Ἄγευστος θοίνης
without a taste of the feast
Translated by William Hutton · 22 Oct 2000 · Vetting: high · 7 revisions
Translation
[Something] "lacking taste"3 has four meanings: either that which is lacking flavor as yet, but capable of being given flavor, like water -- for being inert it is capable of having flavor imparted to it; or that which is subject to the other senses, like sound; or that which has a small amount of taste, like the watery kinds of porridge; or that which has a bad taste, like poisons. And [it is] clear that the sense of taste partakes of some of these things and some not. And in the case of the other senses also these four significations are recognized. They say that [the distinction between] that which is drinkable and undrinkable [are] the beginnings of tasting. For the first distinction taste makes is between these things. For it is especially in moist conditions that even the flavor arising from a mixture of dry elements is recognizable; and just as a drink becomes drinkable through the admixture of good flavor, thus also it becomes undrinkable through the admixture of undrinkable flavor. But both, that is, both the drinkable and the undrinkable, [are] tastable. And the undrinkable [is] tastable not as a fulfillment of the sense of taste but as something destructive to it because of the awfulness of the flavor. But the drinkable [is tastable] as something that preserves and fulfills that which is tastable by nature. Therefore the drinkable and the undrinkable are the beginnings of what is tastable. And since that which is drinkable [is] moist, and moistness is perceivable by the sense of touch, thus moistness is touchable and that which has such a flavor is tastable. This is something common to the senses of touch and taste: in the case of touch it is one of the specific things that it senses; in the case of taste it is the stuff and the vehicle of the tastes.
Greek original
Ἄγευστος θοίνης· ἀστείως βίου ἔχων. καὶ Ἄγευστοι, ἄπειροι. Ἄγευστον, τετραχῶς· ἢ γὰρ τὸ ἀχύμωτον μὲν τέως, δυνάμενον δὲ χυμωθῆναι, ὡς τὸ ὕδωρ· ἄποιον γὰρ ὂν δύναται χυμωθῆναι· ἢ τὸ ταῖς ἄλλαις αἰσθήσεσιν ὑποκείμενον, ὡς ὁ ψόφος, ἢ τὸ μικρὰν ἔχον γεῦσιν, ὡς τὰ ὑδαρὰ τῶν ῥοφημάτων, ἢ τὸ κακὴν ἔχον γεῦσιν, ὡς τὰ δηλητήρια. καὶ δῆλον τίνων τούτων ἀντιλαμβάνεται ἡ γεῦσις, καὶ τίνος μή. καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ αἰσθήσεων τὰ τέσσαρα ταῦτα γινώσκεται σημαινόμενα. ἀρχὰς δὲ τῶν γευστῶν τὸ ποτόν φασι καὶ τὸ ἄποτον. εἰς ταῦτα γὰρ πρώτως διαιρεῖται τὸ γευστόν. καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ὑγρῷ μάλιστα καὶ ὁ χυμὸς ἐκ τῆς ἐπιμιξίας τῶν ξηρῶν προσγενόμενος· καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ ποτὸν πότιμον γίνεται διὰ τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν τοῦ χρηστοῦ χυμοῦ, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἄποτον διὰ τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν τοῦ ἀπότου χυμοῦ. ἀμφότερα δὲ, τό τε ἄποτον καὶ τὸ ποτὸν, γευστά. γευστὸν δὲ τὸ ἄποτον, οὐχ ὡς τελειωτικὸν, ἀλλ' ὡς φθαρτικὸν τῆς γεύσεως διὰ μοχθηρίαν χυμοῦ. τὸ δὲ ποτὸν ὡς σωστικόν τε καὶ τελειωτικὸν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν γευστικοῦ. ἄρχει οὖν τῶν γευστῶν κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον τὸ ποτὸν καὶ τὸ ἄποτον. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ ποτὸν ὑγρὸν, τὸ δὲ ὑγρὸν τῇ ἁφῇ ἀντιληπτὸν, ὡς μὲν ὑγρὸν ἁπτὸν, ὡς δὲ τοιόνδε χυμὸν ἔχον γευστόν. τοῦτο οὖν κοινὸν ἁφῆς καὶ γεύσεως, τῆς μὲν ἁφῆς ὡς ἴδιον αὐτῆς αἰσθητὸν, τῆς δὲ γεύσεως ὡς ὕλη καὶ ὄχημα τῶν γευστῶν.
Notes (3)
- The headword phrase, illustrative of an idiom noted in LSJ s.v.↩
a)/geustos , I -- is presumably quoted from somewhere. It features also in, besides other lexica, two adjacent entries in Photius (alpha156 and alpha157 Theodoridis), and can be traced back to -- but not beyond -- two lemmata in the epitome of Phrynichus, Praeparatio sophistica (18.8 and 18.25 de Borries).- 1This gloss does not seem very apt for the headword phrase. Adler reports no manuscript variations for the Suda iself, but, in the equivalent entry in Photius, Theodoridis obelizes
a)stei/ws and notes Croenert's suggested emendationa)geu/stws . ↩- 2Same glossing in Photius (alpha158 Theodoridis) and other lexica; evidently quoted from somewhere. ↩
- 3What now follows draws on John Philoponus' commentary on Aristotle's de anima 404.10-29 Hayduck. There are summary cross-references to this material at alpha 3603 and pi 2141.
- 1This gloss does not seem very apt for the headword phrase. Adler reports no manuscript variations for the Suda iself, but, in the equivalent entry in Photius, Theodoridis obelizes
Linked from (1)
Neighbours in Adler order
Revisions (7)
- David Whitehead
- David Whiteheadaugmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics
- David Whiteheadmodified translation
- David Whiteheadmodified translation; cosmetics
- David Whiteheadadded notes; cosmetics
- William Huttontranslated