Author: Athenaeus; Charles Burton Gulick (trans.)
Title: The Deipnosophists (in Seven Volumes)
Description: London/Cambridge, Heinemann/Harvard University Press, 1969. Hardcover. 12mo. Bound in green cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Loeb Classical Library. General shelfwear, corners bumped, bookplates adhered to front pastedowns of volumes I and VII, some ink lettering to front pastedowns of volumes III and VI; very good. "Athenaeus (C. A.D. 170 - C. 230) a Greek of Naucratis in Egypt, lived in Rome and wrote a historical book now lost. Of the 15 books of his surviving 'Deipnosophistae' (Sophists and Dinner), the first 2 and parts of the 3rd, 11th, and 15th exist only in summary, the rest apparently complete. He pretends to tell a friend about a banquet at a scholar's house from poetry for recitation and discussion. Much of the matter however concerns the food provided and accessories. One learns about cooks, strange dishes, wines, menu-cards, and countless other matters. Athenaeus was an antiquarian. The whole work, which mentions nearly 800 writers and 2500 writings, is a very large treasury of information not only about table-matters but also music, dances, games, and all sorts of literary subjects; and abounds in quotations, mostly made direct by Athenaeus himself, from authors whose writings have not survived; it is one of the most important products of ancient literature. .

Keywords: Loeb classical library;


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