But when Lysimachus tossed a wooden
scorpion into the cloak of his parasite,° and the para-
site jumped up in terror, it was offensive for the
parasite to say, after he saw it was a joke, ‘ Now I
will frighten you, Sire : Give me a talent!’
_ 9. “ Many such differences exist, too, where
physical characteristics are concerned. For example,

* Frag. 97 Nauck, 49 Sm LCL). .B a
pbuniclaint good wine the Siniaitics vill asian ogre
stuff. >» RE, s.v., no. 8; only here.

¢ Athenaeus, vi, 246 e, gives his name as Bithys; RE,
s.v. “ Bithys,”’ no. 6.


VOL. VIII F 129


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ / A
(633) Kai ouoTnTa oKwrTdpevor yeAdow, ws 6 Kacav-
dpov didos odK Hxbéc8n tod Mcodpadorov mpos
7 _ > / ¢ / \ > \
adtov eimovtos, “Gavpalw cov tovs dfbadpods
OTL OVK GdovoLV, TOD puKTHpos adTois éevdedwKd-
Cos’: kat 6 Képos éxéAevce tov ypuTov oo
ayayécbar ytvaov,' ottTw yap édapydoew: eis Se
dvowdiav puKTHpos 7 oTépatos ayOovTa: okw1Td-
prevor. Kal maw ets padakpoTynTa mpaws pépov-
ow, eis de mpwow opbaAyay andds. Kal yap
*Avriyovos attTos pev é€avtov eis tov odbadpov
€oxwitev, Kai tote AaBwv daiwa peyddos
ypdppact yeypaypevov, “tTavti pev, edn, “ Kal
~ ~ 2 / \ A “a > /
tufA@ dijAa’: Oedxpitov dé Tov Xiov améxrever,
” , , ‘ o28 2 TOA ,
Ort grjoavros Tivos, "Ets opbaruods av BactAéws
mrapayevy,. awOion,* ‘ adda pow,” elvev, ‘ advva-
TOV TW drropaivers THYV owrnpiay.”*
ce Aé B Il LO \
éwv' 6 Bulavrios, eimdvtos Laowddou mpos
D atdrov ddbadpiobfvat dc’ adtod tods dfbadpods,
co 2 / , ” < / > / /
aoleverav, edn, “owpatos ovedilers, vepweow
oby op@v emt TavV wyuwv Baordlovta cov Tov
a ae s \ \ ¢ A Cz > /
vidv ’: elye dé kuptov 6 Ilaciddns vidv. yyavaxrnoe
dé Kal “Apyimmos 6 Synpaywyos tav *AOnvaiwv
1 oipov dyayecBar yvvaov added by Bernardakis; oy aya-
yéo8a yuvaika Turnebus; ef. Xenophon, Cyropaedia, viii.


4. 21.

2 twos eis Turnebus (adding rods from the Aldine edition) :

3 Baciléws mapayévyrar Turnebus, wapayévy Bernardakis :
lac. 5-6 payern.

4 gwOjon Bernardakis, ow6jvac Turnebus : : ow6h.

5 GdAd pou Bernardakis, aA’ évot Turnebus, dua pa A’
Castiglioni: dAW dpa.

§ Pohlenz : abadeas Ta U0 THY oO.


130


bie















-TABLE-TALK II. 1, 633


_ men laugh when they are teased about a hooked nose
or a snub nose. Cassander’s friend was not angry
with Theophrastus who said to him, ‘I am amazed
_ that your eyes don’t sing, for your nose gives them


| itch.’ * Cyrus ° advised a hooked-nose officer of
o marry a snub-nosed woman, for thus they would
fit each other. But men get angry when they are


teased about a bad-smelling nose or mouth. Again,
Deo esEDON with equanimity being teased about
ess, but with asperity about impairment of sight.
d, Antigonus,° though it was his habit to make
fun of himself about his one eye and once, when he
received a petition written in big letters, he said,
* This is clear even to a blind man, —the same Anti-
g nevertheless put to death Theocritus of Chios ¢
| ends when someone said, ‘ Stand before the eyes
_ of the king, and you will be saved,’ Theocritus replied,
_ ‘ The salvation you recommend me is impossible.’
“ Leon of Byzantium °¢ said to Pasiades, when that
tleman remarked that the very sight of Leon
ickened his eyes, ‘ You reproach me for a bodily in-
firmity and you do not see that your son carries
aven’s wrath upon his shoulders.’ Pasiades had a
sthback son. Archippus,’ the Athenian politician,


_* Apparently a far-fetched pun, the Greek verb having


meanings, from “ set in ”’ to “* set the tune.”
Nig alpaca C. ia, viii. 4. 21.


© Antigonus I, the One-eyed or the Cyclops, RE,
.v.,no.3; Mor. 11 s-c. 4 See above, p. 121, note e.

____ * Defender of his city against Philip of Macedon ; for the

anecdote, which is found slightly altered in Mor. 88 ¥, see

_ RE, xii. 2010 f., xviii. 2057.

4 Unknown otherwise. On Melanthius, if the same one,

‘see above, p. 121, note c.


i -.


1 Adwy added by the Basel edition ; ¢f. Mor. 88 ¥:
131















PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(633) dao MeAav8tov oxwpbeis els TO KupTov: Ebr yap
avdtov 6 MedAdvOios od mpoeoravae THS 70 ews
adda Tpokexugevar.” TWES d€ tabra mpdws Kal
petpiws dépovawy, Borrep 6 piros Too “Avtiyovou
Ted airjoas Kal pH AaBay 7 nT0¢ TpOTro7rovs

L dvdAakas, ‘ Orrws,, eon, “ 2) emBovevG,
mpoorralbarros" Kar’ _@pov TO TaAavrov €peuv.
E ottw pev mept Ta €KTOS ExovOL OL. THY avwpadiav:
dAAow yap em aAXos axBovrar.” [Ezapewarvdas
pera TOS ouvapx evry EOTLEPEVOS émémuvev O€0s,
Kal mouvbavopevery et pos bylevay ayabov, ‘ odk
of8",’ eimev, ‘ OTU [evrou Tmpos TO peuvijobar Tis
olKoe Ovairns ayabdr, emiorapar. ‘Tt 00 Se? Kat
mpos Tas voces Kal Ta On oKxomobvTa Tats
mandvats xphoGar, Teipwyevov addvTWs Kal KEeya-
propeévws ExdoTOoLs opureiv.

10. ““O & épws ra T dAda TouKiAesTaTos €oTv
Kat Tots oKedppacw ot pev dxBovra Kal dyava-
KTobow ot de Xaipovoww. Se? 5 eidévar Tov Kalpov"
ws yap TO 7p €v apyh pev amooBévyver 70

F mvedua dia THY dobeverar, avéybevre be Tpopny
TOpeXel KAL pwUNV, OUTWS puopevos 6 epws ert
Kal Aavbdvwv SvoKxodaiver Kat dyavaxret Tpos
TOUS dmoxahdmrovras,® éxAdpafas dé Kal divadaveis
Tpéperat Kal Tmpooyerg Tots TKOULpLACL pvowpevos.
novota Sé€ oKwmTovTar TapdvTwy TOV epwyevwy


1 Basel edition: Kxexudévat.

2 Kronenberg: mpoordéas.

3 ayovra added by Stephanus.

4 This sentence is deleted by Hubert as wrongly inserted
here, perhaps from Plutarch’s notes.

5 amooxwrrovras Bliimner, Helmbold (Class. Phil. xxxvi
[1941], p. 87).


132


TABLE-TALK II. 1, 633


mad at Melanthius for teasing him about the
his back, for Melanthius said that Archippus
did not stand as leader over the city, but stooped
before it. Some men endure this affliction with gentle
_ equanimity, as did the friend of Antigonus who asked
for a talent and did not get it and then, in reply to
fhe teasing of Antigonus that he was carrying the
talent upon his shoulders,* asked for an escort and
guards, ‘ in order that no one,’ he said, ‘ will waylay
_me. This is the way men, in their diversity, are
_ about physical appearance: some get mad at one
_ thing, others at another. [Epaminondas, when dining
_ with his fellow officers, was in the habit of drinking
a vinegary wine ; when they inquired if it was good
for the health, he replied, ‘ I don’t know, but I am
eertain that it is good for keeping me in mind of the
fare at home.’] Accordingly the man who would in-
ulge in teasing must have an eye to the natures and
_ dispositions of the company, trying to converse with
lin a pleasant and agreeable manner.
10. “ Love is a very complex emotion, in regard to
jokes as to everything else: some lovers are dis-
_ tressed and annoyed by jokes; others are pleased.
__ One must know the right time. For just as a fire ® in
__ its early stages is extinguished, weak as it is, by a
_ breath of air, but when it has grown larger, it is
nourished and strengthened; so love, while still
_ nascent and hidden, is irritated and distressed by
_ detection, but when it has blazed out and become
_ visible, it smiles upon the wind of ridicule that
_ nourishes it. In the presence of those they love, men
* Or “ shoulder,” if we may perhaps assume that the
deformity of Antigonus’s friend secembled a money-box (or


_ the like) carried on one shoulder.
» Cf. Ennius in Cicero, De Oratore, ii. 54. 222.








t


133


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(633) ets adro ro é€padv eis dAdo 8 obdev. av S€ Kai


A > ja > /
yuvark@v. ep@vrTes iWiwvy tvywow 7 veavickwv


634 didokdAwy Epwra yevvatov, mavTdmact ydvuvrar


A / ~ / A > ,
Kat KaAAwzilovra: TH oKwmrecbat pos adrovs.
> ~ ~
510 Kat “ApKecidaos, év TH axoAH TovadTyns peTa-
ddcews abT@ yevoevyns bd Twos TOV epwrtiKdy:
“Soxet por pndev amrecbar pndevos,’ “ ovde’ ov
/ , 4 < AQ? Md , /
towuv, edn, ‘Todd ann; Selas twa TaV
A /
KaAadv Kal Wpaiwy trapakabyjuevov.
ce "H5 PS) \ \ \ ~ / /
11. 1 O€ KAL TO TWY TTAPOVTWY OKETTTEOV"
“A A > ir ‘ 40 > 4 Ad
& yap ev didous Kat ovvyAleow aKxovovtes yeA@ou,
tatra Svayepaivovow, av Aéynras mpos adtrods Tis
yaperis Tapovons 7 Tod TaTpos H Tod Kalnyn-
Tod, mAnv av pe} TL KEXapLopLevov } TOV Aeyopevwv
exeivous” olov av Tis oKUTTNTAL Too piroodpou
jTapovTos eis avuTrodnoiav 7 vuKToypadiav 7 Tod
Tatpos aKovovtos eis* uiKpoAoyiav 7) THS yuvatkos
els TO avépactov éetépwv éexeivns S€ SodAov Kai
/ e ¢ 4 ¢e \ ~ , ‘i? >
Oeparrevtixdv, ws 6 Tuypavns tro Tob Kupou, ‘ri 3’,
+ Leek \ ~ > > 4 J «r..3 > >
dv o 1 yuv) ckevodopodvr’ axovon;’, ‘ addr’ odK
aKkovoeTar, elev, ‘ overar 5° adT) Tapotca.’
ce aA ogee / \ 4 ‘ A
12. “ Ilovet 5° GAumétrepa Ta okMppaTa Kai TO
Kowwveiv awoyemws tods Aéyovtas: olov av* eis
\ >
meviav Adyn mévyns 7 Svoyers eis Svoyeverav 7
1 oddé Turnebus: 6 8e.
2 Added by Xylander: erasure in T.


8 Added by Stephanus.
4 olov av Hubert, ofov érav Reiske: 67° dv (sic) T.





@ Of the Middle Academy. Hubert discovers the geo-
metrical problem here proposed in Sextus Empiricus, Ad-
versus Mathematicos, iii. 79: it is not things themselves that
are contiguous, but their peripheries.


134


7












TABLE-TALK II.°1, 633-634


find it very agreeable to be teased about love itself,
t about nothing else. And if they happen to be in
"ith their own wives or to have a generous love


for elegant young men, they are perfectly delighted
_and proud to be teased about them. Accordingly,
when at one of the lectures of Arcesilaiis * an auditor
a va moment engaged i in a love-affair advanced the
proposition, ° In my opinion nothing touches
g else,’ Arcesilaiis pointed to a youth who was
; ‘sitting beside. the gentleman—a fine handsome young
_ man—and said, ‘ Am I to infer that you in particular
_ are not touching this lad ?’
11. “ Now we must turn to consideration of the
_ type of guest present at the party. Among friends
_ and comrades men laugh at remarks they take amiss
_if made to them in the presence of wife, father, or
eacher unless what is said is in some way pleasing
these latter. I mean if one, when a philosopher is
q the company, is teased about going barefoot
ting into the ate hours of the night ; or about
thriftiness, when his father is listening to the con-
§ versation ; or, in the hearing of his wife, how he is no
> lover atother women, but her slave and servant—like
y anes,” who, asked by Cyrus, ° But what if your
. hears that you are carrying baggage ?’, replied,
_ * She will not hear about it ; she will be there to see
it herself.’
sy 12. “It makes teasing less distressing, too, for
_ those who tease to share in some way or other the







condition ridiculed : for example, if a pauper speaks
of pind or a low-born man of mean birth, or a

Tigranes in Xenophon, C. dia, iii. 1. 36 and 41, says
in hc hearing of his wife that he would give his life to prevent


q her enslavement, and ibid. 43 utters in different words the
sentiment quoted here at the end of the sentence.


135


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(634) épav eis epwra's doxe? 8’ ody UBper mardi dé Tir
ylyvecBar padrdov dd ThHv Spoiwv: ei 5€ yw}, Tap-
oftver kal Avre?. Tov yodv amredevOepov Tob Bact-

/ / * ~ \ ‘ ~
C A€ws vedrAovtov ovta doptik@s dé Kai coBapds
/ a ~
emimoAdlovra Tots avvdeitvotc. didocddois Kai
> ~ ~ ~ ~ la
téAos epwravTa mas Ek TE TOV AevKaV Kal TOV
peAdvwv Kudpwv opoiws yAwpov yiyvetat TO ETVOS,
/ > ~ ~ ~
avrepwrjaas 6 “Apidixkns m&s €k TOV AevKaV Kai
peAdvwv iudavTwv dowikot yiyvovrar podAwres,
€moinoev avaoThivar mepiAvmov yevopevov. 6 dé
> / > ~ ~
Tapoeds *“Apdias €x Kyovpot dSoKav yeyovevar,
/ \ A / ~ ¢ / > /
oxwrbas 5é Tov pirov Tob HyEemovos ets Svoyeveray,
> € \ 27297 « > \ \ ¢ ~ > ~
(0 drodaBav ed0ds, ‘adAa Kai apels ex TaV
~ / / >
avT@v omepudaTwv yeyovapyev, yedwr ezoincer.
~ \ ‘ A Ad \ > Ad Ld
Kopibas d€ Kat Tod Didimzov Thy oipabiay aya
>
Kal tepiepyiav o wdATns éméoyev" olopevov yap
~ / \ /,
avtov e€edeyyew tod Dirimmov mepi KpovpaTwv
D Kat dppovidy, ‘ 7 yevowtd cot,’ elzev, ‘ d Baorred,
~ ~ a > 2A
Kak@s ovtws, iv éeuod od tatr «idzs BeAtiov.’
~ > a > ,
okwmTew yap éavTov SoK@r, exeivov advTws €vov-
a na ” \
Bérnoev. 810 Kal TOV KwpiK@v Evior THY Ti-
nw ~ ~ c 4
Kpltav adaipeitv Soxodot TH oKwTTEW EavTOUs, Ws
> / > \ r / ‘ >A 4
Apworodavns eis tTHv padakporynta Kat Thy “Aya-
a A \ /
Owvos amrodeubiw*s Kparivos d€ tHv Ilutiny . . .®
edidakev.
aA \
13. “‘ Ody ARvoTta 5é Set* mpoodyew Kat dvddr-
~ , ” \ ~
TEW, OTWS EK TOU TApAaTVXOVTOS EOTAL TO TKO
1 Reiske, Xylander: épdvra. .
2 Bernardakis: lac. 5 Auf.
3 gdros didororav added by Hubert, «is epacri}s adrijs Poh-


lenz, eis adrov Bolkestein: lac. 4-5.
4 Added by Stephanus.


136





TABLE-TALK I. 1, 634







lover of love. For, if it is done by similar people, the
_teasing seems to spring not from insolence but rather
_ from a kind of playfulness ; otherwise it is irritating
ane i distressful. Take the case of the king’s new-rich
- free : he was behaving in a vulgar and pompous
_ manner towards the philosophers who were his com-
: at dinner and ended by asking how it is that
_ white beans and black alike make yellow soup, and
-Aridices * caused him to get up and leave the party
pnertally offended by asking in turn how it is that
_ white and black lashes make red stripes. But when
_ Amphias of Tarsus was teasing the governor’s friend
about his mean birth and immediately interrupted
_ himself to say, ‘ But I too have sprung foc the same
seed,’ he got a laugh, for he himself was reputed to
_be a gardener’s son. And a harper delightfully re-
buked Philip’s late-won knowledge and officiousness :
__ when Philip thought to dispute with him on a question
of notes and scales, the harper said, ‘ May you never
fare so ill, Sire, that you have better knowledge of
these matters than I.’® By seeming to ridicule him-
: self he reproved Philip without offence. So some of
the comic poets seem to take away bitterness by
| } ridiculing themselves, as Aristophanes * on the sub-
ject of baldness and Agathon’s departure,* and
_ Cratinus brought out the Wine-Flask. . . .
13. “ Not least is it necessary to watch out and see
to it that a joke occasioned by any question or amuse-


VOL. VIII F* 137


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(634) apds tivas épwrjoes adTobev 7 Tradias yuyvopevor,
aAAGd 7) 7éppwhev ofov €x mapacKeus émrevaddiov.
E ws yap dpyas Kal pdayas Tas €k TOV ovptrociwyv
/ vA AN > >; 4 ”
mpacotepov depovow, eav 8 emeAPdy tis e€wlev
Aowophra. Kal tapattn Todrov éxOpov xyobvrar
Kal pLoo0GLW, OUTWS METEDTL OVYYVWOPNS CKAPpaTL
Kal Tappycias, av €x T&v mapovTwy €xn TV
/ 5 ~ A > tA ' ¢ “~ >;
yeveow apehas Kat amAdoTws vdpevov, av 8
Hp mpos Adyov aan’ €Ewlev,* emBovAf Kal UBpee
T poaeouKev® olov To Tiyayéevous mpos tov avdpa
THS €MEeTLKHS®


KAKOV YAP GPYELS THVOE LOvGaY Elodywr"*:
TY)


Kat pos “A@nvddwpov tov diArdaodor, * et dvarkn*
\

% mpos Ta exyova’ diAcotopyia. 7 yap aKarpia

\ A \ \ / Md > / A
Kal TO p17) mpos Adyov UVBpw eudaiver Kai dvo-
/ e A > \ 4 . 7
F pévecav. odrou pev odv Kata IlAdtwva Koudord-
tov mpaypatos, Adywr, Baputdtny Cnpiav eticav:


2 i Sn Bernardakis, é&w Stephanus : €& oy.
2 euerixgjs Jannot: yayetixjs T, the first two letters ac-
cording to Hubert in a later hand.
3 Athenaeus, xiv, 616 ¢, quotes this’ line with a different
text: xaxd@v xatapyets THVS’ uodcav elodywv.
. * pours) Amyot: jprovotky
5 éxyova added by Turnebus, réxva Franke; ef. Diogenes
Laertius, vii. 120.





* According to Athenaeus, xiv, 616 ¢, delesphoras (RE,
s.v., no. 2) misquoted this line (Nauck, Tag. Tag.s
Adespoton 395; Miiller, F.H.G. iii, p. 319) with the slight
change of nivBe Modcay to rid’ euodcayv=“ this retching
woman ”’ for “‘ this Muse ” in allusion to Arsinoé, wife of his
king, Lysimachus. Telesphorus’s punishment is described


138





TABLE-TALK II. 1, 634


‘ment be casual and spontaneous, not brought in from
a distance like previously prepared entertainment.
For just as we easily endure the flarings of temper
and the discord which arise within the circle of a


_ drinking-party, but if anyone comes in from outside


with insults and disturbance, he is considered an
enemy and hateful; so do we pardon and license a


, joke that springs simply and unfeignedly from the


immediate circumstances, while it seems a planned

insult if it is foreign to the context of the talk.

amples are the remark of Timagenes* to the
usband of the women given to vomiting,


% The first of wrongs you sure commit
When you this retching muse admit
Into your house


and his question to the philosopher Athenodorus ? ‘ Is
love for one’s children a natural thing? ’* For in-


opportuneness and irrelevancy to the conversation
emphasize an ill-natured insult. Men who joke thus


| pay the heaviest penalty for their words, the lightest


in Mor. 606 8. Timagenes, if the historian (REZ, s.v., no. 2),
is later, his name here presumably the result of confusion :
ef. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit., ad loc.
_° RE, s.v., no. 18 and 19: either Athenodorus Cordylion,
friend of the younger Cato, or the son of Sandon, one of the
ipa of Augustus in philosophy; Miiller, F.H.G. iii, p.
¢ A question affirmatively answered by the Stoics (von
Arnim, Stoic. Vet. Frag. iii. 731 from Diog. Laert. vii. 120).
Note the possibility of a pun like the preceding, éxyov’
pyia=“* absence of love for one’s children.” "The
meaning of the passage is not clear. Bolkestein, loc. cit.,
suggests that it may refer to Athenodorus Cordylion and his
practice, while librarian at Pergamon, of cutting from Stoic
passages objectionable to him (Diog. Laert. vii. 34 ;
cf. RE, s.v. “* Athenodorus,”’ no. 18).


139


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(634) of 5€ tov Kaipov eiddtes Kal dvddrrovtes adTa
T@ WlAdrwv paptupotow, ort Tob tremadevpévov
Kad@s Epyov é€oti To trailew éeupeA@s Kal Keyapi-
opevas.””

635 IIPOBAHMA B
Ava ti Bpwrixerepor yiyvovrat mepl TO weTOTwpov


Collocuntur Xenocles, Plutarchus, Glaucias, Lamprias


"Ev °EAevotv peta Ta pvoThnpia THs mavy-
yupews akpalovons etoTtiudpela mapa TAavKia 7H
pyrope. TETAYLEVODV de deumrveiv Tov adAwy, Bevo-
KAfs © AcAdos* womep €iwler Tov ddehpov Lav
Aapmpiav els adnpaytay Bovwrvov ETECKWTITEV.
eya 5 apuvvdpevos trep® abtob Tov BevoxAéa tots
*Emxovpov Adyous ypwpevov, “od yap amavtes,”’
etmov, “ @ BéAtioTe, TovotvTa THY TOO aGAyodvTos
bmeEaipeow Spov ndovis Kai mépas: Aapmpia de

B kal avayKn, mpo Tob Kirov KvdaivovTt TOV TrEpizta-
TOV Kal 70 Avevov, Epyw paptupetv “Apwororénet:
gyot yap o civ") p Bpwrikwrarov EKAOTOV avrov
adrod Tepe TO Plivomwpov elvat, Kal TV aitiav
ereipnKev: ey 5° od pvnpoveda.””’

“ BéAriov,” etzrev 6 T'Aavxias: “ adroi yap ém-

, yap
yeipnoouev Cyteiv, orav tavowpela Sevmvodvtes.”’

‘Os odv adnpéOnoav at tpdmelar, L'AavKias pev
Kat EevoxAjs yridoavto THv omwmpav SdSiaddpws,
6 pev ws® tHv KotAlay dreEdyovoay Kal TO KEvod-





1 Wyttenbach: ddeAdos. 2 Added by Stephanus.
8 Leonicus: eis.
* Laws, 717 o-p, 935 a. » Cf. Laws, 654 B.


¢ RE, s.v. “‘ Plutarchos,” col. 668. Glaucias appears infra,
vii. 9 and ix. 12, 18. Xenocles only here.


140


TABLE-TALK II. 1-2, 634-635
vof things, as Plato * says ; but those who understand


t is appropriate and observe it bear witness to
Plato himself that to joke with grace and good taste
_is a task for the well-educated man.” ®
BAA.





QUESTION 2
Why men become hungrier in autumn
_ Speakers: Xenocles, Plutarch, Glaucias, and Lamprias


Ar Eleusis after the mysteries, the climax of the
_ festival, we were dining at the house of Glaucias ¢ the
eae of Public-Speaking. After the others had
dinner, Xenocles of Delphi, as usual, began
to tease my brother Lamprias about his ‘ ‘Boeotian
gluttony.” In defence of my brother I launched an
attack upon Xenocles, follower of the teachings of
icurus, by saying, ““ Not all men, Sir, make the
removal of the painful the limit and perfection of
e.4 Lamprias honours The Walk and The
yeeum. before The Garden and so must bear active
tness to Aristotle, for this gentleman says that
each man is hungriest in the fall of the year.’ And
he has given the reason, but I do not remember it.’

“ It is better so,”’ said Glaucias, ‘‘ for we ourselves
shall undertake the search for it when we finish
dining.”

_ After the tables were taken away, then, Glaucias
and Xenocles both attributed the cause to the
autumn’s fruit, but each for a different reason. The

former held that it cleaned out the bowels and by


é Epicurus, Kyriai Dowai, 3 ; ef. Cicero, De Finibus, i. 11
87, etc., in Usener, Epicurea, p. 397.
~ Frag. 222 in the Prussian Academy’s edition of Aristotle,
vol. v.


oe aanennenisanit


* - _


141


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


‘ ~
(635) oBar ro oGpa veapas dpé€ers del mapacKevdlovoar’
4 A — ~ »” + / \ A
6 b€ HevoxdAjs eAeyev evotopdv te Kat dnKTiKOv
” ~ /, _
C €yovra TOV wWpaiwy Ta mAcioTa TOV GTOpMaxXoV emt
\ ~ aA A
Thv Bpdow éexxadretobar mavtos paddov oyov Kai
e€ 4 aA ~
ndvopaTos* Kal yap Tots arrociTots THY appwaoTwv
> 4 \ 5 / \ »
omwpas Te mpoceveylev avarapBdver thy dpetw.
€ o\ , ¢ eer ts 1 ,
6 6¢ Aapumpias elev, ort TO oikelov Kal’ ovpduTov
Q ‘ ¢€ ~ a eh 6 4 > A a
Eppov nuav, @ Tpépec0ar mwedpvKapev, ev prev TO
Béper Si€omaptar Kal yéyovey aobevéorepov Kat
.] ~ w~
pavov, ev d€ 7TH POivovtt Kaip@ ovvayeiperar
, A
maAw Kal ioyver, KaTaKpuTTomevov evTos dia THV
A ~
Trepibvéw Kal THY TUKVWOW TOD GwHmLaToS.
> A 8° e A a A Ps) A 5 4 r ~
Eye brép tod py SoKxetv acvpBodros Tod
A la ~ s 4 ~ fa / 5
dyou petacyety elmov, O71 TOD Bepovs Subyti-
KwTEpot yryvoueba Kal mAciou ypapela TH dyp@
A A ~ { ~ > ¢ / > ~ rt
D Sia 70 Kadpa: viv obv % dow ev TH peTaBoAR
(ntotca tovvaytiov, wo7ep eiwhev, mewnTiKwTe-
A A A ~ / ~
pous moet, Kal THv Enpav Tpodyv TH Kpacer TOU
A ,
cwpatos avratodiéwow. od pny odde Ta aLTia
, a“ en 5 A / > > >
dynoat TIS av aiTias amolipety TavTaTacW, aAr’ €x
~ ,
vewy Kal mpoodaTwy yevoueva KapT@v, ov jLovov
, A »” ‘\ » A A aAAa”
palas Kal Oompia Kat apTovs Kat TUpoOUS a
> ~
Kal Kpea Cawy edwyovpevwv Ta €eTELA, TOIS TE
aA ~ ~ 7 >,
xvpois Siaddpew*® tHv madadv Kai paddAov enz-
4
dyec0at Tods ypwpevous Kal atroAavovras.


1 +6 after xat deleted by Hubert.
142




















TABLE-TALK II. 2, 635


mp x the body was always re-creating appetite.
Anc Eenocles said that the pleasant, piquant quality
most fruits invited hunger in the belly more
tly than any dainty dish and sauce. Indeed a
t of fruit offered the sick who have lost their taste
pet: restores their appetite. It was the opinion
of La s that our own innate heat, by the activity
or : hie h we are naturally nourished, is dispersed,
sr weak, and of little consequence in summer, but
— collects again and grows strong, hidden
_ within -us by the cooling and solidification of our
5%
a I to avoid the appearance of sharing in the
mversation without paying my contribution, said
hat in summer we become thirstier and because of
heat use more liquid °; so now nature, in the
ects of change seeking the other extreme, as her
sabe stom is, makes us hungrier and replenishes the
in the body’s mixture. Yet one cannot say
& ood itself has absolutely nothing to do with the
-causat! tion ; on the contrary, food prepared from new
e fre on slaughtered produce—not only barley-
oa legumes, bread, and wheat but also flesh of
anim it fattened on this year’s fodder does differ in
ie ir from the old and is more inviting td those who
Be perience it and partake of it.


2 Rigs a supra, 623 x f., infra, vi. i, 686 © ff., Mor.123 4. For

theories as to “ heat” or “ innate heat ” in animals,

or substances, cf. 642 c, 647 c, £, 648 A, c-E, 649 B.,

F ff., 652 a ff., 676 a, 681 a, 685 4 f., 695 p, 697 a, and

ury, Philebus of I Plato, p. 190, with Aristotle, De Partibus
_ Animal, there cited > Of. iv. 3. 2, 666 F.

i. Bolkestein makes the rest of the section a direct quota-


9 Added by Xylander. = Basel edition + Buabépee.
. 143





ra


t


”


(635)


EK


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA T
Il6repov 7 dpvis mpdrepov! 7 TO wov eyéveTo


Collocuntur Alexander, Plutarchus, Sulla, Firmus, Sossius
Senecio


> 5 sins \ . , 3) 23h N
Eg evumviov’ Twos aietxopny’ Ody TroAdv
‘on xpovov* Tapa TOTO TOLOULLEVOS ev o@ Kao-
amep ev Kapt diazrerpavr* AaBeiv Ths oews evapyds
rot TroAAdKis yevouevns: UTdvolay MEVTOL TAapEecyxor,
é€oTL@vTos uads Loociov Levekiwvos, eveyecar
> a a
ddypaow “Opdixots 7 IvOayopixots Kai TO wov,
WoTrep evo. Kapdiav Kal eyKédadov, apy7nv ayyov-
/ > ~ ‘ ” > /
pLevos yeveoews agpooodabat: Kai mpovdepev “AX€E-
avdpos 6 ’Emxovpevos emi yéAwre 70


’ , ” 7 , ,
iodv Tor Kudjous eobew' Kehadds TE TOKHWY,


ws 51 Kudpous TA Wa Sid THY KUyHOLW aiviTTOpPevwY
Tav avdpav, Siaddpew Sé pndev oiopevwy To
éobiew @a Tot xypHola Tots Tikrovar TA Wa CaHois.
eylyvero 67) TO THs aitias dmooynua THS aitias
adThs droydrepov, "Exuxoupetep Aéyew evdrrn0r.
obev od TapyToupny THY ddfav a cpa mpoorrailwy Tt
TO “AheEdvdpep: Kal yap tv yaples Kat diAcdoyos


ETLELKOS.


1 szporepov omitted here in T, but included in the index to
Book II, folio 35 r.

2 €€ évumviov Xylander: éfvzviov.

: Turnebus : are lac. 4-5 unr.

4 78 xpovov Turnebus : : 700 lac. 2-3.

5 Reiske: zrovodpevor.

6 Kapi dudzreipav Wyttenbach, Kapi zeipav Reiske : rapSiau
meipav. 7 Xylander: éoGiew.





*@ Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 16. 1-14.
144


TABLE-TALK II. 3, 635







QUESTION 3
Whether the hen or the egg came first *


- Speakers : Alexander, Plutarch, Sulla, Firmus, Sossius
iy Senecio


-


af Because of a dream, I had for a long time now been
avoiding eggs, and I was acting so for this reason,
_ that I might test by an egg, as by a Carian,? the vision
_ which came to me clearly and frequently. But my
_ companions at one of Sossius Senecio’s dinners sus-
_ pected me of being committed to beliefs of the
Daphies or the Pythagoreans and holding the egg
taboo, as some hold the heart and brain, because I
_ thought it to be the first principle of creation. And
_ Alexander the Epicurean ° teasingly recited :
wis. -
___ Now eating beans is much like eating parents’ heads.
_ For these people call eggs “ beans ’ (kuamoi), pun-
ning on the word conception (kuesis), and they think
_ that eating eggs in no way differs from using the
creatures which produce the eggs. To explain to an
Epicurean with talk of dreams the reason for my
avoidance was surely more unreasonable than the
_ reason itself. So I said nothing to deny their opinion,
though I did tease Alexander a little, for he was a
man of parts and considerable learning.


> In se a vili, cf. Cratinus, Herdsmen, frag. 16 (Ed-
nonds or Kock with Edmonds’s note), Leutsch and Schneide-
, Paroemiogr. Graec. i, pp. 70 f. Slaves were often from
Caria, so that the ethnic was used to refer to any slave.
¢ An Epicurean Alexander appears in J.@. ii®. 3793 and
3819, discussed by A. E, Raubitschek in Hesperia, xviii
(1949), pp. 99 f.
4 Kern, h. 291. See Athenaeus, ii, 65 f, with tparyew
for éo8ew, and Gulick’s note, LCL Athen. i, p. 286.


145


636


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


"Ex 6€ TovTov TO dmopov Kal moAAa mpay-
pata Tois CnrytiKots mrapéyov eis péoov etAKeTo*
mpoBAnua mept TOD Wod Kal THs OpviOos, dmrdTEpoV
yévoito mpoTepov av’T@v. Kail LAAas pev o €-
Taipos elmwy OTL wLKP@ TpoBAjpati Kabdrep dpya-
vw peya Kat Bapd cadevopev TO meEpi TOO KOcpOV
Ths yeveoews amnydopevoev: tod 8 ~AAcEdvdpov
THS inrncews ws pndev mpoagues pepovons KaTa-
at ee 6 vyapBpos Tay Dippos, 2 epol Tol

v, eon, © XPHcov év TO Trapovrt Tas drépous.
el yap Ta pupa Set orotyeta THY peydAwy Kal®
apxyas vmotiGecbar, mparov* «ikds €oTw TO Wov


~ 5d ~
B yeyovévar THs OpviBos: Eott yap Kal azrAobv, ws


év aicO@ntois, mouxitAov dé Kai pepyypevov waddov

¢ = / a> A > \ ~ > A A

% Opus. Kalddov 5° 7 ev apyn mp@tov apyn de

TO o7éppa, TO 8 wov o7réppatos pev mA€ov Cadov

S€ piKpoOTEpov’ ws yap 7 mpoKoTrn jLecov evdvias

A ~ \ \ la

elvat Soke? Kal apeTis, OUTW TO WOV TpOKOTTN Tis
~ , \ ~ /

€oTt THs PUcews emi TO Epivyov amo TOU aTEp-

¢ > ~
patos mopevouevyns. ete 6, womep ev TH Cow
~ / Q A / > / \ Ar /

mp@ta yiyveobar Aéyovow aprypias Kat Pdr€Bas,

ovtTw Adyov éyet Kal TOG Cwov TO Wov yeyovevat
“ / \ \

Tp@Tov, ws TTEepléxov €pTrEepieyopevov. Kal yap
~ /

ai téyvat mp@tov datimwra Kai duopda mAdt-
a ” ~

rovaw, el0? dorepov Exacta Tots «ideo. Siaphpod-


1 Hubert: elAxev.
2 Reiske: tots drdmots.
8 Added by Hubert.
4 apdrepov Reiske.
5 Turnebus: év zrepiexopueve.
146





TABLE-TALK II. 3, 636























ne From this context the problem about the egg
hee hen, which of them came first, was dragged
our talk, a difficult problem which gives in-
gators much trouble. And Sulla @ my comrade
said that with a small problem, as with a tool, we were
Oe zy loose a great and heavy one, that of the
4 oe eation of the world, and he declined to take part.
And after Alexander had ridiculed the i inquiry on the
re ound that it yielded no firm solution, my relative
Firmus ® said: “ Well then lend me your atoms for
be moment, for if small things must be assumed to
> the elements and the riveree of large, it is
that the egg existed first before the hen, for
nong sensible things the egg is indeed simple while
e hen is a more intricate and complex organism.
And, speaking generally, the initial cause comes first,
d the seed is an initial cause ; the egg is greater
n the seed on the one hand, on the other less than
.ereature. Indeed, as development admittedly
-s between innate merit and perfected virtue, so
the S Tntetmediate development in nature’s passage
Fur the seed to the living creature is the egg.
Furthermore, just as in the creature the first parts to
performed, they say, are the arteries and veins, so too,
“it stands to reason, the egg is formed before the hen
a coe as that which contains is formed before that
ch is contained. And in the arts, formless and
peless parts are first fashioned, then afterwards
al details in’ the figures are correctly articulated ;


© On Sulla see Cherniss in LCL Mor. xii, p. 8.

a} all s.v. “* Plutarchos,” col. 651: since Plutarch’s
died in infancy and Plutarch speaks of at least three

< Wilamowite suggested (Comment. grammat. iii, Git-

eee nent p. 23) that the term refers to the husbands of

Firmus only here.


147





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


4
(636) ow: 4 IloAvKAevtos 6 mAdorns elev yaderubrarov
a* @,
elvat TO Epyov, OTav ev dvuxt 6 mNAdS yevynTaL.
ce \ \ ~ , A ~ > /
Aw Kat tH ddoer TO mp@tov eikds eorw
> , 4
aTpe“a Kivovon THY VAnv apyorépay traxovew,
7, > /
TUTOUS' apoppous Kal aopiotous expepovaayv WaTrep
A /
Ta Wa, poppovpevwy Se TovTwy Kal diayapac-
/ Cal ~
Gopevwy voTEepov evdnpwoupyetabar TO CHov. ws
A / / ~ > A
de Kdurn ylyverat TO mp@tov, elt exmayetoa dia
, a
EnpoTnta Kal mepippayeio’ erepov” mrepwhev dv
~ \
adTis THY Kadouperny yuynv pebinow, Tov adrov
tpotrov evtadla mpotidiorarat TO mov olov BAN Tis
/ > / \ > / ~ /

D yevécews. avayKn yap év maon petaBoAn mporte-
pov elvat Tob petaBdAdovros 70° €€ od pereBare.
/, > id a > 4 \ 4
okomer 5 Ott oxKvires év dSévdpw Kai Tepndoves

> / / A ~ e / ba! /
eudvovrar EvAw Kata onebw dbypdtntos 7 mépw:
@ 2Q\ n > , ‘ * “ \
dv ovdeis av ak€iwoevev put) mpovroKeiobar punde
4, , A ~ e A 4
apeoBvtepov elvar pvoer TO yervOv. yap vAy
a
Adyov €xer mpos TA yryvdmeva pnTpos ws Por
/ \ , A \ “~ > 4,
TlAdtwv Kai tiOnvns: trAn Sé wav €€ od avoTacw
EYEL TO yYEvVwjLevov.
ce \ 5° > Fa , 9) ” r / 3 as ee
To 8 emt tovros,” &dn yedaoas, aetow
~ > \ > \ ve ‘ A , a >
Evvetoto.’” tov “Opdixov Kai tepov Aoyov, os ovK
+ / \ > > / ,
dpviBos pidvov TO wov amodaiver mpecBvrepor,
> \ \ \ Ld > ~ A c 4
aAAa Kai ovdAdaBwv dmacay a’T@ THY amavTwv
~ 4 .
E 6pod mpecBuyeveray avaridnow. Kai tarda pev
1 s+¥mous corrected from tézous E, tézovs T.


2 érepdv tt Doehner, épzerov Damsté in Bolkestein, Adv.
Crit. p. 121, &vropov or évrepov Wyttenbach.


148






















TABLE-TALK II. 3, 636


s for this reason that the sculptor Polyclitus said
* the work is hardest when the clay is at the nail.*
“ And And so it is likely that matter at first yields
Med o the gentle stirring of nature and produces
vr ceagl at are shapeless and undefined, like eggs ;
, when these forms receive shape and configura-
n, the living creature is produced. And just as the
dillar exists first, then, made brittle by dryness,
$ asunder and ‘itself releases another creature,
winged, the so-called psyché (butterfly) ; so in like
anner the egg here exists first, as material of
ration. For,in every process of change, the form
a which a change is made necessarily precedes
form which results from change. Consider bark-
les in a tree and woodworms how they grow
n the wood in proportion to the decay and dis-
. es ei ation which moisture causes. No one could
tly claim that the thing which produced them did
ot exist before them and was not naturally older
an they. For matter has the relation of mother or
: dys things which exist, as Plato says®; and
x is all from which whatever is created has its

. x ' IS LALIC
What is more,” he added with a laugh, “‘I shall
2 for men of understanding ’ the saered Orphic
| etmhich not only declares the egg older than the
1, but also attributes to it the absolute primordi-
over all things together without exception.° As


Dec


& "heb ., close to the finishing touches: Polyclitus in Diels,
. d. Vorsokratiker, ae 1 (Diels-Kranz® 40 B 1); cf.
“Mor. 86 4 with Babbitt’s note (LCL).
_ ede , 49 a, 50 v, 52 v.
© Mor. 391 pv, O. Kern, Orph., p. 143 and p. 334, no. 334.





ee Moma )id 8 Added by Meziriacus.
i 149





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(636) ‘ evoroua Keicbw’ Kal? ‘“Hpddorov, gort yap
pvotikwtepa® Cawv dé mroAAas dices ToD KdopoU
TepiexovTos, ovdev ws eEtmely yevos apompov é€oTt
Ths €€ wod yevécews, GAAA Kal mrnVa yevva Kal
VNKTa pupia Kal yepoaia, oavpas, Kal apdifra,*
KpokodetAous, Kal dimoda, Tov Spy, Kal a7oda,

\ »” \ , A > / Ld >
Tov Odi, Kat moAvmoda, Tov attéAeBov: Obey ovK
\ a a
amo TpOmov Tois wept TOV Avovucoy dpyracpois ws
Lipna Too Ta TavTA yevv@vTos Kal mEpLexovTos

ev cavT@ ovyKabwoiwrar.”’
8. Tatra tod Dipyov dieEvovtos, 6 Levekiwy
\ ~ ~
edn THv TeAevTaiav THY eikovwv adT@a mpwTHv
> / com” / >) tt: /

F avriminrew. eAabes yap,” elev, ““ d Dippe,
TOV KOGpOV avTl THs mapoytakns Ovpas ‘ emi
ceavTov avoigas. 6 yap KoopLos mpotdéoTnKe
mavrwv TeAevoTaTos wy: Kal Adyov exer TOD ateAods
voce. mpoTepov elvar TO TéEvcov, WS TOD TETNPw-

/ \ SA / Xr \ ~ / \ 5A iP) \9
pevov 70 oAdKAnpov Kat Tob pepous TO dAov: ovde’
yap Exel Adyov elvar pépos ob H€pos earl #7)
yeyovoros. obev oddeis Aéyer Tob omréppLatos
elvar Tov dvOpwrov obdé Tob Wod TiHv aXdexTopiba,

~ > > / A 7A \ \ / ~
637 THs 5° adAeKtopidos TO ov elvar Kat TO OTépwa TOD
>
avOpwmrov Aێyouev, Ws ToUTWY emuyryvopLevwY EKel-
>
vous Kal THY yeveow ev exeivois AapBavdvtwy ef
iA + ~ / A / > /
wotep OddAnua TH Pvoer THY yEeveow arrodidorvTwr.
évded yap éott Tod oiKeiov: 510 Kal BovAecbar


1 «ai after dudifia deleted in Basel edition.
2 Stephanus, ovdéva Hubert: oddev.





@ ij, 171 on the Egyptian mysteries at Sais and the Greek
Thesmophoria in honour of Demeter.
®’ Mor. 1108 p; Paroemiogr. Graec. i, p. 114 (Zenobius,


150
















TABLE-TALK II. 3, 636-637


or the rest of the doctrine, ‘ let reverent silence
prevail,’ as Herodotus * says ; for it is very much of
. mystical secret. Though the world contains many
Kinds of creatures, there is no race, one might say, in
which birth from the egg is absent. On the contrary,
1e egg produces countless creatures of air and sea ;
___and land creatures, as lizards ; amphibious creatures,
as crocodiles; two-legged creatures, as the bird;
legless, as the snake ; many-legged, as the locust. It
is therefore not inappropriate that in the rites of
Dionysus the egg is consecrated as a symbol of that
which produces everything and contains everything
thin itself.”
_ 3. When Firmus finished what he had to say,
Senecio pointed out that the last item of his imagery
was first to tell against him. “ For you fail to notice,
Firmus,” he continued, ‘‘ that instead of the pro-
_ verbial door ® oe have opened up the world, to your
_ own despite. The world in fact pre-exists everything,
for it is the most complete of all things, and it stands
to reason that the complete is naturally earlier than
__ the incomplete, as the perfect pre-exists the defective
_and the whole the part. For it is not reasonable to
hold that the part exists if that of which it is a part
does not. Thus nobody says that the man is a part
_ of the seed or that the hen is a part of the egg ; rather
__ we say that the egg is a part of the hen and the seed
_ apart of the man, for egg and seed come into being
__ after hen and man respectively and have their birth
in them, then pay back their genesis as a debt to
_ nature. For things are in need of their own kind,
grand therefore it is natural for them to wish to make


Century, iv. 98) has Lydus (the Lydian ?) closing, not open-
_ ing, the door as a proverb applied to a stupid thief.


151


(637)


B


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


movetv mepuxev ado TovodTov, olov Av e€ ob
amekpi0n." Kat Tov omeppatiKov Adyov dpilovrat
/ > ~ / > \ > 9O 7 > ~
yovov evdead yevecews: evdees 8 ovdev eott Tob
[1] ‘Yyevojevov und OvTos.
“c T \ 8” ae \ U / \ /
a8 Wa Kai mavtarac. Bréretas THY pvaww
exovta THs ev Tut Caw mikews Kal ovoTacews
opydvwv Te ToLovTwY Kal ayyeiwy Seouevnv: dOev
ovd’ tard es ov, GAAG Kal To Tuvda-
pytar ynyeves wdov, adda Kai to Tuvda
pelov ot mrointai Aéyovow ovpavorreTes avahavivar.”
{ga 8° adroteAR Kal oAdKrA g bv avadi-
f A Kai oAdKAnpa péxpt vov avadi
¢ a ~ > » Ps - ~ > + ‘
dwow 7 yh, pos ev Alydmtrw modAayod 8 odes Kat
Barpayous Kal rérrvyas, apyfs €Ewbev érépas Kai
/ > / > \ / ‘ A
duvdpews eyyevoperns* ev de dukehia mept Tov
dovAiKov mdA€epov, aiwatos moAAob Kai vexp@v ata-
duv éeni® TH yh Katacarévtwv, tAHV0s atreA€Bwv
e€jvOnoev Kai Tov otrov éperpov mavTaxod oKeda-
abevres eri THY VicoV. Tadra Tolvuv ex yhs PveTat
Kal Tpédperar Kal Tpodhs mepicowpa* trove? yovipor,
a > ¢ X \ ” , A
@ Kal’ Adovas mpos aAAnAa TpéreTat, Kal ovv-
~ A A \
dvalopeva TH pier TA ev WoToKeiy Ta de CwoTo-
A / \ , / a\/ >
Kelv mépuKe. Kal TovTw pddioTta dyAov <oTw,
~ , >
6Tt THY TpwTnV yéveow ex ys AaBdvta Kal
1 cuvexpi0n Bolkestein.


2 Vulcobius : sted ce
3 Hubert: ev. 4 Basel edition : epi oda.





@ A Stoic term, see von Arnim, Stoic. Vet. Frag. ii. 717 and
739.

®’ The Dioscuri; Helen’s birth from an egg is earlier
attested: cf. RE, s.v. “* Dioskuren,” col. 1113. Cf. also
Athenaeus, ii, 57 f: ‘‘ the egg from which Helen sprang fell
from the moon ” (Gulick, LCL).


152



















TABLE-TALK II. 3, 637


uch another as was that from which they have been
eparated. Indeed, the seminal principle ¢ is defined
as product in need of production of its own kind, and
nothing is in need of what has not come into being
a ad is not.

“Tt is undoubtedly to be seen that eggs have a
natural constitution which lacks the frame and struc-
tur ed by animals, as well as such organs and
vessels as these possess. Hence an earth-born egg is
“not on record, but the poets say even of the egg
ance came the sons of Tyndareiis® that it ap-
peared as fallen from heaven. Yet the earth in our
‘own time produces creatures complete in themselves
anc ect,—mice in Egypt ° and everywhere snakes
and oo and cicadas,—as the result of the presence
of a foreign and extrinsic initial cause and power. In
‘Sicily in the time of the Slave War, when a quantity

of blood and unburied corpses had rotted on the

ground, a multitude of locusts burst forth, scattered

abroad everywhere on the island, and destroyed the

grain. These creatures, then, grow from the earth,

and take their nourishment, and from nourishment

create a seminal residue * which causes them to turn

_to each other for pleasure, and coupled in intercourse


e, in producing offspring, are naturally oviparous,


some naturally viviparous. And in this it is very


clear that, though they take their own first origin
ig ,


© Diodorus Siculus, i. 10.2; Ovid, Metamorph. i. 422 ff. ;
further, Diodorus Siculus, i. 6. 2 ff., and Lucretius, v. 772-
877, with Cyril Bailey’s commentary (vol. III, pp. 1450 ff.).
_ 4 Rither 135-132 s.c. or 104-100. In 125 Africa suffered a
Bree of locusts before they vanished in the sea: RA, s.v.
, recke,” cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. xi. 105 and Julius
; uens, Prodigies, 30 (in LCL Livy xiv, p. 264).
° infra, p and note a on 641 a, p. 173.


153


|


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(637) ETEpov Tpomov 76n Kat du’ GAAjAwY qoLeirar Tas
TEKVWOELS.

‘“ Kafddov 8 opoidv éott TH Aéyew, “ apo Tijs
yuvauKos oH) eTpa. yeyovev ** as yap n HaTpa pos
TOV avOpwrrov,* ovTw madw TO WoVv mpos TOV vEoo~-
cov mépuKe, KUdpevov ev atT@ Kali Aoyevopevov:
woTte pnoev Siadepew tov diatropobvta, mas Opvi-
es €yevovTo pu) yevomevwv WAV, TOO tuvOavopevon,
mas avdpes eyevovTo Kai yuvaikes mplv aidota yeve-
ofa Kal pxnjtpas. Kaito. TOV pep@v Ta mAcioTta
cuvudgiorarat Tois dAows, ai Se Suvdprers errvyiyvov-

D tat tots pépeow at 8 éevépyear tais duvdpeoww
Ta 8 amotedeopata tats évepyetais amroTréAcopa
dé THs yevvynTiKhs TOV opiwv Suvdpews TO o7reppia
Kal TO @ov' WoTe THS TOV SAwv KabvoTepeiv
yeveoews. oxomer dé py, Kabdmep ov Suvarov
€oTt mekuv tpodas elvar mplv 7» yeveodar CHov,
ovTws ovd wov ovdé omépua: Kal yap Tatra
méeot Tio Kal petaBorats couxev éemvyevécba’:
Kal ovY oldv TE, TpwW 7 yeveobar CHov, €xew Caov
Tpoprs TepiTTwpa Ty poow. ov pay aAAa 70
o7repya pev apmoyeras® apyns Twos dvrurovetrat,
To 8 mov ovt apyhs exer Adyov, od yap bpicrarat
mp@tov, ov’ drov dvaw, ateAés yap €oTw.

E ““Odev apxiis pev avev yeyovevat CGov_ od
Aéyouev, apynv © elvat Cwoyovias bd’ Fs Tp@Tov
u) vAn pereBane Suvdpews, Kpaoty | Twa Kal biew
évepyacapevns yovipov TO 6 ov emyevynpe’
elvas, kalamep TO aiwa Kat TO yana, Too Cou
peta tpodiy Kal mépw. od yap amTat cvvioTd-


1 zov avOpwrov Hubert: 7d wor.


154



















TABLE-TALK II. 3, 637


om the earth, they then perform their own acts of
-ocreation in a different manner and with each other.
fin penere! it is like saying ‘ the womb existed
yefore the woman.’ For as womb to child so in turn
the egg to the chick that is conceived in it and
‘ought to birth. Accordingly he who raises the ques-
ion how fowl came into being when the egg did not
cist is in no way different from him who asks how
nen and women came into being before genitals and
womb existed. Indeed most parts co-exist with
vholes, and powers follow upon the existence of parts,
etivities n powers, results upon activities. The
ed and the egg are the result of the generative
wer of parts ; accordingly they are subsequent to
creation of wholes. And consider this : just as it
s impossible to have digestion of food before an animal
exists, so it is impossible to have either seed or egg ;
or these, I suppose, are incident to certain processes
of digestion and transformation, and nature cannot
dossess a residue of an animal’s food before the animal
elf exists. Nevertheless the seed has a sort of
claim to be a first principle, but the egg does not
satisfy the definition of a first principle (for it does
not exist first) nor does it possess the nature of a
whole (for it is incomplete).
__“ Thus we do not say that there is no elementary
principle connected with the birth of a creature, but
ve do say the principle of generation is that power
which caused the first change in matter, the power
which made union and intercourse fruitful. And we
say that the egg, like blood and milk, is a product
of the animal’s digestion of its nourishment, for no





2 Hubert: émyevéo@ar gorxev.
§ Xylander: dws yé mws.


155


(637)


638


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


pevov mov ex THs* iAdos, aA’ ev povw Caw TobdTo
Thv ovoTaow exer Kal yeveows Cada dé Kal? atra
pupia ovvioratar. Kal Ti det Aéyew taAda; TroA-
Adv yap eyyéAewv aAvoKopevwv oddeis eudpakev
ovre Bopov ovr’ wov eyxeduy €xovoav, aAAa Kav
TO ddwp Tus etapton Kal ri iddv avagvon macayv,
els TOV TOTOV voaros oUppuEevTos eyyxeAeis Cwoyo-
voovtTat. det ovv UoTEpov avayKn yeyovevan TO
darépov Sedpevov Tos yeveow, @ d€ Kal viv
Barépov_ xwpis ddws dmdpxeu ovvioracbar, ToOTO
mporepely TH apxi TAS. VEVETEWS. mept exeivns
yap €oTt TIS TpPoTns 6 Adyos: érel viv ye Kal
veoTTias ovvTibno. Ta TTHVG Tpo THS WoToKias
Kal omdpyava: mapacKevalovow at yuvaikes: adn’
ovK av elrous Kal VEeOTTLGY God yeyovevat TpOoTepov
Kal omdapyava traidwv. ‘ od yap vq, gnotv 6
TlAdtwy, ‘ yuvaixa, Wal d€ yun petra Kal
Tov aww Onrewy € EKQOTOV. 810 T™parny yeveow
eikds €oTW ek ys TeAevor gre Kal pan Tod yev-
v@VvTos avroreAn Kal dmpooden yeveobar, TOLOUTEY
opydvev Kal oTeyaoparov Kal ayyelwv mu deo-
pevnv, & viv % dvats ev Tots Tiktovow epyaletat
Kal pnxavara du’ acbeéveray.”’

1 +s E, and according to Hubert the other Planudean


mss.: ys T. Bolkestein approves Hubert’s suggestion ys
iAvos.


156














TABLE-TALK II. 3, 637-638


eo has ever been seen to form out of mud, but its
prmation and production take place in a living
creature alone. Yet countless are the living creatures
which are self-produced. One need cite only the eel.
‘or many eels have been caught, yet nobody has ever
een one with either seed or egg%; but even if one
draws off the water in a place and scrapes up all the
mud, eels are produced alive when water collects
again.” Whatever, then, is in need of another for
birth, must necessarily have come into being later :
and what even now can be formed otherwise apart
from another, this must have priority in the origin of
creation. _For our discussion is concerned with that
firs creation. Birds now prepare nests before they
y their eggs and women make ready baby-garments
efore the birth of their children, but you would not
say that nest existed before egg and garments before
children. ‘ For earth does not imitate woman,’ says
Plato,° ‘ but woman earth,’ as indeed does each of the
oH females. So it is likely that the first creature
born from earth, fully grown and self-sufficient in
e perfection and strength of its parent, the process
rhe requiring no such organs, sheaths, and vessels
as nature because of weakness now contrives and de-


vises in the parent.”


4 f. utara Historia Animal. vi. 14. 14; 16, 1.
“a » Aristotle, ibid. vi. 16. 2.

© Menexenus, 238 a.
ws, 7


157


(638)


B


D


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


TIPOBAHMA A
Ei mpeoBurarov 4 mdAn Tav Gywriocparwv


Collocuntur Lysimachus, Plutarchus, Sosicles, Philinus


Lwokréa tov KopwvAbev, Uvbios* verixnndta
TonTds, EloTI@pev TA ETMWikLA. TOO de yupviKod
ay@vos éyyds dvtos, 6 7ActoTos Hv Adyos TrEepi TOV
tmadaoTdv: moAXot yap étvyyavov advypévor Kat
evdofor. mapwv ovv Avoipayos, els tOv *“Apudi-
KTvOVwWY eémieAnTis, Evayxos edn ypapypatiKod
Tivos akovoa THY TaAnVv apyaLoTatov” aOAnudTwv
TAVTWY ATOpaivovTos, WS Kal TOVVOLLA [apTupEtv*
emletK@s yap amoAavew Ta vewTEpa TpPaypaTa KEL-
[Levwv ev Tots maAavorepots OVOUaTwWY* WS TOV Kal
TOV avAdv “ Appoobar”’ Aéyouow Kat “ Kpovpara a
TO. avAnpara. kahodouw, a a0 THs, Avpas AapBavov-
TES TAS Tpoonyopias. TOV OdY TOTOV, EV @ yupva-
Covras mavtes ot d0Antai, maAaiotpav Kadodor, Tis
madns* KTNOApEVNS TO mp@rov, eira Kal Tots avbis
epeupeleiow €, eumapacxovons.”

Totr’ édnv eye TO [aprupiov ovK ioyupov
elvat- KexAjobat yap amo Tis 7 mahns Tv madai-
otpav® ody O71 mpeoBurarov € €oTt THV dAAwy, add’
OTL povov TaV THs aywvias €id@v mnAod Kat
Koviotpas Kal knpwuaTos Tuyydaver Sedjevov* OUTE
yap Spdopov ovre tuypny év madaiotpas diazo-

* ev Ilv6ios Faehse, Bolkestein.

2 Bollaan: dpyatorépay T, defended by Bolkestein.

m Added by Wyttenbach.

4 rotvoua after waAns deleted by Bases, Paton; Bolkestein
transposes to next phrase as object of €umapacyeiv.


5 Anonymous : euTapacxeiy, defended by Bolkestein.
5 Basel edition : ris waAaiorpas.


158

























‘TTABLE-TALK II. 4, 638


oe QUESTION 4
de Whether wrestling is the oldest of the sports *
_ Speakers: Lysimachus, Plutarch, Sosicles, Philinus


Ve were celebrating the victory of Sosicles of Co-
oné,” who had won the prize over all the poets at the
Pythia. The gymnastic contests being near, most
_ of the conversation concerned the wrestlers, for it so
happened that many famous ones had come. And
_Lysimachus,° an epimeletes of the Amphictyons who
‘was present, said that he had recently heard a gram-
marian show that wrestling, on the evidence even of
the word, was the oldest of all sports, for it is reason-
able to assume (he said) that the more recent insti-
tutions make use of terms established for the older.
For example, one says that the pipe is ‘‘ tuned’ and
e notes of the pipe one calls by the term signifying
'strokes,’’ these locutions being taken from the lyre.
‘And so one calls “ palaestra ” the place in which all
athletes exercise, the inference being that wrestling
occupied it first before sharing it with sports
subsequently invented.
_ I said that this was not strong evidence ; for the
-palaestra (I continued) is not named for wrestling
because this is the oldest of the sports, but because
it alone of the forms of gymnastic contests happens
to require clay, dusting-pit, and ring ; for it is not at
een thor at boxing that one toils away in the
o> ;





_ * Cf, 675 c infra. On the order of institution of the various
gone see W. Jaeger, Paedeia (Engl. ed.), i, pp. 206 ff., p. 464,

jote 71; ef. H. A. Harris, Greek Athletes and ‘Aihlotics,
particularly p. 24 with note 2.


© See i. 2, 618 F supra, and infra, v. 4, 677 D.
¢ Lysimachus only here and in the next Question.


159


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(638) vodow, adda maddAnv’ Kal mayKpatiov TO meEpi Tas
KvuAiceis* OTL yap Péeu“LKTAL TO TayKpaTLOV EK TE
~ \ tA SHA / > ce LAA de
muypns Kat mdaAns, SHAov é€otw. aAAws de
m@s,’ ednv, “Adyov exer TEeyviKwTATOV Kal
TavoupyoTatov THv a0Anudtwy tiv madAnv odcav
apa Kal mpecBdtatov elvat; TO yap amAodv Kal
atexyvov Kal Bia paddov 7) pwebddm mepawdpevov
rex OE eee ee Ce
al ypelar mp@tov éxdépovow.” euod dé trait
> / ¢ ~ cc 3 ~ ” ” ce /
el7ovTos, 6 LwokdAfs, “ opbds,” é€dyn, “ Aéyes,
/ ~
Kat ovpBdaAdAopait co. miotw amd Tob dvomaTos:
¢e \ LA Py cal ~ aA /, 2 4 > ‘
» yap maAn por Soxet TH madevew,” dmep orl
Py r a_3 \ / 2.3 / NA 7”)
odobv*® Kat KataBaAdAew di’ amarns, KexAjoba.
\ A ~
E_ Kai 6 ®.rjtWos, “ éuoi 8,” eirev, “ amo tis 7a-
Anoris*: rovTw yap udAvora TO peper Totv Yepotv
evepyodow ot madaiovres, womep of muKTEvOVTES
A a“ A \ ‘\ “A
ad maAw TH mvypn: S10 KaKkelvo TUyp) Kal TOTO
A
m7aAn TpoonydopevTat TO Epyov. ov pny aAAa Kai TO
ouuTdca THY TonTov Kal Katamdacar “ radbvar’
a \ A
Aeyovtwv, @ pddvoTa ypwpéevous Tovs maAaoTas
~ \ /
opOpev, €oTt Kal TAVTN TMpocayew THY ETUMLOTHTA
~ \ a
Tod dvomatos. oxKdmer 8 €rtt,”’ elev, “ pn Tots
~ aA > ~
prev Spopetow Epyov éotiv ote mAeiotov amoAireiv
aA 4
Kal ToppwraTw SiacTHvat, ToVs Sé€ mUKTAS OvSE TAVU
~ / 7
BovAopevous eSow ot BpaBevrai cuptrAéKeaGau: o-
~ ? >
F yous S€ rods madaatas Op@pev adAjAous ayKadilo-
pévous Kal meptAauBavovras: Kat Ta mAcioTa THY
/ ,
aywviopdtwv, é€uBodai, mapeuBorai, ovordoeis,
ae 4
mapabéces, avvayovow adtovs Kal avapuyyvovow


1 Wyttenbach: zdAns, defended by Jiithner, Bolkestein.
2 Basel edition: zaAaiew. 3 Bernardakis: 86Aov.


160


TABLE-TALK II. 4, 638


















alaestra, but at wrestling and at the roll-and-tumble
of the pancratium, which is indeed a clear mixture of
joxing and wrestling. “ And besides,” I said, “ how
joes it make sense that wrestling, which is the most
skilful and cunning of sports, is at the same time the
dest too? For necessity produces first what is
simple, artless, and accomplished by force rather than
‘systematic skill.’” When I had spoken, Sosicles said,
* You are right, and I’ll offer you confirmation with
an etymolo By» for ‘ wrestling ’ (palé) seems to me to
be derived m paleuein, which means ‘ to trick,’ ‘ to
overthrow by deceit.’ ”’
Anc Philinus said, “‘ It seems to me to be derived
from , palm,’ for it is principally with this part
of the hand that wrestlers operate, as, on the con-
trary, boxers do with the fist (pugmé); so the one
ac i vity is called ‘ boxing’ (pugmé), the other ‘ wrest-
ng "Cpalé) And there is another possibility : since
the poets say * besprinkle * (palunat) for * dusting ’
and * powdering,’ of which we see wrestlers (palaistat)
Bis ce much use, it is possible also in this way to de-
rive the true meaning of the word. Consider again,”
he said, “‘is it ot the task of runners to distance
e ch other as much as possible, to put the maximum
amount of space between each other? And boxers 4
are ‘not allowed by referees to clinch, however eager
th be; it is only the wrestlers we see laying
! hold of each other and embracing each other,—most
of the contest, frontal and lateral attacks, frontal
and lateral stances, bring them together and mix
Bee up with each other. Clearly the inference is that


it


© Of His op. cit. pp. 97 f. and p. 103 with note 59.


# Turnebus: tod zaAaorod.
VOL, VIII G 161





(638)


639


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> / \ a / / ‘\ /

aAAjAous. 810 TH wAnoidlew padiora Kal yiyvecBar
/ bl] Ld / > \ / > / >

méXdas ovK adndAdv €ott THY TAAnV Wvopdcbar.


IIPOBAHMA E


Ava ti rv GOAN are “Opnpos m™p@Tov del TATTEL THY TUYLTV
elra TH maXAnv Kal TeAevTaiov Tov dSpdpuov


Collocuntur Lysimachus, Timo, Menecrates, Plutarchus,
alii
. “Pydevrewv de TOUTWY Kal TOV Didivov wav
érraiveodvTwy, adOis 6 Avoipaxos €dn, “ zrotov ody
pain Tus av Tov dywviopdray yeyovevar eae
] TO oTAadLOV, @omep ‘Ohupmriacw ; Si bgaa
evtad0a dé map’ pay Kal ExaoTOV aOAnjwa TOUS
aywvilouevous eiodyovaw, €ml matot maAaorais
avdpas maAaoTas Kal mUKTAS él TUKTALS OpLolws
Kal mayKpatiaords: é€xet 8’, Grav ot matdes Si-
aywviowvTat, TOTE TOUS avdpas KaAodow. okd7eEL
dé put) padAdov,” dn, “ TV Kara xpovov rad
“Opnpos a7o0€eiKVUcL* Tp@Tov yap aei TUy ET)
Tap avr, devTepov maAn, Kat TeAevtaiov 6 Spo-
pos TOV yupviK@v ael téeTaxTa. Oavydoas odv
Mevexparns 6 Occoahds, 2 & “HpdkAes,”” elrev,
“ doa AavOdver npas: Et Sé Twa THY env €oTi
cou TMpoxerpa, 1) plovnons dvapvijcas.””
at 6 Tiwwv, “ adr’ ore pv,’ ’ elev, “at Ila-
TpoKAov rapat Tavrny EXovaL TOV dywviopdatay
Thv Tae, dmacw Ws €mos etrrety evavAdv €orw"
Suatnpa@v dé tHv ta€w duadrds 6 toinras Tov pev
1 Xylander detected a lacuna here; Reiske places it before
]} TO oTaduov.


162


TABLE TALK II. 4-5, 638-639














-wres (palé) got its name from ‘draw near’
Sehacts) and * be close ’ (pelas).”’ *


QUESTION 5


Why Homer always arranges a series of athletic sports with
boxing first, then wrestling, and last racing


Speakers : Lysimachus, Timon, Menecrates,
Plutarch, others


: ha Wuen these words had been spoken and we had
praised Philinus, Lysimachus again said, “* What
| Beould one say was the first athletic contest, then ?
_ Was it the foot-race, as at Satdap BS tees ” [a
lacuna of uncertain length] ““. .. here among us
_ they introduce the contestants ‘sport by sport, men
_ wrestlers after boy wrestlers, and likewise for boxers
-pancratiasts ; but there the men are called in
on when the boys are through. But consider
_ whether it is not bathes Homer who displays the tem-

| order ; for always in his works boxing is listed
F first among the gymnastic sports, wrestling second,
and racing last." Then Menecrates? of Thessaly

_ said in astonishment, ‘‘ Heracles, how much escapes
us! If you have any of his verses at hand, do not
; e us the recollection of them.”

“ Well,” said Timon, “ it rings in everyone’s ears,
if I may say so, that the athletic contests at the
funeral games of Patroclus follow this order. The
Poet has made Achilles say to Nestor, consistently


_* The true etymology is unknown; see Boisacq, s.v. 7a-


® Otherwise unknown.
163


(639)
C


D


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


"Ayiaréa Aéyovtra 7H Néoropi memoinkev
didwpy dé cou 78” aeOAov
4 b) \ / OA /
avTws: od yap TE ye wayyjoea ovd€ tadaicets,
>
ovd€ T akovtioTdy evdtceat Ode 7ddEcaL
bevoeat:
\ \ 4 > ~ > /
tov d€ mpeaBitTnv €v TH amroKpivecOar trapadore-
cyobvTa yEepovTiK@s Ort
mv pev evixnoa KAvtouyd_ea, Olvorros vidv,
"Aykatov Se* wdAn IAevpdinov,
"Idixrov dé wddecou trapédpapov'
= \ \ \ > / A /
atOis de tov pev ’Odvocea rods Daiaxas mpoKa-
Aovpevov
“a A 2A / “” ‘ /
n 7dE He 7aAn 7 Kai Trociv,
\ > 3 / ¢€ 4
tov © °AAkivovy drotiyw@pevov
) A / 97% > 4, ON /
od yap TuypayxoL eiwev auvpoves OddE TraAaoTal,
aAAa tool Kpaimvois Oéopev
ws od Kata TUynV €K TOD TapioTapevov TH Taker
, »” 3 OM > A a > / /
xpwpevos ardor’ ddAws, adAd Tots eifiopevois TOTE
Kat dpwuevois KaTa vosov éemakoAovbayv: €dpato
> 4 \ \ ” 4 Re,
5° ovtws tHv madaav ere TAEw adt@v dSiadvdar-
TOVTWV.”
2. Ilavoapevov de tod adeApod, tadXa prev Ednv
aAnbads Aێyecbar, tTHv 8 aitiav ris takews ovK
A \
emjvouv. e€ddKe d€ Kai THV dAAwY Tit yu 7Bavov
elvas yeyovevan” TO TuKTEvEv Kal TaAaiew mpoTEpoV
év ay@vu Kai apidAn Tod tpoydlew, Kal mapexd-
b / > \ > / ” > > ~
Aovv e&dyew eis TO avedtepov. edynv 8 eK TOD
1 Added by Xylander.
2 yeyovévas added by Bernardakis here, but after aya by


Wyttenbach. Faehse (and Wilamowitz) proposed zporepeiv
for mpérepov, omitting yeyovévas.


164


TABLE TALK II. 5, 639
‘ing the order,


F And so I give this prize to you, for not
At boxing will you fight, nor will you wrestle,

__Nor enter for the javelin throw, nor run

a br __A foot-race.*


ots
















And he made the old gentleman answer garrulously,
as old gentlemen will,


te knocked out Clytomedeus, Oenops’s son ®; and in wrest-
_ ling I worsted are son of Pleuron, and Iphicles

\ ss outran in the foot-race

Bai n, he has Odysseus challenge the Phaeacians


p meg _ To box, to wrestle, or to race, °





and Alcinoiis propose the lesser trial,


For we are not good boxers, wrestlers we
4 _. Are not, but races swift we run.


e does not make haphazard use of any chance order,
2d one way and now another, but he follows the
eustoms of that time and the things habitually done.

. p d so it was done, so long as they still preserved the


a 2.. When my brother had finished, I said that the
| res of his remarks were true, but I could not com-
mend his explanation of the order. Furthermore, it
_ seem regia ed improbable to some of the others that boxing

existed earlier than racing in com-
resins a and they invited me to explore the
_ matter further. And I said, extemporizing, that all


qj : | SERowT 20 ff.
Ibid. 634 cae and at Odyssey, xxi. 144, mss. of Homer
“ty betwen Oivomos and ”Hvozros). © Odyssey, viii. 20.
Ibid, 246 f.
165


(639)
E


F


640


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/ ~
TapacTavTos, OTt Tabtd pow mavTa pupynpara
Sokel Kal yupvdopata THv mroAcuiK@yv elva: Kat
yap omdAitns émi maéow eiodyeTat, wapTupovpevos
6Tt TOOTO TO TEAS €oTi Tis GwuacKias Kal’ THs
/ a ~
apiAAns: Kal TO Tots vuknddpois etoeAadvovow* TaV
~ > a ~
Terx@v epiecbas pépos SieAeiv Kal KataBadeiv ror-
avTynv exer Sidvorav, ws ov péya moder Tevydv
” + > 4 / / \
odeAos avdpas é€xoton pdyeobar Suvapévous Kai
vikav. ev d¢ Aakedaiwow tots veviknkoa. oreda-
; > ~ a
vitas ay@vas e€aipetos hv ev tais maparagect
Ywpa, mepit adTov Tov BaoiAéa TeTaypevous payxe-
cbar- Kai TOV Cdwv povw TH inmmw peTtovaia
otepavov Kal ay@vos EoTw, Ott wovos Kal méduKe
Kal NOKNTAL LayYoLEevots Trapeivar Kal ovptroAcuetv.
«ce EK? de 5 \ “~ r / \ ~ “fo)

i dé 5 tadra éyerar 7) KaKas, 46n oKo-
mapev,”’ edny, “ ott TOV payopevwv mp@Tov Epyov
> A A / A rv / 0 4 Pa) \
€oTt TO mratdfar Kai gdvdAdfacba, Sevrepov dé
oupmecovTas 70n Kal yevopévous ev yxepal wi-

7 cal A ~ > 4 e \
apots Te xpHoOar Kai mepitpotrais adAjAwv, & 47

/

padtora paow ev AedKtpois Tods Lraptiaras b70
TOV HueTéepwv, tadraoTpiKOv ovtwv, KataBiacbn-
va* 610 Kat map AioyvAw tis T&v TroAcuiKayv
ovopalerat ‘ Bods omAvtomdAas’ Kat LodordAjjs
elpnKe mov Trept TOV Tpwwv ws


c ir ‘ r /

diAimmot Kat KEepovAkot,

\ / ? \ ¢ / 7?
adv odker’ Sé ‘ KwowvoKpdTw traAaoral '*


1 +6 after xai deleted by Stephanus.
2 Salmasius: éAatvovow. * Wyttenbach: xaraBiPaobjvat.


* See Jiithner in RE, s.v. ‘‘ Hoplites,”’ 3.

> Cf. Life of Iycurgus, xxii. 4.

¢ As the Spartans, deliberately, were not; ¢f. Mor. 233 x,
no. 27.


166




























TABLE-TALK II. 5, 639-640
ese sports seemed to me to mimic warfare and to
ain for aes ie indeed, the race in armour is pre-
ted e rest,” so testifying that milita

iness the aim of athletics and ae ter AD
fact that victorious athletes, as they enter the
ty, are permitted to destroy and throw down a part
f the walls, has some such meaning: a city which
gssesses men able to fight and conquer has no great
eed of walls. In Lacedaemon there was a specially
hosen place in the battle-line for those who had won
the victor’s wreath in the Games, namely, to fight
ationed beside the king himself’; and among
timals the horse alone participates in crown and
ontest because it alone is fitted by nature and train-


ng te accompany fighters and to go to war together


“Tf my statement of the analogy is right so far,”
continued, “let us consider the matter further.
The first task of fighters is to strike out and to defend
1emselves. And their next task, when they are now
et in hand-to-hand conflict, is to strain body against
“body and overthrow each other. By this especially,
it is reported, the Spartans at Leuctra were over-
powered by our men who were practised wrestlers ° ;
so it is that in Aeschylus one of the men-of-
rms is called ‘ a weighty wrestler-in-armour ’ 4 and
Sophocles somewhere said of the Trojans that they
_are ‘lovers of the horse, drawers of the bow,’ and
wrestlers with a clanging shield.’* And finally the
ph 7
Aesch iller-Crusius, Anth. . p. 124, no. 4;
Berg Ree tone ii, p. 242, moe ich i p. 79,
no. 4; LCL Aeschylus, frag. 270, more fully quoted at Mor.
317 ©, 334 pv, and Compar. of Demosth. and Cicero.
© Frag. 775 Nauck, 859 Pearson.


167


o


re


ava








PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(640) kat pv emt maol ye TO TpiTov eotiv viKwpevous
pevyew 7) SwhKew vik@vras. elKoTwWs odv H TUYLN)
a 1 , > € , , \
mpoeonye, Sevtepav 5° elyev 7 madAn Taki, Kat
TeAevTaiay 6 dSpdmos: STL TUypN EV €oTL pina

“A \ ~ / A a A
TAnyfs Kal dudakis, maAn 5€ cuprdroKis Kai wOi-

~ 4 \ ~ , ‘ 4 a)

op.od, Spopw Sé perAerTaour devyew kat SidKeww.


IIPOBAHMA


Ava ri mevKn Kai mitus Kal TA Guota TovTOLs OdK
evopbadpilerar*


Collocuntur Crato, Philo, Soclarus


/ ¢ ~ € ~ > , ec ‘ a
B 1. Xa@KdAapos €oTidv Huds €v Kymois bro TOO
Kydicob rotapobd mepippeopevois émedeixvuto Sév-
dpa mavrodam@s memouiAueva tots Aeyopevors
> ee \ \ : , 3\ 7 >
évodbadpiopots** Kal yap €k oxivwv €Aaias ava-
Braoravotcas éEwpdpev Kal pois €K puppivys:
Ss A ‘ 7 > / > \ > / ‘\
joav dé Kai Spves amiovs ayabas expepovoa Kal
mAdravo. pnredv Sedeyuevar Kal ovKai popedv
éuPorAddas, dArAa te pigets GvT@v KexpaTnuevwv
dypt Kapmoyovias. ot pev odv aAAot mpds Tov
O XwdkAapov éxalov, ws tTav TountiKav odiyydv
Kal xiwaip@v TepatwdeoTepa yevn Kat Opeupara
Bookxovra: Kpdtawv dé apotPadev nutv dvarropioat
mepi THs aitias, dv Hv pova TOV duT@v Ta €Aa-
, 497 ‘ , > , > , ™
Twdn* Séyeobat Tas ToLvadTras emiytias od TéepuKev
1 Hubert, zpojye Wyttenbach: pdecai ye.


2 Bernardakis: évod@adApmdlera.
3 Stephanus: évddOadus T, ev 6d0adApois E.


168












TABLE-TALK II. 5-6, 640


| rs third task is to run away when beaten and
to pt pu sue when winning. It is reasonable, therefore,
es ng to lead off the list, for wrestling to have
e, and for racing the last, because boxing
bers and defence, wrestling the twisting

¢ I str gling of close-quarter combat, and in the
01 Ae one practises the art of fleeing the battle-


‘pursuing those who do so.”
RY hea iv
‘* TH awA
patos 982° — QUESTION 6





















Vhy y the fir and the pine and trees like them are not
im grafted ¢


wD °


Hrd thie - Speakers Crato, Philo, Soclarus


,» while entertaining us in his gardens
adc Pach the Cephissus River, showed us trees
1 had Been fancified in all sorts of ways by what
eallec te ‘ting; we saw olives growing upon mastic
SeS a nates upon the myrtle; and there
oa “hoe nme good pears, plane trees which
direceived grafts of apples, and figs grafts of mul-
rie , and other mixtures of trees mastered to the
of producing fruit. Then the rest of the com-

n to tease Soclarus for raising, as they said,
asses and specimens more marvellous “than the
linxes and chimaeras of the poets; but Crato ¢
oposed that we discuss the question of the cause
y the evergreens alone of plants do not naturally


* On see A. = Pease in hey: Amer. Philol.
1933), pp. 66 esp. pp. 6

Behe ‘Soclarus see | Bolkestein, Adv. Grit. p. 128.

° See note ¢, p. 9, above.


RES
’





Beek vii _.......4 Pohlenz: €Aadn.


if


VOL. VIII a* 169





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(640) ovre yap K@vov ovTe KuTdpitrov 7 mitev } TEvKHV
extpepovody Ti THY ETEepoyev@v opaobar.

2. ‘YaoAaBav 5é Didwv edn, “ Adyos tis Eotw,
® Kpdtwv, mapa tots codois, BeBavodpevos tro
TOV yewpyiK@v. TO yap eAaov elvai dact Tots
gutots modgpuiov Kat TaxioT av amoAdoar dutov
6 BovAoto ypiopevov €rAaiw, Kabdmep tas pedXitTaSs.
Ta 8 eipnuéeva Sévdpa miova Kal mémepay exer

D 77Hv dvow, wote ticcav amodakpvew Kal pytivny:
orav d€ aAnyf, tats SiaKomais olkofev worep*
iy@pas ovvayeu 7 Te Sas adt@v eAainpay adinow
ixudda Kat mepioTiABer TO Aurapov avTH: d10 Kal
mpos Ta dAda yevn Svopixtws exer, Kabamep adro
To €Aaov.”’ amavoapevov S€ Tot Didwvos, 6 pev
Kpdtwy wero Kal THv Tob grows dvow mpds TodTO
ouvepyetv: AemTOV yap OvTa Kal Enpov ov Trapéyew
edpav ovd éuBiwow Tots évTiepevors, odd’ ,* wo-
mep Ta pAowWOy Kal voTepa Kal® padakd, Tots b27d
Tov pdovov* pépect mpoodexopuevois TepirT¥acedbat
KoAAdpevov.

8. Adros d5€ Xokdapos €¢dn Kai tov’ tatra

KE déyovra pi) Kax@s mpocevvoeiv, ott Set TO Seyd-
pevov etépay dvow evtpemtov elvar, iva Kpatybev
efopoww7 Kal petaBddAn tHv ev é€avT® Tpodryv
mpos TO é€udutevopevov. “Kal yap THY yhv


1 Wilamowitz: wozep oixobev.

2 od’, Womep P. A. C., ody worep Hubert: wor7ep.

3 7a after kai omitted by Reiske, Hubert.

4 dvra after dAowy omitted by Reiske.

5 zov added by Reiske; Bolkestein prefers either to omit
tov or to insert it after tadra.





* The conifer (presumably) that Plutarch meant by kénos
170
























‘TABLE-TALK II. 6, 640


cept such mixtures, for (he said) neither konos*
» pine or fir, does one see supporting a
te another species.
oO ;


‘said in answer, “ The learned have an ac-
mt of the matter, Crato, and farmers confirm it.
ie they. say that oil is inimical to plants, and what
nt om, like, touched with oil, would very quickly
; jeri b me dst like bees. The trees mentioned are
naturally fat and full of sap, so that they ooze pitch
ind resin ; when they are struck, they collect in the
cuts a juice, as it were from within themselves ; the
_kindling-wood split from them emits an oily liquid,
and the fatty substance in it glitters; and so it is
h at they are bad mixers with other woods, like oil
its When Philo finished, Crato advanced his
101 i on that the nature of the bark also contributed
: o this end ; for (he said) since the bark is thin and
ry, it does Anat offer the scion an environment main-
. ng life, nor does it cleave to the scion, as do moist
1 soft bark-like substances, bedding it in the parts
neath the bark that receive it.”

Be Poelars himself said that one who spoke thus
possessed no mediocre power of observation, seeing
| it is necessary for the plant used as stock for
F : no’ other kind to be easily changed so that it may be
¢ vated * and assimilated and transform for the

scion “the nourishment in itself. ‘‘ Indeed, we first

;obseure. In roe pews to Plato the tree is part of

Sin idyllic setting iger rightly emended —_— to K@vov):

. ae Plan 1s 18 = fon an Ler . Graec. iB (1949), p. 108,

: Paquin a 25), with notes. a, Hort’s heophrastus,
into Plants (LCL), ii, Index s.vv. mirus, wed

L PG Pao, Protagoras, 334 8 : olive oil is highly i injurious

dl aera and to the hair of animals.

f. the theory of digestion at iii. 6. 2, 654 B, and iv. 1. 2,
. 661 B infra,

| 171








PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(640) zpodiadvopev Kai paddooopev, va Komretoa peTa-
Bdadn 80 edardbevav Kal aypnrar t&v eudutevo-
pévwv: 9) yap atevys Kal oxAnpa SvapeTtaBAnros.

~ A A / ~ 1 a /, +
tadta de ta Sdevdpa Kotha’ tots EvAos dvra
Kpaow od move? dua. TO wy) KpaTetaBar nde peta-
BadAew. ét 8,” elev, “ odK adndAov dtu Se
mpos TO euduTevdpevov ywpas Adyov Exew TO

/ A \ 7 A 4 ” \
deLopevov' tHv de ywpav det Oyrevav Eyew Kai
yovipov: Ofev Ta moAvKaprotata TOV duT@v.. .”
F éxAcyopevor tapamnyviovow, womep yuvaréiv 7roAv-

A 4 3° / 4 LAA: /
yaAaktovoas® etepa Bpédy* mpooBdaAdovres. mev-
Kkynv b€ Kal KumdpitTov Kal Ta TovatTa mavTa

641 yAioypa Kal ayevv} Tots Kapmois 6p@puev. wWo7ep
yap ot toAvoapkia Kexpnuevor Kal OyKw Ws én
To mAetoTov atexvo. (Tv yap Tpodyy eis TO CHa
KatavaNioxovtes ov movodow €€ adths mepitTwpa
OTEpLAaTLKOV), OUTW TA TOLadTA Sévdpa THs Tpodis
amoAavovta, maons «is atta davavwperns, edow-
pate’ Tots peyebeo. Kal advfdaverar, Kapmov dé Ta
pev od déper Ta Se héper purKpov Kai ovvteAovpevov
/ 7 > > a / > \ /
Bpadéws: wor ov Set Oavudlew, «¢ py pverar
> / > e ~ / \ A > “~ >)
TaAAdTpLov, €v @ KaKas TpéheTar Kal TO olKetov.
1 xwda Herwerden, Hubert, “ insensitive.”


2 Lac. 4-7 T: éuBoAdow Hubert, “ for grafts,”’ or the like,
mpocekAeyopuevo. Bernardakis.


172





—_— ev


















TABLE-TALK II. 6, 640-641


up the earth and soften it so that, having been
it eas Yoel a transformation by reason
eres and cling to what we plant, for
undergoes transformation with
gs i these trees, their wood being light, do
. ot m e combinations because they are not domin-
ae r do undergo transformation. Further,”
he conti “it is quite clear that the stock to be
aes fulfils the function of soil for the scion ; soil
an < must be fertile and productive, and so ‘they
ect ‘the most fruitful of plants and insert the scions
‘them, much like putting infants out to nurse with
oie who have abundant milk. But fir and cypress
all such trees are niggardly and ungenerous with
ne as we see. For just as those who are fleshy
heavy are for the most part childless (because
eres up their nourishment on their bodies and do
yt t cre. te from it a surplus for seed),* so such trees,
ving the enjoyment of their nourishment all spent
selves, thrive and increase in size, but some
sbifruit and others bear fruit that is small and
to ripe Accordingly, one must not be amazed
r’s. does not grow in what nourishes poorly


oe ‘own.’


be: y 637 ase Mia 724%; Mor. 919; Aristotle,
} 18.


8 Cobet: lac. 5-6 yaAaxrovcas.
4 Xylander: lac. 7-8.





173


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(641) IIPOBAHMA Z
Ilepi rijs exevnidos
Collocuntur Chaeremonianus, Plutarchus, alii


B_ 1. Xatpnuovavoes’ 6 TpadAvavos iybvdiwy core
mavTodama@v mapatebévrwy ev emideiEas Hiv dfd
T@ Kehariw Kat mpounkes EAeye TOUTH mpoceoi-
Kevar THY exevnida: Yedoacbar yap mAr€wv ev TO
LiKcedik@ kal Gavydoa tHyv dvvapi, odk ddAtynv
Bpadvrira Kat SiatpiByv mapa tov mAobdv azep-
yaoapevns THs exevnidos, Ews bro TOO mpwpéews
édAw mpoocexouevn TH Toiyw THs vews EEwherv.
Hoav pev ovv ot KatayeA@vtes ToD Xaipnuoviavod
ws mAdopwa pvb@des tapadedeypevov Kal amoTov,
Hoav d€ Kal ot tas avrtumabeias OpvdAodvres, Kal
GAAa moAAd <Kal 6) Kai taira wept Tv avti-)
mabovrwy® iv aKovew, oT. pawdpevov €AedhavTa

C xatamaver Kpios opbeis, Exidvav S€ dyyod KAwviov
€av mpooaydyns Kai Oiyns tornow: aypios Sé
Tatpos atTpewet Kal mpaiverar ovK mpocd<eis:
To 8 nAeKTpov mavTa Kiel Kal mpoodyeTar Ta
Kooga TAnv @KijLoU Kab TOV eAaten Bpexopeveny:
” S€ ovdnpitis AiBos ovK ayet TOV otdnpov, av
oKopdw ypic0n. tovTwr yap eudavi TH meipav
éyovrwy, yaderov elvar tiv aitiav, ei py Kal
mavTeA@s advvatov, Katapabetv.


1 Xarpjuwv Reiske ; ‘ cf. RE, s.v. “ Plutarchos,” col. 671.
Added by Diels.


@ A sucking-fish (remora), Pliny, Nat. Hist. ix.79 ; D’Arcy
Thompson, Glossary of Greek Fishes, pp. 68-70, where the
evidence is summarized.

’ Only here, but the commoner name Chaeremon (cf.


174





™





TABLE-TALK II. 7, 641





QUESTION 7
Concerning the echeneis ¢
Speakers : Chaeremonianus, Plutarch, others


, Once, when small fish of all sorts were served to us,
q yaeremonianus ” of Tralles pointed out one with a
_ sharp, elongated head and said that the echeneis
resembled it; he had seen (he said) the echeneis
while sailing off Sicily and had been amazed at its
power, for during the course of the voyage it had
i ay responsible for no little loss of speed and delay
~ until the look-out had caught it sticking to the outer
face of the vessel’s hull. At this, some laughed at
Chaeremonianus for accepting a mythical and un-
believable fabrication; others chatted about the
_“antipathies ” ° ; and one could hear much else and
also the following about things antipathetic: the
sight of a ram stops a mad elephant ; if you point an
‘oak twig at a viper and touch it, the viper is brought
_toastandstill ; a wild bullis quieted and made gentle
if bound to a fig-tree ¢ ; amber moves and attracts all
Hh things, except basil and whatever is wet with
il; the loadstone does not attract iron rubbed with
garlic. Indeed these things are subject to a clear
test, but it is hard (they said) to determine the cause,
if not altogether impossible.


critical note) may be the right reading ; a man of this name
is honoured for restoring (®p8wce) Tralles after an earthquake
(Appendix to Palatine Anthology, Tauchnitz, 1829, no. 222,


p- 381).

° Bolus of Mendes, the forger of Democritus exposed by
Callimachus, wrote a Sympathies and Antipathies (in nature) ;
see Diels, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, Demokritos 300. 1-5; cf.
infra, iv. 2, 664 c.

4 Cf. infra, 696 r, where the theory is different.


F


175





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(641) 2. "Eya dé tobro pev ednv amddpacw elvar rijs
la ~ rol >
EpwTjcews waAdAov 7 THs attias amddoow. “ oKxo-
m@pev 8,” elzov, “dt. moAAad oupatTmpatos*
” /, 2 >] ~ / / > > ~
exovta dvow* aitidv AapBdaver SdEav odK dpbds:
¢ ¢ wv ” ~ > / ~ »”
D Gpowov ws el Tus olowto TH avOjoer Tod dyvov

metraivesbar tov THS apméAov Kapmov, ott 57,
TobTo TO Aeyopevov,


¢ 34 » > 6 a 25 OF ,
4 T* ayvos avOet yw Botpus memaiverat,


H Tots emi tOv Avyvwv pawopevors podenot ovy-
xetoBau Kal ouvvepety 70 TEPLEXOV, n° THY ypv-
TOTNTA TOV ovdXinv aitiov dAAd p) oupBeBnKos
elvau Too mept omAdyyvov €AKous. Bomrep ov
ToUTwy exaoTov éemakoAovOnua tod mafous €otiv
ex TOV abTt@v yevvwpevov aiti@v, ovTws Ednv eye)
pilav airiav elvar d° nv Bpadéws tre mAct Kal
Tpoodyerat THY exernida. TO moiov: Enpas pev
yap ovons Kal pn’ odddpa Bapetas bypornte THS
VEWS, eikos emoAvobdvovcav* d b7r0 KoupornTos Th Ga-
E ddtry TH Tpomw SiadaBeiv® 76 Kipa EvAw" Kabapa
Siapovpevov Kail! adiotdpevov edreT@s* Grav dé
A / \ 4 > / \
votepa ofddpa Kal didBpoyos odca duxia Te moAAa
Kat Bpvwdeis emimayous mpoodyntat, Tod Te EvAov
Tov Topov apBdAdTepov toyer TO TE KOA TH yAL-
oXpoTnTL mpoomimtov ov padiws amoAverar. 810
Kat trapaynyovot Tovs Tolyous, Ta Bpva Kai Ta
duxia tav EvAwY amoKabaipovtes, ols eikds €oTt
1 Wilamowitz, cvxprrwyudtwy Madvig, Paton: cvprrapara.
2 dvow Wilamowitz, Paton, tag Madvig: lac. 4 ow.
Basel edition: Sei.
* Added by Emperius.
5 Xylander: xai o.
6 Added by the Basel edition.
176








TABLE-TALK II. 7, 641


2, I remarked that all this avoided the question
rather than explained the cause. “ Let us reflect,”
I continued, “‘ that many things essentially accidental
wrongly get the reputation of being causes,—as if,
for example, one should think that the vine’s crop is
ripened by the flowering of the chaste tree [Agnus
castus| because, as they say,


The chaste tree flowers and the grapes get ripe,*


or that the snuff which appears on lamps makes the
atmosphere muggy and cloudy, or that crookedness
of the nails is the cause rather than a symptom of
internal ulcer. As each of these, then, accompanies
_ the condition and is produced by the same causes, so
there is one cause, I said, both for the ship’s sailing
slowly and for attracting to itself the echeneis ; for
when a ship is sound and not exceedingly water-
logged, its keel naturally glides lightly through the
sea, cleaving the wave which easily parts and makes
way for the clean wood; but whena ship is thoroughly
soaked with water and accumulates much seaweed
and encrustation of laver, its hull offers greater
resistance, and the sea, meeting the impediment of
the encrustation, does not let the ship pass easily.
And so it is that hulls are scraped to clean laver
and seaweed off the wood, and it is likely enough


_ * Trag. Graec. Frag. Nauck, Adespoton 396 ; Diehl, Anth.
Lyr. Graec. i, fasc. 3, p. 69, no. 7.


_ 7 Added by Stephanus.

-§ Reiske: srodvcPdwoveay (sic).
_ ® «ali after SiadaPeiv deleted by Wyttenbach, dcafdAAew Kai
oxilew Reiske, Betv cai cxioa Bolkestein.

© Stephanus: lac. 4-5 Ad.

1 Srarpovpevov Kai Stephanus: d:at lac. 7.





177


(641)


F


642





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Thv exevnioa mpooicxopnerny d70 THs yAvaxpornTos
aittov tis BpaduTtAros add’ odk érraKoAovdnpa Tob
thv BpadvTira movwbvtos aitiov vouicOAvas.”


