110

FEASTS, FESTIVALS, &C.

<( From room to room their eager view they bend;

“ Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile descend;

“ Where a bright damsel-train attend the guests" With liquid odours, and embroider’d vests.u Refresh a, they wait them to the bower of state,

“ Where circled with his peers Atrides sate.” Pope.

The same persons also washed their hands before they satdown to meat, as appears from the following verses:

XcpnCa y au<p iToXof wpo^ou iittyivi (pepyaaK«Xjj X? va( * r> > apyvptoio

woopa, irawrat rpairt^W

Titov on$o'w recf/m KCtp&i jxe <p«ptf<ra. 74

(t Thron’d next the king, a fair attendant brings(< The purest product of the chrystal springs;

(< High on a massy vase of silver mould,

“ The burnish’d layer flames with solid gold.” Pope.

We should have observed, that a law existed in Athens,which limited the number of guests; no person beingallowed to entertain above thirty at once. In orderto put this statute in execution, the cooks who wereemployed to dress the victuals were obliged to give in theirnames every time they were hired. 75

We should also have noticed, that those dependents whowere termed the shades of great men, and the flies at enter-tainments, were also denominated irapaairot, parasites. Lucianhath observed, this word in its primitive sense properly de-noted the companions of princes and men of the first quality,as Patroclus to Achilles, Memnon to Idomeneus , &c.; how-ever, afterwards it became a term of reproach, and wasapplied ttf those, who, by flattery and other mean arts in-sinuated themselves to the tables or favour of other people.

It was usual to wash between every course, and aftersupper; thus Hamer introduces his heroes hiTryevra;, o/xitena;,tlra a7rovi4-a/x£V85 zoie? raMv ieimevra;, supping, conversing,then icashing, and after that supping again; and Aristo-phanes 73 speaks of bringing vSap Kara xeipogptra rpani(a;, waterto wash the hands after the courses. By those who spokeaccurately, to wash the hands before supper was termedvi\ka<r0ai, to wash after supper avovl^arSai. Hither are to bereferred the words, dzo^ia|a<r9ai, evairo/xatiarSai, ano-^Yiaai, andthe like, which signify to wipe the hands; the towel was termedtKnayelev, x t, p°l JLa *' T P 0V > & c - instead whereof, the ancientGreeks used iTropayiatdau which were to iv ra apra /na^axov kcuratruhs, the soft and fine part of bread, which after-

74 Odys. v. 62, ubitupra.

73 Yespis*

75 Conf. Athcneus, lib. vi. cap. 11.