DESSERT.
He was a clever man who first invented
The use of sweetmeats; for he added thus
A pleasant lengthening to the feast, and saved men
From unfill'd mouths and idle jaws unoccupied.
And in his Female Likeness (but this same play is attributed also to Antidotus) he says,—
A. I am not one, by Æsculapius!
To care excessively about my supper;
I'm fonder of dessert.
B. 'Tis very well.
A. For I do hear that sweetmeats are in fashion,
For suitors when they're following. . . .
B. Their brides,—
A. To give them cheesecakes, hares, and thrushes too,
These are the things I like; but pickled fish
And soups and sauces I can't bear, ye gods!
But Apion and Diodorus, as Pamphilus tells us, assert that the sweetmeats brought in after supper are also called [Greek: epaikleia].
50. Ephippus, in his Ephebi, enumerating the different dishes in fashion for dessert, says,—
Then there were brought some groats, some rich perfumes
From Egypt, and a cask of rich palm wine
Was broach'd. Then cakes and other kinds of sweetmeats,
Cheesecakes of every sort and every name;
And a whole hecatomb of eggs. These things
We ate, and clear'd the table vigorously,
For we did e'en devour some parasites.
And in his Cydon he says,—
And after supper they served up some kernels,
Vetches, and beans, and groats, and cheese, and honey,
Sweetmeats of various kinds, and cakes of sesame,
And pyramidical rolls of wheat, and apples,
Nuts, milk, hempseed too, and shell-fish,
Syrup, the brains of Jove.
Alexis too, in his Philiscus, says,—
Now is the time to clear the table, and
To bring each guest some water for his hands,
And garlands, perfumes, and libations,
Frankincense, and a chafing-dish. Now give
Some sweetmeats, and let all some cheesecakes have.
And as Philoxenus of Cythera, in his Banquet, where he mentions the second course, has spoken by name of many of the dishes which are served up to us, we may as well cite his words:—
"And the beautiful vessels which come in first, were brought in again full of every kind of delicacy, which mortals