IITPOBAHMA H
Ava ri tods AvKoomddas tous Oupoedets elvar Aéyovow
Collocuntur Plutarchi pater, Plutarchus, alii


7 / ¢ A > A ~ ~
Immovs AvKoomdbas of pev amo tTav yadwaev
~ /, ” > / A A »)
Tov NiKwv Edacav wvopdobar, dua TO Avpoedés
Kat dvokdabeKtov ovTw awdpovilopevous: 6 dé ma-
THpP Hu@v nKioTa Tepi Tas edpnatdoyias’ avdto-
axyédios Mv Kal KEeypynuevos adel KpaTioTevovow
immous e€Aeye Tovs bro AvKwv éemiyeipybevtas ev
4 + > / > A \ > /
mwdrous, avrep exdpvywow, ayalods ev amroBaivew
Kal moowKets, KaAetcbar dé AvKOoTddas. TadTa
dé mAedvwv adt@ paptupovvtwv dmopiav airias
mapetyev, du’ Hv TO ovuTTwua ToOTO OvpiKwrépous
Kal yopyotépous moet Tovs immous. Kal oO pev
a s / ~ , @ / 4
mAetotos Av Adyos THY TapovTwv, ott PoBov TO
mafos ov Oupov evepyalerar tots immo, Kai
al /
yuyvopevor bohodecis Kal pos amrav evaTonTot Tas
ul o¢
opuas o€uppdomovs Kal tayelas toyovow, wor7ep
7a AwomdAnkra? ta&v Onpiwv. éyw de oKoreiv
ednv xphvat, ur Todvavtiov €oti tod SoKodvTos:
od yap® ylyvecBar Spoyrxwréepovs tTovs mwdAous,
ud > , \ / ~ / >
orav exdvywou tas BAdBas Tov Onpicv emtyeipn-
/ > > b) ”“ > ~ > , 5
bévres, GAN’ ode av exdvyeiv, et 7 pdoer BvpuKoi
1 edpnaroyias Paton (also a reviewer in Class. Rev. xxxii
[1918], pp. 150-158): onyopias.
178


AS es St Mitee


Ark «pe


oo gg e—y—Ee





Cs


9 te ay ee ay Vigo


a a


PRO


TABLE-TALK II. 7-8, 641-642


that the echeneis, attached to this sticky material,
has come to be considered the cause of the vessel’s
slowness rather than a consequence of the actual
factor responsible for the slowness.”’


QUESTION 8
Why horses bitten by wolves are said to be mettlesome
Speakers: Plutarch’s father, Plutarch, others


SeveraL gentlemen said that the term /ycospades
applied to horses is derived from “ wolf-bit,”’ for this
is the type of bit used to control horses that are
mettlesome and hard to hold; but father, a skilful
man indeed at finding an argument and one who
always possessed the very best horses, said that
colts attacked by wolves, if they escape, turn out
to be fine, swift horses and are called lycospades
(“ wolf-bitten ’’). When many of the company
testified to the truth of his statement of the matter,
he proposed the question of the reason why this
mischance makes horses more mettlesome and
spirited. Most of the talk of the company was to the
effect that the experience engenders in the horses
fear, not spirit; they become timid and skittish at
everything, and so are sudden and quick in their
movements, like net-shy wild animals. For my part,
I said that one must consider whether the fact is
not the opposite of what is thought to be the case.
Actually colts do not become faster runners by escap-
ing harm when attacked by wild animals, but they
would not have escaped unless they had been





2 NwoAnmra Naber (Helmbold, Class. Phil. xxxvi [1941],
p. 87). 3 od yap Stephanus: 67t.
179


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(642) kai taxeis Hoav: odde’ yap tov "Odvacea yevécbar
/ ¢ / ~ 4, > ~ Ld
dpoviptov drexdpavra tod KixAwmos, aA srt
ToLooTos Hv brekdpavar.


TIPOBAHMA ©
Ava ti ra AvKdBpwra tev mpoBdtwv 7d Kpéas ev yAvKUTEpoV
70 8 Epiov Pberporrorov taxet
Collocuntur Patrocleas, Plutarchus, alii


A ~ \ ~ , > “~ 2
Mera rodto mept t&v dvKoBpdtwv elyreiro
mpoBaTwv, a Aéyerar TO ev Kpéas yAvKUTaToV
C mapéyew 70 8 Epiov Pbeipotraov. od dataAws odv
edoxet Ilarpoxrdas 6 yapBpos emyerpety zrepi
Ths yAvKiTynTOs, ws Tod Onpiov 7TH SyHypate TH
odpka TaKepav trovodvTos* Kai yap elvar TO TvEdpLA
tod AUKov Trepieppov ovTw Kal TUpBdes, WoTE TA
okAnpotata Ta&v doThyv év TH KowAia THKEW Kal
Kkabvypaivew: 510 Kai ojmecOat Ta AVKOBpwra THY
GAAwy taxiov. rept S€ tT&v Epiwv Sinrropodpev,
7 > > ~ \ a > > > a
pjmot od yerva todvs Pbetpas add’ éxxareirat,
~ / >
TPAXUTYHTOS TOS auUKTLKHS 7) DepdtynTos ididTHTL
-~ > A
Siakpivovta THY odpKa: TavTHnV Sé Tots eplois THY
, > , 3 \ ‘ a, aA ‘
D dvvapmw éeyyiyvecbai® mpos To Tot AvKov SHypya Kai
TO mvedpua petaBddAdovros adypt TOV TpixOv Too
aodatTopevov.
A / ~ / / € 7 /
Kat ovveBaddetro 7H Adyw Tictw toTopia:
TOV yap Kuvny@v Kal Tov payeipwv éemordapeba


1 Stegmann: ove. 2 Xylander: é&nyetro.
3 Stephanus: ov yweo#at.


180


ts a NE et =


ay -


TABLE-TALK II. 8-9, 642


naturally spirited and fast. It was not his escape
from Cyclops that made Odysseus clever, but because
he was so, he did escape.


QUESTION 9


Why sheep bitten by wolves have a sweeter
flesh, but a wool which breeds lice


Speakers: Patrocleas, Plutarch, others


Arter the preceding conversation, our inquiry
turned to sheep which have been bitten by wolves ;
these are said to supply the sweetest flesh, but a
wool which breeds lice. And Patrocleas, a relative of
mine, offered what seemed a not bad explanation of
the sweetness, namely, that the bite of the animal
makes the flesh tender. The fact is (he continued)
the wolf’s temper is so very hot and fiery that the
hardest of bones melt and dissolve in its belly and
so the flesh of sheep bitten by wolves decomposes
more quickly than that of others. About the wool we
were in doubt : perhaps the wool does not breed the
lice but evokes them out of the animal, separating
the flesh by means of a kind of lacerating roughness
or characteristic heat ; and this power is generated
in the wool (we reasoned) because even the hair of
the slaughtered sheep is changed by the bite and
temper ¢ of the wolf.

And observation supported theory ; for we know
that some hunters and cooks fell animals with one


@ According to the Stoics, see G. Soury in Rev. Bt. Anc.
xlii (1949), pP- 322 f.; cf. infra, iv. 1. 3, 663 a on “heat in the
vital spirit” and De Tuenda Sanitate, 130 8, on the relation of
breath to body heat.


181





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(642) rovs pev pid mAnyH KataBaAAovtas, Wor amvevoTi


\ / 1 a a’ A a / A
7a TAnyévta’ Ketobar, tods 5é moAdAais pdyis Kai
yareras avaipodvras: 6 dé TovTov Javpaciwwrepov
EOTL, TOUS EV TOLAVTHVY EVLEVTAS PETA TOD OLOT)poU
TH Titpwokoperw Sdvayw, wWoTe Taxyd onmecBat
Kal pnde mpos play yuepay avréyew, Tos O°
> / \ > / > / 2O\ \
dmoKrevovTas Lev Ov Bpddiov exeivenv, ovdev dé
ToLobTo yeyvopevov Tept THY odpKa TOV opayevTov
GAN’ ari Xpovov dvapevovoayv. ott 8 al Kata Tas
ogayas Kat tovs Gavatouvs tav Cawv petaBodAai
pexpt Sepudtwv Kal tpiyOv Kai dviywv dvatelvov-

‘ as Le > ; , 3 3A
ow, v70dnAobv® Kai “Opnpov eiwhdta rAéyew* ezi
Tov Sepudtwv Kal Tov iudvroy,' “ iwas® Boos
tdi KTapévoro”’: TOV yap [1 voow pnde ynpa
Svadvopeveny aA’ dz opayns eUTOVOV To dé€ppa
Kal oruppov" yiyvecBar- ta 5° dro Onpiwv dnxfevra
Kal Tovs Ovuyas pedatvecbar Kal TpLxoppoeiv Kal
Tots déppact PAvvav Kai paxotobar.


IITPOBAHMA I


IIdrepov of maAaoi BéATiov eoiovy mpds pepidas 7) oi viv éx
Kowod Seurvoivres


Collocuntur Hagias, Lamprias, alii


4 \ > 7 > \ Ss ” \

1. “Ore tHv émadvupov apyiv pxov otKot, Ta
A ~ A > a /

mictora TaHv Seizvwv Saires Hoav, ev tats Pvaias


1 So g, Stephanus : : mvuyevra.
Stephanus : : drrodnAobv.
3 Kai “Ounpov eiwbdra rAEyeww Wilamowitz: eiwOdra Aéyew Kal
“Opmpos.
4 ore ‘nab after {udvrwy deleted by Bernardakis.
5 iuas deleted by Bernardakis. Homer: pigev iudrra.
8 oruppov Anonymous, Turnebus: orpupvdr.


182





ie ee


TABLE TALK II. 9-10, 642


blow, so that the victims lie lifeless, while others


scarcely succeed in killing them with many blows ;


and some, more amazingly still, with their knife inject
into their victim the quality of quick decomposition,
so that the meat is not preserved even for one day ¢ ;
but others kill not less quickly than these, yet no
such thing happens to the flesh of the slaughtered
animals, which continues for a time in a good state
of preservation, And we know that Homer implies
that changes conditioned by the manner of the killing
and death of animals extend to their skins, their hair,
and their claws or hooves, for in regard to skins and
hides he has the habit of saying


hide of an ox who was felled with a powerful blow? ;


_ for strong and hard is the skin of those who die not


of disease or age but by slaughter ; and when they
are bitten by wild beasts, their hooves turn black,
their hair falls out, and their skin becomes swollen
with moisture and wrinkled.


QUESTION 10
Whether people of old did better with portions served to
each, or people of to-day, who dine from a common
supply
Speakers: Hagias, Lamprias, others


1, Wuen I was holding the eponymous archonship °
at home, most of the dinners were portion-banquets,


2 Of. infra, vi. 10.

» Iliad, iii. 375. Cf. the Proclan scholium on Hesiod,
Works and Days, 541-542 (Pertusi, p. 178).

¢ Volkmann i, p. 53; RE, s.v. ‘* Plutarchos,” col. 657 ;
infra, vi. 8. 1, 693 PF.


183


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


¢ / / > / id A v
(642) exaorw pepidos arroxAnpoupevns: 6 Tat Lev TpEecKe
Oavpactds, ot 8 ws axowavnrov Kat aveAedbepov
péyovtes Wovto Seiv dua to Katabeobar tov
/ >t A AG bd 50 6 /
otépavov émt tiv avv7iOn Siatavy adOis peappyd-
cacba. tas tpamélas. “od yap rod dayeiv,” 6
643 ‘Ayias én, “ ydpw ovdé tod metv, adda Tod
oupmieiv Kal ovpdayety ws eydpat Kadodpuev
aAdjdous, 7 8 eis pepidas adrn Kpewdaioia tiv
Kowwviay avaipotoa moAAd Seimva move? Kal moA-
Aovs Seurvobvtas, ovddva dé avvdermvov ovdevds
> ?
OTav womep amo KpewrwAiKhs tpamelns oTabua
cal ~ /
AaBav Exactos poipay éavt@ mpobnrar. Katrou
| a ie 4 5 as Hes | 5A a / ~ Xr
tiv €xer Suadhopav’ KtAuKa Katabévta TOV KeKAn-
Lévwv exdoTw Kal yodv, €umAnodpevov® oivov,
Kat tpamelav idiav, womep ot Anuodwrtidar TA
’Opéotn A€yovTar, mivew KeAedoas 7) TpocexovTa
B trots aAAos, 7 Tob0” orrep viv yiyvetat, Kpéas mpo-
Oguevov Kal aptov wWomep ex datvns idias ExacTov
a a . oe
edwyetobar, mAnv Ste 1) MpdcKELTaL OvwmAs® Hiv
avayKn, Kabdzep tots tov ’Opéorny Eevilovow;
ce "ADAG \ a > > A ‘ A © 7
a& Kal TOOT tows avTO Tpds THY amdvTWwY
A a ‘ /
Kowwviav éexKareirar Tovs ovvovTas, OTL Kat Adyw
a \ “~ /
Kow® mpos aAdAjAous ypwmpcba Kat 59 padrpias
/
Te Tepmovons Kat avAntpidos dpoiws peTéxomer-
> 4
Kal 6 KpaTnp ovTos Spov ovK ExwY EV pEow
/ A 4
mpoKetar, mHYyT) piAodpootyyns apOovos Kat péTpov


1 7 after Svadopay deleted by Reiske. .
2 Stephanus: ézixAncdevor. 8 Meziriacus : cuv7).





* Hagias, not otherwise identified, takes part also in iii. 7.
184


VE !


TABLE-TALK II. 10, 642-643


and each man at the sacrifices was allotted his share
of the meal. This was wonderfully pleasing to some,
but others blamed the practice as unsociable and
vulgar and thought the dinners ought to be restored
again to the customary style when my term as
archon was over. “ For in my opinion,” said Hagias,*
“ we invite each other not for the sake of eating and
drinking, but for drinking together and eating to-
gether, and this division of meat into shares kills
sociability and makes many dinners and many diners
with nobody anybody’s dinner-companion when each
takes his share by weight as from a butcher’s counter
and puts it before himself. Again how does placing a
cup before each guest and a pitcher full of wine and
his own table (as the Demophontidae? are said to
have done for Orestes) and bidding him drink with-
out heed to the others, differ from entertaining him
in the manner which now prevails, serving him meat
and bread as though from his individual manger,
except that no compulsion to silence lies upon us as
upon those who entertained Orestes ?

“Now the fact that we do engage in conversation
with each other and enjoy alike the song of a delight-
ful harp-girl or pipe-girl is perhaps the very thing
that invites the company to general fellowship ;
and the mixing-bowl here, limitless, is set in our
midst an ever-flowing spring of delight, and its


>» Demophon was the son of Celeus whom Demeter would
have immortalized by fire ; either he (Athenaeus, x, 437 c-d)
or his sons wished to keep Orestes before his trial from par-
ticipating with others in the rites and libations of the Choes
at the Anthesteria; thus was explained the custom of all
drinking from separate vessels at this festival. See Euripides,
Iphigenia in Tauris, 947 ff. and cf. Schmid-Stahlin, Gesch. Gr.
Lit. III, p. 527, note 4; see also above, p. 10, note c.


185


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(643) € Exovoa Tis dmoAatoews Thy opt" ody Womep
% TOO Kpéws Kal TOO dprov pepis adikwratw
HeTPO kahhwmrileran TH tow mpos dvicous: TO

C yap atro TO puxpod® Seopevin méov €orly 7 4
puetCovos éharrov. WoTrep obv, @ é€raip’, 6° Ka
vovot moAXois toa Pdppaka pétpois axpiBeor Kai
oTabuots Siavéuwy mayyéAows, ovTw ToLodTOS
éoTiatwp olos avOpwrous ovTe SubGvTas WoavTws
oUTEe TeW@vTas €is Tav’TO oVvayaywy amo TeV
towv Oeparrevew drravtas, apiOuntiK@s od yewpe-
TpiK@s opilwy To Sikavov. eis KamnAov pev odv
PoiT@pev Evi ypwpevor péeTpwW TH Snuooiw mavres*
emt Seimvov* 8° Exaortos idiav nKei yaotéepa Kopilwyr,
nv od TO toov aAAa 76 apKodv eurimAnot.

“ Tas 8 ‘Opnpixas® éxeivas datras od yp7) pera-
pnp s xP) B

D dépew éx T&v otpatwrtikdv Kat trapeuPoducdv
evtad0a Seizvwv, adAAa padAov THY THV Tadadv
diravOpwriav Cndodv, od pdvov dpeatiovs ovd"
Suwpodiovs adda Kai duoyoiviKas Kal Opmocirvous®
T® Tacav o€BecOar Kowwviav ev Tih TiEnerwr."
Ta pev ovv “Ournpov Seimva yaipew e@pev: b7o-
Aipaddyn yap €or kal Supadéa Kai tods éaTiapyas
Baowreis exovta THv “Itadikdv Seworépovs Kam7-


1 Hubert, Wilamowitz: ddicwrdrn.

2 Basel edition : puKpa.

3 Added by Stephanus.

4 Vulcobius: deimw.

. Leonicus : : duBpiKas.

6 Suoourvous Scaliger (cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 136):
opmootrous.

7 Hubert, Hartman: tifepévous.





* See Plato, Republic, viii, 558 c, with Adam’s note: Laws,
757 a.


186


TABLE-TALK II. 10, 643


_ measure of enjoyment is one’s appetite ; it does not,
_ like the division of meat and bread, pride itself upon


what is in fact a most unjust measure, the distribution


of equal portions to men who are actually unequal in


their capacities * ; for the same amount is too much
for a man who requires little, too little for one who
requires more. It follows, friend, that, just as one
is ridiculous who prescribes with precise weights and
measures an equal amount of drugs for many sick
men, so is the sort of host who brings to the same fare
men neither thirsty nor hungry in the same degree
and serves all alike, with an arithmetical instead of
geometrical determination of what suits them.° When
we go to the grocery, we all use the same official
measure, but to a dinner-party each man brings his


‘own stomach, and it is filled quite full not by the por-


tion equal to that of others, but by the portion which
suffices it.

_ “Those portion-banquets of Homer we must not
introduce here from the military messes of the camps,
but rather emulate the kindliness of the men of long


_ ago, who, because they respected all companionship


with one’s fellows, held in honour not only those who
shared their hearth and roof but also those who
shared their ration-measure and their meal-tub. Let


us then renounce Homer's dinners; for they are
_ dinners to leave one a bit hungry and thirsty, and


the kings who preside over them are more dreadful


» Friend = Plutarch himself, likely enough. See Cherniss
in LCL Mor. xii, p. 48, note a.

© See Adam on Republic, 558 c, supra, note a; Plato,
Laws, 757 c, and especially Gorgias, 508 a, with now E. R.
Dodds’s note, which cites inter alia Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1131
b 13 and Plutarch, infra, viii. 2. 2, 719 8, and De Fraterno
Amore, 484 8. See LCL Mor. ix, p. 123, note e.


187


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(643) Awv, wore mapa Tas wdaxas, ev yepol TV troAepiwv
ovTwY, aTrouvnpovetery axpiB@s, moaov ExaoTos
Tov SedeirvnkoTwv map avdtois mémwKe: Ta Se
Ilwédapixa BeAtiw SHzovbev, ev ols


E 7jpwes aidoiay euiyvurt’ audi tpdmelav Baya"


~ ~ ¢ / > 7 > ~ ‘A
T® Kowwveitvy amavrwv addAjAows. éxelvo yap iv
e > / ‘ , > 7~ ~ \
olov avapitis Kal ovyKpacis aAnb&s, Todro dé
diaipeois Kal diaBodAn THv diAtadtwv elvar dSoKxovv-

Twv, ws pnd diov Kowwveiv duvayevwv.”
2. Emi tovros eddoxiyunoavte T@ “Ayia Aap-
t

/ 2 / > fal / 0 er b a 23
mpiav® trapwkvapev éemBécba. cAeyev obv od
Eévov te memovlévar mafos ‘Ayiav, ei rH tony
epida AapBavwy dvoKodAaiver, yaorépa dopav
B P tA \ A 3... 4 > /
THAKadTHVY? Kat yap adTos elvar TOV adndayia
XaupovTwv* “ éy yap fwd ixOvr dxavOat ovK
evecow ”’ ws dnow 6 Anpoxpitos. aAXa Tobit
avto,” édn, “Kat pddvota Hv potpay dep

F eiwappevyny juiv emypyayev. iodtytos yap, Hv

/ / / /
modes TE TOAECL GUPpaxXOoLS TE GUPLLaYOUS


~ a A
% Edpimideros ypats dynou ovvdeiv, oddev* odtws
Ws 1) mepl tpamelav Kowwvia Setrar, Pvoe Kod”
\ > > U
vouw Kal avayKaiay od Kawwyyv ovd émeicaKTov


1 Stephanus: qpws aidot aveuiyvuro audi tpamelav & dpa.
2 Aapmpiav added by Hubert from 635 a.
§ Added by Meziriacus.
4 odv after oddév deleted by Reiske, Wyttenbach.
5 Bernardakis, xai ob Xylander: xai.





* Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 136, cites a scholium (= A) on
188





—


TABLE-TALK II. 10, 643


than Italian inn-keepers: in battle, in hand-to-hand
combat with the enemy, they remember accurately
how much each man who dined with them drank.*
Clearly the banquets of Pindar are better where


About the noble table heroes often met °
all sharing everything with each other. That was


_ really like fellowship and communion ; but this is to
_ divide and put at enmity men held to be great friends,
_ on the ground that they are not able to share even in


meat.”

2. We praised Hagias for his remarks, then urged
Lamprias to attack him. He began by remarking
that it was not strange for Hagias to experience some
irritation at receiving portions equal to those of the


rest, for the belly he carried around was so big; and


indeed he numbered himself (he added) among those
who like to eat their fill, “‘ for there are no bones in a


fish shared with another,” as Democritus says.° ‘‘ But


this liking is the very thing,” he continued, “ which


has brought us to the custom of serving people more
than their share. Euripides’s old woman says that
equal treatment


City with city entwines and ally with ally,?


and nothing is so in need of that quality as com-


pany at table; their need is natural and not facti-
tious, fundamental and not a novelty introduced by


Iliad, iv. 345, which may be the basis for Plutarch’s treatment
of Homer’s Agamemnon here. In Homer (Iliad, iv. 343 ff.)
Agamemnon does not actually count the glasses or the viands
consumed. > Frag. 187 (p. 277 Snell).

¢ Frag. 151 Diels. No offence where the observer shares


the fault, as Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. pp. 136 f., argues.


@ Phoenissae, 537, quoted also at Mor. 481 a.
189


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


¢ \ / ” / ~ / > >’ ~
(643) dao Sdéns Exovoa ypelav: TH wA€ova 8 ex Tv
~ > é / /
Kkow@v éeabiovtt ‘ wodeuiov Kabictratar’ To Kaé-
~ A > / a .] € ,
644 vorepodv Kat aroXeiropevov, womep ev pobiw
/ / A
TaxvvavTovans Tpinpous. ov yap giAuKov ovde
OVETOTLKOV Olat mpooipiov evwyias bddpacis Kal
apmacpos Kal yeipav adda Kal diayKwvicpds,
aAN aroma Kal KuviKa Kal TeAevT@vTa TroAAdKis
sf / A > A > > > , /
ets AowWopias Kal dpyas od Kat daAAjAwy povov
aAAa Kal Kata TOV TpameloKouwy Kal Kata TOV
EOTLWVTWV.
“"Qoov S€ ypdévov 7 Motpa Kai 4 Adyeais
A ~ 7
icdTyTL THY TEpL TA Seimva Kal OvpTrOGLA KOLVwWViaY
> / > \ > a »” Ss 3993 > 4
eBpaBevov, odfev idety axoopov jv ovd’ avedcv-
6 LAAG ‘ A 5 7~ ‘ PS ~ , > aA ‘
epov: GAAa Kal ta Seimva ‘ datras’ éxddAovy Ka}
A e / ‘ / o. \ ? A 4
Tovs €oTiwpevous ‘ Sartupovas,’ ‘ Sartpods’ Sé Tods
B tpameloxdpovs amo tod diaipety Kal diavepew.
7
Aaxedaynovior 5€ Kpewdaitas elyov od Tovs TuXdv-
> \ A , »” a \ 4
tas aAAa Tovs mpwTovs avdpas, woTe Kai Avoav-
~ > >
Spov tm “AynotAdov tod Baciléws ev “Acia
~ se] ¢
Kpewoairny amoderyOfvar. TOT ovv at vetoes
> / ¢ 3 > a ¢ , ~
e€émecov, OT émevonAMov at modvrédevat ois
, A
deimvois: od yap Hv olwat mémpata Kal KavdvAous
7
Kal Kapukeias dAXas Te TavTodamas troTpipaTwv
A + / 7 > > > 7
Kat Oywv mapabécers Siaipeitv, add’ €&nrropevor
~ ~ , / ta
Ths Tept Tadra Ayveias Kal HdvTabeias 7pojKavTo
~ , ‘
Thv ioopoipiav. Texunpiov d€ Tod Adyou TO’ Kai
1 Added by Hubert.
* Euripides, Phoenissae, 539.





190


venous a1 . ‘ -





TABLE-TALK II. 10, 643-644


fashion. Those who eat too much from the dishes that
belong to all antagonize “ those who are slow and are
left behind as it were in the wake of a swift-sailing
ship. For suspicion, grabbing, snatching, and elbow-
ing among the guests do not, I think, make a friendly
and convivial prelude to a banquet ; such behaviour
is boorish and crude and often ends in insults and

outbursts aimed not only at fellow-guests, but
at waiters and at hosts.

“However, nothing unseemly or unbecoming a
ore could be seen so long as the goddesses
Portion and Lot presided with equity over dinners
and drinking-parties. Moreover, dinners were called
* distributions,’ ® the guests “ those to whom distribu-
tion is made,’ and waiters ‘ distributors” because
they tend to the division and distribution of the food.
And the Lacedaemonians had ‘ distributors of meat ’ ;
the incumbents of this office were not nobodies but
the foremost men ; even Lysander ° during the Asia


- campaign accepted from King Agesilaiis appointment


as ‘ distributor of meat.’ The custom of distributing
portions of the meat was abandoned when dinners
became extravagant ; for it was not possible, I sup-
pose, to divide fancy cakes and Lydian puddings and
rich sauces and all sorts of other dishes made of ground


_ and grated delicacies ¢ ; these luxurious dainties got


the better of men and the custom of an ‘equal share
for all was abandoned. And the proof of my asserta-


> Cf. Athenaeus, i, 12 c, Odyssey, viii. 98, and Iliad, ix. 225.
Saitpds and Saitvpwy passim in Oa ssey, é.g. i. 141, iv. 621.
See G. Thompson, Ancient Greek Society, p. 330.

© Life of Lysander, xxiii; Life of Agesilaiis, viii. 1; but
in these accounts Agesilaiis did so in despite. The Asia
campaign in question is that of 396-394 B.c.

4 See infra on iv. 1, 664 a.


191


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


~ »” ~
(644) viv ere tas Ovoias Kai ta Snpdo.a Setmva mpods
‘8 / 0 8 A A > ‘r ‘\ 0 /
pepioa yiyveoBar bia THY adéeAccav Kal Kabapidrnra
a oP Sh 9 ¢ \ , .: & x ,
THs Ovairns: wo 6 THY véunow’ davarapBavev
a
C dua ovvavacale: tiv edréAcav.
> >
““*°AAN Grrov to idwov E€orw, amodAAvTat TO
/
Kowov’* Oov pev odv pr) toov EoTWw* ov yap
> / a
olKeiov KTHois GAN’ adaipecis aAXoTpiov Kal
4 A \ ‘ b] / Ss ‘A
mAcovegia mepi TO Kowwov adiKias hpEe Kal d1a-
hopas, nv dpw Kat péTpw Tob idiov KatamavovtTes
~ nw A
of vomor THS toa vewovons eis TO KOWOV apyfs Kat
duvduews emwvupor yeyovacw. émel pnde ore-
A A ~
davov afiov diavepew jpiv éexdoT@ Tov éoTi@vTa
A / A , > A nv > /
pnde KAioias Kat ywpas, adda Kav epwpevnv tis
* , ¢ ; ‘ \ \ , > @5
) wdAtpray yKn Kouilwy, ‘Kowa Ta dirlwy,’ iv
(183. 28 , , > 7 4 1 9
D ‘ 6p0d" wdvra ypypata’ yiyyntroar Kara Tov "Ava-
A > > >] A ¢ 4 C7 > A
Eayopav. «i 5 oddev 7) TovTwWY idiwots EemiTapaT-
~ A 4
TEL THY KOWWwViay TH TA peyioTa Kal mAEioTHS
a“ / / ,
aéia omovdyns elvac Kowd, Adyous, mpomdcets,
7 4 A , 5 4
dirodpoovvas, Tavowpeba tas Moipas atysalovres
\ ¢€ A ~ 7 to Aj > ¢ E > id
Kal ‘ Tov THS TUYNS Taida KAfpov’ ws Edvpimidns
/ “a ” r 7 / ” PS) /, ‘
dno, Os ovte mAovTw véuwv ovtTe Sdn TO
mpwretov, GAN’ dmws Eetrvyev dAAws aAdoTe cup-
dhepomevos TOV pev TévyTa Kal TATELWOV em’yavpot


1 So y: véweow.
2 Wilamowitz: 7a.





¢ Cf. Hesiod, Works and Days, 722 f.
» See supra, 642 F.
¢ Cf. 743 eB, 767 v.


192








TABLE TALK II. 10, 644


tion is the fact that even now at sacrifices and public
nquets, because of the simplicity and frugality of
e fare, each guest is still served his equal portion
of the meal; accordingly, whoever restores the cus-


tom of serving equal portions is at the same time
, or


Vi


_ “* But where each guest has his own private
portion, companionship perishes.” This is true where
there is not an equitable distribution ; for not the
_ possession of one’s own, but the taking of another's


and greed for what is common to all began injustice
and strife ; this the laws hold in check by limiting
and moderating private rights, and their very name


_ they owe to their office and power of equitable


distribution in regard to what is common to all.
Otherwise, don’t count it right for the host to assign
us each a crown, couches, and places; but, if someone
come bringing his mistress or a harp-girl to the party,
don’t think it proper for ‘ all possessions of friends to


“be common,’ ¢ in order that ‘community of every-


thing’ may prevail, as Anaxagoras “ had it. Private

ession in such matters does not disturb the
general fellowship, and this is due to the fact that
the most important characteristics of a gathering and


those worth most serious attention are in fact com-


mon, namely, conversation, toasts, and good fellow-
ship ; and so let us stop dishonouring the goddesses
of Portion, and ‘ Lot, child of Luck’ as Euripides
calls him,’ for he gives pre-eminence neither to wealth


_ nor to glory, but, as he chances to fall, now this way,


now that, he makes proud the poor and humble man,


4 Frag. 1, cf. 679 a, infra. Cf. Kirk and Raven’s interpre-
tation in Presocratic Phi hers, pp. 368 f.
¢ Frag. 989 Nauck, cf. Mor. 965 x.


VOL, VIII H 193


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(644) kai ouveEaiper* _yevopevov" Twos avrovopias, TOV
dé mAovouov Kai péyav €Bilwy iodrytt pn SvoKo-
Naive ddirws cwdpovile.’’*

1 Bernardakis, ouveratper Emperius: ov« e€aipet.


2 Doehner: yevopevdr.
3 In T owdpovife and decorative sigla end line 15, fol. 687;


194


TABLE-TALK II. 10, 644


_ exciting him with a taste of independence, while the
rich and t he accustoms to bearing equal treat-
ment without ill-temper and so teaches them self-
control without giving offence.”








_ the latter are repeated in line 16; the heading for Book III
occupies line 17.


195





OO hie Pas
Aw


+





a


nin mised
any? wv &


Z + a ei
: -

Ate S|

, c











‘


VeAA ZOU, Z


sass


ree PAL A


TP ys > vs —
DOOM OO. Laat A tals ates


. alta ett pAD a“ ot a aa


| TABLE-TALK eesti
‘TONES CONVIVALES)


> bes seats
$M {6 ROOK iH riaye *)veosehy Ki


: :
y20 : aT







a Abs 34) OFT pi / . ‘ ay )
~ . ~
t \ ” I> WOT. a
‘ . ee
aa AT POS oOvw> JT 3
ome ar ry Vy * Pa
ae
44 : .
5 Uo Se DIS! SUB o
_ - - » a -
an PUTTUTSRI3OO Be ULGae 2AOr
2 : : y Ae ”
be. DOM t4% a Sarr tir? 38 ets?
te e es 4
. — * is
z° noarh 2 ie epee Tek hep biol «$6


wer


alk cas 4 ap he Ai i


ac m2 PF


int


-
. > f Y209, +t Ras


A ay hed: MR AS) Weegee 1 aibesel “Yt
Sivsiste to dt yd T nt lnttay

Le | Sy akah are vst G 2° & Hnal? Z wd -
piven len blodwilelt —"bistolan
eae jmhuniy x a. 1 ,« eS W RA,


Lag!


qi


ioe SYMIMOZIAKON


BIBAION TPITON?*


F Xiwuwridns 6 montis, & Udoove Levexiwv, év
4 / > \ / nn ‘
Tw. OTM Eévov idwv KaTaKeiwevov owwmh Kal
PS) \ 5 A / F + iW] >») t ce >
pndevi Stadeyopevov, “ & dvOpwm’,” elrev, “ ei
pev nABos ef, _copoy mpayya. mroveis él 5€ codes,
> ‘0 be ce A. ¢
HABov. dua. inv yap dpewov,” as pnow
“HpdkAectos, “‘ kpimrew,”” épyov 8 év avécer Kal
map olvov


> a
645 dor’ édénke trodvdpovd ep ar detoa,
/ ~ sane: \ / / ie , | rs
Kat & amaddv yeAdoa Kai 7 dpyjncacba avijKev,
KQi TL EOS TPOeNKEV, OEP T AppHnTov aewvov-


oivwcews evtatba Tob tountod Kal pens, as €pol
doxel, Suahopav brodeckviytos. pon pev yap Kal
yehws Kal dpxynots olvoupevors peTpiws Emrerot* TO
de Aareiy Kai Aéyew,? ad BéAtiov® Fv* owr7av,

/ ” \ / »” > , ‘ 5
Tapowias on Kal péeOns Epyov eativ. bio Kai
llAdrwr év oivm pddvora Kabopacba ta 7On° rev

1 The heading zAourdpyov Xvumroovaxdy I” is followed as
usual in T by the table of contents.

2 Aéyew Xylander; BAéwew xai AaXrciv, comparing “ kiss
and tell,” Helmbold, Class. Philol. xxxvi (1941), p. 87:
BAézew. 3 @ BéArwov Xylander: aféArepor.

198





TABLE-TALK
BOOK THREE


Wuen the poet Simonides at some drinking-party, my
dear Sossius Senecio, saw a guest sitting in silence
and holding no conversation with anyone, he said,
“Sir, if you are a fool, you are doing a wise thing ;
but if wise, a foolish thing.”” As Heraclitus ¢ remarks,
“it is containly better to conceal ignorance, "— and
it’s a task to do so in the relaxation of drinking,


ae Which sets a man to sing, though he be wise
Indeed ; and starts him dancing, softly laughing ;
And saying words that better were unsaid— ”


where the poet shows, I think, the difference between
exhilaration and drunkenness.° For song, laughter,
and dancing are characteristic of men who drink wine
in moderation ; but babbling and talking about what
is better left in silence is at once the work of actual
intoxication and drunkenness. Hence Plato,’ too,
holds that most men show their real natures most


@ Frag. 95 Diels, cited also in Mor. 43 p, 439 p, and with
xpéooov for dywewov and other slight modifications in Sto-
baeus, Florilegium, iii. 82.

> Odyssey, xiv. 464 ff., quoted also Mor. 503 ®.

¢ Cf. von Arnim, Stoic. Vet. Frag. iii. 712.

@ Laws, i, 649 v f.; of. infra, 715 F.


4 Xylander: 7. 5 Bernardakis : d@y.





199


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(645) zoAA@v vopiler, Kat “Opnpos eimew


ovde Tpamely
yrertnv addAjrAwy


PS) HA / > id \ \ r / 1 ~ ” >)
hAds éorw eidws To moAddwvov' rob olvov Kal
B Adoywr* roAA@v yovysov. od yap €oTt TpwydvTwv
cww7h Kal muvovTwv yva@ais: add’ Gti TO rive eis
\ r r a / A 52 d ar eS t 3 ‘
TO Aareiv mpodyerar, TO S€ Aadeiv eudaiverar® Kat
2, 2 A \ ~ »” /
TO dmoyupvobabat moda, TOV ddAws AavOavevtwr,
TapeXer Twa TO ouparivew karavonow aAAr ACY"
ware LA) pavhus a av emUTUpLAoat a) Atodmre: ‘ zi
Tas Oupidas, @ poardpre, Cnrets exeivas, be dv
dAdos dddou Kar orperau THV Sudvovay ; 6 yap olvos
mpas dvotye. Kal deikvuaw ovK é@v novxlav dyew,
a.’ adarpav TO mTAdoMa Kal TOV oxynLaTLOMOV,
amwtatw Tod vouov Kaldarep maidaywyod yeyo-
/ >? > 4 \ > \ / \ ”
votwr.” Aiowmw pev odv Kai IlAatwu, Kai «i
C tis adAdos e€etdoews tpdmov Seirat, mpos TodTo
/ Led ¢€ A A > , /
XpHjouwov 6 akpatos: ot dé undev aAAjAovs Bacavi-
/ A ~ > > “ ~~
Cew Sedpuevor pnde xatadwpadv adr’ 7} yxpioba
dirodpovws, Ta Tovatta mpoBAjmwatra Kat Tods
zolovtous* Adyous ayovat® ovvidvtes,® ols azo-
, A 5A ~ lod 7 A de £y.
KpUmTeTar Ta hatAa THs uvyijs,’ TO de BéAtioTov
avabappet Kal TO°® povoikwratov, Womep emt e-
E@vas oiKelous Kai vouas, bd dtAoAoyias mpo-
epxopevov. OUev Kat nets Tpitnv dexdda TavTHv
1 Hutten: lac. 4 vov.
2 Wyttenbach, omitting woAAdv: lac, 5.
3 eudéperar Ziegler, eudverar Reiske.
# Added by Reiske.
5 eiodyouvot Faehse according to Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p.


79.
6 Basel] edition : ovvidvras.


200





TABLE-TALK III, 645


clearly when they drink, and Homer ¢ by saying


Not even at table came those two
To knowledge of each other


shows that he understands wine’s loquacity and its
engendering of much talk. The fact is there is no
way of getting to know a man who eats and drinks in
silence ; but, since drinking leads to talk, and talking
involves further the laying bare of much that is other-
wise hidden, drinking together does give men a
chance to get some understanding of each other. It
follows that one can reproach Aesop ” rather severely :
“ Why, sir, are you looking for those windows through
which one man will discern another’s mind ? For wine
reveals us and displays us by not allowing us to keep
quiet ; on the contrary, it destroys our artificial pat-
terns of behaviour, taking us completely away from
convention’s tutorship, so to speak.” Aesop and
Plato, then,—and any other in need of a method of
examination,—find wine useful for this purpose ; but
those who are under no compulsion to cross-question
each other or to catch each other out, but merely
‘want friendly entertainment, bring to their meetings
such topics of conversation and such talk as conceal
the mean parts of the soul; the best and most
civilized part renews its courage, going onward, as it
were, to its proper meadows and pastures shepherded
by literature and learning.° And so I have pro-
duced for you this third collection of ten topics of

* Odyssey, xxi. 35 f.

> See B. E. Perry, Aesopica, i. 100, p. 360; Babrius, 59.
‘11 f.; Lucian, Hermotimus, 20.


° Of. Plato, Phaedrus, 248 8; see G. Soury in Rev. Et.
Grec. \xii (1949), p. 326.


7 Turnebus: tvyns. 8 Basel edition: ov.
VOL, VIII H* 201





(645)


D


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


gow terrounpeba oUpToTiKGY Cntndtwv, TO Tepi
TOV oTepavwv mpaTov €xovoar.


IIPOBAHMA A
Ei xpnoréov avOivas oreddvors mapa métovt
Collocuntur Ammonius, Plutarchus, Erato, Trypho


1. “Eyévovto ydp mote kai epi otepavewv Adyou:
To O€ oupmdciov jv °AOjvnow, “Epdtwvos tot
appoviKod tats Movoais TeGuKoTos kal mAeiovas
€oTL@VTOS. TmavTodaT@v yap peTa TO Seumvfjoa
orepavey TEppEepopevuny, 6 “Appodvios erreokwipe
mws pds avti tod Sadvivov Tots podivois
davadynoapevous: dAws yap elvar tovs avbivous
Kopaowwodets Kal marlovoais paMov €miTydelous
Tmapbevors Kal yuvoréiv 7 auvovatas pirocodwy
Kab HovouK@y avSpav. ‘ Gavpaloo dé Kat ‘Epd-
TWVA TOUTOVL TAS bev év Tots pedeot Tapaxpwcers


K Bdedurropevoy Kat KaTnyopodyTa Tob Kadod ’Ayd-


Qwvos, dv mp@tov eis tpaywdiav daciv éuBadeiv
Kat vropyitar TO ypwpuatiKdv, OTe tTods Muaovds
207 Dep > CT e ee 2 /

edidacxer, avros 8 jpiv ws opare ToukiAwy
Xpopdroov Kal avOnpav TO GUpTrOoLOV epmrenAnkev,
Kal Thv dia TOV aro drroxhetet Tpupiy Kal
nouTdadevay, TAVTHV THY KATA Ta OmpaTa Kal KaTa


1 No heading or caption in T, an a’ in the margin.
2 6pa0’ ws Bernardakis, Hubert.


¢ Athenaeus, xv, 669 e ff., has a long, richly illustrated
disquisition on garlands, with several points of contact with
Plutarch.

> Erato the musician is present also in Table-Talk, ix. 14,
infra, 743 c, with Ammonius, Trypho, Plutarch, and others.


202








at paceman SE ET TO A eS


teat *


oll sscaeeiemieniiait


TABLE-TALK III. 1, 645


drinking-party inquiries, a collection which has for
its first subject the inquiry into garlands.


QUESTION 1
Whether flower-garlands should be used at drinking-parties
Speakers: Ammonius, Plutarch, Erato, Trypho


1. For garlands ¢ also were once the subject of our
conversation. The party was at Athens where the
musician Erato,” after a sacrifice to the Muses, was
entertaining rather a large number of guests. Now
when garlands of all kinds were offered us after
dinner, and we put garlands of roses round our heads
instead of laurel, Ammonius® teased us a bit for
doing so, saying that garlands of flowers were quite
girlish and more suitable for maids and women at
play than for companies of learned and cultivated
entlemen. “ And I am astonished at Erato here
or hating the use of the chromatic scale in songs and
censuring our fine Agathon,’ the first (so people say)
to introduce and blend chromatic music into tragedy
when he produced the Mysoi, and yet Erato himself,
as you see, has filled our party full of different kinds
of flowery colours ; and the extravagance and luxury
he shuts out when experienced through our ears he


¢ Plutarch’s teacher at Athens, Academic philosopher, fre-
uent interlocutor in Plutarch’s works, see particularly viii.
3. 1 and Book IX passim; RE, s.v. “ Pluta . coll. 651 ff.
4 See supra on 613 p, 632 B, 634 p, infra, 686 p. Thetragic
poet whose victory is celebrated in Plato’s ref oboe The
resent is the only reference to his Mysians known
Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag. p. 763. He is ridiculed in Aristo-


pheness Thesmophoriazusae (e.g. 101 ff., 130) for his musical
style.


203


(645)


646


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


A ta LA > 2 D4 4 > 4 ~
Tas pivas womep Kal’ érépas Ovpas erevodywv TH
puyy Kal Tov orédavov doris mowWv ovK e€v-
aeBetas. Kaito. TO ye pvpov TodTo Ths avbivyns
TavTnsS Kal papawouevns €v Tals xepol THY oTe-
davyTAdKwv ozmovdatotépay avadidwow edwdiav:
iAN’ 3 ” / > / 4, >
GAN’ obk exer ywpav ev ouutrociw diAocddwv av-
Spav 7dov7 mpos pndeuiav ovpmetrAcypevn ypeiav
und’ axodAovbotca duauis opéLews apyn. Kaldzep
yap’ ot pev bo TOV KekAnpevwv aydopevor di-
Awv émi 7 Seirvov ea didavOpdmw tvyydvovaw
Tov avTa@v, worep “Apiotddnpos tro ULwKpatouvs

> 10 > 6 \ ¢ ~ > / > 4?
Aydbavos axbeis eoti@vrTos, et 5€ Tis ad

¢ ~ / / a \ 4, a
adtod Badilor, rovTw Set tHv Ovpav KeKxAciobar,
oUTWs at pev mepl THY €dwdnVv Kal méaw 7doval
KekAnpevat bro THS PUcEews Tals dpeEeow Eropevar
Tomov €xovow, tats 8’ dXdXdais akAjrois Kai odv
ovdevi Adyw didndovias® amjAAakta.””*

2. Ilpos raté’ of pev ajbes tod “Appwriov
veavioxo. Siatapaxbevres jovyf mapeAvovto Tovs
otedavous: éya 5° eida@s ort yupwacias eveka Kal
Cnricews kataBeBAncev €v péow Tov Adyov | 6
“Appesvios, mpocayopevoas Tpidwva tov larpov,
“@ trav, 7 Katabéoba Sikaros ef pel tudv

\ ‘ \ / 5 4 cal ¢ /
toutovi ‘tov Kadtkecow dréyovta Tots podivois
otédavov, 7) A€yew, wWomep elwlas ExdoToTE Tpos

1 Added by Meziriacus. 2 Basel edition: xai.

3 dirndovias Reiske: ¢tAndovias.

4 amoxéxAevorat OY dzaAAaxréov Wyttenbach (the latter with
accusative).


5 Wilamowitz, cf. Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus, ii.
70.23; Kxaddv re dréyov8’ ois Helmbold (loc. cit.): «ad lac. 5 T.


204


ee i ee


TABLE-TALK III. 1, 645-646


introduces into our soul by way of our eyes and noses,
as by other doors, and makes our garland a thing for
pleasure, not for piety.* Yet the perfume of piety
yields a more excellent fragrance than this scent of
flowers which perishes between the hands of the
garland-weavers ; besides, at a dinner party of learned
men there is no place for pleasure not interwoven
with usefulness, not conforming to the rule of natural
appetite. For, as guests whom friends, themselves
invited, bring along with them to a dinner-party
receive by the usage of polite society the same wel-
come as the invited (for example, Aristodemus whom
Socrates brought to Agathon’s party), but if a man
comes quite on his own, the door must be shut against
him, just so the pleasures concerned with food and
drink, made welcome by nature because they follow
the natural appetites, have a place at our dinner-

, but for the rest, uninvited and unreasonable
uxuries, there is no place left.”

2. At this the young men, who were unused to Am-
monius, were much embarrassed and quietly began
to take off their garlands, but because I knew that
Ammonius had tossed the topic into our midst for an
exercise in discussion, I turned to Trypho,° the phy-
sician, and said, “ Either it is right for you, Sir, to
lay aside, along with us,


the garland that blazes with rose-buds,
or tell us, as you are accustomed to do on every oc-


* Of. F. Bacon, Of Praise: ‘“‘ A good name is like a
precious ointment . . . for the odours of ointments are more
durable than those of flowers.”

> Plato, Symposium, 173 8 and 174 a ff.

¢ See infra on v. 8. 1, 683 ¢ and ix. 14.4; RE, s.v. “* Plu-
tarchos,”’ col. 668.


205


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(646) 7 pas, ooas Exovow of avOwor orépavor m™pos TO


mivew Bonfetas.”’ droAaBwv 8 6 ’Eparwv, “ otrw
tA ) “ec / / ¢ \ > ,
yap,’ elev, “ dédoxTat pndepiav ydovnv aovp-
/ > > > / /
Bodov déxec8at, add’ edppaivopevovs SvokodAaiver,
av un peta Twos piclot todto macywpev; 7 TO
pev pwpov eikdtws drodvowmotpela Kal THY
/, \ \ v2 2, / e A
topgupayv dia THY EmiBerov moduteAcvay ws SoAepa
ElLaTa Kal Xpipara* Kara THY 708 BapBdpov
Pwvny, at of avropvets xpoat Kai Sopal® TO ade-
Aes ovdK® EXOvTL Kal Kkallapov Kat ovdev Omrespas
duadépovow; a) yap evnDes 7 Tovs pev YULOUS
SpémeoBau Kal drronavew THs piacws dovons,
oopas dé Kat xpoas as at* pau’ pépovor, dia 77V
erravBotcay Hoov"nv tavTais® Kal ydpw atyalew,
dv pn Te xpe@des e€wlev addrdo ovveridéepwou.
€pol pev’ yap adto Soxet todvavtiov, ei pndev 1
vous, ws tpets date drzov,® parny Tmemoinke,
tabra Tijs 7ovijs merrouobat yap, a pndev
dAAo Xpnotwov ExovTa pLovov evdpatvew mepuxev.
oxdtres & Ott Tois Pvopevois Kat BAaotdvover Ta.
pev dvAra owrnpias evexa TOO Kapmov Kal dws
eat Tig tly , ‘ , , ,
bm’ avrav BoAropeva Kal puxopeva. peTpiws hépyn
Tas petaBodas yeyovev, Too oe avBous ogedos
ovdev emievovtos, mAnv el TL xpwpEvors Hiv


1 Cobet, ypicvara Stephanus: xpwpara.
2 od after douai omitted in Basel edition.
3 odx added by P. A. C.
4 Hubert, ypdas ds Stephanus: ypdas af (not ai, as Hubert
reports).
5 Stephanus: dpav.
ravrats Herwerden, Hubert: radra.
éuot pev Wilamowitz: lac. 4-5 év.
dyj7ov Bernardakis: lac. 3-4.
va dévdpa omitted after adradv by Paton.


oon @


206





TABLE-TALK III. 1, 646


casion, in how many ways garlands of flowers benefit
us in drinking.’’ Erato interrupted, saying, ‘‘ Are we
indeed decided to receive no pleasure which fails to
bring a useful contribution, but even in our merry-
making fret about what we experience without profit ?
At perfume and purple clothing, because of their ex-
cessive costliness, we quite properly look askance
as deceitful garments and unguents (to use the
foreigner’s * phrase) ; but do not natural colours and
scents have a simplicity and purity exactly like that
of fruit ? The fact is, I am afraid it’s rather silly to
cull and enjoy the condiments nature provides and
yet scorn the scents and colours which the seasons
bring if they do not contribute something needful,
scorning them simply because pleasure and delight
wer in them. For I think, on the contrary, that
if nature has made nothing without purpose ® (as you
claim, I believe), it is for pleasure’s sake that she has
made what by their nature only serve to delight us
and possess no other useful quality. Consider how
gro ng plants have leaves for the protection of their
t ° and for supporting within limits the changes

of heat and cold ; but there is no use for the flower
while it lasts, except that it offers us, if we avail our-


* The king of the Ethiopians in Herodotus, iii. 22. The
saying is adapted to Plutarch’s purpose here and somewhat
differently, if the emendation here is right, in Mor. 270 r-r
(xpépara “colours” instead of ypiuara “‘ unguents ’’). Cle-
ment of Alexandria, who has only ypicpara, attributes the
saying to the ancient Lacedaemonians: Stromateis, i. 48. 5
(Stahlin and Friichtel) and Paedagogus, ii. 65. 1 (Stahlin).

we Politics, 1253 a 9; Theophrastus, De Causis
Plant. i. 1.1. Cf. infra, 698 8, 960 x; Aristotle, Physics, ii.
8, 198 b 35 ff.; and other passages cited by C. J. de Vogel,
Greek Philosophy, ii, p.499; Ross on Physics, 198 b 14 (10) ff.

* Cf. Aristotle, Physics, 199 a 25.

207


(646)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


1) EMTEPTES | ooppecbat Kal idety dd TapeXet, Gav-
? paords pev dopas apuevra, Troucthiay oi dpuyprjrors
Xpapace | kal Badais dvotyovra.' 610 TOV pev
dvd\Awv dmooTMpeveny olov ddyet Kal ddKveTat 7a
pura Kal ylyverat trepi aura, BrgBn | TUS EAKwdns
Kai wiAwots dampens, Kal ov _povns ws EouKke Kar’
"Epmedoxrea Tis “ dddvns TOV dvrAAwv amo Trap-
Ta exeoau ’ XP) ada Kal TOV ddNewv peidecba
devdpwv ardvrov Kal pa Koopely éavTous Tais
éxeivwv dKoopiats, Big Kal Tapa gvow Ta dvAXa
ovadvras avray: at be Tav av0dyv adaipécers
Tpuyyceow €oikaow Kal BAdarovew oddev, aAAa
Kav pn AdBy Ts ev wpa, Tmepreppvy papavbevra..
ddaep oby ot BapBapor TOV Opepparev Tots
déppacw avti TOV épiwy audiévvurtat,” otTw pot
Soxodaw ot paAAov ek TOV pvdiwv n TOv avOdv
ddaivovres Tovs LOTEPAVONS od Kata Adyov xphabat
tots gutois. éyw pev oy Taira oupBadropat
Tats otehavoTmAvow: od yap Elue ypaypatiKos,
Wor amouvnpovevew tromnuatwyv, év ols Tovs 7a4-
Aavods lepovixas davayvyvwocKopev avOivois ava-
Sovpevous® otepavois: Any ott ye tats Movoas 6
T&v podwv otédavos emumEepn|uoTat, pepvijobat
poor doK® Lamgobs Aeyovons mpos Twa TeV
apovowr Kat auabav yuvak@v


/ \ ,
Kat@dvo.ca dé Keiceat*
5 \ 5 , 4 ¢7 5S
od yap medéxeis* podwv
ta&v ex IItepias.’
1 dvoiyovra Turnebus: dvovydpueva.
2 Aldine edition: dudiévvurat.


3 Basel edition: dvadovpevors (sic).
4 Wyttenbach: zedéyns.


208














TABLE-TALK III. 1, 646


_ selves of it, a delightful scent to smell and a sweet
sight to see, for flowers emit wonderful scents and
open up a tapestry of inimitable colours and hues.
But when leaves are plucked, how the plants suffer
and are distressed ; a kind of ulcerlike blight comes
upon them and an ugly bareness ; and we must, it
seems, not only ‘rigorously refrain from using the
leaves of the laurel ’ (to borrow Empedocles’s words),*
but also must spare all other trees and not array our-
selves by disarraying them, violently stripping their
leaves contrary to nature. But picking flowers is like
harvesting grapes, it harms nothing—on the contrary,
if one does not gather them when they bloom, they
wither and drop off. Those who weave garlands of
leaves rather than flowers seem to me to use plants
as illogically as outlanders use their domestic animals
when they employ their hides for clothing rather than
their rae This, then, is my contribution to the gar-
land trade, I am no literary man to be expected to
remember poems where we read of old-time victors
in the games wearing crowns of flowers, except that
I do seem to recollect that the garland of roses is
dedicated to the Muses, for Sappho spoke to some un-
cultivated and ignorant woman thus:


Dead shall you lie, for you have no share
Of the roses that come from Pieria.”


® Frag. 140 Diels. Cf. Kirk and Raven, Presocratic Philo-
sophers, p. 224.

> Frag. 58 Diehl, i, p. 354; frag. 55 Lobel and Page, Poet.
Lesb. Frag., p. 40: a longer excerpt by Plutarch at 146 a, the
most extensive by Stobaeus, Florilegium, iv. 12 (i. 96 Mei-
neke ; iii, 221 Hense).


5 TIvepins T. Hubert and Bernardakis adopt ITcepias from
Mor. 146 a and Stobaeus, iv. 12.
209





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> ~ “~
(646) «¢ d€ twa Kai Tpidwrv amo ris iatpixfs didwor
paptupiayv, akovoréov.”’
> ,
3. “Ex rodrov SeEduevos 6 Tpidwy tov Adyov
A v
ovdevos edn TovTwY doKémTous yeyovevar Tovs
/, Ld A
maAatovs, ate 51) wAEioTy KEexpnpevous amo duTayv
> ~ ce rd ye 2 a + > Oe ~ /,
647 tatpixH: “ rexpypia 8° eof drw™* ere viv Tupior
\ >A. t) M /, PS) A / a /
pev “Aynvopidn Mayvntes 5€ Xeipwu, tots mpadrots
iatpetoat Aeyouevois, amapyas Kopilovow- pilar
yap eiou Kal Bordvat, d:° Sv ivro tods KdpworrTas.
6 dé€ Atdvucos od pdvov TH Tov olvov edpeiv,
> / /, \@¢ > ‘ > /
icyupotatov dappakov Kal ndtoTov, laTpos evopicOy
~ /
petpios, aAAG Kal TH TOV KITTOV GVYTLTATTOMEVOV
pdAwoTa TH Suvdper mpos Tov olvov eis Tiny
mpoayayeiy Kat otepavotaba didda€ar tods Bax-
yevovtas ws rtov® av@vrTo, Tod KiTTOD KaTa-
/, \ 44] ~ / Pa) Xr a AY
oBevvdvtos tHv peOnv tH wvypdrntt. SydAot de
Kal TOV dvouaTwv evia THY TEepl TadTa toAuTpay-
~ a Md
B poovvnv Tav tadadv: thy Te yap Kapvav ovTwsS
~ A > 7
Wvopacav, oT mvedua Bapd Kat KapwriKoy ad.eioa
a a ‘ A
dure? tods tr’ adtiis mapaxekdpevous: Kai TOV
/ ~ ‘ 7
vdpkiooov ws auBAdvovta Ta vedpa Kal BapdTynTas
€umrowodvTa vapKkwders: 510 Kal LodokAfs adrov
A ; ~ /
“dpyatov peydAwy Oedv oteddvwpya,”* rTovTéate
~ \ ‘ A ,
TOv yOoviwy, mpoonydpevKev. aci de Kat TO 77)-
“~ ld A
yavov aro Ths Suvdpews wvoudobar mHyyvuct yap
1 Wilamowitz: €o7t twa.
2 $76 tod olvov omitted after #rrov by Wilamowitz and


Castiglioni, transposed after dvidvro by Doehner.
3 weydAaw Oeaiv dpyaiov or. mss. of Sophocles.


* Agenorides and Cheiron: E. and L. Edelstein, Ascle-
pius, ii, p. 96, and i, T 50-T 62 (Cheiron).


210





|






TABLE-TALK III. 1, 646-647


But if Trypho, out of his knowledge of medicine, has
any testimony to give us, he must be heard.”

3. Then Trypho took up the conversation and said
that the ancients neglected none of these matters,
because, of course, much of their art of medicine
depended upon the medicinal properties of plants.
“ Proof of this are the firstfruits which even now the
Tyrians still bring to Agenorides and the Magnetes
to Cheiron,* said to be the first two practitioners of
medicine,—for the gifts are roots and plants with
which these two used to treat the sick. And Dionysus
was considered a pretty good physician not only for
his discovery of wine, a very powerful and very
pleasant medicine, but also for bringing into good re-
pute ivy, which is quite opposed to wine in its action,
and for teaching his celebrants to wear crowns of ivy
that they might suffer less distress, since ivy by its
coldness checks intoxication.” Some plant names
also document the ancients’ search for knowledge
about these matters. The hazel (karua) they so
named because it gives off a heavy and soporific
(karétikon) exhalation harmful to those who lie beneath
it, and the narcissus they called by this name because
it dulls the nerves and induces a narcotic heaviness,°
—which is the reason why Sophocles has called it


ancient crown of great divinities,


by which he means the Chthonic Goddesses. Rue
(péganon), too, is said to have been named from its


> The same properties were claimed for ivy by Philonides,
a physician, and by Apollodorus: Athenaeus, xv, 675 a ff,

¢ This etymology is sound: Boisacq, Dict. étymol., 8.v. vdp-
xooos. E. H. Warmington notes that the property given
for karua suggests walnut.

# Oedipus at Colonus, 683 f.


211


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(647) Enpornre dia Deppornra TO ome py Kal ddws T0-
A€midv €ott tats Kvovoats. ot dé Kal THv dpebv-
oTov oldpevor TH pos Tas olvwdcers Bonbety adriyv
TE KQL THY ETWVULOV adTiS AiBov ovTw KexAjoba
Stapapravovaw. Kexhytau yap amo Tijs xpoas éka-~

C TEpa od yap! €oTW avrijs TO PvAAov axpatw? GAN’
dvainw* Kal vdapet TV KpGow olvw mpoceo.Kos.*
dra pevrou mapmoAAa AaBeiv €oTw, ols mapeaxov
Tas KAnoes at Suvdpes: apKet de Kaxeiva TV
TOv tradqav emypeAcrav drrodyAdoa Kat troAv-
qeipiav, ad’ Hs € EXp|TAVTO Tots Tapotvous atedavois.
pdAvoTa ev yap 6 dKparos, oTav Tijs Kepahijs
Kkabdyyrar Kat Topevon Ta owpara mpos Tas Tav
aicbncewy dpxds, eémtapdocer Tov avOpwrov: ai
dé TaV avOav aardépporat mpos TOOTO Bavpaciws
BonBobor Kal dmoretxilovat THY Kepadry amo THs

D pens os dxporrohw, TOV pev beppadv parands
dvaxadavTay TOUS Tépous Kal dvamvory TO olny
Sidovtwv, doa 8 wovyn pvypa TA peTpios €m-
pave d.vaKpovopevery Tas dvabvpudces, womep re)
TOV wy Kal podwv oTépavos* oruger yap ap-
porepa Kat avoteAAe® TH. Cons Tas kapnBapias.
TO be Tis KUT pou avos Kal 6 KpoKos Kal 1) BaxKa-
pis ets Umvov dAvrrov dmdyet Tovs TeTWKOTAS" € Exel
yap amopponv A€eiav Kal mpoonvy Kal Tas mepl


1 od yap Turnebus: lac. 4-5.

2 Wyttenbach : dxparov.

3 Hubert: ave. 4 Wyttenbach : OLKEV.

5 Pp, A. C. (Hesychius ropevovor réuvover); dvevrovion
agen a comparing Theophrastus, de Sensibus, 7: to-


vw
¢ + Rylander, cf. Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus, ti 71.
4: oréMe.


212





TABLE-TALK III. 1, 647


ability to stiffen (pégnunaz) * the seminal fluid by the
desiccating action of heat, and it is altogether harm-
_ ful to pregnant women.” Those who imagine that

the herb amethyst and the stone named from it are
‘so called because they are helpful against intoxica-
tion ° are mistaken ; each gets its name from the
colour, for the leaf of the herb is not like pure wine
in colour, but like a weak and dilute mixture of wine
_ and water. Now one can find very many other things
which owe their names to their properties, but even
those I have mentioned suffice to document the study
and experience upon which the ancients based their
_ use of drinking-party garlands. For pure wine, when
it attacks the head and severs body from mind’s con-
trol, distresses a man ; and the exhalations of flowers
are a wonderful help against this and protect the head
against drunkenness as walls protect a citadel against
attack—for warm flowers by their gentle relaxing
action open the body’s ducts (porot)? and give the
wine a vent; and those which are soothingly cool
check the fumes by their temperate touch, as for
example the garland made of violets and roses, for


the scent of both flowers diminishes and restrains





headaches. The flower of henna, the saffron, and the
hazelwort lull drinkers into an untroubled sleep, for
_ they have a mild and gentle effluence * which quietly


* Doubtless connected (Boisacq, s.v. myyavov), but not be-
cause of the rang SH roperty of the plant.

» Cf. Pliny, Nat. Wie, xx. 143.

¢ Among them Boisacq, at least for the stone (s8.v. dyé-
Ovoros).

4 On theories concerning poroi see infra, vi. 2 and 3.

¢ Cf. v. 7. 2, 681 a ff. (aporrhoiai and rheuwmata) and ef.
pneuma in vi. 10, 697 B; on the specific point Clement of
‘Alexandria, Paedag. ii. 71, and Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxi. 130; in
relation to heat Aristotle, De Gen. Animal. ii. 3. 11 f.

213


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ ~ a“ / > / A
(647) 70 oGpa tTa&v pelvoKopéevwyv avwpadrias Kai tpa-
xUTNTAS Novy Siayéovoay, Wore yuyvopevns ya-
Ajvns auPrAdjvecPar Kat cvvexmrérrecbat TO KpaiTra~
ADSes. eviwv 8 avbdv copats dvw oxidvapevais
\ A > / @ / ~ > /
E epi tov éeyxédadrov of te mépor TOV aicOyrnpiwv
éexkabaipovrar Kai Aemtiverar Ta bypa paws
avev TAnyhs Kal odAov TH Oeppornti Svaxpwodpeva,
\ tA \ nn © > / > /
Kal dvoe. yuxypos wv 6 eyKédados avabadmerar.
610 pddAvora Tovs avOivovs €x TaY TpayjAwv
Kkaldanrovres ‘ drobupidas’ é€xadovv, Kai Tots amo
ToUTwy puvpois ekpiov 7a oT78n: paptupet O°
"AXkaios Kedevwv ‘ katayéar TO pvpov adtTod
eae 4 , , , 1 ee ,
Kata’ tas 70AXNa traboicas Kepddas Kat* T® troAiw
o77 Geos. ovTw Kal evred0ev at dopa tokevovow
to Gepuorntos eis TOV eyKepadov dpralopevat
Tats dodpycecw. od yap, Ort 7H Kapdia tov Ov-
F pov évorpatomedeverv WovTo, Tovs TEpidEpaious TOV
/ ¢ / > / > / \ >
otepaveyv drobupidas éxdAovr (emiupidas yap ad-
tois did ye TobTo pLaAAov yy KaAetobar m™poo~
fiKov®), GAN’ ws Aéeyw Sia THY dmropopav Kal
drrofupiacw. pn Oavpdlwpev dS et ToaavTny at
TOV orepavey dmopopat Svvapuv €xovaw* tatopodat
yap, OTL Kal oKLd opihasos dmoxretvyow dvOpas-
mous eyxaradaplovras, oTav opyG padoTa pos
648 thy avOnow*: Kal TO THS pHKwVOS azroppEeov
mvedpa pr pvdakapevois Tots Tov dmov Tpvy@ow
1 «ar P, Oxy. 1233, frag. 32, 1. 2 (Hunt, Oxy. Papyri, x


[1914], p. 65). 2 xa Kar ibid., 1. 3
8 Stephanus: zpoodv. * Basel edition: aicdnow.


4 Of. Athenaeus, xv, 674 c-d, 678d; Aleaeus, Z 39 Lobel
and Page (Poet. Lesb. Frag. p. 275).

> Frag. 42 Bergk, 86 Diehl, 50 (B 18) Lobel and Page (op.
cit. p. 135). Two phrases of this quotation stand in frag. 32


214








TABLE-TALK III. 1, 647-648


disperses the distempers and exasperations of those
who drink freely, with the result that they become
calm and the effects of intoxication are blunted and
assimilated. The scents of some flowers, as they dis-
perse upward about the brain, clean out the conduits
(wore of the organs of sense, and by their warmth

in and easily separate the humours without violence
and shock, and warm the brain, which is cold by
nature. That is certainly why men called the wreaths
of flowers they hung around their necks “ fumi-
gators ” (hypothymides)* and anointed their breasts
with the perfumes from them. Alcaeus ® witnesses
to the practice when he utters the command :


Pour its perfume down upon my head,
Which has suffered much, and on my greying
Breast.


Thus even from there scents are caught up by the
nostrils and by the influence of heat shoot up into the
brain. Now garlands which hang around the neck
were not called hypothymides because men thought
the spirit had its billet in the heart,—for in that event
they ought rather to have been called epithymides,—
but, as I say, their name is due to the fumigating pro-
perty of the effluence from their flowers. We must
not be astonished that the effluences of garlands
have such great power; indeed, it is_a matter of
record that even the shade of a yew kills men who
sleep in it, especially when the tree is bursting into
flower; and it has happened to men engaged in
gathering the poppy’s juice that they fell into a faint
if they did not protect themselves against the exhala-


of No. 1233 of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 2nd cent. a.p., and
provide evidence that the papyrus is a collection of the poems
of Alcaeus.


215


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(648) ovveBy Katarrecely. THY 5’ dAvocov kahoupevny
Bordvny Kat AaBdvres eis THY yxetpa pdvov, ot de
Kal mpooBreparres, amahharrovrat Avypod* Aéyerar
be Kal Trouuviots aya.) kal aimroXious, TapapuTevo-
peévn tats pavdpas. To dé pddov wvopacrat
dirovbev, Ort peda TOAD THs ddwdis adinat: 510
Kal TAXLOTO, japaivera. puKreKov 5° €or Suvdper
TH 5° dyer mupwrdv, odk dddyws: AemTov yap
avT@ mepravbe? TO Oeppov éemimoAns e&wlovpevov
bo THs pvypoTytos.””*


B IIPOBAHMA B
Tlepi rod xitrod wdtepov 7H ducer Geppos 7 yvypds €otw
Collocuntur Plutarchus, Ammonius, Erato, Trypho


> / 4% ~ \ / ~
. "Exaweodvrwv & yudv tov Tpidwva pedsidv
Aged J tA > + ” ‘r Ad \
6 “Aupavos otk afiov €pn mokiAov ottw Kai

> \ , 4 / > /
avOnpov Adyov womep aotépavov avtTir€eyovta d.a-
Aaktilew: “‘adAnv 6 ye KitTds odK of6’ Omws
ovyKatamémektar yvypdTnT. ovyKatacBevvivar"
Aeyomevos TOV axpatov: eoTt yap EpTrupos Kai
Oepporepos, Kal O YE Kap70s avTod pvyvdpevos
els TOV olvov _peOvoriKoy Tov Kal TOPAKeTUKOY TO
mupotaba. To d€ KAHua Aéyovow adbrod omdpevov
¢ > 3 \ , ’ x \
C worep tav® rupi EvAa ovvdsiacotpédecbar. yuav de
moAAdKis Huépas ovyvas emiysevovca tots aAAots
a a >
dutois gevyer tTayiora Tov Kitrdv, paddAov §
1 Junius, Xylander: @epydryros.


2 xaracBevvivac Hubert in app. crit.
3 Doehner: 7a.


« Cf. note e on 647 pv.





216





TABLE-TALK III. 1-2, 648


tion streaming from the poppy. And those who only
take into their hands the herb called madwort—and
_ some simply by looking at it—are relieved of hic-
_ cupping; the herb is said also to be good for flocks
of sheep and at when planted beside their folds.
And the rose has been so named, I suppose, because
it gives off a great stream (rheuma) ® of scent ; this
too is the reason why it withers very quickly. In its
action the rose is cooling, but in appearance fiery—
which is not unreasonable, for its heat glows faintly
round the surface of the rose, pushed outward by the
cold of its interior.”


QUESTION 2


Concerning ivy, whether its nature is hot or cold ®
Speakers: Plutarch, Ammonius, Erato, Trypho


1. We praised Trypho, and Ammonius remarked with
a smile that it was improper for him by counter-
argument to kick aside so rich and flowery a speech
as if it were a garland. “ Except,’ he continued,
“that I do not understand how ivy has come to be
connected with coldness and acquire the reputation
of mitigating the effect of strong wine. For it is a
rather hot plant and a fiery one ; its berries, mixed
with wine, inflame the wine and make it intoxicating
and deleterious. And people say that a twig of it,
when pulled, becomes warped like wood in fire. And
snow, which so frequently stays for many days on
other plants, very quickly vanishes from ivy ; what


‘


> The heat or cold of a plant as “ not perceptual, but
rational ” (R. E. Dengler), is discussed by Theophrastus, De
Causis Plant. i. 21. 4 ff. Cf. supra, 623 ©, and note a at

635 c.
217


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(648) dAws edOds amdAAvTar Kal mrepiTHKeTae mepl adrov
b76 Yeppwdorntos.

“"O b€ péeyiordv éotw tro Oeodpdorov 8
torépntar, “AreEdvdpov Kededoavtos “EAAnviKa
dévdpa tois ev BaBvAdr. mrapadeicos ep Padretv
“Aprradov, padiora 5€, TOV ToTwY euTpwv ovTwy

\ , \ > / ‘ b] / ,
Kal Trepipreyovtwv, Ta aAoddyn Kat edmétada Kal
oxiepa Katapitar tots dutois, udvov odK €de€aTto

\ \ € 4 / \ a ¢ /
TOV KITTOV 1 xwpa, Kaito. ToAAG Tod “Apmddov
TpaypLarevopevov Kal 7poadiAoverkobvTos, GAN’ az-

D wAdAvTo Kai KateEnpaivero, TH Tupwdyns pev adTos
elvat mpos mupwdn dé piyvvcbar yhv od AapPa-
~ > > > / e \ e ‘
vwov Kpaow add’ e&iardpevos. at yap trepBodai
PUetpovar Tas duvapes* 510 Tov evavTiwv padov
Spéyovran, Kat PrAobeppov € €oTL TO puxpov Kat didd-
puxpov TO Deppov: d0ev ot dpevor Kal mevpaTadets
Kal vipdpevor Tomar Ta SadwWdn Kal muocoTpdda
~ ~ 7 / \ / > /
Tov duT@v, padota mevKas Kat otpoBidovs, expe-
povow.

‘“"Avev d€ TovTwv, @ pire Tpdgwv, Ta dvopiya
Kat wvypa dvdXoppoe?, puxpornte Too Deppod Kal
aobeveia ovore operon Kat mpoNetmovros TO gv-
rov: edalav 8é Kal Sadvnv Kal Kumdpitrov aeladt

E duadvAdooe: To Aimapov Kat TO Depuov womep Tov
y =a Vy . , , > c ‘
KitTov.' OOev 6 didtatos Ardvucos ody ws Bonfov
ext tHv weOnv odd’ ws trodepLov TH olvw Tov KiTTOV
erjyayev, Os ye TOV aKpatov avTikpus “ webu’

\ ‘ aA ? > ‘ > \ > / . GAA 4,
kat ‘ peOvpvatov’ atros avrov wvdmacev a
pro. SoKe?, Kabazrep ot Pidrowvor pt) TapdvToOs apzeE-

1 Turnebus: 6 xirrds.


218


TABLE-TALK III. 2, 648


is more, in the vicinity of ivy snow is quite swiftly
destroyed and melted by the plant’s heat.

‘* The best evidence in support of my opinion is to
be found in a story reported by Theophrastus.? When
Alexander ordered Harpalus to plant Greek trees in
the parks in Babylon and to be sure to combine leafy
‘woodland shade-trees among the planted specimens,
—for those places are blazing hot,—it was the ivy
alone which the soil refused to accept, though Har-


| palus took much trouble and was persistent in his





effort. But the ivy withered and died, for, being


_ itself hot and being combined with a hot soil, it did


not accept acclimatization, but rejected it. Indeed,
excessive amounts of a given property destroy it
utterly ; that is why opposites are more attracted to
each other, and cold is heat-loving, heat cold-loving.
This explains the fact that resinous, pitch-yielding
trees, particularly pine and fir, grow in mountainous
terrain exposed to wind and snow.

_“ Apart from this, my dear Trypho, frost-sensitive,
cold-natured trees shed their leaves because they
have a small amount of weak heat, which diminishes
and forsakes the tree ; the olive, the laurel, and the
cypress are kept evergreen by their oil and their
heat, as is the ivy. And so our beloved Dionysus,
who frankly named unmixed wine ‘ intoxicant ’ and
himself ‘ Intoxicator,’® did not introduce ivy as a
specific against drunkenness or as something inimical
to wine. Rather it seems to me that, just as lovers


® Hist. Plant. iv. 4. 1; Pliny, xvi. 144, notes that ivy is
native to Asia; ef. Strabo, xv. 1. 58. 711 f., and RE, v. 2830.
» Cf. Athenaeus, viii, 363 b, where methy and the epithet
of the god, Methymnaios, are explained as “ relaxing, letting
oneself go.”’ Plutarch has the right of the matter (cf. Boi-

sacq, 8.0. péOv).
219


(648)


F


649


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Aivov Kpibivw ypvrat mopati, Kal pndAitas Twas,
of 5é€ dowikivouvs olvovs Trovodow, oUTw Kal o'
obey Xeydvos Ope TOV dro Tis apmreAov
orepavor, ws exeivyy édpa yupyny Kal ddvudrov,
ayamhoat THY OfL0LoTNTA TOD KUTTOD. Kal yap Tob
KAnpatos TO eAuK@des ToOOTO Kat adadAdpevov év
Th mopeia Kat Tod metaAov To vypov Kal Trepi-
KEXULLEVOV aTaKTWs, dAtoTta 5° adtos 6 KopuuBos
oppae TUKYG) Kai mepkalovtt TPOocEoLKeds,, €KLe-
pipntaw THY THs dyurédou didDeow. od pny adda
Kav Boni Tt 7mpos peOny 6 KiTTOS, Deporte
Tobro Tovety pjcopev avrov dvolyovra Tovs Tmopous
} ovvektrértovTa paAdov Tov aKkpaTov, iva Kal evn
onv xapw, @& Tpidwr, iatpos 6 Atévucos.”’

2. IIpos tad’ 6 péev Tptdwv ddwvos Hv, dws
avreimo. oxerrTopmevos* 6 8 "Epdtwv exactov huav
Tov véwy avaxadovpevos exédeve Bonbeiy TH
Tptdwu® 7) tods orepdvous atrotibecBar- Kai “Ap-
pwvios epn mapéxyew aderav, od yap avrepeiv ols
dv nets eimmpev. ovtTw by Kat Tod Tpidwyvos
emukeAcvovtos «imetvy epny ott’ TO ev amrodet—ar”
uuypov elvar TOV KiTTOV OvK ELOoV Hv Epyov, aAAd
Tptdwvos odtos* yap att@ ydyovtt Kat orvdovte
moAAa yphra: ““tdv 8 elpnuevwr,” edynv, “ 7d
pev peOvoKew KiTTOV olvw puyvdpevov odK adAnbés
€oTw’ 6 yap eptrovet’ Tots motor maQos od peOnv
dv Tis €imor, Tapayiv dé Kal trapadpoovynv, olov

1 681 Reiske, 6 beds Pohlenz.

2 yeys@vos apa Basel edition : pipodpevos dpas.

* rav orepavwv omitted after Tpvdwr by the Anonymous
(so Wyttenbach) and by Hubert.


$ edn 6 ort Bernardakis: lac. 4 ri.
5 +6 ev amodeiéat Bernardakis: ras pev aodeifes.


220


’ TABLE-TALK III. 2, 648-649






_ of wine, if the grape is not available, use beer ¢ or a
ider, and others make date-palm wine, so too
Dionysus, when in wintertime he wanted a garland

made from the vine and saw the vines stripped and
leafless, welcomed the very similar ivy. And to be
sure, it imitates the characteristics of the vine: its
stem which twists and falls in its course, the fresh-
_ ness and disorderly profusion of its foliage, and especi-
_ ally its berry clusters which resemble a heavy setting
of ripening grapes. Furthermore, even if ivy is in
some degree a specific for drunkenness, I shall claim
that its heat makes it so by causing the conduits
(porot) of the body to open or rather by aiding in the
assimilation of the wine—and this I grant in order
_ that Dionysus may remain a physician ® for your sake,
Trypho.” |
.?. Wlteypbs remained silent consideri how he
might answer this. Erato, however, shieatek to each
of us young men, urging us to help Trypho out or to
- aside our garlands ; and Ammonius assured us a
afe-conduct, for he would not argue against what-
ever we might say. Thus, when Trypho too requested
us to take up the argument, it was I who replied,
saying that it was not my task to show that ivy is

gala bait Trypho’s, for he made much use of it as a

cooler and an astringent. ““ And what has been said,”

I continued, “ about ivy mixed with wine causing in-

toxication is not true, for one cannot call the condition

it induces in drinkers intoxication, but a disorder and


* Like the Spanish king in Polybius, xxxiv. 9. 15, quoted
by Athenaeus, i, 16 c.

® For Dionysus as physician ¢f. Oracle 414 in Parke-
Wormell, The Delphic le, ii (1956), p. 167.








® Stephanus: odrws. 7 Basel edition : 76 yap euoveiv.
221





(649


e , 102 A \ 4 a ; :
B vooKvapos” Errored Kat modAa Tovabra Kwodv


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


~ A 4 ¢ \ ~ t4
paviKds TV Oudvovay. 6 d€ Tob KAnwaros on
o}Os GAoyos € €oTW* ToL\avTa® yap mapa pvow ep.
TOV KaTa pvow Suvdpewr’ ovK eorwy" aAAd be
7a Evra Svaorpeperau Tob Tupos TO dypov EAKe
Tos €€ adrav Bia KUpToTn Tas UGXOVTA KAL Trap.
Baoews: TO dé jovyyeves: Beppov avew Kal TpEh
mépuKev. oKo7rer O€ PI) peGAXov dppworia TUS
gvyporns owpaTos TO TrokvKapres kal Xapacmre
TEpUKE, TpooKpovoes* TuKvas Kal’ ayTLKOT

, ¢ ¢ t — t Sie
AapBdavovtos, wWomep ddourdpov di’ aobéveray me


C Adis amoxabilovtos «ira maw épxopevov: id


Kat mepuTAoKis deirar Kat orypiyparos, at
EQUTOV aveyxeLy Kal Todnyety aduvaT@v bu’ EVOE. |
Deppornros, Hs TO dvapepes dvvapiis €oTw.
€ yuwv drroppet Kal mepiTHKeTaL Ou dypornra a7
pvAdov: TO yap vdwp oBevvvaw adtis Kal Kom:
ThYv xavvoTnTa Sia TO’ puKp@v elvat Kal UK.
Gbporopa mopdodvywv: d0ev ody Arrov® ev 7:
TepupvKtois opddpa Kal votepots TomoLs 7) T
mpocetAois at yidves peovow. Td 8 aeBarés Toi’
Kal ws now "Epredor)ijs ‘ epmredoguAdov * c.
EoTt Deppornros: ovde yap puxpornros TO te


Aoppoetv: ” ‘yoov" pvppom, Kal TO adiavrov" c


ovTa TOV Deppav aAAa TeV puxpay del 7éOnd
évior ev odv opaddTynT. Kpdcews olovTat Trap


1 Junius: lac. 2 xcvapos. 2 Bernardakis: radra :
3 Xylander: duvapevwr. :
4 Bernardakis, cf. Mor. 77 a: lac. 4-6 cets.
5 «at added by Stephanus.
§ Turnebus: dvwdedes.


222


TABLE-TALK III. 2, 649


toany similar like that induced by henbane and.
y , things which excite the intellect, to
ess -of-the-twig argument is un-
reason: le ERS or such unnatural effects are no part
of natural powers. Actually, wood is twisted, bent,
| Fe yee by fire violently drawing water out of it.
_ It is the nature of innate heat, on the contrary, to
en and to sustain. Consider whether the
ect of the ivy and its clinging to the ground

are not rather produced by a certain weakness and
_ coldness of body as the plant meets a succession of
_ eurbs and checks—like a traveller weak with fatigue
. deal often sits down to rest, then continues on his
_ And so ivy needs a support to twine about,
rete to hold itself up and guide itself because
: sag one property of which is upward motion.
w melts and flows off the plant because of the

2 ane of its leaf, for snow is a collection of many
glo ules, is therefore rous, and water cuts
, gh it and destroys it. This is why snow melts
| away not less in very cold and wet places than in
places exposed to the sun. That ivy is an evergreen
with “never-failing leaves,’ as Empedocles says,* is
not a sign of heat, nor indeed is loss of foliage a sign
of coldness—at least myrtle and maidenhair, which
are not reckoned among hot plants, but among cold,
are evergreens. Now some think that plants retain
their ipliese because they have an even mixture of


* dy Diels and Kranz, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker,
i#° (1961), p. 339.


7%











ak ’ et Synge eeaied : _
Hrrov y Xylander, Stephanus.
® Reiske: ody.


10 Junius: ddudAeurrov.





(649)


E


F é€umAjowow aoxods vdatos, emt TovtTwy Kabeddeui


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


pevew TO pvdMov "Eparedoxhijs d€ 7mpos TOUTE
Kat TOpwv TW, ouppeTplav airvérar, TET OY LEveX:
kal pards THY tTpopny duevrwy, wor dprovvTws
emuppeiv. tots de dudAoppootaw odK« ort Suc
pavornTa TOV ave) Kal oTevoryTa TOV Kdra
TOpwv, OTav of pev py) emimeéuTwow ot be Te)
puddrrwow aAd’ ddiyov AaBovres abpovv € exXewow
womrep eV avdijpots Tiolv ovyx opahois« Ta 6 |
ddpevoper” Gel Ty Tpopny OvapKy’ Kat GULELLETPON
avréxyer Kal Tapapever aynpw Kal yAoepa.
“ANN év BaBvrAdv durevdpwevos e€iataro Ka.
amnyopevev* €0 ye Tov 6 yevvatos obTos Gr
Bow tiov @eod means Kal Tmapdovros Ov ov
€BovAeTo peTtoukeiy ev BapBdpous obs “AdeEavdpor’
elijAwoev éfouxevovjevov exeivous tois €Oveow |
aad’ epevye KaL Sveudxero m™pos THY amro€évwow -
aitia 8 ody 7) Depporns 7) ys add padrov 7 uxporns :
ovy drropepovea THY evavTiav Kpaow" ov yap
pleipes TO oixelov, adda mpooterau Kal Tpepet, :
Kabdzrep TO Ovpov 7 Enpa. yn» Katou Bepuov ov
Thv Oé BaBvAwviav ovTw pac a dépa. avy oon | Ka
Bapov TEPLEXEL, dore mo\ovs TOV edropuy, Oral’


avaibyyouevous.”


2 Xylander : : WOoTE capKoUYTWwr.
2 yw added by Vulcobius.
3 g y according to Wyttenbach: d:apxei?.
4 Bernardakis (Xylander alitur): ¢@eipe.


224


































TABLE TALK III. 2, 649


heat and cold; but Empedocles claims for a cause,
Beecon to ‘this, also a certain symmetry of the
Saag of their vascular system, which accord-
it nourishment in an orderly and even
Ls aner, so that a sufficient amount is assimilated.
cha is is not true of deciduous plants because of the
enness of the vessels (poroi) in the upper part of
ir vascular system and the narrowness of the
in the lower part, for the latter do not trans-
it sufficient nourishment and the former do not re-
nthe little they have received but pour it out all
like water in unevenly diked irrigation-
s; but plants which drink in sufficient and
ble no ent resist leaf-fall and remain vigor-


9
i


$e" ~


ix ake re in Babylon rejected and refused ac-
elimitiza ‘ion,’ you say. Well done by this noble plant,
t ie unwilling to live among barbarians, seeing that
it was a neighk and a companion of the Boeotian
a! an well done not to emulate Alexander in
becoming a renegade among those races, but to fight
against expatriation and flee! And the reason was
a cat in the ivy, but rather its coldness, which
‘ec e wel endure the opposite temperature ; for the
y peculiar to a given property is not destructive,
e and nourishing—as, for example, dry
Pea caw thyme, though the plant is-hot. And
ome in Baby nia, people say, is so stifling and
eavy that many of the well-to-do fill wineskins full
- of water aan toy on them to keep cool.”


ae ae Pe ge ep at Bo pF oti Sle Dnt ad) le Ay Bm XEON RR ES RAB Td af
ee : vs P s


‘¥ 8 sites:


)
)
i ait, ial .
‘ VOL. VIII I 225





650


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IITPOBAHMA [T
Ava ti yuvaixes Hxvota peOdaKxovrat taxiora 8° ot yepovres


Collocuntur Florus et Sulla


"Edavpale DAdpos, el YEYPAPOS: “Apwororelys
ev TO Hepi_ peOns, Ort pddvora bev ot yepovres
yKioTa 8 at yuvaixces bo péelns adicKkovTat, THY
aitiav ovx e€eipydoato pndev eiwlas mpotecbar
TOV Towovtwv: eira evtTow mpovBadev ev pwéow oKo-
metv Tois Tapodow. Hv d€ Tov ovviOwy To Setmvov.
én tolvuy 6 LwAAas Oarépw Odrepov eudaive-
ofa Kav ef Tept THY yuvarkdv opb@s THv aitiav
AdBousev, odk Ett oAAOD Adyou Sencecbat epi
TOV YEepovrev: evavrias yap elvat pddvora Tas pv-
oes TH o° dypornre Kat Enpornts Kail AevdrynT
Kal Tpaxdryre Kat padakdTynTe Kat oxAnpornte.
“Kal tob7’,” édn, “‘ AapBdvw® Kata TOV yuvark@v
mp@Tov, OTt TV Kpaow bypav €xovaw, 1) Kal TV
dmahdrnra Tis capkos eu pemLy Lev) Tmapexet kal
TO orihBov € emt Acvornre Kal Tas Kabdpoeis: oray obv
6 olvos eis bypotnta ToAAny éuméon, KpaTovpevos
amoBddAe thv Badny Kat ylyverat mavTamacww
avadns Kal ddaTwdns. €or. dé Te Kal Trap’ advToo
AaBetv “ApiotoréAovs: tods yap aObpovy Kai a-
mvevoTl mivovtas, omep ‘dpvortilew’ wvdpalov ot
Tadao, dyoiv yKioTa mepitinrew péeOais od yap


kal Aevstnt added by Xylander (translation), Stephanus.
2 Meziriacus: AapBave..





¢ Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 6. 14-21.
> Frag. 108 Rose (1886); in frag. 107 Rose Aristotle as-


226








TABLE-TALK III. 3, 650







Gay Si QUESTION 3¢

y women are least liable to intoxication and old men most
quickly liable

i wr Speakers: Florus, Sulla


: pressed amazement that Aristotle in his
.* Drunkenness did not work out the element
of causation when he wrote that old men were
especially ble to drunkenness and women
least suscep ee eee ih msainch bie heli see
lect such a matter.” that the
any consider the question—the occasion was a
7 Miner of his friends. ulla replied that one part of
: problem threw light upon the other. If we should

y determine





e cause where women are con-
there would be no further need of much
where old men are concerned, for their
are very emphatically tes: moist and
pata and ment a —_ hard. “ The first
he he continued, “ I take ng

they possess » moist temperament w
i te. component of the female, is nsible for
+ ber sleek, smooth flesh, and for her menses;
" therefore, when it falls into a great amount of








is overcome, loses its , and becomes com-
) and watery. urthermore, one can
a t of the causation even from Aristotle
nself; for he says that le who drink all in one
‘without dra a breath,—a manner of drink-
ancients ‘ tossing it off,’—are the people
tan apt to fall into a state of intoxication, since the


ety te tntcciention te cid: atest te BERS


lack of heat and in the to their
| thelr Bed very young super-
| 227





(650)


D


E


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


C evouaTtpiBpew Tov akpatov avtois,' addr’ eEwhovpevov


pvun SvatropevecIar 51a Tod Gwpatos: emietkds dé
Tas yuvaikas op@mev ovTw mwovoas. e«ikos 8
avT@v Kal TO o@pa dua Tov evdeAeyH TOV bypav
KaTaoTacmov emi tas amoKaldpoes* moAvmopov
yeyovevat Kat TeTpHoVa Kabdrep avdnpos Kal
OxeTots* eis OVS e€umintovTa TOV akpaTov bmayew
TAXEWS Kal M2) TpocioTacba. Tots KUpio“s pépeow,
dv dvatapatrouevwv ovpBaiver To weOvew.

“Ot 5€ yépovres ott pév eiow evdeets tkuddos
oikelas, ToUVvoud pot Soke? dpalew mp@tov: od yap
ws péovtes eis yhv, adr’ ws yewders Kal yenpol
TWwes 70) yuyvomevor THY ELLY OUTW Tmpocayoped-
ovTat* dxAoi d€ Kal TO dvoKapires avT@av Kal
oxAnpov € ere 8 uv Tpaxdrns ray Enpornra Ths pv-
oews: OTav ovv euTivwow, etKOs dvadauPaveoBat
Tov olvov, ToD awpuatos apoyywdous dia TOV ady-
pov ovtos, elt’ eupevovta mAnyas Kai Bapdtntas
Emoueiv' ws yap Ta pevpata TOV pev TUKVaY
amokAvlerar ywpiwy Kat mndov od moved Tots &
apatots dvaplyvuTar waAAov, oTws 6 olvos év Tots
TOV yepovTwv owpaow exer dvatpiPyv éAKdpevos
bro THs Enporntos. dvev dé TovTwv ideiv Eott Ta
ouuTTwoOpaTa THs peOns THY TOV yepdvTwy dvow
ef é€auTis €xovoav: éoTt yap ovprTwmpata pens
emipaveotata, Tpopor pev apOpwv weAAcopol dé
yAdoons, tAcovacpot dé Aadvas d€dtynTEes 8 opy%s,
AjGai te Kal mapadopai diavoias: dv ta oAAa Kat
1 Turnebus: adrop. 2 Stephanus: azo lac. 6-8.
228 /





TABLE-TALK III. 3, 650


‘does not linger in them, but proceeds thro
: body and is pushed out by the force of the
ught.2 And we usually see women drinking in
_ this fashion. Again, it is likely that the female body,
on account of the constant drawing down of fluids for
menstruation, has come to be provided with many
and cut up as if by dikes and channels ; and
the wine doubtless falls into these, is quickly elimi-
nated, and does not attack the body’s sovereign parts,
from the disturbance of which drunkenness results.
“ As for ‘ old men ’ the word itself (gerontes) seems
to me to be the first thing to indicate that they are
in need of proper moisture, for ‘old men’ are so
called, not as ‘ flowing into earth ’ (rheontes eis gén),
but as individuals now become ‘soil-like’ and
‘ earthy ” (geédeis, geéroi) in their condition ;_ their
stiffness and hardness, and their roughness besides,
show the dryness of their substance. Therefore, when
they drink, it is likely that the wine is soaked up, for
thelr bodies because of dryness are like sponges ; and
then the wine lies there and afflicts them with its
heaviness. For just as flood-waters run off from com-
pact soils and do not make mud, but are soaked up
in ter degree by soils of loose texture, so in the
dies of old men wine lingers on, attracted by the
dryness there, Apart from these considerations, one
can observe that the characteristics of intoxication
are those peculiar to the nature of old men, for the
characteristics of intoxication are very clear : tremb-
ling limbs and stammering tongue, excessive talk-
ativeness, irascible temper, forgetfulness, wandering
mind. Most of these exist even in healthy old men


* Of. infra, vii. 1. 1, 698 c f. Apparently not Aristotle (cf.
Hubert, who cites Rose, Arist. Pseudepigr., p. 119).
229


(650)


F


651


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


mept TOUS dytaivovras ovTa mpeoBuras odtyns
porrijs detrat Kat oddAov Tob | TUXOVTOS* aore p17)
yéveow Stan aAXa Kowdy eriraow oupmT@pdTov
yiveoBa Thy peOnv oO ‘yepovte: Tekpnpiov de
ToUTOU To’ pndev elvar yépovte véov peOvabévros
OpooTepov.””


TIPOBAHMA A


IIdrepov wuxpdrepat TH Kpdcet Tt&v avipdv 7 Vepyorepai
elow ai yuvaikes


Collocuntur Apollonides, Athryitus, Florus


. “O peév ody XwAdas Tabr elev. 6 6€ TAKT
KOS S¢ Anau ane eon) TOV pev Tepl TOV yEepovrev
dmodexecBau Adyov* ev dé tats yuvatly ait@ So-
Kelv mapaheAcipbar TO THs puxpoTntos, i beppo-
TATOV dxparov atrooBevvvcbar Kat dmroBahew TO
mAATTOV Kal mup@des. miBavod dé Kat TOUTOU
Soxobvtos, "AGptitos 6 Odovos iatpos euBadcsy
Twa TH Entice Svar puBay elvai twas edyaev, ot
Tas yuvaikas ov puxpas ard Gepporépas | Tov
avopav- brrodapBdvovow, ETEpOUS be mdAw* ot Tov
olvov od Geppov adda Kai puypov Hyyobvrat.

2. Wavydoartos dé Tod PAdpou, if TOV pev Tept
Tob otvov Adyor,”’ elev, “ adinut TOUTH,” ’ beifas
ee: Kal yap éruyydvomev odiyats pepats T™po-
Tepov eis todTo duetleypévory ““tav dé yuvvai-


1 Stephanus: 7od.
2 Emperius : padov.


* Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 7. 1 ff. Cf. Aris-
totle, De Part. Animal. ii. 2. 10, citing Parmenides (Diels-
Kranz, op. cit. i, p. 227,28 a 52). On natural heat see p. 143,
note a.


230





TABLE-TALK III. 3-4, 650-651


and need but a slight turn of the scale, an accidental
disturbance, to bring them out. Consequently, in-
toxication in an old man does not produce sympto-
matic characteristics peculiar to the individual, but
simply intensifies characteristics common to all old
men. A proof of this is the fact that nothing is more
like an old man than a young man drunk.”


