The Deipnosophists

Athenaeus of Naucratis, Aθήναιος Nαυκρατίτης

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The Deipnosophistae, which mean “dinner-table philosophers” or perhaps “authorities on banquets”, survives in fifteen books. The first two books, and parts of the third, eleventh and fifteenth, are extant only in epitome, but otherwise the work seems to be entire. It is an immense store-house of information, chiefly on matters connected with dining, but also containing remarks on music, songs, dances, games, courtesans, and luxury. Nearly 800 writers and 2500 separate works are referred to by Athenaeus; one of his characters (not necessarily to be identified with the historical author himself) boasts of having read 800 plays of Athenian Middle Comedy alone. Were it not for Athenaeus, much valuable information about the ancient world would be missing, and many ancient Greek authors such as Archestratus would be almost entirely unknown. Book XIII, for example, is an important source for the study of sexuality in classical and Hellenistic Greece (wiki).

The comic poet Antiphanes, friend Timocrates, was once reading one of his plays to King Alexander, who, however, made it plain that he did not altogether like it. “No wonder, sire,” the poet said; “for the man who likes this play of mine must have dined often at contribution−dinners, and he must have received and given even oftener hard knocks over a courtesan;” this we have on the authority of Lycophron of Chalcis in his work On Comedy. As for us, then, now that we are on the point of setting down our stories of love and lovers (for we often indulged in conversation on the subject of married women and courtesans as well), and since experts will listen to our history, the Muse we must invoke to come to the aid of our memory in that long erotic muster−roll is Erato; and we shall make the auspicious beginning with this line: “Come now I pray thee, Erato, stand beside me and tell me” what words were spoken concerning love itself, and love affairs. In the course of his encomium of married women, our noble host quoted Hermippus as recording, in his work On Lawgivers, that in Lacedaemon all the young girls used to be shut up in a dark room, the unmarried young men being locked up with them; and each man led home, as his bride without dower, whichever girl he laid hold of. Hence they punished Lysander with a fine because he abandoned the first girl and plotted to marryanother who was much prettier…

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