The Learned Banqueters: v. 1 (Loeb Classical Library) by Athenaeus

by Athenaeus of Naucratis

In "The Learned Banqueters," Athenaeus describes a series of dinner parties at which the guests quote extensively from Greek literature. The work (which dates to the very end of the second century CE) is amusing reading and of extraordinary value as a treasury of quotations from works now lost. Athenaeus also preserves a wide range of information about different cuisines and foodstuffs; the music and entertainments that ornamented banquets; and the intellectual talk that was the heart of Greek conviviality. S. Douglas Olson has undertaken to produce a complete new edition of the work, replacing the previous seven-volume Loeb Athenaeus (published under the title "Deipnosophists").

Genres: Classics, Ancient, Ancient History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Athenaeus of Naucratis (Ancient Greek: Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, Athēnaios Naukratitēs or Naukratios; Latin: Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD.

Alternate names:
Ateneo de Náucratis (Spanish)

Reviews

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I now know why some books, no matter how interesting they sound, never make it into the Penguin or Oxford World Classics but spend their lives among the volumes of the Loeb Classical Library. The Learned Banqueters has a great premise -- a gathering of men, all the best in their fields, for a feast of wine, good food, and conversation. Some arrive, like members of a high school debating team, with knapsacks filled with books.

But this is a book for specialists only. When towards the end a fight breaks out between a Cynic and someone who seems to be more a gammarian than anything it is tied up with exact usages of words and puns that require endless footnotes and of course have lost much of the luster after 1900 years.

The book does have its moments. You learn that Alcibiades, that wag of fifth century Greece, introduced the habit of having slaves deliver piss pots directly to the dining table; that the Carmini, as a sign of friendship, cut open the veins in the foreheads and bled into the wine used for toasting; and, that Theophrastus, Aristotle's prolific successor, wrote a book titled On Animals That Live In Holes. And so much of the discussion centers around digestion and bowel movements that it sounds like what you might overhear in the nutritional supplement aisle at Whole Foods.

The Learned Banqueters stretches into seven volumes in the Loeb Library. Even given the facing-page translations and trim format that is still about 1200 pages. One volume has satisfied my curiosity.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Or as I like to call it "Insufferable Foodies of the Second Sophistic."

[jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! So many fascinating tidbits to savor and gleaming, sparkling, jewels to enjoy. Olson's translation is exceptional! Can't wait to read the set.

[Declan Kennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭑★{ 3 }★⭑

Though I wouldn’t necessarily call this (book? dialogue?) groundbreaking or seminal, I can definitely appreciate the historical importance of it. To pitch it like a modern novel, the book takes place at a series of symposia (dinner parties) in the style of Plato, where a group of philosophers discuss a diverse range of topics from food and wine to music, philosophy, and literature.

Over the course of these symposia, the banqueters reference and quote countless pieces of literature, many of which are unrecorded elsewhere. If it weren’t for the transmission of this text, our understanding of early Greek literature would be significantly lacking.

—————————

Whether or not I shall ever return to these references, these are the parts that most interested me from Volume 1 (1-3.106e):

- 1.18d-e
- 1.20b-d
- 1.21c
- 1.24c-e
- 1.25c
- 1.28e-f
- 1.29c
- 3.76f-77d
- 3.96f-97d
- 3.105d-e

[Lulu]

Very end of 2nd CE (or beginning of the 3rd?)