QUESTION 4%


Whether women are colder in temperament than men or
hotter


Speakers: Apollonides, Athryitus, Florus


1. Tuat, then, was what Sulla had to say. And Apol-
lonides,® the tactician, remarked that he accepted
the statement about old men; but in regard to
women, it seemed to him that we had failed to take
account of the quality of coldness in their constitu-
tion and that by means of this they aes the effect
of the hottest wine and remove its kick and fire.
When the likelihood of this was agreed upon, Athryi-
tus of Thasos, a physician, induced us to linger on
the inquiry by saying that there are people who
assume that women are not cold, but hotter than
men; and there are others in turn who consider wine
not hot, but actually cold.

2. Florus expressed astonishment, and Athryitus
replied, “ The question of wine I ne to this gentle-
man,” pointing to me (and actually we happened to
have been talking about this subject a few days
earlier), ““ but with regard to women,” he continued,


> Doubtless not the Apollonides of the De Facie: see
Cherniss, LCL Mor. xii, p. 5.


231


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(651) kv,” én, ““tHv Bepuornta mp@rov amo Tihs
pidorntos ovovTau Setxvdvar, KaTavadvoKopevov
TOO TEpiTTwpaTos U0 THs Pepudorntos, 6 mAeova-
Cov eis tpixas tpémetau: Sedtepov be TH TrAnOE

B tod aipatos, 6 mnyn pev elvar doe THs ev TO
owpatt Gepudtyntos, €oTt S€ TocobTov Tats yuvaréiv,
wot adtas Katamimpavat kal mepipdAcyew, ei [7)
ToAAai Kai Taxeiar ovpPaivorev Kabdpoes. Tpi-
Tov TOUTO TO TrEpt TAS Tamas ai(pel Hepuore)pa®
Ta Oydea TOV appévwv elvar: Aéyerar yap bm THv
oKEvwWpovpLEvWY TA voutloueva® ovvTiecbat rapa
déxa vexpovs avdpO@v eva yuvarkos Kal ovveéamrey,
dadad€s Te Kat Avrapov abtav Tis capKos e€xovons,
wo dtréxxavpa ylyvecbar tOv dArkwv. er 8,
el Gepudtepov TO yovunrwTepov at 5é mapbévor THY
Taiowy opy@ot mpotepov Kal cadevovTat mpos TO
yevvav, odd’ avtn tis aoberijs amoderkis av ely

C tis Bepporntos. ere dé peilwr Kat miavwrépa To
Tmpos Ta KpUn Kal Tovs yeydvas edddpws Eyer:
HTTov yap at mAeloTrar pryodo. THv avdp@v Kai
TavraTacw ipatiwv oAtywv déovrar.”’

8. “°° AAN an’ abray oluat TovTwr,” 6 DABpos
eon, “ r@v eTLXELPTNLATOV éreyxeoBau TO ddypa.
Tp@Tov pev yap dvréxovor TO poyxee paAXov, drt
moAAdKis TO Gpo.ov bo TOD dmoiov dvoTmabléatepov
€oTW. €mMELTA pevTOL Kal TO OTéppa pn Tpoye-
yovevat TO Tapamrav avtats daiverar yovysov* dud
kataibvéw, adr’ tAnv povov Kat tpodiv tapéyew
1 gor’ <av> adras Vulcobius (according to Hutten), Hubert.


2 Stephanus: av lac. 6-7 pa.
3 Hubert: ev.


232


TABLE-TALK III. 4, 651


“ their heat is thought to be proved, in the first
place, by the lack of hair on their bodies, for it is heat
consumes the excess of nourishment which,
when it is present in abundance, is converted into

3 and secondly by their great amount of blood,
which, it seems, is a source of the heat in the body—
women have so much of it that it would burn them
up and utterly consume them except for the quick
recurrence of their periods of menstruation. Thirdly,
the following practice at burials proves that females
are hotter than males : those who tend to the custom-

ary procedures for disposal of the dead, it is said,
aoe with every ten male corpses one female and set
it on fire, for the flesh of women possesses a kind of
resinous and oily quality, so that the female corpse
becomes kindling-wood for the others. Again, if heat
is a factor of fertility? and girls become lustful
at an earlier age than boys and are earlier excited to
sexual activity, this fact would be no weak demonstra-
tion of their heat. A still greater and more per-
suasive demonstration is the fact that women easily
sup rt cold and winter weather, for most of them
are less easily chilled than men and undoubtedly have
need of little clothing.”

3.‘ But the very instances you employ,” said
Florus, “‘ refute your opinion, I think. In the first
place, women resist cold better because often like is
not easily affected by like. And, in the second place,
it seems that woman’s seed has never had an active
part at all in generation,—the female’s coldness is
responsible,—but merely offers matter and nourish-


@ Cf. infra, 652 p with note.





* Pohlenz (adrais Reiske, daiverar Bernardakis) : 76 yoviov.
VOL. VIII 1% 233


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(651) 7S ao rod dppevos. émevtra dijyovor tixrovoa
Todd TpOTepov 7 yevvOvres ot avdpes. Kalovrat
D de Bedrov & b770 muses, 6 6 Soxet puxporarov" elvan
Tov owpaTos* TKLOT A yoov of véou Kal yupvaoriKol
muyedwoers. 4 8 Eppnvos® xdBapors ov mj Oous
ddd Siapbopas: Kat pavdAdtynTds €oTLW aiparos- TO
yap arremTov avrod Kal TEPLTTOPATLKOV ovK €xov
iSpvow ovde avoTacw ev TD oobpare bu dobéverav
EKTILTTEL, TavTdmaow GuBrd Kat Dorepov a appworig
Tob Geppod yeyvopevov mot de Kal TO puyodv Kal
TO Umogppitrew ws emt odd tas Kalaipopevas,
6Tt yuypov €oTt Kal ameTTOV TO KEK LEVOV Kal
doy wpoby éK Tod CWPLaTos. THY de WwAdrnra
tis av elrrou ore! Depporntos odxi paddov puxpo-
THTOS €oTL TO TAOOS, pv TA Oeppdtara Too aw-
E patos pépn dSacvvepeva; mavra yap e&wbetrar ra.
TowatTa TH Depn®, yapaocovtt Kal dvaoropobyrt
Thy emipdverav. 1 be Acvé7ns TUKVOTATL yeyovev
do wuyporntos: ott 8 etal TUKVOTEPAL Tov
avopOv, @ pir’ "AOpuite,* bob Tapa TOV ETL
ouvavarravopLevev yuvativ 7) pvpov dAnAyzpevars
7) €Aatov: dvamipmAavrar yap avTo. Too ypiopatos
ev TO ovyKabeddew, Kav p17) Biywor pnde m™poo-
dypeovrau Tov yvvatk@v, dia Oepudtnta Kal pa-
voTnTa TOO awuatos €AKovTos.’”®
1 Reiske : buxporepov. Cf. 638 B with note 2, p. 158, supra.
2 Xylander: €upovos.
3 67. added by Bernardakis.
4 Hubert, ’Aovire Reiske: Aovwte. 5 Reiske: adroid.
6 The first sentence of Question 5 follows here in T, before


the title of that Question. Wyttenbach and ms. y indicate a
lacuna after €AKxovtos.


234


TABLE-TALK III. 4, 651


ment to the seed from the male.* Moreover women
cease bearing children much sooner than men stop
begetting them. Female corpses burn more effi-
ciently because of fat, which seems to be the coldest
constituent of the body; at any rate, young men
devoted to exercise are least fleshy. And the month]
menstruation is indicative not of a quantity of blood,
but of corrupt and diseased blood ; for blood’s un-
assimilated and excrementitious part has no position
and no structure in the body and so is eliminated by
its lack of vitality, its faint heat causing it to be com-
pletely dull and murky. The fact that women are
apt to be seized with chills and shivering duri
their menstrual periods shows that the blood which
has been set in motion and is now being eliminated
from the body is cold and unassimilated. As for the
lack of hair on a woman’s body, who can say that it is
a consequence of heat rather than of cold, seeing that
the hottest parts of the body are hairy? For all such
wares are thrust out by heat, which furrows and

es the surface of the body. And the smoothness
of women is due to the fact that their flesh is com-
pacted by cold; that the flesh of women is more
compact than that of men you must learn, my dear
Athryitus, from those who are still going to bed with
women who perfume and oil their ies; for the
men are themselves filled with the ointment by sleep-
ing with their women, even if they do not touch their
companions or meddle with them, because a man’s
body by reason of its heat and open texture attracts
the ointment.”


* Cf. Mor. 374 F with Wyttenbach’s note ; 905 n-c; Aris-
totle, De Gen. Animal, i. 20. 1.


235


(651)


652


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ITPOBAHMA E
Ei yuxporepos rH Suvaper 6 olvos
Collocuntur Athryitus, Plutarchus, Florus
ce b \ > \ A A \ ~ 4 ERODE)
1. “Od pry adda TO pev Tept TOV yvvatKdv,
wv 4. 16 \ \ > / > Sy ~ > /,
edn, “‘ Kal mpos TovvavTiov avdpiK@s emuKeyeipy-
tat. Tov d olvov émibupd pabeiv omdbev tadvorav
e ira a2 \ S , ” ‘coo re
dpiv tod’ wvypos elvar tapécyev. olee yap,
” > / ce ~ e / i ‘ A / >)
edyv eyw, “‘ TotTov nuéetepov elvar tov Adyov;
ce LAAG / ”)> se ¢€ / 3, 66 / A
adda Tivos,’’ elmev, “ éTépov; PELVN aL ev
> ”) ” > 4 ce A > aN > \
otv,”’ ednv eyw, “Kai “ApiototeAovs évrvywv
od vewoti Adyw mepi tovTov Tod mpoPAnparos
> >i. 3 na tA / 4 \ > /
arn’ ixkavds mdAa. dreiAextrar dé Kai °“Ezixovpos
ev.7@ Luptrociw troAAods Adyous, dv TO KehaAardv
€oTW ws éey@puar Toivde. dyol yap ovK elvar
~ ” \
Beppov avtoteA@s Tov olvov, add’ eyew Twas
~ \ _~ les: 2
atomous ev avT@ Jepyacias amoteeoTiKas éTépas
S° ES / 2 e A \ > AX a
ad wvypdétntos’ @v Tas pev amoBadAewv, oTav
~ /
eis TO O@pa tapayéevnta, tas d€ mpocAapBaverv
A lod ” 7
EK TOD GwWpaTos, Ews® av Omwaodv* ExovaL” Kpacews
eA ON , ¢ X , 6 o¢ ‘ \ > rs) ,
nptv 7 pvoews opudAnon,® ws Tovs pev exOepuaive-
/ ””
aba tods S€ Tobvavriov macxew pevoKopevors.
nn lol »~ >
2. “ Tair’, elev’ 6 DAGpos, “ avtixpus eis
~ / e ~
Tov Ilvppwva dia rod Ilpwraydpov Peper uas-
onA A i ‘ \ 2r é \ A ar
fAov yap ott Kal mrepit édaiov Kati wept yaAaKTos
péAités TE Kal dpoiws Tav ddrAwy Sie€vdvres
1 Xylander: édnyv. 2 Xylander: myiv ro. |
3 ws Warmington: ws.


4 érwoodv added by Warmington.
> Turnebus: éywou. 6 Turnebus: dpAjjoa.


236








TABLE-TALK III. 5, 651-652


ih: 30 QUESTION 5°


Whether wine is on the cold side in its power
Speakers : Athryitus, Plutarch, Florus


‘ASST?


1. Now certainly,” continued Florus, “we haye


_ made a manful assault upon both sides of the dis-


cussion about women. Now for wine! I should like
to know what made you suspect that it is cold.” I
replied : ‘‘ Do you actually think that this is my own
theory?” ‘‘ Whose else? ’’ he said. And I answered:
“I remember coming on Aristotle’s discussion ? also
of this question, not recently but a long enough time
o. And Epicurus in his Symposium ° has discussed
the auettex: at great length. e sum of what he has
to say, I think, is this : he holds that wine is not hot
in an absolute sense, but has in it certain atoms pro-
ductive of heat and others of cold ; some of these it
throws off when it comes into the body and others it
attracts out of the body until it adapts itself to us,
whatever our constitution and nature may be. Ac-
cordingly, some men become thoroughly hot when
drinki pee experience the contrary.”
2. “ This,” said Florus, “ carries us via Protagoras
straight to Pyrrho*%; for it is clear that we shall go
on about oil, about milk and honey, and other things


* Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 6. 1 ff.
» Ross, Aristotle, xii, p. 14, frag. 12; ef. frag. 221 Rose


ag. 60 Usener; cf. Mor. 1109 & ff.

~ @ Pyrrhonic bcepuctiat may be traced to Protagoras and
other Sophists (de Vogel, Gr. Philos. iii, pp. 187, 1081); on
Pyrrho’s sceptic attitude in regard to the nature of heat or
fire see Diogenes Laertius, ix. 104 f.









7 Turnebus: eizav.


237


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> / \ / \ c / e a“ ~
(652) dzodpacdpucba To Adyew mept Exdorov, dmoiov TH
dice. eotiv, pi€eo. Tats mpos adAAndAa Kai Kpdace-
ow €xaotov yiyveoba: dacKovtes. GaAAd od mds
emuyetpeis eis’ TO uypov elvar Tov olvov;”’ “ ovTws,
ws, ednv, “‘ dréduv? tote mpoonvayKacpevos
avtocyedidoat. amp@tov & émpe* pou TO yryvo-
pevov b10 THY latp@v: Tots yap éxAeAvpevois Kai
> /
Tovov Twos Seopevois KaTa Tas appwoTias oToOUd-
you Jepuov pev oddev mpoodéepovow olvov be d:-
a > A cs
ddvtes Bornfodaw. ws 5° aitws Kal Tas pvoets Kai
C édidpdicets ov Katatavovow, ws oddev Frrov
a a ¢ \
aAAa Kal waAAov THs yLdvos totdvTt Kal KpaTdvovTt
~ 4 \ / / A a
TO ydyew Kal mepiotéAAew epopevnv thy c&w.
7
ei de dow Kai Svvapw elyev Beppavtixyy, dpLovov
/ ~ A /,
Vv oluor yvow mop Kal KapdiaKois av’ mpoodepew
¢€ a
aKpaTov. €7eEiTa TOV ev Umvov ot mA€EloTOL TeEpi-
, / 0 A / \ \6 \ r “~
wwe. yiyvecbar AEéyovow Kal buKtiKka® Ta mA€ioTa
~ lal /,
Tov oTvwTiKav dapyaKkwv €ativ, ws Oo pavopa-
~ /
yopas Kal TO pnKkwvov: aAAa tatta pev odddpa
‘ / ~ a ‘ v4 ¢ >
Kal Bia zoAAR ovvenbet Kal mhyvuow, 6 8 olvos
Tipépa Karawbyy ov lornat pel? moras Kal dva-
D maver ah Kivnow év TO padrov Kal ‘arTov ovens
mpos €kelva’ THs Stadopas. ert O€ TO ev Deppov
\
yovisov’ evporav yap 7 vypdTns layer Kal Tdvov
~ onl >
TO mvedpa Kal Sdvauw do THs Oepudrntos e€op-
~ ta
y@oav: ot d€ mivovtes troAdy axpatov auBAvrepor
A >
m™pos Tas ouvouaias eiciv Kal omeipovow ovdev Eis
/ ] \ 3 7 > > fr: Xr
yeveow loxyupov odd Kexpatnpevov, aAXr’ €€irndAct
. eis added by Hubert.
= ws added by. Wyttenbach (after édnv), Hubert.
3 Hubert: do dveiv. 4 Bases: drew.


5 xapdvaxois av P. A. C., xapdiwynd Hubert: xapdia ia
(Benseler deleted olvov).


238


mae


TABLE-TALK III. 5, 652


in like manner and shall avoid saying about each
what its nature is by defining them in terms of their
mixtures and unions with each other. But how will

argue on the proposition that wine is cold?”


you
“In just the manner,” I replied, “I slipped into


in the conversation the other day when compelled
to extemporize. A regimen used by physicians was
the first thing to occur to me; for to ailing patients
in need of some tonic for stomach disorders they give
nothing hot, but do provide relief by giving them
wine. In like manner they stop fluxes and sweats
with wine, which, no less efficiently than snow, indeed
more so, checks (so it is claimed) and controls the
given condition by its cooling and constricting action.
And if the nature and power of wine were calorific,
administering wine to sufferers from cardiac disorder
would be, I think, like putting fire to snow. Next,
most people assert that sleep is produced by the
action of coolness, and most of the hypnotic drugs,
like belladonna and opium, are refrigerants ; but
the we and torporific action of these drugs is
one of very great violence, while wine cools gently,
pleasantly checking and stopping movement, the
difference between it and the hypnotics being a


matter of degree. Thirdly, heat is generative,* for


through the agency of heat the generative fluid has
a good flow and the spirit tension and a lusty power ;
but men who drink much wine are the duller at love-
making and the semen they emit is not at all strong
and efficient for procreation ; on the contrary, their


® Aristotle, De Gen. Animal. ii. 3. 11 f.





® xai omitted by Xylander after yuxrixa.
? Xylander (translation), Meziriacus: éxeivo.


239


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ > a > ¢ \ \ ca ¢ /
(652) kat aredeis etow at mpos Tas yuvatkas dpAlat
>, A AY / \ / ~ ,
avta@v dia pavdAdrnta Kal Katdbvéw tod o7ép-
\
patos. Kal pnv oa mdoxovow avOpwrot dod
Kpvous, mdavTa ovpBaiver tots w<OvoKopevois, Tpd-
/ , 4 lo
pot, PapvtynTes, Wyxpidoets, odAdow Too mepl Ta
yvia mvetpatos, acddea yAwTTns, evTacis TOV
K wepi tots akpots vevpwv Kal amovapKnats’ Tois Sé
mAelotois eis mdpeow at pé0ar teXevTHow, Grav
exmAnén mavtamacw Kat KkatacBéon To Deppov 6
A \ ~ ~
akpatos. i@vrTal ye pv Tas mepl TO Opa TOV
peOvoKopevwy Kal KpaitaAwvrwy KaKkwaers €vOds
bev WS €otke TEptoTOAH Kal KataKAicer ovvbad-
movtes, el” juepav dé AovTp@ Kat drciwpati Kai
GiTlols, Goa [Ln TAapaTTOVTA TOV Oyyxov aua* mpaws
F avaxaXetrat 76 Beppov b2r0 Tob olvov SiveoTacpevov
Kal medvyadevpevov €k ToD owparTos.
ccm > 9) 2 ae J ~ / ‘
Opuws 8°,” elzov, “ év rots datvouevors Kal
¢ , 207 > , 2 \ ,
dpoLoTntas adrAous e&tyvedwpev® Kal Svvdpers.
oddev dé rept THs weOns Set Svazropeiv, omotev mor
€oTiv' ws yap €ouev (udAvoTa pev puow exovow
ot mpeoporat yuxpav,)® pddiota 8',* ws eipy-
Kopev, €oikaou Tots mpeoPurais ot peOvovres:
510 Kal mpaaitata ynp@ow ot didrowor tods d€
\ > A \ , »” \ ‘
moAXovs attav Kat dadaxpwoers awpot Kat modal
~ ~ ,
mpo nAukias €xovow: mavra dé tadra Soe? Gepuo-
\ ”
TynTos evdeia KaTtaAapPdvew tov avOpwrov. €rt
/ ‘ /
tolvuv TO O€0s olvov Twos €oTt pvars Kal Svvapus:
ovdev d€ TOV oPeornpiov dfous Trupl Haxtarepor,
GAAG padioTa mavTwY emiKpaTEl Kal oupme let TV


prsya di” drepBodny puypdtyntos. Kai TOv dddAwv
240


TABLE-TALK III. 5, 652


_ intercourse with women is weak and ineffectual be-


- ns


i ~


we Ee Is


cause their seed is worthless and cold in action. In-
deed, everything men ‘experience from cold, all of it
happens to them when they get drunk: trembling,
heaviness, pallor, convulsive movements in the limbs,
unintelligible speech, a rigidity and numbness of
she sinews at the extremities,—and for most men
drunkenness ends in a paralysis, when wine has come
pletely beaten out and quenched heat. The bodily
distress of those who get drunk and have a terrible
hangover is cured, it seems, by immediately putting
them to bed, well covered and warmed, and the next
day giving them a bath, a rub-down, and such food
as does not irritate the system but restores the heat
seattered and dissipated from the body by the wine.
_ “ However,” I continued, “ let us track thoroughly
among the phenomena of our experience obscure
similarities in the properties of cold and intoxiation.
There need be no problem about the essential nature
of intoxication; for, as it seems, <old men most
certainly have a cold nature) and drunkards, as I
have said, especially resemble old men: wine-lovers
very soon become in fact old men, and many get bald
at an early age and their hair turns gray before their
prime—and all this seems to afflict such men because
of a deficiency of heat. Further, some wine possesses
the characteristic and the property of vinegar, and
there is no extinguisher more deadly to fire than
vinegar ; it masters and smothers the flame best of
all because of its excessive coldness. And we see





1 Reiske: ddd. — 2 Hubert: éfcyvevouer.
8’ Lacuna noted by Hubert, perhaps <pdAtora pev diow
éxovow ot 1 png pav,> P. A.C,
4 §€ omitted by Vulcobius.
241


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(652) de KapT@v Tots oivasdeat paAXov ws puxrucots
XPwpEevovs Tovs tatpods opGpev WoTrep poaus Kal
653 pnAows. adTHv be TH Too peduros guow ovyxi ™mpos
ouBprov vdwp Kal YLova oupuyvvovTes olvorrovovat,
Tob puxpod TO yAund 510, ouyyeveray eis TO
pov, oTav Kpatyon, POetpovros ; ot madavot
5° ovyxi dia TobTo Tay epmeTav TOV Spaxovra, kal
Tov puTav TOV KITTOV dveBecav TO Oe kai
Kkabiepwoav as TWOS spuxpas Kat Kpuddous Kupiw*
Suvapews; éav 8, OTL TO KwVELOY emuiTIVOpEVOS
idoba SoKet molds aKparos, olwvrat TOUTO Deppo-
TynTos elvau TEKMpLOV, jpets av pnoopev ava-
otpepavres, OTL ovyKpaber avT@ TOTO pdppaKov
dviarov éoTw Kat Kabdmaé dronreivet Tovs mivov-
B tas* wore pndev paddov elvar doxeiv TO dvrempar-
Tew OQeppov 7 T® ovvepyetv puxpév, el ye én
yuxpoTnTL TO KUvVELOV ovK addy TW poet Kal
Suvdyiet paAAov miBavov éeorw avaipety Tovs T-
ovras.”


IITPOBAHMA ¢
Ilepi xatpod ovvovoias®


Collocuntur adulescentes, Zopyrus, Olympichus, Soclarus


1. Neavioxot twes od wdAat Tots traAatots Adyots
>

mpoomepoiTnKotes €omdpatrov Tov *Emikoupov, ws
1 xupiw added by Reiske.


ye 37) Wyttenbach: 8é 7).
. No title | in T (numeral in margin).





* Honey wine or mead, 672 8, infra.
b Euripides, Bacchae, 101 ff. and 696 ff. with Sandys’s
and Dodds’s notes: Horace, Odes, ii. 19. 19.


242





aE Ms gs


TABLE-TALK III. 5-6, 652-653


physicians using vinous fruits, like pomegranates and
apples, for refrigerants more than they use others.
And do not people make wine * by mixing honey itself
with rain-water and snow, since coldness because of
its relationship to tartness, when it prevails, destroys
the sweetness? And did not the ancients for this
reason dedicate and consecrate the snake ° among the
reptiles of the earth and the ivy ° among plants to
the god of wine as to one who is lord of a cold and
chilli wer ?. And if it is thought to be an indica-
tion of e heat of wine that the drinking of a large
pacnih of it is held to be an antidote for hemlock,#
or my part I shall deny the fact and claim that this

is incurable when mixed with wine and kills
once for all those who drink it. Accordingly, it seems
to be not so much a question of wine being hot
because it opposes hemlock as a question of its being
cold because it reinforces the action of hemlock—if
it is indeed the more probable hypothesis that the
coldness of hemlock rather than some other property
and power of the drug is responsible for the death of
those who have drunk it.”


QUESTION 6
Concerning the suitable time for coition
Speakers: Zopyrus, Olympichus, Soclarus, young
men


1. CerTaIN young men with no long experience in
the ancient literature were attacking Epicurus on


¢ Pausanias, i. 31.6; RE, v. 1015 f.
4 Mor. 61 B, 509 v-E; Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxv. 152.


243


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(653) od Kaddv odd’ dvayKatov €BeBAnkora Adyov zrepi
Kaupod cuvovaias eis TO Luprdorov" pupynoKeoBar
yap adpodiciwy avdpa mpeoBdtepov ev Seimvw

/ val
C peipakiwy mapdvtwy Kai Siamopetv, TOTEpov peTa
deivov 7) mpo Seimvov ypnoréov, é€aydtTys aKo-
r / \ aj? ¢ A ‘ —_ ~
agias elvar. mpos Tad?’ ot pev tov Bevoddvra
mapéAaBov ws amdyovra tods cupmoTas peta
PS) an 2. a 4 > 591 #3 > @ ‘ TIN : /
etzvov odyt Badnv add” ed’ inmwv emi cuvovatas
a > > /
mpos Tas yuvatkas.. Zuzvpos 8 6 iatpds, €d
/ A > 4 / > / >
pddra tots “Emxovpov Adyos evapidnyws, odK
edn mpooexyovtas adtovs aveyvwkevar to *Em-
Kovpov Lvprroc.ovs o¥ yap wWomep e€ apyAs Twos
Kat KaTaoTdcews TodTo mpoBAnwa moinodjevov
~ /
elra Adyous én” atta mepaivew, aAAa Tovs veous
avioTavra peta Setmvov eis TrEpimarov emi awhpovi-
~ / \ > , > \ ~ >
D ope diadeyeobat Kal avaKkpovew amo T@V ETl-
Ouopuddy, | ws del pev CT URANOO eis Pad Bay Too
mpdywaros dvros, \KdKuoTa Se tods mepl adToOV
Kal edwdnv" Xpwpevous adr) Svar Pevros. “et de
5
57) Kal mponyoupevws,”’ elev, ‘ ‘€lnreiro epi
TovTov, moTepov od dAws éeaxédbar Kadds elye
7 °
tov diAdaodov epi cuvovoias Kaipod Kal wpas,
al A ~ \
7) BéATiov pev ev Kaip@ Kat peta Aoyiopod ta
~ / \ \ \ + A >
ToiatTa mparrew, Tov dé Karpov aAAws pev emt-
a \ \
okotreiv ovK awpov* év? dé cupTOciW Kal TrEpi
A / »”
tpamelav aiaxpov; éeuol yap Soke? todvavTiov av
1 Badnv aA added by Hubert, Castiglioni: lac. 4-5.


2 Stephanus: padora. 3 Wyttenbach : 7dov7y.
4 Doehner: dzopov.


244





ee Pe re |


a I 5a


a aac I IRE A


TABLE-TALK III. 6, 653


the ground that he had introduced in his Symposium ¢
an unseemly and unnecessary discussion about the


proper time for coition. For an older man to talk


about sex in the presence of youths at a dinner-party
and weigh the pros and cons of whether one should
make love before dinner or after dinner was, they
claimed, the extreme of indecency. At this, some of
our company brought up Xenophon, who, so to speak,
took his guests home after dinner, not on foot, but on
horseback, to make love to their wives.’ And Zopyrus


the physician, who was very well acquainted with the


works of Epicurus, added that they had not read
Epicurus’s Symposium with attention ; for Epicurus
did not propose the problem as one involving a prin-
ciple or a settled procedure and then proceed with
his discussion of it ; but he took the young men for
a walk after dinner, conversed with them for the pur-
pose of moral instruction, and restrained thes tan
their lust on the ground thatinebbouypie Ts always
precarious and harmful, and affects worse those who
engage in it when they have been eating and drink-
ing. “ Indeed,” said he, “ even if intercourse were
the chief topic of his inquiry, would it be to the philo-
sopher’s credit to have refrained entirely from all
consideration of the right time and hour for coition ?
Would it not be better for him to engage, at the proper
moment, in rational discussion of such matters ? And


» would it be to his credit that he consider this stage of


his discussion not inappropriate to any occasion
except drinking and dining, and there shameful ? On
the contrary, indeed, one can blame, I think, a philo-


* Epicurus, frag. 61 Usener.
» Xenophon, Symposium, ix. 7.


5 éy added by Turnebus, Xylander.





245


(653)
E


654


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> , / > ¢ / > a“ ~

TUS eyxaheoat didocdda pel npLEpav ev TH SvatpiBH
TOAAaY Kal TavTodarG@v avOpurwv tapovTwy Trept

, / ,
tovtov diadeyouevm, KUALKos Sé€ mpoKemevns ev

/ ” ~
avvyiGect Kai dpidrois, evba Kat To mapadeEar poor
> \ ” 1 \ ‘ > ” , A
auBAvy ovra’ Kat wuypov év olvw oupdéeper, 7s
aicxpov eizreiv TL Kal akodoaL eis GuvoVaias xpHow
dpehips Acyopevov ; ws eywye, v7) TOV KUVa, Kal

” »” ce

Tovs Lijvaiios av €Bovdopny, edn, Stapnpt-
apovs® ev oupTrootw Tw kal madud paMov 7
oTovons TocavTns €xonevw ovyypaypatt, TH IloA-
Telia, KaTateTayOa.”

2. IIpos toiro mAnyévres of veavioxot ow7h
/ ~ a; A Ps > 4,
KatéKewTo: TOV 6 addAwy tov Zurupov a€vodvTwv
\ ‘ 7 / > / nan »”
Tovs Trepi TovToU Adyous “Emixovpou diedOeiv, epy
TOV pev KaTa pLépos ovK® axpiPOs pynpovevery,
oleoGar dé TOV avdpa Tas €k THs avvovaias mAnyas
dedi€var dia TOY THY GwudTwv TaApov eis Tapayny
4 / > ~ , / /
kal oddov év 7@ TowovtTm BadildvTwr. Kablddov
pev yap e€ edpas Ta owWpata peOotdvar tAnKTHY
6vTa Kal KIWnTLKOY Tapayhs TOV akpatov: av 8°
oUTwS éxovra TOV oyKov LO, yadqyn py’ mapa-
AdBn Kat Umvos, GAA’ eTepat dua, TOV dppodiaiwy
KwHoes, eKOABonevwy Kat poyAevopéevwy TaY
pddwora ovvdeivy Kai KoAAGv TO cpa meduKdtwv,
Kivduves €otw avédpactov’ yiyvecBar tov dyKoyr,*


1 auPdAdv ovra Wyttenbach: dayfdAvvorra.
. Salmasius : Svapepropovs.
3 od« added by Vulcobius.
4 2) added by Stephanus.
oehner: davddaorov.
® 6yxov Xylander (translation), Stephanus: olxoyv.


24.6


TABLE-TALK III. 6, 653-654


sopher who talks about this matter in his day-time
lecturing, when many men of all sorts are present.
But among one’s companions and friends, wine-cup
at hand, where even the telling of a dull and silly
story is suitable as wine goes round,* how can it be
shameful to say and to hear anything useful on the
subject of coition? ’’ And he continued: “ For my
pasts by the Dog, I could wish that Zeno ® had put
is remarks on ‘ thigh-spreading ’ in the playful con-
text of some dinner-party piece and not in his Govern-
ment, a work which aims at such great seriousness.”
2. This put the young men out of countenance, and
they sat in silence. The rest of the company re-
quested Zopyrus to give them an account of what
Epicurus had to say about this matter, and he replied
that he did not remember the particulars accurately,
but thought that the man feared the atfitetions result-
ing from coition, due to the disturbance caused by our
bodies entering into the tumult and turmoil of such
activity. For wine is generally a brawler, an-in-
stigator of tumult, and unsettles our body from its
base ; and if tranquillity and sleep do not take pos-
session of our. body when it is in this condition, but
the new Seances of coition supervene, the forces
which naturally tie together and cement the body are
crushed and dislodged, and there is danger that the
body be unseated, like a house shifted from its
* The Greek has been emended to recall a phrase quoted
by Philodemus, de Musica, iv. 12, lines 1-3 (Kemke) and
attributed by Wilamowitz to Pindar (Pindaros, pp. 142-143,
513; Snell, Pindarus, ii [1964], p. 104, 124 d). e connec-
tion between the two fragments Ns any) and the relation of
either to Pindar remain doubtful: see further, Annemarie
Neubecker, Philologus, 98 (1954), pp. 155-158, and J. Irigoin,


Gnomon, 33 (ool), p- 265—both cited by Snell, loc. cit.
» yon Arnim, Stoic. Vet. Frag. i. 252.


247


K >


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(654) @orrep olkov’ €k Depedta KWovpEvov’ ode yap
ed peiv THVKAOTE oR youny, opnvaocews dua, T7)V
mAnGMovny ovens, & Ada. Bia Kal ovpmeduppevny
dmoomaaban: 510 Xphvat pnow 6 avnip, oTav 7ov-
yla yévnrat mept To od ua ea Awdjowow at THs
Tpopis dvaddcers Kal Ta pevpara duefvovons Kat
devyovons, TA TowadTa mparret, mpi eTépas av
mdAw tpopis evdees yevéeoOar To cua. ovpPad-
Aoito 8 av tis ToUTGs" TO "Exuxovpov* Kal TOV
tarpucoy" Aoyov. 6 yap 8? reir Kaupos, 78n
Tis Trexrews” Kplow €xovons, dopa éoTepos €oTw"

B 7 d€ peta TO Setmvov dppy mpos THY Guvovoiay OvK
aKivduvos’ adnAov yap «l, THS Tpodhs p12 Kpaty-
Oetons, drersia défarro TOV €K Tis ouvovoias apa-
Sov” Kai taduov, wore SutTHV THY PAaBoy yeveodar.

3. ‘YaroAaBeov 5’ ’OdAvpmuxos, “ €wol pv,” edn,

70 Tod Ilv@ayopixod KAewiou Aiav apéoker: Aé-

yeTat yap epwrnbeis, dmnvixa Set pddAvora yuvat-
KL mpoovevat, ‘ orav,’ davar, ‘ wdAvoTa Tuyydvns
BraBivat BovAdpevos.’ Kai yap 6 Zedtupos et-
pyke viv, eyes Twa Adyov, Kal TOV ETEpov KaLpoV
dAAas akaipias Exovta mpos TO 7paypa Kal dvo-
yepelas op@. Kabdmep otv Dads 6 coddos to
Cris pntpos evoyAovpevos yar KeAevodons «bd


e


1 ofxov added by Reiske.
2 Turnebus : yudpevor.


3 Reiske: ud’.
4 Hubert: lac. 4-5. Cf. T. C.’s transl. : “ to this of Epi-
curus.”’ > Hubert: *Emxovpw.


§ Turnebus: zarpixor.
7 6 Basel edition : ov.
8 Turnebus: dyéws (sic).
® Meziriacus : dofevéorepov.
10 Doehner: apafBov.
248


ene ee


TABLE-TALK III. 6, 654


foundations—for the seed does not flow easily at this
time, repletion blocking it, but with effort it is ex-
tracted in a clotted mass. Consequently our man says
that we must engage in such activity when the body
is quiet and ended are the assimilations and fluxes of
the nourishment which traverses and quits the body,
and must do so before the body is again in need of
further nourishment. To this analysis of Epicurus

1c can add a physician’s opinion. The fact is that

e safer time for coition is during the day, when the
process of digestion is now completed. Rushing on
to coition after dinner is not without danger, for one


_ does not know whether, when food has not been as-


—


>


similated, an indigestion may follow the disturbance
and agitation resulting from coition, and the injury
thus be twice as great.
8. Olympichus took up the discussion, saying, “‘ For
my part, I very much like the retort of the Pytha-
orean Kleinias: in reply to the question at what
time most especially ought one to have coition with
a woman, he is said to have answered, ‘ At whatever
time you happen to want most especially to suffer


_ harm.’ * For, on the one hand, what Zopyrus has just


+
.


ee


said is reasonable enough, and, on the other, I see
that the other possible time has other disadvantages
and difficulties affecting the business. Therefore, just
as the wise man Thales,’ when annoyed by his
mother’s pleas that he get married, avoided her im-


@ Diels and Kranz, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, i®®, p. 444, 54.
5; Diodorus Siculus, x. 9. 4, and Di es Laertius, viii. 9,
attribute the saying to Pythagoras in different wording. On
sexual restrictions imposed by the Pythagorean Society see
E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational, p. 154 and note


_ 122 on p. 175, and especially Aristoxenus, frag. 39 Wehrli.


oe


» Diogenes Laertius, i. 26.
249


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


1 ,
(654) 7ws* treێpuye kal? trapnyaye Adywv* mpds ad-
ee ee eee) A renal cee: a
THV* €v apy meV, “oUmw Kaipos @ pATEp,’ VoTEepov
> ‘ >? / 4 > low 7
5°, ‘odKéts Kaipos @ prep,’ ovTws apa Kal pos
> / /
adpodiow Kpdtiotov’ éyew EKaoTov, WOoTE KaTa-
/ /
KAwopevov déyew, ‘otmw Kaipds, avioTtapevov 8’,
‘ b] / / > 99
ovKETL KaLpos.
ce A ~ >») ¢ 4 ‘
4. “*A@AntiKa tatr’,” elrev 6 XawKAapos, “ &
"Or /, / ” ~ , cA
ULTLXE, TAaVTaTaow ETL THS KoTTaBicews OlovTa
\ ~ ~
Kat TOV Kpeohayiay exeivwy, odK ev S€ovTt. veot
A / / ey? e a €
TE yap maperor yeyapnkotes, bP av det ‘ dido-
? ” “a ~
THowa epya TeAciobar’ Kal Huds ovmw TavTamacw
¢e > /
» Adpodirn médevyev, dAda Kal mpocevyducba®
, an A ~ ~
? / > TOL ¢
Symovbev adrH A€yovres ev Tots TOV VeGv dyvors
D avaBard’ avw To yihpas,
® xara *ppodita.
~ i > } A , > AD ‘
okoT@pmev ovv, et SoKet, moTtepov eppeA@s Kail
, € > / 7 \ a ,
mpoonKkovtws 6 ’Emixoupos 7° mapa mav dixatov
ipaiper THY “Adpodi fs vuKtos* s* Kai To
dparpel 77) podirny Tis vuKTos* 1s” i
7 A ~ al
Kpatiotov avTtH Oedv pereivai pnow EepwrTikos
bas M / 5 > ‘Q \ Z aAd a
aviip Mevardpos. “everéln yap olyas KaN@s: mapa
~ ¢e aA ‘ / ~
KdAuppa THS HOovAs TO OKOTOS TpODEEvats® TadTa
, \ 4 \ as | > , ;
Tpaccev Kal pn, dia pwTos evTUYXaVOVTAS, e€-
, ~ > , \ > 4, ~
ehavvew" TOV dppdatwv To aidovwevov Kat TH
/ aA 7 > ~
aKkoAdaoTtw OQdpaos éumoeiv Kal prvywas evapyeis,
1 €3 mws Pohlenz: mas.
2 «al added by Stephanus.
3 Reiske: Adyw. 4 adriv Vulcobius: rip.
5 ésrar omitted by Bases and Castiglioni after xpdricrov.


6 Stephanus: zpocepyopea.
? 9 added by Turnebus.


250





TABLE-TALK III. 6, 654
"portunities well enough and diverted her by saying


_ to her at first, * It is not yet the right time, mother,’


and later on, ‘ It is no longer the right time, mother,’


so the best habit for each man to have about love-


_ making is to say, when he goes to bed, * It is not yet


|
|


the ie time, and when he gets up, ‘ It is no longer
the rig ht time.’ ”’

4. “ This is athletes’ talk, Olympichus,” said So-
clarus, “ still thoroughly reeking of cottabus-playing
and eee roast-beef dinners of theirs, and it is not
opportune. For among us are young married men
who must ‘ do love’s deeds’ *; and, Aphrodité has
not yet ears mei abandoned us older men, but we
too are imploring her favour, I suppose, when we say


in the hymns of the gods


—


Our old-age postpone, fair Aphrodité. °


Let us then consider, if you will, whether it is proper
and fitting, or contrary to all justice, for Epicurus to


deprive Aphrodité of night, to which she has indeed


the strongest claim among the gods, as Menander, an
authority on love, claims.* Indeed, in my opinion it
was a good thing to draw a veil of darkness over the
pleasure of those who engage in this egaritys yet do
not wish to banish modesty from their eyes by making
love in daylight, or to pee bold, vivid, shuensiies
. $ Odyeoty xi. 246.
dmonds, Lyra Graeca (LCL), iii, p 510, no. 3;
Diehl, Anth. Lyr. Graec. ii, p. 29. 66, following Crusius,


attributes the fragment to Aleman,


* The reference to Menander seems to be an adaptation of
frag. 789 Korte, Menander, ii (1959), p. 246.


® ts, added b com who ex unged kal.


* mpobe herniss : mpo@epévous.
ateiait e€eAavvwv.





251


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(654) afs ro* evdiarpiBew adOis expimile’® ras* emibvpias.
‘mw \ €: a > /, 7 ‘ ~ A
dfs yap nuiv o€vtarn TOv bia Tod owparos
E épyerar’ xara tov IlAdtwva ‘ wabnpdrwr,’ Kai
48 aA > A / 4 \ A > /
afddpa tats eyyds pavracias* rHv buyny éyeipovea
A \ rhs} r ~ 55 ~ A or = ad ‘
mpos Ta €lOwAa THs HOovAs, KaLWIVY GEL TroLEt Kal
mpoopatov THv® émOupiav. 1 dé vwwE Ta anAnoTa’
Kal paviwdéoTaTa THY epywv adaipotoa trapdye.
\ , \ , > > , ere.
Kat Katevvaler Tv Pdow ovK €€oKeAAovaar® to
~ ” > A
Ths Oews eis vBpw.
ccm be / 47> A / > ‘ 5 7
Avev 6€ tovtwv, tiv’ éye Adyov amo delmvov
Hév HKOVTA yeyavwevov, av ovTwW TUYN, oTedavov
KopilovTa Kal pvUpm@ KExpievov, amootpadevTa
A 4 / e , \ A A
Kal ovykadvisdpevov Kabevdev, Huepas de Kai dia
~ ~ \
péoov Tov mpdkewv €K THs yvvarkwvitidos T7V
a ~ ‘
yuvaika peTarrépmrec0ar mpdos TL ToLodTOY 7] Tmpwi
\
F dixnv aAextpudvos ovpmAéKecbar; tHv yap €omé-
pav, @ éraipe, TaV TOvwY aVdTraVELY VO[LLOTEOV, TOV
- eae > , \ \ \ ¢ , > a
5’ dpOpov apynv: Kal thv pev 6 Avowos emoKomet
~ / ¢
Avdvucos pera THs Tepyixdpyns Kat @adretas, 6 de
A \ > /, 7A8@ ~ A \ > 7 °-E
T™pos THY éepyavnv nvav Kal Tov ayopatov “Ep-
lod 7 ‘
Env éeraviornow. 610 THv wev WOal KaTEXoVOL Kal
1 «2 omitted after ro in Basel edition.
2 Turnebus: éxpurtei.
3 Aldine edition: ris.
4 eis omitted after davracias by Xylander, Wyttenbach.


5 out added by Doehner.
6 +i added by Hubert, Castiglioni.


252





TABLE-TALK III. 6, 654


_ memories which pre-empt attention and rekindle lust.
_ ‘For vision is the keenest of the sensations which
traverse the body,’ according to Plato,* and it makes
yery efficient use of immediate impressions to rouse
images of pleasure in the mind, constantly renewing
and refreshing desire. But night blots out the in-
satiate and wildest of the deeds of love-making and
_ thus diverts and calms one’s constitution, which
visual stimuli do not shipwreck on the shores of
outrage.

“ Apart from this, what sense does it make for a
man to come from dinner, joyful it may be, bringing
his garland and anointed with perfume, and go to
bed, turn his back on his wife, and wrap himself up
in the covers,—but during the day, in the midst of
business, send for her to come ya the women’s
_ quarters for some such activity, or, like a cock, em-
_ brace her the first thing in the morning? Evening,
_ my friend, marks the end of the day’s work, one must
suppose, and morning the beginning. Dionysus Lord
_ of Relaxation,” Terpsichoré, and Thalia take charge of
_ evening ; morning rouses us for our duty to Athena
_ Mistress of Work * and Hermes Lord of the Market.?
Thus, song, dance, and the marriage-hymn occupy


_ * Phaedrus, 250 v. > Supra, 613 c.

_* Of. Mor. 99 a and 802 B, quoting Sophocles, frag. 844
_ Pearson =760 Nauck, and inscriptions; see RE, s.v. “ Er-
. aeeronior "3

4 Cf. Aristophanes, Knights, 297 with rs’s note ;
pemiopnanes elsewhere (¢.g. Acharn. 816) has the synonym
Empolaios for Hermes. Agoraios could refer to his patronage
of public aetigs in the Agora, where his statue was, Pau-
sanias, i, 15. 1.





7 Doehner: zAciora. 8 Benseler: éfoxéAAovea.
® voutoréov added by Reiske, éxouev Wyttenbach.


253


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA
(654) yopetar Kai dpevatos
K@pmol 7 eiAamivar Te Kal Hynes Opdos abrAdv:


tov d€ KTUroL paroTypwv Kal Tprojot’ mpLovwv Kai

655 teAwvix@v errophpiopol Kexpayp@v Kat Knpvypwara
Kadovupevwy emt dikas 7) Jepameias tdv BaciAdwv
] apxovTrwy: ev © kaip@ Ppodda 7a THs Hdovis,


Anjyew 5€ Kdmpis Oadiar re véewr,
ovd’ €7t O¥paos + PidAa Baxyiov*:


, A € / ” A 4 e
ouvTetvouct yap at dpovrides. €merta b€ Kal o
TOLNTIS TOV Npwwv ovTE yapeTh Twa pel” juepav

” , / A “ A 4
ovte maAdakids ovyKatéxAwvev mAnv 4% Tov Tapw
dpameTevoavta momoas Katadudpevov eis Tods
KoATous THS yuvatkds, ws odK avdpos aAAd provyoo
Avoodvros otcav tiv LeOnpepiwiv axpaciav. Kai
pnv ov5€ TO copa Brdrroir’ av bd Ths svvovoias

B paddov, ws *Emixoupos olerar, peta 7O Setmvor,
av ye pn weOdwr tis 7) pyyvipevos tro TAnopovijs
anrTntat BeBapynevos: acdc yap ovtws émuadhades
TO mpaypa Kat BrAaBepov. av 8 txavas exw Tis
adTod Kal peTpiws diakeyupevos, TOU TE oWpLaTos
adtod padakot yeyovotos Kal THs uys map-
eoTwons, Sia xpdvov Troiftar Thy evtTevEw, ovTE
Tapaynv amepyalera peydAnv Kata® Tov OyKov

” 9 > n , 44" , 5 ws
our av twas } ofv&es* 7 petabdoes® e& edpas

1 Turnebus : tpiyppot.

* Perhaps ¢6Aa te Baxyou, which is translated. dvAAa the
Aldine edition ; Baxyeiou Stephanus.

3 Hubert, Pohlenz: 81d.

4 ovr’ ad twas % opvéecs Usener: lac. 6-8 rayévn ywéis
(sic) 7.

254


TABLE-TALK III. 6, 654-655


the evening, and
revels
And feasting and the piercing wail of pipes ¢;


but the other is filled by the clang of hammers, the
chatter of saws, the early morning cries of the tax-
collectors, and the proclamations of those who sum-
mon men to court or to the service of some king or
magistrate. At this time the activities of pleasure
vanish :

The deeds of the Cypriote Lady stop,

And the joys of the young ;

No longer the thyrsus, no longer the Bacchic troops.
For the day’s concerns exert their pressure. Then the
Poet ° too put none of his heroes to bed during the
day either with wife or with mistress, except when he
represented Paris slinking off to his wife’s bosom after
he had run away from his post, as much as to say that
the incontinence of day-time love-making is no part of
an honest husband’s behaviour but a mad adulterer’s.
And surely the body would not suffer greater harm
by coition after dinner, as Epicurus thinks it does,
pumas a man does not make love when he is over-

urdened, drunk or stuffed full to the point of burst-


ing. For of course, if that is the case, the thing is


precarious and harmful. But if a man is sufficiently
himself and moderately relaxed, his body at ease and
his spirit disposed, and if then after an interval he
makes love, he neither causes his body great disturb-
ance nor does he bring on any morbid excitement or
* Placed by Otto Schneider among the “* anonymous frag-
ments ” of Callimachus, Callimachea, ii, p. 786, no. 377.


> Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag., Adespoton 397.
¢ Homer, Jliad, iii. 441-447. aN





5 werabécers Usener: perdbeais.
255


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> / *e > “~
(655) arouwv, 4 dynow *Emixoupos: adda rH ddoer 76
> ~
otkeiov' amodovs, eavtov 5€ ws amoyadnvicas’
> / / “a a
avamrAnpwoer, véas emippofs Tots Kevwpact yvyvo-
/
pevns.
> ~ ~
““"Exeivo d€ waAdov dévov edrAaBelas, To adveyyus
a ~ ~
C dvra ta&v mpdfewv adpodisiors yphoba, pH 7
apa peTéwpov TO cua Kal KekAovnpevov ai Te
~ a a
Tihs puyijs ppovrides at te mepl Tas ypelas mpay-
patetar Kal Kdrrot TrapadaBdvres edOds extpaytvw-
ow, ody tkavov ev péow didreyppa THs PUoews eis
avaravow AaBovons. ov yap mavtTes, @ €Taipe,
A
tHv ’Emuxovpov cxodjv Kal paotavnv to Adyou
4 / a > ely /
Kal pidocodias adbovov eis adel mapeckevacpernv
” \ re > ~ > / >
exovow, TroAXoi 8 exaotov ayaves €xdéyovrar du
7 ~ Ld
nuEepas, yupvaoia 5° ws Eos eimeiy amavtas: ois
/
ovte Kaddv ovTe ovudepov ovTw diaKeipevoyv TO
A 4
D cpa rapéxew Avocwon avvovoia dSiakexvpevov.
1 OQ , 1 o» ” 5 >
To d€ waKkdpiov Kat apGaprov €oTw pev’ olov avTo
pn ppovrilew trav Kal? Huds: juiv dé mov vopw
\ > ~
moAews cuvetropevois® efevrAaBnréov eotiv eis Oeod
> > , 7 \ / 6 ~ Ad
y éeuBadrew’ Kat Katdpyecbar Ovoidyv, oAtyov
éumpoobev Siarrempaypevois Te ToLwodTov. dUev ed
EXEL TO THY VUKTA Kal TOV Umvov ev peaw Depevous
‘ /
Kal Tomnoavras ikavov SdidAcppa Kat SidoTHa
> “~ \ , 3-7?
Kabapovs abfis womep €€ brapyfs Kal ‘ vea® éd
Pr, a)
nLEpyn Ppovéovras’ Kata Anpoxpitov avioracba.


1 Gra 7H dvce: 7d oixetov added by Wyttenbach : lac. 5-6.
2 »vicas added by Wyttenbach: azoyad lac. 5-7.
3 uy re Turnebus: pre.
4 Doehner: &ca lac. 7-8.
5 Stephanus: pévor.
§ Doehner: 0 é€zopévors.


256


cane '


ON AGO 6


TABLE-TALK III. 6, 655


unsettling of atoms, as Epicurus claims. But if he
has given nature her due and has calmed himself to
some degree, he will restore his system, for a new
influx will occupy the parts emptied.

“It is love-making in the midst of preoccupation
with affairs that is the more deserving of caution, lest
mental worries and the troubles and difficulties con-
cerned with business take hold of the body in its state
of excitement and agitation and exasperate the con-
dition because nature has failed to receive a sufficient
interval for rest inbetween. For all men, my friend, do
not possess Epicurus’s leisure and equanimity,* which
has been provided in everlasting abundance by
reason and philosophy. But each one of us is occupied
with one struggle after another day after day,—the
exercise-schools receive practically all of us,—and to
these struggles it is neither good nor proper to bring
one’s body in this condition, that is, enervated by the
fury of coition. Let it be granted that that blessed and
immortal deity can himself disregard what concerns
us ; nevertheless, I suppose we must, in obedience
to our city’s law, guard carefully against rushing into
a god’s sanctuary and beginning the sacrifices when
we have been engaged in any sexual activity a short
time before. Hence it is well for us to have night and
sleep intervene and after a sufficient interval and per-
iod to rise pure again as before, ‘with fresh thoughts,’
as Democritus says, ‘ for the fresh day.’ ”’ ”


@ Epicurus, frag. 426 Usener; infra, 1033 c.
>» Democritus, frag. 158 Diels; infra, 722 p and 1129 x.





7 eis Oeod éuBdd\ew Headlam (Journ. of Philology, xxiii
[1895], p. 297; y’ €u8. Helmbold (Class. Phil. xxxvi [1941,] p.
87); ad templa Xylander (translation): «is Oépos éuBareiv.

‘8 Reiske: vég.

VOL. VIII K 257


(655)


1D)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA Z
Ava ti 76 yAedKos HKvora peOdoKer


Collocuntur Plutarchi pater, Hagias, Aristaenetus,
Plutarchus, alii


~ / ” > / \ ¢ 4, ‘
1. Tod véov otvov Abiyjoe prev evdexdry Paves
‘AvGeornprdvos" KaTdpXovra, T1eBotyea Thy Tpepav
kadobyres: Kal mado y ws €oikev evxoVTO, Tod
olvov mpiv 7 meiv amoomévoovtes, aBAabH Kal
cwTpiov avtois Tod dapydKov tv yphow ye-
/ > c¢ aA > ¢ A \ cal
véoBar. map piv & 6 pev pv Kadretrar Ipo-
oTatipios, Extn 8 totapevov vopilerar OUoavras
> ~ / / 0 ~ w \ /
Ayal Aaipou yeveobar tot oivov peta Cédu-
pov: obTos yap pdhora TOV aveuwv eEliotnow Kal
Kwet TOV olvov, Kal 6 TodTOV Svapvyov 7707 | doxe?
TmapapLevew BéBatos. eGucev ody 6 mrarhp WaTep
etosDev THY Quota, Kal peta TO Seimvor,” émraivou-


F pévov Tod otvov, Tots diAocodotor peipakiors pel?


¢e ~ ” a / e ‘ A Ld

nav mpovBarev Cyteiv Adyov, ws TO yAeoKos HKL-
ota peOvoKker. Tots pev odv moAdois tapddogov
> / \ bd ¢€ > ¢ / »” ‘ \
edavn Kat amotov: 6 6 ‘Ayias é¢n to yAuKd
mavtayod mpociotacba: Kal mAjopiov elvar: S10


1 *AvOeornpidvos added by Xylander (translation), Reiske,
Wyttenbach.


2 +6 Seixvov Turnebus: rod Seimvov.





* Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 7. 14 ff.

> Cf. infra, 735 p-x. The name means Opening of Jars,
usually interpreted as ‘‘ Wine Jars”? ; but P. St enzel, Griech.
Kultusaltertiimer, p. 238, and A. W. Persson, Religion of
Greece in Prehistoric Times, pp. 17 f., argue that, since an
early use of the pithos was as a receptacle for the dead, the
Pithoigia was first an All Souls’ Day, though later connected
with the Wine God. See further K/. P., s.v. “‘ Anthesteria.”’


258


TABLE-TALK III. 7, 655


QUESTION 7 ¢
Why sweet new wine is least intoxicating
Speakers: Plutarch’s father, Hagias, Aristaenetus,
Plutarch, others


1. Ar Athens people consecrate the fresh wine on
the eleventh of the month Anthesterion, calling the
day Pithoigia®; and long ago, it seems, they used


‘to pour a libation of the wine before drinking and


pray that the use of the “ medicine ” be harmless and
safe for them. Among us the month is called Pro-
staterios,® and on the sixth of the month it is our
custom to sacrifice to our Good Genius ¢ and taste


the wine,—after a Westerly, for this wind especially


changes and alters the wine, and wine which sur-
vives it successfully seems now certain to keep good.
My father had celebrated the ritual, as was his custom,
and after dinner, while the wine was being praised,
he proposed to the young men ¢ of philosophical tem-
perament among us the examination of a saying
that sweet new wine is least intoxicating. Now this
seemed an incredible paradox to many, but Hagias/
remarked that sweetness everywhere was offensive
and filling, and therefore one could not easily drink a


_The Attic month Anthesterion might fall as early as February


or as late as March.

* Doubtless connected with Apollo Prostaterios, the Pro-
tector; cf. RE, s.v. “ Apollon,” col. 64, and s.v. “ Prostate-
rios,”’ col. 900.

4 A chthonic spirit and guardian of the house, perhaps
originally a ghost ; cf. Rohde, Psyche’ (1925), i, p. 254, note
2; RE, s.v. “ Agathodaimon.”

¢ Perhaps pupils; cf. Hartman, De Plutarcho Scriptore
et Philosopho (1916), pp. 381, 384 ff. ; RE, s.v.“* Plutarchos,”
col. 663.

? Supra, 642 £, 643 r.


259


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(655) Kai yAevKous" ovK av Twa mety pgdius Ocov ets
peOnv teaver eoruy" amayopevew yap dndia THY
OpeLw axpt TOO pw Subiy mpoeAfobaar.” ore. de Tob
yAvKéos Siadeper TO 70 Kal TOV TOLNTHY emLoTd-
pevov A€yerv


656 Tup@ Kai pédAute yAvKep@ Kal 7det olvw


Tov ‘yap olvov ev apyh pev elvar yAvKdv, yiyvecbat
> ¢ \ bd ] \ b] \ ~ / /
5° 4ddv orav eis TO abotrnpov TH méper peTaBady
TaAatovpevos.
> , > ¢ \ ” 7 3
2. *Aptotaiveros 5° 6 Nixaeds ev tiow €viots
ypdppaow aveyywKas ehn pvnovevew, OTe yAcb-
~ > ~
Kos puybev* otvw raver weOnv: trav 8 iarp@v twas
” 5 ‘ , , , Sam >
édeyev® tods mAéov midvtas KeAedew epeiv,® €f6’,
bid / / ” > / /
orav péAAwor Kabevdew, aptov eis pwéeAr KataBa-
> ay 9 ” oo e r 4 > r ,
wavras eudayeiv.’ et Te odv at yAvKiTyTEs auBAv-
vovow dKpatov, eikoTws 6 véos olvos od peOoxer,
hed av 1 yAvedrns petaBaAn.
Upddp’ ob dmedeEdpeba THY edpnovroytav
TOV veavioKwy, ort Tots €pmrodav ovK EM UTEGOVTES
B idiwyv ynimopnoav émiyeipnudtwv. émel TA ye 7pd-
A , > \ ~
xeipa Kal pddsa AaBeivy 7» Te° Bap’tys €ati Tod
, e > / / e /
yAevKous, ws “ApiototéAns dyoiv, 7 diaxdmTovca
/
Tv KotAiav, Kal TO Todd cuppepypevov® mvev-
~ ~ >
pat@des Kat bdaT@des: dv TO pev evOds exminrer


1 Reiske: yAedxos. 2 Vulcobius: zpocedodicar.

* So T, accepted by Doehner ; others assume corruption
and propose various solutions, among which the deletion of
eviots seems best (Bollaan, cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 80,


note 1).
‘ * Amyot: yAukds pxGeis. 5 Turnebus: Aéyet.
6 uetv added by Wyttenbach from Macrobius, Saturnalia,
vii. 7. 17.


260





al ale


TABLE-TALK III. 7, 655-656


tity of sweet new wine sufficient for intoxication,


y uan
for one’s appetite, once thirst was satisfied, refused


in


more with disgust. The Poet, too (he argued), wrote
Cheese, sweet honey, and pleasant wine,*


recognizing that “ pleasantness ”’ differs from “ sweet-
ness’; for wine at first is “ sweet’ and becomes
“pleasant ’’ when the changes due to fermentation
make it “ dry ” as it ages.

2. Aristaenetus of Nicaea said he recollected hav-
ing read in a certain number of writings that sweet
new wine mixed with other wine stops intoxication.”
And he added that some doctors recommend that
those who drink too much, first vomit and then, when
they are about to go to bed, soak bread in honey and
eat it. If, therefore, properties of sweetness in any
degree blunt the effect of wine, the fresh wine is not
intoxicating, reasonably enough, until its sweetness
changes.

3. Now we heartily approved the ingenuity of the
young men because they did not fall upon the obvious
arguments, but had a good supply of their own at-
tempts at a solution, although the explanations lying
at hand and easy to understand are the heaviness of
the sweet new wine (a heaviness which, as Aristotle
says,° breaks on through the stomach) and the large
amounts of gaseous and watery elements combined
with the wine ; of these last two, the one soon forces


* Homer, Odyssey, xx. 69.

» Cf. Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems, iii. 13, 872 b 32 ff. Ari-
staenetus occurs only here.

¢ Aristotle, frag. 220 Rose (1886).


7 €0cav omitted by Bases after eudayeiv.
8 4 7e Stephanus: 7 rou. ® Hubert: cuppevew.
261





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(656) Bualopuevov, To dé mepuxe! d.Brdrepov Tro.vety TOV
olvov: tadaiwois 8” emiraow" mrovel,” EkKptvopLevou
Tod vdatwdous* Kai ylyverar péTpw pev eAdTTwWY
6 olvos duvdper de ofodpdrepos.


ITPOBAHMA H


Ava ti tév axpobwpaKwv Acyopeveny ot ododpa peOvovtes Frrov
TapakwyTiKol elow


Collocuntur Plutarchi pater, Plutarchus


ce b) ~ >) ¢ /, cc? \
C 1. “Odxodv,” elrev 6 marnhp, “émel mapake-
A

Kwijkapev Tov “ApiorotéAn, Kal Trept TOY axpobw-

pakwyv Te KaAoupéevwy idiov émixerpHaopev eizetv;?

od yap ikav@s pou Soxet, Kaimep of€0taTos wv

ev Tots Towovtos Cytjpaor, SinxpiBwKevar THVv

aitiav. yoi yap oluar Tod pev vidovtos ed Kal

Kata Ta Ovta Kpivew Tov Aoyiopov, Tod 8 ayav

\

peQvovtos éexdeAvpevnv Katéxec8ar THY aicbnow,

tod 8° axpobdpaxos eri pev icyvew TO havTacriKov

non dé TetapdyOar TO AoyrotiKdv: S10 Kal Kpivew

D kai kaxd@s xpivew éraxodovbotyta’ tats davra-

/ > \ ~ ” (ct aA a \ ,

aiais. aAdAa m&s,”’ etrev, “div Soxet epi Tov-
Twv;”’

2 \ / ”) ” «¢ ~ >

Epot pév,” édnv, “ émucxomodvtt Kart

~ A > ¢

€avTov amoyp@v ovTos Hv mpos THv aitiav o

Aoyos: ei 5é€ KeAevers iSudv Te Kiely, Opa mp@Tov €i

in eipnuevnv Siapopav emi TO o@pa peTovoréov

70 vdaT@des omitted after wéduxe by Doehner, Hirschig.
2 8 added by Wyttenbach.


3 éxiracw Stephanus: emi ra lac. 5.
4 sovet added by Wessely, euzrovet by Wyttenbach.


262





i Oc VTE I tee ye


TABLE-TALK III. 7-8, 656


its way out and escapes, the other naturally and
effectively blunts the impact of the wine. But aging
increases its force, the water being separated out,
and the wine becomes less in measure, more powerful


in strength.
QUESTION 8


Why those who are very drunk are less deranged than the
so-called tipsy


Speakers: Plutarch and his father


1. “ Now that we have disturbed Aristotle,” said my
father, “ shall we attempt also to say something of
our own on the subject of the ‘ tipsy,’ so called? For
sharp indeed though Aristotle * was in such investiga-
tions, it seems to me that here he failed to deal
adequately with causation; for he says, I believe,
that the judgement of the sober man is capable of
sound and realistic distinctions, that the perception
of the man who drinks too much is suppressed and
destroyed, and finally that the imaginative faculty of
the tipsy man is still strong but his rational faculty in
disorder: he judges, and judges badly, because he
follows illusory appearances. But what,” he con-
cluded, “ is your opinion of the matter ? ”

2. ““ When I examined this passage of Aristotle
for myself,’’ I replied, “ I found it adequate so far as
causality is concerned. But if you request me to stir
up something of my own, consider first whether one
must attribute to the body the variation you have


* Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems, iii. 2, 871 a 8 ff.





5 For punctuation see Denniston, Greek Particles, pp. 433 ff.
8 xara added by Doehner.
? Xylander: ézaxodov#oivras.


263


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(656) €oriv. t&v yap axpobwpadkwv % Sidvoia jLovov


657


/ \ \ al A ¢ a > al
TeTapakTat, TO 5€ o@pa Tats dppyats e€vmnpertetv
/
dvvatar, pnw BeBamtiopevov: Stav de KaTa-
~ a e \ \
ceo0fA Kat mecbA, mpodidiwor tas oppas Kat
an A \
TapeiTa, weype yap Epywv ov mpdevow: exetvor de
\ ~ 1 / ” b] nn lan
TO o@pa* ovveEapaptdvov €xovtes ov TH paAdov
> aA > \ ~ a > / ware
aAoytoteitvy ada 7H padAdrov ioxyvew €AdyyxovTat.
am aAAns 8,” elmov, “ dpyfs oKomodvtt Tod
” \ / 29O\ / /
owvov THv Stvayww ovdev KwAver moikiAny elvat
Kal Th tmoodTnTe ovppetaBdAdovcav: waomep TO
7p TOV Kepapoy, av [ev 7) [LeTPpLOV, ouyKparuver
Kad myvvow, av © drrepBohf 7AnEn» ouvernge Kal
peiv emoinoev™ dvarradw om u) capa TOUS TUpeTOvs
apxYouern pev avakivel Kal éxkaler, mpotovans dé
pGArXov Kabioravtar Kat amodjyovow. Ti obv
Kwdver Kat THY Sidvorav bro Tod olvov dvaikds
Kwovupernv, oTav TtapayOA Kai trapo€vv0A, mdAw
D510, \ / / e ~ ¢
aviecbar kai Kabiotacbat trAcovalovtos; 6 yoodv €A-
\ lol \
A€Bopos apynv Tot Kabaipew exer TO Tapdtrew TOV
lol ~ /
oyKov: av ovv” éhdtTwv TOO peTpiov 5004, Tapatrer
pev ovdev S€ Kabaipe. Kal TOV dmVWTLKaV Evior
AaBovres evdotépw tot petpiov BopyBwddorepov
, , \ , 3 , > 4
diatiBevtar, mAgov dé AaBovres® Kabevdovow. e€iKos
d€ mov Kal tavTnv THY Tepl TOV aKpoldpaKa
Tapayynv, oTav axunv AadBn, papaivecBar, Kal mpds
TobTo ouvepyeiv Tov olvov: moAvs yap eiaeAP@y TO
“A A a
o@pa ovve€€xavoe Kal KatavdAwoe TO paviddes
a a ae 2
Ths wuyfs. wamep yap* 7 Opnvwbia Kat 6 ém-
1 gdua added by Hubert after Xylander (translation).


2 av obv Hubert: adodv (A— or v?— in an erasure).
3 €xo. omitted after AaBovres by Reiske.


264














TABLE-TALK III. 8, 656-657


mentioned. Tipsy people’s mind alone is disordered ;
the body, not yet soaked, is still the able servant of
impulse. But when the body is overthrown and op-
pressed by the weight of intoxication, it betrays and
completely neglects its impulses, for it does not
advance to the point of action. The tipsy, on the
contrary, with a body which joins in error, are dis-
graced not by the fact that they are more irrational,
but by the fact that they possess greater strength to
act. And if one consider the matter,” I continued,
“from another point of view, there is nothing to pre-
vent the power of wine from being variable and
changing in proportion to its quantity, as fire, if it is
the right amount, strengthens and hardens pottery,
but if'an excessive amount strikes the pottery, the
fire fuses it and makes it flow. Again, the beginning
of spring stirs up fevers and makes them burn, but as
the hot season advances, fevers abate and cease.
What, then, prevents the mind, naturally roused by
wine, after it has fallen into disorder and excitement,
from becoming relaxed and calm again as the wine
becomes excessive ? At any rate, hellebore has the
characteristic of causing the body distress as it begins
its purging action; if, then, less than the dose be
iven, the drug causes distress but does not purge.
d some people become more excited when they
take a subnormal dose of sedatives, but sleep when
they take more. It is also likely, I suppose, that this
disorder which characterizes the tipsy, when it attains
its height, dies down and further that the wine works
as a whole toward this end, for the large quantity
which has come into the body joins in burning out
and consuming the mind’s frenzy. For, as dirge and


4 yap added by Wyttenbach.
VOL, VIII K* 265





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(657) kndevos adAds ev apyh mdBos wet Kal SdKkpvov
exBadner, Tpodywv de THY yuynv eis olirov ovTW
KATA puuKpov e€aiped Kal avaAioxes TO AvmyTLKOY,
¢e / wv “ \ A Lid / x
Opmoiws ios av Kal TOV oivov, OTav odddpa Tapaéy
Kat mapofvvn’ TO akpatov Kal Oupoedds, atlis
Katadvovta Kat Kaiordvta® tiv didvoiav, ws
ToppwrTépw peOns mpotodcoay naovydaley.”


IIPOBAHMA ©
Ilepi rod “‘ 7) wevre wivew 7 tpi’ 7} py Téocapa”’


Collocuntur Aristio, Plutarchus, Plutarchi pater


B . ‘Epoo d€ TabrT eimdvtos, “Apotiov dvaBor-
cas @omep eiwOe, “ mepavTa, ” elmev, “eis Ta
ouuTooia TH Sikaiotices Kal OnpoKpaTiKwTdTw
TOV wéeTpwv Kdbodos, bo 5H Twos Katpod vidov-
Tos WoTEp TUpavvou TrepuyadevpLevw TroAdY ypdvor.
Kabamep yap ot mept AJpay KavoviKkol TOV Adywv
gact Tov pev Autodvov THY dia mévTe cvpdwviav
mapacyeiv, Tov de SurrAdovov THY dia Tacdyv, TH Sé
51a Tecodpwv apvdpoTaTny ovcay év emitpitw ovv-
ioracbat, ovTws ot mepi tov Ardvucov appoviKot
Tpets Kateidov olvov ovpdwrias mpds vdwp, d1a

C révre kai dia Tpidv Kai dia Tecodpwv, ovTW peEV
Aéyovtes Kat GdovTes


AZ / t ” mon \ /
N° WEVTE TIVELY 1 TPL 1 LYN TEDOapa.


méevTe yap eoTiv* ev npuodiw Adyw, Tpi@v’ vdaTos
1 Kal rapoguvyn Xylander : : mapofuvet.
. Reiske : : KaTadvovrat Kal Kabioravrat.
added by Vulcobius.
4 é€orw addled by Wyttenbach: lac. 1-2.


266


TABLE-TALK III. 8-9, 657


funereal pipe at first rouse grief and cause tears to
flow, and thus by leading the soul to pity little by
little remove and consume distress, so in like manner
you can see that wine too, when it very much harasses
and excites the full vigour of passion, quiets the mind
again, and calms it, and finally, as it advances farther
_ into drunkenness, lays it peacefully to rest.”


QUESTION 9
On “‘ Drink five or three, not four ”’
Speakers: Aristion, Plutarch, and Plutarch’s father


1. WueEn I had said this, Aristion * spoke up loudly
in his usual manner: “‘ The most just and democratic
of rules, one long exiled by some abstemious fashion
__ as by a tyrant, is in sight of restitution to drinking-
) : parties. Now just as the experts in the musical

theory of the lyre assert that among ratios that of
_ 8:2 gives the concord of the fifth, 2:1 the concord
of the octave, and the concord of the fourth (which is
____ weakest) consists in the ratio 4:33; so the musicolo-
gists of Dionysus observed three concords of wine
and water, fifth, third and fourth, for in their song

: they say this :


i Drink five or three, not four.®
‘ Five,’ indeed, is in the ratio 3:2, three parts of


* A man learned in matters of food and wine; cf. infra,
692 B ff., 696 ef. Itis uncertain whether or not he is the same
as Aristion the father of Soclarus at Amatorius, 749 B.

» Cf. The Proclan scholion on Hesiod, Works and Days,
591-596 (pp. 191-192 Pertusi) ; further, Athenaeus, x, 426 d.











5 Basel edition: lac. 4-5 wr.
267


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(657) Kepavvupevay' mpos dv’ otvou: Tpia* 5° év SutAacien
Tmpos éva® puuyvupevv dveiv: Tecoapa 8 » eis Eva
Tpi@v vVdaTos emiyeopevwv, odTds e€oTW emiTpiTOS
Aoyos, apyovTwy Ttiwav* év mpuTaveiw voby éxovTwv
7 StarexTiKdv Tas odpts aveorakdTwv, OTav Tas
petamtwces TOV Adywv avackoTaat,’ vndddios
Kal addparvns Kpdots.® éxeivwv b€ TOV ddAAwy 7 ev
dvetvy mpos Eva TOV TapaKTiKOV TODTOV Kal aKpo-
Owpaka THs wéeOns emayer TOvoV


~ \ \ > / ~
D KwobvtTa xopdas Tas aKwiTous Ppevav*


” ‘ wh , ” 7 , ‘
ovTe yap eG vydew ovTe KaTadver’ TaYTamTacL TOV
avontov eis Tov akpatov: 7 de dveiv mpos Tpia

/ a > ¢€ / \ \ ‘
povotkwTaTn, mao wmvoddpos Kai Aabikyndys Kat
\ A ¢ / > / . 2 / /
kata THv “Howddevov éexeivnv ‘ adeEvapny maidwy
evKnAnTeipay’ THY ev Huiv ayephywv Kal ako-
opwv abav dia Balouvs mowtoa yadjvyv Kai

novxiav.”
\ ~ a> / 8 > cal \ > /
2. IIpos ratra 7H “Aptotiwv® avreize pev ovdeis:
~ \ Ss / > \ > > / /
dfjAos yap jv mailwy: éyw 8 é€xéAevoa AaPdvra
ToTipiov womep Advpay evreivecbar THY €ma.vov-
pévynv Kpdow Kal appoviav, Kal mpooeABay 6 mais
A

E tréyer Tov axpatov: 6 8 avedveto, Aéywv apa
yelwtt TOV AoyiKdv elvar wepi povorkny od THY
opyaviK@v. 6 PéevToL 7aT1p TocodTOV emeimE Tots
eipnuevois, OTL SoKotow atT@ Kal ot madasol Tod

\ \ , a , A ” 9 ‘ \
pev Avos dv0 mrovetv TiOjvas, THY “[dnv* Kai THv
1 xepavvupevwy Turnebus, who also omitted od before zpos:
Kepavvupevov ov.
tpia Turnebus: Ta.
eva added by Wyttenbach (Turnebus é).


3
4 Turnebus: tpidr.
5 Wyttenbach: dvacr@a.


268


TABLE-TALK III. 9, 657


water being mixed with two of wine ; ‘ three’ is in
the ratio 2:1, two parts of water being mixed with
one of wine ; and four,—three parts of water being
poured into one of wine, this is a ratio of 4 : 3, a drink
for some group of sensible magistrates in the pry-
taneion, or logicians their brows contracted as they
meditate upon syllogistic conversions, a sober and a
feeble mixture. Of the two others, the mixture with
ratio 2:1 brings on that disturbing and half-drunk
pitch of intoxication


that plays upon
The inviolate strings of the mind,*


for neither does it allow sobriety nor does it com-
pletely immerse the foolish man in strong drink. But
the mixture with a ratio of 2: 3 is most harmonious,
a complete inducer of sleep and relaxer of care, a
: preteens and soothing governess,’ in Hesiod’s
phrase,” because it creates a profound calm and quiet
among our lordly and disordered passions.”

2. No one attacked Aristion’s remarks, for clearly
his talk was play. And I invited him to take a cup
as his lyre and tune it to the scale of the medley he
praised. The servant came forward and was begin-
ning to pour the wine, but Aristion declined, saying
with a laugh that he was a theorist of music, not a
performer. Then my father made the following addi-
tion to what had been said: the ancients too, it
was his opinion, made Zeus’s nurses two (Ida and


* Nauck, Tag. Gr. Frag., Adespoton 361, quoted also in
Mor. 43 8, 456 c, 501 a, and 502 pv.
>» Works and Days, 464.





® Turnebus : dacs (sic). 7 Hubert; xaradveww.
8 *Apiorwut T (cf. 657 B, *Aprotiwy; 692 B, ’Apiorwvos; and
692 £, "Aptoriwv). ® Xylander: irny.


269


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(657) "Adpaorerav, THs 8 “Hpas piav, tiv EvBovav-
> / \ \ ~ > / / \ > ,
apére dé Kat Tod ’AzroAAwvos do, THY ’AAnPevav
Kat tTHv KopvédAevav: tot dé Avovicov mdeiovas,
Lu A \ A A > / / ~
ote Set Tov Oeov Tobrov ev mAcioat péTpois vuEdaV
TiWacevdopmevov Kal TraldevdEVvov HLEPwWTEPOV TroLEtV
Kal Ppovipwrepov.


ITPOBAHMA I
Awa ri 7a Kpéa onmetar wGdXov bro Tv cedAjvynv 7 Tov FALov
Collocuntur Euthydemus, Satyrus, Moschio, Plutarchus


F 1. Evévdnuos 6 Lovneds éotidv quads odv a-
yptov edueyeOn mapéOnxev: émilavpacdvrwy dé
TOV TapovTey, aAXov €dyn mroAd jetlova Koplo-
jrovov aro Tijs oeAjvns Siadbapiivar Kal opddpa ye
mepl THs arias Svarropeiv: od yap eiKos elvat py
Tov 7ALov paAAov Ta Kpeéa one Oepporepov ovTa

658 Tijs ceAnvns. 6 de Ldrupos, “od tour,” eon,

‘ padvora Javpdoerev a dv Ts, add paMov TO U7r0
TOV KUYNYOV yuyvoevov" orav yap 7) adv 7 €Aadov
karaBaAdvres Tmoppudev eis moh dmrooTeAAwor,
XaAxobv euarnyvbovow hAov ws Bonfodvra mpos
THY ony.

2. ‘Os obdv erravodsea decmvobvtes Kai maAw 6
Evdddnpos emepvnaOn} Tob Statropnbevtos, Mooxtwv
Edycev® 6 iatpos THY ofibw THEW elvar® Kai pdow

1 Stephanus :. ézupvyoGeis.


2 Basel edition: €¢n.
3 efvac added by Reiske.


@ The Hyades (REZ, viii. 2620) and others. Cf. supra, p. 13.
> Imitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 16. 15 ff. Cf.
De Facie in Orbe Lunae, 939 F, with Cherniss’s note }.


270





RE me


——


TABLE-TALK III. 9-10, 657-658


-Adrastea), Hera’s one (Euboea), and Apollo’s of
course two (Alethea and Corythalea), but gave
Dionysus more, for it was necessary to make this
god more gentle and prudent by giving him nymphs @
in greater measure to tame him and civilize him,


QUESTION 10°


Why meat spoils more readily in moonlight than in
sunlight


Speakers: Euthydemus, Satyrus, Moschion, Plutarch


1. Evraypemus ¢ of Sunium, when entertaining us at
dinner, served up a wild boar of remarkable size.
When the company had expressed their astonishment
at the size, he said that a much larger one he had
caused to be procured had been spoiled by the moon
and he was very much at a loss to know the cause,
for it was not likely (he thought) that the sun, being
hotter than the moon, was less effective at spoiling
meat. And Satyrus? said, ‘‘ The most astonishing
thing is not perhaps this, but rather the practice of
hunters. When they have killed a boar or a deer and
are sending it back to town, they drive a bronze nail
into the carcass to preserve it against spoilage.”

2. Then when we had finished dinner and Euthy-
demus mentioned again his perplexity, Moschion °
the physician remarked that spoilage was a disin-


¢ C. Memmius Euthydamus in the list of Delphic priests,
RE, iv. 2671; cf. infra, 700 £ “‘ my colleague as priest ”’ ;
apparently it was to his son, Plutarch’s pupil (Mor. 965 c),
that De Audiendis was dedicated, RE, s.v. “* Plutarchos,”’
cols. 674 f.
s mpperently only here.
¢ Mor. 122 s, pv, where his philosophic bias is lauded.

271


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(658) capkos els dypov dbopa’ petraBadovons, Kat dAws
bypaivecbar Ta ontopeva: Ceppaciav d€ macav, av
pev 7 pradaKy Kal mpaeia, Kwely Ta vypa kat THY

B Enpornra. kodvew," av 8 a TUpaoys, TovvavTiov
darvaxvaivew Tas odpkas. €K 8e TOUTWY pavepov
elvat TO Cntovpevov: thy yap oedAnvynv Hpeua
yAvaivovoay dvuypaivew Ta owpata, Tov 8° 7ALov
avapmalew paddov éx THY cwydTwv TO voTEpoV
dua 7v mUpwow: mpos 6 Kal Tov “Apyidroyov
elpnkevar puaik@s


eArropat, 7oAAods prev adT@v Leipios Katavavel’
dfvs é\AduTwv:


” A / a : a, a @ e
ett d€ oadéotepov “Opnpov emi tod “Exropos, @
/ / \ \ &.. 2 / > ,
Keyeva vedéeAnv twa oKvepav 6 *AmdoAAwv ém7-
yayev,
\ ‘ / > /
pn mpi pévos HEeAtovo
, > \ \ / ” ] \ /
oKnAn audi mept ypoa iveow de péeAeoow:


4 \ , > / > / A b] /
Thv dé ceAjvynv adpaveotéepas adiévar Tas adyds*
C / A > A ) / /
peAas yap avtais ot memaiveras Botpus


Kata Tov "lwva.

3. AMexyBévtwy dé tovtwrv, éyw, “ taAAa per,”
epny, %: elpyyrat Kadds: TH de TOGOTHTL Kad TO
pGArov Kat Hrrov ths Oeppacias Kpivew* To
cupBav’ od det: Kai’ yap jAvov opd ey"

a yap nAvwov op@mev Hrtov ev

* Reiske: 6opas.

2 «w erased in T. riv Enpdrnta added by P. A. C.

3 Hatzidakis, Helmbold : : Kabavavel.

4 +@ waAdov . . . Kpivew Wyttenbach (Turnebus sug ested


7@ padov, according to Hutten): 70 p@Adov Kara tov Tis
Beppactas KaLpov.


272





sO


TABLE-TALK III. 10, 658


tegration and liquefaction of the carcass, which
changed into a fluid as it decayed, and rotted flesh

e completely liquefied. All heat (he pointed
out), if it is gentle and mild, stirs moisture and pre-
vents dryness ; but if it is a fiery heat, it has the
opposite effect of drying out flesh. These considera-
tions clarify the problem: the moon by its gentle
warmth humidifies carcasses; it is rather the sun
which, because of its fiery heat, robs carcasses of
their moisture. With reference to this Archilochus
has written ¢ in accord with nature


I hope the Dog will wither lots of them
With his keen rays!


Still clearer is what Homer said of Hector, when
Apollo brought up a cloud to shade him as he lay
dead,


Lest the strength of the sun cause the flesh
On his muscles and limbs to dry up.


But the moon (he concluded) sends out rays which
are weaker ;


Dark clustered grapes are not matured by them,
in Ion’s phrase.°
8. When Moschion had finished, I said: “* This is
a fine statement in almost every way, but one ought


not to judge the result by the quantity and degree of
heat. For we see that the sun heats less in winter,


® Frag. 61 Berpk, & Diehl (1952).

y liad, xxiii.

" Nauck, Tray. ( Or. Frag. p. 744, no. 57, quoted also at
Mor. 929 a.





5 cuuBav Madvig : oop may.


§ kat added by Wyttenbach, 7 ev ‘edded by Hirschig.
273


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(658) T@ yeywdve OddAmovta Kai paddov ev tH Oper
o7jmovra. TO ompara TodvavTiov oo aperre Tovey,
el padaxornre THs Oeppacias at onpes € éylyvovTo:
vuvt 6°, OTE pa\ov EVTELVEL TO Kadpa, faacov
Seadbetoes’ Tas odpkas. ovKodv odd 4 ceAjnvn dv
” > / \ > / > ~ + \
evoerav adéas Kai aobeverav eis ofibw ayer Ta

») ~ / > | See / lol >
vexpa TOV owuatwv, add’ ididtnTa padAdov ai-
D tiatéov Tod depopévov pevatos am adris. ott
yap od pilav eye moudtnTa av TO Deppdv, adTa
, ~ ~ A e / > >
povw T& padAdov Kat Frrov Sdiadépovoav, adr
/ ~ \ / Ok > /
eto maptroAAa Tob mupds Suvapers oddev aAAj-
a A ~ / ¢
Aas €otxviar, SHAov amo TOV mpoyeipoTaTwv. ol
“a / ‘
fev yap ypvooydo. dia THs ayupivns ddAoyos®
/ a
epyalovtra: Tov ypvodv, ot 8 iatpol padiora TH
KAnwaTtivn Ta cuvewsopeva TOV dapudKwv dtro-
/ \ \ \ ~ e7 / \
xAvaivovow: mpos S€ tHv Tod déAov pddrakw Kal
TUTwow evdppooTov elvat SoKel TO pupikwov* TO
8’ amo Tis eAaias Ta ev owpata Tats mupias €d
8 / A \ / /, / > \ rv
tatt@not, Tots d€ Badaveious oA€uiov €oTw Kal Av-
K paiveta THY mwdKwow avta@v Kal Tovds Pepedious
dmoKatopevov: dev of yapievtes ayopavomot Tods
> ~ > cA > fh , ~
epyoAaBobdvras odK e@aw éAaivors EvAoits ypHobar,
, 209 2» 33 = > Uf) Strep .
Kabarep 006” aipas® éuBareiv eis THY brdKavow, ai
/ /
yap amo tovTwyv avabuyidcers KapnBapias Kal
oKoT@pata Tots Aovopevois €utroodaw. ovdev
~ Ul
otv Bavpaorov €oTrw Kal THv oeAjvnvy Tod 7HAiov
Siadepew, Tod pev Enpavtixa ths dé yadaotiKa
~ ~ ~ /
Kal KWNTLKG TOV €Vv ToIs® Gwpacw bypav adieions
pevpata. 610 Ta prev via TavTamtacw ai TitBa
,
Secxvivar mpos® tHv oeAnvnv dvdAdtrovra: mAjpy
274








Se ee +


TABLE-TALK III. 10, 658


yet carcasses spoil more readily in summer, and they
ought to do the opposite, if spoilage were the result
of gentle heat ; but actually, the more intense the
heat, the faster it rots flesh. Accordingly, it is not
because of a lack of heat and a weakness of heat that
the moon induces spoilage in dead bodies; on the
contrary, one must claim that the cause is rather a
peculiarity of the stream of heat which comes from
the moon. For it is obvious from the most ordinary
things that all heat is not of one kind differing in
degree alone, rather that the properties of fire are
indeed many with no resemblance to each other.
Goldsmiths use a chaff fire for working gold, physicians
use a vine-twig fire to heat by degrees decoctions of
drugs, and tamarisk wood seems to be most suitable
for melting and moulding glass. A fuel of olive wood
for sweat baths has a beneficial effect upon people’s
bodies, but is injurious to bath buildings and dirties
their panelling and their foundation stones as it burns
underneath the building ; this is the reason why con-
scientious commissioners do not allow concessionaries
who operate bathing establishments to use olive wood
for fuel, just as they refuse to let them put darnel
into their furnace fire, since the fumes of this plant
give the bathers headaches and induce vertigo. It
is not astonishing, then, that the moon too differs
from the sun, the latter sending out withering streams
of heat and the former emitting streams which loosen
and set in motion the moisture in bodies. Thus nurses
are exceedingly careful to avoid exposing young
1 Scadfeiper Hirschig : évdiadBeiper.
® Basel edition: as Adyos. * Basel edition: dpéas.
4 dnd Wyttenbach with E and y: dzo.
® rav ev trois Reiske : rots éviots.
5 mpos added in Basel edition.





275


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(658) yap dypornros ovra., Kabarep Ta yAwpa TeV
F évAwv, omaran Kal Saorpéderat. Tovs d€ KaTa-
Kkournfevtas ev avy oedjvns podis e€avioTa-
pLévous olov eumAnKTous | Tais aicOjcect Kal vap-
Koders Op@uev? 7 yap dyporns b10 THs oehnvns
diayeouevn PBapvver Ta oopara. déyerau be kal
mpos evTOKiayv auvepyetv, OTav 7) Suyounvos, avecer
TOV vypav padaxwrépas Tapexovca Tas adivas.
659 obev ofpae Kal TY “Aprepy Aoxeiav Kat Eidei-
Ouiav, odK obcav eTEpay 7 THY ceAnvnv, wvouacbat.
Tiypdbeos 8° avtixpts dyow


\ 4 / »”

dua Kudaveov moAov doTpwr,
/ > >] , ,

dua T WKUTOKOLO cEAdvas.


/ \ \ A \ ” ~ 4
ylyveTat be Kal Tept Ta ayvya TOV owuaTwY
émidndos oy) TiS: cehnyns dvvapus’ TOV TE yap
Evdwv Ta, TEuvopeEva Tats Tavaedrjvous dmoBan-
Aovow ot TéexToves WS aTaAa Kal pvd@vTa Tayews
du bypoTnta, tovs te’ mupods ol yewpyobdrvTes

4 / ~ A > ~ hd /
omevoovat plivovtos Tob pnvos ek THs dAw ouvai-
pew, iva mayevres® TH Enpornre paddov m™pos TOV
xpovov® dvTexwou ot 8 aku THs oehnvns dia-
Kopilopevor KomTOVTAL dALoTa Sia THY BypoTHnTa

B padakawrepor yryvopevor. A€yovor 5€ Kat taAevpov
év tais mavoednvors Cupodcba BéAriov: 7 yap

/, s\7 > A a“ 4 vA > 4
Cipuwors drLyov amodet offs elvat*: Kay amoPdaAn
TO petpov, emt tHv adtyv P0opav apaodoa Kal
Aertbvovea TO dvpapa mponyayev. at dé onmd-

1 Ziegler: 8e.
2 Meziriacus: zdvtes.
3 tov xpovov Wyttenbach, xypévov Turnebus : lac. 2-3 vor.


276











TABLE-TALK III. 10, 658-659


children to the moon, for, being full of moisture like
green wood, they are thrown into spasms and con-
vulsions. And we see that those who have gone to


sleep in the light of the moon are hardly able to rise


again, like men with senses stunned or doped, for the
moisture poured through them by the moon makes
their bodies heavy. The moon is also said to assist
in easing child birth, when it occurs at full moon, by
making the pains gentler by releasing moisture. [Tor
this reason, | take it, Artemis, who is none other than
the moon, is called Locheia and Eileithyia. And
Timotheiis says outright ¢


Through the dark-blue vault of the stars
And the moon who is quick to procure
The delivery of children.


The power of the moon is also quite clear where in-
animate bodies are concerned. Builders discard wood
cut in the full moon as soft and quick to decay on
account of its moisture. Farmers hurry to gather
wheat from the threshing-floor at the end of the
month so that, hardened by dryness, it may last for
a longer time ; wheat in transport when the moon is
full splits very easily because the moisture in it has
made it softer. People say, too, that flour rises better
at the time of the full moon; indeed, leavening is
much the same process as putrefaction, and if the
proper time limit be ignored, leavening in making
dough porous and light produces the same decom-
position in the end. What happens to decomposing

* Diehl, Anth. Lyr. Graec. ii (1942), p. 194, frag. 12; ef.
ontese no. 77, with Babbitt’s note (LCL Mor.
iv, pp. .).


a emmy ANE elva Reiske, who added rod before ois :


dmodens €





277


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(659) wevar odpkes ovdev dAdo mdoyovow 7, Tob
OUVEKTLKOD TVvEvLaTos peTaPadAovTos eis Bypov,
efapaiodvTat’ Kal peovow. TavTo” dé Kal Tov dépa
macxyovTa Yewpoduev: SpocoPoAet yap tais mavoe-
Ajvos padvota SiatnKdpevos, ws mov Kal “AAk-
pav 6 peAomroLos aivitTopevos THY Spdcov aépos
Ouyatépa Kal oeAjvns


ota (pynat) Avos Ovydrnp "Epoa® tpéper Kal dias
Leddvas.*


C ovtTw Tavtaydbev paptupetrar TO THs ceAnvyns dds
avuypavTiKny €xov’ Kal pwadaKktikny Sdvapuy.
ec £ \ r ~ 42 w Ps) Av / a
O d€ yadkots FAos, et ye SteAavvdpevos, as
pacw, aonmToTepa SuaTynpel TA Kpéa, haivetai Tt
GepamevtiKov® Exwv Kal oTuTTiKOY ev adT@* TO
~ “A ~ ~ /
yap i@ mpos Ta TowatTa ypa@vTar TOY happakwv
latpoi, Kat Tovs ye SiatpiBovras ev Tots yaAKwpv-
yelous totopodaw wderciobar Ta Oppata Kai
/ > / \ > / ¢ 4
BAedhapidas exdvew tos amoPeBAnKdtas, 4 yap
amotaa THs xadKitidos dxyvn Kal é€umintovea’
A / > 4 > / \ Le 4 \
tots BAepapots ad7jAws avaoréAAer Ta petpata Kat
TeproTuge. TO SdKpvov* S10 Kai dacw ‘ edijvopa’
Kat ‘vwpoTa yadKov’ tad tod movnTod mpoo-
D ayopevecbar. “ApiororéAns dé Kal Ta Tpavpara
dynow Ta amo THY yadkadv émidopatidwy Kai


1 Basel edition: éfapodvrat.

2 Hubert: todo.

3 Xylander: péya.

4 8ias LeAdvas Bernardakis (but at 918 a and presumably
at 940 a the words are transposed): doeAdvas.

5 dvvypavtixyy éxov Vulcobius: avvypovre lac. 2 «iy.


278


TABLE-TALK III. 10, 659


flesh is simply that it becomes spongy and liquefies
as the spirit which binds it together changes to
moisture. The same thing happens to air, as we see ;
for especially at the time of the full moon it dissolves
and precipitates dew, as, I suppose, the lyrist Aleman.
also suggests, calling dew the daughter of air and
_ moon when he says *





Such Hersa nourishes, daughter of Zeus
And Selené divine.


Thus it is everywhere attested that moonlight has the
property of producing moisture and softness.
. “The bronze nail,—if actually, when driven into
meat, it preserves the flesh in sounder condition, as
__ people say,—obviously has some healing and astrin-
! gent quality initself. Indeed, bronze-rust is employed
: y physicians among their drugs for such purposes,”

and they record that the eyes of men who pass their
| time in copper-mines are benefited and those who
have lost their eyelashes grow them again, for the
; dust which comes from the copper ore and settles
| upon their eyes insensibly checks discharges and dries
|





up tears. This is why the Poet, they claim, calls
bronze ‘ man’s helper ’° and ‘ eye-affector.’¢ And
Aristotle * says that wounds from bronze spear-heads


* Frag. 48 Bergk, 43 Diehl (1942); ef. Mor. 918 4,940 4,
with Cherniss’s notes, LCL Mor. xii, p. 175.
> Cf., e.g., Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxv. 42 with the legend of
Achilles healing Telephus.
© See, ¢.g., Odyssey, xiii. 19.
4 See, 0.9» Iliad, ii. 578; the word is usually translated
. bi repay * bright ” oP in obscure, Boisacq, 8.v.).
r ¢ Cf. Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems, i. 35, 863 a 25 ff.





8 + Oepameutixov P. A. C., cf. 659 D 7d arid. Kai 76 Oepar.:
: 7 Reiske (Macrobius incidens) : mimrovea.


