Clearly, then, if one is not captious or gluttonous, there should be no lack of good eating in Athens, despite the reputation of the city for abstemiousness.  Let us pry therefore into the symposium of some good citizen who is dispensing hospitality to-night.

160.  Inviting Guests to a Dinner Party.—­

Who loves thee, him summon to they board;
Far off be he who hates.

This familiar sentiment of Hesiod, one Prodicus, a well-to-do gentleman, had in mind when he went to the Agora this morning to arrange for a dinner party in honor of his friend Hermogenes, who was just departing on a diplomatic mission to the satrap of Mysia.  While walking along the Painted Porch and the other colonnades he had no difficulty in seeing most of the group he intended to invite, and if they did not turn to greet him, he would halt them by sending his slave boy to run and twitch at their mantles, after which the invitation was given verbally.  Prodicus, however, deliberately makes arrangements for one or two more than those he has bidden.  It will be entirely proper for his guests to bring friends of their own if they wish; and very likely some intimate whom he has been unable to find will invite himself without any bidding.

At the Agora Prodicus has had much to do.  His house is a fairly large and well-furnished one, his slaves numerous and handy, but he has not the cook or the equipment for a really elaborate symposium.  At a certain quarter on the great square he finds a contractor who will supply all the extra appointments for a handsome dinner party—­tables, extra lamps, etc.  Then he puts his slave boy to bawling out: 

“Who wants an engagement to cook a dinner?”

This promptly brings forward a sleek, well-dressed fellow whose dialect declares that he is from Sicily, and who asserts he is an expert professional cook.  Prodicus engages him and has a conference with him on the profound question of “whether the tunnies or the mullets are better to-day, or will there be fresh eels?” This point and similar minor matters settled, Prodicus makes liberal purchases at the fish and vegetable stalls, and his slaves bear his trophies homeward.

161.  Preparing for the Dinner.  The Sicilian Cook.—­All that afternoon the home of Prodicus is in an uproar.  The score of slaves show a frantic energy.  The aula is cleaned and scrubbed:  the serving girls are busy handing festoons of leaves and weaving chaplets.  The master’s wife—­who does not dream of actually sharing in the banquet—­is nevertheless as active and helpful as possible; but especially she is busy trying to keep the peace between the old house servants and the imported cook.  This Sicilian is a notable character.  To him cookery is not a handicraft:  it is the triumph, the quintessence of all science and philosophy.  He talks a strange professional jargon, and asserts that he is himself learned in astronomy—­for