CAKES.
- sogonus the flute-player, as Aristoxenus tells us in the eighth
book of his Political Laws, who wrote the poem entitled Polity. And Philochorus, in his treatise on Divination, says that it was a man of the name of Axiopistos, (whether he was a Locrian or a Sicyonian is uncertain,) who was the author of the Canon and the Sentences. And Apollodorus tells us the same thing. And Teleclides mentions the [Greek: amylos] in his Rigid Men, speaking thus—
Hot cheesecakes now are things I'm fond of,
Wild pears I do not care about;
I also like rich bits of hare
Placed on an [Greek: amylos].
60. When Ulpian had heard this, he said—But, since you have also a cake which you call [Greek: koptê], and I see that there is one served up for each of you on the table, tell us now, you epicures, what writer of authority ever mentions this word [Greek: koptê]? And Democritus replied—Dionysius of Utica, in the seventh book of his Georgics, says that the sea leek is called [Greek: koptê]. And as for the honey-cake which is now served up before each of us, Clearchus the Solensian, in his treatise on Riddles, mentions that, saying—"If any one were to order a number of vessels to be mentioned which resemble one another, he might say,
A tripod, a bowl, a candlestick, a marble mortar,
A bench, a sponge, a caldron, a boat, a metal mortar,
An oil-cruse, a basket, a knife, a ladle,
A goblet, and a needle.
And after that he gives a list of the names of different dishes, thus—
Soup, lentils, salted meat, and fish, and turnips,
Garlic, fresh meat, and tunny-roe, pickles, onions,
Olives, and artichokes, capers, truffles, mushrooms.
And in the same way he gives a catalogue of cakes, and sweetmeats, thus—
Ames, placous, entiltos, itrium,[1]
Pomegranates, eggs, vetches, and sesame;
Coptè and grapes, dried figs, and pears and peaches,
Apples and almonds."
These are the words of Clearchus. But Sopater the farce writer, in his drama entitled Pylæ, says—
Who was it who invented first black cakes ([Greek: koptai])
Of the uncounted poppy-seed? who mix'd
The yellow compounds of delicious sweetmeats?
- ↑ These are all names of different kinds of cheesecakes which cannot
be distinguished from one another in an English translation.