279


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(659) payaip@v Arrov elvar dvcadyh Kal pdov’ idobar


“A > \ “a , \ \ a ”
TOV amo Tod atdjpov dia TO happak@des Eyew Tu
Tov yadKkov é€v €avT® Kal tTodtTo tais mAnyais
ed0ds évarrodeimew. Ott dé’ Kal TH onmovtt TO
otigdov” Kat To Oeparredov tH GPbeipovte tiv
evavtiav exer Svvayw, odK adndov.® ef pH Tis
»” ~ / / \ Le eh 3 ‘ ~ se \
dpa TH dveAdoe: hain tov HAov ed’ EavTov Ta bypa
ouvayew, emipopas del yuyvomevyns mpos TO TAaaxoV"
810 Kal mrept adrov €xeivov Tov ToroVv oldv TwWa* ww-
Awma Kal omtAov opacbai dacw, Kat Adyov exer?

\ LAA: / 8 / > 07 ~ 6 ~
Thv aAAnv odpka diapevew amablq, tis Plopas
€xel ouvtpexovons.

1 $¢ added by Xylander.


2 Xylander: drvdov. *% g and Turnebus: dédmos.
4 Aldine edition: 7. 5 Reiske: yew.


280


Antillas Re S


ae





ae


TABLE-TALK III. 10, 659


and swords are less painful and heal more easily than
those from an iron weapon because bronze has in it-
self something medicinal which it immediately leaves
in wounds. It is obvious that whatever is astrin-
gent has the property of opposing what causes de-
cay, and whatever heals has the property of opposing
what destroys. Of course, someone might claim
that the nail in being driven through collects mois-
ture to itself, since there is always attraction to the
hurt part. This is why people remark that in that
area itself one sees something like a bruise and a
stain; since the morbidness gathers there, it stands to
reason that the rest of the flesh will remain sound.”





6 In T ouytpexovoys and decorative sigla end line 12; line
13, cvproctaxav 7 between decorative sigla ; line 14, decora-
tive sigla; line 15, the heading of Book IV.


281






AP: uh colt, isteach eis
~tf, pre ge & ‘ o


ate
as
tee, en


yah s 7
5 ee


ee,
ee





a 4, 4

vouel Lteved FoF 6

ie ie ots #5 a ss

on ak ~ Aer, 4 sige roe
oe Chitty ne








INTRODUCTION TO
BOOKS IV-VI


As in the other parts of the Symposiacs, the text of
Books IV-VI depends mainly upon T, a Vienna codex,
Vindobonensis graecus 148 (tenth or eleventh cen-
tury). It suffers from a number of important lacunae,
particularly in Book V from page 676 c 8 to 680 p 11
(cf. LCL Mor. ix, p. 3); fortunately the loss is not
total, for we have copies made earlier. In addition,
the exemplar from which T was copied was already
defective at the end of iv. 6, where an incomplete
sentence is followed by a blank in the page, and the
margin has a notation to the effect that a quaternion
is missing with five chapters (sic, the prefixed index
to Book IV gives only the normal four remaining
titles of Questions). I have constantly referred to a
photostatic copy of T and one of E, a Paris manu-
script (Parisinus 1672) of the early fourteenth cen-
tury, to correct the published reports of T’s readings
everywhere and those of E where they become
important. The text and apparatus are based mainly
on Hubert (Teubner, Leipzig, 1938), who rarely,
perhaps only two or three times to my knowledge, is
found inaccurate. I have systematically consulted
also the editions of J. G. Hutten (volume xi of his
complete Plutarch, part 5 of the Moralia, Tiibingen,
1798), whose reports of Reiske’s readings I frequently
adopt when Hubert fails to cite them, D. Wytten-
bach (Partes 1 and 2 of Tomus III of Plutarch, Mo-
ralia, Oxford, 1797), and the earlier Teubner edition


283


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


in Bernardakis’ Moralia, 1888-1896, as well as H. Bol-
kestein’s Adversaria Critica. From these sources and
Hartman I have sometimes derived a fuller account of
manuscript readings or emendations than Hubert’s ;
but I am aware that his judgement in omitting certain
details may have been distinctly the wiser.

For brevity I have chosen to include under the no-
tation ‘‘ Turnebus ”’ items often labelled “‘exemplum
Turnebi.”” If this should prove inadequate to any
reader, I wish to refer him to Hubert, whose edition
is of course indispensable for scholarly purposes, rich
as it is in matter not ordinarily expected of a text
edition. Incidentally, I apply the term “ after ”’ in
the apparatus criticus to cases where the, later Daler
makes a relatively slight modification of his prede-
cessor’s reading, as well as to outright adoptions.

I have accepted the judgement of those who be-
lieve that Plutarch went back to the more ancient or
Attic form of Greek in using forms of yiyver Gar and
ytyvéoxev, rather than yiver@a: or ytvwoxev, This
may be considered an inconsistent policy when I do
not alter forms, for instance, of dvAdccew to dvAar-
tev. The evidence seems to be that our author was
himself inconsistent in presenting both @4A\acca and
GaAatra, but it is well known that manuscript evi-
dence is unreliable. I have altered zizAapevos to
TipmAdpevos, ovlev to ovdev, but keep juny at 674 E,
and with some serious doubt ¢AA¢Bopos for eAAEBopos
in vi. 693 a (the influence of Hippocrates °).

Necessarily I have not only depended on standard
reference works, special studies such as the ones by
Volkmann, Hartman, and Ziegler, and related investi-
gations by Hirzel, Martin, and others, but found it
useful to compare translations into Latin (Xylander


284








INTRODUCTION TO BOOKS IV-VI


as corrected and reprinted by Wyttenbach), French
(Ricard), German (Kaltwasser), and English. The
English translation which I have mainly consulted was
that by “T.C.” at the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury ; although once or twice I have looked into
Philemon Holland’s.

In Book IV the topics discussed include, after a
proem on the relation between convivial parties and
rational friendship, the question of the digestibi-
lity of an elaborate or varied diet (Question 1), that
of truffles and other effects or alleged effects of thun-
der and lightning (Qu. 2), the reason for large
wedding banquets (Qu. 3), the contributions of sea
and land to our food supply, particularly the gourmet
and health value of those of the sea (Qu. 4), the
mystery of Jewish dietary practices and the astonish-
ing importance of the pig (Qu. 5), and the ean
astonishing identity of the God of the Hebrews wit
te es (if we can believe it, considering the pre-

orance of evidence Plutarch did not con-
vale !) oN (Gn. 6) The missing “ Problems’’ of this
pd ctedsasllind to the captions—concerned the
order of the days of the week as compared to the
order of the “ planets ’”’ (note that Sun and Moon,
but not Earth, are planets here, and of course the
ancients did not know all our planets) (Qu. 7), the
reason for wearing the seal-ring on a certain finger
(Qu. 8), whether one ought to wear images of gods
or of wise men on seal-rings (Qu. 9), and why women
do not eat heart of lettuce (Qu. 10).

In Book V we find a proem of psychological nature
both in the original and in our sense of “ psycho-
logical,” followed by discussions of the contrast in
our reaction to the depiction of feeling in art and


285


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


of the expression of the same emotions in real life
(Qu. 1), of the history of competitions in literature and
poetry at the Games (Qu. 2), certain facts about the
history of the crown awarded at the Isthmian Games,
with sundry learned observations (or speculations)
on the properties of the pine and celery (Qu. 3), the
meaning of a certain word used by Homer (Qu. 4),
the problem of whom or how many to invite to a
dinner party (Qu. 5), the puzzle why guests find
themselves becoming less crowded on the dining
couches during the course of a meal (Qu. 6), the “ evil
eye’ (Qu. 7), a couple of points of usage in Homer
and Empedocles, with some etymological considera-
tions (Qu. 8), the paradox of a tree of bitter quality,
the fig, producing the sweetest fruit (Qu. 9), and the
proverbial “ salt and bean friends ”’ and the divine
quality of salt (Qu. 10).

Book VI begins in its proem with an anecdote
relating to Plato and his Academy : a banquet there
was wholesome and chiefly intellectual. Of the
Questions which follow, the first deals with thirst
caused by fasting, the next follows this up by raising
the matter of the physiological nature of hunger ;
similarly Question 3 ties in with this by exploring the
contradictory physical phenomenon of hunger as-
suaged by liquid food, but thirst only intensified by
solid. Question 4 investigates another not unrelated
scientific puzzle connected with this general sphere
of interest: why is the water in a vessel held sus-
pended in a well found cooler than the well-water
itself ? Question 5 asks why pebbles or bits of metal
thrown in will cool water ; Question 6 how chaff and
cloth can preserve snow ; Question 7 whether one
ought to filter wine ; Question 8 the causes of bulimy,


286








ae


INTRODUCTION TO BOOKS IV-VI


a kind of ravenous hunger; Question 9 another
point of Homeric usage, namely calling oil liquid par
excellence, and Question 10 the curing property of
fig-trees when ‘epeia are hung from their limbs.

Neither the traditional captions nor this skeleton
summary give even a hint of the richness of the con-
tent. Plutarch and his friends are always ready with
a literary citation and a philosophical or scientific
extension of the subject.

It is, as everyone knows and gladly states, a
pleasant duty to acknowledge much help and friendly
advice. I am indebted to the Research Council of
the University of California, Los Angeles, for provid-
ing clerical help in the early stages of the project. I
owe a special debt to my colleague, P. A. Clement,
for his initial suggestion that I participate in this
task, and for his kindness in making available books
and materials. I have heavily imposed on the
patience of Professors Alfred C. Andrews, Harold
Cherniss, and W. C. Helmbold, and of the late Pro-
fessor Ludwig Edelstein. Especially often have I
called upon Professor Andrews for answers only he
could provide; he has regularly responded and
beyond that assisted me greatly in matters not con-
fined to his speciality. Equally ready with acute
or in truly phenomenal variety has been
Professor L. A. Post, egregie cordatus home, whose un-
flagging zeal is known to countless scholars. Also far
beyond what I had a right to claim I have drawn upon
the various abilities and loyal co-operation of my wife.
Lastly, I must record deep indebtedness to one other
generous scholar, who insists on remaining anonymous.


Hersert B. Horrveir
Universiry or CALIFORNIA
Los ANGELES 287


























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i este cite neta y










TABLE-TALK
(QUAESTIONES CONVIVALES)
BOOK IV


VOL, VIII L


(659)
E


F


660


XYMILOXIAKON
BIBAION TETAPTON


°Q. Xdcore Levexiwv, rob LodAvBiov Uenriwir
mapawobvtos “Adpixav® pn mpdotepov €€ ayopas
ameAbeiv 7 dirov twa moijoacba tHv modiTav
dirov' det pn muKpOs pynde codiotik@s aKovew
€xeivov TOV dGuetamTwrov Kal BéBasov, dAAa Kowds
TOV evvouv: WoTrep wWeTo xphvat Arkaiapyos evvous
bev atdT@ mapacKkevdlew amavras, gidovs de
movetafat tods ayalovs. didia yap ev xpovw
TOAAG Kal dv’ dpetHs aAwoyov: evvoia® de Kat
xpela Kal opiria Kal radia troditiK@v avdpav
emayetat, Kaipov AaBotoa meWods diAavOparrov
Kal yapiTos ovvepyov.

"AA Spa TO THs mapawéeoews, ei pn povov

1 $¢ after diAov omitted by Xylander.
2 evvorav Xylander.





@ Cf. Sayings of Romans, 199 r (LCL Plut. Mor. iii, pp.
184 ff.), Stobaeus 37. 35. At Rome, “ friendship ” was apt
to have a political sense; see Cicero, Commentariolum Peti-
tionis, 5. 16 and L. R. Taylor, Party Politics in the Age of
Caesar, pp. 7 ff.

» See Aristotle, Eth. Nic. viii, esp. 1159 b 8, and ix, 1172 a
9; Cicero, De Amic. 19 and 32; Plutarch, De Amic. Mult.
94 A.

¢ Celebrated philosopher, pupil of Aristotle. See RZ, v.


290





TABLE-TALK
BOOK FOUR


Wuen, dear Sossius Senecio, Polybius advises Scipio
Africanus never to return from a visit to the Forum
until he has made a new friend of one of his fellow
citizens,* we must not interpret “ friend ”’ with pe-
dantic strictness as referring to the celebrated ideal
type,’ immutable and steadfast, but take it in a
broader sense as meaning any well-wisher. Just so
Dicaearchus ° recommended securing the good will
of all and sundry, but making friends only with the
good. Friendship is an objective that can be captured
only by long effort? and sturdy qualities of char-
acter, whereas good will is enlisted through the
ordinary associations of business, social life, and play
shared with members of the community, with the
opportunities thus afforded for the exercise of friendly
persuasion and good feeling’

As to the advice of Polybius, perhaps you'll agree


546, no. 3; F. Wehrli, Die Schule des Aristoteles, Heft i, frag.
46


# Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1156 b 25.

* There is a military metaphor here, but the phrase &’
dperfs is intended also a its other meaning to allude to
Aristotle’s point in 2th. Nic. viii. 4 and elsewhere, that there
is a close relation between true friendship and sound char-
acter. t Cf. infra, ix. 14, 746 a.

291


(660)


4


C


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


A ~ \ > \ > \ \ A /
exer SeEi@s mpos ayopav aGAAd Kal mpos cuprdatov:
wate delv un mpdtepov avadvew 7 KTHoacbai Twa
TOV OVYKATAKEYLEVWY Kal TapdvTwY EvvoUV EaUT@
\ / > > \ \ A > /
Kat pidov. eis ayopav pev yap euBdddAovar mpay-
patwr elveKev Kal yper@v érépwr, eis S€ ouptroctov
ol ye vodv €xovTes aduixvodvrar KTnodpevor didrous
ovx HTTov 7) Tods dvTas eddpavodvTes. SidTL TV
\ LAA A > \ > r 50 vA” ” \
bev aAdwy Cyreiv exhopav aveAevlepov av ein Kal
goptikdv, TO be didwy wX€ov Eyovras amévar Kat
700 Kal oeuvov €oTw. Kal TodvavTiov 6 ToUTOU
TrapapeAav axapw att@ Kal ateAp Tv avvovaiav
a ~ \ ~ ~
Toel KaL AtrEeLoL TH yaoTpl avvdeitvos od TH dvy7
yeyovws’ 6 yap avvdermvos odK dxsou Kal oivouv
Kal Tpaynudtwv pdvov, addAd Kat Adywv Kowwvos
nKeL Kat mratdids' Kal didoppoovvys eis edvovav
teXevTwons. at pev yap madadvrwy émBodAal?
\ 7 A / cal \ a
Kat €df€ers Kovioptob Sdéovrat, tats dé didvKats
~ ¢ Ss ¢ \ > / , : 7
AaBats 6 otvos adi evdidwor pryvdpevos Adyw-
Adyos yap att@ 7 gPiAdvOpwrov Kat 7Oozordv
~ y \
emt THhv vyxiv ek TOO owpatos emoyerever Kai
ovvdiadidwow** ef Sé pj, wAavwpevos ev TO aw-
a ase
pate mAnopovis ovdev omovdadTepov mapecxer.
id ov ¢ , “~ , 7 ~
oGev womep 6 pappapos, Tod SuatU¥pou aidjpov TH
1 So Xylander: zasdedas.
2 émAaBai Bases.


3 So Hubert, &8/Swow Wilamowitz, cuvevdidwor Bernarda-
kis: ovvdidwow.





* Cf. the interdict at sacrifices od« éxdopd, “‘no remoyal from
the premises!’ as recorded in comedy and inscriptions; see,
e.g., Aristophanes, Plutus, 1138, and scholia, as well as van
Leeuwen’s note.

» Wrestlers sanded themselves after anointing with olive-
oil: RE, s.v. cows, and Ovid, Metamorph. ix. 55 f.


292





SR





TABLE-TALK IV, 660


that it is well adapted not only to the market place
but also to parties. That is, we should not let a party
break up before we have made a new friend and well-
wisher among the other guests and fellow diners.
People rush to the market place on business or for
some other practical purpose ; they attend a party—
at least if they’re intelligent—as much to gain new
friends as to give a good time to the old. For
though it would be low and vulgar to wish to carry
off * anything else, it is both a pleasure and a dis-
tinction to come away with a profitable addition to
the number of one’s friends. On the other hand,
anyone who neglects to do so makes the social occa-
sion incomplete and unrewarding to himself; he de-
parts after having partaken only with his stomach,
not his mind. A guest comes to share not only meat,
wine, and dessert, but conversation, fun, and the
amiability that leads to friendship. The grips and
tugs of wrestling require fine sand”; the holds of
friendship are won by a blend of wine and conversa-
tion. For it is through conversation that wine chan-
nels from the body and distributes through the
character a generous influence that permeates the
whole man.* Otherwise the wine, circulating uncon-
trolled in the body, produces nothing better than
mere repletion. In consequence, just as marble @
eliminates excessive melting and fluidity in red-hot


¢ Or, with T, “‘ which it contributes,” i.¢., to the wine. On
the argument compare Plutarch’s theory of music as a correc-
tive to the influence of wine, De Musica, 1146 © = Aristoxenus,
122 Wehrli (see Wehrli’s commentary and infra, 713 8), and

tem Sap. Conv. 156 v.

@ Lime is still used as a flux in metallurgy. Cf. R. J.
Forbes, Metallurgy in Antiquity (Leyden, 1950), pp. 35 ff.
and 396.

293


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(660) Karaipdyewv THY dyav dypoTynTa Kal pow adarpav,
eUTovoy Trovel TO padacodpevov avrod Kal TuTrOv-
LLevov, OUTWS 6 CULTOTUKOS Adyos ovK ea Svago-
petoBar TavT dsr ac w bo Tob olvov Tovs mivovTas,
aA’ éfiornot Kai trove? TH dvéoer TO tAapov Kal
piravOpwrov éyKépactov Kal TO’ Keyapiopevov, av
Tis eupeA@s antnta, Kabdmep odpayids gidAtas
evTUTWTWY Kal amaddv dia TOV olvoy ovTwr.


IIPOBAHMA A
D Ei 4} rouxiAn tpodi) Tis arAijs edrenrorépa
Collocuntur Philo, Plutarchus, Philinus, Marcio


1. Tis ody rerdprns TOV ovutrotiKay Cntnpatwv
dexddos 7piv mp@Tov EOTAaL TO TrEpL THs. mouctAns
Tpophs Cnr bev. "Edad Bodic yap ovTwy eis
‘Ydprrohw emt THY copTay dduxvoupevous pas
etotia Didwy 6 iatpos €k mapacKevts Twos, ws
> / a 3 29°\ A ~ / ~_4
epaiveto, veavixys.® idwv de Tav mradiwy Tov
v ~ / 5 \ / 6 / ” \
apa T@ Dirivw® ro véov’ dptw Xpaevov dAAou Se

A / «¢ @ ” “ae a >
pndevos Sedpevor, “HpakdAes,” €dn, “ Todt

1 +o added by Hubert.

2 So Reiske: edrumdrarov.

3 So Reiske: veavixds, defended by Hubert, cf. 686 pv.

4 +Gv madiwv tov Wyttenbach: 70 wadiov. Perhaps rot
mrardiow.

5 So Xylander or Amyot: ¢ilwu.

5 +0 vewrepov Hartman, De Avondzon des Heidendoms, i*,
p. 181: dv véov (ro Reiske). twa véov Warmington, pdvov
Post. Perhaps povw or tov €repov.





@ Tmitated by Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 4 and 5.
» Dedicated to Artemis the Huntress, attested for Hyam-
polis in Inscriptiones Graecae, ix. 90.


294











TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 660


iron by cooling it down, and thus gives the right ten-
sile strength to the metal during the softening and
shaping process, so table-talk prevents the complete
dissipation of the drinkers’ minds under the influence
of the wine. Conversation steadies those who drink,

through relaxation an element of gaiety and
—yes—of kindly sociability, if people go about it in
the right way, since the wine makes the company
pliable and ready to take an impression, as it were,
from the seal of friendship.


QUESTION 14


Whether a variety of food is more easily digested than
one kind alone


Speakers: Philo, Plutarch, Philinus, and Marcion


1. Tue first in our fourth decade of convivial questions
shall be the discussion we had concerning variety in
diet on the occasion of a banquet during the festival
of the Elaphebolia,’ for which we had gone to Hyam-
lis.© On our arrival there we were entertained at
dinner by Philo ¢ the physician, who, as we saw, had
provided a mighty feast for us. Our host, having
noticed that one of the young boys who came with
Philinus ° took bread and wanted nothing else, ex-
claimed,‘ Good Lord! So this is what the proverb
¢ Near Abae in Phocis.

4 Cf. above, Table-Talk, ii. 6. 2, p. 640 p, and below, vi. 2
and viii. 9; RE, xx. 60, no. 61.

e Cf. above, Table-Talk, i. 6, and below, viii. 7; and De
Pythiae Oraculis with Flacelitre’s Introduction, pp. 25 ff.
See RE, xxi. 681, s.v. “ Plutarchos.” A later descendant of
Philinus seems to be known: Hesperia xi. 71, no. 37. J. J.
Hartman, De Plut. Script. et Phil. pp. 384 f.. identifies
7a madia as students, the perpdxra pirocodoivra of Table-Talk,
iii. 7, 655 F.

295


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(660) dp’ Av To Aeyopevov
ev 5€ Aidows eudyovto, AiMov 8 odK Hv avede-
aba.”

E xai avermdnoev oicdpevos Te TOV ypnoiwwv eKe-
vous, €l0” Axe wera ypdvov cvyvov iayddas adtois
Twas Kal TUpoV Kopilwr.

> ~ > > / @ ~ / 7 A
Epot & eimdvros, étt TodTo ovpBaiver tots Ta
TepitTa Kat moAuTEAH apackevalopevois, apedetv
Kat omavilew TOV avayKaiwy Kal ypnoiwewv, “ od
A > /, 3) ¢ / cog /
yap eneuvynv,” elev 6 Didwyv, “ ott Lacaorpov
c a ¢ / 1 a 7 , / /
nptv drrotpeder’ Didtvos, dv dact pHATE TOTW xpHnGA-
iAA IT €0€ Anv® yar d1a Pid
pevov dAdw pnt ed€opate tAnv*® ydAaktos S1aPia-
, \ , > > > / \ > ~
cau mavta Tov Biov: add’ éxeivw pev ex peTaBodA;s
apxynv yevéeobar THs Tova’Tys Suaityns €iKds: TOV O°
¢ / > / ~ > a / ¢ /
nLETEpov avTioTpodws TO “AyiAAet tpédwv 6 Xei-
pwv odtos edOds amo Tis yeveoews avamaKros® Kal

F apdyous* tpodais otk dxpav amdderEw mapéyer” ev
aép. kal Spdow® Kabdmep ot rétTuyes ovroupevov;”’

1 6 deleted by Benseler before Dirtvos.

2 7 deleted by Bernardakis before yaAaxros.

3 So Stephanus, Wyttenbach: dvauarors.
kat asdyors Wyttenbach : lac. 5-6 yous.
mapexer Post: ێyer. Post would continue (ede? yap &
or €v povov?), aépr, and either avrod cirovpevov or (with
Wyttenbach) ocrovpevov, inserting an article before amddeéw.
Madvig proposes ovx eis paxpav azodeifer, omitting Eyer.

8 Aéyovor omitted after Spdcw. Bernardakis proposes as

A€yovar or Kabdzmep A€yovat tods TérTLyas. .


ao





¢ Part of a riddle referring to shipwreck on a reef. The
riddle is quoted by Athenaeus (x, 457 B) as containing this line
along with the original of Coleridge’s “ Water, water every-
where, nor any drop to drink.’’ See Gulick on Athenaeus
(LCL), iv, pp. 572-575.

> Wyttenbach cites Amyot and the Codices Vulcobius and


296





fi


TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 660


means :
Mid stones they fought, but couldn’t lift a stone.” *


With that he rushed out to get them something that
they could eat. After a long time he came back with
a few dried figs and some cheese for them.

“This,” I remarked, “ is what happens when people
provide elaborate and costly fare. They’re prone to
be negligent and run out of the staple and essential
items.” To this Philo rejoined, “ True enough. It had
slipped my mind that Philinus has been bringing up
among us a Sosaster,? who they say never took any
food or drink but milk during his whole life. But the
original Sosaster must have turned to this diet from
an earlier one, whereas our young friend, unlike
Achilles,* has been fed bloodless and vegetarian food
by his Cheiron here from birth. Isn’t he giving a
splendid illustration of a person fed as they say
cicadas @ are on dew and air?”


B ding “* Zoroaster,” whose name is retained by Kalt-
wasser and Ricard in their translations. A slight degree of
support for this interpretation may be found in Pliny, xi. 97.
242, where Zoroaster is all to have lived on cheese for
twenty years. Cf. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Ancient Philo-
sophers, Prologue, 7 and 8, with R. D. Hicks’s note in Dio-
genes Laertius (LCL), i, p. 8. Sosaster is unknown, but he
may be identical with an obscure character in Iamblichus’s
Life of Pythagoras, 267. Sostratos (RE, Suppl. viii. 782)
appears to have lived about a century later.

* Achilles was fed on meat from the start by Cheiron:
Apollodorus, iii. 13. 6; Statius, Achilleid, ii. 382 (ii. 96 ff.) ;
J. D. Beazley, Development of Attic Black-Figure, pp. 10 f.

4 For the belief that cicadas need no food see Plato, Phae-
drus, 259 c, Aristophanes, Clouds, 1360; Aristotle, Historia
Animal, 532 b; Hesiod, Shield, 393. Pliny’s explanation is
found in Nat. Hist. xi. 32. 92 ff. See also RE, s.v. “* Tettix,”’
cols. 1116 f., and now E. K. Borthwick in Class. Quart. N.S.
xvi (1966), pp. 103 ff.


VOL, VIII L* 297


(660)


661


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


‘“ “Hyets pev obv,”” 6 Didtvos elev, “ Hyvoodpev
‘Exatoppovia Sevrvycovtes Womep én” *“Aprotope-
vous’ Emel Taphuev’ av oa TOV ATV Kal vyvawvor-

LA a
Twv, womep adc~ipdppaka, mpos ovTw moAuTEA€ts
kat gdeypawovaas tpamélas mrepiaydpevor Kai
TadtTa, cov’ moAAdKis akynKOOTES OTL TOV TrOLKiAWwY

4 ote Sei a\r ” a SS 13. Se ”
Ta a7AG addov evrrent’ eotiv Kal® edrdpioTa.

Kai 6 Mapkiwv mpos tov Didwva, “ diadbeiper
cov Didjtvos,” edn, “ Tv TapacKeuny, arotpéemwv

\ / \ / > > ” > ~
Kat deditTOpevos Tovs Saitupdvas: GAN’ av euod
denbfs, €yyvijcopat mpos adtods brép aod tiv
moukiAny tpodyv evmemtotéepay elvar THs amAjs,
wate Gappodvtas amodavew THv Tmapakepevwr.”
¢ A ss / > a ~ , 4
6 pev ovv Dilwy édeito Tob Mapkiwvos otTw
TrOLEtV.

2. *Ezei & sets ravodpevor Tob Seumveiv mpoc-

, \ A > / ~ /

exadovpeba tov Dirivov émibéobar TH Katnyopia

~ er ~ ce > > / > 9?) t «eee
THs touKkiAns Ttpodijs, ovK euos, " elmer,

~ ? > > ¢ \ / c / / \
ud0os’ arr’ odtoot Didwv Eexdorotre Heyer mpos
Has, OTe mp@tov pev Ta Onpia tpodpais povoedear
Kat atrAats ypwpeva pwadAdov tyiaiver TOV avOpw-

av A , / > ~

mwv: doa d€ oaitevovor Kaleip£avres, éemadart

mTpos Tas vooous €oTl Kal padiws Tais w@pdoTnow

dAiokerat dua TO pLKTHY TWA Kal ovvndvaoperny
\ , 4 , 2201 7

tpodnv mpoodepecba.* Sevrepov oddels yéeyovev

ovUTw Tav iatp&v mapatoApos év KawvoTopia Kai

1 So Leonicus: zap jpiv.

2 So Wyttenbach: ov.

3 So Wyttenbach: 7. Perhaps é7: € xai or cai 82 Kal, or
dpa Kal.


4 So Stephanus: mpodépecbar.





@ Literally ‘ the slaying of a hundred enemies,”’ a sacrifice


298








oT


TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 660-661


“* But we,” answered Philinus, ““ weren’t aware that
we had been invited to a banquet to celebrate the
hekatomphonia,’? as in Aristomenes’s time. Other-
wise we should have come furnished with some simple,
wholesome food as with an amulet and an antidote
against such luxurious and unhealthy eating. What
is more, we have often heard you say that simple food
is more digestible than an elaborate variety, as well
as easier to obtain.”

Here Marcion interposed, “ Philo, Philinus is ruin-
ing all your efforts by discouraging and frightening
away your guests ; but if you entreat me, I'll guaran-
tee to them all for you that mixed food is more digest-
ible than simple, so that your guests need have no
eet age about enjoying what is set before them
here.” Philo accordingly did entreat Marcion to do
so.

2. So when we had finished dinner, we called upon
Philinus to open the charge against variety of food ;
but he answered, ‘‘ “ Not mine the argument.’? It’s
Philo here who tells us on every occasion that, for
one thing, animals by always sticking to simple, uni-
form food are generally healthier than human beings.
Moreover, those that are fattened in pens are liable
to disease and fall an easy prey to crude humours
because the fodder that they consume is mixed and
richly flavoured. In the second place, no physician
has ever been so foolhardy an innovator, so courage-


performed among the Messenians by one who had personally
slain one hundred enemies in combat. Aristomenes, in the
7th century, is said to have celebrated this feat three times.
See Pausanias, iv. 14 ff., 19. 3; Plutarch, Life of Romulus,
xxy. 3; RE, vii. 2790 and ii. 947, no. 1.
> Literally ‘‘ the tale’’: from Euripides’s Melanippé, frag.
484 (Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag. p. 511).
299


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(661) avdpetos, Wore motkiAnv tpodijv mupéttovTt mpoo-
eveyKeiv' aAAd THY amAfv Kal dkvicov ws d7HKOOV
pddiota TH méber mpoodépovow. de? yap trabeiv

C riv tpodnv Kai wetaBareiv Kparnfetoay to TaV
> c a / a \ \ \ ~ c an
ev nptv duvapewv: Kpatet de Kai Pad TOv amAdv

~ ~~ /
ypwudatwr padXov, Kal pupeyiKots papuaKots Tpe-
ETAL TAYLOTA TO GwdeoTaTov EAaLov, Kal TpOdis
> / eA , , $4) A ey \
eirabéctatov bo mépews petaBadrdew* TO adedes
Kal povoedes. at dé moAAal Kai rrouKiAas moLoTHTES
dmevavTwwoes Exovoa Kal Svopaxotaa Pleipovrat
mpOTEpov mpoomimtovoa, Kabamep év moAci puyd-
\ / > 7 ~ > ¢ /

dwv Kal ovykdAviwv avipwirwrv mAnbos ob} padiws
plav odd’ oporabobcav icyovoa Kataotaow, aA’
EKGOTN TpOs TO OiKElov avTiTeivovoa Kal Svcovp-
> A \ > / > \ A

Batos ovaa mpos To aAdAddvdov. eudaves Se

D Texpnpiov TO mept Tov olvov: at yap aAdAowiat
Aeyomevat TaXLoTa peOvoxovow, drreibia 5S otvou
TpooéouKev 7 peOn: S10 pevyovar TOV HEpLy HEVvoV
olvoy ot miVOVTES, ot Oe pvyvvovres Tetp@vTau
AavOdvew ws émBovdrevovtes, exoTaTLKOV yap 1

\ \ is 3s ¥ ¢ ‘ \
petaBory Kal TO° avwpadov. dev mov Kai Tas
a ¢ ~
modvyopdias peta moAAfs ot frovotkol Kwodow
. 7 4 291 ” \ ” \ ,
evAaBeias, ais* oddév dAdo KaKov TO pLKTOV
€ott Kal troikidov. éyw 8 éxeiv’ Eyw eizeiv, oT,
1 So Turnebus: edwdéorarov.
2 So Wyttenbach : peraBadAet.


3 76 added by Reiske.
4 ais added by Xylander.





* Or “ unseasoned.” Cf. De Tuenda Sanitate, 123 8 (LCL
Mor. ii, pp. 220-221),

» A relevant point is made by Plato in speaking of dyeing
in Republic, 429 p-£, with which Adam aptly compares


300








~ } ohare ee y ul
nn


TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 661


ous a man, as to prescribe a varied diet for fevered


patients ; all give them a simple, fat-free ¢ diet as
the most easily digestible. For the food has to be


>5


acted upon and to suffer a change by subjection to
our internal processes. In dyeing? also, simple
colours are more likely to be fast ; and in perfumery
the most scentless oil is most quickly blended ; thus
simple and homogeneous nutriment is most easily
converted in the process of digestion.© When a
number of divergent qualities in food are united,
essentially opposed and clashing as they are, they
encounter each other prematurely and are destroyed.
Like a mob of ill-assorted riffraffin a community, these
elements cannot easily establish unity and harmoni-
ous order among themselves, but each pulls in its
own direction, and will not come to terms with an
alien kind. Wine offers a clear proof : the mixture of
several wines together, the so-called alloinia, quickly
intoxicates, and intoxication is like a kind of indiges-
tion with respect to wine. Drinkers, for this reason,
avoid a mixture of wines,’ and those who mix wines
try to conceal the wily practice, Change and ir-
regularity are disruptive. This no doubt explains
why musicians too are very cautious about striking a
combination of notes together ; yet the only thing
wrong about it is the combination itself and the
bizarre effect. So I for my part am justified in what
Timaeus, 50 p-x, where essentially the same point is supported
by an analogy from perfume-making.

¢ Or “ more easily absorbed’? With simple dyestuffs
are contrasted, for instance, the prevalent dibapha, ** double-
dyed”: Pliny, Nat. Hist. ix. 63: 137.

4 Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxiii. 24. 45: ‘* misceri plura
genera [of wine] omnibus inutile,’ and Aristotle, Rhetoric,
iii. 2..4, with Cope’s note: such artifice puts one on one’s
guard as against a plotter.

301


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


e “19 r ¢ , , 2 4 ,
(661) paddov av’ €k Adywv UrevavTiwv yevorr ay mors
Kat ovyxatabeais® 7) 7réus €x Suapopwy TOLOTHTOWY.
“Ei de bn! Soka mrailev, TadT édoas emt TO,
E MiAwvos ave. modrdAdKis yap aKovouev avtob
Aéyovtos, ws emt’ mowdTnT. tpodhs ylyvetau To
SvomemTov Kal EUTETITOV,” 7” Oe° mroAupuyta. BAaBepov
> ‘ A ‘
Kat yovywov adAAoKdTwY oLOoTHTwWY, Kal det TO

, > , , fn ‘ /

avpdvrov ex treipas AaBovrTa ypHobat Kai oréepyew.
> \ / 4, > / > A api > \
et de ddoer SVoTreTTOV oddev, aAAa TAHOds eat TO
Tapaccov Kai PUeipov, ert uGAdov oluat Ta travTo-
Sara Tatra Kat mouxida devetéov, ols aptiws
nas 6 Didwvos disorrods wo7rep _avritexvos avrod
karepapparrer, eLadrdrreoy TH KaWornTe Kal
petaBoAn Hv dpegww ovK dmayopevovcay, | aAd’


ayomevnv én ada Kal mapexBatvovoay ev TO


ToukiAw TO jLéTpLoV" Kal avrapKes, Hatmrep 6 THs


‘Yyu)adAns® tpodyos exetvos®


¥ erepov ed ETEpov aipomevos””
aypevp’ avOéwv" Adoueva vy,


A , ” >
TO vimiov” dmAnotos éuv™®


emt mAciorov e€avbiletar Tod Aeyudvos.
‘°’Evratéa 5€ cal tod Mwxpdtovs dpa o-
p pea pevnps


1 Lacuna after dv, perhaps av<@padmois> Bernardakis.

. So Turnebus, Vulcobius : xaTdbeats.

3 be 57) Reiske, Wyttenbach, é iva dé 7) Xylander, Amyot:
ei Se ya. 4 éret Wyttenbach, ec Meziriacus.
Kal evrrerrov added by Hubert.

. de added by Madvigs, Hubert, ve Bernardakis.

7 +d pérpiov supplied by Turnebus : : lac. 4.

8 So Turnebus, cf. 93 p: «a lac. 1-2 wvAns.

® So Kronenberg, cf. 691 p: lac. soe) vos.

° So Turnebus, Stephanus (颔 érépw), eg 93 D: _ederépas
i€wevos. 1 So Turnebus, Stephanus, ¢f. 93 D: dv ow-.


302


ry











TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 661


I said, because persuasion and agreement can sooner
be reached by conflicting statements than good diges-
tion by foods of divergent types.

“ But if this seems frivolous, I shall drop it and
get back to Philo’s views. We often hear him say
that good or bad digestion depends on the nature of
the food consumed, and that a combination of mis-
cellaneous viands is harmful and engenders adverse
conditions. We must learn by experience what foods
go together and be content to use them. But if
nothing is of itself indigestible, and it is only the
quantity that causes disorder and harm, then I think
that we should all the more avoid the multifarious
variety with which Philo’s cook has just drugged us.
This he does as if to set his skill in opposition to
Philo’s, altering our appetite by novelty and change,
not letting it be appeased, but ever leading it on to
something else, and causing it to exceed what is
reasonable and self-sufficient by colourful variety. So
our cook is like the nursling of Hypsipylé,* as he
gathers flowers far and wide through the meadow :


Flower after flower he plucked,
Garnering his catch with rejoicing heart,
Never satisfied—the child !


** In this connection we must also recall Socrates’s °


- cet age of King Thoas of Lemnos who; being enslaved,
ai e nurse of Opheltes, son of King Lycurgus of

emea.

» Euripides, frag. 754 from the Hypsipylé (Nauck, Trag.

. Frag.). See now G. W. Bond's edition, Oxford, 1963,
pp. 34 f. and 91 f. Opheltes is bitten by a snake and dies.

* Xenophon, Memorabilia, i. 3. 6.





12 So Turnebus, Stephanus from 93 p: lac. 3-4 yymov.
18 GmAnotos edv (sic) T, dxpnorov Exwv Mss. at 93 D.


303


(661)


662


C


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/ / / ~ "A
vevTéov, TapaKkeAevopevov durdrrecba TOV Bowpd-
\ nn
Twv ola Tovs py TewavrTas eobiew avarretOer, cis
b] A > 7. A \ \ / b lal
ovdev add’ 7) TO Tavtodamov Kal toiKkiAov evAafei-
aba Kat dedtévar THY ovriwy Tmapawvobdvtos. TodTO
~ \ /
yap moppwrépw eEayer THs xpelas THY amdAav-
aw ev Yeduaow év axpoduaow ev adpodiciots ev
maiais amdcas Kal diatpiBais, davadapBavo-
Levyv bio TOO mepitToo TroAXds apyas €xovTos: ev
dé tats amdAais Kal povotpdmois Hdovais od map-
exPaiver THY ddaw H Oéd€is. OAws dé pou SoKet
paArXrov av tis tropetvar moAvyopdiav povaiKov
> ~ \ / > / >! /
evrawvobvTa Kat pupadopiav adeimrny 7 trodvorsiav
larpov' at yap eéxtpomal Kat petaBoAat tis eis
¢ 7 > , > , II]
dylevay edbeias exBiBalovow.
3. Tod d€ DiAiwvov tadr’ eimdvtos, 6 Mapxiwv
edn Soxeiv adt@ TH Uwkpdtous éveyecbar Katdapa
7) Pie P ye-1F8 x PR
/ \ ~ ~
pn povov tovs To Avoitedes amd TOD Kadod
/ bd] \ \ \ ¢ \ / > \
xwpilovras, adAAa Kal Tods Hdoviv SuoTdvras amo
Ths vyveias, ws avTiTaTToMevnv avTH Kai moXe-
~ ~ ~ ,
podcav odxt waAdov ovvepyotoav: “‘ opikpa yap,’
” ce % e 7 ~ > 4 >
eon, ‘Kal dkovres ws Buaotdtw T&v dpyavwv aA-
8 / / 0 ~ a LAA Ts) \ a” Ade
yndove mpooxypHpela: TOv 5 GAAwY oddels av obd€
, > , A ¢ / > A A A
BovAdpevos amw@caito THY HSovHV, GAAGd Kal Tpodais
Kal Umvois Kal rept AovTpa Kal ddAEeiwpara Kal
KatakAicets adel mapeoTw Kal ovvexdéxyeTar Kal
ouventiOnvetrar Tov Kdpvovta, TOAAG TH oikeiw
\ ‘ , . Reiger cal ds 7 7
kat Kata pvow e€apavpodca® 76 aAAdtpiov. rota
A > ra / ” ~ la 4
yap adyndav, tis evdera, trotov SnAnTiHpiov odtw


1 So Reiske: éxPidfovow. * So Stephanus :€apavpourra.


304


TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 661-662


_ admonition to beware of those dishes that tempt
__ people to eat when they're not hungry ; apparently
| fe ts simply urging us to be cautious and wary of
variety and mixing of foods. Such variety encourages

_ indulgence far beyond need in sights and sounds, sex,
or in any kind of sport and pastime, because it adds


_ certain elements which renew the pleasure by their








numerous stimuli. On the other hand, in simple,
uniform pleasures no charm or magic induces us to
overstep the bounds of nature. In general, I should
sooner expect people to tolerate a musician who finds
a jumble of mixed sounds acceptable or a gymnastic
trainer who accepts scented oils, than a physician who
mmends a combination of many meats. For the
detours and changes in such a diet divert us from the
straight road to health,”’
3. When Philinus had ended, Marcion said that in
his view the imprecation of Socrates * falls not only
those who detach interest from honour, but
upon those who divorce pleasure from health, as if it
were an opposing and hostile force instead of a sup-
porting one. “ We have recourse to pain in treating
the sick only sparingly and reluctantly, for it is ex-
cessively violent ; from all other therapy no one could
remove pleasure, evenifhe wished. Eating, sleeping,
bathing, anointing and resting on a couch are all
attended by pleasure, which does its part to support
and nursé a man back to health, weakening the
abnormal and extraneous by providing abundance of
what is normal and proper. What pain, what deple-
tion, what poison ® can so easily and simply break up
® Stoic. Vet. Frag. i. 558; Cicero, De Offeiis, iii. 3. 11.
Socrates is said to have habitually invoked a curse upon those


who considered expediency and honour incompatible.
\” More literally “‘ destructive, harmful agent.”


305


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(662) padiws Kal adeAds vocov eAvoev, ws AovTpov ev
Kaip@ yevomevov Kai olvos Sobeis Seopevois; Kai
tpod?) mapeNMotoa pel” Hdovns edOds edAvoe Ta
Svoxeph wavTa Kal KatéoTyoeEV eis TO oikEiov THY

, d 2Q7 ‘ , / ¢
gvow, Womrep evdias Kal yadrnvyns yevouevns. at
dé dia TOV emimdvwv Borfevar poyis Kat Kata
uKkpov avvovat, xarerOs expoxAevovoat Kal mpoc-
Bralopevar tHv dvow. odK av odv Huds diaBaAor

A > 4 ») e / ¢ / > > 4 \
Mirivos, ef un) TA totia Exdrep’ emapdpevor THV
€ 4 , > \ 4 ‘ e la ‘
noovnv devyouev, aAAG Treip@pucOa TO HdEWs Kal
D byrewds eupeAdotepov 7 Ws evior diddaodor TO
ndews Kal KaA@s ovvoiKeLody.
‘““Eddds obv mepi TO mp@tov, @ Didive, TOV €m-
/ a“ ~ \ / ~
yeupnudtwv Soxeis pou duefedoGar, ta Onpia trav
> , ¢ / a ~ \ ~
avOpwmwv amAovortépats Tpodais ypHo8a Kai paa-
e / e / b] / A > ,
Aov byraivew trotieyevos. ovdd€étepov yap adnbés
eoTtw: GAXa TH pev at trap’ Edaddidos alyes avri-
~ ~ \ ~ 4
pLapTupovow, duvotaa THY TpoPpHy Ws Tappuyh Kat


/ > 4 /
ToLKiAnv ovaay, OUTWS ws A€youcat


/ a= aw, > ‘\ ~ > , ,
BookopeO” vAns amo mavrodamis, €Aadtns mpivouv
KOLapou TE
, ¢ 4 > , A ‘ ,
mtoplous amadovs amoTparyoudat, Kal mpos Tov-
Mee
totow eT aAdAa,*


1 So Xylander: é7 lac. 3-4, T, éyaMonv ms. of Macrobius,
Saturnalia, vii. 5. 9, tovrowi ye OaddAcv Meineke, J. M.


306











TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 662


a disease as a bath at the right time or wine provided


when the patient needs it ? Nourishment taken with
pleasure can quickly soothe all discomfort and set
nature to rights, as when clear sky and calm sea
have returned after a storm. Painful remedies work
slowly and are rarely successful, harshly wrenching
and doing violence to nature. Philinus, then, cannot
give us a bad name ? merely for refusing to hoist both
sails and run for it to escape pleasure. Rather. we
are trying to reconcile the concepts ‘ pleasant ’ and
“healthy ’ more reasonably and appropriately than
some philosophers do ‘ pleasant ’ and ‘ honourable.’
“Your very first argument, Philidus, is fallacious, it
seems to me, when you begin by assuming that animals
thrive on a simpler diet and are healthier than men.


For neither point is valid. Eupolis’s ® goats testify


against the first, when they chant the praises of their
diet as being all-inclusive and of wondrous variety. I
think the lines run as follows :


For we feed on every kind of tree °: silver-fir, kermes-
oak, arbute-tree,
Chewing off the tender shoots ; and others too besides—


* Or “ set us at variance.”

> Eupolis, frag. 14 (Kock) and J. M. Edmonds, Fragments
of Attic Comedy, vol. i (1957), pp. 319 ff., The Goats. Eupolis
was a writer of. Old Attic Comedy, notus omnibus according
to Macrobius (Saturnalia, vii. 5. 8 with citation of the same
fragment).

* Botanical identifications are notoriously problematic.
See Sir Arthur Hort’s edition of Theophrastus, Hist. Plant.
(LCL) with its admirable index of plants. See also Edmonds’s
note on the fragment.


Edmonds, Mog. of Attic Comedy, i, p. 320 (ef. Athenaeus,
582 f, 587 a, Harpocration, s.v. Ndvwov, Plut. Mor. 30 c-p),
tovrots TiYOdpadAov Bergk, Eyssenhardt (‘‘ spurge *’), dAdnv re
Warmington.





307


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(662) Kuriodv 7 7d€ oddkov' edadn Kal opidaKca tiv"
E Todbpudrov,
KOTWoVv, oxivov, pediav, AedKV,* dpiay,* dpov,
KiTTOV, Epikny,®
mpoparov, pauvov, drdpuov, avbépixov, Kiobor,
dnyov, Opa,’ OduBpav:


Ta. yap karnpbpunpeva pupias Sizrov dvadopas
exe Xupav Kal dduav Kat dvvdewv: aR de
TOV elpnévwv maparéAemrar.

“To be devtepov “Opnpos abete? padXov ep
Teipws, Ta AowiKka aby Tp@Tov darecba Tov
adoywv arodawopevos. Katynyopet 8 at’tav Kai
» Bpaxtdtns tod Biov To émiknpov Kal voo@des:
ovdev yap ws elmeivy modvypovuov é€otw, TAnV et
dain Tis Kopaka Kal Kopwrnv, a 67 mapdaya 7

F é6vra Kat mdons amropeva Tpodhs op@ev.

“Kai pay Kal TH TOv voootvtwy diaitn KaAds
€mroleis Ta eUTEeTTA Kal SUVoTETTA TEKMALPOMEVOS*
Kal yap Tovos Kal yupvdowa Kal’ TO Siaipety THY

\ ” 10 , > > € , \ A
663 tpodyyv evmerta’’ pev eotw, ody apuoler de Tots

1 So Bodaeus Stapelius: da lac. 5-8 T, dac.xov ms. of
Macrobius. 2 iv Macrobius: omitted in T. )

3 So in Macrobius : exivov.

4 So Kock: mevKyy Macrobius, omitted in T.

5 So Lobeck: dAtav Macrobius, omitted in T.

§ So Macrobius : pupixny.

; ; Soi in Macrobius: omitted in T.

8 xopwrnv added in Basel edition to fill lac. 3-4.T;. ¢.
Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 5. 11 “‘ cornicibus.”
9 Kara Post, eis Hubert, dua. Franke.
» ouvepyd or wextixa. Hubert, but he allows an “ active ”


sense to evzenrta; cf. Gulick in A.J.P. lx, pp. 493 f. on
dAxysos (669 B) and Avopos.





“ Or holm oak or yew. Smilax or milax seems to have been
308








TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 662-663


_Tree-medick and fragrant sage and leafy bindweed,*
- Wild olive, mastic, manna ash, poplar, cork, common oak,
ivy, and heath,
Promalus,’ boxthorn, mullein,” asphodel, rock rose, va-
_ lonia oak, thyme, and savory.


The plants enumerated here surely have thousands
of different flavours, fragrances, and other properties ;
and Eupolis has omitted more than he has named.

“Your second point is refuted by Homer,’ because
of his truer observation of nature, when he represents
the nlsgne as attacking animals first. The very short-
ness of their life-span betrays how susceptible they
are to death and disease. Practically none of them
is long-lived, unless you wish to cite ravens or crows,
which we see omnivorously snapping up every kind
of food that they come upon.

“Moreover, it was kind’ of you to distinguish
digestible from indigestible foods by reference to the
diet of the sick. For exertion, exercise and the use of
different foods ’ promote digestion, yet they are not


a name applied to two or three very different plants. Cf.
Theophrastus, Hist. Plant, iii. 16. 2 and 18. 11; and Pliny,
Nat. Hist. xvi. 19 and 153. The yew is a poisonous conifer
whose leaves are said to be very injurious to cattle: see Pliny,
Nat. Hist. xvi. 50 f. Hence, though leafy, the taxi nocentes of
Virgil, Georgies, ii. 257, appear unlikely as food for goats.

> Perhaps a kind of willow. See Athenaeus, xv, 673 b-c,

ius Rhodius, iii. 201, with Mooney’s note.

¢ Probably “ comfrey,” Andrews. # Jliad, i. 46-50.

© De Iside, 371 8, has the same sequence of Greek words in
Xylander’s emendation.

? i.e., to me (a way of saying “ thank you for arguing on
my side.”’) The meaning may, however, be “ it was intelli-
gent of you.”

9 Or “ dividing the nourishment,” i.¢., eating twice a day.
Cf. (with L. Edelstein) Celsus, i. 1. Bernardakis compares
689 pv on the process of digestion. With Post’s reading the
sense would be ‘ by helping to break up the food.”

309


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(663) zupérrovot. thy d€ paynv Kal TV Svapopav Tijs
TrouKiAns Tpopis dAoyes edediers. eiTeE yap €f 0 o-
potwr" avadapBdver 70 oiketov 7 dtats Kal® eis TOV
* > / ¢ / A \ ~
oyKxov atbTolev 7 mroixiAn tpody mroAdds pefeioa
mowTnTas €€ €auTHs EKdoTwW [Leper TO mpdadopov
> / ¢ / \ a > /
avadidwow, wore yiyvecbar To Tod ’EpmredoxAéovs


¢ {> 4s \ , \ >> 4 i
ws yAvKd pev® yAvKd pdprte, muKpov 8° émi miKpov
Opovoer,

0&0 8° én’ 0&0 EBn,* dadepov dadepod Ad Ber’ Axa,”
Tov d€ Kat dAAwv TO mpdcdopov emmevovTwr,® TH
Oepuornt. €v TH mvedpatr Tob plypatos oKeda-

B obévros, Ta oikela Tots ovyyevéow EmeTat* TO yap
oUTWS TrAaypLyes CMa Kal TravnyupLKoV, ws TO
¢ / > / Md “a ” ~ n“
nEeTEpov, eK TroiKiAns VAns Adyov exer paAAov 7
amAjs ovvepavilecbar Kai avarrAnpodv thy Kpaow.

ce Ez \ Ye Ses / > > ¢ Xr / /
ite pq) TOUT eoTiv, aA’ » Kadovpevyn méyus
aAAowobv méduxev Kai petaBaddew thy Ttpodyv, év
T@ ToukiAw Tobto ovpBycerar OGrrov Kal KdAAov-
> \ \ e \ a ¢ / %. @ ¢ > > Ul
amabeés yap b70 Tob opolov To dpo.ov, 1) 8° avti-
Takis Kal Sagopa padov etiornot Th mpos TO
évaytiov pike. Tas mover nT AS a7ropapaivomevas.

“Ki & 6Aws 7O puxtov abereis Kai trotkiAov, &

Dirive, pr) Seurvilovtra pnd’ dxorrovodvTa povov


1 dvopoiwy Wyttenbach, opolwy cai dvopoiwy Reiske, Hart-
man.
‘ Wyttenbach would delete xai.
3 émi after ev deleted by Xylander with Macrobius.
4 €Bn added by Xylander from Macrobius.
5 NaBer’ xa Paton: AaBerws T, Oeppov 8 éemoyxevero Bepud
Macrobius.


310





ee ee


TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 663


suitable for people who have a fever. Still, you were
not justified in being afraid of conflict and disagree-
ment in a variety of foods. For it may be that the
body naturally takes its specific nutriment from the
related elements in its foods, and that a varied meal
directly transmits into the system a multiplicity of
qualities that are distributed as required to each part
of the body. What happens is the process described
by Empedocles ¢ :


Sweet seized sweet, and bitter rose to meet bitter,
Sour went to sour, hot quickly caught up hot


—and as other elements likewise wait for their
counterparts, while the heat in the vital spirit dis-
solves the compound, the elements combine accord-
ing to their affinities. It is right to assume that so
completely heterogeneous an assemblage of elements
as our body must draw upon many different sub-
stances rather than any single one, in order to com-
plete the compound.

“On the other hand, if this is not so, but the
natural function of what we call ‘ digestion’ is
rather to alter and convert food, the alteration will
be accomplished better and more quickly with a
varied diet. For like is unaffected by like ; rather it
is opposition and contrast that, by the union of con-
traries, drive out certain qualities and make them
waste away.

“ If, however, you completely reject mixture and
variety, Philinus, then you mustn’t criticize Philo
* Frag. 90 (Diels). The lan f whol a
also Ghneciie Ryan Tawpeocieas efi Pier rap. 0) 3 nl

ptypa (Emped. a 32 and frag. 92).


8 shy Be Kal drwy 76 mpdcdopov empevdvrwy Post: (with-
out r&v) 5€ Kai ddAov lac. 4 émi rpdadopov pévovtos.





311


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(863) (5 Aowdopet DidAwva todrov, adAa zroAd padov, OTav
© ona TAS Baovducds kal dAcEvpappdous exeivas
-duvdpets, as ‘ Oedv yeipas’ avopalev “Epaoi-
otpatos, duéeAeyye’ tiv atomiav Kal meEplepyiar,
ood petaAduKa Kal BoraviKa Kat Onpiaka Kal Ta.
amo ys Kat Gaddatrns €is TO adTO CvyKEepavvdvTos’:
Kadov yap Tabr’ édoavtas év mriodvy Kal ota
Kal év ddpeAaiw THhv larpiKny arroAutrety.

‘“°AddXa vi) Ata 70 mrovkidrov ebayer Kat yontever
Thv ope€wv ov Kpatotoav éavTis’: Kal yap TO
Kabdpiov, @ Saove, Kal TO evoTomayov Kal TO
evades Kal dAws 7d Hdvov épédAKeTar Kat Trove?

D Bpwrikwrépovs Huds Kal motikwtépovs. Tt obdv
ovyl Kpiuvov pev Hueis avTl méATOU aTTOMEV avTi
5° domapdayou yirea Kat oxoAvpous TmapacKeva-
Copev, tov 8 avOoopiav amwodmevor TovTOVi Kal
Hueplonv aypwworepov mivowev ex Tifov, KwvaTrwv
Yop@ mepiaddopevov; dtu dains av od puynv odd
amodpacw dovis elvar thy byreury Siavtav, adda
mept HOovas peTpioTyTa Kal TaEw BrynKdw yxpw-
pevynv ope&er TOO aupdépovTos.

““Os dé AdBpov mvedua KvuBepvijrar moddXais
Lnxavais dropevyovow, Tavodpevov Se Kal wapay-
fev ovdels maAw éxpimica: Kat diacetca Svvatos

E €orw, ovtws mpos opeéw evorivar pev Kat KoAodcat
70 tAeovalov adbtis od pey’ epyov, dn 5é Kap-

1 So Leonicus : & éAéyyet.


2 So Turnebus : ovyxepavvivras.
3 So Basel edition : xv@dpror.





a ** Hands ”’ seems here to allude to the help or the power
of the gods (see Scribonius Largus, praef. init.), although


312








n a rae, a - a . ~ _— —





TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 663


here merely for his dinners and fine cooking. Far


better instead to expose his absurdity and wasted
ingenuity in compounding those kingly antidotes
that Erasistratus called ‘ the hands of gods,’ * and in
which he combines mineral, vegetable and animal in-
gredients, the products of both land and sea, in one
prescription. It would be a good thing to forget all
hat and confine medical practice to gruels, cupping,
and oil-and-water. |
. “But you say variety encourages and bewitches
appetite to such a point that it loses control of itself ;
res, but so, my dear fellow, do purity, wholesomeness
and fragrances. In short, anything that is especially
pleasing draws us on and makes us eat and drink
more than necessary. Why is it that we never pre-
pare a coarse barley-cake instead of porridge ? And
instead of asparagus why don’t we prepare horn
onions ? and golden thistles ? And why, spurning the
fine bouquet of mellow wine like this, do we not drink
coarse, inferior wine out of the cask—wine surrounded
by a choir of singing mosquitoes ? It is because, you
would answer, the healthy plan of life is not headlong
flight from pleasure, but, on the contrary, moderation
in the enjoyment of pleasure and an ordered pattern
that makes appetite the servant of welfare.
“ Navigators have many devices for escaping from
a violent storm, but once it has subsided and died
down, no one can fan it into fury again and renew its
turmoil. Just so, itis no great task to oppose appetite
and cut back its excesses, but a very grim and


later, in Oribasius and Alexander Trallianus, it refers to an
ointment with five ingredients.

» Getion or gethyon is so translated in the Oxford Greek-
English Lexicon, but identified as ‘‘ long onion” in LCL
Pliny, vol. vii, Index of Plants.

313


(663)


664


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


vovoav mpo Katpod Kai pwadbakilouevyny Kal azro-
Aeirovoay 70 oikelov evreivar Kal avalwrupioas
/ > e ~ ‘ , ¢ e
mayxdAerov, @ éTaipe, Kal Sdcepyov. dbev 2%
\ / ~ a
TrouktAn Tpop7 BeATiwv Tis amAfs Kal TO povoedés
€xovons mAjopov,’ dow pdov tordvar pepopevnv
\ ~ ~
Thv dvow 7) Kuvelv arrevtodoav. Kal pH, 6 ye
Aéyovai tives ws mAnopovn devKToTEpov evdeias,
b] > / > > A > / ” ‘
ovKk adAnbés éatiw aAAa TobvavTiov’ Et ye tAnopoV?)
7
bev, Orav eis POopdy twa reAevTHOH Kal vooor,
eBAarbev, evdera dé, kav dAdo pndev eLepyaonrar
/ » ae! > 2% \ 4 > ,
Kakov, adtn Kal” adrnv mapa dvow €otiv.
‘c \ A \ © 7 oF 2 , ”
Kai ratra pev ws avtixopda* Keicbw tots
¢€ A ~ / > ~ A Ass: iin
bo aod mrediAocodnpuevois. éxeivo S€ 7as* duds
, ‘ \ a. ti \ , m4 6¢ ‘ \
AeAnfev ‘ rods wept ada Kai Kvapov,’* OTL TO meV
, “O75 3 \ > « > , 6
moikiAov ydidv’ €oTt, TO 6 ydLov EvopEeKTOTEpoY,
\ > 27 ¢ , 7 ON \ e A
To 8 eddpextov wytewdrtepov,’ av tHv drepBodnv
\ ” 8 oF , A > A ‘
Kat tayav® adéAns; mpoodverar yap opy@vt Kal
Seyouevw TH owpati, THs dews mpoodomoovans:
\ s .)'s0 7 , 9 ‘2 , ”
To 8 avopextov mAavwpevov® Kai peuBdomevov 7
/ 2¢7 ¢ 4 “” / €-43) 69 ,
mavtanacw e&€€Barev 7 dvois 7 ports br’ evdeias
€atepev. exeivd por povov dvAatTe Kai euvygco,
\ / : > > > / ‘ 4
TO ToikiAov ws ovK év aBuptaKais Kat KavdvAois
1 So Stephanus: zAnoaiov.
2 So Basel edition : avriyopdis.
8 zs (T) and punctuation at end of sentence defended by
Sandbach, cf. 745 a.
4 So Stephanus: xvpuvor.


5 7dudv added by Stephanus, Amyot.
$ So Turnebus: evo lac. 8 repor.


314








TABLE-TALK IV. 1, 663-664


difficult one indeed, my friend, to intensify it and re-
kindle its spark, if it has weakened prematurely,
grown soft and abandoned its proper function. For
this reason variety is better at a meal than simplicity
and monotony that is merely filling—as much better
as it is easier to halt nature in full course than to start
it moving again after it has lost momentum. Further-
more, the claim made in certain quarters, that reple-
tion is more to be avoided than deficiency, is not true ;
quite the contrary. Granted that repletion when it
culminates in some form of impairment or disease is
harmful ; still, deficiency, even without any other ill
effect, is in and of itself contrary to nature.

“ Let this be my antiphonal response, so to speak,
to your speculations. But how can you advocates of
beans and salt * have missed the point that variety is
more agreeable, and that the more agreeable is the
more appetizing, and the more appetizing is the more
healthful, if you prune away superfluity and excess ?
For delicious variety of foods is eagerly assimilated
by the body if it is aroused and made receptive under
the influence of the sense of sight. The unappetizing,
on the other hand, wanders aimlessly in the system,
and nature either expels it altogether, or puts up with
it reluctantly because of necessity. Only please keep
this one thing in mind without fail, that variety is not
confined to fancy sauces, like abyrtaké, kandylos,


* A play on words. The proper meaning of this proverbial
phrase seems to have been “ intimate friends ” ; here it has
also a loose application to advocates of a simple diet. See
below, Book V, Question 10, with note on 684 rE.


? 70 8 eddpexrov byveworepov added by Paton.

8 So Bernardakis: dep lac. 6 av 'T, bmepBodjy Kai modv-
¢ayiavy Turnebus.

® aAavwpevov added by Amyot, Meziriacus to fill lac. 6.


315





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(664) kal KapvKais €oriv: aAAa Tatra pev Tepiepya Kal
omeppoAoyika, mouktAiav dé Kal TlAdtwv mapéyer
tois KaAots Kat ‘yevvatous eKeivois mroiras, Tapa-
Tels BodBous, éAaias, Adyava, Tupdor, évjpara'
mavrodard, ™mpos d€ TovToLs ovde TpaynaTwY a-
fLoipous tepiopa Seurvobvras.”’


IIPOBAHMA B


Aca ti 7a vdva Soxet Th, Bpovrij yiveoBat, Kal d.a. ti Tovs
Kabevdovras olovrat un KEepavvotobar


Collocuntur Agemachus, Plutarchus, Dorotheus, alii


B 1. “Ydva rappeyeOn Seirvotow tpiv “Ayéeuayos
4 ev "HAs. Gavualovrwr d€ TOv tapov-
mapeOnkev ev ”HAde a p
Twv, Eby TLS drropedidaas, “ aéud ye TOV Bpovray
TOV evaryxos YEVOLEVOOY ws 5) KkatayeA@v TaV Ae-
yovTay TO dova THY yeveow €k Bpovrijs AapBavery.
Hoav ovv ot pacKovtes bo BpovTijs Thy viv duiora-
cba kabarrep nAw* T@ aepe Xpwperys,” elra Tats
poypats rexpaipecOa Tods Ta Sdva periovras* € ex
de ToUTOU d0fav eyyeveoBar Tots moots, Ort TO
C vovov at i Bpovrat yevv@ow ov dexvdovow, & WOTTEp et
TIS olovTo Tovs KoyAtas mrovetv TOV OuBpov GAAG j27)
mpoayew pnd avadaiver.
1 So Turnebus from Plato, Rep. 372 c: dbipara.
2 So Xylander: 7Aiw, cf. 952 a, where the same correction


is credited to Turnebus.
8 So Xylander: xpwpevny.





« Abyrtaké is a sour sauce made from leeks, eress, and
either mustard and stavesacre or pomegranate seeds: Phere-
crates, 181 in Com. Att. Frag. i, p. 199, with Kock’s note ;


316





Toney gee





EE a > ee ee


——


TABLE-TALK IV. 1-2, 664


karyké,* which are mere. curiosities and frivolities.
Variety is admitted even by Plato,’ who sets before
those noble citizens of the genuine state onions,
olives, green vegetables, cheese and all manner of
boiled viands ; he doesn’t cheat them of dessert with
their dinner, either.”


~


QUESTION 2


Why truffles are thought to be produced by thunder, and why
~ people believe that sleepers are never struck by thunder


' Speakers : Agemachus, Plutarch, Dorotheiis, and others


1. Av a dinner in Elis, Agemachus served us some
giant truffles. Everyone present expressed admira-
tion, and one of the guests said with a smile, ‘‘ They
certainly are worthy of the thunder that we’ve had
lately,’ obviously laughing at those who say that
truffles are produced by thunder. Several of the
company held that the ground splits open when
struck by thunder, the air serving as a spike, and that
afterward the truffle-gatherers are guided by the
eracks in the earth. This is the source, they con-
tinued, of the popular notion that thunder actually
produces the truffles, instead of merely bringing them
to light. It is as if someone were to imagine that rain
not merely brings out snails where we can see them,
but actually creates them.


Theopompus, 17 (Kock i, p. 737). Kandylos or kandaulos is
a Lydian dish, of which there were several varieties, supposed
to be aphrodisiac: Nicostratus, 17 (Kock ii, p. 224); Athe-
naeus, 516 c—517 a; Menander, 462. 11 (Kock)=397. 11
(Korte). Karyké is another Lydian sauce, composed of blood
and spices: Pherecrates, 181 (Kock i, p. 199); Athenaeus,
516 c. > Republic, 372 c.


317


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(664) ‘O & ’Ayéuayos toxupilero Th toropia Kal TO
Bavpaocrov A€iov pu) amoTov tyyetoBan. Kal yap
dAAa ToAAa Bovpdova Bpovrijs épya Kal Kepavvod
Kal TOV Tmept Tatra dtoonpidv elvat, xaAeras
Kkatapabeiy 7 wavtehds aduvdtovs tas aitias
€xyovra. “Kal yap 6 ‘yedAwpevos obtoct Kai

iY) 39q 8 cé r \ > /

Tapoyuwdns, * edn, “ BoABos od puxpdrnte d10-
pevyet TOV Kepavvor, add’ exw Sdvapw avrimaGh,
Kabdrrep 7 7) ove? Kal TO d€pya THS pooKns as pact
Kal TO THS Valvns, ols Ta diKpa TOV totiwy*® oi
D vavKAnpor Kkatadidbepotow: ta 8 aotparaia tHv
bdatwv edaddH Kadotow of yewpyol Kal vopi-
Covow. Kat dAws evnbés eotrw trabra Bavydlew
TO TavTwY amioTéTatov év Ttois mafeot TovTois
~ > A ¢ ~ / > \ ~
Kkalop@vras, éx pwev dyp@v dddyas ex dé wadaxdv
vepav? wddouvs oxdAnpods avadidopuevovs. Taira
8°,” elev, “ adoreoxS TapaKaAdy bpas emi Tv
Endy Tis aitias, iva Be TuKpOS yevwpat ovp-

Bodas t&v vovev Tpaccopevos .
ie Adrov obv ednv €yw* tpdmov Twa, TO Ady
defuay opeyew tov “Ayéuayov: ovdev yp ev ye
T@ trapovtt paivecBar mBavestepov, i ore Tats
Bpovrais moAAdKis vowp ovvexminter ‘yoviov.
ce a > e ~ / > / \ 4
E “‘aitia 8 7 Tis Yepudrntos a TO pev

1 So Basel edition : $ ave
2 foray Reichardt. Tunak mae :


4 So Benseler : be, env.
® 7 added by Xylander.


« * Signs from Zeus” (diosemia) usually refer to dis-
suasive omens important in politics, but here Plutarch un-
questionably is thinking of meteorological phenomena in the
broad Greek sense of the word, including astronomy, meteor-
ology in the modern sense and seismology, etc. See Aris-


318








TABLE-TALK IV. 2, 664


Agemachus, however, upheld the popular theory,
and advised us not to regard the miraculous as un-
worthy of belief. For indeed many other marvellous
effects are, he said, produced by thunder, lightning,
and other meteoric phenomena (diosemia),* though the
causes of these effects are difficult or completely im-
possible to discover. “ For instance, the much-ridi-
culed, proverbial tassel-hyacinth® here is protected
against the thunderbolt not by its smallness but by a
resistant property in it,° like the fig tree, the seal-
skin,? they say, and the pelt of the hyena, which ship-
owners use to cover the mastheads. Farmers assert
and believe that showers accompanied by lightning
enrich the soil. In general, it is simple-minded to be
surprised at such things when we observe directly the
most incredible part of it all, namely, flashes of fire
coming from moisture, and rough, loud crashes from
soft clouds. But my chatter is meant only as an invi-
tation to search for a theory that will explain these
things ; I don’t mean to be unmannerly and exact
a contribution from each man to pay for the truffles.”

2. Here I remarked that Agemachus himself was,
after a fashion, lending a helping hand to the dis-
cussion. At the moment at least, I said, no more
probable theory occurred to me than that fertile
rains often accompany thunder. “ The reason,” I
went on, “ is the warmth mixed with the rain ; the in-


totle, Meteorologica, passim, especially i. 1 with H. D. P. Lee’S
notes and his introduction to the LCL edition, p. xi.

» Athenaeus, ii, 64 b, has a proverb relating bolboi to
virility, and says further that bolboi are hard to digest.

¢ The Pseudo-Democritean Bolos wrote a book on “ anti-
pathies ” in the time of Callimachus. See RE, s.v. ‘* Bolos.”’

# Compare parallel ideas and examples in Book II, 641 8
above, Book V, 684 c below and Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 146.


319


(664)


665


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


yap 0&0 Kal Kabapov Tob mupos amrevow dorpari
yevopevov, TO O° euBprbes Kal mvevpaT@des éve-
/
Aovpevov 7® veget Kal oupperaBdANov efarpei
Thy wuypoTynTa Kal ouveKmovel’ TO bypdv> Ware
pdXdtota® mpoonves evdvecbar tots BAaordvovar Kat
TAaXD Tare. Emel O€ Kal Kpdcewr idioTHTA Kal
xupod duadopav €usoet’ Ta Towadra Tois apdo-
pévos, womep at te Spdco yAvKuTépav moodar
Tots Opeppace THY moav Kal Ta” THY tow efavfobvra
veoyn, Kal? wv av emepeton EvAwr, evwdias diva
mpm Ano (Kat TAUTN yrepilovres of map piv
ipioxnmta’ Kadrotor, tiv tpw daoAapBavovtes
ETLOKYTTEW), TOAAD® ye® paGAAov eikds eoTt Tos


aotpatraiois Kal Kepavviots vdaor Kal mvetpuaot


Kal Yeppdtnow eis Bdbos éAavvopéevais Thy yhv
otpépecbar Kal ovotpogas toyew Tovatras Kal
Xavvernras, @omep ev Tots owpact Ta xorpabasdn
Kal adevwdn pvpata Oepudryntés tives Kal bypo-
THTES aipwareders evdnvoupyodoty" ov yap EOLKE
duT@’’ TO vdvoy ove avev vdaros € Exel THhv yEeveow,
GAN’ dppulov Kal aBhaares € €oTu Kal dmroAchuprevov,
TH Kal? éavto THY avoTacw™ €x THS yHs Eexew


1 So Emperius: é€aipec.

2 So Bernardakis: ouvexzive.

3 76 after uadvora deleted by Reiske.
So Reiske : euroueiv.

5 So Stephanus: dpyouevors.

6 +a added by Wytten ach.

7 So Bernardakis : iepeis, adra. There is a fragrant éepvai-
oxynmtpov, apparently also called é€picxnmrov, of which Pliny
has an account (Wat. Hist. xii. 110) closely resembling Plu-
tarch here, except for the etymology.

8 So Xylander : zoAAdv.

® So Hubert: 8é. 10 So Turnebus: lac. 3-4 rw.


320


r








TABLE-TALK IV. 2, 664-665


tense and pure fire passes off in the form of lightning,
while its heavy, vaporous element is packed in the
cloud and transformed with it, drawing off the cool-
ness and helping to discharge the moisture. This
moisture in turn permeates the young shoots in a
benign form, and swells them up rapidly.* All this
imparts special characteristics and specific flavour to


vegetation thus watered; for example, dew makes


grass sweeter to the cattle, and the clouds that blos-


som out into a rainbow fill with fragrance the trees


that they rest upon. Such trees are identified by
their fragrance, and in our district people call them
iriskepta ° in the belief that they have been struck by
the rainbow. This gives us all the more reason to
think that the soil is stirred, clodded, and made
spongy by the deep penetration of heat, wind, and
rainwater from thunderstorms; just so, in animal
bodies scrofulous and glandular growths are caused by
certain kinds of heat combined with sanguinous
moisture. For the truffle resembles no plant and yet
does not come into being without water. It appears
without roots or sprouts and unattached, because it
develops in a way peculiar to itself in soil that is some-


* Parallel treatment of this subject is found in Plutarch,
Aetiae Physicae, ii, 912 a and iv, 912 F ff., where freshness, ad-
mixture of air, heat, and some generative property in spring
rains seem to be the main qualities suggested to account for
the realy of rain water or rains accompanied by lightning.

> The Pseudo-Aristotle tries to account for belief in fra-
grance attributed to rainbows as due to the moderate moisture
after the rainbow, rather than to the rainbow itself: Prob-
lems, xii. 3 (906 a 37 ff.).





11 GBdaorés eore Vulcobius: lac. 7 res Er.
12 sq otoracw Hubert, cvoracw Turnebus: ri ordow.
VOL. VIII M 321


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(665) zafovons tt Kal petraBadotons. i S€ ye yArjo-
” lal ~ ~
xpos,” Eon, “6 Adyos dpiv doxe?, Tovadra Tot TO
metora TOV Bpovrais Kal Kepavvois OUVETTOMLEVWV"
510 Kal padvora tots 7aGeat Tovtows dd€a DevdtynTOos
TpOoEoTt.
3. Ilapwv 8 6 pitwp Awpobeos, “ dp6ds,”
” “ec / > \ / e ‘ A 9 ~
ep, “ A€yers: od yap pdovov ot moAAol Kai (didTar
tobto wemov0acw, adda Kal tov dirocddwy tives.
ey® yotv olda, Kepavvod map pty eis oiKkiav
> / \ A \ / /
EumecovTos Kal moAAa Bavpacra Spdcavros (olvev
Bre yap €x mibwv Siepdpnoe tod Kepdpov pndev
malovros, avOpwmov Te Kabevdovros dvamrTdprevos
ovr atrov Hdiknoev ovte THs eabfros eOiyer,
, \ bse e , 1 ,
Livny b€ yadkods Exovoav trelwopevov’ diety Fev
TO vopiopa® mav Kal ovveyeev) dilcoddw* tapemi-
dnpodvre IlvOayopix@ mpooeAOovta adrov* Kai
diavrvvOavepevov’ Tov 8° adooiwodpevov Kai KeAev-
cavTa Ta’ Kal’ éavTov opav*® Kal mpocedyeabat Tots
feots. akotw dé Kai otpatidtov duAdttovros
icpov ev ‘Paipn Kepavvov éyyds meadvra Siaxatcar
TOV trodynpatwv Todvs iwdvras, adAXo dé pndev Ka-
Kov epydoacba Kal KvdAtyviwv’ dpyupdv EvdAitvois
eyKeyevwr® eddtpois TOV ev apyupov ovvilfoa Ta-
C Kévra, To dé EVAov AOixTov Kai arabes edpeOFvar.
1 So Turnebus: telwopeévovs.
2 So Turnebus: vo lac. 3-4 pa.
8 §é after diAocddw deleted by Bernardakis.
4 a’rov “ subaudiendum ’’ Hubert. Xylander reprinted
in Wyttenbach supplies hune hominem.
5 7a added by Meziriacus.
6 $oav Doehner, Bernardakis “ sacrifice.”


7 So Basel edition : Avyviwv.
8 So Basel edition: eéyxepévors.


322





Peal





TABLE-TALK IV. 2, 665


how modified and transformed. If this seems to you
but a spare account. of the matter,” said I, “ never-
theless most of the effects of thunder and lightning
are of the character that I have described. And that
explains exactly why these phenomena have gener-
ally been supposed to be supernatural.” ¢

3. The rhetor Dorotheiis, who was present, spoke
up, saying, “ You are right. For not only the general
run of ordinary people but even some philosophers
accept the divine theory. I at least know personally
of one case in connection with a stroke of lightning
in a house in our town. It produced a number of
astonishing effects, such as spilling wine out of jars
without damage to the vessel, and passing through a
man asleep without hurting him or touching his
clothes, yet completely melting and fusing the copper
coins in the money belt that he was wearing.’ He
went to a Pythagorean philosopher who was staying
in town and asked his opinion ; but the philosopher
only made a pious gesture and told the man not to
gaze aa than his own level, and to pray to the
gods. I have also heard that lightning once struck
close to a soldier posted before a temple in Rome and
burned his shoelaces, but caused him no further harm.
Another instance is that of silver cups ° in wooden
cases ; the silver was melted down completely, but
the wood was later found untouched and undamaged.


“ Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems, xxiv. 19, recognizes sulphur
and thunderbolts as sacred.

» Of. the story told of Mithridates, 624 B, supra.

¢ This interpretation is due to an emendation. The manu-
seript reading may be correct in referring to ‘‘ lampstands ”’
or, possibly, “lamps.” Silver lamps or tanpetende would
be comparatively rare, though actually (cf. RE, xiii. 1569)
silver and gold ones were known.


323


(665)


D


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


“ce ‘ ~ \ ” , ‘ , /
Kai radra pev Eeort morevew Kal py mdv-
twv 5€ Oavpacustatov, 6 mdvTes ws Enos eizrety
iopev, OTL TOV U0 Kepavvod Siapbapevrwv aonmra
Ta oWpaTa Stapever: 7oAAoL yap ovTE Kalovow oUTE
4 > > oA / a >
KatopuTTovow, aA’ édou mrepippdéavres, wal

A /

dpaoba tods vexpods aonmrovs ael, THV Edpuridov
KAvpeévny éAéyxovras emi tod Da€bovtos eirotcar


didos dé pot
¥) 1? , , ,
GAouvtos* ev dapayts onmeTat vekus.


obev olwac Kal TO Oetov evopdobar Th Opovornte
THs OopAs, Nv Ta Tard weve Tois Kepavvots aginow
extprBowevny Tupadn Kal Spietav’ bd’ Hs € epol 5o0-
Kovou Kal Koves Kal opviles améyecbar tav d10-
BAjTwv owparov.

“°AAN? enol yap axpt TovTou Ths aitias darrep
dadvn Is mapateTpoxGa”: a be dour. TovTov,
Eon, ‘ mapaxaAdpev, e7rel Kal Tots vdvois évevn-
HEpnKev, iva py mabprev TO Too ‘Avdpoxvdovs *
éxeivos yap cv emroinoe mTdvTwy evapyeotata* Kal
KdAdota® tovs mepl THY UKMav ix0Gs Cwypa-
pjoas edoke TH Traber paddov 7 nH TEXVN Kexphoar,
pvoe yap rv irorpos ovUTw dice Tis Kal Has


1 So Musgrave: aA’ odros.


2 ad’ added by Hubert. * So Reiske : mapareTax Ow.
4 So Anonymus: évepyéorepa.
5 So Basel edition: pddora. 6 So Turnebus: ¢yoi.





@ Pliny (ii. 145) says that they were buried ; ef. Lucan, i.
607. There may be here a confusion with the bidental, a
place struck by lightning, never to be covered, at Rome. Of.
Thesaurus Ling. Lat. and also RE, s.v.

’ Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag., Euripides, 786.

ae highly dubious etymology.


324


re - ies a a tl


go? 5


— a


TABLE-TALK IV. 2, 665


“ Now all this you may believe or not, but the most
astonishing of all is what practically every one of us


knows: that the bodies of those killed by lightning


will not decay. For many neither cremate nor bury
them,? but leave them undisturbed, with fences built
around them, so that the bodies are seen forever in
an undecayed state. Thus they prove that Clymené
in Euripides was wrong when she said of Phaéthon,


My dear one
Rots, unwashed, in some mountain cleft a corpse.?


Hence, I believe, sulphur even gets its name in Greek,
theion ° (divine), from the similarity of the smell to
the burning, pungent odour that is forced out of ob-
jects struck by lightning. This odour, to my mind,
explains why dogs and birds abstain from such Zeus-
smitten carcases.

“ But let this be enough of my nibbling at the
problem of the explanation, as at a bay leaf.¢ For
the rest, let’s call upon our friend ¢ here, for he has
been quite successful on the topic of truffles. Let’s
avoid the predicament of the painter Androcydes/
He had a natural fondness for fish, and inasmuch as
the finest and most lifelike details in any of his work
were the fishes that surrounded Scylla, he was ac-
cused of having consulted his appetite rather than
his art. Just so, someone will say that we too were


@ The Pythian priestess is said to have chewed bay leaves
to secure inspiration. Cf. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States,
iv, p. 188, and Tibullus, ii. 5. 63, with note in K. F. Smith’s
edition. For other beliefs about the laurel and lightning see
RE, xiii. 1439 ff.

¢ Plutarch himself. Cf. 665 a above.

? RE, i. 2150, no. 3; Athenaeus repeats the story in viii,
341 a, citing Polemon as source: cf. RE, s.v. “ Polemon
(Periheget),” col. 1306.

325


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ndovAs pirooopijaa Ta mept TOV dove
seoByTHoyLov exOvTiny THY yeveow ws opas*
. . ev 6€ Tovrous DrroKeypevns T® Aoyw Tis
cuTreeias® Kal THY aitiav .. . podnrov elvau
meovons.”’
4. "Eyuot 5€ mapakeAevopevov® kal Aéyovros Kat-
pov® elvar Kabdrep ev’ Kwpwdia pynyavas alpovra
‘ \ > / \ / /
Kat Bpovtas é€uBdAdAovra mapa motov diadéyecbar
mept Kepavvar, TO pev dAa Tapiecav® ovvoporo-
yoovres, mepl de Tov ev @ KabeddSovow pu) Kepav-
voupeveoy aKkovoal Te Bovddpevor Aurrapets qjoay.
enol b€ mAdov oddev éeyiyveto Tis aitias abapevw
A > / \ / 7 > = ” ¢ \
Kowvov €xovons Tov Adyov' Guws 8° odv Edyv ws TO
Kepavviov mip axpiBeia Kai AertoTHT. Pavpacrov
éotw, adtdobev te” tHhv yéveow ex kabapas Kai ay-
F vijs EXOV ovotas, Kal av et Tt oupplyvurau VOTE-
pov 7 yeddes avr@ THS Tept THY Kivnow o€dTnTOS
amocelopevns Kal diaKxabaupodors.
“* AvoBr 35€ A
vdBAnTov. ev ov Dev, ws pyoe mHOKpLTOS,
yHivov olov TO” Trap "? aibpins ore yew evayes” oé-
das.” Ta pev odv mUKVA TOV GwWEadTwY, aidnpos,™


; 80 Wyttenbach : prrocogijoavras.
os Opactrar’ Hubert, [ds] Paotwveterv 3 &v rovros Paton,
toropias mapadéxeobat padiws Pohlenz, as paar’ evdoivat, ovdev
8€ rovros .. . veiwar Post. Pohlenz also suggests €AAeiew or
dmrayopeveww ‘after év 8& rovrois. The dots in these lines mark
the letter spaces left in T.
3 evrabeias Turnebus.
$ * So Bernardakis, Paton : mpodirw TO.
* -mapauroupévou Wyttenbach * begging to be excused.”
aKat unseasonable, i improper *” Wyttenbach.
7 So eres et.
8 So Stephanus : ma peor.
® So Emperius: rots. Perhaps év 7@ xafevdew Kronenberg.
10 So Diels: zepi.


326


ce


i en ae





ee





TABLE-TALK IV. 2, 665


guided by our own pleasure when we philosophized
about truffles and their obviously so controversial
origin. In cases like this, the discussion is affected by
an underlying willingness to be convinced, which
persuades us that the explanation is obvious.” ¢
_ 4, I urged that we should pursue the topic, and
said that it was time, as in a comedy, to hoist the
stage machinery and hurl some thunderbolts ® in our
after-dinner discussion of thunder and lightning. The
others, however, while agreeing to omit other phases
of the subject, were insistent in their determination
to hear something on the topic why sleeping persons
are immune to strokes of lightning. But when I at-
tempted an explanation of this immunity, which is an
open question, I found that I could make no head-
way. Still, I ventured to say that the thunderbolt is
fire of a marvellous purity and fineness, because it
originates directly in a pure and uncontaminated sub-
stance. The speed with which it moves dislodges and
eliminates any watery or earthy matter that is mixed
in it.

“No earthen object that is struck by lightning,”
according to Democritus,® “can support the bright
flash that comes from the sky.” The dense substances


@ The translation reflects the sense of the extant words, as
amended, in the text, but the ms. has gaps: see critical note.

> On the bronteion, ** thunder machine,” see Haigh, Attic
Theatre, p. 218, where Pollux, iv. 130 and a scholion to Aristo-
phanes, Clouds, 292, are cited.

¢ Frag. 152. Diels adopts from Bernardakis a reading
which he interprets, “‘ No Zeus-sent lightning fails to carry
the pure radiance of the aether.”’





-» 1! yhwov ofov ro added by Pohlenz, Gulick: lac. 5-6.
12 So Aldine edition : ep. 13 So Diels: lac. 4-5.
14 So Turnebus : lac. 6.


327


y


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(665) yaAkds, apyupos, ypuads,’ amrooréyer Kai Pbeiperar
Kal THKETaL, TaoxovTa TH mpoopayecar Kat
avrepetoew** TOV 8° apaidv Kal modvTdépwv Kai

666 yarwvrwy bd pavorntos aibavoTi diekbe?, Kaba-
mEp® iwatiov Kal EvAwy atwv: Ta 5é xAwpa Kaiet,
Tis dypoTHTos dvriAapBavopevns Kat ovvetamro-
pevns. etrep ovv TO ToOvS kaedoovras [iq] atro-
OvijoKew bo KEepavv@v adn bes €oTwv, evrabba
bei Cnretv ovK dAAay oe THY aitiav. paAAov yap
Eppwra Kal ouveaTh Kev Kal dvrepeiber TO. odpara
TOV eypnyopoTey, are 61) maou tots pLépect
TeTrAnpwpeva TVEVMATOS” bp’ ob Kat Tas aicbrcers
eTLOTPEPOVTOS womrep ev opyavw Kal optyyovros
EUTOVOV yéyove Kal ovveyes atT@ Kal muKVOV TO
Cov. év dé Tots Umvois eEavetrar Kal pavov* Kai
avapadov Kai aTovov Kal SiaKkeyupevov, Kal opous

B éoynke moAAovs, tod mvedpuatos evdidovTos Kal

amroAcimovtos, 5° dv dwvai te Kal dopat dex-
Ogovew pndepniav aicbnow €avta@v mapéxovoa. To
yap avTepeidov Kal TH’ avtepeidew macyov ovK
amavTd tots mpoodepopevois, yKioTa dé Tots bo
AemrornTos Kal OKUTNTOS TouavTns WoTrEp O Kepav-
vos Sumrap.evous® Ta pev yap HTTOv ioxupa
dvoTrabeias 7 vous dpdverar, oxhnpornras ™po-
BadAopéevn Kal amuKvdtntas: av 6 apayos 7
dvvayis €oTw, bro TovTwY FrTov aodiKeiTa Ta
eikovTa THY avOioTapEevwr.

1 So Turnebus: lac. 4-5.

2 So Basel edition: . . repeidev.

3 So Xylander : xalap p-

4. Reiske would add éer, Bernardakis, Hartman 6 ov, Zieg-


ler yéyover. 5 So Basel edition: 7.
6 So Turnebus: duworapévors.


328





spn ~ -








TABLE-TALK IV. 2, 665-666


of light iron, copper, silver, or gold, which block the path
lightning, are broken down and melted in con-
uence 0 t


heir opposition and resistance. But the
a passes without contact through loose-
texture and porous substances, which are slack and


open, like clothing and dry timber. It burns green
wood because the moisture, by intercepting the
lightning, catches fire. If, then, it is true that sleep-

persons are never killed by lightning, we must
look for the reason here rather than elsewhere. The
body of those awake is firmer, compacter, and more
resistant, because it is filled in all its parts with vital
spirit. This vital spirit ¢ tightens up and attunes the
organs of sense like strings in a musical instrument,
and gives the whole animal its proper tension, solidity,
and compactness. In sleep, on the other hand, the
body relaxes, becomes loose-textured and uneven in
its consistency, and is left untensed and diffuse. The
result is that many passages are ops as the vital
spirit weakens and is lost. Through these, sounds
and smells pass unperceived. For there is no resist-
ance to encounter onrushing particles and to receive
an impression from them, especially when the
particles that speed through are as fine and swift as
those of lightning. Nature defends itself against
weaker assault by various degrees of imperviousness,
throwing up a shield of hardness and density ; but
where the destructive force is irresistible, less damage
is suffered by soft, yielding substances than by those
that stand firm.


* This seems to be an echo of the theory held by Erasis-
tratus, the famous physician of the 3rd century B.c. Cf. Well-
mann in RE, s.v. “ Erasistratos,”’ col. 341. See also supra, i.
7, 625 B-c.


VOL, VIII M* 329


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(666) “‘ IIpécdaBe* S€ rovrous,” edyv, “ obi? puuKpav
exTrAnéw mpos 74 Tovadra Kal ddPov Kai tapBos,
¢j> @ A A + / b] ~ ral a
bp dv ToAAoi pndev ado Tabdvres adT@ 7B Setoat
to amolaveiv amefavov. Kal yap Ta Opéppara

C duddcKover Bpovris yevomerns ot moueves eis
tavTo ovvleiy Kai ovvvevew: Ta yap amopadny
> / A A / ,’ 4 ‘
amoNepbevta dia tov PdoBov extitpwoKer. Kai
pkupious 70 TéOvyKdtas idetv €otw to Bpovrijs,
ovdev ovte tAnyis tyvos ovTe Katvoews ExovTas,
> > € A / nn n~ ee ” »” /
arn’ imo poBov ths buxfs ‘cds Eouxev 6pvibos dixnv
GaromTapevns TOO Gwpatos”: ‘ roAAods.’ yap (ws 6
Edpumidns dyai), ‘ Bpovris mvetp”* avaipov dAece.’
Kat yap adAdws’ t&v aicbyrnpiwy 4 akon Tabnri-
KWTATOV €OTW, Kal peyioTas of Sia Yodov OdpvBor

\ / A > tA ae ~~ 4

Kal ddBor Tapayas émipepovow: dv TH Kabevdovrt
mpoPAnua To avaicOynrov eat. ot 8 eypnyopotes
Kat Tats mpotrabeiais avadicKovtat Kal, Tod déous
~ ~ 7
TO o@pa ovvdéovtos ws dAnf@s Kat auvayovrTos
Kal muKVodVTOs, loxupay ToLoda. THY TAnynY TO
avrepeidev.””


IIPOBAHMA T
Ava ri mAciotous ev ydpots emi detrvov Kadovow


Collocuntur Sossius Senecio, Theo, alii


~ ~ |
1. ’Ev rots AdroBovAov rob viod ydpmos ovv-
~ /
ewptalev auiv mapwv ev Xaipwreia® Locoros
1 So Stephanus: zpoodAafe.
2 So Bernardakis: €rt.


8 +6 added by Benseler, Stegmann, Castiglioni. —
4 zpadpa Theon of Smyrna, Wilamowitz.


330


a .
—_ —





ee ee cee i a


4


—





TABLE-TALK IV 2-3, 666


“Add to that,’ I said, “the not inconsiderable
effect of surprise, fear, and panic ; such things cause
emotions that have caused the death of many simply
by fear of death. Shepherds in fact train their sheep,
at the sound of thunder, to run to one place and huddle
together, because thunder causes miscarriage through
fright in any that are left isolated. What is more, the
evidence is plain that countless thousands of people
have been killed by thunder and lightning without a
trace of wound or burn ; ‘ apparently the life in panic
took flight from the body like a bird.’ For, as Euri-
pides ® says,

Many the bloodless breath of thunder has destroyed.


In general, our hearing is of all our senses the most
liable to shock, and therefore the upset and terror
produced by a noise cause the greatest disorders,
Now the sleeper is protected against these by being
unconscious ; whereas people in a waking state are
not only doomed by their imagination but also add
force to the actual blow by opposing it, because fear
(deos) really does bind (dein), contract, and solidify


the body.”


QUESTION 3


Why it is customary to invite the most guests to wedding
suppers


Speakers: Sossius Senecio, Theon, and others


1. At the wedding of my son Autobulus, Sossius
Senecio was present in Chaeronea as one of our


* Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag., Euripides, 982: zoMods 8é Krd.


® So Basel edition : dAAous.
§ So Volkmann, Hartman: ék yatpwveas 6.





331


(666)


KE


F


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Leveciwv, Kat toAAdv Adywr' drwy te TH TOP
éoptH pada mperovtwy mapécyev” adopuas Kal
mept THs aitias,® du Hv wAcioto. THY GAdAwv* eri
Ta ‘yapiKa Setrva mrapadapPdvovrat, Sinmopyoe:
Kal yap TOv vowoleTav tods TH moAuTeAEia Kata
Kpdtos moAeuncavtas opicat pdadiora Tav eis
Tovs ‘yapous Kadovpevwy to mAAPos. “oO yap
eirwv,” edn, ‘ mepi THs aitias adrHs TOV Tadadv
drroacddwv ovd€v, wot yoov Kpith, mUBavov eipnker,
‘Exaraios 6 ’ABdnpirys”: Aéyer dé rods ayomevous
yuvaikas moAXods mapakadeivy emt THY €oTiacww,
iva moAAot ovverddor Kal paptup@ow €Aevbépois
otat Kai map érevbépwv yapodor. todvavtiov yap
ot KwpLKol Tods ToAvTEA@s Kai coBap&s Aaprpo-
TnTt deimvwv Kal TapacKeuys® ‘yapodvras ws ov
BeBaiws oddé Oappadéws’ emicvvdrtovow: ws
Mévavdpos mpos Tov KeAevovta tats Aomdou TeEpt-
dparrew Tov yapov**


Sewads aowrov dpdyya Kod vdudys Aéyers.”


~ > cal
2. ““’AXN érws” pu, TO pdotov,” eyKareiv Eré-
pos Sox@pev avrot pndev A€yovtes, amodaivo-
pat” ap@tos,” elev, “ eyed, ovdeuiay éatidcews


1 So Wyttenbach, zpoBAnudrwy Meziriacus: lac. 3.

2 So Stephanus, zapetyev Turnebus, zpoeir’ Bolkestein :
lac. 3-4. 3 ris aitias Stephanus: 77 lac. 4 ao.

4 GvOpdirwv Reiske, aMotpiwv or dilwy Wyttenbach.

5 So Xylander: dBappyrns.

5 So Reiske: zapacxevi.

7 Reiske suspects a lacuna here, BeBaious odd Pappadéous


Amyot, Meziriacus. 8 zov yduov added by Post.
9 So Paton, but Sewfs: lac. 4-5 waov Sewds lac. 3-5 ob
mpaypa v. A. 10 So Reiske: dpuws.


