Page:The Deipnosophists (Volume 2).djvu/237

 *

Him whom your friends e'en now, from his great strength, Surname the Thunderbolt? A. Most probably; For I think he will overturn all tables Which he once strikes with his consuming jaw.

And in these lines the comic poet shows that it was from this man that he had given his play the title of The Thunderbolt. And Theophilus, in his Epidaurus, says—

There was a Mantinean centurion, Atrestides his name; who of all men That ever lived could eat the greatest quantity.

And, in his Pancratiast, he introduces the athlete as eating a great deal, where he says—

A. Of boil'd meat about three minæ weight. B. Now mention something else. A. A fine pig's face; A ham; four pettitoes;— B. Oh, Hercules! A. Three calves' feet, and one hen. B. Oh, Phœbus, oh! What else? A. Two minæ weight of figs: that's all. B. And how much did you drink? A. Twelve measures only Of unmix'd wine. B. Oh, Bacchus! oh, Sabazius!

11. And whole nations also have been ridiculed by the comic poets for their gluttony; as the Bœotians, for instance. Accordingly, Eubulus says, in his Antiopa—

We are courageous men to toil and eat, And to endure sharp pain; the Attic race Is quick and eloquent, and they eat little; But the Bœotians eat enormously.

And in his Europa he says—

Go now and build up the Bœotian city, Where the men eat all day and never tire.

And in his Ionian he says—

He is so thorough a Bœotian In all his manners, that, like them, 'tis said He's never tired nor content with eating.

And in his Cercopes he says—

And after that I came to Thebes, where men Spend the whole night in feasts and revelry; And each man has a privy at his doors, Which is a great boon to an o'er-fed man;