11 So Reiske: ja lac. 4-5 worov.
332


el a


Oe EE ee Ey»





TABLE-TALK IV. 3, 666


guests. Among many subjects that he brought for-
ward which were particularly appropriate to the oc-
casion, he raised the question why people invite more
guests to wedding dinners than to other parties. For
it is true, he observed, that those lawgivers who have


campaigned most vigorously against extravagance


have particularly sought to limit the number of guests


at weddings. “ But as to the reason itself for these


large numbers,” said Senecio, “the only ancient
philosopher who had anything to offer was Hecataeus *
of Abdera, who, in my judgement, said nothing con-
vincing. His point was this: At their marriage men
invite a crowd to the banquet so that there may be
many witnesses to testify that the hosts themselves
are of good family and that their brides come from
good families. On the other hand, the comic poets
attack those who celebrate a wedding in a prodigal
and ostentatious style, with splendid dinners and
great outlay, as not putting down a secure founda-
tion or looking courageously to the future. Men-
ander,” for instance, said with reference to someone
who ordered that his marriage should be fenced
around with dishes,


This fencing-in you talk about
Befits a frightful debauchee,
But not a bride.


2. “‘ But to avoid what is all too easy, the appear™
ance of accusing others when I myself have nothing
to offer, I shall be the first,’ he said, “ to state my


@ RE, vii. 2750, no. 4; Diels, Vorsokratiker, Hekataios
von Abdera, a 5.
> Menander, frag. 865 (Kock), frag. 747 (K6rte).





12 So Reiske: adzodatvev arofavé. Warmington.


333


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/
(666) zpopaow ovrws Exdnrov elvar Kal mepiBonrov cs
\ ~ a
THY TOV yapovvTwy: Kal yap Qovras Beots Kat
/ / \ / ” \
mpomeutrovtas pirov Kai Eevilovras €att toAAovs
cal ~ > / ¢ \ , /
diadabety THY emityndSeiwy, 7) Sé yayndvos tparela
667 KaTiHyopov exer Tov dyuevaov péeya Bo@vTa Kat
\ ~ \ \ 2 / A 7 \ A
Thv 64da Kai Tov adrAdv, d dynow “Opnpos Kat Tas
yuvatkas toTapevas emi tats Pvpais Oavpdlew Kai
GeGcbar. 810 pndevos ayvoodvros tiv trodoynv
Kat THY KAnoWw, aicyvvopevor Tmapadimety mavTas
Tovs ovv7Ges Kal OiKEiovs Kal auwoyemws Tpoc-
HKovTas adTois TrapaAauBavovow.”’
3. “Amode€apevwrv 8 hudv trodaBav 6 O€wr,
c A a > 9) ” cé / > > / /
Kat Todt,” edn, “ KeicOw, od« admibavov yap
€oTt, Kaketvo mpdobes, ef BovAe, Tas TovavTas
e /, A / A > \ \ A
eoTiacers py povov diAikas aAdAa Kal ovyyeviKas
B elvar, katapuyvuperns eis TO yevos éTépas olKELo-
TnTos. 6 de TovTov peilov €aTiv, olKwY Eis TO
avTo ovviovtTwy dvoiv 6 Te AapBadvwv Ttods Tob
/ > / \ / Ld \ \ ~
5.ddvTos oiKkelovs Kal didous 6 Te did0ds Tods TOD
AapBavovros oidpevor Seiv diAodpovetobat dimAa-
oialovow Hv dmodoxyynv. ert’ moAAa TeV yap-
KOv 7 Ta TAEeioTa Sparta dia yvvark@v: drrov dé
A al
yuvatkes Tdpevot, Kal TODS avdpas avayKaidv €aoTt
TrapaAapBavecbat.””


‘


1 So Turnebus, Anonymus: evel.


334








TABLE-TALK IV. 3, 666-667


view. It is that of all the occasions for a banquet,
none is more conspicuous or talked about than a wed-
ding. When we offer sacrifice to the gods, or honour a
friend on the eve of a journey, or entertain guests
from abroad, it is possible to do so unnoticed by many
of our intimates and relatives; but a wedding-feast be-
trays us by the loud marriage cry, the torch, and the
shrill pipe, things which according to Homer? even

e women stand at their doors to watch and admire.
Consequently, since no one is unaware that we are
receiving guests and must have invited them, we in-
clude all our relatives, acquaintances, and connections
of any degree, because we are afraid to leave anyone
out 7? :


_$. When we had applauded this, Theon took up
the thread with these words: ‘“‘ Let us adopt this
theory, for it is quite probable. But add, if you will,
a further point, that these particular banquets are
not merely friendly entertainments but important
family occasions, which solemnize the incorporation
of a new set of relatives into the family. What is
more im it than this, at the union of two houses,
each father-in-law regards it as a duty to demonstrate
good will to the friends and relatives of the other,
and so the guest-list is doubled. Besides, many or
most of the activities relating to a wedding are in
the hands of women, and where women are present
it is necessary that their husbands also should be


included.”
@ Tliad, xviii. 495 f.


335


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(667) IIPOBAHMA A
Ei 7 @dAacca rijs yijs edorborépa
Collocuntur Polycrates, Symmachus, Lamprias, alii


C 1. Tis EvdBoias 6 Aldnyds,» 05 ta Oceppa
, > A > a2 AAG \ TS) A ”
ywplov €oriv adbtoduh® moAAa mpos ndovas €xov
€Aevbepious Kal KaTeokevacpevov oiKicect Kal
Siaitais, Kowov olkntHpiov amodederkTat THS “EA-
Addos: moAAdv S€ Kat mrnv@v Kal xepoaiwy
dAvoKopevv, ody Hrrov 7) OadatTa mapéxer THY
ayopav edtpameLlov, év Toros Kabapois Kal ayyuBa-
Oéou yevvaiov iy@dv Kal moAdv éxtpédovoa. padrt-

Y x
> > “A \ / > / ” »
ota 8 avOet TO ywpiov axpdlovros Eapos* moAAoi
yap adixvodvra: THv wpav avTob® Kal cuvovoias
~ > LAA / > > A / ~ ‘ r /
movobvrat pet GAAHAwY ev adOovois maou Kal rAci-
D otas zepi Adyous bro cyodAfs SiatpiBas Exovar.
Kaddvorpdrov de Tob _goprotob Trapovros epyov
7 ardaxo8e Seumvety dpLa.xos yap ” prrogpoavyn,
Kal 70 mavras eis TO avTO ovVayew emvEetK@S Tovs
Xapievras mdvorov" mrapelxe’ moAAdKis ev yap
euuseito THv madav Tov Kipwva mroAAods Kal
mavTodarovs éaTi@v Hdews, det 8° ws Eros eizetv


1 So Turnebus, Xylander: yaAnyos.
* So Reiske : avrodves.
3 Franke adds dvatpibovres here.


4 Post suggests 76 deizvov after qd.oTov.
5 §’ added by Xylander.





@ See J. J. Hartman, De Plutarcho Scriptore et Philosopho,
pp. 382 ff., De Avondzon des Heidendoms, i*, p. 173.

b Infra, vii. 5. 1 and 3, 704 © and 705 B; De Defect. Orac.
410 a with Flaceliére’s note 4; RE, s.v. “ Plutarchos ”’, col.


336





OE


TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 667


QUESTION 4
Whether the sea is richer in delicacies than the land
Speakers: Polycrates, Symmachus, Lamprias, and others


1. Arpepsus * in Euboea has become a popular resort
for people from all over Greece, particularly because
of the place called Hot Springs, which possesses many
natural resources for the worthy enjoyment of leisure,
and is further embellished by villas and elegant apart-
ment houses. Game and fowl are caught there in
abundance, and the sea no less lavishly supplies the
market with provisions for the table, producing many
a fine, noble fish in the deep, clear waters close to
shore. This resort flourishes especially when spring
is at its height, for many continue to come there all
that season. They gather together, exempt from
every want, and, having the leisure, engage endlessly
in conversation. When Callistratus ° the sophist was
there, it was difficult to dine at anyone else’s house,
for his graciousness was irresistible, and made the
occasion very pleasant ° when he brought practically
all the choicer spirits together in one group. For he
often copied Cimon? among the ancients in giving
delightful banquets for a large and miscellaneous
company ; he virtually always imitated Celeus,’ who


676. An official of Delphi, no doubt one of the Callistrati
attested in inscriptions as holding several offices there.

¢ Or “ made him very aired following Wyttenbach’s
interpretation in his Index Verb. in Plut.

imon was, according to Theopompus in Athenaeus, xii,

533 a-b, exceedingly generous to the poor of Athens, for
whom he kept open house and an open purse. He was the
celebrated general, the son of Miltiades,

¢ Legendary king of Eleusis in the Homeric Hymn to
Demeter, 473, and elsewhere.


337


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ / ~ A
(667) tov Kedeov, dv mp@tov iotopotow evddoKiwv Kal
ayalav avipadv Katackevdoavta atvodov Kaby-
\ > 7 a
LEpwnv Ovopdoat mpuTavetov.
> / \ / /, / 7
2. “Eytyvovto $1) Adyou tovadrn avvovala mpé-
c /
TOVTES EKAOTOTE' Kal TrOTE Tapeayov at TpamelaL
E mouwdwtata, yuyvopevar Catrnow trép dor,
TOTEpOV TA EK ys 7) TA ex Dadarrns emiTndeLdTEpa’
Kat Tov GAAwy oyedov arrdvrwy bpvotvTwY Ta eK
ys TOAAG Kal TavTodama Kal duceEapiOunta Tots
/ \ A A \ 7, 7 «2
yévect Kal Tats Siadopats, Tov Ldppayov’ o [loAv-
, , fev ST OF FD cet ae | ,
Kpatns mpocayopevoas, “ ad 5’,”’ elzev, “ audiadov
av Cov Kat tooavras évtefpappevos Padartas,
aie VErMs , a le al Fey , >
al tHv tepav mépié” duadv éirrovor Nixomodw, odK
> 4 ~ ~ 2? €€ / / \ > 39?
apudvers TA llocedau; Bovropai ye vy AV,
¢e , ce A \ / ‘
6 Lvppayos eizev, “kai océ mapadayBavw Kati
mapakarAd, Ta yOtoTa THs “Ayaikfs Kaprrovpevov
/ +) «e > ~ >> wo ce ~ > ¢
badarrns. ovKobv, én, ““ mp@tov,” 6 IloAv-
\ \
Kpatys, “‘twyev én Hv ovvyiPeav. ws yap
~ A / >
F 7oAA@v dvrwy trowmTayv eva tov Kpatiatov e€ai-
\ ~ A
péeTws monty Kadoduev, ovtTws toAA@v ovTwv
” 3 ! «> Qi , 3° , , >
dwv éexvevicncev 6 ixyOds pdvos® 7 padtoTa y
oyov KaXctobar dia TO TOAD TdvTWY apETH Kpareiv.
1 So Aldine edition: oipayov (and immediately below
ciayos) T, ovpfiayov E (ctuayos below).
‘


2 So Stephanus: epi. .
3 So Bernardakis from Athenaeus, 276 e: x6vov.





* This is to be distinguished from the better known use of
the term for a political administrative unit during the Athe-
nian democracy.

» Polycrates of Sicyon in Achaia, descendant of Aratus ;
cf. Plutarch, Aratus, i. 3; the Life of Aratus is dedicated to


him.


338





TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 667


first, according to the record, established a diurnal
council of excellent and respected citizens, which he
called a prytaneum.*

_ 2. Hence there was always conversation worthy of
such an assemblage. At one such dinner, the elabor-
ate fare gave rise to a discussion whether food pro-
duced by the soil or food from the sea is preferable.
Most of the company sang the praises of the products
of the land, citing their abundance, variety, and
almost infinite diversity of qualities and types. But
Polycrates,® turning to Symmachus,° said, “ You’re
a seagirt specimen, raised as you were amid all those
seas that course around your sacred Nicopolis.4
Aren’t you going to rise to the defence of Poseidon ? ”’
“Yes, I certainly want to,” answered Symmachus,
“and I eall upon you to back me up, since you reap
a harvest of the most delicious sea food that the
Achaean.* waters have to offer.” “‘ All right,” said
Polycrates. ‘‘ First let us consider word usage.
Though there are many poets, we call the best one
pre-eminently “the poet’’; and so, though there
are many delicacies, fish has won the title, either
exclusively or pre-eminently, of “ delicacy * (opson),9
because it far excels all others in quality. In fact, we


* According to Ricard, the physician mentioned by Martial,
v. 9, etc. ; but according to Ziegler, in RE, s.v.** Plutarchos,” ~
he is a member of the Amphictyonic Council from Nicopolis.

4 City founded by “wasps on a peninsula near Actium,
in honour of his victory there.

_ © Because Polyerates comes from the region Achaia on the
Gulf of Corinth.

* Homer.

9 Opson varies in meaning from any prepared food to an
especial delicacy. It is sometimes defined as anything eaten
with bread (as in Plut. Mor. 99 p). Cf. Gulick’s note on
Athenaeus, 276 e (LCL).

339


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(667) kat yap ofpopdyous Kat prrcifovs" Aeyopev odxt
668 TOUS Boetous Xaipovras WoTrEp “Hpaxdjs 6s * Tots
Kpéaor xAwpa otk’ émjabiev, * odd€ Tov diAdov-
kov® otos Av IlAatwv, od diAdBotpuv otos ’Apxeat-
Aaos, adda Tovs mrepi thy ixOvoTwdiav avadiddv-
Tas €KdoTOTE Kal TOO KwWowVos* d€€ws aKovoVTAS.
\ ¢ / \ / ‘ > ~
kat 6 Anpoobévns tov Didoxpatnv dnoiv €x Tob
mpodoTiKod xpvaiov ‘ 7répvas Kal tybis ayopaleww,’

2223 > / ‘ > / \ 4 ~
ex oodayia Kal aceAyeia tov avdpa Aowdopav.
e \ ~ b) ~ > /, \ > ~
6 b€ Krynoiddv od Kakds, osoddyou twos ev TH
BovAj Bodvros paynoeabar, “pndapas, elzev,
f j avOpwre, Tmoujons nas ixOvoBpwtovs.’ 0 de

TO OTLXiOLoV TOTO TOLHoasS


~ 4, ‘ > /
mpos Kammapiov Cis Suvapevos mpos avOiav


B ti mote BovAetar; ti 5° of zoAdoi BovAovrat, mpos
Oedv, otav 7dé€ws yeveobat mapaxadobvres aA-
, / ‘ 7 > / , D2 34 A]
AjAous éywou O7jwEpov axTdowpev ; ovxt TO
map axtTh Seimvoyv ydictov amodaivovow wor7ep

” ¥ > \ A / \ \ A / /
€or; ot dua Ta KUpaTa Kal Tas Wndidas (Ti yap;
em axths tis A€kiOov odrar Kai Kamrapw;),

1 So Basel edition : odoypixous.
2 So Xylander from Athenaeus, 276 f: éywv jobiev.
y RO


® So Basel edition from Athenaeus, 276 f: girdcogov.
4 So Basel edition: xdvwvos.


* Euripides, frag. 907 (Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag.). Athe-
naeus, who has this whole passage almost verbatim in vii,
276 f, adds boeia (‘* of beef ’’) to “* meat.”

> Founder of the Middle Academy.

¢ Strabo, xiv. 2. 21, p. 658, has an amusing story about
people’s quick response to the bell that announced the sale of
opsa from the sea.

4 On the False Legation, xix. 229. Philocrates was the


340





ao a re


hin <n 1 Pp aereetins. Nl mating Pa





TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 667-668


describe as ‘eaters of delicacies’ and ‘lovers of
delicacies’ not those who enjoy their beef, like
Heracles— he downed green figs after his meat’
—nor any lover of figs like Plato, or of the grape like
Arcesilaiis,? but those who always show up when fish
are sold and who have a keen ear for the bell.
Demosthenes,’ too, by way of an accusation for glut-
tony and licentiousness, says that Philocrates ? used
money ment by treason to buy harlots and fish.
Again, Ctesiphon ¢ wittily answered a devoted eater
of delicacies who shouted in the Council that he was
about to burst with anger: ‘ My dear fellow, please
don’t! You’d get us all eaten alive by fish.” But
what is the poet getting at who wrote the neat line,


You live on capers,’ when you could have anthias ? #


Or what, in heaven’s name, do people mean when
they say, inviting each other to have a good time,
‘ Let’s hive a shore party to-day’? Aren't they de-
claring what is certainly true, that a dinner by the
shore is the most delicious ? This isn’t because of the
waves and the pebbles—does anyone ever make a
meal of porridge and capers at the beach ?—it is


sponsor of the e of 346 B.c. between Athens and Philip of
acedon, and was accused by Demosthenes of treason
against Athens.

* A minor public figure at Athens, known chiefly because
of his proposal that a gold crown should be bestowed upon
Demosthenes.

* Starvation rations, as Philemon, frag. 98 (Kock), shows.

9 Probably the Mediterranean barbier, according to An-
drews’s Zoological Index to De Sollertia Animalium in LCL
Mor. xii, p. 484. For further extensive lore on this fish see
A. W. Mair in Oppian (LCL), pp. iii ff., and D’Arcy Thomp-
son, Glossary of Greek Fishes, pp. 14 ff., and note a on p. 426
of LCL Plut. Mor. xii, 977 c.


341


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(668) add’ ws tyAvos adOdvov Kali veapod tiv mapadov
tpamelav evrropotoar.
ce K \ / \ / Al 7
al pevTol Kal TimpdoKeTat mapa’ Adyov
amdvTwy TyuwTatov TO Oaddtriov oxsov- 6 yodv
Katwv ody tmepBodikds add’ dAnbds mpos tiv
\ \ / ~ / ~
Tpudnv Kat moAuvtéAccav THs moAcews Syunyopav
7 / / > ¢ / > \
C elrev, Ott mAciovos mumpacKketas ev ‘Papn iyOds
7 Bods Kepdpudv Te Tapixous® 7wobor Tips, Gonv
odK av éxarouPn Bovmpwpos dAdo. kataKoreica.
“ Kairot dapuaxcwy dSvvduews 6 latpuxwratos
dpiotos KpiTns Kal pel@v apetis 6 diAopovad-
Tatos, ovKobv Kai aperis opwv 6 diAodraTos.
od yap IIv@aydpa ye rovtwy ovd€ Bevoxpdrer
SuaitnThH xpynotéov, “Avraydpa d€ TH TrownTH Kat
Dirofévw 7H “EpvEidos kal TO Cwypadw *Avdpo-
, v \ , A \ \
KvOn, Ov pact THV UKvVAAav CwypapobvTa Tovs TEpi
avTnv txy0is eumabéotata Kal Cwrikwtata 80
opodaylav é€epydoacba. *Avraydpa 8 6 Baoi-
Aeds *Avtiyovos év 7H otparorédw Aordda yoy-
?
D ypwv ebovrt mreprelCwopévw mapactas, “dpa y’,
elze, ‘Tov “Opnpov oler tas tod “Ayapeuvovos
mpaters avaypadew yoyypous eovta;’ KaKeivos
> 4 : ‘ \ > ” y 1 ‘ A > /
od gatvrws, ‘ od 8 ote,’ edyoe, ‘ Tov “Ayapeuvova
Tas mpates éxeivas épyacacbar zroAumpayyo-
vobvta, Tis €v TH oTpatomédw yoyypov exer ;’


1 So Basel edition: ept.
2 So Reiske from Athenaeus, 275 a: yap.





2 The Censor, 234-149 s.c. Cf. Athenaeus, vi, 274 f.
> Head of the Academy from 339 to 314 B.c.


342


ie ei








TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 668


because at the seashore there is abundance of fresh
fish for the table.

“ Furthermore, sea food is out of all proportion the
most expensive. Cato % assuredly wasn't exaggerat-
ing but speaking plain truth in his harangue against
the luxury and extravagance of the capital, when he
said that a fish sells for more at Rome than a cow,
and they sell a cask of smoked fish for a price that
a hundred sheep plus one ox in the lead wouldn't
me cut in pieces.

_“ Again it is certainly true that as the most com-
petent physician is the best judge of the effect of a

ig, and as the most ardent lover of music is the
best qualified to appraise a tune, so the best critic of
the excellence of a dish must be the greatest gourmet.
Obviously, we cannot appeal to Pythagoras or Xeno-
crates ” to arbitrate such matters; but only to such as
Antagoras ° the poet, Philoxenus? the son of Eryxis,
or the painter Androcydes.’ Androcydes, they say,
in a painting of Scylla, elaborately rendered the fishes
swimming in the water around her in a most en-
thusiastic and lifelike manner because of his appetite
for fish. As for Antagoras, King Antigonus once
found him in the camp girt like a cook and boiling a
dish of conger-eels, and asked him, ‘ Do you think
Homer has recorded the deeds of Agamemnon while
cooking’ eels?’ Antagoras’s apt reply was, ‘ Do
you imagine Agamemnon perfiaaiest those deeds
while busying himself with finding out who was boil-
ing a conger-eel in the camp?’ That is what I have


¢ RE, i. 2338, no. 4. Epic poet of the 3rd century s.c.
Intimate of King Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia.
s RE, xx. 190, no. 5. Notorious roué, ridiculed by Aristo-
phanes.
* See supra, 665 p with note. Cf. Athenaeus, viii, 340 f.


343


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(668) Tabr’ > 0 elev 6 [lodu«parns, * eywrye ovpBadropac
Kal bpuiv" Kal v1) Aia rots ixIvorcbAaus amo TaV
prey Kal THS ouvnetas.”’

ry \ > 9) “e ~ /
Ey w 8,” o Lvppaxos® en, 7 7pay-
part pera. | onovbis mpocerpe Kal duaderrixchrepov.
el yap dyov €oti TO THY Tpodiyyv epynddvov, dpioTtov
an“ 4 ” \ / 3 \ a” ¥. ~ ’
av osov ein TO pdAtota® tiv OpeEw emt TH citw
E xatacyeiv duvdpevov. worep odv ot mpocayopev-
Bévres *EAmorixol dirdcodor cuvertixwtatov elvar
= , ee ae, > , At As , 5
tod Biov to €Amilew amodpaivovtar* TH amovans
5 , 2096 € , > > 17 \
eAmridos 0v0 7Ovvovons ovK dveKTov elvat Tov
Biov, ovTw Kab Ths emi THhv Tpodny opefews
GUVEKTLKOV Dereov od p41) Tapdévtos® dxapus yiyverau
Tpopt ma@oa Kal Svampdadgopos.” TOV pev ovV EK
ys Towodrov ovdev edpyjaoets, TOV be Gadarriov
tov dAa mp@rov, od ywpis’® oddev ws Eros elmeiv
> b 7 > \ \ A ” >
€or edwdysov' addAAa Kai TOV apTov ovTOS Ep-
puyvdpevos cuvndtver (S10 Kal Arjuntpos advvaos 6
F Tlocesday) Kat TOV aGAAwy dwv ot adres Adr0v
oypov elolv.

‘Ot yodv jpwes edtehods Kal Auris eOddes wo-
TEP doxnrat Sains 6 ovres Kal THS TpOPhs maoav
Hoovny emiGeTrov Kat _Teptepyov adeAovtes, Ws pnd”
iyOdor yphaba: mapa tov “EXAjomovtov atpatome-


1 Kal added by Madvig, o bpiv by Wyttenbach.
? cipaxos 'T, avjiaxos E.
3 76 after wdAvora deleted in Basel edition.
* So Turnebus : : amodat lac. 4-5.
5 dmovons Xylander: .adons.
oo Reiske: ody.
7 od« avextov Turnebus: lac. 4-5 VEKTOV.
8 So Stephanus: zayros.
® So Xylander, Svompdco.oTos Turnebus : dvezpo lac. 1-2.
10 03 ywpis added by Stephanus.


344











|





TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 668


to offer to you—and, by George, to the fish-peddlers,”
said Polycrates, “ from the testimony of history and


: ee Well

“ Well,” said Symmachus, “ for my part I shall
attack the subject in a serious and rather more logical
=, If a relish (opson) is something that makes a
‘palatable, then the best relish would be the one
that does most to attract our appetite. The philo-
called Elpistics* declare that hope is the
ow bond of life, pointing out that in the absence
of hope and without its seasoning life is unendurable.
dingly we may assert that the means to
sustain appetite is something without which all food
is tasteless and unpalatable. You will find nothing of
the sort in foods produced on land” ; whereas from
the sea you will. First there is salt, without which
practically nothing is eatable. Salt is added even to
bread and enriches its flavour; this explains why
Poseidon shares a temple with Demeter. Salt is also

the best relish to season other relishes.

_“ The heroes of old, at any rate, who were accus-
tomed to a modest, simple diet, and who acted as if
they were in training, excluding all superfluous
elaborations and condiments, even did without fish,
=— 8 were camping by the Hellespont °; yet


me


~


“ hope

Plate wth is thinking of salt as derived only

Sane the sea, iaikbeah Herodotus shows that salt mines and

rock salt were known (Herod. iv. 185). See now A. S. Pease

pr De Natura Deorum, ii. 53. 132 “salinae”’; RE, s.v.

¢ Plato in Republic, 404 n-c, defends the frugality of the

original citizens of his simple state on exactly this basis, that

Homer did not indulge his heroes in fish from the near-by
Hellespont.


345


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(668) devovres, ody drr€jLevov TO Kpéa xwpis aABv mpoo-
hepeo0an, Haptupobvres ore ToOTo TOV oiswv povov
dmapairnTov € €oTUy. os yap To. Xpapara ToD. Pures,
ovTws ob yvpLoL Too _ adds déovrat mpos TO Kuwhoau

669 THY atcnow: ei d€ pH," Bapets TH, yevoer mpoo-
TiMTOVOL KAL VaUTLWOdELS. ‘ VeKUES yap Komplav éK-
BAnrorepor,’ Kal? “HpdxAecrov, Kpéas d€ 7a vexpov
€or Kal vexpoo [epos* 7 dé Tov addy duvapis,
wotrep bux) Tapayevowern, xapw avT@ kat ndovnv
mpoattlncr. 510 Kal mpohapBdvovar TAS. dAdns
Tpophs Ta dpysea Kal TA adwupa, KL ddws 6 Oo pa-
iota THY addy peTeaxnKe: ylyverau yap pidrtpa
TavTa TH opecer mpos TO. aX’ oa, KaL deAcacbeioa
dua TOUTWY ém € exelva, Tpocetow veadis Kal mpobv-
jos" eav 0° am’ éexeivwy adpéntrar, Tayéws amayo-
pevet.

B. “Qs _povov TOLVUV ™mpos THY tTpopy ard Kal
Tos TO” TOTOV oxpov etolv ot ddes. TO pev yap
‘Opnpexor €xetvo, Kpop.vov tToT@ oor,’ vadrais
Kat Kam Adrais paAXrov 7 Baowedow emt OELoV
hv Ta 8 dpahuupilovra peTpiws TOV orto bv
evorop.iay Tap jeev olvov yévos Hod TH yevoet Kal
Aefov erdyer, wav 8° vowp mpoodgires Tapexet kal®
aAkyov’s andias dé Kat Svoyepeias, Hv eprrovet

tod dwrds Benseler (dwrds Turnebus): lac. 6-7 vos.

tod ados Benseler (adds Turnebus): lac. 2-3 dos.

So Turnebus: lac, 4-5 oat. :

et d¢ uy Stephanus: ep7).

vo added by Bernardakis.


6 So Bollaan, cf. Helmbold, Class. Philol. xxxvi, p. 85:
mapéxeabau. * 8dKipov Post, dAvrov Bernardakis.


aor on





a yas frag. 96 (Diels-Kranz’, p. 172) ; Strabo, xvi. 4. 26,
p-. 784
346


iia 1





TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 668-669


they could not endure to eat meat without salt.
They testify that salt is the only relish that cannot
be dispensed with. Just as colour requires light,
so flavour requires salt to stimulate the sense ;

erwise flavours are disagreeable and nauseous
‘to the taste. The bodies of the dead, according
‘to Heracleitus,* are fitter to be cast out than dung,
and all meat is either a dead body or part of one.
But the effect of salt upon meat, like the addition
of a‘ veritable soul,” is to lend flavour and an agree-
able quality to it. This is why it is conventional

fore a main course to take appetizers that are sharp
or briny, and in general anything that has a highly
salty avacter: For these relishes act as charms to
‘entice the appetite towards the other delicacies ; and
appetite, caught by this magic, attacks the other
viands with youthful * vigour. If, however, these
other viands are the first food presented to the
appetite, it quickly wearies.

“Nor is salt a seasoning only for food; it also
seasons drinks. The Homeric saan” the onion, a
relish to a drink,’ * would be better suited to sailors
‘and oarsmen than to princes ; but moderately salty
foods, on account of their pleasant taste, bring out the
sweetness and smoothness of any kind of wine, and
also make any water agreeable and tonic,’ without a
trace of the disagreeable and objectionable ior that

0 Cf. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 64. 160, “ animam
ipsam pro sale datum ” (to the sow), with Pease’s note.
a ae mg perhaps with another iifeAntng, * newly

¥ liad, xi. 630.

¢ With Gulick in 4.J.P. Ix (1939), pp. 493 f.; or “* forti-
fying” (so Oxford Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. GAKupios ii) ;
he hg emendation the meaning would be “ accept-
able.

347


(669)


C


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ /
TO KpOppvov, ovd’ oAlyov peTeaxn Kev: aAXAa Kai
Svadopet THY aAAnv Tpopny Kat Trapadiowour ev-
mev0 Kal padakwrépay TH meter," xapur* pev®
4
dyov dvvapuw dé dapydkov TH cwpati THv dAdr*
/ ‘ A / ; ed / +
Tpoagepopevwv. Kal pnv Tay” GAdAa Badrdrrns oa
\ ama ¢Qo7/f A . OB) / ” s
Tpos TH Hdiotw Kal To aBAaBeoraTov exer: KpEwdn
\ 4 > ? / > ¢ / > \
fev yap eotw, od Baptver 8 dpoiws adda Kata-
méTTeTa Kal Siadopetrar padiws. paptuphoe Sd
£ ‘ / A \ / / a A >
odtoat Zhivwv Kai v7 Aia Kpdtwy, ot tods acbe-
vodvras mpo Tav dAAwy amdvTwy emt Tov ixOdy
ayovow ws Kouddtatov owv. Kat Adyov exe
thv OddAatrav dyvewa Kal Siamemovnpeva Tots
owpacw extpédev, el ye Kal nuiv aépa AertoTyT1
Kat Kabapdérynte mpdadopoyv avadidwow.
ce °0 6 ~ a) ” ce Az / ? ¢ A /
plas,” edn, eyes, oO Aapmpias,
“arr ert TH Adyw mpocdirocodjowpev. 6 ‘yap
eos mammos eiwle éyew Eéxdotote Tovs *lov-
daiovs émuckwmtTwr, OTL TO SiKaLoTaTOV Kpéas
> > / ¢ “a \ / , +
odk eabiovow: jets de dyjoopev SixardTtatov drysov
elvat TO €x Oaddrrns. mpos pev yap® tavTi Ta
yepoata Kav dAdo prydev nyiv 7 Sikasov, adda
tTpépetai ye tots adrois Kal AapBaver tov adrov
aépa, Kat Aovtpa Kal moTov adTois amep nuiv
= ~ »)
é€oTw: Kal’ oddtrovres edvawTodvTO pPwrijv
7 30 Turnebus : dyer.
? xdpuv Post: eUyaptr. eis yapw Turnebus, cs yap Wytten-
bach, evxapy pev xd ipw Bernardakis, cf. 685 a.
3 yap after pev deleted by Turnebus.
4 So Basel edition: adAwr.
5 So Bernardakis: ye.
6 4 xat Wyttenbach, @ xai Stephanus, xai Basel edition :


vikat.


348





TABLE-TALK IV. 4, 669


your onion produces. Beyond that, salty food aids
digestion of any other *%; it makes any food tender
and more susceptible to concoction; the salt con-
tributes at once the savour of a relish and the good
effect of a medicine. Moreover, the other delicacies
of the sea, in addition to being most gratifying to the
taste, are also the safest to eat; for they have the
character of meat without its heaviness, and are easily
digested and assimilated. Here is Zeno ® to testify,
and yes, so help me, Crato,* too! Both prescribe
fish for invalids, because it is the lightest meat,
before allowing them any other. One more point:
it is logical that what the sea brings forth should be
wholesome and well-perfected, since the sea sends us
air that is healthful because of its lightness and
purity.”

4. “* You are right,” said Lamprias, “ but let us add
a little to our speculations. My grandfather used to
say on every occasion, in derision of the Jews, that
what they abstained from was precisely the most
legitimate meat. But we shall say that of all delicacies
the most legitimate kind is that from the sea. As
far as the land animals whose meat is here before us
are concerned, we must admit at least this if nothing
else, that they consume the same food and breathe
the same air as we do, and drink and bathe in water
no different from ours. This has in times past made
men ashamed when they butchered them in spite of
their pitiful cries and in spite of having made com-


@ Of. infra, 688 8.
oo Occurs only here, according to RE, s.v. “ Plutarchos,”’
. 686.
¢ A relative of Plutarch’s by marriage, supra, i. 4, 620 a.
There is a physician of this name from Athens in the early
Roman Empire in Inseriptiones Graecae, iii. 1327.
349


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(669) aduevta yoepav Kal Ta mAetoTa memounpevow our-
70 Kat ovvtpoda rais Suairats. To 6€ Tor
eva.Aioov yevos expudov orws Kal darouKov NLOV,
@amep év dre TWl KOOLW yeyovorwy Kal Cavrew,
ovr’ dys odTe dwv7 Tis oul! drroupyta TapatTetrat
THS Tpoapopas” (ovdev yap abrots éxet xpjoacbau

K C@ov, 6 6 und’ odAws ai) Tap” nyLLV) , ovde det TWos
em aura oTopyis» aX’ wo7rep “Aidns aurots €or
ovTos 6 Tap piv tomos: €APdvTa yap «is adTov
edléws téOvnkev.”’


ILPOBAHMA E


Ildérepov oi "Tovdaior ceBopevor tiv bv 7) Svoxepalvorres
dméxovTat THY KpEeav


Collocuntur Callistratus, Polycrates, Lamprias :


. "Emet de Taor’ €pp7 en, Bovdopévaw TWO
GvTiKaTareively TOV ETEpov Aoyov ekKpovwv 6
KaAXiotpatos €dn, “ 17@s tyiv doxet AcAdyGar to

F mpos tovs “lovdaious, ott TO SiKaudTatov Kpéas
ovK eobiovow;”’ “ imepduads,’”’ €dn 6 LloAuKparns,
“ éyaw 5€ Kal mpood.arrop@, 7OTEpov ot avdpes TYLA
Twt TOV DOV 7 pvoaTrojLevol TO f@ov (amrexovTau
THS Bpdcews avrod: 70, yap Trap: exeivois Aeyo-
peeve pvbous & couKev, el x7) Twas apa Adyous orrovdat-
ous €xyovTes ovK expépovow.”’
2. “Eva pev roivuv,” etrev 6 KadXorpatos,


1 So Anonymus: zpogc lac. as.





¢ The same argument is advanced, on the contrary, in
viii. 8, 729 a infra, as the genuine reason for abstention from
all products of the sea by the Egyptians. In 729 p ibid. that
attitude is ascribed to the Pythagoreans. tia


350





TABLE-TALK IV. 4-5, 669


panions of most of them and shared their store of food
with them. Sea animals, on the other hand, are a
gears. entirely alien and remote from us,? as if they

Sprpns UP and were living in some different
ada Neither look nor voice nor service rendered
pleads with us not to eat them, for no animal can
employ these pleas that has no life at all among us ;
nor need we feel any affection for them. Our world
is equivalent to Hades for them, since to come here


is instant dea


+. QUESTION 5


Whether the Jews abstain from pork because of reverence or
b, aversion for the pig


Speakers: Callistratus, Polycrates, Lamprias


1. Wuen he had finished, and some of those present
would have made an extended reply to his arguments,
Callistratus headed them off by saying, ““ What do
you think of the assertion that it is precisely the most
proper type of meat that the Jews avoid eating ? els
“ | heartily agree with it,” replied Polycrates, “ but
I have another question : do they abstain from eating
pork by reason of some special respect for hogs or
from abhorrence of the creature? Their own ac-
counts sound like pure myth, but perhaps they have
some serious reasons which they do not publish.”

2. “‘ My impression,”’ said Callistratus, “ is that the


> For this obvious point cf. the simpler statement in 729 c
infra: air is destructive to fishes.

¢ These questions and the whole theme of the bias and mis-
conceptions revealed here in Plutarch as well as elsewhere
in ancient Bea literature are discussed i in detail by Heine-
mann in R#, Suppl. v. 19-35.


351


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(669) “‘oluat twa tysnv 7d Cov exew mapa tots av-
/ > 4,

670 dpaow: et dé S¥apopdov % Bs Kai Ood€epov, GAdr’
1 0 / \ A 2 \3 5 ‘Xr ‘
od’ KavOdapov Kai pvyadis* Kal® KpoxodeiAov Kal

> , 4 ‘ ” > , 5 OM ‘ ,
atAovpov' tHv oy artomwtepov? 7 THY dow
dpovadTepov®* ols ws aywwrdato.s tepeis Aiyurriwy
aAdAows’ dAXou tpoodépovrar. tHhv 8 bv amd ypn-
ors aitias® tysdo8ar A€yovow mpwTn yap oxt-
caca TH mpovyovTt Tod puyxous, ws act, THY
yy txvos apdcews eOnxev Kal TO THs tvews
bdnyyjoat Eepyov: dlev Kal Tovvona yevéeobar TH
> aA / Xv / > \ ~ es ¢ PS) A 4 aAé A
epyadcip Aeyovow amo rijs os. ot d€ 7a padDaxa
\ A ~ 4 > a >
Kat KotAa THs ywpas Alyvmriot yewpyodvTes ovd

> / / \ / > > hd ¢ ~
B apdtov dSéovrar to mapdmav: aAX’ étav 6 Neidos

/ fo
amoppéen kataBpébas Tas apovpas, emaxoAovbobytes
tas ds KatéeBadov, at dé ypynoduevar TaTw Kal
> a A 4 ~ ” > / ‘ A
opvxn Taxyv THY yHv etpedav ex Balovs Kai Tov
/ > / > A \ / > ‘
omdpov amexpupav. ov det de Oavpalew, ei dia
tobT6 twes Bs odK eobiovow, érépwv Cobwv pei-
Covas én’ aitiaus yAioypais, eviwy dé Kal mavu
yerolais, Tyas éxdvTwv mapa Tots BapBapois. THv

A \ Anh > A / 6 A ij gaa, Ag
pev yap puyadnv éxrefeidoba A€yovow ba’ Aiyv-
/ A > a ‘ / ~ ‘
mtiwv tupAnv ovoav, ott TO oKOTOS TOD dwrTos
Hyobvto mpeaBurepov: tixrecBar 5° adrny ex puadv
TEULTTN YEeved voupnvias ovons: ert Sé prevodaBat Td

Hmap ev Tots apaviopots THs ceAnvys.
1 Gd’ od Turnebus : lace. 5.
® pvyadijs Xylander, ef. 670 B: ypu lac. 3.
8 So Aldine or Basel edition: éx.


4 So Basel edition: lac. 5-7 vpov.
5 So Basel edition: aromwrarny.


352





TABLE-TALK IV. 5, 669-670


beast enjoys a certain respect among that folk ¢;
granted that he is ugly and dirty, still he is no more
absurd in appearance or crude in disposition than
dung-beetle, field-mouse, crocodile, or cat, each of
which is treated as sacred by a different group of
tian priests. They say, however, that the pig
is honoured for a good reason: according to the story,
it was the first to cut the soil with its projecting snout,
thus producing a furrow and teaching man the func-
tion of a ploughshare. Incidentally, this is the origin,
they say, of the word hynis (from hys, ‘ swine’) for that
implement. The Egyptians who cultivate the soft
soil of their low-lying areas have no use for plough-
ing at all. After the Nile overflows and soaks their
acres, they follow the receding water and unload the
pigs, which by trampling and rooting quickly turn
over the deep soil and cover the seed. We need not
be surprised if some people do not eat pork for this
reason. Other animals receive even greater honours
among the barbarians for slight and in some cases
utterly ridiculous reasons. The field-mouse is said to
have been deified among the Egyptians because of
its blindness, since they regarded darkness as superior
to light ; and they thought that the field-mouse was
born of ordinary mice every fifth generation at the
new moon, and also that its liver was reduced in size
at the dark of the moon.
* This suggestion is even more forcibly made in an epi-
gram attributed to Petronius (Biicheler, Petronii reliquiae,


1862, with preface, p. xxxvi), fragment 47, line 1: “‘ Iudaeus
licet ut porcinum numen adoret.”





6 d Hirschig, “‘ dirtier, more loathsome.”
pevoapwrepov g, ; more loathsome.
7 adAous tenet in Basel edition.
8 amo xpnoris airias Madvig: dmoypnorica Kal Kal (sic).
® rod pvyxous Reiske: ris épuyis, which may be right.
VOL. VIII N 353


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ce \ Al / ~ e¢\7/ ~ Ld
Tov de A€ovTra 7H HAiw ovvoixercodow, srt
~ 4,
TOV yappwvdywv tetparddwv BdAémovta Tikrer
pLovos, Koatat 8 aKkapés ypdovov Kat daoAdprrer
Ta, Oupata Kabevdovros* Kphvat Sé KaTa YaopaTwr*
Aeovreiwy €€tGau Kpovvovs, dt. NeiAos ender véov
Ld a > - > /, e¢y\7 \ /,
vdwp tats Aliyumtiwy dpovpais yAlov tov A€ovra
4, A > / > ~
mapodevovtos. Hv 8 tBiv daow exxodradbeicav
779k 7 4 / 7 a /
evOds eAkew dvo Spaypds, dcov aptt madiov
yeyovotos Kapdiav®: moveivy b€ TH TOY Todav*
> / 5 A LAA AD 6 A \ A es
amootace.” mpos aAdAjAous® Kai mpos Td pvyxos
ioomAevpov tpiywvov. Kal ti av tis Aiyumrious
~ an a ‘
aiti@To THs TooavTns dAoyias, dmov Kal Tovds
a /
D IIlv@ayopixods ioropodow Kat dAextpvdva AevKov
oéBeobar Kai THv Gadatriwy pddiora TpiyAns Kai
> , > / 4 > > A ,
akadnons améxecar, tods 5° amd Zwpodorpov
pedyous TYyLdy pev ev Tois padioTa Tov yepoaiov
val ~ \
exivov, exGaipew dé tods évddpovs pis Kal Tov
amoKktewvovTa mAeiotous GeopiAf Kal paKkdptov
> /
vopilew; olwat dé Kat todvs “lovdaious, eimep
@
€BdeAvtTovTo Thy by, amoKTeivew av, WomEp ot
~ > ~ > , an
pedyou Tovs pds amoxKteivovat viv & dpoiws TO
a nw > a
dayetvy TO aveAciv amdppyntov éotw avtois. Kai
” ? ‘
tows exer Adyov, ws Tov ovov" avadjvavTa mHynV
1 §¢ added by Reiske.
2 $€ Kata xaopatrwy Turnebus, cf. Mor. 366 a: 8€ cai Kata-
oxdppara, — sla
So Aldine edition: xapdia.
So Basel edition: zovwv.
So Hubert, cf. diaordces 381 D: dmordcet.
So Basel edition : dAAous.
dé after dvov deleted in Basel edition.


(670)
C


ayo 8





* In Plutarch’s time a drachm was equivalent to 4 oz. or
c. 3-4 grams (Hultsch in REZ, s.v, “ Drachme,” col. 1629).


354








TABLE-TALK IV. 5, 670


“ They associate the lion with the sun because it,
alone of quadrupeds that have claws, bears young
that can see at birth, sleeps only for a moment, and
has eyes that gleam in sleep. Egyptian fountains
pour forth their water through lion mouths, because
the Nile brings new water to the fields of Egypt
when the sun passes through Leo. They say that
the ibis when hatched weighs two drachms,* as
much as the heart of a new-born infant, and forms an
equilateral triangle by the position of its outspread
feet and bill. How could anyone blame the Egyptians
for such irrationality when it is recorded that the
Pythagoreans respect even a white cock,? and that
they abstain particularly from the red mullet and the
sea anemone among marine animals? © Or when we
remember that the Magi, followers of Zoroaster,
especially esteem the hedgehog and abominate water
mice,* regarding the person who kills the greatest
number of the latter as blest and dear to the gods?
So I think the Jews would kill pigs if they hated them,
as the Magi kill water mice ; but in fact it is just as
unlawful ‘for Jews to destroy pigs as to eat them.
Perhaps it is consistent that they should revere the


» Diogenes Laertius, viii. 34, has fuller arguments and ana-
logies in support of this Pythagorean precept or practice.

¢ Aulus Gellius, iv. 11. 11 ff., quotes this passage, identify-
ing dxaAijdy with sea-nettle (urtica), and citing from a lost
work of Plutarch on Homer. |

4 Or “‘ sea voles,”’ “‘ sea shrews,” or “ sea rats.”” These
were not adequately differentiated. See De Lacy and Einar-
son’s comments on 537 a above (LCL Mor. vii, p. 97, note f).
Another possibility, attractive because it explains the abhor-
rence, is the highly poisonous globe-fish : see A. C. Andrews
in Trans. Am. Phil. Assoc. \xxix (1948), pp. 232 ff. Prof.
Warmington suggests “‘ water-shrews ”’ or “ water-voles ”’ or
both, because the Magi were of an inland race.


355


(670)


E


F


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


b) A a ~ a A 4 e /
abtois vdaTos TYUL@ow, ovTwWs Kal THY bv céBecOat
omdépov Kal apotouv diddoKadov yevouevyny: ei p%,*
vy Ata, kai Tob Aaywot dice” tis dméyeobar Tods
dvdpas ws pevoepov Kai axdbaprov dvayepaivovtas
TO Ben

“Od dir’, &dn® 6 Aapmpias troAaBav,*

\ ae , 50 CNS \ ‘
aa Tob pev Aaywod dheidovrar’ da THY mpos TOV
” , 6 ¢ 9 Seas ons , 7 , > ,
dvov Tiwmpevov® tr adTtav puadiota’ Onpiov eude-
pevav.” 6 yap Aayws peyebous eoike Kal mayxous
évdens ovos® elvar’ Kal yap 7 ypoa Kal Ta WTA Kal
TOV Oppatwv 7 AvtapdoTns Kal TO Aapyupov™ Eo.Ke
Bavpacios: WOTE pndev oUTw™ pikpov peydAw THVv
Hopgny 6 CHOLOY yeyovevat. el pL) v7) Aia Kai mpos
TAS TouoTnTAS: * aiyumrudlovres THY WKUTHTA TOD
Cwov Oeiov ayotvrar Kat tHYv axpiBevay Tadv
> / Ld \ > 0 \ »” / >

aicOynrnpiwy: 6 te yap ofladpyos atputdés €oTw
avt@v, wote Kai Kabevdew dvaremTapevors Tots
oupaot, ogunKorg te doKel Suadepewv, 7) nv Atydrrvot
Oavpdoavres €v Tots iepots ypdppacw aKonv on-
paivovow ovs Aaywod™ ypdadortes.

“To & wvtewov Kpéas ot avdpes adoovodcbar

et pt} added by Xylander. 2 So Reiske: ¢yai.

; 3 $4 7 é¢n Reiske, S47’ elwev Hubert: 6 lac. 7-8.

. So Aldine edition: tod lac. 4-6.

- So Doehner : lac. 2-3 rat. Stephanus 4 dméxovrat.


§ dvov tysdpevov Franke, dvov, tm adrav puoaxtévra
(“‘ loathed ”’) Sealiger, dvov‘‘ e veteribus codicibus ”: pevov
Um ’avt@vpv lac. 4-5 ora.

? padtora Reiske, ef. preceding note.

~ 5 be Scaliger, Franke: éudepéorarov.

® adaxous évdens dvos Doehner: tdaxous ev dewvois.
10 So Reiske: dAuupov.
1 unde after odrw deleted by Doehner.


356


ce








TABLE-TALK IV. 5, 670


pig who taught them sowing and plowing, inasmuch
as they honour the ass ? who first led them to a spring
of water. Otherwise, so help me, someone will say
that the Jews abstain from the hare because they
can't stomach anything so filthy and unclean.”

3. “ No indeed,”’ countered Lamprias, “‘ they ab-
stain from the hare because of its very close resem-
blance to the ass which they prize so highly. The hare
appears to be simply an ass inferior in bulk and
size ; for its coat, ears, bright eyes, and salacity are
amazingly similar, so much so that nothing small
ever so closely resembled something large. Per-
haps, to be sure, following the Egyptians even in
their conception of traits of animals, they regard the
swiftness of the creature and the keenness of its
senses as something divine. For its eye is untiring :
the hare even sleeps with its eyes wide open. In
acuteness of hearing it is found to be unrivalled ; the
Egyptians admire this so much that in their hiero-
gtyphics they draw a hare’s ear to represent the idea
) ing.


“The Jews apparently abominate pork because


* Tacitus (Histories, v. 3 ff.) has an ampler version of this,
naming Moses and apparently misrepresenting Exodus, xv.
23 ff. Josephus (Contra Apionem, ii. 7. 86) denies that the
Jews honour the ass as the Hory pilans do crocodiles. See B.
Latzarus, Les Idées religieuses de Plutarque (Paris, 1920), p.
164. Plutarch himself rejects (De Iside, 363 c) a connection
between the Jews and Typhon (Set), who both rode an ass
and was otherwise identified with the animal. Latzarus
adduces a number of Old Testament a to which Plu-
tarch may be indirectly indebted, which show that, the ass
was given a favoured place by the Hebrews. ? Jesus’s entry
into Jerusalem.


22 So Reiske: sdyodrnras.
13 obs Aaywod Reiske: rods Aaywods.





357


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(670) doxotow,’ ote uddvota mavtwr* ot BdpBapot tas


671


2 \ \ , 3 \ , , ‘

emt ypwtos AevKas® Kal Aémpas Svoyepaivovar Kal
~ ~ A ~

Th mpooBodAf ta towadta KataBdoKeoOar maby
A ~

Tovs avOpwrrous olovrar, macav* § ty bro THY

/ r / > / rv ‘ ~ >

yaotépa Aémpas avdtAewv Kat fwpikdv e€avbn-
/ ~

patwv’ op@pwev, & 57, KayeElas Twos eyyevopevns®

T owpatt Kat Pbopds, emitpéxew SoKet Tots
7 7 > A LAAG \ \ 0 A A \ \

ompacw.” od pnv adda Kal Td OoAEpov rept THY
/ lot

Stavray Too Opéuparos EXEL TWa mrovnpiay" ovdev

yap dAXo BopBopaw Xatpov OUTW Kal TOTOLS puTTa-

pois Kal dxalaprors opGev, ew Adyou Tie pevor

Ta THY yeveow Kal THY PUL ev adTots ExovTa TOU-

tos. Aéyovor dé Kal Ta Oupata THY Dav ovTWs

eykekAdo0ar Kat Kateomdo0a tats oeow, wore


B pndevos avriAauBdvecbar undémote THV avw pnde


mpocopav Tov ovpavev, av pn hepomevwy baTiwv
avaotpodyv twa mapa dvow at Kdopar AdBwouw:

~ \ ~
610 Kal pddvoTa Kpavyh ypwpevov to Cdov
novyalew, dtav ovTw PépyTar, Kal cwwmay KaTa-

/
teBapBnuevov anfeia Ta odpavia Kal KpeitTove
oBw tod Body ovveydpevov. « dé Set Kal Ta
A “a / \ c mM PS) € \
pvbika mpoodaBetv, Aéyerar pev 6 “Adwvis dzr0
~ A ~ \ > > @

tod avos diadbapiivar, tov & “Adwvw ody €Etepov
\ \ a
aAAa Ardvucov elvar vopilovow, Kat moAAa Tv
‘ A e \ ~ A
teAovpevwn éexatépw mepl Tas eopTas BeBaot Tov

lon /
Adyov: ot S€ aaduKa tod Avovicov yeyovevat:

A So Stephanus: lac. 4-5 xodow.
2 aravTwv Bernardakis : lac. 2-3.
3 émi ypwros Aevkas Hubert: én lac. 2 + lae. 4 anna
4 zacav Stephanus: és av.


5 So Stephanus : : e€avOnodvtwy. * So Reiske: éxyevopévns.
7 rots é£w pépeow Paton. 8 So Reiske: pera.


358











.


TABLE-TALK IV. 5, 670-671


barbarians especially abhor skin diseases like lepra®
and white scale, and believe that human beings are
ravaged by such maladies through contagion. Now
we observe that every pig is covered on the under
side by lepra and scaly eruptions, which, if there
is general weakness and emaciation,” are thought to
spread rapidly over the body. What is more, the
the very filthiness of their habits produces an inferior
quality of meat. We observe no other creature so
fond of mud and of dirty, unclean places, if we leave
out of account those animals that have their origin
and natural habitat there. People say also that
the eyes of swine are so twisted and drawn down
that they can never catch sight of anything above
them or see the sky unless they are carried upside
down so that their eyes are given an unnatural tilt
upward. Wherefore the animal, which usually
squeals immoderately, holds still when it is carried
in this position, and remains silent because it is
astonished at the unfamiliar sight of the heavenly
expanse and restrained from squealing by an over-
powering fear. If it is legitimate to bring in mytho-
logy too, Adonis is said to have been slain by the
boar. People hold Adonis to be none other than
Dionysus,” a belief supported by many of the rites at
the festivals of both ; though others have it that he
was the favourite of Dionysus. Phanocles,? an erotic

* Lepra: any scaly condition, ¢f. psoriasis.

» Or, with Kronenberg’s reading aiyar: for cdpari, “‘ since
a morbidity is engendered in the blood.” > The body referred
to may be that of the pig or that of a human being who
touches him.


* See infra, Question 6, notes on Adonis, etc.
@ Elegiac poet, perhaps of the 3rd century B.c.


359


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(671) cat DavokdAjs, epwrikos avyip, odK etx SHrov


TETTOLN KEV


C 78° ws Oeiov "“Adwvw dpeidoirns Avdvucos
npracev, nyabénv Kuimpov*® éouyopevos.”


IIPOBAHMA s*
Tis 6 wap” "Jovdatous beds


Collocuntur Symmachus, Moeragenes, alii


, = Nee es ad bp the dan ¢ ,
1. Oavpacas obv To emi maou" pybev 6 Xdppa-
5 te FP 9 9d ce \ \ 4 / >
yos, ‘dp’, dn, “‘ od Tov matpiarny Bedv, & Aap-
> 4,
mpia, ‘ eviov oporvytvaika pawopevais avOgovra
A > val a
tysatot Avdvucov’ éyypadets Kai domes Tots
¢ / > / ” ~ + / ww
EBpaiwy amoppytois; 7 T@ ovte AOyos Eott Tis
~ \ 3
6 TovdTov éKeivw Tov avTov amodaivwy ;”’ 6 de
/ ¢ , co om” ~ >? ge? “9 \
Moupayevns troAaBwv, “‘ €a todtov,” elev: ““ éyw
a > ,
yap “A@nvaios wy amoxpivowat ao. Kat rAEéyw py-
dev’ adAdov elvar: Kal Ta pev moAAa THY eis TODTO
> ¢ a’ A A a
D Texpnpiwv povots €oTt pyTa Kal didaKTa Tots uvOv-
aA > A
pévois Trap Hiv els THY TpLeTHPLKTV TravTeAELaV’ a
1 odk etx Hubert: ov lac. 2 T.
2 So Xylander: xdézpw.
3 There is no heading in T or E, the text being continuous,
but the title is listed in the index prefixed to the Book.


4 So Reiske: zéav.
5 givaxos T, ovjaxos E.





@ On this entire question see B. Latzarus, Les Idées reli-
gieuses de Plutarque (Paris, 1920), chap. xiv, and Heinemann
in RE, Suppl. v. 18-35. > Supra, 667 x.

¢ Dionysus in many accounts is the son of Semelé of
Thebes, and so a Boeotian compatriot of Plutarch and his
brother Lamprias. 4 Lyrici Adesp. 131.


360











TABLE-TALK IV. 5-6, 671


poet, surely knew whereof he spoke when he wrote
the following lines :

And how mountain-coursing Dionysus

Seized the divine Adonis,

As the god did yisit holy Cyprus.”


QUESTION 6
Who the god of the Jews is*
Speakers : Symmachus, Moeragenes, and others


1. Symmacuus,? surprised at this last statement,
asked, “ Lamprias, are you enrolling your national
god ¢ in the calendar of the Hebrews and insinuating
into their secret rites ‘him of the orgiastic ery,
exciter of women, Dionysus, glorified with mad
honours *?¢ Is there actually some tradition that
demonstrates identity between him and Adonis? ” ¢
Moeragenes/ interposed, “ Never mind him. I as
an Athenian can answer you and say that the god is
no other. Most of the relevant proofs can lawfully be
pronounced or divulged only to’ those of us who
lave been initiated into the Perfect Mysteries ” cele-
brated every other year, but what I am going to


* Adonis (probably from Semitic adon “* Lord ’’) of Cyprus,
Byblos, and other Semitic or near-Semitic places, was a god
or demi in many respects comparable to Dionysus.

* Unknown unless identical with the Moeragenes cited by
Philostratus as one of his authorities in his Life of Apollonius
of Tyana, i. 3. ¢ Or “ by.”

* See RE, s.v. “ Panteleia.” It is a controversial question
whether the Panteleia belonged to Bacchus or to Demeter,
and whether it refers to Perfection or Consummation, as the
etymology would suggest, or, as Miiller-Graupa (in RE)
insists, rather to the simpler concept of “* great mysteries.”
On the ificance of the two-year periods see RE, vii a, 122-
124, and Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, v, chaps. 4, 5.


VOL. VIII N* 361


(671)


10)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


dé Adyw SieAeiv od KexcAvTar mpds didrovs avdpas,
dAAws Te Kat wap’ olvov emt tots Tob Deot Swpois,
av obrot KeAedwor, Aéyew €Toos.”

2. [ldvrwy obv KeAevovtwr Kai Seopevwny, “ rpd-
Tov pev, edn, “ THs peylorns Kal teAevoraTys
€opTis map avTois 6 Kaipds €oTW Kal 6 TpdrTOS
Avovicw mpoorjkwv. tiv yap Aeyouevny vyotetay
ayovtes’ axualovrTe TpvynT® tpamélas te mpotiber-
Ta TavTodaTAS OTwpas bm oKyVais Kal KaAidow*
ex KAnudtwv padioTa Kal KiTTOD SvamremAeypévais*
Kal THY TpoTépay THs €opThs oxnviv dvoudlovow.
dAtyais 8’ vorepov juepars GAAnv éopriy, odKéri’
dv’ aivvypatwv add’ dvtixpus Bayou Kadoupevny,*
tedovow. Eat 5€ Kal Kpadnpopia® tis opti Kal
Gupoodopia map’ adtois, év 7 Ovpaous eyovtTes Eis
TO lepov eiaiacw: eioeABdvtes 8 6 Tu SpHow, ovK
iopev, etKos be Baxyelay elvar Ta Trovovpeva: Kai
yap odAmuyé. puiKpais, womep “Apyetor tots Ato-
vuotos, avakadovpevo. tov Oedv ypa@vTa, Kai
Kiapilovres ETEpoL mpolacw,® os avTot Aevitas
mpocovoyalovaw, eite apa Tov Avouov elite pad-
Aov rapa tov Eviov ris émixAnoews yeyevnerns.

1 dyovres added by Madvig. 2 So Sealiger: xafidouw.
3 odxére Bollaan, od« ad Reiske: ovx ay.


4 So Reiske: xadoupévov.
5 So Turnebus: xparnpodopia. °° So Reiske: apoodow.





@ Evidently an allusion to skenopegia, ** Feast [not “ Fast ”’]
of Tabernacles ”’; ¢f. the scholiast in T.

> See below, the note on Sabaoth. A scholium in T identi-
fies the reference “in my opinion ’’ with 76 zap” adrots dacxa
i.e. maaxa ** Passover,” but see below, note d.

¢ Josephus, Jewish War, v. 210 and Jewish Antiquities, xv.
11. 395, in his description of the gate of the Temple, speaks
of golden vines with huge clusters of grapes. Cf. Tacitus, His-


362





~~ a owes , An





TABLE-TALK IV. 6, 671


speak of is not forbidden in conversation with friends,
especially over after-dinner wine, while we are enjoy-
ing the god’s own bounty. I am ready to speak if
these gentlemen urge me.”

2. At this, all did urge him and beg him to go on.
“* First,” he said, “the time and character of the
greatest, most sacred holiday of the Jews clearly
befit Dionysus. When they celebrate their so-called
Fast, at the height of the vintage, they set out tables
of all sorts of fruit under tents and huts plaited for
the most part of vines and ivy. They call the first of
the two days Tabernacles. A few days later they
celebrate another festival, this time identified with
Bacchus not through obscure hints but plainly called
by his name,? a festival that is a sort of ‘ Procession
of Branches ’ or ‘ Thyrsus Procession,’ in which they
enter the temple each carrying a thyrsus.¢ What
they do after entering we do not know, but it is
probable that the rite is a Bacchic revelry, for in fact
they use little trumpets ¢ to invoke their god as do
the Argives at their Dionysia. Others of them
advance playing harps; these players are called in
their language Levites, either from Lysios (Releaser)
or, better, from Evius (God of the Cry).°


tories, v.5. Latzarus, p. 165, note 6, quotes a commentator on
Luke, xiv. 1-6 on the disregard of the Jews for their abstem-
ious aaa in respect to wine and food on the Sabbath.

4 Deubner, Attische Feste, p. 96, note 4 s-Aristophanes,
Acharn. 1000; Grove, Dict. of Music, article on Hebrew
Music; Sachs, Hist. of Mus. Instruments, p. 112 ; Leviticus,
xxiii. 24; Numbers, x. 1 ff. ; a scholium in T ibly identi-
fies Plutarch’s reference as being to phaska (shofar?). Cf. 1
Chronicles xv. 16 and 28.

¢ One of the few scholia in T scornfully expostulates against
this nonsense. The names Lysios (supra, 613 c) and Evius
are epithets of Bacchus.


363


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(671) “ Otwor d€ Kat tHv tv caBBdtwv Eopriy ut)
F wavtdraow ampocdiovucov elvar: LaBous yap Kat
viv €tt' roAdot tods Bdkyous Kadobow Kal tadrnv
agidot THY Pwrynv dtav dopyialwor TH ed, 06
mlioTwow €ott Syrov Kal tapa Anpoobévous da-
Bety Kat mapa Mevavdpov, kal odk amd tpdomov*
Tis av gain tovvoya* memoufjoba: mpds twa® od-
672 Bnow,® 7 Katéxer tovds Baxyevovras. adroli de
T® Adyw paptupodow, stav odBBata tedAdar,’
pdAvora pev mivew Kal oivodcba: mapaxadobvtes
aAAjAous, Grav d€ KwAdyn Ti petlov, amoyevtecbai

ye mdvTws aKpdtov vopilovres. Kal tadta pev
eikoTa gain tis av elvar: Kata Kpdtos dé Tovs
evavtious® mp@Tov wev 6 apyepeds eAdyyer, piTpn-
@opos Te mpoiwy ev tats éoprats Kal veBpida
XpvadTactov evnupevos, yit@va 5€ modjnpyn hopav
Kat Koldpvous, Kwdwves de moAAol KaTaKpemavrat
Ths €a0itos, broKopmobvtes ev TH Badilew, cs
Kal Trap nuiv’ odors 5€ yp@vTar wept Ta vuKTE-


1 So Stephanus: 67.

2 od micorwow Hubert, dv wiorw Scaliger, BeBaiwow Bernar-
dakis: lac. 8-10 ow.

3 So Stephanus: lac. 4-5 zov.

4 So Turnebus: 70d dua.

5 So Stephanus: rv. 8 So Reiske: doéBnoww.

7 odBBara reAdour Hubert, cafBara already in g y acc. to
Wyttenbach: ocdpBa tyndor T.

8 8€ rods evavtious Madvig, d€ rods evavtiovpéevous Wytten-
bach: év adrois.





@ When the Hebrews spoke of Sabaoth (“* armies,” heavenly
or earthly : cf. Romans, ix. 29 ; Isaiah, i. 9) they would seem
to a Greek to be referring to Sabazios or Sabos, who was
identified with Dionysus. ‘The Romans in 139 B.c. put them-
selves on record officially as guilty of the same confusion by


364


2 ng








a


TABLE-TALK IV. 6, 671-672


__ “I believe that even the feast of the Sabbath? is not
completely unrelated to Dionysus. Many even now
call the Bacchants Sabi and utter that cry when cele-
brating the god. Testimony to this can be found in
Demosthenes ® and Menander.° You would not be
far off the track if you attributed the use of this name
Sabi 4 to the strange excitement (sobesis) that pos-
sesses the celebrants. The Jews themselves testify
to a connection with Dionysus when they keep the
Sabbath by inviting each other to drink and to enjo

wine ; when more important business interferes with
this custom, they regularly take at least a sip of neat
wine. Now thus far one might call the argument
only probable; but the opposition is quite de-
molished, in the first place by the High Priest, who
leads the procession at their festival wearing a mitre
and clad in a gold-embroidered fawnskin, a robe
reaching to the ankles, and buskins, with many bells
a to his clothes and ringing below him as he
walks All this corresponds to our custom. In the
second place, they also have noise as an element in


expelling the Jews for allegedly introducing Sabazios to

Rome. ice Wissowa as quoted in RE, s.v. “* Sabazios,”’ col.

1547, and Valerius Maximus, i. 3. 3. The cry euoi saboi

i oafor), derisively quoted by Demosthenes, is referred to
onysus Sabazius by various Greek authorities.

> De Corona, 260. Cf. preceding note.

¢ Menander, fr. 905 (Kérte) = 1060 (Kock).

4 Plutarch is playing with variants on the root sab. A
different reading would make the meaning “ reverence ” or
“ce awe.”’

¢ Ricard and Kaltwasser cite Leviticus, x. 9, which com-

letely refutes this; however, see Judges, ix. 13; xix. 19;
P civ. 15; which give very weak support to Plutarch.

4 Much of this 2a Sci Exodus, xxviii ; but whence are
the fawnskin and buskins derived? Helmbold compares
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, iii. 159 ff.


365


(672)
B


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


A 1 \ r / we | ~ 0 ~ 6 ,
ta," Kat yaAKoxpdtouvs tas* Tod Oeod tiOjvas
, a a
mpooayopevovow: Kal 6 derkvdp.evos €v Tots aeTots®
lan \ , > ~
Tov ved Gpoos evteTUTMpEeVvos Kal TUUTAVa* TadTa.
\ \ / lal
yap ovdevi SHitrovbev ddAw Oedv* 7 Avoviow mpoo-
Kev.
ce "BE / a \ > /, -
Tt Tolvuy péeAr pev od mpoodépovat Tats
¢ / 7 A / A
tepoupytats, OTe Soke? POeipew tov olvov Kepav-
/ a >
vUevov Kal TobT’ Hv omovdn Kal peOv, mplv ap-
a \ ~ ~ /
meAov davivar Kai expr viv tov te BapBdpwv
\ ~
ot uy TroLodvtTes olvov peAiTevov mivovow, brodap-
pdooovtes THY yAuKUTHTA oivddeor pilais Kai
) Cal 7 / / 2) 5% ‘ /
avotnpais, “EAAnvés te vndddAia tabra Kal pedi-
/ e > / f / ~
omrovda Avovow, ws avtiferov dvaw padiota Tod
\ ~
pieAutos mpos Tov olvov €xovtos. Ott dé TodTO
a a >
vopilovat, Kakeivo onpelov ov pukKpov €oTt, TO
ToAAGV Tiwpidv otodv map’ adbtois pilav elvar
/ / \ w A
pdrvora SdiaBeBAnuevnv, tiv olvov tovds Koda-
/
Copevous admeipyovoav, doov av taén ypovov o
KUptos THs KoAdoEws* Tos 5° ovTW Koda. . .””


1 So Turnebus: viv reAeva.

2 yaAxoxpotous tas Corais : yaAKxoxpodvoras.

3 So Doehner: évavriots.

4 So Bernardakis: 6d.

5 The rest of the page in T is blank, with a notation in the
margin in a smaller hand to say that a quaternion containing
five headings is missing. Only four, however, are lost, the
miscount being due to the inclusion of Qu. 6 with 5, see note
on 671 c.





@ As emended by Corais, an epithet of Demeter, associated


366


TABLE-TALK IV. 6, 672


their nocturnal festivals, and call the nurses of the
god ‘ bronze rattlers.’* The carved thyrsus in the
relief on the pediment of the Temple and the drums
(provide other parallels).” All this surely befits (they
might say) no divinity but Dionysus.

“ Further, the Jews use no honey ° in their religi-
ous services because they believe that honey spoils
the wine with which it is mixed; and they used
honey as libation and in place of wine before the vine
was discovered. Even up to the present time those
of the barbarians who do not make wine drink mead,
counteracting the sweetness somewhat by the use of
winelike bitter roots. The Greeks, on the other hand,
offer the same libations as ‘ sober libations ’ and meli-
sponda® on the principle that there is a particular
opposition between honey and wine. To show that
what I have said is the practice of the Jews we may
find no slight confirmation in the fact that among
many penalties employed among them the one most
disliked is the exclusion of a convicted offender from
the use of wine for such a period as the sentencing
judge may prescribe. Those thus punished . . .” °


in Pindar with Dionysus: Jsth. vii (vi). 3, where Fennell in his
edition says that it was originally an epithet of Rhea.

> The words in parentheses here api the sense implied by
the context. There is at least a verb missing.

* Correct for once, except for the reason aiineieds See Levi-
ticus, ii. 11.

4 See Helmbold on 464 c (LCL Mor. vi, p. 159): such
‘* honey-offerings ’’ or wine-less libations were made to the
Eumenides.

¢ The text of Book IV breaks off here. Titles of Questions
eA are derived from the table of contents at the beginning
of the ms.


367


(672)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA Z


Ava ri Tas Cuwmvdpous Tois mAdvnow juepas od Kata TH eKeivwv
Taéw add’ evnAdaypéevws dpipotow: ev @ Kai mepi Aiov
/,
Talews


ITPOBAHMA H
Ava zi rév SaxtidAwy pdrAwoTa TH wapayéow odpayidas dopotow


IIPOBAHMA ©


Ei det Oedv elxdvas ev tais ofpayiow 7) coddv avipay dopetv


IIPOBAHMA I


\ cgi | ; a , © a! > ,
Ava ri 76 pécov tis Opidaxos ai yuvaixes ov Tpwyovow





2 The answer to this question may partly be recovered from
the two in Dio Cassius, xxxvii. 18. The positions of the known
planets, sun, and moon, and their orbits were believed to be
in the order: (1) Saturn, (2) Jupiter, (3) Mars, (4) Sun, (5)
Venus, (6) Mercury, (7) Moon. The hours of the day were
named each after a planet, in the order given. Each day was
named after the planet of its first hour; then, if the first day
was named for the first planet, the second day, beginning 24
hours later, would be named for the fourth planet, the third
day for the seventh planet, and so on through third, sixth,
second, and fifth. The alternative explanation in Dio Cassius,
which is described as based on “ the principle of the tetra-
chord,” amounts, in simple terms, to the following: if the
degrees of the musical scale are numbered from one through
seven, and these are grouped in terms of tetrachords (as the
Greeks had practical reasons for doing), the same series 1-4-7-
3-6-2-5 is again arrived at as by the astronomical apprvach.
The identification between music and maiihieniaticall astro-
nomy would be to Greeks like Pythagoras, Plato, and Plu-
tarch almost automatic. Our weekdays are still named after
Teutonic equivalents, as those of the Romance languages are


568





TABLE-TALK IV. 7-10, 672


QUESTION 7


Why days named after the planets are arranged in a differ-
ent order from the planetary positions *; also on the
position of the sun


QUESTION 8


Why seal rings are worn on the finger next the middle
finger °


QUESTION 9


Whether it is more proper to wear images of the gods °
or of wise men on seal rings


QUESTION 10
Why women do not eat the heart of lettuce ¢


derived from the Latin names of the planets, sun, and moon,
in the sequence established in anti we Note, however, that
in languages derived from Latin the first day of the week is
the Lord’s day rather than Sunday. The Welsh term, how-
ever, comes from dies solis.

>’ See Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 13. 7 ff., where two
reasons are suggested. One, called the Egyptian, is to the
effect that a nerve from this finger leads to the heart; the
other, called Etruscan, is quoted from Ateius Capito, and is
based on more practical reasons connected with the use of
Rs, oo rings, such as not wearing one on the right hand,
where it would be more easily damaged.

¢ Pythagoras (see Porphyry, Life of Pythag. 42, in Diels-
Kranz, Vorsokratiker®, vol. i, p. 466, lines.5 f.) and Ateius
Capito (in Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 13. 11) forbade images
of gods on rings. Under the emperor Claudius courtiers wore
his image on a ring (Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxxiii. 12. 41).

4 Lettuce was considered antiaphrodisiac. See Pliny, Nat.
Hist. xix. 127, and especially Dioscorides, Materia Medica, ii.
136,


369







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oft


(672)
D


XYMITOXIAKON
BIBAION ITEMIITON


Ilepi t&v tis poxijs. Kal ouparos nova, &
XUdcore Leveriwv, qv ad viv exes yvwpnv, epoi
yobv adnAdv éorw,


emein pada mroAAa petaéd


+ / / / / > /
ovped Te oKioevTa OdAacod Te HYHECCa"


mdAat ye pny €ddKers 7) ave Te ovpdepecBar pind”
emaweivy Todvs ovdev tdtov TH WuyH Tepmvov ovde
yaptov ovd aipetov 6Aws mpooveuovras’ GAA’
aTEexVaS TH oWpaTt tapalHoav adrinv oiopevous
Tois é€Kkeivov ovvemipeoiav mafect Kat maAw ad
ouvemiokv0pwrdlew, womep exuayelov 7) KdT-
omTpov eikovas Kal elOwAa THY ev capKi yuyvo-
pevwyv aicbicewv avadeyouervnv. adAdois Te yap
moAXois dAioxetar Yevdous” to adiAdxadov Tod
Sdypatos, €v TE Tois TOTOLS® of aoTelor Kal yapi-
evtes evO0s peta. TO Seimrvov emi Tods Adyous WoTrEp
devtépas Tpamélas depopevor kai dia Adywv eddpai-
vovtes aAAjAous, dv owpati péreotw ovdev 7


1 apooveuovras Or mrapaxwpodvras added by Hubert, gui con-
cedebant Xylander, elva: or irdpyew Turnebus.
2 So Meziriacus: yeddos.
3 So Basel edition : vorors.


372


™”








7,


ert Re ee





TABLE-TALK
BOOK FIVE


Wuart you now think, Sossius Senecio, about the
pleasures of the body and the mind I am not in a
position to know,


For between us lie
Full many a shadowy mountain and resounding sea ¢ ;


but certainly we used to think that you had no great
sympathy or esteem for the opinion of those ® who
suppose that the soul is without any special pleasure
or delight or predilection of its own. According to
them t aol: is simply the body’s partner in life,
whose aspect is smiling or gloomy only as the body
rejoices or suffers. In other words, the soul is merely
a sort of stamp ° or mirror, receiving the impressions
and images of the sensations that occur in the flesh.
This philistine view is refuted by many facts. For
instance, at parties men of wit and taste hurry at
once after dinner to ideas as if to dessert,’ finding
their entertainment in conversation that has little or
nothing to do with the concerns of the body; and so


* Homer, Jliad, i. 156f.

>» Epicureans: see H. Usener, Epicurea, frags. 410 and
429; Plutarch, Non Posse Suaviter Vivi, 1088 8, 1092 p, 1096 c.

* Impression of a matrix.

4 Or, as at Mor. 133 x, “a second repast’’ (F. C. Babbitt).


373


(672)


F


673


oe


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Bpaxo TavTamacww, Oidv Te TOOTO TH | ux Tape-
evov evraberdv dmoKetoBat paptupoder Kal Tav-
Tas’ ndovas povas elvar THs wuyjs, exeivas 8° ad-
Aotpias, mpocavaxpwvvupevas T@ OWpatt.

‘Qorep ovv” at Ta Bpedn, popilovoa Tpogol put
Kpa jeTEexovat THs HSovys, Otav 8 éexeiva Kopéowar®
Kal KouLtowor Travodueva KAavOuvpiopav, THVYL-
KadTa Kal’ éavTas yuyvopevar Ta TPOTHopa oiTia
Kat moTé AapBdvovor Kat amoAavovow, ovTwWS 1)

a ~ al /
yux7 TOv mepi woow Kal Bpdow ydovav peréxer
Tats TOO owpatos dpé€eat Sixny TitOns tanpetodoa

>
Kat yapilouevn Seouevw Kal mpaivovoa Tas é7t-
~ /
Oupias, otav 5 exeivo petpiws €yn Kal Hovxdon,
Tpaypatwv amadAayeica Kal Aatpeias 7dn TO AoL-
Tov emt Tas avThs mdovas TpeTreTat, Adyous evw-
xoupevn Kal pabjpace Kal toropiaus Kal TO Cnretv
Tu TOV TrEpiTTOv. Kal Ti av Tes A€you rept ToUTW,
Opa@v ott Kal ot doptixol Kai adiAdAoyou peta TO
A ~ > ,
Setrvov ef Hdovas érépas TOD owpatos amwratw
\ /
Thv Sidvowav amaipovow, aiviypata Kat ypipous
A , 5
Kat Odces dvoudtwv év dapiOuoits tmoovpPoras
LAA 3 > / de ‘ / ‘ >»

mpoBadXovtes; €x TovTov dé Kal pipois Kat 700-
Adyois® kai Tots Mévavdpov drroxpwopevois TA GUp-

1 So Wyttenbach, ravras tas Turnebus: ds.

2 So Turnebus: viv.

. So Turnebus : : Kopecbdat.

4 dxovew deleted after 7. by Bases after Xylander.

5 So R. Foerster cited in RH i a, col. 111, 4} b26 cvpBorov


Franke : brrootpuBoda.
8 Kal Mevavdpw deleted after 700Adyors by Pohlenz.





* Plutarch says much the same thing about the arts in
705 a, below.

» Or “ inquiries.”
374


™





nT aa ee ow oe


_—e ws








TABLE-TALK V, 672-673


they make it clear that there is a private store of
delights set aside for the soul, and that these are its
only true pleasures,? the others being alien and de-
rived from the body through contact.

Nurses feeding babies by hand get little pleasure
from it at the time ; only when the children are fed,
put to sleep, and their crying quieted, do the nurses,
being left alone, help themselves to the food and
drink they want and enjoy them. In the same way
our soul partakes of the pleasures of eating and drink-
ing while attending, like a nurse, to the appetites of
the body, complying with its demands and calming
its passions ; but when the body is comfortable and
at peace, then at last the soul, released from care and
servitude, can devote itself to its own pleasures and
feast on ideas, learning, tales of the past,” and specu-
lation about unusual questions. Actually, what need
is there to go inito this, in view of the fact that after
dinner even common, unliterary people allow their
thoughts to wander to other pleasures, as far away as

le from the concerns of the body ? They take up
conundrums and riddles,’ or the Names and Numbers
game. Hence also, drinking parties have provided
oceasion for the performance of mimes, impersona-
tions, and scenes from Menander,’ not because such


¢ See RE, s.v. “‘ Ratsel.”” Athenaeus, x, 448 b, has a dis-
cussion with many examples of various types of riddles.

@ The letters of the alphabet were regularly used as nume-
rals, alpha being 1, beta being 2, etc. In a game called iso-
psepha the sum of the values of the letters of a name was
equated with the sum comprised in another name. Examples
in verse are to be found in Anth. Pal. vi. 321 ff.

* Readings of Menander and other poets of the New Co-
medy at banquets are mentioned — Plutarch in vii. 8,
712 B infra, and in Aristophanes and Menander, 854 8.


375





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(673) mrdova ywpav edwxev, oddeuiav “ ddyndova TOO ow-
patos" drreEaupoupevors obde Trovodar" “‘elav ev
oapKt Kal Tpoonvh Komow,’ "aAN oti TO hdcer didro-
Oéapov" ev exdorw Kal pirooogov THs buxis idiav
xdpw knret Kal répfw, Srav tis wept 7d cpa
Oepamreias Kal acyoXias amadAayapev.


C IIPOBAHMA A


Aca ti Trav HyLoupLeveny TOUS opylopevous Kal Avroupévous Hdews
axovopev, avtav d€ Tay ev Tois maDcow dvTwr andas


Collocuntur Plutarchus, Epicurei


1. Ilepi av eyevovTo Adyou kal ooo Tapovros €v
"AOnvats mpi, OTE Urparov 6 KwpL@oos evnpe-
pnoev (jv yap avTob odds Adyos), éoTimpéevwv
Teav Tapa. Bon be TO “Emixoupeiy: ouvedetmvovy
&° ovk oAtyou TOV a.7r0 Tis atpécews.” «iO? olov ev’
prroroyous TEpLeoTnoEV 7) THS Kwpmdtas pin Tov
Adyov eis Cnrnow aitias 60 a opyeCopeveny 7

D Avrroupevey 7) 7 SedidTwY guvas d dxovovTes axOopeba
Kat dvoxodAaivoper, ot my drroKpwvopevor Tabra Ta 17.-
On Kal pipovpevor Tas dwvas adTav Kai Tas Siablcers
eddpaivovow Huds.

1 So Turnebus: dpparos.
2 So Aldine edition : ov8” emodar.
3 So Xylander, Anonymus : pirAdbecpov.


4 amo Tis aipécews avris Xylander : _dmodiatpecews.
5 ofov ev Bernardakis: ofovet.





* According to Epicurus, Kyriae Doxae, no. 3 (Usener,
Epicurea, p. 72; Diogenes Laertius, x. 139), pleasure is
measured and consummated by complete removal of pain.
Cf. Cicero, De Finibus, i. 11. 37, with Reid’s note.

> A definition (or mode) of pleasure according to Aristip-
pus and Epicurus. Cf. Usener, Epicurea, frag. 411, and Plu-


376





St i A








li pnts tee


TABLE-TALK JV. 1, 673


performances “ remove any physical pain ’’ ¢ or pro-
duce “smooth and gentle motions? in the body,”
but because in each person a natural fondness for
spectacle ° and thirst for knowledge in the soul seek
their own gratification and delight whenever we are
relieved of the endless task of taking care of our
bodies.


QUESTION 1


Why we take pleasure in hearing actors represent anger and
pain but not in seeing people actually experience these
emotions 4


Speakers: Plutarch, Epicurean friends of Plutarch


1. Tue views that I have mentioned were the subject
of discussion once when you were yourself with us at
Athens. It was at the time when the comedian
Strato * won his victory, for I recall that everybody
was talking about him. We were at dinner at the
house of Boéthus the Epicurean with many others
of his persuasion. As was natural among people of an
inquiring turn of mind, the mention of comedy led us
into a discussion: why is it that, although we are
distressed and annoyed to hear the voices. of people
in anger, pain or fear, we yet are greatly entertained
when mimics reproduce these emotions and copy the
tones and attitudes of the sufferers ?


tarch, Adversus Colotem, 1122 ©. See R. Westmann, Acta
Philosophica Fennica, vii (1955), p. 179.

¢ Or “* speculation,”’ Post.

@ This question is also raised in Plutarch, Quomodo Adu-
lescens Poetas Audire Debeat, 17 r—18 c, and is suggested by
Plato ( blic, 605 c ff.) and Aristotle (Rhetoric, 1371 b 7,
and Poetics, 1448 b 10). ¢ Apparently unknown.

* An Epicurean friend of Plutarch’s, according to several
of his essays. RE, s.v. ‘“‘ Plutarchos,”’ col. 669.


377


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


|
(673) “Exetvwy pev odv amdvtwv ayedov els Fv Adyos:
epacayv yap, ered?) KpeitTwv 6 pupovpevds €oTt
Tod maaxovtos aAnOas Kat TH pw memovbevar S1a-
Peper, ouvievtas Huds TodTO' TéprrecBat Kal yalpeLv.

2 A , , > 93 , aya? ,
(2) eyw 5é, kaimep ev adAoTpiw yop@’ 7dda TiWeis,
elzov ott dvoer AoyiKol Kal diroreyvor yeyovdTes
mpos TO AoyiK@s Kal TexviK@s mparTomevov oiKei-
ws Siaxeiweda Kai Oavudlopev, av emitvyyavntac.
E “ xadazep yap 7 wéditta TH hiddyAvkus elvar wa-
cav vAnv tu pediT@des eyKéKparat mepiemer Kal
dike, OUTWs 6 aVvOpwros, yeyovws PirdTexyvos Kal
diAdxados, av amoréAcopa Kal mpaypa vod Kai

Adyou peréxyov domdlecbar Kai ayamdv méduxev.
“Ee yotv rradiw pikp@ mpolein tis 6uod* pev ap-
Tov, ood dé memAacpévov éx Ta&v adedpwv Kuvi-
diov 7 Boidiov, émi rotr’ dv dows pepopevov: Kal
Opmoiws et Tis® apytptov donor, eTepos Sé Cwduov
apyupobdv 7) exmwpya tapactain didovs, Tobr’ av
AdBor paAdov, & Td TexviKov Kai AoyiKov evopa
F xatapeurypevov. d0ev cal tv Adywv tots Hrey-
pevois yalpovor paAdov ot tyAKobrow Kal TAY
Tadi@v Tals mepimAoKyy Tia Kal dvoKoAiay €xyov-
cas: EAket yap ws oiketov adidaKtws Thy dvow
1 So Xylander, rovrov (“‘ listening to him’’) Stephanus :
we So Aldine edition: ywpdé.

So Xylander: tux.


3
4 wxpov after duod deleted by Reiske.
5 ef tis added by Turnebus.





* In De Se Ipsum Laudando, 540 8 this proverb is ex-
plained : anyone who set foot in another’s chorus was a fool
and a meddler (De Lacy and Einarson’s translation), Cf.
Leutsch and Schneidewin, Paroemiogr. Graec. ii, p. 690.


378











||


__ The other guests were practically unanimous in say-





TABLE-TALK V. 1, 673


ing that, inasmuch as the imitator enjoys a superiority
and advantage over the actual sufferer by not having
suffered himself, awareness of that fact gives us


_ pleasure and delight. (2) But I spoke up, “ setting


in another’s chorus.’’* I said that, since we are
endowed with reason and love of art,? we
have an affinity for any performance that exhibits
reason or artistry, and admire success therein. “ Just
as the bee, loving sweetness, seeks out and busies
itself with any object that contains a suggestion of
honey, so a human being, born with a love of art and
beauty, is by nature disposed to welcome and cherish
every product or action that bears the stamp of mind
reason.

“ Certainly, if someone were to place in front of a
small child both a loaf of bread and a little dog or a
cow made of the dough, you would see the child ir-
resistibly drawn to the miniature figure. Likewise,
if one person presents to him a shapeless lump of
silver, while another brings him a little silver animal
or cup, the child will take by preference the second,
in which he perceives art and meaning. This ex-
plains why children like stories better that involve
riddles, and games that offer some complication or
difficulty. People require no instruction ° to be at-

> * Art” (techné) includes “ artifice” or “ ingenuity.”
Similarly, panurgia, translated ‘* cunning "’ below, basically
means “ knavery.”

© An effective point, because the Epicureans themselves
taught that one test of value is untutored instinct. Cf. Ad-
versus Coloten, 1122 © (Usener, Epicurea, frag. egy! and
Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Dogmaticos, v. 96 in Usener,
Epicurea, p. 274. In both passages language similar to that


the above passage is used (“ untaught,” “ without a
tutor **).


379


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(673) tro yAadupov Kat mravodpyov. eel Tolvuv 6 pev
aAnbads opyilopevos 7) 7 Avirovpuevos ev Tut Kowvots
maBect Kal Kiwypacw' dparar, TH Sé pupejoer mav-
oupyia tis eudaiverar Kal miBavorns aviep ém-

4 / A Lid / > /
674 Tuyyavntat, TovToLs pev 7OecOa medvKapev exel-
vols oo dxGopeba.

“Kai yap emt tév Oeaydrwv spo Trem OvOapLev"
dvOparous pev yap drrobvijoKovras Kal vooobvras
dviapais op@pev* Tov d€ yeypaypevov Didoryrny
Kat THV Tremrhacpevny ‘loxdorny, HS pacw eis TO
Tpoowrov apyvpov Tt ouppie ae TOV TexviTny, OTWS
exAeirovtos’ avOpwrov Kal papavouevov AaBy

€ , 207 3 ¢Qr \
Tepipaverav 6 xaAdKds, iddvtes*® Hddueba Kai Bav-
patoperv.

“Toéto 8,” elzov, “ avdpes "Emxovpeior, Kat
TEKLNpLov €oTt Heya Tots Kupnvaixots ™pos Dpas
TOO L1) rept Thy oy elvar pnd rept THV dony

B adda. epi THY Sudvovay nav TO" m5opevor’ emt
Tots akovopac. Kal Jeduaow. adAexropis yap Bo-
oa ovvexds Kat Kopwvn Avmnpov akovopya Kai
> / > ¢ \ , > / ~
andés eoTw, 6 dé piypovpevos adextopida Bodcav
Kat Kopwvnv evppaiver: kat POvotkods pev Op@vres
dvoxepaivoper, avdpiavras dé Kai ypadas Pbioixdv

1 So Salmasius : pynwacw.

2 So Bernardakis: é«Aczdvros.

3 iddvres added by Hubert from Mor. 18 a, opavres after
750u€0a Vulcobius ; Wyttenbach and Wilamowitz reject any


addition here. 4 So Stephanus: ov.
5 So Aldine (according to Hutten), Basel editions: dSeduevor,





@ Philoctetes suffered extremely from a festering wound in
his leg, as in Sophocles’s celebrated play. According to Plu-


380





a sl Pg


TABLE-TALK V. 1, 673-674


tracted, as by some natural kinship, to subtlety and
cleverness. Under the influence of genuine anger or
pain a man always displays certain universal emo-
tions and gestures, whereas a successful imitation
manifests a cunning and authority of its own, so that
we take a natural delight in the performance, but are
distressed by the reality.

““We have a similar experience in relation to the
plastic arts. We feel acute pain at the sight of the
sick or the dying ; but a painting of Philoctetes ¢ or
a statue of Jocasta ® gives us pleasure and elicits our
admiration. They say that the artist added silver ¢
to Jocasta’s face in order to give his bronze statue
the appearance of a person on the verge of death.

“This, my Epicurean friends,” I said, “is really
good evidence in favour of the Cyrenaics,* who con-
tend in their dispute with you that it is not in our
sight or our hearing but in our minds that we receive
pleasure from sights and sounds. A hen that cackles
ceaselessly or a cawing crow is unpleasant and painful
to hear, but the imitator of noisy hens and crows
delights us. We are shocked to see consumptives,
but we contemplate statues and paintings of them


tarch, De Audiendis Poetis, 18 c, Philoctetes was the subject
of a painting by Aristophon in the 6th century B.c.

. Mother of Oedipus, who hanged herself, or, according to
Euripides, stabbed herself to death. She was sculptured b
Silanion in the 4th century s.c. Cf. Plutarch, ibid. 18c; RE,
s.v. “* Silanion,” col. 3.

© That the Greeks did succeed in adding silver to bronze is
now known from the bronze head discussed by Homer A.
Thompson in the article “‘ A Golden Nike from the Agora,”
Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Supplementary vol-
ume i (1940), pp. 183 ff.

~4 Cyrené, in Africa, was the home of the hedonistic philo-
sopher Aristippus and his school.


381


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


. ) 7déws Oedmcba TO THY dudvovav bro TOV pupnud-
TW dryeoBau" Kara TO oixetov.

a "Erret vt mdoxovres ) Tivos efwbev yevow.evov
maBous thv bv tHhv® Lappévovtos ovTws eJavpacar,
WoTEe Trapoyuwdn yeveobar; Kaito. dact Tob
Ilappévovtos evdoxyotvtos emi TH pipjnoe, Ly-
Aobvras érépovs avremideixvucbat: mpoKateAnu-

C pévwr dé Tov dv Oparrrev Kal AcyovTwy, “ed pev
add’ oddev ™mpos tv Iappyevovtos 6 by,’ eva AaBovra
deAddxiov b7r0 padns mpooeNbeiv: errei dé Kab Tijs
adn Bivis puvijs aKovovtes brepbeyyovto, ‘ Ti ovr
avTY Tmpos THY Tlappevovros bv; aetvan’ TO deA-
paxvov els TO _Héoov, e€eAeyxovra THs Kpioews
TO T™pos dogav ov ™mpos dAnBevav. @ * padvora OfAov
EOTW, OTL TO avro THS aicbjcews: mdbos ody Opot-
ws dvariOnor Thy wvynv oTav p17) pooh} b0Fa Tob
Aoyikds 7 didoripws wepaivecbar To yryvopevov.””®


D IIPOBAHMA B
“Ort radarov Hv aywriopa TO THS TOLnTLKAS
Collocuntur Plutarchus, alii


> / Ree! / \ ~ bd] ,
Ev Ilv@lous éyiyvovto Adyou wept THv Eemibérwv
, A
GYWVLGLGTWY, ws avaipeTéa. TrapadeEdpevor yap


1 xai after dyecbar deleted by Wyttenbach.

2 jv tiv added by Bernardakis, rv Ilappévovros tv Basel
edition.

y bv, adeivas Basel edition: cuvvadeivar.


a


® Basel edition: 6. 5 So Bernardakis : yevdpevov.





* Or, ‘‘ because of a fellow-feeling,’’ E. H. W.
» F. C. Babbitt’s Index to Plut. Mor. i (LCL) identifies
Parmeno as a famous comic actor of the latter part of the 4th


382





ee


TABLE-TALK V. 1-2, 674


with pleasure, because the mind, by its own? na-


_ ture, is attracted to imitations.


“ What emotion or what external happening made


| a admire Parmeno’s pig so much that it has


come proverbial ? You know the story: one time


_ when Parmeno was already famous for his mimicry,


some competitors put on a rival show, but the popu-
lace, being prejudiced in favour of Parmeno, said,
, enough !—but nothing, compared with Par-
meno's sow.’ Then one of the performers stepped
forward with a sucking pig concealed under his arm ;
but the people, even when they heard the genuine
squeal, murmured, ‘ Well, what’s this compared to |
Parmeno’s pig?’ ‘Thereupon the fellow let the pig
go in the crowd to prove that their judgement was
based on prejudice instead of truth. ‘This plainly
demonstrates that the very same sensation will not
produce a corresponding effect a second time in
people’s minds unless they believe that intelligence
or conscious striving is involved in the performance.”


QUESTION 2
That the poetry competition was ancient
Speakers: Plutarch and others


Ar the Pythian Games® there was a discussion
whether the newer competitions ought to be elimi-


century B.c., but the Paroemiogr. Graec. i, p. 412, surprisingly
makes him a painter and the pig a painted one so realistic that
everyone thought that his oe could be heard.

Plutarch was long an official at Delphi. Cf. An Seni Res
Publica Gerenda Sit, 792 r, and J. J. Hartman, De Avondzon
des Heidendoms, i, pp. 17 f, and now R. H. Barrow, Plutarch
and his Times, p. 31.


383


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(674) ézi Tpiot Tots kabeor@ow e€ apyys, abvAnrA Ilv-
Dune Kat KiapioThH Kal kBapwod, TOV Tpaywoor,
womep mUAns avoryGeions odK avTécyov GApdo.s ouv-
emiTiBeevors Kal ovverotodor TmavTodaTois aKpod-
pacw: bf dv trouktAtay pev eoyev ovK ano Kal
Tavnyuptopov 6 aywv, TO 8 avoTnpov Kal pov-

KE ouxov ob dreptAa€ev, aAAa Kai mpaypata Tots Kpi-
vovow mapéoxev Kal moAdas ws eikos TTWMEVWY
moAA@v amexGeias.

Ody yKvoTa 5€ To TOV AOyoypadwv Kat TonTaV
€Ovos Wovto Seiv atookevdcacbat Tob ady@vos, ody
tro pucodroyias, adda todd TravTwY TAY aywvi-
oTav yywpy.wratous ovtas edvawTobdvTo TovTous
Kal HY0ovT0, TavTas Hyovpevor yaplevras, ov mav-
twv d€ vwKadv Svvapevwv. jets odv ev TH ovv-
edpiw mapeuvlovpeba tovds ta’ Kabeot@ra Kkweiv
BovAopévous kai TO ayav. Kabamep opydvw trodv-
yopdiav Kat moAvdwriav émixadobyTas. Kai mapa

F 76 detrvov, éoti@vtos Huds Iletpaiov tod aywvo-
bérov, maAw opoiwy® Adywv mpooteddvTwY, Huvvo-
fev Th povoiKh: Tv TE qowmTiKnY amrehaivomev
odk dusipov ovd€ veapav emi Tods lepods ayavas
aduypevnv, GAAa mpdomada otedavwy éemuikiwy
Tuyydvovoav. eviois pev odv émido€os junv ewda
mapabjcew mpaypnata, Tas Oiod’Kov tod Metra-


1 +a added by Reiske.
2 So Turnebus: cdpoiws.





* Originally Apollo was said to be opposed to the aulos
(pipe), but from 586 B.c. on the aulos was introduced at Delphi
and gradually became so popular that the “ Pythian nome ”
came to mean exclusively an auletic melody. See von Jan in
RE, s.v. “‘ Auletik,” cols. 2404 f. A Pythian auletes (piper)
occurs in Inseript. Graec. vii. 1776.


384





TABLE-TALK V. 2, 674


nated. For, once having accepted the tragic com-
-petitor as an addition to the original three (the
3 ian piper,” the lyricist, and the singer to the
lyre), the authorities found that as if the gate had
been opened, they could no longer withstand the
massed attack and incursion of all manner of enter-
tainments addressed to the ear. This gave a pleasing
variety and popular appeal to the festival at the cost
of its severe and strictly musical character ; it also
‘made trouble for the judges and naturally created
much animosity because the defeated in the compe-
titions were many.

Some of our company thought that particularly
the tribe of prose writers and poets ought to be with-
drawn. This was not because of any bias against
literature, but because we were embarrassed before
those most celebrated of all the contestants and vexed
that not all of them could win a victory, though they
all seemed to us accomplished. During the Council
meeting I attempted to dissuade those who wished
to change established practices and who found fault
with the festival as if it were a musical instrument
with too many strings and too many notes. Later,
when this general subject came up again at a dinner
given us by Petraeus,’ the Director of the Games, I
once more defended the cause of the arts. I made
the point that poetry was not a late arrival nor a
Sone at the religious festivals, but had in fact
received the crown of victory in very ancient times.
Some of my friends expected me to cite well-worn
examples like the funeral ceremonies of Oeolycus °


> Lucius Cassius Petraeus. RH, xix. 1179; De Pythiae
Orac. 409 c.
¢ Unknown. Not among the Oeolyci in RE,


VOL, VIII Oo 385


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


675 Aob tadas Kal tas “Apdiddpavtos tod Xadkidéws
> e 7 \ ¢ / c ~ ”
ev ais “Ounpov Kat “Hoiodov totopotow émeot
diaywrvicacba. KataBadwy dé Tatra T@ diate-
OpvrAfcba wav?’ bro TOV ypappatiK@v, Kal Tods
emt Tats IlatpéxAov tadais avayvyywoKopeévous b1rd
> coe >” > ROR S74 »? ec A A
TWwov ody “juovas’’ adda” prywovas,”’ ws 81 Kai
Aoywrv GOra Tob "AyiAA€ws mpoblevros, adeis, elmov
7 \ / / ” € eA > ~
o7mt Kat [leAiav Cartwv “Axaotos 6 vios ay@va
la / \ / /, >
ToWMpatos Tapacyo Kal LiPvaAdra wKjoeev. emipv-
/ \ a \ ‘ \ CRS
opevwv d€ moAA@v Kat Tov BeBawwTnv ws amiotov
Kal’ mapaddyou THs taToplas ama:ToUvTwY, émTU-
~ > \ > / b] / > ~ ‘
Yas avapvnobeis arréepaivov “Axécavdpov ev TH Trepi
B AiBins 7ab0? toropotvta. ““ Kal todto ev,”
” ce \ 2) al > > / > /
ednv, “7d avayvwopa TOv obK €v péow €oTiv:
a \ / ~ ? / \ ”~ >
tots d€ Ilodguwvos tot. *AOnvaiov epi TaV ev
a ~ ~<a 2 a. > ,
AcAdots @noavpav ofa troAAots* tay evtvyya-
vew émuyedds €ot Kal ypy, ToAvpabots Kal od. vu-
/ > a ¢ a / > /
ordlovtos év tots ‘EAAnvixots mpaypacw avdpos:
a : : > ~
€xel Toivuy edpioeTe yeypappevov, Ws ev TH


1 «ait added by Stephanus.
2 oluat oAAots EK, ofwar ott aroAdois 'T.





@ Hesiod (Works and Days, 654 ff.) mentions the contest
but not Homer. The Contest of Homer and Hesiod (Hesiod,
LCL, pp. 570 ff.) elaborates the story, and Plutarch, Septem
Sapientium Convivium, 153 ¥ ff., gives further details.

® Iliad, xxiii. 886.

¢ King of Ioleus in Thessaly, whom Medea killed under
pretence of rejuvenating him in a boiling cauldron.

4 Apparently some one of the large number of ecstatic
prophetesses known by this name. Possibly the “ Thessalian
Sibyl,’ Manto, best suits the context here.


386


+ ae is


« yt





TABLE-TALK V. 2, 675


of Thessaly and those of Amphidamas ? of Chalcis, at
which it is said that Homer and Hesiod contended in

jie verse. But I scorned all this hackneyed lore of
the ‘schoolroom, dismissing also the “ speakers ”’
(rhemones) in Homer, as read by some for “‘ throwers ’

emones) ® at the funeral of Patroclus, as if Achilles
had awarded a prize in speaking in addition to the
other prizes. I merely méntioned that even Acastus
at the funeral of his father Pelias © held a contest of
poetry at which the Sibyl ¢ won. I was immediately
fastened on by many, who demanded my authority
for so incredible and paradoxical a statement ; luckily
I remembered and told them that Acesander ° in his
Libya has the tale. “ This reference,” I went on, “ is
not generally accessible, but I know that many of
you will be interested, as you ought to be, in consult-
ing the account of the Treasuries’ at Delphi by
Polemon ” of Athens, a man of wide learning, tireless
and accurate in his study of Greek history. In that
book you will find that in the Treasury of the Sicyo-


* Historian of the 3rd or 2nd century s.c.: Frag. Hist.
Graec. (C. Miiller), iv. 285; Frag. Griech. Historiker (F.
Jacoby), iii sn, 469 r 7. There was some connection between
Libya and the Sibyls. According to Varro, one of the
Sibyls was Libyan; and Pausanias (x. 12. 1) cites “ the
Libyans ” as being somehow authorities on Sibyls. See RE,
s.v. “* Sibyllen,” col. 2096, no. 16.

4 Or “ this book is not widely known.”

9 Buildi erected by many cities as repositories for
archives and other treasures at shrines like Delphi, where two
of them have been restored. On the Treasury of the Sicyo-
nians and its remains see P. de la Coste-Messelitre, Au
Musée de Delphes (Paris, 1936), pp. 56 ff.

4 Famous antiquary, commonly called Polemon of [lium
or of Pergamum. See Athenaeus, vi, 234 d, Sandys, Hist.
Class. Scholarship, vol. i, p. 154, and Esther V. Hansen, The
Attalids of Pergamon, p. 363.

387


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(675) Xuxvwviwyv’? Onoavpd xpuaody aveKelTo BrBAiov
“Aptoropdyns avabyua THs "Epv6paias é €T“LK@ TrOL-
nuate dis* "loOuia vevixnKvias.

“Od pv oddé tHv ’OdAvumiav,” ednv, “ dévov
> LA ¢ / > / ‘ > /
€OTW WoTEp Eluappevnv aueTdoTaTov Kal apeTa-
Berov ev Tots aOAjjpacw exrrerrARyOar. Ta pev yap*

C v@va Tv povoiKGy eave Tpeis 7) TéTTapas emevgo-
diovs adydvas, O O¢€ yupvucos am apxs ws emt TO
mA€iotov ovTWS KaTeoTN, Tots e ’Odvptrious mavra
TmpoobnKn Any TOU Spopov yeyovev: moAAa dé Kai
Devres € ETELT dvethoy, WOTTEP TOV Tis Kadans ¢ ayava
Kal TOV THs amHvys? avnpeOn Se Kal tatot wevtdab-
dows atépavos TeOeiss Kat dAws moAda repli tiv
Tmavyyup vVEVEWTEPLOTAL. d€dva oo etrrety* OTL 7d
Aa Kal povopaxtas dyeov mept Ilicav nyero péxpu
povov Kal opayhs Tov TT @OpEVvoy | Kal drromuTTov-
TOY, pa pe madw dmaurire® Tis toropias BeBau-

D wry Kav Svagoyn THY porjeny €v olv@ TO Ovopa


KaTayeAaoTos yevwpar.’


ILTPOBAHMA T


Tis atria 8 iv vi mitus iepa Tocedavos evopiicby Kat Atovicou:
Kat Ore TO T7p@Tov éorepdvovv TH mrituL tovs “loOuta vixdvras,
€reita oeAivw, vuvi d€ maAw TH mir


Collocuntur Praxiteles, Lucanius, Plutarchus, rhetor, alii
‘H witus eCnteiro Kal” dv Adyov ev *lobpiors’


1 So Preller, Herwerden : > ovKuwvia.
2 emixw or emxw lac. 2 T.
3 a. dis Bernardakis: ounpariats.
4 So Meziriacus: ye.
5 So Reiske: efzev.
6 So Xylander: dzardre. 7 So Xylander: icOpois.


388








TABLE-TALK V. 2-3, 675


nians was deposited a golden tablet dedicated by
Aristomaché ? of Erythrae, twice victor in epic verse
at the Isthmia.

_ “Nor should we,” I continued, “ be overawed by
Olympia, as if its policies with respect to types of
competition were as undeviating and immutable as
fate. The Pythia acquired only three or four musical
contests as additions to the athletic competition,
which was established from the beginning largely as it


isnow ; whereas at Olympia only the footrace is origi-


nal, everything else being in addition. Many events
were added and then dropped, for instance the trot-
ting race ® and the four-wheeler.° They abolished
also the award for the boys’ pentathlon. In general,
many innovations have been made in the festival. I
hesitate to say that in older times the duels at Pisa ¢
were carried to the point of manslaughter for the
defeated as they fell, for fear that you may again
demand authority for my statement and that, if the
name escapes my memory because of the wine, I
shall become an object of ridicule.”


QUESTION 3


Why the pine was held sacred to Poseidon and Dionysus ;
originally the victor’s crown at the Isthmia was of pine,
later of celery, but now again is of pine


Speakers: Praxiteles, Lucanius, Plutarch, a professor
of rhetoric and others


1. Tue pine, and why it was used for tlie crown at the


@ Rither a Sibyl or simply a poetess. It is not clear
which Erythrae is meant. The greatest of all Sibyls, Hero-
pot, came Bpparred ly from the great city of Erythrae in

onia, though this was disputed (see Pausanias, x. 12),
> See Pausanias, v. 9. 1. ¢ See Pausanias, ibid.
@ District in which the shrine of Olympia lay.
389


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(675) oTeupa yéeyove: kal yap HV TO deimvov € ev Kopivdy,
“ToOpuieov ayomevwy EOTLDVTOS 1) mas » Aovkaviov Tob
E dpxrepews. IpagereAns bev odv oO TEpLNyNTHS: TO
pvdades € emhyev, Ws Aeyowevov edpeOHvat TO oda
tod MeAiképtov mitu mpocBeBpacpévov bro Tis
Dadarrns: Kal yap ov mpoaw Meydpwv elvar
tomrov, os “‘ Kadfs Spopos””’ erovoudlerar, dv ob
davar Meyapets thv *Iv® ro madiov Exovoav dpa-
a > i \ / ~ > ¢€ A lal
piv emt THY Oddattav. Kowds 8 tro modAAdv
Aeyopevov ws tdidv €orr orepwpa Llocedadvos 7%
mitus, Aovkaviov d€ mpoorilévros dtu Kal TH Ato-
vvow Kabwovonpevov TO uTov ovK G70 “Tporrov
Tats Trepl TOV Medtxéprny ovvepKelwTat TyLats, adTO
TobTo Cyrnow mrapeixe, ati Adgyw Toceddu
F cat Avovdow THY miroy of maXaol Kabwotwoar.
"Edéxee § nor pndev elvan mapaAoyov: dpo-
TEPOL yap ot Jeol THs bypas KaL ‘yovijov KUpLOL
doxodow apyjs elvar: Kat Lloceddvi ye Dutadpiw
Avovtow dé Aevdpirn mavres ws €mos. €imetv
"EdAnves Gdovow. od pray adda Kar idiav TO
~ / nv \ / / >
676 Iloceddu dain tis av THY TiTVV TpoaHKELV, OvY
e > / W / \ 2g
ws “AzoAXddwpos oterat mrapdAiov dutov odcav
#Q> Lid / / > LA ¢€ , ‘
ov’ ote diAjvenos eat womep 7) OdAacca (Kai


1 So Turnebus: qpiv.
2 § juiv Bernardakis, dé wo. Xylander: dé.





@ Praxiteles is again introduced later, Book VIII, “Ques-
tion 4, 723 ¥ ff., in another discussion on the crowns awarded
at the Games.

> Or “ interpreter.” Cf. Parke and Wormell, The Delphic
Oracle, ii, pp. xiii ff. Minar in the LCL translation at 723 F
takes the word in its other sense of ‘“‘ geographer.”

¢ The young son of Ino, who was driven to leap with him


390











—


lS a “oe Sn eamamgamy


TABLE-TALK V. 3, 675-676








ia, was the subject of a discussion at a dinner
1 us in Corinth itself during the Games by
ree the chief priest. Praxiteles,* the official
ide,’ a ed to mythology, citing the legend that
e Mane oF Melicaiis ° Wika Poca Coet up by the sea
at the foot ofa pine. Not far from Megara there is, he
pointed out, a place named “‘ The Beauty’s Flight,’
which, according to the Megarians, Ino rushed
down to the sea with her child in her arms. Many of
the company stated that according to common belief
the crown of pine belonged specifically to. Poseidon ;
but Lucanius added that, because the tree was dedi-
cated also to Dionysus, it had quite appropriately
become a part of the cult of Melicertes. It was this
last remark that prompted our inquiry how the
ancients came to dedicate the pine to Poseidon and
Dionysus.

To us there seemed nothing illogical in this,
because both gods are by common acceptance sove-
reign over the domains of the moist and the genera-
tive. Practically all Greeks sacrifice to Poseidon the
Life-Giver* and to Dionysus the Tree-god.’ Still,
one might well say that the pine is especially con-
nected with Poseidon, not, as Apollodorus * believes,
because it grows by the sea, nor because it, like the






into the sea. He became the sea god Palaemon, to whom
rina age to some the Isthmian Games were originally dedi-
eated. Ino was an aunt, and one of the nurses, of Dionysus.
4 For Poseidon Phytalmios see Inscr. Grae, ii®. 5051, xii
(1). 905; Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, iv, p. 6.
'_¢ For Dionysus Dendrites see Farnell, op. cit. v, p. 118.
Dionysus was a vegetation divinity, not merely a wine god.
’ Apollodorus of Athens, born c. 180 8.c., author of many
scholarly works including a mythological Bibliotheké and a
work On the Gods. Frag. Griech. Historiker (F. Jacoby), 244
F 123.
391


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(676) yap Totré tives A€yovaw), adda bia Tas vavmyias
pdrvoTa. Kal yap avT? Kal 7a adeAda Sévdpa,
medKar Kat oTpoPitor, TOY Te EVAWY Tapéeyer Ta
TAcipwrara miTTs TE Kal pyrivns droupry, Hs
avev TOV OULTAYEVT OY ogedos ovdey € ev TH badarrn.

TO de Avovdow TH miTUy dviepwoay ws epndv-
vovoay Tov olvov: Ta yap mTvaon Xwpia déyovow
70vovvov THV GpmTedov pepew. Kal THV Oeppornra
THs ys Oeddpacros attrac xabodov yap €v

B dpytAwdeor témois dvecBar tHv titvv, elvar dé THY
apyirov Oepujv, 510 Kal ovvexmétrew Tov olvov,
woTep Kal TO Vdwp eAadpdtatov Kai ydioTOV 1)
apytAos avadidwow, eri d€ Kal KaTapiyvuperyn Tpds
oitov émipmetpov trovet SariAés, adptvovea Kal d1-
oykotoa TH Oepudtynte Tov Trupdv.

Od priv adda Kai THs titvos adris eikos azo-
Aavew THV dyimedov, exovons emit deornTa moNny
™mpos owrnpiav olvov Kal Svapovny™ TH TE yap
nity madvres e€areidovar Ta ayyeta, Kal THS py-
tivyns dropvyvvovar TOAAOL TH olvw Kabdrrep EdBo-
eis TOv "EAAadixdv Kai tTOv “IraAuKOv. ot rept tov

C Iladov oikotvtes, ex b€ THs wept Bievvay Tadarias
6 muooitns olvos KataKopiletar, SiapepovTws Ti-
pL@pevos U7 ‘Pwpyaiwv. od yap pdvov edwoiav Twa
Ta TovabTa mpoodidwaw, aAAa Kai Tov olvov’ Trap-
lotno. Tayéws eEatpobdvra® TH Oeppdrynte Tod oivov
TO veapov Kal vdaTMdes.


1 eumovet after olvov deleted by Hubert, <eiduq Basel edition’
evrorov Wyttenbach. 2 So Madvig : : efaipwr.





@ Hubert calls attention to the totally different theory also
attributed to Theophrastus at 648 p swpra ; the present refer-
ence has not been traced in the extant works of Theophrastus,


392


matures











TABLE-TALK V. 3, 676


sea, loves the wind (for some argue to this effect) ;
but above all because of its use in shipbuilding. The
pine and kindred trees, like fir and stone-pine, pro-
duce the woods most suitable for shipbuilding, as well
as pitch and resin for waterproofing, without which
no hull is seaworthy.

On the other hand, the pine has been dedicated to
Dionysus because it is thought to sweeten wine ; for
they say that country abounding in pines produces
sweet-wine grapes. Theophrastus attributes this
effect to the heat in the soil,* saying that in general
the pine servers in clayey soil, and clay, being hot,

wine, even as it also yields the lightest
and sweetest spring-water. Incidentally, if clay is
mixed with wheat, its heat considerably increases the
bulk by distending and thickening the kernels.

It is also probable, however, that the pine itself
contributes to the growth of the grapevine, since this
tree is rich in substances efficacious in preserving
wine and guaranteeing its quality ; pitch is always
used to seal wine-vessels, and many people mix wine
with resin. For instance, in Greece the Euboeans do
so, and in Italy those who live near the Po; _pitch-
flavoured wine” is imported from the region about
Vienna* in Gaul and is highly esteemed by the
Romans. These uses of pitch not only give the wine
a certain bouquet but add body @ to it, because they
quickly remove by heat the insipidity of the new wine.


» For further discussion of the use of pitch in connection
with wine see Pliny, Nat. Hist. xiv. 124 ff., xvi. 22.53 ff. Com-
pare the modern retsinato.
© The modern Vienne in France. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist.
xxiii. 24.47, on the near-by Helvian district.

* Or pteecy ” (vigorem), after Hubert, who cites Theo-
phrastus, De Causis Plant. vi. 16. 5-6. (Hubert’s “y”’ is a slip.)


VOL. VIII o* 393


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


¢ a > 9 ~ ¢
(676) 2. ‘Qs d€ tabr’ eppybn, TOV pyTopwv 6 padtora
dSoK@v avayvwopaow evrvyyave €devBepios,* “ d
apos Dedy,”’ elev, “od yap éybes 4 mitus evtad-
ba kal mpanv® oréupa yéyove TOV “loOpuiwv, mpd-
repov d€ Tois® ceAivois eotépovTo; Kal TOOT E€oTL
pev ev TH K@pmdia dilapydpov Twos aKodaat Hé-
yovTos*
\ >» D2 / ” ¢ / id
ta 8 “lobu’ arrodoipny av 7d€ws daov
¢ A / / / > ”
D 6 TOV ceXivwv oTépavds €oTW a@vLOS.


¢ A A A / c 4 bid
totopet b€ Kat Tiwatos 6 ovyypadeds, ore Kopw-
Oiows,* omnvika prayovpevot mpos Kapyndovious
eBadilov trép ths Lucedias, eveBaddv twes dvor®
céAwa Kopilovtes: oiwvicapevwy de TOV toAAdv
\ / ¢ b) / Ld a A /
70 otpBorov ws od xpynaTov, Ott doKet TO aéAwov
emuxnoetov® elvat Kal Tovs’ éemispad@s vocodvtas
Seicbar Tob cedivov dapév, dAAws 8° 6 Tipodréwv
eOdppuvev adtods Kai avenipvnoKxe TOV “lobpuot ce-
Nivwv, ois avaorédovor KopivOior tovs vik@vras.
“e "EB / jek / ‘ > 4
ti tolwuv 7 ’Avtuydvov vavapyis avapvcaca
/
TEpt mpvpvav adtrouatws oédwov “loOuia éemwvo-
1 *E)evbépios (usually a divine epithet) Reiske.
2 After this word a quaternion of T is lost, to 680 p iorope?-
tau 5¢, but copies are preserved, which we cite from Hubert,


checked against the photostat of E.

3 §é rots Stephanus, yap rots Turnebus according to Hut-
ten: adrois.

4 So Xylander, Hubert: Kopiv@.0.

5 So Reiske: od (od od E), which Wyttenbach and Hutten
delete. In the Life of Timoleon, xxvi, jpiovor.

8 So Faehse (Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 78, see also Pliny,
Nat. Hist. xx, 113): dvemirjdecov.

7 So Basel edition: ro.

8 dAws & Bases (cf. Life of Timoleon, xxvi): as.


394





TABLE-TALK V. 38, 676


_ 2. On hearing these remarks, a professor of rhe-
toric, who was reputed to have a wider acquaintance
with polite literature than anyone else, said, “ In
heaven's name! Wasn’t it only yesterday or the day
before that the pine became the garland of victory at
the Isthmia? Formerly it was celery.* This is evi-
dent from the comedy where a miser says :


I'd gladly sell the entire Isthmian show
For the price at which the celery crown will go.°


The historian Timaeus ° records the following anec-
dote. During their campaign against the Cartha-
ginians in the war for Sicily, the Corinthians suddenly
saw some asses carrying celery. Most of the troops
interpreted the encounter as a bad omen, because
celery is regarded as a symbol of mourning,’ and we
say of those who are critically ill that ‘a sprig of
celery is all you can give them now.’ Timoleon,?
however, restored the spirits of his men precisely by
reminding them of the celery used as the crown of
victory at the Isthmus.

“ And then there is the flagship of Antigonus/
which was given the name ‘ Isthmia ’ because celery


* Unblanched celery was more serviceable for garlands
than our modern table variety. See A.C. Andrews in Class.
Phil. xliv (1949), pp. 91 ff.

» Com. adesp. 153 (Kock, Com. Att. Frag. iii, p. 438).

* Celebrated | historian of Sicily, c. 356-260 B.c. See Trues-
dell S. Brown, Timaeus of Tauromenium (Univ. of California
Press, 1958), especially p. 87. =

4 So also Pliny, Nat. Hist. xx. 113. Cf. A. C. Andrews,
loc. cit. p.- 98.

¢ Timoleon, a Corinthian general fighting for Syracuse,
defeated the Carthaginians at the Crimisus near Segesta in
341 or 339 B.c. See Plutarch, Life of Timoleon, xxvi.

- ¥ King Antigonus Gonatas of Macedon, 283-240 s.c., or
Antigonus Doson, 227-221 B.c.


395


(676)
E


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


pacOn. Kal tobTo 61) TO axoAvov emiypapyua dnAot'
Kepapedv® auvorida BeBvopevynv® cedivm avyKerTat
5’ ovtw*:


c K x \ at \ 6 d ,
» KwdAuas yh> mupt KatnfaAwpevy

KevOer KeAawvov aiua Acovdcov $008,"
éxovoa KrAdvas “loOutkods ava ordopua.


Hh tadr’,” elev, “ odk aveyvaKal’ dtpuets ot’ THv
mirov Ws ovK emetoaKTOV ovdé véov adda matpiov
Kal maAaov 57) ore pp TOV “ToOpiwy cepvivoves 5"
exivnoev otv Tovs® véous ws av troAvpabis avnp
Kal TOAVY Pap [LaTOS

8.°°Q HevTou Aovxdvios €is ene Breas 4 apa Kal
perdidv, Me @ Tlocesdov,”” on, Too mn ous TOV
ypapparwv: ETEpOL 5° ypav THs apablas ws EouKe
Kal THs dvnKotas direAavov dvameiBovres ToUv-
avriov, os ) peev aiTus Vy OTe Mpa Tay ayovev
maT puov, ex O€ Nepeéas kata CiAov 6 0° Too cehivou
f€évos wv errevo7jAGe bv ‘Hpaxdea Kal KpaTHoas a
pavpwoev €xeivov”’ wes tepov emuT7jdevov.”* clra pev-
Tou ypove maAw dvaKrnoapern TO TATpLOV ‘yepas 1)
mitus avOel TH Tih.


1 So Wyttenbach, Madvig : d7jAov.
2 So Bernardakis, xepapéay Reiske, xepapiav Madvig: xe-
pope

° duvorda BeBvoperny Madvig : : vopiler draBeBvopevyy.

‘ otTw Madvig, ovTws éxyov Wyttenbach: ovrw x8wr.

5 4 Kwdds yf Winckelmann, Madvig (who cites “ iam
interpretatio Latina ’ ’), (xOcv) 7d abe! ** this fashioned
earth ’? Wyttenbach, Wy) Ila\ddos yi} A. Junius, (av) 7
TleAacy7) Stephanus : 7 wadds yij

ad Warmington suggests e038 ( ;(god) for Go06 (rushing).
7 dveyrdxal’ duets of Franke: avéyvwxarevuor co (and
slight variations). ;


396


TABLE-TALK V. 3, 676


sprouted spontaneously on its stern, I can cite also
a scolion which mentions an earthen vessel closed with
celery. The words run as follows :


_ The Attic potter’s clay,* baked in the fire,
Conceals the rushing wine-god’s dark red blood,
And bears the Isthmian sprigs inside its mouth.


Have you not read this, that you exalt the pine as
ancient crown of the Isthmia, and consider it not as a
new importation but as a heritage from our fathers ? ”’
The rhetorician, you may be sure, impressed the
younger men by his great learning and wide reading.

8. But Lucanius looked at me with a smile, and said,
“ Poseidon ! What a parade of quotations! It looks
as if other people have taken advantage of our un-
tutored ignorance to convince us, on the contrary,
that the pine was the traditional garland at these
games, and that the crown of celery was imported
more recently from Nemea because of rivalry with
Heracles. According to them, although the celery


prevailed as a fitting sacred symbol and caused the


pine to be forgotten, nevertheless in the course of
time the pine recovered its original prerogative, to
flourish now in high honour.”


* From Colias, the promontory where fine clay was dug.

» According to Plutarch, Life of Theseus, xxv. 4, the Isth-
mian Games were established by Theseus in emulation of
Heracles’s foundation of the Olympic Games. Cf. infra, 677
B, in the quotation from Callimachus, where we further note
the mention of Nemea, which is also connected-with Heracles.


8 ody rods Bryan according to Bernardakis, Reiske: ov.
® Stephanus added oréd¢avos, but that may be simply im-
plied, ef. Hubert. 10 exeivnv Wyttenbach.
11 fepois émurHdevos Stephanus, zjpwi averurjdevov Wyttenbach,
Tipsbov émvixcov “* an emblem of Heracles's victory ’’ Kronen-
erg.





397


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> ~ a
677 ?Eya yodv avereOounv Kal mpocetyov, wore Kal
~ / > an
TOV papTupiwv expabety 7o0AAG, Kat pvnpovedew, Ed-
hopiwva ev ovTw ws Tept MeAtKéptov A€yovta:


/ , re >> 9 , 1 ,
KAaiovtes O€ TE KOUpOV em ayxiaddAots’ miTVEGOL
, : , 28 ; 23° «» ,
Katbecav, oKKoTe® 57 atepdvwp*® dOAots hopéov-

TOL. .
od yap mw TpHXEto AaB) KaTEUnoaTO Xewpav
Myjvns° maida, ydpwva Trap” "Aowrob yeveteipn,
efote TuKva oeAwa Kata Kpotadwy €BadrovTo,


KaddAipayov dé padAdov diacadobvra: Eyer 8 6


‘H An > A6 \ aA At 2
pakdAjs avT@ Trept Tov ceAtvov


B Kai pv *AAntiddat, trovdAd yeyerdrepov
Tobe map Aiyaiwn be red€ovrTes ayava,
Ojcovow vikns aduBodrov *loBuiddos,
Cyrdw tadv Nepenbe: ritvv 8° arotysjoovow,
) mpl aywviotas eoTede Tovs ’Edvpn.


"Erte 8 olfuar Ipoxdgous’ evreruxnkévar ypadh
mept Tov “lobuiwy ictopobyTos, 6Tt TOV mp@Tov
ayav’ elecav rept oredavov mitvivov: votepov Sé,


1 So Meineke, Powell, atycaAod Schneider: aiAou.

2 éxxobe *‘ of which’ Reiske, Powell.

3 So Bernardakis: oreddvwv. 4 dopéovro Scheidweiler.

5 So Meineke: puns (piyns E).

6 Perhaps zap’ ad7@ Post.

? So Turnebus: zatpoxdéous or zrepixAdous Mss. except Paris
2074.





* Probably Euphorion of Chalcis, born ¢. 276 B.c., a poet
proverbially obscure in style and deviousness of mythological
reference. (See Powell, Collectanea Alexandrina, Euph. 84.)

> The Nemean lion, son of the Moon (Mené or oat
according to Hyginus and Epimenides (Diels, Frag. d. Vor-
sokratiker, Epimenides, frag. 2).


398








=, hi CRS eS TT gin, my oy om





a


TABLE-TALK V. 3, 677


r one was persuaded and gave the matter my
ntion and have committed to memory many au-
ities that go to prove Lucanius right. Eupho-
“ for instance, wrote about Melicertes somewhat






to this effect :


Weeping they laid the youth by the shore on boughs of
in


pine,
When still they bore them as the victor’s crown.
Not yet had savage grip of hands brought down
Mené’s fierce-eyed son ® by Asopus’ daughter’s side. ¢
But ever since they’ve put full wreaths of celery on their


I remember Callimachus also,¢ who makes the point
clearer. In his poem Heracles says of celery :


The sons of Aletes,* keeping festival more ancient far than


Tu 3, : -
By god Aegaeon’s shore this crown shall make the badge
'-. of Isthmic victory ;
In rivalry with Nemea, but the pine they shall misprise
_ Which erstwhile crowned each champion there at Ephyra./


“It seems to me that I have also read a passage on
the Isthmia by Procles,? in which the author records
that the first contest was held for a crown of pine, but


_ © Thestream Nemea named after the daughter (geneteira)
of Asopus, god of the river near the seat of the Nemean
Games. ee Yate : Reatieted +
ry rom Aetia, iii, frag. 59 Pfeiffer (ed. Try-
panis, LCL. 1958 and 1968, pp. 44 f.), lines 5-9.

* National hero of Dorian Corinth. Pindar, Olympian
xiii. 14 (17) and Isthmian ii. 15 (22), with the scholia.

f Said to be the old name of Corinth, but the authenticity
of this very ancient identification is challenged by Lenschau


in RE, Suppl. iv. 1009. 3.


9 Frag. Hist. Graec. (C. Miiller), ii. 342 in a note to frag. 2
of Menecrates the Academic, whose pupil Procles was. The
title of his work seems to have been On Festivals.

399


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


lol > ~ ¢ lon / > onl ~
(677) rob ~ay@vos lepod yevouevov, ex THs Nepeakis
/ ~ ~
Tavyyvpews peTHveyKav evtadla tov Tod ceXivov
/ ¢ \ a1 e => ~ >
otépavov. 6 de IIpoxAfjs* otros Hv els tev ev
"Axadnpia Hevoxpater cvoxyoAacdvTwv.


Ci TIPOBAHMA A
Ilepi rod “‘ wpdrepov Sé Képae”’ ?


Collocuntur Niceratus, Sosicles, Antipater, Plutarchus


a > / ‘ ~ 4 ¢
1. Tedotos eddxer tTiot T&v ovvderrvovvTwy 6
> \ > / > ~ \ /
AytAreds axpatotepov éyyetv tov IdtpokdAov Ke-
>
Aevwr, eit’ aitiav TovadTyY éemiAéywv"


ot yap didAratou avdpes eu drréacr peAdbpw.


Nuxipatos pev ovv oO éraipos nav 6 Maxedav
GVTLKpUS dmoxupilero® pn, dKparov aAAa Deppov
cippabat 70 * Swpov é d.7r0 tod Cwrikod Kal Tijs
fécews, & 6% Kal oyov éyew, avdp@v éraipwv
mapovtTwy veov e€ drapyfns Kepavvvcba Kparipa*

D Kat yap jas, orav tots Oeois dmoomevoew ped-
Awper, veoKpata Trotetiv. Lwoucdijs 8’ 6 mounts
Tob *EpmedoxdAcous emyivnabels elpnkoTos ev TH
Ka0oArov petaBoAH yiyvecBar “‘ Cwpa te Ta piv
L ” parXrAov €byn TO EvKpaToV 7) TO akKpaTov
dxpyta”” paMov én parov 7} p
td Tod. avdpos Cwpdov AéyecPar Kat pydev ye
Kwdvew émixeAcvecbar TH IlatpdxAw tov “AyiAd€éa

1 So Paris 2074: aarpoxdis (apoxdns E).


2 xépape Vaticanus 1676, Athenaeus, x, 423 e, xépepe E.
3 So Reiske : emuoxupilerat.





@ Head of the Academy 339-314 B.c.
’ Athenaeus, 423 e, See to be derived from this Ques-
tion or its source, cf. Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. pp. 26 ff.


400





nopag


PO eee


TABLE-TALK V. 3-4, 677


that later, when the contest was made sacred, they
adopted the celery crown from the Nemean Games.
The Procles I refer to was a fellow student of Xeno-
crates 7 in the Academy.


QUESTION 4°
On Homer’s “ Mix the wine stronger ”
Speakers : Niceratus, Sosicles, Antipater, Plutarch


1. At a dinner, some of the guests said that they
thought Achilles ridiculous in urging Patroclus to
pour stronger ° wine and then adding as a reason,


These friends most dear are under my roof. @


Niceratus, our friend from Macedonia, went so far as
to maintain flatly that Homer’s word zéros means not
“ unmixed ”’ but “ hot,” deriving it from zdtikos (life-
giving) and zesis (boiling). In his opinion it was right
to mix a new bowl when friends come, even as we
mix fresh wine when about to pour libations to the
aves: But Sosicles the poet, recalling that Empe-

les® had said that in the universal evolution
“what was until then akrétos (unmixed) became
z6ros,” argued that z6éros was used by the poet in the
sense of “ well-mixed ”’ (ewkratos) rather than “ un-
mixed ”’ (akratos). Nothing hindered Achilles from
et he gm to prepare well-mixed wine for drink-

ce


guests here use akratoteron as a synonym for Homer’s

z6roteron (Iliad, ix. 203). See now Class. Rev. xvi, N.S.

Cored pp. 135 f. M. L. West); xvii (1967), pp 245 f. (F.
Imsen).


4 Jliad, ix. 204.

¢ Empedocles, frag. 35, line 15, in Diels’s Vorsokratiker :
Aristotle’s reading of the fragment (Poetics, 1461 a 23), if the
Ms. is sound, would have robbed Sosicles of his argument.


401


(677)


678


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Tapackevalew evKpatov eis mdow Tov olvov: et 8
> \ ~ a 6 / ? > Ld ce
avtt TOO Cwpod Cwporepov cimev, WomrEp deft-
Tepov ”’ avrt Tob de€vod Kai “ Onddrepov ” dvr TOU
OnAeos, ovK aTomov elvat: xphoGae yap emerKas
avTt TOV amAdv Tots cuyKpitikots. *Avrimatpos 5°
6 éTaipos 逢yn Tods pev evnavTods apyaikds
Cet 2) / A \l / > / 2
wpous ”’ Aéyecbat, To Se’ Ca péyebos eiwhevar
onuaiver’ O0ev tov mrodverh® Kat maAaov olvov
«4 Re , \ > , 4
bo Tob “AytAAews Cwpov evoudoba.

2. "Ey 8° aveuiuvynokov abtouvs, tt TO” “ Cwpd-

\ \ ” / ~
tepov’”’ TO Deppov" eEvlou onpaivertat Aéyovot TH Se
Beppotépw TO TaxLoVv' Womep Tets eyneAevdpeBa
moAAdKis Tots Stakovotor Depporepov dmreobau Tis
diakovias. aAdAa peipaxiwdyn THY diAdotipiav adtav
dmépatvov, dedvdT wv oporoyetv dpaTorepov €i-
piobar 70 Cwporepor, ws ev atorw Twi Tod ’AyiA-
ews egopevou' Kabdrrep 6 "AppurroAirgs Zwidros*®
drreAdpPavev, ayvodyv dt. mp@tov pev 6 “AytAXeds
tov Doivika Kai tov ’Odvocéa mpecBurépovus dv-
29°48 > e A / > > > /

Tas elows ovy vdape? yaipovtas aAXN’ axpatotépw,
Kabamep ot aAAou yépovres, emitetvar KeAever THY
Kpaow.

"Ezreita. Xetpwvos @v pabyrns Kal Tijs Tept 70
oda Siairys ovK a7relpos edoyilero Syrrovbev, OTL
Tots apyodat Kat ayoAdlovat rapa TO eiwhds owpa-
ow aveyevn Kal padaxwtépa Kpadois apyole: Kal

A a 7 > /, A wn +
yap Tots tno euBadrAe petra TOV dAAwWY yopTa-
1 §€ added by Turnebus.
2 So Reiske: ciw6ev.
3 qzodverq Stephanus: zodvreAR, which might be right.
* dvonalecOa E.


® So Stephanus: to.
® @epyorepov Hubert. See Aristotle, Poetics, 1461 a 14-16,


402














eg ad





PR MEN i ala ay


TABLE-TALK V. 4, 677-678


ing, nor was it strange for him to use the comparative
form z6roteros for zéros just as he uses deziteros for
dexios (‘right hand’’) and thélyteros for thélys (‘‘ fe-
male ’’), because Homer is apt to use the comparative
forms interchangeably with the positive. Our friend
Antipater, however, said that in ancient times the
year was called Aéros, and that customarily the prefix
za had intensive force ; this explains why Achilles calls
wine that is many years old and aged zéros.

2. But I reminded them that some maintain that
the term zéroteros signifies “ hot ” (thermos) and that
thermoteros (hotter) signifies “ faster,” as when we
urge our helpers and servants to apply themselves
“more warmly ” (thermoteron) to their work. On the
other hand, I pointed out, their own gallant effort
was schoolboyish because they were afraid to admit
that zéroteron means “ stronger ’’ (akratoteron), as if
this would put Achilles in an awkward position.
Zoilus of Amphipolis * made just this mistake, not
realizing that, in the first place, Achilles told Patro-
clus to strengthen the mixture because he knew that
older men like Phoenix and Odysseus prefer their
wine strong rather than watery.

_ Secondly, Achilles, the pupil of Cheiron and there-
fore not ignorant of the principles of diet, must have
reflected that a weaker, milder mixture was suitable
for those (like himself and Patroclus) who were en-
joying unaccustomed leisure and idleness. For just
this reason he feeds the horses celéry ’ along with


* Cynic philosopher and critic, famous as the “‘ Scourge of
Homer,” 4th century s.c. See Sandys, Hist. Class. Schol. i,
pp. 108 ff. > Jliad, ii. 775 ff.





7 So Stephanus: éviots or evious.
8 ZdxAos Basel edition: {7Aos.


403


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(678) oudtrwy ro céAwov odk dAdyws, GAN dru BAdz-
TovTat pev ot axoAdlovtes aovvyOws tao Tovs

5) ” de / LA 21 \ tr
Todas, €oTt d€ TovTov pdAioT tapa TO céAwov:

+ ~ b) a“ 4 / a
aAdous yotv otk av evpots tapaBaAAdpevoy taots
> > / / ” ~ / > >
ev “JXudde o€Awov 7 Twa Tovwdrov yAdv: GAA
Pd] \ n can'¢ A ~ > a A ‘\
tatpos @v 6 ‘AyiAdeds TOV 0 inmwv mpos Tov
Kalpov oikEelws emepedciTo Kal TH owpmate THY eAa-
dpotarny Siatav, Ws byrewotatnv év TO oyodAd-
Cew, trapeokevalev: avdpas 8° év payn Kal aya
du’ jepas yeyevnevovs ody Opoiws a€idv Svairav
B Tots apyodow émreivar THY Kpdow éxéAevoe. Kal
\ 2Q\ 4 / / > > > \ €
pnv odde dioe daiverat didowos add’ amnvis 6

"AytAAevs:


> / , a. NX 993 #9 /
od yap Tt yAvKvOupos avnp Av 00d’ ayavedpwv,
]
GAAa par’ éupenacds:

Ul / e A e ~ ce / )
Kat Trou Trappynatalopevos dbrrep adtov, “‘ moAXds,
~ >

gnoiv, “‘avmvouvs viktas tatoa’’: Bpayds 4
Umvos ovK e€apKel Tots ypwpéevois axpatw. Aot-

~ > ~

dopovpevos b€ TH “Ayapyéeuvou mp@rov adrov
“ otvoBaph ’’ mpoceipnKev, Ws pdAvoTta TOV voon-

/ \ > / / A ~
patwv THY otvopAvyiav mpoBadrAcpevos. Sia Tadra
517 mavta Adyov elyev adrov éevvojoa, TOV avdp@v
la > te a a“ ~
emipavevtwv, un 708 4 avv7iOns Kpaois adT@ Tob

/ / >

olvou Tpos EKElVvoUS aVELLEV Kal GVdppLooTos €oTLV.


1 of Palatinus 170, Basel edition: ofs.


4.04








TABLE-TALK V. 4, 678


other fodder—quite rightly, because celery is the
specific remedy for horses that are lame from un-
accustomed idleness. At least there is no other case
where we find celery or any such green forage thrown
to horses in the Jiad. But like the good doctor he


was, Achilles gave exactly that care to the horses


which was proper to the circumstances, by providing


the lightest diet as the most healthful during idleness.


He did not see fit to treat alike those men who had
spent the day in combat and struggle and those who
had been idle ; so he ordered a strengthening of the
mixture. In fact, it is evident that Achilles by tem-
perament is no lover of wine but a rough, unsocial


character :


Not sweet of spirit was the man, nor gentle,
But in a passion. . .*


He somewhere says, when talking freely about him-
self, that he “‘ spent many sleepless nights” °; but a
brief sleep will not satisfy a drinker of neat wine.
When he jeers at Agamemnon, the first epithet that
he hurls at him is ‘‘ wine-sodden,” ¢ as if casting up
to him winebibbing above all other weaknesses.
There was every reason, therefore, why Achilles
should think, when Odysseus and Phoenix appeared,
that perhaps his usual mixture would be mild and in-
adequate for them.


* Iliad, xx. 467 f. » TIliad,-ix. 325.
© liad, i, 225.


405


(678)


1D)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ITLPOBAHMA E
Ilepi t&v moods emi Seimzvov KadovvTwy


Collocuntur Plutarchus, Lamprias avus


1. To wept tas KataxXicers dawdpevov atomov
mActova Adyov Tapeaxev év tats drrodoxais, as
emrovetro Tov dilwy ExaoTos éoTi@v nas ‘jKovTas
aro Tis “AreEavdpetas: €xaAobvTo yap del moAAot
TOV OTwoodbyv tpoojKew Soxovyvtwy, Kal Ta GuUpTO-
ova BopuBwders eye Tas ovpimepipopas Kal Tas dua-
Adoets TayeElas. emret67) 5° ‘Ovjotxparns 6 tapos
ov moXXovs adda Tovs ogodpa ovvAGers Kal olKELo~
tatous tapéAaBev emi To Seimvov, éddvn pow TO
Aeyopevov dro LlAdtwvos, ‘ adfouevny modw 0-
dets,* od Tod,” ovptrociw Sedd08a.* “ Kai yap
ovuptroaiou éyelos tkavdv €oTW, axpt ob GupTocLoV
eGéder pévew €av 8 drrepBadrn dia wAHOos, ws
LNKETL TpooHyopov EavT@ unde cuptrables elvar tals
dirogpoavvais unde yvwpiwov, ovde oupTrOaLdV €oTL.
de? yap ody womep ev oTpatoTrédw SiayyéAots odd
womrep ev Tpinper yphobar Kedevorais, adrovs dé
du €avtadv evtvyydvew addnjAois, Wamep yopod Tod
ovptrooiov Tov Kpaoreditny TH Kopudaiw ovvykKoov
EXOVTOS.

2. "Epod dé Taor eim6vTOS, els ueoov 70 pley-
Edpevos 6 mammos pay Aapmpias, “dp” otv,
eizev, “od mept Ta Seimva pdvov, aAAa Kal zrepi


1 adbéouévnv modAw woAders Hubert, adfouevny wéAw Reiske,
avéavonernvy moAw teAcevTdcav Turnebus, er avfouéevn zdAet
Wyttenbach : avgopevn dAet.

2 ovK émli adder paAAov 7 ovproate AeA€exBar Wyttenbach,
Kami ovpr. AeAéxOan Hartman, eis cupmdcra aodeddc8a Mad-


406








& Lt


ie





TABLE-TALK V. 5, 678


QUESTION 5
_____ On those who invite large numbers to dinner
re ‘| Speakers: Plutarch and his grandfather Lamprias


1. Tue awkward problem that turns up of finding


at O |


places for guests at table was the subject of consider-


able discussion at the parties that each of my friends
gave me on my return from Alexandria. For on every
occasion many were included who had even the
slightest apparent claim to an invitation, and con-
sequently the gatherings were turbulent and broke
up early. But when Onesicrates the physician in-
vited, not a large crowd, but only some very dear
and close relatives, it struck me that you could

apply to parties the words of Plato*: “ An aug-
mented state is not one state but several.” “ For
the size of a party also,” I said, “ is right so long as it
easily remains one party. If it gets too large, so that
the guests can no longer talk to each other or enjoy
the itality together or even know one another,
then it ceases to be a party at all. For at a social
gathering there should be no need for aides-de-camp,
as in an army, or boatswains to set the stroke, as in a
trireme, but people should converse directly with one
another ; even as in a chorus the end man is within
earshot of the leader.” :
2. When I had said this, my grandfather Lamprias,
ie his voice so that everyone could hear, said,
“Do I understand that we must observe modera-
tion then, not only in eating, but in the number of


* Republic, 422 r—423 p.


vig, ovpmociw Kadds drodeddc8a Pohlenz, cvprociw Kava 8.
Kronenberg. 8 dp’ odv elvev Xylander: dpa ovvetzev.
407





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(678) ras KAjoes* Seducba tis eyxparelas; eat yap


> \ A 0 , > / 5 /
Tis olwat Kat piAavOpwrias axpacia, undéva trap-
/ ~ ~
Epxoevns TOV ovuprroTav aAAd mavras €AKovons ws
Peet / ”“ > / ” > > ” 3 yv v3
emt Oéav 7 aKpoacw. €mouy’ odv ovT apTos ovT
> > Aa A
olvos émtAeimwy Tots KeKAnEevois OUTW SoKEL TOV KeE-
/ “a a
KAnkoTa Trovetv yeAotov ws ywpa Kal Toros’ Oy Kai
a r s > AW’ > IY: a ? , fs
pn KexAnpevors adn’ éreAMobow adropatws E€vous
Kat aAdotpiois ael Trapeckevacperny adboviay b7-
/ a
dpxew det. ett d aptov pev Kal olvov émtAeitrov-


” \ > “a
F twv €oTt Kal Tovs otkétas ws KAémtovras aitiacbar,


679


/ \ / \ / > ~ > /
ToTrov O€ Trevia Kal KaTavaAwais els TAGs GAvywpia
tis €att TOD KaAodvTos. evdoKipe? 5é€ OavpacTds
Kal “Hotodos eimai:


>
TOL pev TpPWTLOTA ydos ever’:


Xwpav yap ede. Kal TOmOVv mpotiroKeiabat Tois yry-
/ > ¢ \ ¢ \ cs 2? ” ce 4
vomevois, ody ws xfés ovtpos vids,” edn, “TO
A“ / /
’"Avataydpevov, “iv ouod mavTa yphara,’ TO ovv-
Seimvov émroincerv.
ce > \ > \ nv / e / \
Od pnv adda Kav Toros brapyn Kal mapa-
7 \ ~ rage! / e »” \
oxevn, TO TANGos adto pduAaKkréov ws apiKToV T7V
cuvovolayv movodv Kal ampoonyopov’ olvov yap av-
edeitv HrT6v €oTt KaKov 7 Adyou Kowwviav ek Seim-
/
vou’ 610 Kal Meddpacros dowa ovprocia trailwy
> 7 \ A \ \ \ ~
éxdAer Ta Koupeta Sia THY AaAvav TOV tpocKkabil-
~ \
ovtwy. Adywy dé Kowwviay avaipodaw ot 7oAAods


1 So Palatinus 170, Xylander: «kdAiceis.





¢ See below, Book VII, Question 6, and particularly
Plato’s Symposium, 174 a-s, which Plutarch cites there, on


408


TABLE-TALK V. 5, 678-679


guests that we invite? It seems to me that there is
such a thing as going too far even in hospitality, when
you omit no possible guest but drag everybody in,
as if to some show or public recitation. The host who
runs out of bread or wine is not so ridiculous, to my
way of thinking, as the one who fails to provide
room and place for his guests. There ought at all
times to be ample provision even for uninvited
guests,* including total strangers who come of their
own accord. Besides, if bread and wine give out, it
is possible to lay the blame on thieving servants, but
if space gives out because it has been spent on too
great a crowd, then the host himself is guilty of a
kind of insult to his guests. Incidentally, this line of
Hesiod is amazingly popular :


Before all else in the world, void came into existence,”


simply because room and place were prerequisite to
all subsequent creation. Contrast that with the way
in which my son yesterday ° converted the banquet
into the famous Anaxagorean plenum : ‘ All things
were one solid mass.’ @

“ However, if both space and the provisions are
ample, we must still avoid great numbers, because
they in themselves interfere with sociability and con-
versation. It is worse to take away the pleasure of
conversation at table than to run out of wine. Theo-
phrastus ¢ in jest calls barbershops “ wineless drinking
parties’ just because of the chatter of those who
come to sit there. People who bring together too
these “‘ shadows ”’ as they were called, who were often brought
to the banquet by some invited "yor

> Theogony, 116. ¢ Table-Talk, ii. 10, 644 c.

@ Diels, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, Anaxagoras, frag. 1.

¢ Wimmer, Theophrastus, frag. 76.


409


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(679) ets tadTo cvupdopobrres, waAAov 5° dXdiyous trovotow
aAAjAots auveivat’s Kata Svo yap 7 TpEis atroAap-
B Bavovtes évtuyyavovot Kai mpocdiadAéyovtat, Tovs
d€ 7Oppw KaTaKeyLevous 00d toacw ovde Tpodopa-

aw immov dSpdpov améxovras


nuev em Aiavros kAicias TeAapwrviddao
70 em “AxtAAfos.
olev ovK opbas ot mrAovator veavievovrat KaTaoKev-
alovres | olKous TpiaKovTakAtvous Kal jetlous: GypLt-
KTOOV yap avn Kat adidwy Setmvev ” Topackent)
Kal Tmavnyupidpxou padov y] oupTroavdpyxov deo-
pevwv. GAN exeivous per TATA ovyyvapyn qrovetv"
amAovTov yap otovTat Tov mAobrov Kai Tuprov
adAnbas Kat avéEodov,” av pn pdprupas EXn, Kai°
Kaldarep Tpayedta. Deards: npiv & av tapa yevouTo
C ro8 moAAods opod ovvdyew TO modes Kar
oXiyous mapahauBavery . of yap omaviws Kal * be
“Appatos,” ws pacw, EoTL@vTES avayKalovrat Tov
orrwaodv ETTLTHOELOV 7 yvepyov Karaypaper ot de
OUvEXEOTEPOV Kata Tpets 7 n) TETTApas dvaAapBavovres
worrep mopOueta Ta ovpiTroata Kougporepa” Tro.ovat.
“ Tlovet dé Twa TOO mroMob tov dhidwy mAnBovs
Sidkpiow Kat 6 THs aitias Sunvekns emAoyiopos:
1 «ai after ovveivac deleted by Bases.
2 So Herwerden: dédréEodov.


3 xai added by Wilamowitz.
4 So Herwerden: xod¢d Te.


@ Iliad, xi. 7 f.

Cf. De Cupid. Divit. 528 a-s. Wealth has been “ blind”
since Hipponax: see frag. 29 Diehl.

¢ See Strabo, ix. 2. 11, p. 404. Certain Pythaistae watched
the sky three days in each of three months during the year


410











TABLE-TALK V. 5, 679


many guests to one place do prevent general conver-
sation ; they allow only a few to enjoy each other's

sty, for the guests separate into groups of two
or three in order to meet and converse, completely
unconscious of those whose place on the couches
is remote and not looking their way because they are
separated from them by practically the length of a
race course. The distance is like that from the centre


_____ Both ways, to the tents of Telamonian Ajax
~ And to those of Achilles . . .¢


So it is a mistake for the wealthy to build showy
dining-rooms that hold thirty couches or more. Such
magnificence makes for unsociable and unfriendly
banquets where the manager of a fair is needed more
than a toastmaster. However, in their case we must
forgive this display, for they consider wealth, unless
it has witnesses and, like a tragedy, spectators, no
wealth but something blind indeed ° and cut off from
the world. But the rest of us can protect ourselves
ainst the risk of gathering too large a crowd by
entertaining frequently in small groups. Those who
ve dinner parties as seldom as ‘the lightning
es over Harma,’ ° as the saying goes, are forced
to include in the guest list every acquaintance and
relative, however distant. People, on the other hand,
who entertain more frequently, three or four guests
at a time, keep their parties light and manageable as
a ferryman keeps his boat. 7
“A way to select among many friends which to
invite is to bear constantly in mind the purpose of
for | ing from this direction, to determine when to “ send
the offering to Delphi.’”” Harma is a rock near Phylé in the
Parnes range in northern Attica. Cf. R. E. Wycherley in
Am. Jour. Arch. \xiii (1959), p. lxiii.
411


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/
(679) ws yap emi Tas ypeias od mavrTas GAAG Tods apuor-
RS 4 ~
Tovtas ekdoTn Trapakadobpev, BovAevowevor pev
A / / \ \ / >
Tovs dpovipous Sixalopevor S€ tods A€yovtas amo-
~ A \ > / A a
dnpodvres Se Tovs eAadpovs padcota Tots BuwriKots
\ \ a a
Kal oxoAnv ayovTas, oUTwWs ev Tats bmodoyais Exa-
> /
OTOTE TOUS EmiTNdelous TrapaAnmTéoV. €miTHOELOL
d€ TH prev yyepova’ deimvilovt. ovvdertvetvy ot T
e A al
apxovrTes, eav wot didror, Kal ot mp@tou THs 7d-
> \ , ng , ¢ \ ,
News: ev d€ ydpous 7H” yeveOAlois of Kata yévos
/ ~
D zpoojKovtes Kat Aids opoyviou Kowwvotvtes: €v
dé tais TovavTais Uaodoyais 7 mpotropmats Tovs®
exeivois* pidAvoTa Keyaptopéevous eis tadToO ouV-
AKTEOV.
ce ~ 4, a“ aA a
Odde yap Oe Avovtes maa Tots aAAows Deois,
> \5 , 6 , ‘ , ,
aAAa® padiora® ovvvdos Kai cvpPdpos KaTEVYOpE-
na 4 a > \
Oa, Kat’ Tpi@v KpaTipwv Kipvapévwv Tots MEV azo
lan ~ > 3 ~ A
Tod mpwTov o7revdomev Tots 8° azo TOD SevTEpov Tots
~ / / A
E 8 amo rod reAevtaiou: ‘ bOdvos yap ¢Ew Deiov yopob
@ ’ A A » RS lon / \ >
iorata.’* Geios 5€ ov Kai 6 T&v didwv yxopos ed-
yrwpovws Siaveudomevos ev Tals ovptrepipopats.”’
1 So Franke: 7yepuon.
2 xal after 7 deleted by Hubert.
3 So Vaticanus 1676: rais.
4 So Bernardakis: éxeivwv.
5 gddka added by Hubert, S€ after wadAvora Reiske.


6 xai after wdAvora deleted by Hubert, Reiske, Hutten.
7 xat Hartman, xai dua Reiske: adda.


412





TABLE-TALK V. 5, 679


the gathering. For assistance in practical matters
we appeal, not to all our friends, but only to those who
are particularly competent to help. For instance,
when we desire advice, we call upon the wise ; when
we go to law, we summon pleaders ; and for com-
anionship on a journey we look to those who are at

eisure and unburdened by daily cares. It is equally
true that for our parties we must always be careful
to choose the right guests. The right guests for a
banquet in honour of a political leader are public
officials and civic leaders, if they are friends. At wed-
dings and birthday parties, it is relatives, those who
share in the worship of Zeus, Protector of the Family.*
In parties like the present one to welcome home a
friend, or else to bid him farewell, the host should
gather together the persons most likely to please the
guest of honour.
__“ When we sacrifice to a god we do not offer prayers
to all the other gods but to those especially who share
the same temple or altar: having mixed three bowls
of wine,” we offer a libation out of the first to some
gods, out of the second to others, and out of the last
to still others; for ‘ Jealousy has no place in the
choir of the oe ¢ Surely the choir of friends, too,
is divine, and can be divided wisely ¢ into successive
social gatherings.”

@ A, B. Cook, Zeus, Zeus, iii. 963; Farnell, Cults of the
Greek States, i, p. 53 with note 95, p. 156.

> Roscher, Lexikon der griech. und rim. Mythologie, s.v.
“Heros,” col. 2509.


© Plato, Phaedrus, 247 a.
4 Or “ in a spirit of kindness.”


413


(679)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA ¢
Tis aitia tijs év apy orevoywpias ta&v Seumvodytwr
«l0” vorepov evpuvywpias


Collocuntur Lamprias avus, alii


"Pn devreov dé rovtTwv, edOds elytetro mrept Tijs ev
apy} oTevoxwpias TOV KaTaKEymevwy €lT dvécews:
ob Totvavtiov eikos iv oupPatvery bua TY él Tob
deizvov TApwow. evo pev odv Hudv TO oYHLa


a , > ~ A \ c > 7s
F ris KatakAicews Ari@vtTo: mAatels yap ws emimav


KaTaKeipevous Seimveiv, ate 1 THY SeEtav mpoTet-
vovTas emt Tas Tpamelas: Seimvyicavtras 8 avaotpe-
dew avdtovs paddov emi mAevpav, o€d TO oxfpa
movobvTas TOU owparos Kal o0Kel’ ws eimety Kat’
emirredov, GAAa Kara YP UEpY THS xeépas amTo-


680 pevous: WOTTEp ody ot dorpayanou TOTOV eAdrrw


Katéxovow opboi rimrovtes 7 mpyveis, OUTWS NU@Y
ExaoTov €v apy pev emit oToua mpovevew azo-
BAémovra" mpos THv Tpamelav votepov dé peTacyy-
patilew emt Balos éx mAdtovs THY KaTaKAvow.
Oi dé zoddoi THY ovvévdoow TiS) OTpwpYAs
TpoepepovTo: OAiBopevny yap ev TH KatakXice
mhardvecbau Kal Svaxwpeiv, Bomrep TOV b1r0877-
pdtwv Ta TpiBdpeva, KaTa pKpov éemdiddovTa® Kai
yaA@vra Tots Tropous, _ edpuxwpiay T@ Todt Kai
dvaorpopny TrapeXet. 6 de mpeoBurns a apa. mai ley


B 8v’ &dy To adro oupmoatoy d dvojioious éyew émiord-


Tas Te Kal HyEeLovas, EV apy pev TOV Aor @ THv


1 So Stephanus: dzofAézovras.
2 &8dvra Hirschig (“ yielding, giving, softening ”’).
4.14





ee


Oe


TABLE-TALK V. 6, 679-680


QUESTION 6


mij


__. Why there is lack of space for the diners at the beginning


ee ‘uu of a meal and ample space later


are * Speakers : Grandfather Lamprias and others


‘Thiwepratety after this discussion, we raised the
‘question why the space for the diners seems inade-
quate at the beginning of a meal, but later seems


— “eon ably ample. The very opposite would be ex-


a because of the effect of the intake of food.
me of the company sought the explanation in the
position of the diners on the couches; in general,
each guest, while eating, assumes a posture * almost
flat, since he must stretch his right hand forward to
the table ; but after eating he turns back more upon
his side, forming a sharper angle with the couch and
oce no longer a flat surface, but merely, one
might say, a line. Just as knucklebones occupy less
‘space if they come to rest on end instead of flat on
one side, so each of us takes up space at the beginning
of a meal by leaning forward to face the table but
later changes position on the couch so as to occupy
more space vertically than horizontally.

Most of our company, however, found the answer
to the question in the settling of the cushions as they
are crushed by the weight of the diners ; they flatten
and spread like old shoes that by gradually widening
and becoming roomy because of the porousness of the
material provide space and play for the foot. But
the old gentleman playfully said that one identical
feast has two dissimilar presidents and directors : at
the beginning Hunger, who has nothing to do with


* Resting on the left elbow.
415


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(680) TOKTURGY ovdev HETEoTW, voTepov dé Tov Avévucov
ov mavres dpworov yeyovevas oTparnyov dporoyod-
ow: womep obv 6 "Errapewssvdas, eis TwWa dvoxw-
pilav TOV oTparnya@v bm azreipias etoBadrovrenv® THY
pdrayya mepuTimrovaay éaury Kal Tapacoonevny®
droaBedv, ebehuce® Kal KATEOTHGEV els. Trak, ov-
TWS pas ev apyh oupmepopnpevous ¥ bio TO Aod
Kuvndov apr mrapaAapBavery 0 Avaios Beds Kal
Xopetos eis Ta€w thapav Kal diddvOpwrov Kab-
ioTnow.


IITPOBAHMA Z
Tlepi rév KataBacxaivew Aceyouevew


Collocuntur Mestrius Florus, Plutarchus, Patrocleas,
oclarus, Caius


Cuud., Tlept TOV karaBacKatver Aoaliibean Kad Ba-
oKavov Exew oplaAmov € epaTEaoVTOS Adyou mapa. bei-
TVvov ot pev aAdXou TavTdaraow eledratprlov* TO
mpaypa Kat Kareyehwv 6 5° éoTi@v nas Méorpuos
PAGpos eon Ta peev yeyvojevar Th Huy Oavpacras
Bond ely, TO 8 airtas dropetv amotetobat Thy toro-
piav, ov Suxatws, 6 Orrov peupieov eudavh THY ovciav
EXOVTWY 6 THS aitias Adyos Huds diaméedevyev.

1 cioBaddvrwy Palatinus 170, Turnebus.
So Palatinus, Vulcobius : Karapaccopnevny “* broken.”


3 éééXevoe most Mss. including E, “* stoned ”’ (?).
* So Turnebus : dbedhutpitov.





* Dionysus’s military expeditions “ all over the world” are
cited in Diodorus Siculus, iii. 64. 6.

> For details of the expedition against Alexander of Phe-
rae, which is probably referred to here, see Diodorus Siculus,
xv. 71. 5 ff. During a battle on level ground the losing and
desperate troops made Epaminondas general.


416


TABLE-TALK V. 6-7, 680


military tactics, but later Dionysus, whom all admit
to be an excellent general.t Epaminondas once
found that the generals had because of inexperience
led the army into a difficult ° position where it was
thrown into complete confusion and disorder; he
took charge, disentangled it, and reformed the ranks.
Just so, we who at the beginning of dinner were all
demoralized by hunger like a pack of yelping hounds,
have now been taken in hand by Dionysus, the
Releaser and Choral Leader, and reduced to a cheer-
ful and sociable co-ordination.


QUESTION 7


On those who are said to cast an evil eye °


Speakers: Mestrius Florus, Plutarch, Patrocleas,
Soclarus, Gaius


1. Once at dinner a discussion arose about people who
are said to cast a spell and to have an evil eye. While
everybody else pronounced the matter completely
silly and scoffed at it, Mestrius Florus,? our host,
declared that actual facts lend astonishing support to
the common belief. Yet the reports of such facts are
commonly rejected because of the want of an explana-
tion ; but this is not right, in view of the thousands
of other cases of indisputable fact in which the logical
explanation escapes us.°


¢ On the whole subject see RE, s.v. ‘ Fascinum.”

4 See above, i. 9, 626 x, and iii. 3, 650 a s-the prominent
Roman to whom Plutarch seems to have owed his Roman
citizenship and his Roman name.

¢ Similarly Themistocles at 626 r and Agemachus at
664 c defend acceptance of unexplained facts. Cf. Septem
Sapientium Convivium, 20 (LCL Mor. ii, 163 p).


VOL. VIII P 417


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ud > ~
(680) ““OdAws 8°,” elev, “6 (nrdv ev éExdotw 7d €d-
> / ~
Aoyov ek TavTwV avaipet TO Davpdovov: dou yap
~ > 7 ~
D 6 Tis airias emtAetrer Adyos, exeiPev apyerar TO
> lal / aA
amropeiv, TovTeoTtt TO diAocodeiv: Wate TpoTOV Twa.
dirocogiav avaipotow of Tois Oavpaciou am-
7 5 a 3° >> ce \ \ PY \ / / ~
otoovtes. Set 8°,” Edy, ‘70 pev dia Ti ylyverat TO
A a, we ~
Aoyep petievar, TO O OTL ylyveTat Tapa THs toTO-
plas AapBavew. iotopetrar dé moAAa* Tovwabra
yuyvwmokonev yap avOpuimrous TA wataBheérew TO
mandéa. pddvora BAdrrovras, dypornte THS efews
Kat dobeveia TpeTroperns tn’ abtav kal Kwouperns
émt TO xelpov, WTTov dé TOV orepedv Kal memnyorov
76) TOTO TacyoOvTwY. KaiToL TOUS ye TEpL TOV
~ / a
Ildvrov oikotvtas mdAa @uBeis* mpooayopevo-
/ ¢ ~ @ 5A > bd / > A
pevous totopet Didapyos od mradious povov adda
\ U > / s A \ A /
Kat TeAelots dAcOpious elvar* Kat yap To BAéupa
\ \ ~
E kal tH avarvonv Kat tiv dudAeKtov avT@v mapa-
v4 7
Sexouevovs tHKEoIar Kal vooetv: jolovto 8 ws
€ a
€olKe TO yuyvopuevov ot puyddes* oixétas exeibev
wviouvs e€ayovtes. GAAa Tov’Twy TO peVv tows
a e \
ArtTov eott GOavpactov: 4 yap emad? Kal ovvava-
/ /
ypwous exer Twa daiwopernv mafouvs apynv, Kal
~ > ~ ~
Kabamep ta TOV dAdAwy dpvéwy mTEpa Tots TOD
b] A / / / 5 Bis? a
aetoo ovvtebévra didAAvtat wnyopeva’® Kal amavbet
1 So Anonymus, Reiske : pereivas.
2 T begins again with this word.
3 @.Beis or OrBiovs Xylander, Salmasius, ef. Hesychius,
Stephanus of Byzantium, Pliny the Elder: @nBeis.
* pwyddas Valesius: “‘by those who brought half-Greek


slaves...
5 So Doehner: ypuydpeva.





¢ Wonder is the origin of philosophy, according to Plato,
418


TABLE-TALK V. 7, 680


“ In general,” he went on, ‘‘ the man who demands
to see the logic of each and every thing destroys the
wonder in all things. Whenever the logical explana-
tion for anything eludes us, we begin to be puzzled,
and therefore to be philosophers. Consequently, in
a way, those who reject marvels destroy philosophy.
The right method,” he maintained, “ is to search out
the reason for facts by means of logic, but to take the
facts themselves as they are recorded. Now, many
instances of such unexplained phenomena as the evil
eye are on record. We know, for instance, of persons
who seriously hurt children by looking at them, in-
fluencing and impairing their susceptible, vulnerable
constitutions, but who are less able to affect in this
way the firm and established health of older persons.
And yet the so-called Thibaeans,’ who anciently
lived near the Pontus, were, according to Phylarchus,°
deadly not only to children but to adults. He says
that Phoss who were subjected to the glance, breath,
or speech of these people, fell ill and wasted away, a
phenomenon apparently observed by the half-Greeks
who brought slaves for sale from there. Now, one
element in this story will hardly surprise anyone, for
obviously enough an attack of illness may be due to
contact and infection. When the feathers of other
birds are put together with those of eagles, they rub
against them and are destroyed through putre-


Theaetetus, 155 p; cf. especially Aristotle, Metaphysics, 982
b 12, in a discussion of the relation between causation (aitia)
or logical explanation and knowledge.

4 Phylare us in Jacoby, Frag. Griech. Historiker, 81 ¥ 79
a; fot more about this mythical people see Stephanus of
Byzantium, s.v. “* Thibais,”’ and Pliny, Nat. Hist. vii. 2. 17.

* Historian of the 3rd century s.c. See RH, Suppl. viii,
cols. 471-489.


419


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(680) rOv ariAwy pvdavrwv, ovrws ovdev deer Kal

dvOpasrrou | yadow THv pev dPpeAtpov elvar tiv 8

F amnvi Kat BAaBepav: TO be Kal _ Mpooprepbevras

ddicciobar ovpBaiver ev Worrep elpyka., T@ Se THV
airtav EXEL dvobipatov dmoretra.””

“ Kat Paiva edyv eyes, “ Tpomov TWa Tis
airias adres" ixvos TL Kal TpiBov dvevpynKas, emt
Tas dmroppotas TOV owpdaroy dpi dpevos Kal yap
4) Oop7) Kal y) pov) Kal TO peda Tijs dvamvorjs
amopopat TWeEs elou Tov Coo Kal péepy KwodvTa
Tas alcOjoes, 6tav bm avbrav TpoomrecovT@y Td~

681 Owor. mond dé padov eikos €ott TOV Cobwv a Gmo-
pepeobau Ta. Towabra dua THY Bepudrnta Kal TV
Know, olovel Twa opuypov Kal KAdvov ExYovTos
Tod mvevpatos, bf ob} TO GHua Kpovdpevov evde-
dexds EKTELTEL 7 TWas daroppotas. pahora d€ TodTO
yiyveoBar dua TOV Opbahuay eikds €oTt" mrodvKivn-
TOS yap 7 oyis odoa pEeTa TVEvMATOS avyny" adi-
évTos Tupwon Oovpacriy TWO Svacmetper dvvapw,
wate 7oAAa Kal macyew Kal moveiv bu’ adris Tov
avOpwrov. dovais TE yap ovppetpors Kal andiats
bo TOV OpaTav Tpemdomevos cuveyeTat.

“ Kat r@v épwrikdv, a 51) pwéeyvota Kal ofodpo-
1 So Xylander: adrois. 2 So Turnebus : adriy.





@ The Greek here seems pleonastic, unless mriAa can
refer to the barbs or vane of a feather.

» A similar device for building up a discussion is used
above in iv. 2. 2, 664 pb.

e Empedocles, frag. 89 (Diels) : there are effluences from
all things. Cf. Democritus’s eiéwAa below at 682 rf. The
present reference is to 680 £, above.

4 For emanations and the circumstances which favour their
reception see below, viii, 734 ¥ ff. (=Democritus, a 77 Diels,
and Epicurus, 326 Usener). Cf. also Lucretius’s example of


4.20


TABLE-TALK V. 7, 680-681


faction.* Just so, there is no reason to doubt that
contact between human beings may prove in some
ceases beneficial and in others rough and harmful. It
also does happen sometimes, as I have said, that
people are injured by a mere look ; but because the
reason is hard to track down, the fact is not believed.”

2. “ Indeed,” I answered, “in a way you yourself
have found the track and trail of the reason ® at the
point where you came to effluences * from bodies.
For odour, voice, and breathing are all emanations of
some kind, streams of particles from living bodies,
that produce sensation whenever our organs of sense
are stimulated by their impact. Living bodies are,
because of their warmth and motion,? far more likely
in reason. to give off these particles than are inanimate
bodies, inasmuch as breathing produces a certain
pulsation and turmoil whereby the body is struck
and emits a continuous stream of emanations. In
all probability the most active stream of such emana-
tions is that which passes out through the eye. For
vision, being of an enormous swiftness and carried by
an essence ® that gives off a flame-like brilliance,
diffuses a wondrous influence. In consequence, man
both experiences and produces many effects through
his eyes. He is possessed and governed by either
pleasure or displeasure exactly in proportion to what
he sees.

“ Vision provides access to the first impulse to love,


the lion terrified by the emanations from the cock, De Rer.
Nat. iv. 712 ff.

¢ Pneuma: ‘‘ Something midway between the material
and the spiritual ’’ (Parke and Wormell, Delphic Oracle, i, p.
23). Cf. the prophetic pnewma and other effluences in Plu-
tarch, De Defectu Orac. 432 pv ff.; and Milton’s “ bright
effluence of bright essence increate ’”’ in Paradise Lost, iii. 6.


421


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


681
( tara maBnjpwara, Tis puxis €oTw, apy 4 Sypts


evdiowow, WOTE peiv Kal AciBeobar TOV epurtixoy,
oray euprérn Tots Kadots, olov EKXEOMEVOY Eis
avrous. 610 Kal Javpdcerev av Tus olwat udAvora
TOV maoxew" pev Kal Kkaxobaba TOV dvOpuyrov 51d
THs oypews olopevewy, ovKert be dpav Kal BAdarew.
at yap avr Brewers Trav ev wpa Kal TO dud Tov
Ompdrov € exmintov, ctr’ apa pas eite peda, Tods
ep@vras EKTH KEL Kal amdAdvar pel? 70ovnjs adyn-
dove HEpey pers, nv avrol yAundrruxpov ovoy.da.lov-
ow: ovTE yap amToMEVols ovr axovovow ovTw
C TitpHcKeabat ovpBaiver Kal maoXew, ws mpooBhe-
TO[LEVOLS kal mpooBrérovor. TOLAVTN yap ylyverat
diddoars Kal avadretis amo THs dppews, ob wore TavTe-
ADs arreipatous Epwros nyetoBat Tos Tov Mydixov
vadbav Davpdlovras € ex SiaotHparos b b7r0 Tod mupos
avadAeyomevov’ at yap TOV Kahay opers, Kav Tavu
ToppwHev dvr Brew," Tip ev Tats TOV epwrtk@v
dyats dvdmrovow.
ae Kat pny TO ye TOV iKTEpiK@Y BonOnya TroA-
AdKis toTopobpev: euBAerovres yap T® Xapadpid
Oeparevovtat: TovavTnv €ouKe TO L@ov gvow Kal


1 So Wyttenbach : €pXOpEvov.
2 So Stephanus : oToixe.
3 So Reiske, cf. Psellus: évrjxer.
4 So Reiske, cf. Psellus: dv7iPrdbwor.





* Sappho, frag. 81 (LCL Lyra Graeca, vol. i, p. 238).

» Strabo cites Eratosthenes as saying that naphtha i is found
in Susis (xvi. 1. 15, p. 743); see also RE, s.v. “* Asphalt,” col.
1729. Plutarch describes a test of “ naphtha ” which cruelly
burned a lad who accompanied Alexander to Babylon, in
Life of Alexander, xxxy. 1-5. This is reported also by Strabo.

¢ Cf. the scholium on Plato’s Gorgias, 494 8, quoting


422





el


TABLE-TALK V. 7, 681


that most powerful and violent experience of the soul,
and causes the lover to melt and be dissolved when
he looks at those who are beautiful, as if he were
pouring forth his whole being towards them. For
this reason, we are entitled, I think, to be most sur-
prised at anyone who believes that, while men are
passively influenced and suffer harm through their
eyes, they yet should not be able to influence others
and inflict injury in the same way. The answering
glances of the young and the beautiful and the stream
of influence from their eyes, whether it be light or a
current of particles, melts the lovers and destroys
them, amid pleasure commingled with pain, a pleasure
that they themselves call ‘ bittersweet,’* Neither
by touch nor by hearing do they suffer so deep a
wound as by seeing and being seen. Such are the
diffusion of effluences and the kindling of passion
through eyesight that only those unacquainted with
love itself could, in my judgement, be astonished at
the natural phenomenon that takes place when
Median naphtha ® catches fire at a distance from a
flame. The glances of the beautiful kindle fire, even
when returned from a great distance, in the-souls of
the amorous,

“ Then again, we are often told about the remedy
used to help sufferers from jaundice, who are cured
by looking at a plover. The nature and bodily tem-
perament of this bird is apparently such that it draws


Hipponax 48 (Diehl): plovers were sold.with their heads
covered to prevent loss of their commercial value. ‘‘ Plover ”
is now the common identification of the charadrios, but others
have been suggested, ¢.g., the golden oriole ; some yellow or
artly yellow bird =i seem natural in the context. See
liny, Nat. Hist. xxx. 28. 94 on the “‘ jaundice-bird.”” See
also Additional Note, on p. 516.


4.23


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(681) kpdow Eyew, wo EXxew Kal déyeoOa TO wabos
>? ~ ~ lo
exmimTov, womep peda, dia THs dews* BOev od
mpooPA€rovew of yapadptol Tovs Tov ikTEpov Exov-
D tas odd€ Kaptepodow, add’ amootpédovtat Kat Ta
” ~
oupata ovyKAeicavtes Exovow, od POovoiytes, ws
” / lol bata > ~ 77 > > id
eEviot vouilovat, THs am atdTav idaews add’ womep
bro TAnyhs TiTtpwckdopevar. Tv Sd aAAwv voonpd-
7 ‘ 4 \ > / >
Twv padioTa Kal TaxtoTa Tas ofOaApias avaAap-
Bavovow ot cuvevtes: otTw ddvayuw exer o€eiay 1)
” > n~ A ~ Lee / > / 2)
dys evdodvat Kat TrpooBadeiv érépw mrafous apyny.
3. “ Kat pad’,”’ édn, “ Ayers dpOds,” 6 Iarpo-
Kréas, “ émi ye TOV owpatiK@v: Ta dé THS dbvyjs,
dv eott kat TO BacKaivew, Tiva Tpdmov Kal mas
A a + \ 4 > A c 4,
dia THs opews tHv BAaBnv eis Tods Opwpyevous
/ 22> 66 > 9 2? 99 » coe ae >
diadtdwouw ; ovK otal,” edny, “ OTe maaxovo
» vy) TO o@pa ovvdsatibnow; émivown yap
adpodiciwy éyeipovow aidota, Kat Oupoi Kuvav ev
a , >
E tats mpos Ta Onpia yeyvopevais apidAaus amrooBev-
vwovat Tas opdcets TroAAdKis Kal TuddAobar, Amat
d€ Kat dirapyupiat Kat Cydrorumian Ta yYpwpata
Tpémovow Kal Kata€aivovat Tas e&eis: Mv ovdeves
¢ / e > / ~ na ‘ 3
6 Pbdvos Arrov evdvecbar TH wuyh medvKds ava-
~ ¢
mipmAnot Kat TO G@a Tovynpias, nv ot Cwypador
~ ~ a fol /
Kars éemiyeipodow dmopyetoba to Tob Pbdvov
’ ~
mpoowrov broypadovres. OTav ody oUTWS U0 TOD
be ; 2 2 , A ” a)
h0oveiv Siarebevtes” azrepeidwou Tas dyes, at
a a / \
eyywoTa TeTaypevar THS yvyjs omdoaca® Tv
,
Kaklav womep tredappaypeva BéAn mpoomintwow,
3O\ > / aA >. » >
F ovdev oiuat ovpBaives tapadAoyov ovd° amuotov, €t
1 So Xylander: é€kAirrov. Bernardakis €«Ae:trov with E
(““ shed,” from Ae/Bw).
4.24


én


TABLE-TALK V. 7, 681


out and takes to itself the affliction, which passes like
a stream through the eyes of the patient. Con-
sequently, plovers cannot bear to face people who are
afflicted with jaundice, but turn away and keep their
eres closed, not because they begrudge the effect of
their healing power, as some think, but because they
are wounded thereby, as if by a blow. Finally,
diseases of the eye are more contagious to those
exposed and more instantaneously so than. other
diseases, so penetrating and swift is the power of
the eye to admit or communicate disease.”’
~ 8. “ You are indeed right,” said Patrocleas, ‘so far
as the physiological effects go. But as regards the
psychical, including the casting of spells, how pre-
cisely can harm spread to others by a mere glance
of the eye?” I answered: ‘‘ Don’t you know that
the body is sympathetically affected when the mind
is subjected to any influence ? Amorous thoughts
will excite the sexual organs ; the frenzy of hounds
in their struggle with their prey often dims their
psi and even blinds them; and pain, greed for
old, or jealousy will cause a man to change colour,
a, wear away is health. Envy, A Neng yet
roots itself more deeply in the mind than any other
passion, contaminates the body too with evil. This
is the morbid condition that artists well attempt to
render when painting the face of envy. When those
possessed by envy to this degree let their glance fall
upon a person, their eyes, which are close to the mind
and draw from it the evil influence ofthe passion,
then assail that person as if with poisoned arrows ;
hence, I conclude, it is not paradoxical or incredible


2 So Aldine edition: draribévres.
3 So Meziriacus: omdowot.


VOL. VIII p* 425





(681)


682


B


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


~ 1 A
Kwovou TOvs TpocOpwEvoUs* Kal yap Ta SiHypara
TOV Kuvav xaderrwbtepa yiyverat eT Opyts Saxvov-
\ \ / A > / ~ Md
TW, Ka TA OTTEpwaTa TOV avOpemwv WaAAov amre-
/ ~
abat pacw Stav ép&vtes mAnovdlwat, Kat 6Aws Ta.
/ \ a ~ > an
7a0n Ta THs Yuyis emuppwvvucr Kat movet adodpo-
/ \ ~ ~
Tépas Tas TOO GwuaTtos Suvdpers. S10 Kal TO TOY
Aeyouéevwv tpoBackaviwy yévos olovrar mpdos Tov
/ > ~ ¢ / \ \ > / ~
pbovov wdereiv EAxopevns bia tiv atomiav Tis
a ° Ye > / ~ 7 =
dpews, WoO Arrov erepeidew Tols maaxovaw. ad-
tai cou,” elzov, ‘‘& DABpe, svpBodat tis edwyias
amnpiouncbwoayr.”
>
4. Kai 6 Lw&edAapos, “dv y’,” édn, “ mpotepov
¢ A > \2 8 / ” \ a ~ /
nets adta” SoKidowpev: Eat. yap 6 Tt TOD Adyou
Katadaivetar KiPdnAov. ei yap & Aéyovat zoAdoi
\ ~ / ¢ > aA / ]
mept TOV Backawvopevwy ws adnbA TiPewev, odK
> a / ¢ \ / A > / ”
ayvoets dijoulev ott Kal didous Kai oikelous, Evior
\ \ / ” > \ 4 ¢
d€ Kal matépas eyew df0adpmov BacKavov trodap-
\ a -
Bdvovow, wote pr) Seuxvivar Tas yvvaikas avtois
Ta Tatdia nde ToAdY €av ypdvov Ur0 THY TOLOUTwWY
cal /
KkataPrérecbar mas odv Et 5d£er POdvov To mabos
s / > s A ~ A / > aA A ~ e
elvat; tid’, @ mpos Tod Aids, epets wept THY Eav-
\ A a _>
tovs KataBacKaivew Aeyouevwv; Kal yap TovT
~ Pes
aknkoas: ei S€ wy, TaVTWS TAadT avéeyvwKas’


1 «i xwodo. Meziriacus: éxeivous 6.
2 adras Vulcobius, Reiske.





@ Here again, a device comparable to iv. 2, 664 p: “Ido
4.26


TABLE-TALK V. 7, 681-682


that they should have an effect on the persons who
encounter their gaze. The bite of dogs too is more
dangerous when they are angry ; and it is said that
in human beings the sperm is more likely to lay hold
and cause conception when union is accompanied by
love. In general, the emotions of the mind increase
the Violence, and energy of the body's powers. What
I have said shows why the so-called amulets are
thought to be a protection against malice. The
strange look of them attracts the gaze, so that it
exerts less pressure upon its victim. Count this,
Florus, as my contribution toward the expense of the
entertainment.” @

4. “* Very well,” Soclarus replied, “ if and when we
accept it as good coin, for I detect something counter-
feit in the argument. If we do set down as true what
many say about victims of the evil eye, surely you
are not ignorant that some people believe that
friends and relatives, and in some cases even fathers,
have the evil eye, so that their wives will not show
them their children nor allow the children to be
gazed upon by them for very long.?- How under those
circumstances can we still believe that this affliction
derives from envy ? And in Heaven’s name what will
you say about those who are alleged to bewitch them-
selves ? You must have heard of that. If not, at any
rate you have read these lines ° :


not wish to make you pay for the truffles ” ; and to iv. 4, 668
p: *‘this is my contribution to you and the fishmongers.”
See also iii. 1. 2, 646 kr.

» Compare the Polish father who blinded himself to pro-
tect his children against his evil eye, and other examples from
Ireland, Naples, and Egypt in Hncyc. Brit., lith ed., s.v.
** Evil Eye,” pp. 21 f.

¢ Euphorion, frag. 175 (Powell, Collectanea Alexandrina),


427


(682)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


KaAat ev mor eoav, kadai’ doBar Edredibao-

arn’ adtov® Backatvev® dav dAodadios avip

divn €v moTapod*: tov S° abrixa vodaos deiKys—
6 yap EdreAidas Aéyerar, Kadds éav7d paveis Kai
TaQuv tu” mpos THY oyw, €x To’ToV voojoa Kal
Thv eveEiav peta THS Wpas amoBaXeiv. aAXN dpa
TOs exes evpynatAoyias mpdos Tas TovatTas aTo-

”?
las.

5. “"AdAws pev,” ednv,® “ od’ wad’ ixavds- zi-
vwv 8 ws opds €x THs THALKavTynS KUALKOS, odK
atoAuws Aéyw didtt Ta pev aby mavTa, Tats
uvyais €upeivavta moAvy ypdvov, ees evepyalerau
movnpas’ atta 6, otav icxdv dicews AdBwow,
bo THs Tvxovans Kivovpevat mpodadcews, moA-
AdKis Kal Gkovtas emi TA olkeia Kal cuvyby KaTa-
dépovar 7a0n. oKdmer dé Tods SetAods Ott Kal TA
cwlovta poBodvrar, Kai Tods opytAous OTL Kal Tots
diAratois dvoKkoAaivovat, Kai Tovs epwrikods Kal
axoAdotous 6T. TeAeuT@vTes odde THY Aywwratwv
améxeo0ar Stvavtar cwudTwv. 1 yap ovviGea
dew) pos TO oiKelov eEdyew THY didBeow, Kai Tov
axpoodar@s exovta dot mpoontaiew avayKn Tots
tmomintovow. wor ovK aéiov Bavydlew tods
tiv P0ovntiuxny Kat BackayTiKny arreipyacpEevous
ev éautois fw, ei Kal mpos TA Oiketa KATA THY TOO
md0ovus iSiotnTa KwodvTa: Kwovpevor 8’ ovTws 6
mepvkacw ody 6 BovAovra mowtow. ws yap 7


1 xadai Meineke, Emperius: xal.

2 So Xylander: adrov.

3 So Turnebus: Bacxaivew.

divn €v worapod Xylander, dwyevrse pow Reiske, devivr’ ev
moran Powell: duwjevre torape.

4.28


4





TABLE-TALK V. 7, 682


_ Fair once were, fair indeed the tresses of Eutelidas ;
But he cast an evil spell on himself, that baneful man,
Beholding self in river’s eddy; and straight the fell di-
wr ‘ sease...


The legend is that Eutelidas, beautiful in his own
estimation, being affected by what he saw, fell sick
and lost his beauty with his health. See if you have
the ingenuity to account for extraordinary phenomena
like that.”

~ 5. “ Well,” I replied, “I haven’t enough other-
wise ; but since I’m drinking out of this big cup, as
you see, I have the boldness to say that all emotions,
after having been a long time in the mind, produce
evil conditions. These evil conditions, when. they
acquire the force of second nature, will under any
chance stimulus cause a relapse, even against the
person’s will, into the habitual and familiar emotion.
Consider how the cowardly are afraid even of things
that would save their lives, and how the irascible are
peevish towards even their dearest friends, and how
the lustful and licentious end by being unable to
refrain from assaulting the most sacred persons.
Habit is powerful to influence disposition according
to a set pattern, and it is inevitable that a man prone
to lapse will trip over every temptation that falls in
his way. Accordingly there is no reason for surprise
if those who have brought themselves into a state of
envy and malignity are activated even against their
near and dear as befits their special pathological
condition. In these circumstances they are acting as
their nature but not as their will directs. As a





5 zabdv rt Basel edition: adv r(?) T, maBovre E.
6 So Vulcobius, Xylander: €y.
7 od Wyttenbach: xai.


429


(682)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


a a ~ \ ~ ¢
odaipa Kwetobar odhaipixds Kal KvdAwdpiKds o
\ lo
KUAwSpos avayKaleTar KaTa THY TOO oXHmaTOS
/ ” ae \ € ,

diapopdv, ovtTws tov’ dbovepov 7 Sidbeors hOo-
VNTLK@S mpos amavTa Kiel. ov pHv GAAa Kal
KataPAérew* eikds €oTw avtovs Ta olketa Kal
tofovpeva paAdov: 610 Kai BAdmrovar paAdov.

“*O d€ BéAtiotos EtreAidas* Kat door A€yovrar
KataBacKaivew €avtodvs ovK aAdyws Lor SoKovat
TovTo macxew. oadhadrepov yap 7 én’ aKkpov evetia
KaTO, TOV ‘Inroxparny, Kal TQ odpara mpoed-
Bovra HHeXpt THS akpas aK pais odx coTn Kev, GAN
pérer Kal tadavreveTat mpos Towvavrioy: Oray obv
eridoow alpdoav AdBwor Kat* BéAtiov 7 mpoce-
ddKwv ExovTas €avTods emiPrerwow, worte Favpd-
Cew Kal KatacKkoTetvy TO o@ua, THs petaPoAs
eyyus €or Kal Pepopevot Tats E€eou mpos TO yEtpov
€autovs doxote. KataPacKaiverv. TtovTo be yiy-

~ > \ ~ \ A ” +

vetat paAAov amo THv mpos Vdaow 7 TLaw aAdous
€oOMTpos UPLoTAapEevwv pEevpaTwv' avamver yap
>> > \ \ CoA ¢ on ef ef ”
em avtovs Tovs op@vtTas, wal’ ois érépous eBAar-
Tov, avTovs KaKkotaba. Todto 6’ tows Kal Tepl Ta.
Taia yuyvopevov KatayeddeTat modAdKis TV
aitiay TOY evopwvTwr.

6. "Euot d€ wavoapevov, Tdis 6 Dddpov

“ a be A , ” » “ec is / r

yapuBpos, t&v dé Anpoxpitov,” edn, “ eiddAwv,
womep Aiyiewv 7 Meyapewv, apiOuos oddeis odde


1 otrw after tov deleted by Reiske.

2 So Wyttenbach: xataBAdrrew E, xaraBA(a)n(r)ew T with
erasures. E lacks the last clause 6x0 . . . wa@AAov.

3 6 before xai deleted by Meziriacus.

4 «ai added by Turnebus, Vulcobius.

5 Soxodcr added by Xylander, Wyttenbach.


430


—





TABLE-TALK V. 7, 682


sphere by its distinctive shape is forced to roll like a
sphere, and a cylinder like a cylinder, so a man whose
disposition is envious has to act in an envious manner
in all things. Besides, it is natural for him to cast his
gaze oftener on those near and dear to him and
consequently to hurt them more than he does others.
_ “To my mind it seems reasonable enough that the
excellent Eutelidas and all others who are said to
have cast a spell on themselves should have encoun-
tered such a misfortune. For supreme good health is,
according to Hippocrates, precarious. When the
body reaches the pinnacle of health, it does not
remain there, but wavers and sinks towards the oppo-
site condition. Therefore, when people experience a
complete improvement in health and find themselves
better off than they had expected, they marvel and
look closely at themselves; but actually they are now
near a reversal, and when their condition takes a sud-
den turn for the worse, they are thought to have put
themselves under a spell. Self-bewitchment is most
frequently brought about by the streams of particles
reflected from sheets of water or other mirror-like
surfaces; these reflections rise like vapour and
return to the beholder, so that he is himself injured
by the same means by which he has been injuring
others. And perhaps when this happens in the case
of children, the blame is often wrongly fastened upon
those who gaze at them.”

6. When I had finished, Florus’s son-in-law Gaius
asked, “‘ What, do we completely despise and leave
out of account the simulacra or shapes of Democritus,”
as the oracle of old left out the people of Aegium or


@ Aphorisms, i. 3; and Celsus, ii. 2.
>’ Democritus, A 77 (Diels).


431


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(682) Adyos; a dnow exeivos e€vévar tods POovodivras,
683 ot7’ aicbjcews dpuoipa tavtaracw ov dépyts,
dvdmhed TE THS amo TOV Tpoteuevwv poxOnpias
Kal Backavias, pel? iis eum acoopeva Kal Tapa
pevovra. Kal ovvoikobvra. Tots Backawopevors €ml-
Tapatrew Kal Kaxobv abt@v TO TE GMa Kal T7V
diavorav: oUTwWs yap olwal ws Tov avdpa TH doen,
TH O€ A€Een Satpovics Aéyew Kai peyahompen ds.’
Ildvy pev ovv,” ednv, “ ddd Gavpace, 7s
edabov bpds ovdev dAAo TOV pevpdroy TOUTUN 7)
To euisvxyov adeAw@y Kal mpoaipeTiKov: Wa ph pe
ddEnTe TOppw vuKTav ovow' bpiv endyovta ddo-
patra Kat €lowda memvupeva Kal dpovotvTa jop-
B podvtrrecbar Kal duatapatrew. Ewlev obv, éav
doxh, wept TovTwY oKepodpela.?


IIPOBAHMA H


Aca ti tiv pndréav “ dyAadKapmov”’ 6 oy eke elzev, “EumedoxAjs
S “‘ drépdrova”” * ra wh


Collocuntur Trypho, Plutarchus, grammatici, Lamprias avus

¢ / e ~ > > / \

Eotiwpévwv yudv mor €v Xatpwveia Kat

mapareeions mavrodamis ommpas, ennAGe Tt TOV
KaTakeyrevon avapbéyEacbar Tov atixov eKelvov
C ouxéat Te yAvKepal Kal pndceat ayAacKaprrot


1 So Reiske: odcdv.
2 So Basel edition: depdua.





@ This is proverbial (Leutsch und Schneidewin, Paroe-
miogr. Graec. i, p. 19), based on an oracle delivered either to
Megara or to Aegium, informing them that they were no-
where in the reckoning. Aegium is a city of Achaia on the


432








aE ~ aM cce pani


TABLE-TALK YV. 7-8, 682-683


Megara ?* Democritus says that these simulacra are
emanations emitted not altogether unconsciously or
unintentionally by the malevolent, and are charged
with their wickedness and envy. According to him,
these simulacra with their burden of evil, adhering to
their victims and in fact permanently lodged i in them,
confound and injure both their bodies and their
minds. So, I believe, runs his text and his intention,
expressed i in language both lofty and inspired.”

~T answered, “ Quite true, but I wonder how it
escaped you that the only things that I denied to the
emanations were life and free will. Don’t think that
I-want to make your flesh creep and throw you into
a panic late at night like this by bringing on sentient,
purposeful shapes and apparitions. Let's talk about
such things in the morning, if you like.” ®


QUESTION 8


naa Slave speaks of the apple tree as ‘ * splendid in its
fruit ’ and Empedocles calls apples hyperphloia


Speakers : Tryphon, Plutarch, scholars, Grandfather
ua Lamprias


a _ Once when we were banqueting at Chaeronea,
autumn fruit of every sort had been set before us, and
it occurred to one of the company to recite that
famous line,’


Both sweet fig trees and apple trees splendid in their fruit,


seeitiet Gulf. (See Parke and Wormell, Delphic Oracle,
ii,
Py Te such scholars as Hubert and Hartman this last state-
ment would seem more appropriate if placed next to the
rhewmata associated with mirrors on the preceding page.

¢ A combination of parts of Odyssey, vii, lines 115 and 116.


433


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(683) kat “‘ €Aata tyAcBdwoar.”’ Larnors odbv Fv, Sa
ti Tas pndéas 6 mrountns “‘ ayAaoKdpmovs”’ eé&-
aupeTws mpoceirev. Kal Tpidwv pev 6 latpos é-
Aeye Kata THY mpds TO d€vdpov cippobar avyxKpLow,
OTL [LLKPOV OV KOMLOH Kal THY Ow edTEAes KaAdv
Kal péyav expéper Tov Kapmov. dAdos dé tis edn
TO KaAov €x mdavTwy ovvTebev’ povw TovTwW TeV
aKpodpiwy opav imdpxov: Kal yap THv yadow exer
Kabapiov,” wore py) poddvew GAN edwdias ava-
muyTAdvar TOV amTOMEvoV, Kal THY yedouw Odetar,
oogpaivecbat te Kat ideiv émitepméotarov €ott:

D 610 Kai mdcas uot Tt Tas aicbjces tpocayopevov
elkoTws emrawetobat. :
2. Taira pev odv edapev teis pretpiws éye-
aba: Tob 8 ’Epredoxdéous eipnxdtos


ovvekev oyiyovoi Te aidat Kai dréphAowa pHAa,


TO pev TOV aidadv emiferov voeiv ott Tod POwo-
mapov Ajyovtos 75n Kal TOY KavEdTwY pwapaLvo-
Levey exrréttovat Tov Kapiov: adobevh yap adtav
THhv vypoTnTa Kal yAioxpay otcav ovK eG AaPeiv
avoTacw 6 HALos, av pn petaBadrAew 6 ap emi TO
ysuxpoTepov apxynrat: 10 Kal povov Todtd dynow
®eddpactos 76 dévdpov ev TH oxid BéeAtiov exreér-
Tel TOV Kap7oVv Kal Taxiov. Ta d¢ pda Kal?
7 , ¢ A 1 ” /
nvtTwa dudvo.av 6 aodgos “ diréppAova ”’ mpocerpyKor,
E dcarropeiv, Kai pddvora Tod avdpos od KaAAvypadias
Eveka, Tois evTpoowmoTaTols THY emibéTwv, WomTeEp


1 So Turnebus: ovvribévra.
2 So Reiske: xadazep iov.





* These words are found in Odyssey, vii. 116.
4.3.4








TABLE-TALK V. 8, 683


adding the words % “ flourishing olive trees.”’ This
made us wonder why Homer singled out the apple tree
as bearing splendid fruit. Tryphon,? the physician,
said that this expression was intended to contrast
the fruit with the tree, which, though indeed quite
small and insignificant in appearance, produces fine,
big fruit. Someone else rejoined that, so far as he
could see, no other fruit unites the fine qualities of
all fruits as does the apple. For one thing, its skin
is so clean when you touch it that instead of staining
the hands it perfumes them. Its taste is sweet and
it is extremely delightful both to smell and to look at.
Thus, by charming all our senses at once, it deserves
the praise that it receives.

2. I remarked that this was a fair statement ; but
that I was puzzled by a line of Empedocles,°


Because late-grown pomegranates and succulent apples.


The epithet that he applies to pomegranates is clear :
it signifies that they ripen when the late harvest
season is coming to an end and the heat is becoming
less intense. The hot sun will not allow the weak
and meagre sap of the pomegranate to develop to a
proper consistency until the air begins to change and
grow cooler. Thatis why, according to Theophrastus,?
this is the only tree that allows its fruit to mature
better and more quickly in the shade. But what
puzzled me, I confessed, was what the philosopher
meant by calling apples ‘“ succulent ” (hyperphloia) ;
especially since he was not in the habit of tricking
out facts for the sake of elegant writing by using


» Trypho(n) is one of the speakers above in Table-Talk, iii.
1 and 2.
¢ Fragment 80 (Diels).
@ Apparently not in Theophrastus.
435


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(683) avOnpois XpoOpaoe, | TO mpdypara yavoodv eiwhdtos,
GAN’ EKAOTOV ovoias Twos 4) duvdpews dj Awpa
ToLoovTos, otov “ dpupiBpornv yOova”’ to TH oxy
TEpuceipwevov o@pma, Kat “ vegednyeperny ’ "Tov
aépa Kal mohvaiparov ” ro hrap.

3. Eimévtos obv e100 TA0TA, ypapparucol TWES
epacay c drepproua ”’ Ner’eyGai TO, pia Sia TV
GK ENV" TO yap dyav dcp. lew Kal TeOndevar
“ dddvew ”” b70 TOV ToUNTav déyeoBar. Kat Tov
“Avripaxov ovTw mws “‘ ddciovaar” Omdpars

F eipnKevan THY Tov Kadpciwv méAw: dpoiws tov
"Apatov émi Tod Lewpiov A€yovra


Kal TA Lev Eeppwoev, TaV® de dAdov WAece TaVTA


\ / \ \ » ~ ~ ce / >?
THv xAwpoTnTa Kat TO avlos Tav KaprOv prcov |
mpooayopevew" eivat O€ Kai TOV ‘EMgvev Twas,
ot DAciw Awordow Ovovaw. émrel TOWVUV pddora
TOV. KapTav oy yAwpdrns Kat TO TeOn evar TO
pnrw TOAPApLEver, “ Sépddowov’”’ adrd tov dudd-
codpov mpocayopeboat,

684 Aapmpias & 6 manos Tp@v kz) rips: ‘ darep ”’
pwvnv ov jovov TO dyov Kal TO opodpov. dnrody,
aAAa Kai To e€wlev Kai TO avwhev: ottw yap
Gt, & / +) a ee 4 ~ »? a ¢ A \ \

park and Kat “‘ drep@ov"’ Kadreiv ids, Tov be


c


1 +H buyq Turnebus: tiv pvy7
2 So Hubert, ¢Aoiovoay previots editors : ¢dovaay (at
735 D pAzibbuay). 3 So Salmasius, cf. Aratus : Tov.
4 So Basel edition: zpocayopevav.


* Fragments 148-150 (Diels).

» Or according to the variant reading phloiein, “ to swell.”

¢ Thebes. Antimachus, born ¢. 444 3B.c., wrote an epic
Thebaid, of which this is Fragment 40 (Wyss, Antimachus) or
Fragment 36, Epic. Graec, Frag. (Kinkel).


436











TABLE-TALK V. 8, 683-684


_ grandiose epithets, “as if he were laying on gaudy


colours, but in every case aimed at simple description
of an essential fact or property. For instance, he

ies * the expression “earth that envelops a
mortal ’’ to the body that clothes us, and “ cloud-
gatherer ” to the air, and “ rich in blood ”’ to the liver.
_ 8. When I finished, some scholars who were present
said that the apples were described as ‘‘ succulent ”’
(hyperphloia) because they were at their prime. For
the poets use the term “ to bubble” (phlyein)® to
mean “ be at the height and flourish.” Antimachus
also, they argued, in very much the same way, de-
seribed the city of the Cadmeians® as “teeming with
fruit ” (phleiousan).. Likewise Aratus,¢ speaking of
Sirius in the line,


To some he gives strength but of others he blights the bark
(phloon) utterly,


was calling the freshness and bloom of fruit “ bark ”

hloos). ‘Then, the argument went on, there are some
jreeks * who sacrifice to Dionysus Phleios. There-
fore, since apples more than any other fruit retain
their freshness and bloom, the philosopher called them
hyperphloia (“‘ abnormally luxuriant ”’).

But my grandfather Lamprias said that hyper meant
not merely “‘ excessively ” or “ violently ”’ but also
“outside ” or “on top.” In this way we use the
expression hyperthyron (‘‘ over the door ”’) for “ lintel,”
and hyperéon for “upper story.” Homer has the


| a Ili tianialpiicr: 335. The translation is that of G. R. Mair


CL).
Ga cally, those of Priené, Erythrae, Ephesus. See
Wilamowitz, Glaube der Hellenen, ii, p. 373, note 1. See also
Farnell’s Cults of the Greek States, v, pp. 118 ff., 281 ff., note
11, where the reading Phloios instead of Phleios is adopted,
437


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ Ns I< / ” 4. 2. a ¢ /
(684) zrountnv Kau “ Kp€ varéptepa’’ ta EEw TOD Lepeiov,
w@omep “‘éyKata’”’ ta evtds. “‘ dpa towuv,” én,
\ ~ ~ “
‘wn mpos todTo wGAdov 6 ’EpmedoxdAs wemoinxe
TO emiGetov, 61, THV GAAwv Kapra@v TO eEwhev bd
Tod PAowd Teprexoevwv Kal Ta Kadovpeva Aerv-
\ Xr / \ ¢ / \ Xr \ > A
xava Kat KeAvdn Kat devas Kat AoBods émumoAjs
ExovTwV, 6 TOD pyjAov rows evTds eat. KOAAWSNS
B yitwv Kat Aurapds, & mpocicyetat TO oméppa* TO
> ~
& edadyov, Ewbev adt@ Tepixeipevov, eikoTws
‘ brephAoiov’ wvdpaorat.’”*


IIPOBAHMA ©
Tis 7° airla, 80 fv 4 ovKa Spyutrarov obca Sévdpov
yAukiratov mapéxet TOV KaprroV


Collocuntur Lamprias avus, alii


Mera de tadta mepi TOV avKwv SinropyOy, Ti
SyoTe tiwy Kal yAuvKds ovTws Kapmos amo Sév-
dpov dvetar miKpoTdtou: THs yap ovKAs Kal TO
pvArov dia THY TpaydtynTa Opiov wWvdpacrar, Kal
To EvAov o7@des oti, Wore KaLdpevov pev eKdt-

C ddvar Spydratov Kamvov Kataxaviev® dé thy eK
Ths Téppas Koviay pumTiKwrdtyy mapéyew 70
Spyvtntos. 6 & éoti Pavpaowrtatov, avOovvtwr
andvtwy doa BeBAdotynKe kal Kapmroyovel, ovov
avavés €oTt TO THS ouKAs puTov: <i 8’, ws daow,
od KepavvodvTat, Kal Todr dv tis avalein TH
miuKpOTHTL Kal Kayekia Too oTeA€yous: THY yap
TovovTwy od doKxotow émifiyyavew ot Kepavvoi,
1 So Turnebus: dvopdoba. 2 4 added in Aldine edition.

3 So Turnebus: xaraxav6eicav.
@ See, e.g., Odyssey, iii. 65. > See, e.g., Jliad, xi. 176.
438











TABLE-TALK V. 8-9, 684
expression kre’ hypertera ® (‘‘ outside pieces ’’) in speak-


ing of the sacrificial animal, just as he uses enkata®
(“ inwards *’) for the inside pieces. ‘‘ So,’ he went
on, “ consider whether Empedocles did not employ
the term rather with this intention: whereas other
fruits are encased by a phloios (‘husk’) on the outside
(that is, they have what is called a rind, pod, capsule,
or shell on the surface), apples have their phloios
inside as a shiny, glutinous coat to which the seed is
attached, so that the edible part surrounding all this
on the outside is with good reason called hyperphloion
(‘ outside the rind ’).”


QUESTION 9


Why the fig tree though extremely bitter produces
extremely sweet fruit


Speakers: Grandfather Lamprias and others


Next the question was raised why so mellow and
sweet a fruit as the fig grows on the bitterest of trees.
The leaf of this tree is even called from its roughness
thrion °; the wood is full of an acid sap and produces
a very acrid smoke when burned,’ and the powder
derived from its ash is most detergent because of its
causticity. But what is most astonishing is that,
though all plants bud and produce fruit, the fig alone
is without flowers. If, as they say, a fig is never
struck by lightning, this too could be attributed to
the bitterness and poorness of its trunk. For it is
held that lightning never strikes objects of that


¢ Thrion and trachys (‘‘ rough’) are here evidently con”
sidered te.

4 The bitterness of the tree is again pointed out at Table-
Talk, vi. 10, 696 F ff. below.


439


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Kabdrep odd€ THs PaoKns Tob Sépparos oddé Tis
enV
daivns.

‘YrodaBwv obv 6 apecBirns ep, o Goov av. evy.
TO puT@ yAvdrntos, amav TodTo ovvOiBopevov
Els TOV KapTrov EiKOTWS Spd TroLEety”? Kal AKpaToOV TO

D Aeirépevov: worep yap TO Amap, els Eva TOmov Tod
yoAddous amroxpilévtos, adto yiyverar yAvKtrartor,
OUTW THY GUKIV eis TO COKOV amav TO AvTapoy Kal
vooTysov advetcav adTnVv apotpov elvar yAUvKUTYTOS.

“€mel, OTL ye peTexer Twos evyvpias tO EvAov,
exelv’,” edn, “‘ movodpuar onueiov, 6 A€yovaw ot
Kntovpot: Aéyovat b€ Tob mnydvov TO dudmevov
bm av’TH Kal mapaduTevdpevov Hdiov elvar Kal TO
xuu@ padakwdtepov, ws av amoAatev* twos yAv-
KUTnTOS, 7 KatacBevvuTa To dyav Bapd Kal
KaTadKopov, ef py v7 Aia todvavtiov 1% ovKi


TEpioT@aa THVv Tpopiy e€arpet Tu” THS SpywdTyTos.”’


ITPOBAHMA I


ce ~ ”
KE Twves of wepi GAa Kai Kvapor®: &v & Kal 1a ri Tov GAa ““Betov
6 mownTys elmev


Collocuntur Florus, Apollophanes, Plutarchus, Philinus


~ ~ >
’"Elnres DADpos, EoTtiwpévwv Hu@v map ad-
A , BY t 6c ie \ K LN , 296 2 a
TH, Tives av elev “ot epi dda Kal Kvapov’’® ev TH


1 6cov av evn added by Bernardakis, cf. Psellus, De Omni-
faria Doctrina, 152.

2 So Turnebus: rove. 3 So Vulecobius: édnv.

4 dy azodadev Vulcobius: dvaraddv.

5 7 Meziriacus: 70.

6 So Vulcobius : xvptvov “ cumminseed.”


4.4.0





TABLE-TALK V. 9-10, 684
description, just as it never strikes sealskins or hyena
ts.2


_ The old gentleman, however, countered that since
whatever sweetness is in the plant is concentrated |
entirely in the fruit, it naturally leaves the rest bitter
and undiluted. As the liver itself is sweet to the
taste when the bile has been drawn off into its proper
place, so the fig tree, discharging all its oily and
succulent matter into the fruit, is itself robbed of all
sweetness. “ For,” he said, “ I base my belief that
ie wood partakes of some latent sweetness on what
the gardeners say about rue. According to them,
rue has a sweeter and milder taste if it grows under
or is planted ° beside a fig tree, as if it derived from
that a certain sweetness that counteracts its strong,
heavy flavour ;—unless, on the contrary, bless my
soul, the fig reduces the bitterness by drawing off the
nourishment in the soil.”


seme QUESTION 10


Who “ salt and bean friends ” are; and, incidentally,
Ji aR why Homer calls salt divine


| 4 Speakers: Florus, Apollophanes, Plutarch, Philinus


1. Durine a dinner given us by Florus, he asked who
are meant by “ salt and bean friends ” ¢ in the pro-


@ For the relation between lightning and biology ¢f. above,
iv. 2, 664 c.
> Or “ grafted"? Of. Pseudo-Aristotle; Problems, 924 b
35 ff. See also Theophrastus, De Causis Plant. v. 6. 10 and
Dioscorides, iii. 45. 1.
/¢ See above, iv. 1, 663 r, and Paroemiogr. Graec. i, pp. 8
and 188, where the explanation is offered that priestly hospi-
tality to consultants of oracles consisted of salt and beans.
Compare the different proverb on salt, ibid. p. 24, no. 62.
441





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(684) zapouria Aeyopevor. Kal TooTo pev €x mpoyeipov
di€Avoev *“Amroddodavns 6 ypappatiKos: ““ of yap
ovTw avv7Oes,” edn, “ THv dirlwv, Wore Kal pds

F dda Seirveiv’ Kal Kvapov,? td THs mapousias
mpoBdArovra.” thv d€ TOV GAD Tiny ad’ drov
yevoito Sinmopotpwev, “Opjpov pev avtuxpus Aeé-
YovTos"

macoe & adds Geiouo,


TIA / dbe° ~ SA ~ ~ \ / > 0 ,
atwvos Se° tav dAdv oGua Kata vopov avOpu-
mwv Geodidrdoratov* elvar ddoKxovtos: emétewe de
\ > /
Thv amropiayv To Tovs Aiyumtious iepéas ayvevdovras”
améyeoOar TO mautav GA@v, wore Kal TOV apTov
+ / ~ / > \ 4
avadov mpoodéepecbar: Hs yap, et Yeodires Kai
Geiov, adwoiwaavo ;°
2. DrABpos pev obv dv exédeve Tods Aiyurriovs,
685 ‘EAAnuioti 8 adrods eimety te mpos TO dbroKei-
> \ oT OM 2O\ \ > / 4
pevov. eyw d ednv odde tos Atyumtious paye-
aba tois “EXAnow: ai yap ayvetar Kai tradorrotiav
\ aN \ Z \ AAG ~ LAA 3 ¢/
Kal yeAwTa Kal olvov Kai moAda Tav GAAws akiwv
onl 2 ~ \ dated 4 A ¢ ; ee |
omovons abaipotor: tovs 5 aAas Taya pev ws Eri
cuvovalay ayovtas bo Depudrntos, ws evior Aé-
\
yovat, dudAdtrovrar KabapevovTes: eikos de Kal Ws
” Ld a 5 / \ ¢ aA
oxov HdvaTov mapaitetobas: Kwwduvedovar yap ot aAEs
1 guvdecrveiv Reiske, Hubert.
2 So Vulcobius: «xvpcvov “cumminseed.”
3 §¢ ro Meziriacus. 4 Geodires Plato, Timaeus, 60 E.


5 So Wyttenbach: dyvods dvras.
& So Reiske: ddwoiwoar.





@ Totake potluck : either to take a meal of salt and a bean
or to take a meal that costs only the value of salt and a bean.
Cheapness is connoted by the phrase zpos dda (“* for the price
of salt’) in Menander, 805 (Kérte), according to Zenobius


442


i


TABLE-TALK V. 10, 684-685


verb. The scholar Apollophanes had a ready answer
for this, saying, ‘‘ The proverb refers to friends who
are so close to us as to be content to dine with us on
salt and a bean.” * Then we raised the question why
salt is so highly esteemed.’ For Homer goes so far
as to say,

He sprinkled with salt divine, ¢


and Plato? says that by the custom of mankind salt
is regarded as of all substances the one most favoured
by the gods. The question was complicated by the
fact that the Egyptian priests made it a point of
religion to abstain completely from salt,’ even eating
their bread unsalted ; how, if it is god-favoured and
divine, did they come to avoid its use on religious
grounds ?

2. Florus then told us to leave the Egyptians out
of it, and to find a good Greek answer to our own
question. But I said that actually the Egyptians
were not here in conflict with the Greeks. Strict
religious observances prohibit, at certain times, pro-
creation, laughter, wine, and many other things which
usually deserve approval. So perhaps the Egyptians
from motives of purity avoid salt on account of the
aphrodisiac properties sometimes attributed to it
because of its heat. But it is just as probable that
they protest against salt because it is delicious as a


and Diogenianus, who give us this fragment, and Pollux,


among others cited by Korte.
. We above, iv. 4. 3, 668 & ff. ¢ Iliad, ix. 214.
4 Timaeus, 60 x, but Plato uses only the positive degree :


“a god-favoured substance.”

* Of. below, viii. 8. 2, 729 a, and De Iside, 352 r (LCL
Mor. v). These passages speak of the priests only “ during
their periods of holy living.”

t Cf. below, 697 B and above, 651 B.


4.43


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(685) TOV dAXwv oxpoov dysov elvar Kal Tpvopa., S10 Kal
‘ xdpuras ” vot mpooayopevovow abtous, Tt THs
pees TO dvayKatov 950 Trovobaw.
‘“*Ap obv,” 6 DABpos EpN, “81a todTo
B dees eipfoBat Tov dda d@pev;”” “ eort pev 87,”
elrov," BS ovde Toor’ eddxvoTov. ot Yep Appia
Ta KOUWG Kal Sunkovra Tats Xpetaus emi TO ametorov
exDevalovow, as TO vowp, TO POs, Tas wpas:
tiHv O€ vay od povov Oeiov, adda kal Beov drodap-
Bavovow: dv oddevos Nebrerat xXpeta TO Tov dda,
OpiyKapa Tis. Tpopis yLyvepLevov eis TO o@pa”
Kal Tape Xov evappooriav avril mpos THY opetw.
“Od pv adda Kal OKOTEL, ta) Kaxeivo Oeiov
avTa@ ovpBeBnxev, OTL Tay OWULATWV Ta veKpa
Svarnpooy donmra Kal povysa. mroAby xXpovov avTi-
TATTETOL t@ Oavatw Kal ovK €G mavredas efore-
C ofa Kai adanabivar TO Byrd: aAX’ womep 7
puts Oevorarov oboa Trav MLETEPW, Ta Coa
ouveye Kal peiv ovK €@ TOV OyKoV, ovTws TOV
addy pars Ta VEKpa apaAapuBdvovoa Kal pupov-
pevn TO TAS yuxis Epyov dvridapBaverau epo-
peveov emt THY POopav Kal Kpatet: Kal t lornow,
dppoviay Tapexovoa kal giriay pos adAnda tots
Hépeat. 510 Kat Tov Utwikav evior tHv bv* odpKa
vexpav” ‘yeyovevat Aéyovot, Tijs puyis, worep
dAdy, TapEeaTrappev7)s orep Tod Srapevew. opas
8° ote al TO Kepavviov Top tepov hyovpeba Kal
Ociov, ore Ta, ompata TOV SioBAnrov a donnra Tpos
rods avTéyovta ypovov op@puev. Ti ovv GBav-


. a) elmov Xylander: Setzvor.
2 eis TO o@pa] evaTouig Kronenberg. 3 xparvvet Hubert.
4 So Xylander: viv. ° So Doehner, ef. 669 a: xpéa.


4.44:





TABLE-TALK V. 10, 685


seasoning, for salt is very nearly a seasoning and con-
diment to other seasoning ; some even call it charites ©
(joys), because it makes needful food enjoyable.

~3. “Shall we say then,” asked Florus, “‘ that this
is a reason why salt has been termed divine ?”
“Indeed it is,” I answered, ‘‘ and not the least
important one, either. For men consider divine the
common things which most complétely supply their
practical needs, like water, light, and the seasons,
and they conceive of the earth as not merely ‘ divine ’
but as actually a goddess. Salt is inferior to none of
these in usefulness. It serves as a kind of finishing
touch or coping to the meal for the body, and adapts
the food to our appetite.

“ Consider also whether this other property of salt
is not divine too : preserving bodies uncorrupted for
a long time, it is the opponent of death, and does not
allow the dead to decay completely and vanish. As
the soul, our most divine element, preserves life by

venting dissolution of the body, just so salt, when

es are laid in it, closely parallel in its effect,
intervenes, controls and checks the process of de-
cay, by harmonizing and reconciling the constituent
parts.* That is why some of the Stoics say that the
sow at birth is dead flesh,’? but that the soul is im-
planted in it later, like salt, to preserve it. You
observe also that we consider the fire of lightning as
sacred and divine because we find the bodies of those
struck by it preserved for a long time against decay.°


® Macrobius (Saturnalia, vii. 12. 3 ff.) rephrases the


b Von Arnim, Stoic. Vet. Frag. i. 516; ii. 722, 723 and
1154. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 207, and Chrysippus in
Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 64. 160 with Pease’s note.

¢ Cf. above, iv. 2, 665 c.


445


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA
(685)


a / > A \ 1A \ b] A ” ~ 6 /
Pp Haerov, et Kal tov dda, THv adrnv exovra TH Oeiw
4 A
dvvayww tupt, Oeiov bréAaBov of madaol; ”’
4. Luwanoavtos 8’ euod, Dirivos troAaBay, “76
dé yovwov od doxet aor,’ &dn, “ Oetov elvar,
ow > Al fa \ / >) e r 7 >
eimep apxyn OYeos mavtwv;’’ opodoynoavtos 8
> ~ ce \ v4 39> » ce | “7\> > s\7 ‘
euod, “ Kat pny,” edn, “ Tov ad’ od« dAtyov pos
yeveow ovvepyelv olovtar, Kabdmep adtos euvijabns
a 2 > / e lon \ /
Tov’ Alyurtiwv. ot yotv tas Kvvas diAotpo-
pobvtes, OTav apyoTepar 7pds cuvovaciay dow, GA-
Aows Te Bpddpacw dduvpois Kal Tapiyevtots Kpéact
Kwovat Kal tapofvvovaw TO omeppatiKov adTav
novxalov. 7a 8 dAnya tAocia mARO0s exdver pvdv
4 e \ 4 / ~ ~ \
dmAerov, ws pev evior A€yovor, TOV Ondevdv Kal
, , A ’ \ ” , 3
E diya auvovaias Kvovody, dtav tov dda A|elywow
| \ ~ > a \ ¢ / a / 3
eixos d€ .GAAov eutroveiv THY GAuupida Tots popiots
dda€nopovs Kal ovveEoppav Ta C@a mpds Tovs ouv-
, ‘ s 2» \ , 4 ‘
dvacpovs. 61a TodTo 8 tows Kai KdAAos* yuvatkds
\ | fips > \ f gh > / > A /
TO pnt apyov pnt amiBavov, adda peuvypevov
XapiTe Kal KWyTLKOV, dAuupov Kai Spud Kadovow.
~ 4
olwat dé Kat THY “Adpoditny advyevh tods mounds
“A > ~ ,
mpocayopevery Kat pd0ov én’ adth memAacpevov
> A , per , > i PT ,
efeveyKeiv, ws amo Jaddoons éxovon® Thy yéveow,
~ ~ ‘ ‘
eis TO THY GAB yovipov aivitromevous. Kal yap
~ , 7
adtov tov Iloceddva* Kai dAws tods meAayious
/
F Geods modvtéxvous Kat mroAvydvous amodaivovaw-
~ ~ ~ “” A
avtav de Tav Cowv oddev av yepoaiov 7 mTHVOV
446


TABLE-TALK V. 10, 685


What wonder, then, that the ancients considered salt
to be divine also, since it has the same property as
the divine fire?”

4. When I stopped speaking, Philinus took up the
thread : “ Don’t you think that generation is divine,
since the beginning of anything is always a god? ”’
I said yes, and he went on: “ Well, people hold that
salt contributes not a little to generation, even as you
yourself have said in talking about the Egyptians.
Dog-fanciers, at any rate, whenever their dogs are
sluggish towards copulation stimulate and intensify
the seminal power dormant in the animals by feeding
them salty meat and other briny food. Ships carry-
ing salt breed an infinite number of rats, because,
according to some authorities, the females conceive
without coition by licking the salt. But it is more
likely that the saltiness imparts a sting to the sexual
members and serves to stimulate copulation. For
this reason, perhaps, womanly beauty is called
“salty ’ and ‘ piquant’ when it is not passive nor
unyielding, but has charm and provocativeness. I
imagine that the poets called Aphrodité “ born of
the brine ” and have spread the fiction of her origin
in the sea by way of alluding to the generative

roperty of salt. For they also represent Poseidon
himself and the sea gods in general as fertile and
prolific. Even among the animals you cannot find
one species of land or air that is so proliferous as are





1 So Amyot: dpye. 6 after it deleted by Hubert.
2 émi rav Reiske, Hartman:
3 So Leonicus : pvpiors.
4 xadjs Stegmann.
5 So Hubert: éyovons.
6 Ga before xai deleted by ‘Wyttenkach.
7 So Reiske, weAay:xods Basel edition: eAacyixods.


447


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA
(685) etzrety Eyous otTwW yovimov, ws mavTa Ta’ Baddrria:
mpos & Kat memoinkev 6 ’EumedoxdAfs:
dirov duovooy a&yovoa ToAvoTEpéwy Kapacjvwy.”
1 +a added by Faehse.


* Frag. 74 (Diels); agousa (leading) may refer perhaps to
Aphrodité.





448





TABLE-TALK V. 10, 685


all the creatures of the sea. This is the point of
_ Empedocles’s ¢ line :
4 Leading the mute tribe of fruitful ® fish.”


> The translation here is in accordance with Plutarch’s
i _ context, but elsewhere the word is applied to men and means
_ simply “ multitudinous.”


PALIN DOR alin RS IS ih NR RE NGI A LA ce aD Nel Al ARI ich MEDIA ALSS YR sn om ha.





b
_ *






et tak,
Arnhyt


Ak By san


°
ww 3
. =
er held Pi =
4 =
7 als ~
ni tga ie 2
~ ‘y
LH
+
5
-
-
<
-.
Hb Res, yi A aie


ee.’


cro. 4 . Gr 9 Ae
mpi tay ia Aaa


grit raVOGeLe Soy. jonepshole ch pine 4


BN T t HSS
ge EABLE-TALK 6)
AES PIONES CONVIVALES) ca


. Ta beet | ate wr? S sitet ’ hg i & sania


uyo ook ,ei%o al ta ; pag wv nak rat Se
5 ‘ei GUY AGS Anse





> ’ 7 +
LBW G Kies THAT aT Tue wethny oe
; ' 7
an . - 5
re” saHowIIe zit Yousioinis sosboud |
4 , : 5 a") + *
Petar aT A see TTI IO, SCorneed t
ee ~ th : ie y ¥
BERRI ANP KE +P. 20) GON, O'LaM. = ROO NERY
rae re _~— a} \ : é
VOTO T ox Sky Mnws Hess...


*
me
e Ve
j=
~
“whs
;
‘
2
"
4
"
‘
-
ew
2
’
yd
Gi
4


‘ oe j 4 4 . f cy ”
ie Ents mito iNT ADKOOt <os aegis ft
| ipisil> Avedon A>atadoraul of!

. omar Jt. aro 4 ak
r : “eh oD om ov, *
fetinebrs: by = 2 b aaa tal bth 6
aids Puy ty Tia in_- Site, Sots
ree sei oie
Daeg dpinil: ooo er gee
-, 4 z ih : i 2
J) 7 Soe REA NSE ve Berton: .
J . ?
Ss;


686 SYMIOSIAKON
BIBAION EKTON


Tiydbeov tov Kévwvos, & Xdcore Levexiwv,
ws ex TOV TodvTEAaY Kal oTpatnyiKdv’ Seimvwv
BavadaBwv o IlAdtwv deimucey ev “Axadnuia
A ‘ > Ad ce ~ > Av / ” 7
povoik@s Kal adeAds “‘ tats addreyyavtois,” as
ec mv ce / >) ud ‘
dynow o “lwyv, “ tpamélais,”’ ais tavor te Kabapoi
Kal Bpayvdverpor davtaciat, Tob awpatos evdiav
Kat yadAnvynv €xovtos,” Ezovrat, pel” yuepav® o
/ > / ~ ~ ” ‘ \
Tiobeos aicbopevos tis Suadopads edn tods Tapa
TAdrwu Seimvyjcavtas* Kai 7H botepaia Kadds
/ 6 / A e LA: Ad > / > 4
yiyvecBar. péeya yap ws adnfads ednpepias €pd-
duov evKpacia owpatos aBamtiorov Kai éAadpod
~ lod >
Kal TapeoT@Tos avuTomTws emi Taoav evepye.av.
GAN’ érepov odK EAatTov bmApyYEe TOUTO Tots Tapa
4 , ¢ ~ / A
C TAdtwr Seumvjcacw, 4 Tadv Aadnbévrwy mapa
¢ ~
motov avalewpnois: at pev yap Tav tobevTwr®
n” , 6 ¢ \ \ ee > ,
7) Bpwlérvtwr? jdovai thy avapvnow aveAedbepov
1 So Turnebus, cf. Athenaeus, 419 ¢, Aelian, Varia Hist. ii.
18: orpatiwr7iKav.
2 So Xylander: €yortes.
3 odv after juépav deleted by Bernardakis.
4 rois ... Secmvyjcac. Turnebus, Vulcobius. But ef. Athe-
naeus, 419 c.


5 zobévrwy Wyttenbach, xarazofévrwy Reiske: rofovvtwr.
8 7 Bpw0évrwy added by Doehner; cf. Xylander.


452





TABLE-TALK
BOOK SIX


Prato, dear Sossius Senecio, once got Timotheiis,* the
son of Conon,? away from the sumptuous officers’
messes he frequented, and entertained him at dinner
in the Academy with simplicity and respect for the
Muses. It was the sort of table that Ion? called
“unfevered,”’ ° a table that is followed by undis-
turbed sleep and only light dreams, because the body
is in a state of calm and tranquillity. In the morning
Timotheiis was conscious of the difference and ob-
served that Plato’s dinner guests felt well even on
the day after. It is truly a great contribution to our
health and happiness to have our bodies in a good
state of balance, not sodden with wine, but light and
ready unhesitatingly for any activity. Another and
not less valuable privilege guaranteed to Plato’s
guests was that of recalling afterwards what had been
said over the drinks. Remembering past delights in
food and drink is an ignoble kind of pleasure and one
* Both celebrated Athenian generals of the 5th and 4th
centuries B.c., whose lives are to be found in Nepos.
» Ion of Chios, historian and poet, c. 490-c. 421 B.c., ac-
uaintance of many of the prominent Athenians of the period.
Smale, Poet. Lyr. Graec. ii, p. 257.
© Or “ not heating,” “* not inflaming,”’ even “ not filling.”
For the anecdote see also Cicero, Tuse. Disp. v. 100, with
Dou and Henry’s note; Athenaeus, x, 419 c-d; Aelian,


Varia Hist. ii. 18. Hegesander is quoted as source by
Athenaeus (as on the opsophagi): RE, vii. 2600, no. 4.


453


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


”
(686) Exovow Kat adddAws e&itnrov, warrep dapav ewdov
9 Kvicav evatroAeitropevnv, mpoBAnuatwv dé Kal
/
Aoywv dirooddwv trobécers adtovs Te’ Tods peuvn-
/ ~
Levouvs eddhpaivovow, del mpdodatot tapodoa, Kal
tovs amoAdedbevras ody hrrov €oTiav® mapéxovar
Tots abvtois, adkovovtas Kai peTaAapBavovtas* O7rov
Kat vov TOV VwKpatiK@v ovpTrociwv jetovoia Kal
amdAavais é€att Tots dtAoAdyois, wWomep adTois
D é€xeivois tots Tote Seimvovct. Kaito, € Ta
TWLATLKA Tas Oovas mapetyev, €OEL Kal Hevo-
davra kat IlAdtwva pr) tv AadAnbevtwy adda
~ , . /, \ > 7
Tov tapatelevtwy év KaAddiov Kat “Aydbwvos
opwv Kal TEe“paTwV Kal TpaynudTwY amoypadiy
amoAureiv: viv 8 éxeiva pev ovdéroTe, Kaimep ws
nw tA
eiKos €k TapacKeuns yevopueva’® Kal Samavys, Adyou
A , 4 \ A / A ~
twos 7&iw0n, Ta dé pirocodyPevta pera mradias
amovodalovtes eis ypadnv ametifevto, Kai Kate-
Airov mapadei’ypata Tob p17) povov ouvetvar dia
/ 5 , A , > A A ~~
Adywv aAAjAoits Tapa moTov aAAa Kal peuvyabas
TOV Aadnbévtwr.


IIPOBAHMA A
E Tis % airia, 80 Fv of vnoredvovres Sufdor wGAdov 7 wewdow


Collocuntur Plutarchus, alii


~ / ~ ~
"Extov obv TobT6 oo. TéTTwW TOV LvptrooiaKGy,


1 +e added by Reiske. =? éo7va@v Wyttenbach: «is airiav.
3 xairou et Basel edition: Kal rotor.
4 So Reiske: yvyvopeva.





¢ The wealthy Callias and Agathon the poet were the
hosts in Xenophon’s and Plato’s Symposium, respectively.
» Plato speaks of his writing and speculation as qaidid


454











~~


TABLE-TALK VI. 1, 686


that is, besides, as unsubstantial as yesterday’s per-
fume or the lingering smell of cooking. On the other
hand, the topics of philosophical inquiry and dis-
cussion not only give pleasure by remaining ever
present and fresh to those who actually recall them,
but they also provide just as good a feast on the same
food to those who, having been left out, partake
of them through oral report. In this way, it is even
to-day open to men of literary taste to enjoy and
share in the Socratic banquets as much as did the
original diners. Yet if pleasure were purely physical,
the proper thing would have been for both Xenophon
and Plato to leave us a record, not of the conversa-
tion, but of the relishes, cakes, and sweets served at
Callias’s house and Agathon’s.* As it is, they never
deign to mention such matters, for all the expense
and effort these presumably involved ; but they pre-
serve in writing only the philosophical discussions,
combining fun? with serious effort. Thus they have
left precedents to be followed not only in meeting
together for good conversation over wine, but in re-
cording the conversation afterward.


: QUESTION 1°
__ Why those who fast are more thirsty than hungry
/ Speakers: Plutarch and others


Here, then, is the sixth book of my Table-Talk, in


“ play” in Phaedrus, 265 c, Timaeus, 59 c. Xenophon,
Symp. viii. 41, implies that serious discourse must be restricted
at symposiums. Plutarch in his extensive discussion of
humour at banquets in Table-Talk, ii. 1, especially 634 E-r,
quotes Plato’s Laws to much the same effect.
¢ The discussion is closely imitated by Macrobius, Satur-
nalia, vii. 13. 1-5.
455


(686)


687


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> ~ ~ ~ lan
ev @ mp@tov €ott TO trepi Tod Sub_v paddrov 4
TEWHVY TOUS vHoTEVOVTAS.
"Adoyov yap égaiveto dupqv paddov 7 mewhv
A ~ ~
Tovs ekvynoTevcavTas: 7 yap Eevdera THs Enpas
A > r Va > 2 aS , ‘1 \
tpophs avatAjnpwow oikeiav eddKe Kal’ Kata
/ > a A ~
gvaw emlyteiv. €edeyov obv éya Tois mapotow,
6Tt TOV ev Hiv 7) povov 7H pdAvora Seirar tpodAs
\ 6 72 Ce > 1) r , we 3 73
70 Geppov" “ domep aperer B emropev e€w* pt
aépa unl” vdwp pare yiv epieeva. ToD tpedecbar
pd” avadtoxovTa To mAnoidlov, aAAa povov TO
mop. % Kat Ta véa Bpwrixwdtepa TH mpecButépwv
bo Oepudotyntos: Kai todvavtiov of yépovtes padora
vynotetav pépovow, ayBAd yap ev adrots Kal uuKpov
76) TO Oepudv €oTw, Womep ev Tots avaipots TOV
\ an 4 A
Cawv, a 57 Kal Tpodis yKioTa mpoodetrar 81”
, > 7 ~
evderav Gepuorntos: adtov & exacTov attod* yup-
vaoia Kal Kpavyal Kal doa TH Kweiv avéer TO
Beppov ovov dayeiv rovet Kat mpobuporepov.
~ ~ / ~
tpodn d¢ TH Gepud, xabarep vopilw, 6 mpa@rtov®
>
Kata gvow pddoTta, TO bypov €oTW, Ws al TE
drcyes advfavouevas TH eAaiw SydAovow Kai TO
mavtwy Enpotatov elvar Téppav: exKeKavTa yap
\ / \ \ ~ mv > / /
TO voTEepov, TO de ye@des Epyov ikpddos A€AeurTau*
Kal opoiws® duornou’ Kat Sipe? TA CpaTa TO
1 xai added by Bernardakis.
2 For punctuation see Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 118 on
635 D.
3 €w Psellus, Stephanus (Turnebus according to Wytten-
bach): && dv.


4 So Bernardakis: adrod. 5 apatov tav Reiske.
6 So Stephanus: dpws. 7 So Stephanus: 8¢€ foro.


456








TABLE-TALK VI. 1, 686-687


_ which the first subject of discussion is why those who
fast suffer thirst more than hunger. It appeared il-
_ logical that those who have starved themselves should
suffer thirst more than hunger, because we thought
_ that according to nature the want of dry food would
_ call for a corresponding kind of replenishment. I

_ therefore argued to those present that, in our bodies,


_ it is solely or chiefly the hot element * that demands


nourishment ; “just as we see in fact that outside
ourselves it is not air nor water nor earth, but only
fire, that requires to be fed and consumes anything
within reach. Thus, young animals are more raven-
ous than adults because of the heat in their bodies ;
conversely, aged men endure fasting most easily, for
the fire in them is by now blunted and reduced, like
that of bloodless animals which require less food than
all other animals precisely because of their lack of
heat. Exercise, shouting, or anything that by motion
increases heat will always cause a man to eat with
greater pleasure and a better will. Moisture, prob-
ably the most primary substance in nature, in my
opinion, is the element that provides nourishment for
heat.” This is proved by the fact that flames increase
whenever oil is added, and that ashes are the driest
of all substances, because the dampness has been
burned away and the earthy residue is left without a
trace of moisture. Similarly, fire opens and tears

* A reference to the theory of four elements (fire, air,
water and earth) as applied to physiology. See Hippocrates
(LCL), i, p. xlix. Cf., for instance, Table-Talk, ii. 2, 635 c.

» Or, as T. C. (in the edition by Several Hands, London,
1684-1694): ‘‘ The most natural and principal nourishment
of heat is moisture.’ There is perhaps an allusion to Thales,
for whose theory Aristotle tries to account in language that


seems reflected here. See Metaphysics, 983 b 22 ff. Plu-
tarch returns to the point below, in Tadle-Talk, vi. 9. 2, 696 B.


VOL. VIII Q* 457


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


an an A ~ \
(687) mip 7t@ eEapetv’ thv Kol\A@oav bypdryra Kal
cuvdéovcav. oTav odv vyoTevowpeEV, EK TOV db7r0-
Aetpdtwv Ths &v TH odpatt Tpopis amoonGrat
B Bia to dypov bo Tod Oeppob to mparov, elt’ em’
> A / \ / /, ~ \
abtnv Badiles tiv ovudutov AiBada Tis GapKos
% mUpwots SudKovoa TO voTepdv** yevouevns odv
wotrep ev TNA EnpoTynTos, ToTOd paAXov TO cHya
Seicbar wéduKev, aypt 00 midvTwWY avappwobeY Kal

> ~ \ \ > ~ ond ” > /
isxdoav TO Oeppyov euBpiOots tpodis opeEw epya-

onTa..


ITPOBAHMA B
IIdrepov évdera rove? TO Tew Kal dubqv 7 mdépwv
peracynpatiopos
Collocuntur Philo, Plutarchus, alii medici


: € /
1. AcyOévtw S5é€ TovTwv ot wept Dikwv’ tatpoi
/
Thy mpwoTynv Odow éxivovy: évdela yap od yiyvecBat
Cro diubos, addAa répwv TWaV peTacynpaTiOLe®.

~ ¢ Ps ~

ToUTO pev yap ot viKTwp Supavres, av emiKata-
~ a \ , ~
dapbwor, mavovta Tod Subiv pn movtTes: TodTO
> 4

S° of wupértovtes, evddcews yevouerns 7) TavTaTact

~ ~ , A \3 ~ a
Tob mupetod Awdyjoavtos, dua Kal’ Tod Sdubqv
> 7 A A / ‘ A >
amaAAdtrovrau: toAXots b€ Aovoapevors Kat vy At
> / oe, , \ U e BA, > \
€uéeoacw étépois Anyer TO Sixbos. av ba ovddEvos

/ /
avéerat TO Vypov, GAAG pdovoy ot mépoL Trapéexovat,
~ / , ;

maaxovTes’ TL T@ petacxyynpatilecbar, ta€w éTépav
Kal dudbeow.

1 So Madvig: é€aipew.

2 +6 vorepdv Basel edition, cf. Psellus: vdov Erepov.

3 Gua xat Bernardakis: xai dpa.

4 mapéxovot, macxovtes Hutten; macxyovres Turnebus, Ste-
phanus ; zapécxov, macxovres Wyttenbach : mapacxévrrtes.


4.58





eet al |








TABLE-TALK VI. 1-2, 687


apart any solids by drawing off the moisture that
cements and holds them together. So, when we fast,


the moisture is first abstracted forcibly by the heat


from any remnants of food left in the body. Then
the burning process, seeking moisture, goes on to the
natural juices of the body. Accordingly, since this
roduces dryness (compare how mud dries in the
eat), it is natural for the body to want drink more
until, reinvigorated and fortified by our drinking, the
hot element arouses an appetite for solid food.”


QUESTION 2


Whether hunger and thirst are caused by deficiency
or by a change in shape of the passages


Speakers: Plutarch, Philo and other physicians


1. Ar this point in the discussion, Philo and the other
physicians attacked the original premise, saying that
thirst arises, not from a deficiency, but from a change
of shape ¢ in certain channels in the body. For one
thing, those who suffer from thirst at night lose their
thirst without drinking, if they fall asleep; for
another, those who have a fever are also freed of thirst
as soon as the fever subsides or entirely ceases. Many
are relieved of thirst after a bath, others, surprisingly,
after vomiting. In these cases the moisture in their
bodies is not increased by anything ; it is only that
the channels, being subjected to a change of shape,
exhibit a new posture and condition.

¢ There is a discussion of shapes or “ structures” in
Pseudo-Hippocrates, On Ancient Medicine, 22. 1. Cf. 649
D, supra, where the word poroi, here translated “‘ passages ”’


or “ channels,”’ is used to refer to ‘‘ vessels of the vascular
tem ” in plants. See now Sandbach in LCL Plut. Mor.


xi, p. 141.
459


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(687) °ExdnAdrepov d€ tobro yiyveras wept Thy metvav.
evdecis yap dua moXXol’ yiyvovrat Kal avdpexrou
~ / 1 Des > > / O11 A ¢
TOV vocovvTwv: eviois & é€umrimAapevors ovde Ev ai
> / ~ > A ‘ / ‘

D opefers xaA@ow, aAda Kal Katateivover Kai mapa-
/ v \ \ ~ > / > /
pévovow. 76 dé moAAot THv amocitwy, édaiav

c / / “” / 4,
adAudda AapBdavovtes 7) Kdmmapw, yevodpevor Ta-
/ Pe 4 A / \ A ec
xéws avéAaBov Kat mapeotyicavto thy Opeéw. @
\ / ~ / I] Ld / \ / >
kal uddvota SHAdv eotw, ott der Twi Tépwv ody
bm’ evdeias eyylyverar TO TEWhY Hutv: Ta yap ToL-
adra Bpwpata THv wer Evderav €Aatrot mpooTiWepe-
lol ~ ¢ ~
vyns Tpopys, x x Tovodow, ovTws at TOY éddAuwv
,
Bpwparwr edotouias Kai SpyudTntes emvotpédovaat
Kal TuKVodGaL TOV oTOMaxYov 7 mdaAW dvotyovcat
kal yaA@oar Sextixiv twa tpodfs evappooriav
/ ~
TEpleipyadoavTo Trepl avdTov, nv opeEw Kadodpev.
> / 7 ~ ~ \ >
2. "Kdoxer 59 por tadtra mbavds pev eyKe-
xetphaGar, mpos d€ TO péyiotov evavtiobcba THs
> ~ ~
KE dvcews tédos, €f’ 6 nav dye C@ov dpetis, ava-
v4 ~ > ~ ~ \ \3 > a
mAjpwow tod évdeods tofotca Kai 70° éexdctzov
2. 2h ~ > / PS) / ce A \ > 8 /
ae TOD olketov SwKovoa: “To yap @ diadéper
/ A ~ ~ > / ~ A /
pddtora TO Cov Tod axdyov, tobro pa) davar
F ~
Tpos owrTypiav Kal diaporny brdpyew Huty, WomeEp
oppa, TOV" oiKelwy TH owpati Kal Sentav> éey-
, 6 >? \ , \ ,
yeyervnuevov, adda mafos elvar Kal tpomjiy tiva


1 So Xylander: odo.

2 Turnebus indicated a lacuna and supplied <ro 8€ rew>,
changing the following zovoio to wove?t. Hubert believes that
more is lost, suggesting <eivav 3€ movi ws yap ai oribets


460


TABLE-TALK VI. 2, 687


This is more obvious in the case of hunger. Many
of the sick are in need of food and yet lack appetite ;
whereas some eat their fill, yet have appetites not
only unabated but actually intensified and persistent.
In fact, there have been many cases of loss of appetite
when a taste of pickled olive or caper has brought
prompt recovery and restored the appetite. This
proves conclusively that our hunger springs from
some modification of the passages and is not caused
by deficiency ; for this kind of food diminishes the
want since nourishment is added, yet causes hunger.
So the sharpness and pungency of salted food either
twists and contracts the stomach or, conversely, by
opening and relaxing it again, produces a kind of
adjusted receptivity in it to nourishment, which we
call appetite.

2. This seemed to me a plausible theory, but one
that contradicts the most insistent purpose of nature,
toward which appetite leads every creature ; for ap-
petite craves to fill every need and always pursues
whatever is lacking to its own proper satisfaction.
“Not to admit,” I went on, “ that appetite, one of
the things that particularly differentiate the animate
from the inanimate, is a means provided us for our
protection and survival, one of the things that are
implanted in us as needful and proper to our body,
like an eye, but instead to imagine that appetite is
some peculiar condition or modification of the chan-





Tas d0dvas Sextixwrépas tis Badijs> zovodow, from the last sen-
tence of the Question and the immediate context here.

3 kai ro Xylander: adro.

4 dupa trav Reiske, dynua Faehse: oupdrwvr.

5 Senrav suspect since a tgs whe preferred dexrav,
defended by Reiske, dedvrwy Madvig: dé trav.

6 So Doehner, éyyevopevov Reiske: éyyeyevnuévwr.


461


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


/ ” / \ / /
(687) wopwv otecbar peyePeot Kal puKpdtyot ovpPai-
vovaav eis ovdev’ Hv Adyov amA@s TWEpevwv Tiv
vow.
ce "BR ¢ ~ SIPS / A / ] /
TeLTa piyoov prev” evdela OepoTnTos oikelas
TO o@pa, pnkete Se” Subpv nde mewhv byporntos
’ , a's \ , \ in ” , >
evoeia THS’ Kata pvow Kal tpodfs, aAoyov €oTt:
A > > / > 4 A >y7
F rovtov 5 dAoywrepov, el Kevwoews pev edieTau
dia Aj pwow 7) pious, TAnpwcews 8 od dua
Kévwow, aA’ eTEpov TWOS mdous ey Vevojievov.
Kal pnv at ye Tovadrar epi Ta CHa ypetar Kal
avatAnpwaeis ovdév TL TOV TEpL TAS yEewpyias
yuyvonevwv Siad€povow: oAAG yap opoia macyeL
Bonfetrar: mpos pev yap tas ۤnpornras
> , , 4 \ , 5 ’ e
688 apdeiais mroTtilouev,* Kat pvyouev” peTpiws oTav
préynrat, puyobvra 8° adta OddArrew meipwpeba Kai
n *\\>2 » 6 , 1 ¢ A
oKeTew moAN’ attra’ mepiBdddovTes* Kat doa p17)
yi ~ > > / \ » | / /
Tap nuas eotiv, edyouela Tov Dedv diddvat, dpd-
cous padakas Kal eiAjoes é€v mvedpact petpiots,’
ws del Tob azodeimovtos avatAjnpwow 7 dvots
Exo, duaTnpotoa THY KpGow. ovTwW yap olpat
Kal tpodyv wvopdoba to tHpodv THY vow:
Tnpeitar dé Tots pev dutois avarobjtws €K Too
TEPLEXOVTOS, ws now "Eparedoxijs, Hdpevopevors
TO _Tpoagopov’ nuas So 7 opesis {nreiv didaoKer


Kat Ouw KEW TO €xA€irrov THS Kpacews.


1 wev added by Hirschig, Hartman, peév dava Reiske.
2 §¢ added by Xylander.
3 ris Anonymus: Tie.
4 So Seeder Madvig: zorifopeva.
5 So Xylander, Madvig: yvydpeva.
6 ~é\WV drza Turnebus: zodAoora (zoAAacra Venetus).


462


nt ll i


TABLE-TALK VI. 2, 687-688


nels brought about by differences in size—that, I say,
is worthy of someone who simply leaves nature out of
account.

“ Further, it is illogical to hold, on the one hand,
that the body is cold through a deficiency of proper
heat, and, on the other hand, to refuse to say that it
suffers thirst or hunger through a deficiency of natural
moisture or nutriment. Still more illogical than this
is the notion that although nature seeks evacuation
because there is repletion, it seeks replenishment not
because there is an emptiness, but on account of
some other condition that supervenes. Moreover,
these needs of animal life with their satisfactions
differ in no respect from those that occur in agri-
culture ; many of the conditions and their remedies
are similar. For instance, in the case of drought we
irrigate ; when anything is scorched, we make it
moderately cool, and when the plants are cold, we
try to warm and protect them by many sorts of
covering. What is not in our power to provide we

ray the god to grant, such as gentle. dews or sun-
shine with mild breezes, so that nature may always
have a replenishment of what is lost and thus preserve
the balance of elements. I think that this is how the
word trophé (nurture) originated; it is that which
preserves nature (tére: physin). Plants preserve nature
unconsciously, because, according to Empedocles,*
they draw as much water from the atmosphere as is
needful. But in our case, it is appetite that teaches
us to seek and pursue any element wanting in our


balance.
@ Fragment 70 (Diels).


7 So Wyttenbach, perpias Reiske: perpiws.
8 éyn Hubert after Bernardakis, who also adds a after as.
463





(688)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


ce Od yy iAAG Kal Oo > / id
v pnv adda L TMV ELPNMLEVWY EKAOTOV


B a5 € > 7 bd b) \ \ \ >
LOWMEV WS OUK GAANUES E€OTL. TA LEV Yap EVOTO~


pilav €xovta Kat dpytrnta taxa pev ovK opeéw,
GAAa Snypov eurrovet Tots SextiKois’ pépec Tis
Tpodis, olov Kvnopot” Kata Oigw eviwy apvo-
cdvTwy: et b€ Kal TotTO TO mdaBos dpeKTiKdV
€oTw, €ikds €oTw v70 THY TowovTwY BpwpydTwv
Aertuvopeva Siaxpiveobar ta mpovmovtTa,® Kai
moveiy pev evdoetav, od petappv0uilopevwy de* THv
mopwv adda Kevouvpéevwy Kal Kablaipouevwy: Ta
yap o€€a Kai dpysea Kat aAuvpa Opvatovta tHv
vAnv diadopet Kat oKidvnow, worte veapav zroveiv

A ” > , 6 A er \ “a
av opeEw €xOABopevwr® tOv ewAwY Kal yOldv.
tov dé Aovopéevwy od} peTacynpaTtilopevor mavov-

¢ , \ ee eS , \7 a
ow ot mopot To dios, GAN’ ixudda bia’ tis
capkos avaAapyPBdvorres Kai avarripmAdpevot vote-
pas atpidos.

“Ot & Eweror 7rd adAAdtpiov exBddAdovtes azd-
Aavow tH dae ToD oiKelov mapéacyov. ov ‘yap
¢ r aA as ¢ ~ A bu LAAG ~ A /
amtAds tod® bypod To dixbos, aAAa Tob Kata vow

A >, / / x“ \ ~ \ + /

Kal oiKetou’ 510, Kay TOAD Traph To adrogviov,
evdens 0 dvipwrds € €or" evloTara’ yap Tots Kata
dvow vypois, wv 7 opeéis €o7t, Kal ov didwow
dvd pew ovee kaTdkpaouw, axpt Gv e€koTH Kal
amoxwpion* TOTES ot Tropot 70 ovppurov avadap-
Bavovow. ot d€ aupetoi to bypov eis Balos


. » 8° Aldine edition : SnkriKots.
2 xvnopw@ Hubert, xvnopov Emperius, xvnopor xai (for a
Reiske.
3 So Doehner: zpézovra “ the proper constituents.”
4 §€ added by Meziriacus.
5 So Stephanus, cf. 669 B: Siadéper.
5 So Reiske: eic6ABopévwv.


464





TABLE-TALK VI. 2, 688


“ Not only that, but let us see in detail how false is
each of the arguments offered. First, sharp and pun-
gent foods perhaps produce not appetite but a sting-
ing effect on the members which receive them, an
effect much like the irritation caused by touching
certain prickly things. Now if this is actually what
excites appetite, it is probably because the eating of
such things causes the comminution and disintegra-
tion of food already present in the system, and creates
a deficiency, not because the passages are forced to
adopt new shapes, but because they are emptied and
purged. Sour, pungent, or salty foods break up, dis-
tribute, and disperse the crude stuff, and thus renew
appetite because in the process the previous day’s
stale residue is squeezed out. Secondly, in the case
of the bathers, thirst is abated, not through the re-
shaping of the channels, but by their absorption of
liquid through the flesh and by their being thus re-
filled with moist steam.

“ Next, vomiting, by expelling foreign matter, en-
ables nature to benefit by its proper food. Thirst is
not merely desire for liquid without qualification ; it
is desire for drink that is natural and suitable. Ac-
cordingly, even if there is an abundance of the wrong
kind of nourishment, a man is still in want. Such
abundance blocks the natural liquids craved by thirst,
and permits no mixing or blending of food and drink
until it is removed and passes off ; then only can the
channels receive their kindred? food. Fevers force


@ On “ kindred ” food cf. Table-Talk, iv. i. 2, 661 ©.





7 8:4 added by Faehse (Bolkestein, Adv. Crit. p. 78), Doeh-
ner.

8 daAds rod Meziriacus: azAjorov.

® So Reiske: édiorarat.


465


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


> ~ ~ a ~
(688) dzwOotow, Kal tav pécwy dreyouevwy exed wav
> Z aA
D amoxexwpynkev Kat Kpareirar memecpevov: dbev
> “a ‘ ~
eueiv Te moAdods Gua ovpBaiver, muKvoTnTL TOV
> \ ~
evtos avab\Bovtwr' 7a. dypd, Kat Supqv® dV evderav
\ / ~ ~
Kat Enpotnta Tod Aoizod owpatos. stay odv
aveots yevntar Kal TO Oeppov ex TOV peowv arin,
/ s 2 a3 \ SR IP /
oKiovapevov adOis drrovoote? Kai Sudv,* ws 7éduKe,
TaVTN TO VOTEpOV” Gua Tois TE peGoLS paoTwVHnV
Tapécxev Kal THY oadpKa AElav Kal amadny avTi
Tpayeias Kal adypw@dovs yevonevny éuddakev, 7roA-
e ~ A
Adkis 5€ Kal tOpOtas emjyayer: d0ev 7) mrovotca
dupjv evdera Arjyer Kat maveTar, THS bypoTnTos
E azo tod Bapuvopevov Kai duvcavaBAvotobvtos® ézi
Tov dedpevov Kat mootvta peOiotapéevys Tomov.
¢ \ > la / ” Md A
ws yap ev KnTw, Ppéatos aplovov vdwp ExovTos,
> / > a \ » \ 2 ll | ~ ‘
el py TIS erravTAot Kal apdo. Ta duTa,’ dubjv Kat
atpogety avayKaidv €otiw, ovTws ev GwpmaTl, TOV
~ /
dypOv eis eva Kataotwpevwv Tdomov, od Bavya-
\ A \ \
oTov evdoeray elvat mept Ta Aowra Kai EnpornTa,
k 35 / \ /
pexpt o0 madAw émippon Kal didyvois yevnrat:
Kka0damep Kal é€mt THY TUpeTTOVTwY, OTav aveOHat,
~ > an ~
ovpBaiver Kal TOV eyKatadapbavovtwy TH Subj’
Kal yap TovTOLs 6 Umvos ek pLéowv éravaywv Ta
a ¢
bypa Kal dvavewv mavrTn Tois pépecw dpadropov
€umroel Kal avarrAnpwow.
coe \ Py A / ~ ,
O yap 67 Aeyouevos THY TOpwy peTacyy-
1 So Meziriacus: avabA.Bévrwr.
2 So Basel edition: Siar.
3 So Basel edition, Turnebus: szovooreiv.


- 4 So Turnebus: {8:ov.


5 +6 vorepov Basel edition: zov €repov.


466








TABLE-TALK VI. 2, 688


moisture downward, so that as the middle area is in-
flamed, the moisture withdraws to that one place and
is subjected to violent pressure. In consequence, it
is true that many men both vomit, because the con-
densation of matter inside by its pressure forces all
liquids upward, and at the same time are thirsty
because of deficiency and drought elsewhere in the
body. Therefore, when the fever subsides and the
heat leaves the central parts of the body, the moisture,
as it spreads, returns to its level, and permeates the
whole body, in keeping with its nature. At the same
time, it provides relief to those central parts, and
softens the flesh which has now become smooth and
tender instead of rough and parched. This often even
brings on sweating. Thus the deficiency that has
caused thirst ends, and its effect is lost, as moisture
shifts its position from the region where it causes
distress and stoppage of the flow to the region where
it is needed and missed. In a garden, even if there is
an excellent well, the plants inevitably wither from
thirst unless someone draws the water and irrigates ;
so, in our body, if all the liquid is drawn off to one
spot, it is no wonder that there is deficiency and
drought in the rest of the system until the flow and
diffusion of moisture are restored. Similar also is the
experience of patients after a fever and of those who
fall asleep while thirsty. In those cases, too, sleep
draws up the liquids from the central area and passes
them on, thus bringing about a uniform distribution
and a roper supply to all parts of the body.

“What sort of change of shape in the passages is it





. Bey. Hubert after Duebner and Doehner: dveavafAactoiv-
rg, a difficulty.”
Ta ylander: adra.


467


(688)


689


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ a i \ err ‘ 8 wet et
pariopos obtos,' 70 mew 7) 70 apie eyyty-
al >
veTal, 7olos Tis €oTW; eyw pev yap ovx Ope
Tept mopous® dSiadopas dAAas* Kara md Gos® 7 70
/
oupmintew Kal TO duiotacba: Kal oupintovtes®
fev ovTE TroTOV oUTE Tpodny SéxecIar SvvavTat, d:-
/ / ~
toTapevol O€ KEVOTHTA Kal YWpPav ToLODaLW, Eevderav
~ /
ovcav Tod Kata Pvaw Kal oikelov. Kal yap at
, > Py ~ /
oruipets, @ BeArwore, TOV Bamropevany,”’ ebm,
“ ToKwV" EXovoL TO Spun KQL pUmTLKOV, @ TOV
TEpioo@v EKKpLvopevenv Kal drroTn KOLevenV ot TOpou
S€xovrau paAdAov Kal oreyouow | SeFdprevor Thv Ba-
dnv dr’ évdelas Kal KevoTyTOS.”


IIPOBAHMA [


‘ , ~ , 8 , 4 ~ >. 34
Ava ri rewavres ev, €av triwot, mavovrat, dupdvres 8, eav
ddywou, emreivovrat


Collocuntur convivator, Plutarchus


€ / A 4 ¢ ¢ ~ € ~ ‘
évtrwy Sé€ TovTwv 6 €aTL@ l
P78 5 UTWV OTLOV as Ka

a > ” , Av , @ A ‘ LAA >
tabr édy petpiws AéyecBar Kai mpos aAXAnv azro-


B piav tas TOV mépwv Keviddcers Kal avarrAnpudcets


A a \ ~ >A /
Bonbeitv, dia Ti Tots pev mew@ow, €av Tiwor,
~ ~ a A
maveTat TO Trewhv ev TH Tapavtixa, Tots de di-
~ >A > / > ,
Go. tobvavtiov,” é€av eudaywou, emireiver ovp-
t \ Sf te A \41 _t 4!) € \
Baiver ro dibos. ‘‘ rotro 87'! to mabos ot Tods


1 So Basel edition : ovTws.
: 5 BO Reiske: éeyyevnrat.
® aépous Bernardakis, tods mépovs Doehner: zépov 7} mépwr,

where the scribe was in doubt, cf. Gulick in Am. Journ.
Philol. lx (1939), p. 493.

4 So Basel edition: dAAa.

5 adbos Bernardakis, ro 7a8os Doehner: zAOos.

6 So Basel edition : cupzinrovtos.


468


TABLE-TALK VI. 2-3, 688-689


to which you refer, by which hunger and thirst are
occasioned ? J cannot conceive any kind of contrast
brought about by change in the condition of the
channels, except contraction and expansion. When
they contract, they cannot receive either food or
drink ; when they expand, they create emptiness
and space, which is simply the want of some natural
and proper substance. Observe also, my friend,” I
said, “that the steeping in astringent solution of
fabric to be dyed involves the use of penetrating
detergents to remove and dissolve extraneous matter
in the channels or pores of the fabric, that they may
better receive and hold the dye in the spaces thus
provided and requiring to be filled.”


QUESTION 32
Why hunger is appeased by drinking, but thirst
increased by eating
Speakers: Plutarch, his host


1. Ar this point in the discussion our host said that
this was a fair statement, and besides, the theory of
the emptying and filling of passages might help us to
answer another question: why does hunger cease
immediately upon drinking while, on the contrary,
those who thirst actually become thirstier on eating ?
“ This strange effect is,” he went on, ‘‘ accounted for


* Cf. Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 12. 18 f.





7 woxwv Bernardakis: tézov.
® So Meziriacus: orépyovat.
® Bonbeiv, . . . wewnv added by Hubert after Madvig.
10 So Emperius: évaytiov.
11 §) Wyttenbach: de.
469


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(689) aépovs droriépevow’ pdota Kal miBavadrard jot
doxovow, e¢ Kal pr moAAad povov mibabds, ai-
Tiodoyeiv. maou yap ovTwy mopwv, aAAas mpos
aAAa® ouppeETptas €XovTa,” ol pev evdpUTEpoe THY
Enpay a Gyo. Kal TY bypav Tpopny dvahapBavovow,
ot 8 loxvorepor TO pev* TroTOV TapadexovTar, TO
5€ oitiov od mapadéyovTa.” moret Se THY pev
dipay 4 TovTwv Kévwois, 7 8 exeivwv THY Tetvav.

C obev, €av pev ddywow ot dup@vres, ot pev od
Bonfodvrar, TOv mépwv dia AewTdTHTA THY Enpav
Tpodynv pun Sexouevwv GAN émidedv rod oixeiov
tapevovTwv’ of d€ Trew@vrTes éav trivwow, évive-
preva Ta bypa Tots peiloot mépots Kal avamrAnpodrTa
Tas KevoTnTas abT@v avinat TO apodpov ayav Tis
metvys. ss

2. "Epo dé To pev oupBatvov d.An bes epaiveo,
Th oi drobecer Ths airtas ov mpocetxov. “ Kal
yap el Tots mdpots TovTos,’ edyv, ““ av Eevior
TepléxovTat Kal ayam@o., KaTaTpioee Tis TV
odpka, mAadapav Kat Ttpoy.wdn® Kal oabpav av’
TOWGELe’* TO TE [L7) TAVTA TOD GwWpaTOS popia TO
moTov mpoadéyeo0a Kal TO ovtiov aAXr’ womep 76-
plots Katappetobar Kal azroKxpivecBar Kopidh mAa-

D opatddes Kai adddKotov. atrtn yap 1) mpos TO
bypov avapuéis, Opvmtovoa Ta oiTia Kal ovvepya
AapPdvovca to Deppov To évtds Kal TO mvedpa,
TdvTwv dpydvwv aKxpibéorata macais Topats Kal
Siaipeoeot AerrUver THY Tpodiv, WoTE AV pdptov
abThs mavTt popiw yiyvecbar dirov Kai oikeiov,


1 So Turnebus: émuriOépwevor.
2 dAXas mpos dAAa Kronenberg: dAdAos mépos aAdas.


470


TABLE-TALK VI. 3, 689


most easily and most convincingly, in my opinion, by
the advocates of this theory of passages, although it
isn’t often that they are even so much as plausible.
There are channels for everything, varying in capacity
according to their purpose; the wider passages
receive both solid and liquid matter, but the narrower
only the liquid. Emptiness in these latter causes
thirst ; in the former it causes hunger. Hence, if
those who are thirsty eat, they do not benefit, because
the channels, being narrow, do not admit the dry
food, and continue to miss what they require. On
the other hand, if people who are hungry take a drink,
the liquid does enter the larger passages, fills them,
and alleviates the more violent pangs of hunger.”

2. To my mind, the fact was clearly true, but I did
not agree with the reason suggested for it. “ For if
you were to perforate the flesh,” I said, ‘‘ with these
passages that certain people so fondly cling to, you
would make it weak, quivering and unsound; to
believe that both wet and dry food are not received
into the same parts, but are filtered and separated
as if through a strainer—that is unrealistic and ab-
surd. The blending in our bodies of solid food with
liquid, breaking it up with the help of the internal
heat and vital spirit, reduces the food by every pro-
cess of division and dissection in more accurate fashion
than any instrument. This renders every particle
adaptable and homogeneous to every other, not as





_* €xet Stephanus, éxev dv Duebner,
4 70 pev MS., povov To Wyttenbach.
5 +0 8€ ovriov od mapadéxyovras added by~Madvig, rov dé
otrov ov Reiske.
#dn Herwerden.
? dy added by Herwerden.
8 So Herwerden after Basel edition and Reiske: zoujoas.


471


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(689) ovK evapporrov womep ayyelos* Kal Tphacw aw’
evovpevov Kal mpoopudpevov. dvev dé ToUTW
ovde AéAvTas Tis _daropias TO pe yiorov’ ot yap
eupayovrTes, av 41) miwow, od povov ov Avovow
adda Kal mpooemitetvovat TO Siufbos: mpds Todto &
ovddev elpynTar.

EK “Sores 5é€ Kal 7a wap’ yyaov,” edyv, * Et
pawopéevas brrobeceis AapBdvopev, Tp@Tov jev
AapBavovtes TO dy pov bo" TOU Eqpod diapbeipecbar
Sarave)pevov, TS 5 byp@ to Enpov Bpexopevov
kal padacodpevov dvaxvoers ioxyew Kal avabvpid-
ces SevTepov dé pur) vopilovtes ex OAupuy elvat
TavT dm aow pajre Ths Enpas Tpops ™v meivav
pare Ths bypas TH dupar, aAAa Tob petpiov Kai
dprobvros evoevav" ols yap oAws av eMimy Oare-
pov, ouTe Tew@ow ovre Supdow aA’ evOds a.ro-
OvjoKovow. DTTOKELEVOY de TOUT ov xaAerov
7197 a airtay ovvideiv. 1 pev yap dixba Tots pa-
yovow emiTeiveTau Tov orto th €Enporynt, et
tv Sueomrappevov vypov Kal amoAewmopevov aabeves
F kai dAtyov év TO OWMaTt, ovAdeyovtwy kal Tpoo-
eftxpalovrey: WOTTEp fu) yay. oppev Kal KOvUW
Kal appov® TO. peyvipeva TOV vypav dvaAap-
Bavovoay els €avTyy Kal ddavilonoan, Thy be
meivav av mdaAw _dvayKaiws TO moTov avinow:
yap vypoTns Ta drovTa ouria TmeptoKeAt Kal
yAoxpa. Bpegaca Kal Svaxeaca, Xvpav eyyevo-
690 peveov Kal GTLOv, dvapéper TovTots” eis TO copa
Kat mpootiOnar tots Seopevois: dbev od KaK@s


1 So Stephanus: doreiots.
2 So Stephanus: dzo.
3 rv added by Reiske.


472


TABLE-TALK VI. 3, 689-690


fitting into vessels and apertures, but as_ being
amalgamated and brought into organic agreement.
Otherwise, the most difficult part of the problem
isn't actually solved, the fact that those who take
food without drinking anything actually increase in-
stead of relieving their thirst ; nothing has been said
to explain that.

“ Consider also,”” I went on, “ whether we accept
as evident two points which I have to make. The
first is that moisture is consumed and destroyed by
dryness, while dryness is saturated and softened by
moisture so that it is dissolved and vaporized. My
second point is that hunger and thirst result not from
the total expulsion of dry or wet food, but from a
lack of the proper and sufficient amount of either ;
because those who are totally deprived of either do
not suffer hunger or thirst, but simply die. These
premises granted, it is already easy to perceive the
explanation that we seek. When we have eaten,
thirst is aggravated because solid food, by its dryness,
concentrates and draws off such scant and feeble
moisture as is left scattered in the body. So outside
the body we see earth, dust, and sand absorb any
moisture that is mixed with them and make it dis-
appear. However, on the other hand, drinking does
necessarily relieve hunger. For the liquid drenches
and dissolves such hard, tough remnants of food as are
present in the system, and by means of the juices and
vapours that are generated conveys them through
the body and delivers them to those parts that need





4 78m Tiv Basel edition: 7dnuev.
5 ei 7. added by Reiske.
§ wdppov or paddov “ wool’? Wyttenbach: pa@)dov.


? So Kronenberg: vovrovus.
473


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(690) oxnpa THs Tpodiis 70 bypov o , Epasiorparos
mpooetrrev’ TO yap b7r0 Enpornros 7 7) mdxous” apyd
Kat Bapea pvyvipevov avarrepmret Kal ovvetaiper.
mroAAot dé Kal ay) movTEs aAda, Aovodpevor pLdvov
emravoavTo OUvTOps® opddpa mew@vTEs evdv0-
pevn yap efwbev 7 ” vypoTns edXuporepa Trovel Kal
TpopycoTEpa TO eyxahaoban | Ta €VTOS, WOTE TIS
meivys TO ofddpa TUK POV Kal Onpi@des evdidovar
Kat tapyyopetcbar. d10 Kal moAby (dow ev101
TOV daroKapTepovvTey _xpovov, av vdwp Lovov

B AapBavwow, a aypt av od° wav e€ixpacby To Tpedew
Kat mpootiWec8ar TH awpate Svvapevov.”’


IIPOBAHMA A
Ava tiv’ airlav 76 dpeataiort diwp apvobev, cay ev adT@ TO
Tod dpéaros aépe vuxrepevon, uxpdorepov yiverat


Collocuntur hospes, Plutarchus, alii


A ‘Fuxpomory cevep Tpup@vTt Tapeckevacay ot
Oepamrovres Tod ex" ppeatos ddwp yuxporepov:
dpvodpevor “yap dyyete Kal Kpepdoavres TO dy-

C yetov ev TO ppéare THS ammnyis: ye) dar opevov"
elacav emuuKepeboat, Kal mpos TO Setmvov eko-
pilero Tod mpoopdarov buxporepov. qv & O f€-
vos piddroyos ETLELKOS , Kal TOOT en AaBety e eK
TOV “Aptororédous pera Adyou Keipevov> elvar dé
toovee TOV Adyov. mav Vdwp mpobeppavber w-

1 So Reiske, Madvig : mdabous.

2 So Reiske: ovvrdvws. 3 of Xylander: ov.

4 dpeatiaiov Stephanus, Lew., cf. Helmbold, Class. Philol.
xxxvi (1941), p- 85: dpearibuov T.


; Tob ex Reiske : €K TOD. 6 So Leonicus: ys.
7 2) drropevov Leonicus : padarropevor T.


4:74


TABLE-TALK VI. 3-4, 690


them. Therefore Erasistratus appropriately called
water the vehicle of nourishment, since it combines
with the food that is heavy and inert because of
dryness or bulk and helps lift and carry it away.
There are even many cases where, without drinking,
but merely by bathing, men have found quick relief
from extreme hunger. For the external moisture
penetrates to the inward parts and, by causing relaxa-
tion, makes the food that is there more nourishing
and more productive of healthy humours. The effect
of this is to overcome and soothe the savage, bitter
pangs of hunger. Therefore, some who are starving
themselves to death survive even for a long time, if
they merely keep on drinking water until everything
is absorbed that can nourish and be added to the
body.”


QUESTION 4


Why water drawn from a well becomes cooler if it is kept
overnight in the very air of the well?


Speakers: a guest, Plutarch and others


1. For a guest who indulged in the luxury of cold
drinks the servants procured water which was colder
than that which came from the well by drawing it
in a vessel and suspending the vessel all night long
in the shaft of the well, but not in contact with the
water below; thus it was brought to dinner cooler
than newly drawn water. The guest, who was a fairly
well-read man, said that he had found this in the
writings of Aristotle,® where the reason was explained.
The explanation was as follows: all water will get


* Cf. Plut. De Primo Frigido, 12, 949 c-r.
» Frag. 216 Rose (1886).


475


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(690) yerar pdAdov, Bomep TO Tots Baowredou Tapa-
oxevalopevov: oTav yap enh pexpe Cecews,
TEplowpevovat TH ayyeiy xLova mroAAny Kal yey
VEeTaL uypdrepov: womep apéeAe Kal TA HpEeTEpa

/ / /, ~ ¢ ‘
cwpata Aovoayevwy trepupdyerar padAdov: 7) yap
to THs Oepudtntos dvecits toAvmopov TO oda"

D kai pavov ameipyaopevn toAdv déyerar Tov e€wlev
aépa Kai Buaotépav moet THY petaBoAnv: dtav
obv amooracbh THs mnyhs® TO Vdwp, Ev TO aeEpt,
mpoleppavbev, mepupdyeTar Taxews.

\ \ s / > / ¢ > ~
2. Tov pev odv E€vov éemnvecapev ws avdpiKds
KaTapvnjovevoavta': mept de Tod Adyou Sintropod-
pev. 0 yap arp, ev @ Kpeuatar TO ayyetov, «i
\ / > ~ 6 / ‘ if) > be
pev wvypds eat, THs Oepuaiver To Vdwp; et Se
Bepuos, m&s mepusdyes mdAw; ddoyov yap wo
Tod avtTod TO avTO mdcyxEW Ta EvavTia, pNndemtas
Suadopas yevoevns. owwndvtos 8 adbrod Kal
Suarropobvtos, ovdev ednv® Seiv epi Tod dépos
Stazropetv: 1) yap aicOnous A€yer Stu yuypds €oTt,
\ / 4 > tg"? / / LA > CF /

E kai padora y’ 6° ev Baber ppedtwv: war apunxa-
vov vm aepos wuypod OepuaivecBar To vdwp: adda
paAdrov 6 uxpds obTos anp THY pev THYyHVY dia
mAR00s od Stvarar petabddrAew, av dé Tis adaipy)
Kat oAlyov, waAdov Kpatav' trepupd&er.

1 +6 c@ua Stephanus: 7a owpara.
2 So Meziriacus, cf. 949 c: tomAacbq bro (do deleted by
Benseler).


3 So Frankfurt edition : aAnyijjs.


4 So Reiske: xai pvynpovedoarta.
5 So Turnebus: €¢7.


476


TABLE-TALK VI. 4, 690


cooler if it is preheated, like that provided for
royalty®; it is the practice, after the water is heated
to the boiling point, to pack snow abundantly around
the container, and the result is cooler water. Analo-
gously, as is well known, our bodies too cool off more
completely after a warm bath, because the relaxation
caused by heat opens pores all over the body and
makes it loose-textured, so that it lets in a flood of
air from outside and causes a more drastic change
from hot to cold. So, then, water withdrawn from
the well cools quickly in the air, if preheated.

2. We applauded the stranger for his valiant feat
of memory, but continued to puzzle over this theory.
For how can the air in which the vessel hangs, if cold,
heat the water? On the other hand, if it is hot, how
can it cool the water? It is illogical for opposite
effects to be produced in the same object by the same
cause, if no difference has been introduced. When
our friend was silent and puzzled at this, I said that
there was no need to worry about the air, for our
senses tell us that air is cold, especially deep in a well.
It is, then, impossible to think that water is heated
by cold air. Rather, this cold air cannot change the
temperature of the well-water because there is too
much of it ; but if you draw off a little water at a time,
the air gains the advantage and will cool it.¢


@ Or “‘ the Emperors *’ Warmington.

» Plutarch says (De Primo Frigido, loc. cit.) that air is the
cause of coldness. He fails to identify the effect of oe ddl
tion, which is multiplied by the use of porous jars. Cf. Helm-
bold’s note 6 in LCL Mor. xii, p. 251.





8 ’ 6 Hubert, 6 trav Reiske: trav.
7 So Basel edition: é€parav.


ATT


(690)


F


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA E
Ava tiv’ aitiav ot xydAiKes Kal af podiBdides euBadAcpevat
yuxpoTepov TO Vdwp movwodow


Collocuntur Plutarchus, hospes


ce “AMA \ A ~ vd x7 coon ~

a& pnv wept Tov xyaXikwv,’ edynv, ““ TOV
a“ > / > \ 4 /
dic Oven," ous €uBaddovres els TO vdwp yvyeww
QUvuTO Kal oTopoby Soxovouw, _ lpn evov “Aptotor€her
pvnpovevers;”? “ avro TOOT *,” &dy, jovov €v
mpoBAjjacw elpyke TO yuyvopevov eis 6€ THV ai-
Tiav emuyeipnoopev” Huets: €oT. yap padtota dvo-
dewpnros.”’

“cc Il / A On >>; 3 «¢ \ 0 4, > +
dvv pev ovy, epny, kal Govpacay av,
el 1) Siadvyor 6 re} Néjost nuas* Opa o° opws.’ ™pa-


Tov ov doKet cot mepupdyecBar’ “bev b7r0 Tob aépos


691 TO vowp eater éumintovtos,," 6 5° ap paNov


ioyvew* mmpos Tovs AiBous Kal TOUS dK povas® arre-
pewdopevos ; ov yap eGow avTOV WoTTEp TA xadna
Kal TO, Kepaped TOV ayyeiwy, Svextrinresy, GAAG. 7h
TVKVOTNTL OTEYOVTES dvarhBou™ eis TO vowp a dar’
avT@v, wore Ou dAov Kal ioxupay’ * yeyveoBau™ TV
mepiifutw. 610 Kal Xeyudvos ot i roTapol uxporepor
ylyvovrat ths Gadarrns: laxveu yap €v avtois 6
ysuxpos a7)p dvardospevos, ev d€ TH Oaddtryn dia
Babos éxAverar mpos wndev avTepeidwv.


1 gxovav Junius, Stephanus.
* Emixeiptiowper Stephanus. . Oe E, siPerbaRs rightly.
4 Gpa 6 Wyttenbach : dpdare. Reiske: ddws.

8 So Reiske : % py Os

7 So Anonymus: éxzimtovros.
8 So Wyttenbach: foxveu.
® ras axdvas Stephanus.
10 So Doehner from Psellus: dvadodow.


478





TABLE-TALK VI. 5, 690-691


QUESTION 52


Why pebbles and lumps of lead thrown into water
serve to make it cooler


Speakers: Plutarch and a guest


“ Yes, and do you remember,” I said, “‘ a statement
by Aristotle ® about pebbles or lumps of metal,¢
which people are said to drop into water to cool and
temper it?” “About that,” he answered, “ he men-
tioned only the phenomenon itself as you’ve stated
it, as one of a number of problems. It is up to us to
try to explain the cause, which is extremely hard to
discover.”

“ Quite so,” said I, “I should really be surprised
if it did not elude us; but look into it, anyway.
First of all, don’t you think that the water is cooled
by the outside air that assails it, and that the air has
more effect if it comes down against stones and lumps
of metal? For these objects do not allow it to escape,
as the bronze or clay vessels do, but by their density
keep it and reflect it back into the water, so that the
cooling pervades the whole and becomes thorough.
That is why in fact rivers in winter are colder than
the ocean ; in them the cold air is effective because
it is reflected from the bottom, whereas in the ocean
it is dissipated, since because of the depth it comes
against nothing solid to stop it.


* Excerpted by Psellus, De Omnifaria Doctrina, 154.

> Frag. 213.

© akmones: the common meaning of this word, “‘ anvils,”’
seems unsuited here. Cf. below on “‘ whetstones.”


1 So Basel edition : icyveay.
12 So Bernardakis from Psellus : au.
18 So Doehner from Psellus : dvaAwdpevos.





479


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(691) ‘‘ Kar’ dAAov dé tpdmov eikds éott Ta AeTTOTEpA
TOV BddTwv TepupdyecBat waAAov' b70 Tob yvypod:
~ A > > / ¢ > > / ‘ ¢
B xpateira: yap du aobéverav. ai &° akovar Kal ot
/ 4 \ Mid a ‘ ‘
yaAruces AemtUvover TO Vdwp, 6 TL Bodepdv Kai
yeddes avapéewiKTar, TOOTO ouvdyovTes Kal KaTa-
oma@vtes an’ avtod, wWote AemTOTEpov Kai acbeve-
2 ; ~ ¢€ \ 7
OTEpoV TO VOwp yevosevov uGAAov bro trepupvEews
A ‘ A Ld / ~ /
Kpatetobar. Kal pny 6 Te poABdos TOV dicer ybv-
ypav éorw, os ye tpiBdpevos d€e. TO YuKTiKWTa-
tov TOv Bavaciuwv dappdKwy eEavinor yuipvbov:
7 / / \ A \ 7
ol Te ydAiKes muKvoTnT. TO yYvxpov dia Pabous
mowbdow: mas pev yap AiBos Katebvypevyns Kai
memiAnuevns to Kptous yis mayos eativ, waAdov
5’ 6 paadov memuKvwpevos wot odK aToToOV, Et
thy wuxypoTnta Tob VdaTos avTEepeidwy ouvveTiTeiveEr
C kai 6 AiBos Kai 6 poABdos.”


TIPOBAHMA ¢
Ava tiv’ airiay axyvpo.s Kal inatiows tiv xvdva SvadvAdrrovat


Collocuntur hospes, Plutarchus


e¢ >
1. Mexpov obv 6 €vos diaduradv, “ ot Ep@vtes,””
aA a aA >
édn, “‘ pdAvora prev adtots tots matduKois, et de
pn, mept adt@v émOvpotor Sdiaréyec8ar: todro*
onl > \ \ /
mémovla qept THs yuovos. Emel yap ov mapeoTw
> ~ an / > #¢ > a“
ovd’ éxopev,® emiOuud* pabeiv, tis aitia du’ jv
1 7 after uaArov deleted by Basel edition.
2 todro Basel edition, tovrois radro Doehner: rovrois.
3 obdé AapPavew mobev Exouev Reiske: ovdd€ Exopuer.
4 So Leonicus: émupiav.
480


TABLE-TALK VI. 5-6, 691


_.“In another way also it is probable that thinner |
water is more easily refrigerated ; it is overpowered
cold because of its own weakness. Whetstones 4
and pebbles thin the water; they collect and pre-
cipitate any mud and solid matter that is carried in
it. This makes the water thinner and weaker, and
consequently more subject to cooling. Moreover,
lead is a naturally cold substance. For if triturated
with vinegar, it gives off the most refrigerant of
deadly drugs, lead acetate.’ Pebbles too are dense
to cool water all through, for any stone is a
oo solid of earth, chilled and compressed by
cold, the denser the colder. It is not surprising,
then, if both stone and lead by their solidity help to
increase the coldness of the water.”


QUESTION 6°
why snow is covered with straw and cloth to preserve it
Speakers: Plutarch and a guest


1. Arrer a pause the guest said, “ Lovers desire
above all to talk directly to the boys that they’re
fond of ; if they cannot, they desire at least to talk
about them. That is my case now with reference to
snow. Since there is no snow here and we can supply
none, I have a desire to be informed why it is pre-


* Or “ pigs of lead’: Aristotle apparently, according to
Plutarch, uses the term bicuilariys Cf. De Primo Frigido, 11,
949 ¢ eee, Mor. xii, pp. 248 ff., and notice particularly note
aon

me a Nat. Hist. xxxiv. 175 with Warmington’s
abe (LCL vo : ix), where the process of manufacture is de-
scribed.

¢ Excerpted by Psellus, De Omnifaria Doctrina, 155.


VOL, VIII R 481


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(691) dao THv Oeppotdrwy puddooerar. Kal yap axvpors
D orapyavobvres adr Kal meptoreMovres i, iwarious
ayvamros €mi moddv xpovov antatoTov SiaTnpod-
ow. Oavpaorov obv, et ovuvextiKa Ta Oeppotara

ey uxpotaroy €orl.”

_Kopidp y’» * PNY» eimep aAnbeés eat: odK
tyes 5’ ovtws, a.AX adtovs trapadoyiloueba, Gep-
pov €vOds" elvar TO Deppaivov troAapPdvovtes* Kal
Ta0l’ op@vres Ott TavTov ipatiov ev yeyua@ve Oep-
paivew® ev & HAiw ydyew yéyovev®: Wamep 1 Tpa-
yuxn) Tpopos exeivn Ta THs NwoByns téxva tOynvei-
TOL"

NertooTabyitwr* yAavidiwy €peimious

OdArovoa Kat pvdyovca.


Teppavot pev obvv Kpvous 7pdoPAnpna TOLOoVTAL THY
E éo6jra jovov, Aiiomes de Oa.Arous pLovov, jpets
O° dppoty. wore Ti paAdrov, «i Barre, Geppay
7 _poxpay amo Tod mepupdyew AeKkréov; ei de bei
TH aicOjcer Texpaipecdar, paArov av puxpa ye-
vouTo" KaL yap Oo xiT@Y wuypos jpiv mpoominter
TO Tp@Tov evovoapevois Kal TA OTPHPaTA KaTA-
KAwetow* elra pévTou ovvaheaiver Ths ap”? Hudv
TiyTrAd Leva. Deppactas Kal dua pev meptoteAAovra
Kal KaTexXovTa TO Deppov cpa OM | dmeipyovra TO
Kpvos Kat TOV efabev* dépa Tod owpatos. ot pev
obv TUPETTOVTES H Kavpatilopevor ouvex@s ad-
Adtrovor Ta ipatia TH" wvypov elvar Td émiPad-
1 So Stephanus: ev6d.
2 So Basel edition: @epuaive.
8 So Duebner: Aéyouer.


4 So Turnebus, Vulcobius, and, according to Wyttenbach,
y, Anonymus : Aemros 7dOn Tar.


482


TABLE-TALK VI. 6, 691


‘served by the hottest of materials. People swathe it
like an infant in straw, and wrap it in cloth of un-
fulled wool to keep it for a long time intact. It is
certainly astonishing that the warmest things should
be capable of preserving the coldest.”

2. “ Very much so, indeed,” I answered, “ if it is
true. But it isn’t so, and we mislead ourselves if we
assume that anything that warms is by the same to-
‘ken hot, especially when we see that the same gar-
ment can keep us warm in winter and yet cool in the
sun. Witness in tragedy the way the celebrated nurse
takes care of Niobé’s children,@


With fragments of fine-woven little garments,
Both warming and cooling them.


The German tribes use clothes for protection only
against cold, the Ethiopians against heat, and we

inst both. So why must we say that clothing is
“hot ”’ if it warms, rather than “ cold” because it
cools? If we are to judge by sense-impression, it
would rather be proved cool, for when we first put
on our undergarments, or lie down in the blankets,
their touch is cool. Afterwards, to be sure, they help
to warm us, after they have absorbed our body heat,
not only by enclosing and retaining the warmth, but
also by excluding the outer air with its chill. Sufferers
from fever or heat continually change their clothes
because of the momentary coolness of a fresh garment


@ Author unknown; Nauck, Trag. Gr. Frag., p. 839, frag.
7. Quoted more fully in Mor. 496 £ ; but note that the emen-
dation in LCL Mor. vi, p. 350, is inconsistent with the present


passage.





5 So Psellus, Doehner: d¢.
® So Benseler: fw.
7 So Basel edition: 70.


483


(691)
F


692


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Adpevov, av & emBAn Of}, Tapaxphyia ylyveoBar’
Deppov b70 Tob OWp.aToS. _@omrep obv nas Oep-
pravopevov Beppaiver TO iwdtiov, ovTws ay XLova.
suyopevov dvrumepupdyer’ pixerar 5 oar’ avris
dpuetons® medua Aertov: TotTO yap avvexer T7)V
mew adbtas éyKatakekAciopevov’: ameAPovros dé
Tob TVvEvpLaTos, VOwp ovaa pel Kal dvaTHKETAL, Kal
dmavbet To AevKOV Orep 1) TOD TVEVHLATOS Tpos TO
dy pov dvdyutis dadpwdys yevopLevyn Tmapetyev" dpa
T oby TO ux pov eyKarexeTau TEPLOTEYOLLEVOV TO
iwatiw, Kal 6 e€wlev anp dameipydopevos od Téuver
Tov mda&yov ovd avinow. ayvamrois dé TovTots
xpGvrar Tots iwatious* ™mpos TobTO S.A THY Tpa-
xvrNT4 Kal Enpornra THs KpoKvdos ovK edons
emumecely Bapd TO (wdtLov ovde ovvOXirpa TV
yavveTnta THS yLdvos: womep Kal TO axUpov dia
KovdoTnta padakds mepiniatov od Opiate. Tov
mayov, adAAws d€ muKvov €oTt Kal oTeyavov, WoTE
Kat 7)v° Oepuornta tod aépos ameipyew Kal Tv
wuypoTnta Kwrvew amvevar THs yLdvos. dtt 8 4
Tob mvebaTos dudKpiows epmrovel THY THEW, eupa-
vés €or Th aloOjoeu THKomEevn yap 7 sr mvedLa
qovet.””
1 yiveoOa Hubert: yiverat.


2 So Psellus, Doehner : ddetons.
3 So Psellus, Doehner: éyxaraxeijpevor.


484








TABLE-TALK VI. 6, 691-692


as it is first put on, though it immediately becomes
hot from the body.* Accordingly, a garment or piece
of cloth, just as it warms us while being warmed by
us, will likewise cool snow, while being cooled by it.
The cooling by the snow is due to a fine vapour that
is given off. This vapour, while locked in, maintains
the frozen condition of the snow, but as soon as it has
departed, the snow, being only water, becomes fluid
and melts away, losing the whiteness produced by
the frothy effect of the vapour mixed with water.
When snow is wrapped in cloth, the cold is held in by
the insulating effect of the cloth, which at the same
time excludes the outer air and prevents it from
bre: up and melting the frost. Unfulled material
is used for this because the roughness and dryness of |
the nap keeps the weight of the cloth from bearing ©
and compressing the loose structure of the snow.
Likewise, the straw, Ribyfiig no weight, makes a light
covering which does not crush the ice, yet is packed
close and tight enough to exclude the heat of the air
and prevent the escape of cold from the snow. That
the escape of vapour is the cause of melting is obvious
to the senses, for snow as it melts gives off steam.”


* Cf. Mor. 100 8.


a





* xpa@vrat rots iwarions added by Xylander.
5 So Basel edition : dozep.
® +i added by Leonicus.


485


(692)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA Z
Hi det rov olvov evdunbeiv


Collocuntur Niger, Aristio


1. Néypos’ 6 rrodirns adv amo cxoAfjs adixro
A > / / / > ,
avyyeyovws evddém didocddw xpovov od modvv,
sAye 3. © \ a ¥ \ > , 2
aA’ é€v dow Ta Tod avdpos od KaraAauPBavovtTes
averipmAavto TOV é7raxOav an’ adtod pyodpevor®
TO emiTyinTiKOV Kal éAéyyovTes* emt mavTl mpdy-
plate Tovs ouvdvtas. éoTi@vtos obv nuads “Api-
otiwvos, tTHv T adAnv xopnyiav ws moAuTeAR Kai
Treptepyov €ueudeto Kal Tov olvov ovK edn Seiv
0 6 Onpevov,” adAr, @ “Hoiod
eyyetabar* imOnpevov,’ a. aomep atodos
exeAcvoer, azo Tob mifov riveoBat THY ovpputov
ExovTa poopny | Kal Svvapw. “7 de _Towary «dBap-
ols avToo mpa@Tov pev jai es TO, vedpa. Kal TY
Oeppornra karaoBevyvow: efavbet yap Kal aromvel
vepwLevov™ moAAdxus.
"Exe:ta meprepyiav Kal kadhwmeopov eupaiver
Kal Tpugny eis 70 700 katavaAtoxovea TO XPHTWWLOV.
worep yap TO TOUS dAextpvovas exTepvely” Kal
TOUS Xotpous, drradgy avTav Tapa dvow TV odpKa.
mowobvtas Kal OydAcvav, ody UyrouvovTev éoriy
dvOparmrev aAXa SvePOappeveny d v770 Aixvetas, ouTws,
ei Set prerahopa ypnoapevov Aéyew,” e&evvovyi-
1 So Xylander from Mor. 131 a: Nixpos.

2 So Reiske : xaradapBavovros.

3 So Basel edition: ppovpevov.

4 So Basel edition: Aéyovros.
5 So Xylander : "Apiorwvos. § So Turnebus : edéyxeobat.
7 So Doehner: 7@nyévov. *® So Xylander : dvewpwpevov.


9 So Bernardakis: éxrepeiv.
10 So Xylander, éAéyyew Budaeus, Turnebus: €yew.


486








TABLE-TALK VI. 7, 692


QUESTION 7
Whether it is right to strain wine
Speakers: Niger, Aristion


1. My fellow-townsman Niger * had returned from
a brief course of instruction under a noted philoso-
pher. The time had been long enough, however, for
students, though they might not take hold of the
man’s teaching, to catch some of his annoying habits.
They would reproduce his censorious manner and
take the company to task on every possible occasion;
so, when we were entertained at dinner by Aristion,
Niger began to find everything too costly and elabo-
rate. Specifically, he told us that wine ought not to
be filtered, but ought to be drunk straight from the
winejar, according to Hesiod’s prescription,? with all
its natural power and strength. “Purifying it like
this,” said he, “‘ cuts out its sinew and quenches its
fire. There is a loss of bloom and a dissipation of the
bouquet from the repeated straining.

“In the second place, this practice reflects a
tendency to over-refinement, vainglory, and luxury,
and sacrifices the useful in favour of the pleasurable.
To castrate pigs and cocks, making their flesh un-
naturally soft and effeminate, is typical of men whose
health and character are ruined by gluttony. Just
so, if I may use the metaphor, do people caponize


* Niger or Nigros is known only from this passage and the
De Tuenda Sanitate (LCL Mor. ii, pp. 260-261) where there is
an account of his death in Galatia on a lecture tour. The
present passage seems to prove that he caméfrom Chaeronea,
as Ziegler thinks (op. cit. 679).

> Works and Days, 368: “* when the jar is first opened.”
But this is far from close.

487


(692)


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


1 \ ” Ae , €
Covet’ tov dkpatov Kat amoblnAvvovaw ot din-


~ v7 9 ” > > /
D Oodvres, ott’ adbbovov® tm’ acbeveias ove triveww’®


feb


/ / \ \ > / > \ /
petpiov Suvdevor Sid, TV aKpactav: aAAa oddiopa.
Toor é€oTlv avrois Kal pnydvnua modAvmocias:
> eae \ A ” iiss , \ “a
efarpodor' dé Tod olvov to euBpibds, to Aeiov
aoAurovtes, @omep OL Tots aKpaT@s Exovar Tpos
puxporrootay dppwarous apeympevov' duddvTEs* 6 TL
yap oTOLwpa Tod olvov Kal Kpatos* €oTlv, TOOT
év TO dwAiCew eSarpobar' Kal daroxpivovot. péya
de° TeKUHpLoOV v1) Aia dbopas” ro py) Svapevew GAN’
efioracbar Kal papativesdar, Kabdrrep dro pins
KoTrevTa THS Tpuyos* ot be maXdavol Kal Tpbya TOV
otvov dvtTiKpus €xdAovv, wormep pox Kal kepahny
Tov davOpwrrov eto Baprev amo TOV Kupuntaroov
drroxopileobar, Kal Tpuyav Aéyouev Tovs Spemro-
jevous TH dmehivyy Orraspay, Kal * Suarpdyvoy ’
TOU “Opnpos elpnKev, avTov Oe TOV olvov * alfora, ’
Kal " Epub pov © clube KaXety: Ovy | ws *Apiotiwv
my Wypi@vra Kal yAwpov bd THs moAAjs Kab-
dpoews TApEXETAL.

2. Kai 6 “Apiotiov vyeAdoas, “ obdK OXpUBvT ,””
eivev, ‘“ @ way, ove dvaipov’ , GAAG perAtxvov Kal
jpepionv, amo THs oipews avThs mpatov. av
avis Tod vuKTepwvod Kal peAavatyidos se
So Leonicus: efovvyifovar.

So Hubert, dépew Wilamowitz, dopety Xylander: ¢povetv.
rov after zivew deleted by Hubert.

So Duebner: é€aipovot.

ro Aetov Stephanus: téAeov.

So Basel edition: adnyapévov.

So Basel edition: dxparos.

So Duebner : efaipovor. ® §€ added by Basel edition.


10 yi Ata dbopas Reiske, rijs 5:apPopas Basel edition: 7 d.a-
dopa: Kai.


488


on on FF WO NHN eH


TABLE-TALK VI. 7, 692


and emasculate wine, filtering it because they are too
poor in health to drink hard and too intemperate to
drink in moderation. Why, this is nothing but a
trick, a contrivance that enables them to drink on
and on, since it takes the heaviness out of wine and
leaves it smooth. It reminds me of the way that
water is boiled for patients unable to control their
thirst for cold liquids. Some substance that consti-
tutes the edge and power of the wine is removed and
lost in the process of filtering. Now a positive indica-
tion of the destructive power of this process is that
filtered wine does not keep its quality, but weakens
and fades as if cut off from its root, that is, the lees.
The ancients even went so far as to call wine ‘ lees,’ a
just as we affectionately call a person‘ soul ’ or‘ head ’

from his ruling part. So we use érygén” of those
who gather the harvest of the vine, and Homer some-
where has the expression diatrygios, ‘yielding try it
throughout the season,’ and is accustomed to apply

to wine itself the adjectives ‘ fiery-looking ’ (aithops)
and * red,’ and not—as Aristion serves it— pale’ and

“bilious-looking ’ from excessive purification.”

2. Aristion laughed and said, “‘ Not bilious-looking;
my dear dalimcoe nor bloodless, but mellow and sunny,’
as appears first of all in its face. But you want us to
fill up on wine dark as night and sable-palled,* and

~~ @ The same word (tryx) is used for “ lees” and “ fresh
wine” or “* must.”

» Plutarch takes this as meaning “to gather lees,”’ but
tp¥yn, the immediate source of the verb, is used vie harvested

as well as of vintage, not s


pecifically of m
© From jyepos (tame, cultivated) ; the form ined os
a cultivated vine, but is wae) here as the opposite of “


turnal, ” as by nen
DUBEE by Aca! Gone, 66b: of ah Erinya yterally”“
dark Gegiit


VOL. VIII R* 489


(692)
F


693


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


\ / A / v / >
Kat weyers tHv Kd0apow domep yoAnpeciav
hs’ tO Bapd Kail peOvotikov aduels® Kal vooddes
> \ \ » > ~ . , & e
ekadpos Kal dvev opyfs avapytyvuTar jpiv, ofov
"SS / / \ ¢ ” ‘ ]

Lnpos dyno. wivew Tods ypwas: alforra yap ov
Kade? tov Codepdv, adda Tov Svavyh Kal Aapmpdv:

> A A > / oe Se tin’ , we 7
ov yap av, w dire, tov* ‘ edijvopa’ Kal ‘ vwpoma
yaAkov ’ ‘ailora’ mpoonydpevev.

““Qomep obv 6 oodds *Avdyapois GAN drra

an ¢ 7 / > / \ > ,
tov “EXNAjvwv peudpdopevos emiver tiv avOpaxei-

ao¢ \ \ ” , ” a
av* ott Tov Kamvov e€w Katadimovtes olKade Trip

/ A ¢ ~ >y> ey nn“ 4
Kopilovaw, ovTws uds ep’ érépois dv wéyoure

GAA e { -e val > be ~ w ‘

LaAAov ot cogoi tpeis ef 5€ TOD olvov TO TapaK-
\ \ > ~ > , \ > /,
TiKOV Kal oxADdes eEwlovpevor Kat amooKedacar-
tes, adtov d€ daidptvortes® od KadAwmicavtes, 00d"
WoTTEp oLoi}pov oTéuwpa Kal aku amoKoavres,

> A ~ a | a“ cs > /

aAAd padXov domep idv 7) pdmov amoxabdpaytes
/ / ~ ce \ /

mpoopepopeba, ti mAnpupeAocduev; ‘ote vy Ala

/ > / \ / > \ A EA
mA€ov ioxver un Sinfovpevos’* Kat yap avOpwros,
® ire, dpevetifwv Kai pawopevos: add’ Grav
2A B / / “” 5 , ~ \ 4
e\\cBopw xpynoduevos 7 Suaitn KaTaoTH, TO pev
aodpov é€keivo Kal avvTovoy olxeTar Kal yéyovev
efitndov, 4 8 aAnOwi Svvapis Kal owdppootyy


1 8 #s Meziriacus: eis (s in erasure).

2 So Stephanus, ddeis Basel edition: dduet.

3 av, ® dire, tov Pohlenz, adv 6 A¢ywy Wyttenbach: avw-
dreywv.

4 avOpaxeiav Hubert: dvOpaxcav.

® 8€ padpivovres Reiske, -avtes Wyttenbach: & eddpaivor-


TES.


4.90


TABLE-TALK VI. 7, 692-693


you find fault with purification in terms that suggest
the purging of bile; actually, it is a means to rid
the wine of heavy, intoxicating, morbid elements and
make it light in the mixture and free from anger, as
Homer ¢ says the heroes drank. For aithops in Homer
doesn’t mean ‘murky’? but ‘translucent’ and
“gleaming ’; otherwise, my dear friend, he wouldn’t
have called bronze aithops as well as “ manly’ and
* flashing.’

“Wise Anacharsis,° while objecting to other traits
and customs of the Greeks, praised their use of char-
coal, by which they left the smoke out of doors and
brought only the fire into the house. Similarly, you
learned people might better find fault with us on-
other grounds. No, even if we do extract and banish
from wine its disturbing and offensive element,
brightening without bedizening it,? not taking off the
fine temper of its edge as from steel or iron, but
rather cleaning away corrosion and dirt before we
partake of it, why are we wrong in doing that?

Why, because,’ you say, ‘ wine is stronger unfil-
tered.’ Yes, my friend, so is a madman stronger in
his frenzy. But when he recovers, after a dose of
hellebore or some curative regimen, his violence and
tension are eradicated and disappear, while genuine
strength and soundness of mind return to his sys-

* See below, Table-Talk, ix, 736 p: an interpretation of
Achilles’s invitation to the single combatants at the funeral
feast of Patroclus as implying that Achilles desired them to
lay aside any ror ill will that might have arisen between
them (Jliad, . 810). Another ibility is that in Jliad
ix. 224 (ef. 260) the drinking symbolizes the attempt to re-
concile Achilles and Agamemnon.

> In some late authors aithops means “ black.”

* A Scythian wise man who travelled in Greece c. 630 B.c.

# Or, “ removing the dirt without adding rouge,” Post.


491


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(693) Tapaylyverat T@ obpati ovtw 87) Kai 9 xdBapors
Too oivov TO mucreKov agaipotoa Kal paviKor,
eis mpaetav €€w Kal vyiaivovoay Kabiornar.

be Heptepyiav om oluar mayitrohy Siadepew Kaba-
ploTntos*: Kal yap at yuvaikes puKovpevar Kal
puprlopevat Kat ypvoov opotcat Kat Tmoppupav
Teptepyou dokovow, Aoutpov d€ Kal GAeyipo. Kal
KOULNS pour ovdels alTLaTaL. XaplevTws dé TH
Svapopay 6 montis émdeikvucw él THS KoC-
povpevns “Hpas,


apuBpooin bev 7mp@tov amo ypoos alavarouo®
QO Avpata mavra Kabnpev, arg«ciibato dé Aim’ é€daiw:


péxpt ToUTwr émipéAcia* KabapidtyTds eoTw* STaVv
d€ Tas ypvods mepdvas avaAauBavyn Kai Ta SunKpi-
Bwpeva réxyvn €AACBia Kal teAevTHoa THs epi
TOV KEOTOV ANTHTAL YoHnTElas, TEplepyia TO xpHLa
Kal Aapupia 1) TpéTOvea yapeTH yeyovev. ovKOdV
Kat Tov olvov ot ev adAdais ypwrilovTes 7) KiV-
vapwpous Kal KpoKois epydvvovtes WoTrep yuvatka
KadAwmilovow «is Ta GupTdoia Kal mpoaywyev-
ovow: of &° adaipobvres TO puTapov Kal adxpynoTov”
ef adtod Depamevovor Kal Kafaipovow. émet mdvT
D dv elmo. Tatra mepiepyiav, apEdpevos amo Tod
olKov" Tl yap ovTws Kekoviatat; Tid avéewye Tod
TEpLe XOVTOS dlev-av padvora mvedua AapBavor Ka-
fapov Kat Tod pros dmoAator | TEpuovTos® ent TAS
dvcets ; ; ti O€ TOV exTTMpaTov EKQOTOV exTeTpiT Tau
Kal Suéopnerar mavrax obey o wore Adpurew Kal 7repi-


oriABew; 7) TO pev Exmmp’ dev pr pvrov p7de


1 So Reiske: xafapérnrtos. 2 So Doehner: 6pvypw.
492


TABLE-TALK VI. 7, 693


tem. Just so, clarifying removes the violent, insane
element and brings the wine into a gentle, whole-
some state.

“ Being finical is to me a far cry from being clean.
When women wear rouge, perfume, and gold and
purple, they are considered too showily dressed ; but
no one takes exception to bathing, the use of oil, or
shampooing. Homer brings out the difference very
neatly in his lines on Hera adorning herself ¢ :


First with ambrosia she cleaned all soil from her person.
- Then with sleek oil she anointed herself.


So far she is showing concern for cleanliness, but when
she picks up those gold brooches and finely wrought
earrings, and, lastly, turns to the witchery of Aphro-
dité’s magic band, it is plainly a case of overdoing
things and of wanton conduct unbecoming to a wife.
Even so, those who colour wine with aloes or sweeten
it with cinnamon or saffron are adorning it like a
woman's face in preparation for a gay party, and are
acting as a kind of pander ; those who draw off the
impurities and unpalatable elements are simply tend-
ing and cleaning it. You might speak of everything
we have here as overelaboration, beginning with the
house. For why is it stuccoed as it is ?. And why is it
open to catch the pure air of heaven and enjoy the
light as the sun moves round to its setting ? Why is
each cup scoured and polished so as to gleam and
glitter all over? Must the cup be free of fusty, vile


@ Iliad, xiv. 170.


ipepdevros Homer.
kal after émyéAeva deleted by Hubert.
So edition, E, and a corrector of T: dypiorov.
®§ So Reiske: epidvros, which may stand, as from the
compound of elu, see LSJ.
493





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(693) poyOnpias ddwdos elvar, To 8 €& adbtod muwvdpmevov
evpOTos 7 KnAidwv avaretAjoba;
“ce K ‘ / Py ~ \ tAA A / = ¢ \ > ~ ~
ai ti det ta GAda Héyew; 7 yap adrod Tod
mupod Sdiamdvnois’ eis Tov apTov, ovdev ETEpoV 7
Kd0apats oboa, Oéaca pe” Sons yiyverar Tpaypa-
Telas* ov yap povov brocKkadiopol Kal dvatTHoeELs”
E kat damoxpices® Kat dSiaxpices elicit TOY ottiwv
Kal t@v aAAotpiwv* adr’ 7 tpifis exOAiBovoa Tod
dupdpatos TO Tpaxd Kal 7 més e€tKpadlovoa To
bypov’ Kabaipovat Kal avotéAAovat tiv VAnV «Eis
avTo TO edwWdyLov. Ti odv AToOTOV, Ei KaL TOD OiVvoU
\ ~ ¢ / a“ , e ,
TO Tpvy@des ws Kpipvov 7 oKtBadrov 7 dinOnats
e€aipet’ pnte Samavns twos TH Kabdpoer pyr
aoyoXias moAAfs mpocovens;””’


IITPOBAHMA H
Tis airia BovAinov
Collocuntur Plutarchus, Soclarus, Cleomenes, alii


/ ” / a ¢ A + Tees.
1. Qvoia tis €or waTpLos, HV O ev Apywy Em
load “ e / a ~ a a . a
Ths Kowhs éotias Spd tav 8 adAAwv Exaotos er

” a \ ¢¢ / ¢/ ) ‘ ~
olxou: KaAeirar dé “‘ BovAiwou €&€Aaats ’’* Kat THY

> ~ Lu / > / cs \ ~
F oixetav eva tUrtovtes ayvivais paPdors dia Oupav


1 So Basel edition: Scamvénats.
2 So Anonymus, Stephanus: 8cairyoets.
3 So Stephanus: dzoxpovcets.
4 So Turnebus, ax vpiv Pohlenz: dAetpiwv.


5 xai after vypov omitted in g.
6 So Duebner: éfaipe..





* Excerpted by Psellus, De Omnifaria Doctrina, 156. Plu-
tarch seems to refer to our discussion in Life of Brutus, xxv
jin.


4.94


TABLE-TALK VI. 7-8, 693


odours, while the drink that we take from it is con-
taminated with scum and filth ? |

“ What need to go on with the list ? Observe how
much activity is required merely to make wheat into
bread, though the process is nothing but one of puri-
fication ; it involves more than merely the winnowing
and sifting, the extraction and separation of the grain
from the foreign matter. The grinding which crushes
out the bran, and the baking which dries out the
moisture further purify and reduce the material to
its proper edible form. What wonder then if the lees
of wine are removed too by filtering, like any sedi-
ment or refuse, especially since the process involves
neither extra expense nor any great trouble ?”


QUESTION 82
The cause of bulimy ”
Speakers: Plutarch, Soclarus, Cleomenes and others


1. Tuere is a traditional rite of sacrifice, which the
archon performs at the public hearth but everyone
else at home, called the driying out of bulimy. They
strike one of the servants with wands of agnus castus


> BovApos, BovAxuia: often translated ‘‘ ox-hunger’’ or
“* voracious ae tite’; cf. Paulus ex Festo, De Significatu
Verbor. 32 ‘bulimam Graeci magnam famem dicunt.”
From the present passage we see that the meaning is not
altogether clear, and Wilhelm Schulze (Kuhns Zeitschrift,
xxxili (1895), p. 243), has shown that the etymology from
“ox” is doubtful. Cf. “ vim quandam famis non tolera-
bilem ” in Aulus Gellius, xvi. 3. 9 f., where-a_ quotation from
Erasistratus on the subject is introduced. flagellation
ag geniuses cf. G. Soury, La Démonologie de Plutarque,
53.


p-
495


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


. /
(693) e€eAadvovow, éemAédyovres “ Ew BovAyiov’ gow Se
IlAodrov Kat ‘Yyieav.” dpyovtos otv éeuod
/ 5 “~
694 aAeloves Exowavour THs Ovaias: Kal’ cs erounoa-
A
fev 7a vevopuopeva Kai maAw KatexdAivnper, €ly-
TeiTo mp@tov brep avtod Tob ovopyaros, emeita
n~ rt a“ >; , ~
Ths dwvhs jv émA€yovot TH SwwKopevm, padvora
S° dep Tob 7dafovs Kal THv Kat adTo yryvopevwr.
A A Ss \ > , / a) / >
TO prev odv Aypov eddKer peyav 7) Snudo.vov azo-
/ /, ’ e ~~ nw ~~
onpaivew, Kal pddvora map apiv tots AtoAetow
5 ‘ ~ ~ , ° A , 5 A
av7t To B TH 7 Ypwpevots* od yap BovApov, aAAa
+r 2 e XS ” X * 3 9 ,
movAyov, olov moddv ovta Ayov,® dvoydloper.
eddxer 5° 1 PBovBpwortis ErTepov* elivary TO de
7 >; 4 , ~ A >
Texpnpiov €AauBavopev ex TOV Mytpoddpov *Iw-
~ A / a a
viuk@v* toTopel yap, OTe Lpvpvator to madAaov
B Aiodeis évtes Aovor BovBpwdaore: tadpov pédava
Kat Katakowavtes avTddopov dAoKavTobaw. mei
\ A \ ” 5 \ ; , ee ue
dé was pev €oixev® Aywos vow, padtora 8 6
/ ~~
BovAmos, OTe yiyverar® mafovtos mapa dvow Tob
tA
OWmaTos, ElKOTWS aVTITATTOVOW Ws peVv eVvdeia
w~ A / \ ~
Tov TAobTOV Ws bé Voow THY Dyietav: Ws dé vavTLav
~ J \ A ~ A
wvopdobn pev emt TOV ev vyl Kata TAObY TOV OTO-
s vA 20 8° ” “fs) A A
payov exAvopevwr, Ger loxuKev 70 Kal KaTa
~ ~ ~~ + ~
TOV OTWwoobv TOOTO TAaGYOVTwWY OvojLa TOD maBouS
@ + A \ rv ~ , 70 5 ,
elvar, ovTws apa Kai TO BovApudy exeifev apéd-
1 Capitals due to Wilamowitz.
2 So Turnebus, Xylander, ¢f. Psellus: oAvAmov.
3 zoAdy évra Aysdv Reiske, woAdy dvta maAw g: modvvoy ma-


Aw T.
4 ody erepov Madvig, Hartman, €repov tovodrov Pohlenz.


4.96


TABLE-TALK VI. 8, 693-694


and drive him out of doors, chanting, “ Out with
Bulimy, in with Wealth and Health.” When I was
archon,® a larger number than usual participated in
the public rite. After we had completed the ritual
acts and returned to our places at table we discussed
first the term bulimy (bulimos), then the formula
which they repeat as the servant is driven out, and
especially the affliction itself and the particulars of a
case of it. The name, we thought, signified a great
or general famine, especially among us Aeolians who,
in our dialect, use p for b; we pronounce not bulimos
but pulimos as if to say polys limos (famine multiplied).
We decided that bubrostis (ravenous appetite) is differ-
ent, on the evidence of Metrodorus’s® History of
Tonia.“ Metrodorus records that the people of
Smyrna, originally Aeolians, sacrifice to Bubrostis a
black bull, which they cut up and burn entirely, hide
and all, on the altar. Now, since any kind of starva-
tion, and particularly bulimy, resembles a disease, in-
asmuch as it occurs when the body has been affected
by an unnatural condition, people quite reasonably
contrast it with the normal state, as they do want
with wealth and disease with health. Nausea got its
name with reference to those whose omaha are
upset on a ship (aus) at sea, but by dint of usage the
term is now applied to any similar case of upset, no
matter how it comes about. Just so, the term bulimy,
originating as I have said, has developed to its present


@ Table-Talk, ii. 10. 1, 642 F.
P h Erokebly Metrodorus of Chios, RE, s.v. (no. 14), cols.
1 5 *
© Frag. Griech. Historiker (Jacoby), 43 ¥ 3.





5 6 before deleted by Herwerden, Hubert.
8 Gre yiverac Hubert, émyiverar Turnebus: émyiveoBa.


497








PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


694 > 50 PS) / ~ 4 > »”
(694) wevov evratla dueTewev. Tatra pev ovv Epavov
KoLoV ek TavTWY ouVveTrAnpodpeV’ Adywv."
> \ 923 € , A 27 aA ,
2. ’Emed7 8° Arrdpeba tis aitias Tod mabovs,
C ap@rov pev yropyOn To padvora BovdAyway tods
dua yLovos toAAfs Badilovras, womep Kat Bpodros
> A / A >A. AA / 9’. ae 5 4
ex Avppayiov mpos ’AzroAAwviay iav* éxwdvvevcev
bo Tod 7daBous: Hv 5é videtos troAvds Kal TOV TA
/ / b) \ > / ~
citia Kopulovtwy ovdeis eEnxoAovber: Avrrobupodv-
Tos ovv avToU Kal azoAumovTos, hvayKacbnoay ot
OTpaTL@Tat MpoodpapovTes Tots TElyeaw GapTov
aitjoa mapa THY TerxopvAdKwy Todewiwy ovTwr’:
Kat AaBovres edOds avextioavto Tov Bpobrov: 510
Kal diravOpdimws éexpicato maou Kvpios THs m0-
News yevopevos. macyovot Sé TobTo Kal immo Kal
a” 6 \ / > bid 7 > / a” ~ /
dvot,° Kal pardiof sérav’ icyddas 7 phAa Kopi-
D Cwow. 6 Sé Oavpacwstarov oti, odK avOpartrous
/ LAAG \ / tA / > bd
povov GAAd Kal KTHVn pddALoTa TavTwY €dwdipwr
dvappwvvuew aptos: wote, Kav €AdyioTov euda-
ywouw, toravta’ Kat BadiLovor.
3. Tevouevns 5é€ ciwwmfs, ey ovvvody ott Ta
~ / > /, A > \
TOV mpEeaBuTepwv EmlyEelpypaTa TovS pEV apyovs
Kal aduels olov avatraver Kat avamipmAnat, Tots dé
Xr / \ r >* / > \ > 518 > /
diroripos Kat PiroAdyous apynv evdidwow otKeiav


1 So Amyot, cuvverAjpovv Meziriacus : ovverAjpou.

2 So Turnebus, Xylander: Aéywyv.

3 érevd7) 8° Benseler: ézel 5€ 37.

4 iwv added by Madvig.

5 évrwv added by Paton, Castiglioni.

8 jpuiovor Psellus (Migne, Patrol., but Kal dvou cat Hu. acc.
to Hubert). 7 7 after drav deleted by Psellus, Doehner.

8 So Stephanus: éav daywouw.

® foravrat Doehner (€d00s icravrar Psellus): idvrat.





@ Cf. the stylistic device at iv. 4. 2, 668 D, supra.
4.98











TABLE-TALK VI. 8, 694


meaning. This was the picnic of argument to which
we all brought our share.?

2. But when we undertook to account for the cause
of the affliction, the first question we considered was
why bulimy attacks especially those who walk
through heavy snow,” like Brutus ° on the way from
Dyrrachium to Apollonia, when his life was en-
dangered by this affliction. There was a heavy snow,
and none of the provision train kept up with him, so
that when he grew faint and lost consciousness, the
troops were forced to run up to the walls and beg
bread from the guards on the enemy side. When
they got it, they immediately succeeded in reviving
Brutus.¢ This explains why he treated all the in-
habitants humanely when he gained possession of the
town. Horses and donkeys also suffer from bulimy,
especially when transporting dried figs and apples.
The most astonishing thing of all is that bread re-
stores strength not only to man but to beast better
than any other food ; so much so that if sufferers take
even a morsel of it they get on their feet and go on.

8. There was a silence during which I etiedted
that to the idle and dull the solutions of their pre-
decessors * to such questions provide only a chance
to imbibe and be content ; to an eager ahioted how-
ever, they present an opening and incentive for

> Cf. the quotation from Erasistratus referred to in the
sce hoe bulimos above: the affliction is commoner in cold
weather.

¢ See The Life of Brutus, xxv f. (LCL vol. vi, pp. 180-183).

4 This experience closely resembles that of Kitioption’s
Sn — suffered from bulimy as reported-in Anabasis, iv.

¢ The reference may be to “ the older men ” who partici-


pated in the discussions at Plutarch’s school. R#, s.v. ‘* Plu-
tarchos,”’ col. 663, ll. 50 f.
499


(694)


=


695


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


Kal ToAWav él TO Cnretv Kal divixvevew Tv aAj-

evav, pro Ony TOV “ApiorotehuK@v, ev ols Aéye-
Tat, OT, moAAjs mrepupdtews yevoperns e&wlerv,
exDeppaiverat opodpa TO evTOs Kal moAd ovvrny}ia.
moet: todTo 8’, éav prev emi Ta OKEeAN put, KdmOUS
amepyalerar kai BaptyTas, eav 8 emt Tas THs Kt-
vycews Kal THs avamvons apxds, abvyiav* Kal
acbeverav.

‘Omep ovv €iKOs, TOD Aoyou AcxO€vtos emepatvero,
Trav prev emidvopevwv TO Soypare Tov oe Drepou-
kodvtwv. (4) LdkAapos Sé tiyy d-pyxny Eby Tod
Adyou KdAXvoTa Ketobar trepupdyecbar yap ixavds*
kal muxvovobat Ta ompara TOV Badilovrwy bua
Xeovos: TO O€ OUYTNYPO TH Deppornra movetv kal
tobTo KataAapBdavew Tas dpyas THS dvamvorjs
aitnuat@des elvary pwaddov otv Soxety abt@ tiv
Beppotyta ovotedAopevnv Kat mAeovalovoay e€v-
Tos avaXickew Thy tpodyy, elt’ émAevrovons Kal
avuTyv® womep tip amopapaivecbar S10 mewdct
odddpa Kail Bpayd mavreAds eudaydvtes evOds
dvaAdprovat: yiyvetat yap womep bTEeKKavpa* THs
Oepuotntos TO TpoaPepopevor.

5. KAeopuevns 8’ 6 iatpos aAAws edn TO ovopare
TOV Apov ovvreTax Gar dixa Tod TpadyMaTos , Bamep
TO Karamivew TO mivew Kal TO" AVAKUTTEW To"
KUTTEW: od yap elvar Ayov, Wamep SoKel, TV


1 7 before Kai deleted by Reiske.
2 icxupds Psellus, Doehner. # So Bases, Capelle: adris.
4 So Xylander, Junius: téxAvpa.
TO Basel edition : TOL.
6 +@...70 Turnebus: ro... 70.





@ Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems, 888 a 1 ff. Cf. 884 a 13 and
500





TABLE-TALK VI. 8, 694-695


boldly seeking and tracking down the truth, on his
own. Then I brought up the Aristotelian passage *
in which it is stated that when there is great cold
outside the body the inward parts become exceed-
ingly heated and produce a great deal of morbid
liquefaction. Now if the liquefied matter collects in
the legs it causes fatigue and heaviness ; if it gathers
at the roots of motor energy or of respiration, it causes
fainting and weakness.

“Naturally enough, when I had said that, the dis-
cussion continued, some attacking and others defend-
ing Aristotle’s theory. (4) Soclarus said that the
first part of the argument was sound. It was true
that. the bodies of those who travel through snow


_are quite chilled and congealed ; but to argue that


heat produces abnormal liquefaction which clogs the
centres of respiration was to beg the question, accord-
ing to him. He preferred the view that the heat is
contracted and too much concentrated internally, so
that it uses up the supply of food ; and then, like fire
when the fuel gives out, the heat itself dies down.
This explains both why, in the cold, people suffer
severe hunger, and why, when they eat the slightest
morsel of food, they have a quick flare-up of energy.
The food consumed acts as a kind of fuel to rekindle
the heat.

5. Cleomenes the physician, however, said that the
word limos (hunger) in the compound signifies noth-
ing as to the facts, just as the word & inein. (to
swallow) differs from the simple verb pinein (to drink),
or tein (to bob up) differs from fyptein (to lean
forward). Bulimy is not, as people think, hunger


889 a 36. Below at 696 pv Plutarch seems to consider this
work authentic.


501


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(695) BovrAiiav, dAAad mafos ev 7H" oTopaxep da ouv-
Spopny Geppod” Auroyuxtav Towbdv. wor7rep ov
Ta ooppayra, mpos Tas Avrobupias Bonbeiv, Kat
TOV aptov® dvaAapBdverv® TOUS Bovrudvras, ovrx
OTe Tpophs éevdeets elou (uiKpov cyoov Tavrdmacw
AaBovres® avalwrupotow), add’ ote TO med pia Kal
THY ddvapw dvaxahetrat Katapepopevny. ore 8
€OTL Aurobupia. Kat ov meiva, under TO TOv v7r0-
Cuyiwy: 7) yap® t&v icyddwy amopopa Kai Tov
pjAwy evderav prev od qrovet, Kapdwwypov dé tia
paAAov Kai v7 AV eiAvyyov."

B 6. ‘Hyiv dé Kal Tabra peTpiws eddKet Aéyeobar,
Ka! amo THS evavTias apyjs Suvarov elvar, pe)
TUKVwWOW aad’ dpaiwow drrofepevors, diacdoa TO
mBavov. TO yap daroppéov med pa. Tis xLdvos €ati
puev olov _aibiip TOU méyou Kal bhypa Aeropepeé-
OTaToV, exer d€ TU TOHLOV Kal SvarperuKov od capKos
jLovov NAG deal dpyupav Kal xnav ayyeiwv:
Op@pev yap Tatra p17) oréyovta THY xLova* mVvEo-
per | yap avaNioKeTat Kal TV €KTOS emupdvevav
Tob ayyeiov votidos avaripmAno. AemTHs Kal Kpv-
ataAdoedots, Hv* amoAcimre: TO mvedjua dia TOV
Topwv adyjAws amepxopevov. Todto 62 Tots Badi-

C Covar dia yidvos o€d Kal droyoewdés mpoonimtov
emikaiew SoKel Ta Akpa TH Téuvew Kat mapeAbeiv™
Th capKi, kabdmep TO mip: dbev™ apaiwors yiyverar
TEpL TO o@ma toad? Kal pet TO Oeppov €&w Kai
dia” rihv pvypotnta Tod mvevpatos Trept TIVv em-

1 + added by Doehner from Psellus.
2 So Psellus, Doehner: Auod.
8 So Basel edition : adrov.


4 xai before rovs deleted in Basel edition.
5 NaBovres Wyttenbach : dvadaPdvrtes.


502


TABLE-TALK VI. 8, 695


(limos), but a pathological state of the stomach that
causes fainting by concentration of heat. Just as
smelling-salts are useful in cases of fainting, so bread
revives those suffering from bulimy; not because
they are starved (for the very slightest morsel re-
kindles the spark of life), but because the bread
summons back the sinking energy and vital breath.
That it is a fainting weakness, not hunger, is indicated
by the case of draught animals ; the exhalations from
dried figs and apples do not produce a deficiency but
rather a sort of heartburn, yes, and dizziness.

6. We found this reasonable enough, yet felt that
it was possible to make out a good case on the

: hypothesis that what occurs is not condensa-
tion but dilation. The vapour emitted by snow is, as
it were, an aura of frost or a very fine dust. It has
a piercing, separative effect not only on flesh but on
vessels of silver and bronze; we know by observa-
tion that these vessels are not impermeable to snow,
which exudes and evaporates, covering the exterior
surface with a fine, icy dew that is deposited by the
vapour as it passes impeceptibly through the vessel's
pores. When people travel Avoca. snow, this
vapour, with its sharp and flamelike touch, seems to
burn the extremities, cutting and biting * into the
flesh like fire. Hence considerable dilation occurs in
the body; its heat escapes and, because of the cold


* The ms. has “ entering.’’ See textual note.





® So Meziriacus: ra.


’ : A? te Reiske, uvyyov Meziriacus’: SueArypdv.

8 xai added by Reiske. ® jv Basel edition: 7.
~ mapeaiew ves oapKés Hubert, perhaps apeweAdeiv
** penetrate.” mip dbev Turnebus : mupubev.


22 $a for cai hineyenes, 6 oa &a Turnebus: xai.


503


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(695) pavevav oBevvdjrevov idspara Spooddy Svarpiler
Kat Aerrov, wore THKecBau Kat dvadioxecBar' TV
Sdvapuy. €av ev odv navydaly tis, od mrohhn Tob
CW[LAaTos dmépxeTa Oepporns: orav de Thy peev
tpopiv Tob owparos Kivnow eis TO Depyov
of€ws peraBadAn TO dé beppov efw PEpyrat,
Siaxpiwvopevns THs capKds, alpdav avayKn THs

D duvdpews emiheupu yeveobar.
"Ori dé TO exypdyecbar od mHyvvcw povov adda
Kal THKEL TO odpara, dijAov €oTw* ev puev yap ToIs
preydAous yeyw@ow dcovat podiBdou SuaTnKopevae
TO TE THS apidpucews Kal TO rodiots pa TEWAGL
ouprintew tv BovAipiacw dapaiwow* Katnyopet
padr\ov Kat ptow 7 mvKVwWoW TOD owpaTos.
apavodvrat dé yeuyi@vos pév, wWorrep elpyntat, TH
Tod mvevpatos® AertétynTt, GAAws dé Tod KdzrOU
Kal THS KWHCEwWSs dmoguvovans TH" ev TO odpare
Beppornra Aer77) ‘yap yevopevn Kal Kom@oa pet
TroAdy kal Svaczetperau ua Tob Twparos. Ta O€
pra Kat Tas toxyddas eikds amomveiv TL TOLODTOY,
E wote TOv tbrolvyiwv To Oeppov drroAenrivew Kal
karaKepparilery’ adda yap dAdo woTrep avadap-
be Kal Katadvecbar mépuxev.
xai before ry deleted by Meziriacus, who added xai be-
tote mrepl Ti emupaveray above.


2 dpaiwow added by Reiske here, read below in place of «ai
puow by Meziriacus.


504


TABLE-TALK VI. 8, 695


vapour from the snow, is diminished at the surface
and gives off a fine, dewy sweat, so that energy is
dissolved and expended. If a man is inactive, not
much is lost of the body’s heat ; but when the move-
ment of the body causes quick conversion of food into
heat, and the heat flows off as the flesh opens, then
it is inevitable that a complete collapse of strength
should occur.
- That chilling may not only freeze but melt bodies
is manifest: the melting of lead whetstones* in
severe winters, the phenomenon of sweating, and
the fact that bulimy attacks many when they are not
hungry indicate porosity and liquefaction rather than
ression in our bodies. During winter, as has
been said, bodies are made porous by the fineness of
the cold vapour, especially when fatigue and motion
make the heat in the body more intense ; attenuated
and weakened,” it overflows and is dispersed through
the body. It is probable that dried figs and apples
give off an exhalation of a sort that causes extreme
attenuation and fragmentation of heat in pack
animals. For by nature different creatures are so to
speak revived or collapse from different causes.
* Of. Helmbold in Plut. Mor. xii (LCL), note on p. 250:


- Tin rather than lead] is reduced to powder by severe cold.”
_? More literally ‘“ fatigued.”





uy 3 rob mvevparos added by Meziriacus.
© rip... Oeppdrnra Basel edition: rijs . . . Oepydrnros.


505


(695)


696


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


IIPOBAHMA ©
Ava ri 6 mownris emt péev TOV GAwv bypav Tots idiors emBErors
xpHrat, povov dé 7d EAaov bypov Karet


Collocuntur Plutarchus, alii


> ; \ ~ ~
1. "Haopy6y more Kat dia ti moAAdv typav
+ \ A IAA A fou > 0 / ¢ A
dvtwv Ta ev GAAa Tots idiois emieros 6 ToWNTIS
elwhe’ Koopetv, TO ydAa te AevKOV Kal TO [EAL
A \ \ \ L > 0 \ AO A . ee A
yAwpov Kat Tov olvov épvbpov Kad@v, To 8° €dauov
amo" Kowod® Tod maou cupPeBnKOoTOos Lovov EemLetKDs
~ >
bypov mpocayopever. eis Todt €déxOn, Ste ws*
mt / / > A 3 > SX rt \ \ /
yAukvtatov €ott TO Su’ GAov yAvKd Kat AevKdTaToV
\ 2 ¢ , >. ¢ \ ek shee Sal e
To du dAov AevKdv, du’ GAov Se Towsrov® €oTw, @
pndev eupeurktar THs evavtias pvcews, ovTw 4:)°
Kal’ dypov pdAiora pytéov, od pndev pepos Enpov
€ott: Toto dé TH eAaiw ovpPéeByxev.
~ ej ¢e +. > ~ \ e /
2. IIp@rov pev 7 Aevdtyns adtod tTHv dpaddtnTa
~ > ~
Ta@V poplwy émideikvuTa: du’ dAov yap adT@ ovp.-
a \ \ ~ ” a
mabet mpos THY padow.® Exerta TH oer TapEeyxer
Kabapwratov evortpicacbar: Tpaxyd yap ovdev ev-
eoTw® wate diaomav tiv avravyeav, add’ azo
>
mavTos jepous Ou bypdTnTa Kal OpLKpOTATOV ava-
KAGE 70 das emt THY dw: woTEp ad TodvayTiov
~ ~ , / ~
TO yada tov dypOv povov obk ecomTpiler,” aoAAjs
dvapeprypevns adtT@ yewdous odaias.” ett de Ki-
vovpevov yKLoTa pode THV bypOv: bypov yap €oTt
> 7 ~ 312 LAA > ma fa A / 6 A
50’ dAov: Tav 8’ dAAwv ev TH petv kal Pépecbar Ta


1 So Hubert: eiw&fe. 2 So Reiske: tzo.
3 Hartman would delete xowod. 4 So Reiske: xai.
5 So Xylander: rovourds. 6 So Reiske: Se.
7 +6 after xai deleted by Hubert. 8 So Xylander: wvéw.
9 So Hubert: éo7w. 1 So Basel edition: écomrpilew.


11 o§cias added by Turnebus, ovoracews Stephanus.


506





TABLE-TALK VI. 9, 695-696


QUESTION 9


Why Homer uses special adjectives for other liquids
but calls only olive oil “ liquid ”


Speakers: Plutarch and others


1. Once the question was raised why, when there
are many liquids, Homer is accustomed to embellish
most with specific adjectives, calling milk “ white,’
honey “ yellow,” and wine “ ruddy,” but to use of oil
alone the adjective “ liquid,” * which properly refers
to the quality common to them all. _To this the
answer was given that, just as the sweetest substance
is one that is sweet through and through, the whitest
one that is white through and through—and “ through
a through ” means that there is no admixture of

opposite quality—just so the expression “ liquid ”
should be teed saieeatasty of éapthiiie which ai no
ingredient of dryness in it; and that is the case
with oil.

2. In the first place, its smoothness demonstrates
the uniformity of its parts ; it is at all points consis-
tently the same to the touch. Further, visually it is the
clearest reflector, having no unevenness to distort the
reflection. From every part of itself, on account of
its liquidity, it reflects even the minutest light to the
ores Just so, on the contrary, milk is the only liquid

t does not mirror objects, because there is in it a
great admixture of the earthy.” Besides, oil, when
stirred, is the most silent of all liquids because it is
liquid throughout ; whereas, when other liquids flow


* ¢.9., Odyssey, vi. 79, 215; Iliad, xxiii. 281.
> Aristotle, Meteorologica, 383 a 14, 22.


12 §’ added by Turnebus.





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(696) oxAnpa Kai yewdn pépy* mpooKpovoers AapBdvovra
A a ,
Kat mAnyas pope? dia tpaxdTyTa.” Kal pv povov
B dxpatov® dvapever Kal auiKTov: €oT. yap muKVoTa-
Tov’ ov yap exer peTakd Tav Enp@v Kat yewdav €v
avT@ pep@v Kevwpata Kal mopous, ois dé€eTrat TO
an > ~ ~
mapeumintov, adda‘ du’ duodtyTa THY pep@v €v-
dppoorov® €aTiw Kai ouveyes.
/ ~
“Orav 5° adpiln 70 eAaov, od déyerau 76 veda
dia AerrétnTa Kal cvvéyetav. Tobdto 8 aitioy Kal
Tod tpedecbar To mip bm’ adrod- tpédetar prev
\ ~ ~ 7
yap ovdevt TrAnV byp@, Kal ToOTO povov KavaTdv
eat ek yoov Tdv EvAwy 6 ev ap ametot KaTVOS
yevopevos, TO be yeddes extedpwhev brodAeizerat,
povov 8 v0 Tov’ updos TO voTEepov dvadodra,
, A / @ / if) A = ‘
ToUTW yap Tpépecbar méduxev: Vdwp pev odbv Kai
C olvos Kat Ta Aowra, toAAob petéyovta Tot Bodepot
Kal yewdous, eutintovta tiv drdya diaoma Kai
4 “a \ 7 / ‘ /
N TpaxvTnte Kai TH Pdper OAiBer kal KatacPevvvor,
TH d
\ 9? *) ¢ sy = we eae \
To 8 €Aaov, ott pwdAvor’ eidikpwas bypov éott, Sid
AerrornTa peTaBadrcr Kal KpaTovpevov exmupovTat.
3. Méytorov 8’ adtob tis bypérntos TeKpHpiov
n° emt mAetorov €€ dAvyiorov dvavou Kal yxvors-
” \ aN He 58 ” > ” \
ovte yap péAitos otf’ Bdatros ott GAAov Twos
¢ ~ A AA + 7 > ‘8 Xx /
vypod Bpayds ovtws doyKos’ ézidoow AapBaver
, 83 ey > 6d 3 d , 9 rx 10
TocavTynv, add’ edOds émircizwv® KatavaAloKerat


1 So Basel edition, Turnebus : pézpa.
2 So Turnebus: fpayvryra.
axparov Basel edition, axpotatov E: axparnrov.
4 So Anonymus, Turnebus: dpa.
> So Stephanus: dvappoorov.
6 » added by Meziriacus.
7 So Wyttenbach : ozs “* juice.”
8 So Bernardakis: tovadrnv.


508


TABLE-TALK VI. 9, 696


and rush along, their hard, earthy parts suffer blows
and collisions that produce sound because of the ir-
regularity of their shapes. Moreover, oil alone re-
mains pure and undiluted, for it is the most compact
and has no empty spaces or passages between dry,
earthy particles to which it could admit intrusive
elements. The uniformity of its particles produces
smoothness and coherence in it.

‘When oil foams, it does not admit air, because of
its fine texture and coherence. This accounts also for
the fact that fire is fed by it. Fire is fed only by
moisture, and moisture alone is combustible. At any
rate, when wood is burned as fuel, the air is given off
as smoke and the earthy element is left reduced to
ash; only the moisture is consumed by fire, for fire
naturally feeds on liquid. Now when water, wine, and
the other liquids with their high proportion of muddy,
earthy matter encounter fire, they rend it apart and
by their roughness and weight crush and extinguish
it ; while oil, because it is a superlatively pure liquid,
has such minute particles that it suffers change and
is overpowered and reduced to flames.

_ 3. A supreme proof of its liquidity is the fact that
the least quantity of it spreads and flows over the
most space. Neither honey nor water nor any other
liquid in such slight mass spreads so far; instead,
they immediately disappear, being consumed on ac-


* This theory is found in Aristotle in his discussion of
earlier philosophers. See Metaphysics, i. 3, 983 b 23, and
Meteorologica, ii. 2, 354 b 33 ff.; W. J r, Aristoteles, p.
153, n.2; Plut. De Primo Frigido, 954 & Mor. xii, pp.
280 f.). Cf. supra, p. 457, note b,


® So Bernardakis, er Ss i sevgondier Paton :
:


émmdeiorov. 18 KETAL.


509





PLUTARCH’S MORALIA
(696)

Dp ova Enpornra: To 8 éAavov, oAKupov TavTaxh kal
padakov, dyerat mepl TO o@pa Xpropevors Kal
ouvemrippet Toppwrdrw dv bypoTnTa Tay pepa@v
penKvvopevov, Bore Kal Ta,papevel dvceEitnAov.
voaTt pev yap’ Bpexbev pdr Lov dmofnpatvera
padiws, eAaiov de Kndidas od Tis Tuxovons €oTl
mpaypateias” exxabapar: pddora yap evdveTa TO
pdhora Aerrov Kal dypov elvat: Kal yap olvov
KekpapLevov SvoxepeaTepov, eaipotar’ TV iwariov,
ws "ApiotoreAns dnaiv, dtu AemTOTEpOs* €aTL Kal
paAAov evdverar Tots mdpots.


IIPOBAHMA I


EK Tis airia, 80 Hv pabupa yiverat raxo Ta €K OUKTS KpEepav-
vupeva TOV iepelwv


Collocuntur Aristio, Plutarchus, alii


‘O° ‘Aptotiavos edn) Meer Tapa, tois Seumvotar
pdyetpos,, ws Ta T GAra yaprevTws diporrornoas
Kal TOV apt.’ TH “Hpakdet TeOupevov dAeKkTpvova
mapabeis dmaAdv WoTrEp xOulov," veapov ovTa Kal
mpoaparov. elm 0vT0s ovv Tob "Aptotiwvos, ore
TovTO ‘yiyveTau TAXEWS, et odayeis edOds dro
ovkKis Kpewaobetn, ™y aitiav eCntodpev. OTL pev
51) mvedpa THs ovKis amevow loyvpov Kai apodpov,

1 So Reiske: ye.
2 So Leonicus: ypappareias.
3 So Duebner: éfaipovor.
4 So Meziriacus: A¢emrorepév.
* 6 added in g, according to Wyttenbach.


6 So Turnebus : evnpepet.
7 So Doehner, tov vewori Basel edition: vév drt.


510


TABLE-TALK VI. 9-10, 696


count of their own dryness. But olive oil, which is
soft and ductile to any extent, is spread over the body
when we anoint ourselves, and is carried farther than

y other liquid as its particles grow longer on account
of their liquidity. Accordingly, it also resists evapora-
tion and does not easily disappear. When a garment
happens to be soaked with water, it dries easily, but
an oil stain requires more than ordinary effort to re-
move. Oilstains enter deepest into the fabric because
the refinement and liquidity of oil is greatest. As
Aristotle * says, wine is also more difficult to remove
from cloth when mixed, because it is then of finer
grain and settles more deeply into the pores.


QUESTION 10?


Why sacrificial meat when hung from a fig tree quickly
becomes tender


Speakers: Aristion, Plutarch and others


Aristion’s cook made a hit with the dinner guests
not only because of his general skill, but because the
cock that he set before the diners, though it had just
been slaughtered as a sacrifice to Heracles, was as
tender as if it had been a day old. Aristion said that
meat cures rapidly if, immediately upon killing, it is
hung on a fig tree ; and we went on to discuss why
this should be so. Two things indicate that a strong,
intense exhalation ° is given off by the fig tree ; first,


@ Problems, 874 a 30.
» Excerpted by Psellus, De Omnifaria Doctrina, 157.
¢ G. Soury connects this with Stoic theory (pneuma is the
=e used) in Revue Et. Gr. lxi (1949), pp. 322 f. Cf. supra,
Cc





8 ydtév E: yilev T.
511


PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(696) ¢ > » 1? ~ ee ae eculdl ,
nT Oodpynots” expaptupel Kal TO TEpt THY Tavpwv
Aeyopevov, ws dpa ovKh mpoodebels 6 yaderwratos
novxlav dyer Kat pavcews aveyerar Kal dAws adi-

\ A
nov tov Oupov womep amopapawopevov. tiHv de
/
mAeloTnV aitiay Kat dvvayw 1 Spyswrns elyev: TO
¢ 4
yap puTov amdvtTwy dmwdéoTaTov, WoTE Kal TO
~ \ a a
adKov adto Kat To EVAov Kal TO Opiov® avarenAja-
697 Bau: did Kaiduevov Te TH KamrvG Sadxver pardcora
/
kal kataxavlévros 7 Téppa pumTiKwrdTny mapeyxet
Koviav.®
> 44 \ , , \ \ ja
Tadra* d€ adavra Oepydornros: Kal. thy mnéw
eutrovetv TH ydAakte Tov Omov olovtai ties od
okaAnvia oynuatwv mepimAeKovta Kal KoAAGvTa
Ta Tpayea” epn TOD ydAaKTos, €KOABowevwv éem-
mols Tav Aciwv Kal repipepa@v, adAd® bo Oep-
LOTNTOS EKTHKOVTA TOO bypod TO aovoTaTOV Kal
ddaT@des. TexuyApiov bé Kal TO aypnorov’ yAvKody®
\ peel ae eae A , , >
elvat tov opov, adda mroudtwv davddtatov: ov
\ A A ~ ¢e A ~ Xr ~ LAAG A \
yap To Xéiov bo THY oKadynvadv, adda Td pvypov
B e€avéorn”” Kat dmemrov tio ths Oeppdotntos: Kal
~ ~ € \
mpos TodTO ovvepyovow ot dXes, Deppol ydp «ict,
mpos d€ THV Aeyonévnv mepimAoKHY Kal ovvdeow
avtTimpatrovat,” diadvew yap udAvora mepvKacr.
Oecppov ody mrvedpua Kai Spd Kal TunTiKOV ad-

So Wyttenbach : dys.

So Amyot: épyov.

So Xylander: xd.

So Hubert: raéra.

tpaxéea added by Hubert.

kai after ada deleted by Xylander, Wyttenbach.

ov xpnorov Reiske, Bernardakis.

8 So Reiske, Doehner, Paton (all with other changes that


conflict with our interpretation) : yAvuxd.
® So Doehner: dzrov. 10 So Hubert: éo77.


512


Ny oo Ff © ND









TABLE-TALK VI. 10, 696-697


our sense of smell, and second, the alleged fact that
lie aibont a8 bulls, if tied to a fig tree, becomes
let touch him, and completely abandons


‘nis rage, as if the spirit were withering within him.
Thiet mainly due to the bitterness of the

, for the fig is the richest in sap of all plants, not
only the fruit but the wood and the leaf too being full
cof it. Wherefore, too, the smoke of burning figwood
is y acrid and the ash from it provides a most

e.

et the very same effects all come from heat.
Therefore, some think that fig juice curdles milk
‘through heat, not because the rough particles, owing
‘to their irregular shape, combine and stick to each
“other, while smooth,* round particles are forced to
the surface ; but because the particles under the in-
‘duence of heat melt out the uncohesive, watery
‘element in the moist compound. A proof is that


sexpelled by rough,” but of cold and unconcocted elc-

ments being dislodged by heat. Salt will also con-

Dhts process, for it is hot and counteracts

ithe so called interlocking and binding together of
icles, since it is a powerful natural solvent.

So we infer that the fig gives off a hot, bitter, in-


@ Lucretius, iv. 622 ff., explains the effect of smooth atoms
producing sweetness to the taste, while rough atoms pro-
pungency and the like. This theory is derived from
D (Diels, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker, Denioeritus, a
1135) as reported in Theophrastus, De Sensu, 65. For the
~ theory here cited Aristotle, Meteorologica, 384 a 22
Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems, 924 b 39 lend some support.

* Or “ irregular,” cf. cxadnvid above.


1 SidAvow before diadvew deleted by Xylander.
VOL. VIII s 513


}








PLUTARCH’S MORALIA


(697) now 7 ovKy); Kal TovTO Opvmret Kal memaiver TIV
odpka Tob opriblos. TO avro de MAOXEL Kal mupa@v
evrebels* owpa Kal virpw OUVHELEVOS," b7r0 Dep-
pornos. ott 8 6 Trupos exer Tt Oeppov, TeKpat-
povrTat Tots dppopedow, dv evtiBepevwv eis orpov*
efavaNioxeTat TaYews 6 olvos.

1 évrebeis defended by Hartman as referring to rod dpyiBos
rather than r7v odpxa.


atp@ Doehner. Note also évos in same line.
6 oun
3 So g, Stephanus, cpnydpuevos Reiske, cvpemacpevos Doeh-


514








TABLE-TALK VI. 10, 697


cisive vapour which cures the flesh of the bird by mak-
ing it friable. The same effect is produced by heat
if you store the bird in a pile of wheat-grains with*
sodium carbonate. That wheat is by nature some-
what hot is attested by the fact that when wine jars
are placed in the wheat pits, their wine is quickly
evaporated.

@ Or, ““when it has been treated (laced) with” S.
Warmington.
ner: ig nat (y in erasure with space on each side) T, cu


€tévos ‘
4 So Doehner: girov “‘ grain.”





515


ADDITIONAL NOTE
(EDITORIAL )


P. 422, 681 c: yapadius. I had suggested grey wagtail,
which haunts gullies and hill-streams aa has a yellow breast.
But more likely is the stone-curlew, which, though in Britain
it inhabits heaths, brecks and downs, has large eyes with
yellow “‘ irises.” See the scholars cited by E. R. Dodds,
Plato: Gorgias, p. 306, on Gorgias, 494 8 6.—E. H. War-
mington.


INDEX


Academy, 6, 7, 59, 134, 203, 401,
453; the school of i


Acesander, 387; historian, third
or second century B.c.
Achaean(s), a 119; the Greeks

of the ic period
Achaia, 33)


9, 432
Achilles, 3 37, 127, 163, 297, 387,
401, 403, 405, 411; Greek hero
the Trojan


Adate ebb
Adrastea, 211 5 nurse of Zeus


Aedepsus, 3
Aegaeon, 399; eponym of the
Aegean or epithet of Poseidon
Aegium, 431; in Achaia
rene 407 65, 99 ted,
us, 21, ’ 3 quo
47, 81, 129; Athenian play-
t, circa "525-456
A » 19, 201;
sixth century B.c.
Africa (Libya), 387
Agamemnon, 33, 189, 343, 405;
the Greek’ commander-in-chief


at Troy
Pees 59, 61; Academic


pher
ea y3 125, 137, 203, 205,
Athenian playwr ight,
Sen 447-400 B
us, 317, 3i9: friend of
lutarch
Se a ; one of the first
Agana OR sar tioners of medicine
191; Spartan king,
mer 7 B.C.


Agora, 125
Aiantis, 95 ff., 109; Attic phylé
Ajax, 411; son of ‘Telamon


VOL. VIII





Alcaeus, quoted, 215; lyric poet
of Lesbos, born cirea 620 B.C.
Alcibiades, 57, 125; Athenian
politician and general, circa

450-404 B.O.

Alcinoiis, 33, 115, 165; king of
the Phaeacians

Aleman, 251; quoted, 279; lyric


poet of seventh cent B.C.
Aletes, 399; hero of —
Alethea, 271: Apollo’s n
Alexander, 69, 71, 219, O25: the

Great, 356-323 B.C
Alexander, 145, 147: the Epi-

curean, friend of Plutarch


Pyne 75, 407
Alexidem


alkanet, 17
All Souls’ Day, 258; the Pithoigia
so identified


tarch’s
Amphias, 137; of Tarsus
Ainphiatyae,. 159; a religious
league of peoples centred round
Thermopylae and later Delphi;
ee eee decrees, 39


A oolie 403
m
eetneain 491
193, p Mey Tonian
philosopher, circa 500-428 B.c.


ey eee 165; an opponent of
estor in boxing + yt
Androcyaes, 325, 348; the


PE 5: 87, 145 ff. (hen or
first ?), 157, 175 ff., 209: —a
certain beliefs, $51 f.; 423 ; -——


517


INDEX


diet of, 299, 307 f., 403 f.,
457; —, skins of seals and
hyenas, 319; — and thunder,
331,. 858 f., 857; see also
**anthias,”’ ass, bark-beetles,
bees, boar, butterfly, cater-
pillar, ‘‘charadrius,” cicadas,
cock, conger-eel, crane, croco-
dile, daws, deer, dogs, echeneis,
eel, elephant, field-mouse, fish,
fox, frogs, goats, hare, hedge-
hog, hen, herald-fish, horses,
ibis, lice, lion, lizards, locusts,


mice, mullet, mussels, pigs,
purple-mollusc, scorpion, sheep,
shrews, snakes, sucking-fish,
turtles, viper, vole, wolves,
woodworms

Antagoras, 343; epic poet, third
century B.C.


Anthesterion, 259

“anthias”’ fish, 341

Antigonus I, 131, 133; Alex-
ander’s general, one of the
‘Successors’? of Alexander ;
prob. 382-301 B.c.

Antigonus Gonatas, 343, 395;
king of Macedon

Antilochus, 37; Nestor’s son

Antimachus, 437 ; of Colophon,
epic and elegiac poet

Antipater, 403; friend of Plu-
tarch

eee 319; resistant prop-
erties

Antisthenes, 13, 127; friend of
Socrates and founder of the
Cynics, circa 455-circa 360 B.C.

Aphidna, 99

Aphrodite, 251, 255, 447, 448, 493

Apollo, 271, 273

‘Apollodorus, 391; of Athens

Apollonia, 499; in Illyria, 40
miles south of Dyrrachium

Apollonides, 231 ; taktikos, friend
of Plutarch

Apollophanes, 443; a scholar

apple(s), 169, 243, 433 ff.

Aratus, 4373; of Soli, author of an
extant poem on astronomy and
meteorology translated by
Cicero and others

Arcesilaiis, 135, 137, 341; Aca-
demic philosopher, cirea 315-
241 B.C.


518





Archias, 47 ; Theban polemarch

Archilochus, uoted, 273; lyric
poet, noe ly of the seventh
century B

Archippus, 131, 133; Athenian
politician

Argives, 363

Argos, 119

Aridices, 137 ; pupil of Arcesilaiis

Aristaenetus, 259, 261; of Nicaea,
a friend of Plutarch’

Aristides, 127; Athenian states-
man and soldier, circa 520-468


B.C.
Aristion, 267, 269, 487 f., 511;
friend of Plutarch
Ariens 205; friend of So-


Pewee! 389; a “ Sibyl,”’ or
a poetess
Aviston 299; of Messenia,


Aristotle, 7, 31, 89 ff., 141, 227 f.,
263, 279, 475, 479,
501. 511; the ok philosopher, 384—


Arsinoé, 138; wife of Lysima-
chus, later of Ptolemy Kerau-
nos (her half-brother) and
finally of Ptolemy II Phila-
delphus (her full brother), circa
316-270 B.o

art and artists, 325, 381, 425

Artemis, 27

Asclepius, 71

Asopus, 399; river near Nemea

asparagus, 313


357

Assyrians, 61

— Be

Athena, 35, 253

es, 53, 101, 131, 361

Athenodorus Cordylion, 139 ;
librarian as Pergamon, first
century B

Athens and wattica, 9, 95, 203,
259, 337 ff., 377, 397

Athletics, 159 ff., 163 ff.; see


Games

Athryitus, 231, 235, 237; physi-
cian friend of Plutarch

Atreus, 119; father of Aga-


memnon
Attica, see Athens





INDEX


Aufidius Modestus, 43, 123;
friend of Plutarch
Autobulus, 25, 179, 259, 263,


267; father of Plutarch
Autobulus, 331; son of Plutarch


Babylon, 219, 225
Bacchants, Bacchi, 365; Bac-


ae ff., ” 407 f, 415, ‘453, 455 :
see Plato, Table-Talk, Xeno-


berries, 217, 22
eae Kin of Priené, one of the


wise m
Diglogy. 317, 447 : see animals,
lants


birds, see animals
blood, of 155, 233 ff.
boar, 2


1
Boeotian, 141, 25
Boéthus, 377 ; the Epicurean


Bolus, 175
boxing, 73, 159 ff., 163 ff.
bread, 143, 185 ff., 261, 499
t Junius the
attend
ulimy, Dabetette ravenous ap-
xd te % famine, 497
b


Byza a AT 8


Cabiri, 129; the deities
Cadmeians= Thebans, 437
cakes, 191
calendar, 368 f.
Callias, 13, 107, 455; wealthy
Athenian, friend of Socrates
us, 101; polemarch at


Marathon

Callimachus, quoted, 255, 399; of
Cyrené; Alexandrian scholar
and poet





Callisthenes, 71; of Olynthus,
histori


rian

Callistratus, 337, 351; a sophist,
friend of Plutarch

Candaules, 65; Lydian king


aria, 1
Carthage, Carthaginians, 395
Cassander, 131; son of Antipa-
ter, circa 358-297 B.C.
cassia, 71
caterpillar, 145, 149
Cato the Elder, 343
celery, 395, 397 ff., 403 f.
Celeus, 337 ; king of Eleusis
Cephissus River, 169
Chaeremon or Chaeremonianus,
175; of Tralles; a friend of


Plutarch
Chaeronea, 433; birthplace of


Plutarch and site of battle of
338 B.C.
“charadrius,” 423; , commonly


translated “ plover’
Charmides, 13; Plato’s uncle
chaste tree, 17 7
cheese, 261
Cheiron, 211, 297, 403; the
centaur, one of the first two
practitioners of medicine
Cc ippus, quoted, 89; Stoic
irca 280-207 B.c.


Cicero, 121;
106—43 B.C.

cider, 221

Cimon, 337; Athenian general

Cithaeron, 101

Clearchus, 53; Spartan officer
with Xenophon’ 8 oon thew
B.C.


rean
ian, friend


sand, lived circa
Cleinias, 249; Pytha
Cleomenes, 501 3D
cist pie wey

ymen
Clytomedeus, 165; Nestor’s op-

cw as boxing

355

perry gw 239 30 243 ff.
ee 397: ‘promontory in At-


comedy, 327, 333, 377, 395
C ~” Drunkennes


onecerning ey
work pes Aristotle


conger eel,


519


INDEX


Conon, 453

consonants, 13

Corinth, Corinthians, 391, 395

Coroné, 159

corpses, 153, 233 ff.

Corythalea, 271; Apollo’s nurse

cosmetics, 493

Council, 341 (at Athens); 385
(at Delphi)

crane, 19, 21

Crates, 127; we philosopher,
circa 365-285 B

Cratinus, 137; vk Pihcalbieh play-
wright of the fifth century B.C.

Crato, 9, 13, 49, 55, 169, 171, 349;
relation of Plutarch by mar-


riage

Creon, 127 ; brother-in-law of
Oedipus ©

Critobulus, 123; friend of Soc-
rates


crocodile, 151, 353

Ctesiphon, 341; of Athens, fourth
century B.0.

cucumber, 97 ff.

Cyclops, 63

cypress, 39, 171, 173, 219

Cyprus, 361

Cyrenaic philosophers, 381

Cyrus the Elder, 109, 125, 131,
135; ruled 559-529 B.C. :
founder of the Achaemenid
Dynasty in Persia

Cyrus, 51; the Younger, son of
Darius IT of Persia


dancing, 9, 19, 57 ff., 67, 199,
253


darnel, 275

date-palm, 221

daws, 43

days of the week, 368-369 (titles
of lost Questions)

deer, 271

Delphi, 387; see Pythian Games

Demeter, 345

Democritus, 175, 327, 431, 433;
quoted, 19; 87, 99, 189, 257; of
Abdera; philosopher, circa
460-370 B.O.

Demophontidae, 185

Demosthenes, 129, 341, 365; At-
tic orator, 384-322 B.c.

Dendrites, 391: the tree-god,
epithet ‘of Dionysus


520





desiccants, 75 ff., 213
dialectics, 111
Dicaearchus, 23, 291;
pher, pupil of ‘Aristotle
diet, 295 ff., 297, 299, 301, 303,
307 ff., 337 ff. ’(sea-food, te.),
347 (of Homeric heroes), 3 9 f.
(of the Jews), 351 ff., 369 ‘title
of IV. 10), 403 f., "453, 457,


461 f.

dining customs, 407 ff.; 415
(couches

Dio, 7 ; of Alexandria; Academic
philosopher, first century B.C.

easy diosemia, 318-319, 325,


445
Diogenes, 127; founder of the
uate sect, circa 400-circa 325


philoso-


Dionvats’ 363

Dionysus, 5 ff., 21, 73, 151, 211,
219, 221, 225, 258, 267, 271,
359, 361, 363, 365, 367, 391,


and Choral Leader), 437 a
nysus Phleios) ; cf. Bacchus

Dioscuri, 152

dogs, 117

Dog-star, 273; Sirius

Dominants, 31; work by Thrasy-
machus

Dorians, 5

Dorotheiis, 328 ; a rhetor

drama (and ‘ “stage ryamicpaee Fe a
machinery, 327; mim
Menander, etc., 375: _, “imi
tation,” 377 ff.

drinking habits, 11, 69 ff., 77 ff.,

3 7, 401 ff., 405,

.3 see "intoxication

drugs, 17, 77, 239, 243, 265, 275,
793; see also plants

Drusus, 75; — of Tiberius
Caesar, 13° B.C.—A.D. 23

Dyrrachium, 499; on ihe Adriatic
east coast (Durazzo)


echeneis, 175 ff.
ecstasy, 67 ff.


53
Egyptians, 7, 150, 350, 353, 355,
357, 443, 447





INDEX


Eileithyia, 277; epithet of Ar-
temis


elephant, 175
Eleusis, 141


Elis, 317
Epistis, 345; philosophers of


emanations (effluences), 421 f.,
425, 431, 433; rheumata
Empedocles, 225 ; quoted, 39,
209, 223, 311, 401, 435, 439,
449, 463; philosopher, fifth


century B.C.
envy, 425 ff.
minondas, 41, 133, 417;
‘Theban statesman and general,
circa 420-362 B
Ephemerides, 71 Peioa Journal
ST eet win
yta, > en Ww
Corinth
Epicurean, 141, — phi


145;
phers, 373, 377, 379, 381
Epicurus, 7, 141, 237, 243 ff., 255,
2575 the philosopher of Samos
and Athens, aly B.C,


asiatratus, ee, 329, 475; of
hysician “and

we geste tg third cen-
aig 203, 207, 217, 221;


oung
musical friend of Plutarc
— 13; a friend of


etymology linguistic usage,
23, 159 ff., 179, 211 ff., 217, 229,
301 > , ; Bias ’339, ’
363, , 387, 401 ff., 433 ff.,
437, cs 439, 445, wea 463, 489,
491, 497, 501 f., 507 ff.

Euboea, 271; Hera’s nurse

Euboea, aches 337, 393


Eumelus, er the Homeric hero
nt “4 399, 427 f. (quoted) ;


8, quoted, 307 f.


Eonides 15; ‘quoted, 7, 25, 61,
63, 113, 115, 189, 193, 299, 303,
Athenian


325, 331; play-
wright, circa circa 484-406 B.C.
Eutelidas, 429, 431





Euthydemus, C. Memmius, 271;
a friend of te te

evil eye, 417, 421

Evius, 363 ; oon ot the ery = Dio-
nysus

fast(ing) or ‘‘feast’’: — of the
Jews, 363 f.

fennel, 5

Festivals, see Games ; cf. 363, 365

field-mouse, 353

figs, 13, 169, 175, 341, 439, 511 f.

fine arts, 325, 381 f., 425

fir, 169 ff., 219

fire, 329

Firmus, 145, 147, 151; friend of


Plutare
fish, 89, 174, 175, 189, 337 ff. ; see


animals

Florus, Mestrius, 87, 227, 231,
233, 237, 417, 427, 431, 441 ff. ;
influential Roman friend of
Plutarch

flour, 277

flowers, see pants


fra mse, 71

no 291

frogs

fruits), otal, 143, 173, 207, 243;
ee also plants

fuels, 275


Gaius, 431;
trius Florus

Games does also Isthmian, Ne-
mean, Olympia, Pythian) : 375
(cntertahament at table, etc.).
379 (for children), 383 ff, 387
(funeral gama)

garlands, 203

garlic, 175

Gaul, 393

Genius, 259

German tribes, wr

Glaucias, 99, 101, 141;

tor and friend of


son-in-law of Mes-


Plutarc

goats, 217, 307

Gobryas, 109, 111; friend and
relative by marriage to Cyrus
the Elder


521


INDEX


ie td the Jews, 361 ff.; who


eis

Good Genius, 259; chthonic spi-
rit and guardian of the house

Government, 247 ; a work by Zeno

Graces, 11; the Charites

grafting, 169 ff.

grapes, 177, 209, 221, 273

Greece, 7

Greek(s), 33, 45, 53, 219, 307, 367,
387, 391, 393, 437, 443, 491


Hades, 351

Hagias, 183 ff., 189, 259; friend
of Plutarch

Half-Greeks, 419

hare, 357

Harma, 411

Harmodius, 99; Athenian tyran-
nicide, killed 514 B.O.

Harpalus, 219; Macedonian no-
ble and friend of Alexander,
circa 355-323 B.C.

harp-girl, 27, 185, 193

hazel, 211

hazelwort, 213

Health (personified or deified, ac-
cording to Wilamowitz), 497

Hebrews, 361; see Jews

Hecataeus, 333; of Abdera, philo-
sopher

Hector, 273

hedgehog, 355

hekatomphonia, 299

Helen, 17, 152; wife of Menelaiis

hellebore, 93, 26 5

Hellespont, the Dardanelles, 345

hemlock, 243

hen, 145 ff. (hen or egg first?)

henbane, 59, 223

henna, 213

Hera, 271, 493

Heraclea Pontica, 45

Heracleitus, 347 ; philosopher of
Ephesus

Heracles, 28, 341, 397, 399, 511

Heraclides, 73, 75; a boxer

Heraclitus, quoted, 199; the
Ionian philosopher of the sixth
and fifth centuries B.c.

Heraclous (Heracliis), see Hera-
clides

herald-fish, 39

herb(s), 213 ff., see plants

Hermes, 253; the god


522





Hermogenes, 13; son of Hippo-
nicus, friend of Socrates

Herodotus, quoted, 151; the
historian

Hersa, 279; dew personified

Hesiod, 387, 409, 487

hiccupping, 217

Hieronymus, 7, 85; Peripatetic
ie ret beginning of third


High. Privst, 365 ora
Hippocrates, 43 1; of Cos or the
Hippocratic corpus (medicine)
holidays, of the Jews, 363 f.
Homer, al 41, 89, 187, 309, 335,
339, 343, 345, 387, 401 ff., 435,
437, 443, 489, 491, 493, 507:
quoted, 13, 17, 27, 33, 35, 77,
93, 113, 115, 119, 163, 165, 183,
191, 199, 201, 255, 261, 273,
279, 347, 373, 405, 411, 433
honey, 97 ff., 237, 243, 261 ;
ee offerings (melisponda),


ervey 27, 37, 65, 113, 167, 179,


humour, 15, 33, 59, 109 ff., 119

hunchbacks, 131 ff.

hunger, 141 ff., 187, 205, 249,
261, 415, 495 ff. ; — and thirst,
455 ff., 459 ff., 469 ff.

Hyades, 270; nurses of Dionysus

Hyampolis, 295 ; in Phocis

hypothymides, 215

Hypsipylé, 303


ibis, 355

Ida, 269; nurse of Zeus

Tliad, 405 ; 3; see Homer

Ino, 391

intoxication, 49, 55, 65, 199,211 ff.,
227 ff., 241, 259 ff., 263 ff., 301,
405, 453; see also drinking
habits ; wine

Ion, 273, 497; of Chios, play-
wright of the fifth century B.c.

Tonia, 497

Iphicles, 165; twin brother of
Heracles, Nestor’s opponent in
the foot-race

iriskepta, 321

Ismenias, 125; presumably mem-
ber of a Theban family

Isocrates, quoted, 9; Athenian
orator, 436-338 B B.C.


I 189,
rely, 211, 217 ff., 243
Jews, 349, 351, 355 f., 361, 363,


J 381

justice, 11, 15, 193, 251

karua, 211

janes 51, 123, 167,


“ae i


tampa "a Pintaroh
Laomedon, 85 ; legendary king of
203, 209, 219
leek,
toy, Sth ape goede a work
y Neanthes of
Leo, 355; the


tion
Leon, 131 ; of Byzantium ; fourth


B40, 867, $01:


lettuce, 369
Leuctra, 167


lizards, 151
Lochola, 3775 of Artemis
a
i ff. a ff., 117, 133 ff,


so, 397 f.,; chief
of Plutarch


Lyaeus i pers the Releaser),
Lydus, 151; the proverbial stu-
lyre, 23, 159, 267 ff.





circa 360-281 B
Lysimachus, 159, S63 ; a friend
of Plutarch

a (Dionysus the Releaser),


Saeeae ay ke 401


madwort
Magi, 355
Magnetes, 211; a people of
Thessal
maid , 17, 223
Marathon, 99; battle
jon, 299, 305
ae 95, 97; friend of


B.C.
Melicertes (Palaemon), 391, 399 ;
son of Ino


367
Menander, 251, 333, 365, 375
A playwright,
342-290 B.c.
Mené, 399; the Moon as
Menecrates, 163; of y,
Mancinas. ener ue the ki f
’ ’ ; ngo
Sparta
essenia, 299
ere gy. 317 ff, 321 ff
me s ‘ -
ethodology, Topics by
Aristotle, 31
Metrodorus, 497; historian and
“ century B.C,


Milo, 95, 97; friend of Plutarch
Miltiades "fous the Athenian
general and
eee 480 Ber


INDEX


Mithridates, 72, 73; the Great,
king of Pontus

Mitylené, 129

Moeragenes, 361; of Athens

moonlight, 271 ff.

Moschion, 271, 273; friend of


Plutarch

mulberries, 169

mullet, 355

Muses, 13, 139, 203, 209, 453

music, musical instruments, musi-
cians, 9, 67, 95 ff., 107, 129, 137,
199, 203, 267 ff., 293, 301, 305,
329, 335, 343, 363, 365, 368,
385; see also singing

mussels, 39

Myconos, 29; Aegean island

myrtle, 23, 169, 223

Mysoi, 203 ; play by Agathon

Mysteries, 5 (at Ephesus); 57
(at Eleusis) ; 361 (Panteleia)

Mytilené, 129


naphtha, 422-423

narcissus, 211

narthex, B; fennel-stalk

Nausicaa, 89, 93; Phaeacian
princess

Neanthes, 97, 99; of Cyzicus; a
historian of third century B.C.

Neleus, 119; father of Nestor

Nemea, 397, "399 ; in Argolis, seat
of Games

Nemean Games, 399, 401

Nestor, 113, 119, 163 ;
Pylos

Nicaea, 261

Niceratus, 401; of Macedon;
friend of Plutarch

Nicopolis, 339 ; near Actium


king of


Niger (Nigros), 487; friend of
Plutarch

Nile, the, 353, 355

Niobé, 483

nurses, 375


Nymphs, 13, 101


oaks, 169, 175

Octavius, 121; of Libya; ac-
quaintance of Cicero

Odysseus, 17, 93, 113, 115, 165,
181, 403,

Odyssey, see Hom

Oedipus, 115, 127; ; son of Laius ;
king of Thebes


524





Oenops, 165

Oeolycus, 385; of Thessaly

oil, 171, 175, 219, 237

old men, 55, 77 ff., 81 ff., 165,
227 ff., 241, 457

olive, 169, 219, 275, 317

Olympia, 163 ; Games, 389

Olympichus, 243, 249,
friend of Plutarch

Olynthian, 71

Onesicrates, 407 ; physician

onion, 313, 31 7

Opening of J ars, 258; Pithoigia
so interpreted

opson, 339, 343, 345

Orestes, 11, 185; son of Aga-
memnon and Clytemnestra

Orphic(s), 145, 149


Palaemon rae 391, 399

Pammenes, 41; of Th ebes.

pancratiasts, 161, 163

Panteleia, 361 (Perfect Mysteries)

Paris, 255; prince of Troy

Parmeno, 383 ; the mimic

parties (symposia), 293, 373; see
also banquets, ete.

Pasiades, 131

passages, or pores, 213, 215, 221,
225, 459, 471, 477, 505, 509

Patras, 111

Patrocileas, 181, ones Plutarch’s
relative by malrri

Patroclus, 163, 387, 401, 403;
Achilles’ friend

Paullus, Aemilius, 27; victor in
Third Macedonian War, 168 B.c.

reese 13; friend of Socrates
ars, 1
elias, ee of Iolcus, 387

Periander, 24; tyrant of Corinth

Pericles, 51, 53: oR states-
man , 495-429 B

Peripatetic(s), ye 84, 141

Perseus, 27; king of Macedon,
ruled 179-168 B. 0,

Persians, 9, 45, 109, 111

Petraeus, L. Cassius, 385

Phaeacians, 165

Phaedrus, 19; Roman fabulist,
circa 15 B.C.—cirea A.D. 50

Phaedrus, 13; Socratic philo-
sopher, circa 450-400 B.C.

Phaéthon, 325

Phanocles, 359; elegiae poet


251;








INDEX


Philinus, 69, 71, 159 ff., 295, 297,
299 305, dg 311, 447; friend
santa

Pup, 107 |. but bs 2 in Xeno-


Pullip Hf, 125, 131, 125, 131, "137: Oe ig
ruled 359-336


, 169, 171, 295, 297, 299, 303,
, 459; hysician contem-


419; the a aling


Sree pros ys oy


301 f. 417 Ut
ee Oe, 288 =


457
475 ff., 479 ff., ny A 487 f..
slog ; ff., 301,
373, Dit 419, 421,
423 ff, ee 6 ff., 469 ff.
391; pe RTI

Poseidon

Pieria, 209
ar ypeencty So o, 189 ;
Theban lyric poet, 518-438


pine, 39, 169, 171, 219, 389 ff., 399
pipe, 125, 159, 267


, 389; site of the Olympian


Pisistratus, 15; tyrant of Athens,
ruled (thrice’ ?) 560-527 B.o.


)





Pithoigia, 259; first day of the
Anthesteria


plane, 169
ts, and days of the week,
368- a Sen a


poate chaste tree, po gen ens

darnel, date-palm
drugs, aa: anal, figs, fir, frankin
fruits, garlic,


circa 427-347 B.C. : Platonic


85

Pleuron, ee: father of Ancaeus,
Nestor’ t in wrestling

paki
tarch, 1, 6, 9, 25, 49, 77, 81,
87, 95, 109, 141, 145, 159 ; 163;
175, 179, 181, 203, 217, 237,
yee

4 son Au

bulus, 331; archon at Chae-
ronea, 1

pneuma in (¥arious senses), 329,
421, 471, 503 f., 509, 511 ff.


Po River,
poet(s), 43, 61 ff., 93, 137, 159 f.,
169, 199
poetry, 383 ff.
lemon, 387; “‘of Athens” (?)
525


INDEX


politics, 291, 301

Polybius, 291; the historian

Polyclitus, apt sculptor of fifth
century B

Polycrates, 330, 345, 351; friend
of Plutarch

pomegranates, 169, 243

Pontus, 45, 419; the Black Sea

poppy, 215 ff., 239

poroi, pores, see passages

Portion, 191, 193 ; personified

portion banquets, "183 ff.

Poseidon, 35, 339, 345, 391, 397,
447; the god

Poulytion, 57; Alcibiades’ friend

powders, 1

Praxiteles, 391; guide or inter-
preter at the Isthmia

Priest, High, 365 (Jewish)

Procession, 363; of Branches or
a Thyrsus (-si)

Procles the Academic, 399 f.,;
authority on Festivals

prodigies, 73

Prostaterios, 259; epithet of
Apollo

Protagoras, 237 ; of Abdera; so-
phis

proverbs, 295 f., 319, 379, 383,
441 ff.

prytaneum, 339

Prytanis, 7; Peripatetic philo-
sopher, beginning of third
century B.C.

psyché, 149

psychology, 293 f., 331, 373,
377 ff., 383, 423 ff., 429

puddings, 191

purple-molluse, 39

Pyrrho, 237; founder of Scepti-
cism, circa 360-270 B.O.

Pythagoras, Pythagoreans, 145,
249, 300, 323, 343, 355

Pythia(n), 101, 159; Apollo’s
oracle and games at Del phi

Pythian Games, 159, 383, 385, 389


Quietus, 123; friend of Plutarch


Releaser, Dionysus, 363, 417

religion: Jewish and Graeco-
Roman, 361 ff., 368 f.; sacri-
fices to the gods, 413; the
divine, 443 ff.; of the
Egyptians, 443; 495 f.; see


526





also fasting, Sabbath, and the
names of separate gods, cults,
festivals, etc.

relish, see opson

remora, 174

restharrow, 59

riddles, 297; — and conundrums,
375; — and games for children,


379

roast beef, 251

robbers, 121 ff.

Rome, Romans, 7, 45, 47, 73, 291,
323, 324, 343, 393

roots, 211

rose, 203 ff., 209, 213, 217

rue, 211


Sabbath, the, 365

Sabi, 365 ; Bacchants

saffron, 2 13

salt, 345 ff., 441 ff., 513

Sambaulas, 123); ‘lieutenant of
Cyrus the Elder

Sappho, 63, 423; quoted, 209;
poetess of Lesbos, born circa
612 B.C.


Sarapion, 95; t and Stoic
philosopher, friend of Plutarch

Satyrus, 271; otherwise unknown
friend of Plutarch

sauces, 191, 315

Scipio Africanus, 291

scolia, 21, 23, 397

scorpion, 129

Scylla, 325, es


sea, 87 ff., 337 ff.
seal ate 369. (titles of lost


, 25. ff.
Selené, 279; the goddess
Semelé, 73
Senecio, Sossius, 5 ff., 13, 63, 67,
107, 145, 151, 199, 291, 331 ff.,
$78, 53; Roman friend of
Plutarch to whom the
tiones Convivales are d cated
sheep, 175, 181, 217
ships, 175 ff.
shrews, 355
Sibyl, 386, 387
Sicily, 5, 153, 175, 395
Sicyonians,
sight, 81 ff., 131, 253, 279
Simonides, 199; the poet, circa
556-468 B.C.





INDEX


sa cRP TE eidola, emanations,
1, 433; see emanations
dtnghi. 21, 23, 59 ff., 95 ff., 129,
199, 203, 3; 5 see music
Sirius, 437
Slave War, 153; in Sicily, orig
fame > ©. or 104-100 B


snakets) 151 oo 153, 243


‘ ro viihation ” (nephalia), 367
169, 171, 243, 251, 427,
501; friend of Plutarch "
Socrate he aw a 111, 123, 303,
305; t henian philoso her,
biol ie : ea an-
nae 455


Sophists, 9, 19, 43, 57
quoted, 43, 69, 81, 115,


fer ae 167, IL: "Athenian play-
t, circa 496-406


0.


gouuster * 43, 159, 161, 401; poet
friend of Plutarch
, see Senecio
soup, 137
Senn Pats
us, ato’s successor
Sad of thd’ Academy


sphragitia Nymphs, 101
Stok 2 ), 10, 88 89, 94, 139, 141,


strato, oe fone —
Sulla ag PE len “297, 231; friend
of Plutarch


Pho
+), 69, 87, 93, 271 ff.
silo


» Bly 269
Symmachus, 339, 345, 361; friend
symposia, 9; 9; see banquets
poalarch, 5, 4


, 49 ff.
y ons oe mb by merce’ 237,
245; b Plat
phon, 13, lls off


Taste oie. bepinions “, Sab, 292 ff.,
ym :
455, 377; see banquets
tamarisk, a5


<x ea 319


by ’Xeno-





teasing, 109 ff., 123 ff., 203
Telamon, 101, 411; father of


Ajax
Telemachus, 119; son of Odys-


seus
Telesterion, 57
Temple of the J ews, ee
Terpsichoré, 253 ;
Thales, 249; intomulen and
scientist, one of the seven wise


Theban(s), 41, 47

Thebes, 437

Themistocles, 87, 88, 89 ; Athen-
ian statesman, circa 528-circa
462 B.o,

Theocritus, 121, 123, 1381; poet
of the third century B. o.

Theodorus, 57; associate of Al-
cibiades

Theon, 49, 51, 87, 89, 93, 335;
friend of Pluta rch

Theophrastus, 67, 71, 121, 131,
219, 393, 409, 435 ; Peripatetic tic
philosopher, ‘authority on bot-
con circa 369-285 B.C.

Thericlean cylix, 47

Therma, 337; hot springs at


edepsus
Thesmotheteum, 11; building for
office of the Thesmothetai at


6
thistle, golden, 313
Thrasymachus, 31;
rhetorician, fl.
B.C,


peror, ruled AD. ia-37
Ti - 135; associate of Cyrus


he Elder
Timaeus, 395; the historian
Timagenes, 139; perha the
historian from Alexa , first
century B.O.
Timoleon, 395


527


INDEX


Timon, 25, 33, 35, 163; Plutarch’s
brother

Timotheiis, quoted, 277; dithy-
oe poet, circa 450-circa

Timotheiis, 453; Athenian general

tone, tension, 329, 491

Tralles, 175

Treasuries at Delphi, 387

trees, see plants

Trojans, 167

truffles, 317 ff.

Trypho, 203, 205, 211, 217, 219,
221, 485; physician friend of
Plutarch

turtles, 39

Tyndareiis, 153 ; father of Helen;
king of Lacedaemon

Tyrians, 211


urchin’s-foot, 59


vervain, 17

Vienna, in Gaul (Vienne), 393
vine, see wine

vinegar, 129, 133, 241
violets, 59, 213

viper, 175

vision, 421 f.

viticulture, see wine

vole, 355

vowels, 13


walnut, 211

washing, 87 ff.

water, 53 ff., 79 ff., 87 ff., 125, 177,
213, 223 ‘f., 243, 261, 267 fF;
475 ff. ; sea, 337 ff.

Wealth (Plutus, personified or
deified, according to Wilamo-
witz), 4





wedding customs, 331 ff., 413
wheat, 143, 277
wine and Viticulture, 11, 17, 19,


wolves, 179, 181

women, 9, 43, 65, 77, 97 ff., 131,
135, 139, 155 ff., 173, 189, 193,
203, 209, 213, 327 ff, 231 ff.,
245 ff., 334 ff. 361, 369, 493

woodworms, 149

wrestling, 159 ff.


Xenocles, 141, 143; an associate
tarch


of Plu
Xenocrates, 343, 401; head of
the Academy 339-314 B.o.


Xenophon, 7, 53, 109, 111, 245;


quoted, 123; 455 (his Sym-
posium); the his circa
430-354 B.O.

yew, 215


Zeno, quoted, 247; founder of
the Stoics, 335-263 B.o.

Zeno, 349; physician, friend of
Plutarch

Zeus, 15, 27, 35, 45, 269, 279,
325, 413 ; ‘ch. diobleton ‘ * Zeus-
smitten” (struck by lightning),
diosemia (‘‘ signs of Zeus ’’)


Zoilus, 403; Cynic So ig
fourth century B.C.
Zopyrus, 243 ff.; jphsetolen. a


friend of Plutare
Zoroaster, 297, aoe


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Greek Ev.ecy anp [ampus with THE ANACREONTEA. J. M.
Edmonds. 2 Vols.

Greek MatrnematicaL Works. Ivor Thomas. 2 Vols.

Heropes. Cf. ToeopnHrastus : CHARACTERS.

Heropian: C. R. Whittaker. 2 Vols. Vol. IL.

Heropvotus. A. D. Godley. 4 Vols.

Hesiop anD THE Homeric Hymns. H. G. Evelyn White.

HrprocraTESs AND THE FRAGMENTS OF Heracterrus. W. H. S.
Jones and E. T. Withington. 4 Vols.

Homer: Iniap. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.

Homer: Opyssey. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.

Isarus. E. S. Forster.

Isocrates. George Norlin and LaRue Van Hook. 3 Vols.

[St. Joun Damascene]: Bartaam anv loasapn. Rey. G. R.
Woodward, Harold ee, and D. M. Lang.

Josepnus. 9 Vols. Vols. I-IV. H. St. J. Thackeray. Vol.
V. H. St. J. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus. Vols. VI
and VII. Ralph Marcus. Vol. VIII. Ralph Marcus and
Allen Wikgren. Vol. IX. L. H. Feldman.

Juttan. Wilmer Cave Wright. 3 Vols.

Lisantus: SELEcTED Works. A. F. Norman. 3Vols. Vol. I.

Loncus: Dapunis anp Cutor. Thornley’s translation re-
vised by J. M. Edmonds; and Parrnentus. S. Gaselee.

Lucian. 8 Vols. Vols. I-V. A.M. Harmon. Vol. VI. K.
Kilburn. Vols. VII and VIII. M. D. Macleod.

Lycorpuron. Cf. CALLIMACHUS.

Lyra Grarca. J. M. Edmonds. $3 Vols.

Lysias. W.R.M. Lamb.

Manetuo. W.G. Waddell; Protemy: Trerrasistos. F. E.
Robbins.

Marcus Auretius. C. R. Haines.

Menanpver. F. G. Allinson.

Mryor Artic Orators. 2 Vols. K. J. Maidment and
J. O. Burtt.

Nownos: Dronystaca. W.H. D. Rouse. 3 Vols.

Opr1an, CoLttutuus, TrypHioporus. A. W. Mair.

Papyri. Non-Lirerary Setecrions. A. S. Hunt and C. C,


6





THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
ease: 2 Vols. Lirerary Serecrions (Poetry). D. L.


age.

Partuenius. Cf. Loneus.

Pavusanias: Description or Greece. W. H. S. Jones. 5
Vols. and Companion Vol. arranged by R. E. Wycherley.

Puito. 10 Vols. Vols. I-V. F. HL Colson and Rev. G. H.

_ Whitaker. Vols. VI-X. F. H. Colson. General Index.
Rey. J. W. Earp.
Two Supplementary Vols. Translation only from an

Armenian Text. Ralph Marcus.

Puitostratus: Tue Lire or Apottontus or Tyana. F. C.
Conybeare. 2 Vols.

Puitostratus: Imactves; Catustratus: Derscrrprions.
A. Fairbanks. —

Puttostratus AND Evunaptus: Lives or tue Sopuists.
Wilmer Cave Wright.

Pixpar. Sir J. E. Sandys.

Prato: Cuarmipes, Atcrstapes, Hrerearcnus, THe Lovers,
Tueaces, Minos anp Ertnomis. W. R. M. Lamb.

Prato: Cratytus, Parmentpes, Greater Hiprpras, Lesser

s. H.N. Fowler.

Prato: Euruypeuro, Apotocy, Critro, Puarepo, PHareprus.
H. N. Fowler.

Prato: Lacnues, Proracoras, Meno, Eutuypemus.
W. R. M. Lamb.

Prato: Laws. Rev. R. G. Bury. 2 Vols.

Prato: Lysis, Sympostum, Gorctas. W. R. M. Lamb.

Prato: Repustic. Paul Shorey. 2 Vols.

Prato: Sratesman, Parresus. H. N. Fowler: Ion.
W. R. M. Lamb.

Piato: Tuearretus anv Sopnuist. H. N. Fowler.

Prato: Trarus, Crirras, Crrropno, Menexenus, Ept-
stuLAE. Rev. R. G. Bury.

Piorimnus. A. H. Armstrong. 6 Vols. Vols. I-III.

Prurarcu: Moratra. 16 Vols. Vols. I-V. F. C. Babbitt.
Vol. VI. W. C. Helmbold. Vol. VII. P. H. De Lacy and
B. Einarson. Vol. VIII. P. A. Clement, H. B. Hoffleit.
Vol. IX. E.L. Minar, Jr., F. H.Sandbach, W.C. Helmbold.
Vol. X. H. N. Fowler. Vol. XI. L. Pearson, F. H.
Sandbach. Vol. XII. H.Cherniss, W.C. Helmbold. Vol.
XIV. P.H. De Lacy and B. Einarson. Vol. XV. F.H.
Sandbach.

Prurarcu: Tue Paravcet Lives. B,. Perrin. 11 Vols.

Potysius, W.R. Paton. 6 Vols.


7





THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY


Procorrus: History or tue Wars. H. B. Dewing. 7 Vols.

Protemy: Trerrasisitos. Cf. Maneruo.

Quintus SMyrarenus. A.S. Way. Verse trans.

Sextus Emprricus. Rev. R. G. Bury. 4 Vols.

Sopuocites. F. Storr. 2 Vols. Verse trans.

Srraso: Grocrapny. Horace L. Jones. 8 Vols.

TuHropHrastus: Cuaracrers. J.M.Edmonds; Herropes,
etc. A. D. Knox.

Ue cm al Enauriry into Prants.. Sir Arthur Hort.
2 Vols.

Tuucypipves. C. F.Smith. 4 Vols.

| TrypHtoporus. Cf. Oppran.

XrnopHon: Anasasis. C. L. Brownson.

XENOPHON: Cyroparpta. Walter Miller. 2 Vols.

XernopHon: Hettenica. C. L. Brownson.

XeENopHON: MemMorABILIA AND Orconomicus. E. C. Mar-
chant. Sympostum anp Apotoey. O. J. Todd.

XENopHON: Scripta Minora. E. C. Marchant and G. W.
Bowersock.


VOLUMES IN PREPARATION


GREEK AUTHORS


ArisTipEs: Orations. C. A. Behr.

Musarus: Hero anp Leanper. JT. Gelzer and C. H. -
Whitman.

TuropHrastus: Dre Causis Pranrarum. G. K. K. Link and
B. Einarson.


LATIN AUTHORS


Ascontus: CoMMENTARIES ON CicEero’s Orations. G. W.
Bowersock.

Beyepicr: THe Rute. P. Meyvaert.

Justws-Trocus. R. Moss.

Maniuius. G. P. Goold.


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