Κεστρεῖς
mullets
Translated by Nick Nicholas10 Nov 2008Vetting: high6 revisions
Translation
They used to call them "fasting"1 and gaping and hungry; for these fish [are] gluttonous.2 Of all the fish that eat each other, it is the only one that abstains [sc. from eating flesh]. Instead it eats mud, according to Aristotle in On Animals.3 And [it is] clear that it undergoes hardship, diving into the mud, and ends up worse off.4
The [mullet is] now called a kephalos.5
The [mullet is] now called a kephalos.5
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κεστρεῖς· νήστις ἐκάλουν καὶ κεχηνότας καὶ πεινῶντας· λαίμαργοι γὰρ οὗτοι οἱ ἰχθύες. οὗτος γὰρ πάντων τῶν ἰχθύων ἀλληλοφαγούντων μόνος ἀπέχεται. νέμεται δὲ ἰλύν, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τοῖς Περὶ ζῴων. καὶ δῆλον ὅτι ταλαιπωρεῖ καταδυόμενος εἰς τὴν ἰλύν, καὶ ἧττόν τι φέρεται. ὁ νῦν λεγόμενος κέφαλος.
Betacode
*kestrei=s: nh/stis e)ka/loun kai\ kexhno/tas kai\ peinw=ntas: lai/margoi ga\r ou(=toi oi( i)xqu/es. ou(=tos ga\r pa/ntwn tw=n i)xqu/wn a)llhlofagou/ntwn mo/nos a)pe/xetai. ne/metai de\ i)lu/n, w(s *)aristote/lhs e)n toi=s *peri\ zw/|wn. kai\ dh=lon o(/ti talaipwrei= kataduo/menos ei)s th\n i)lu/n, kai\ h(=tto/n ti fe/retai. o( nu=n lego/menos ke/falos.
Notes (5)
- 1The "fasting mullet" (
nh=stis kestreu/s ) was so called because its stomach was always found empty (LSJ s.v.nh=stis II.2). The phrase is commonplace in comedy as a metaphor for starvelings: Alexis fr. 256 Kock (now 258 Kassel-Austin, Amipsias fr. 1 Kock (and K.-A.), Antiphanes fr. 138 Kock (136 K.-A.), Archippus fr. 12 Kock (and K.-A.), Aristophanes fr. 156 Kock (159 K.-A.), Diphilus fr. 54 Kock (53 K.-A.), Eubulus fr. 68 Kock (and K.-A.), Euphron fr. 2 Kock (and K.-A.), Philemon fr. 80 Kock (83 K.-A.), Theopompus fr. 13 Kock (14 K.-A.). ↩ - 2See Aristotle below. ↩
- 3Aristotle, History of Animals 591a: "All fishes devour their own species, with the single exception of the kestreus or mullet; and the conger is especially ravenous in this respect. The kephalos and the mullet in general are the only fish that eat no flesh; this may be inferred from the facts that when caught they are never found with flesh in their intestines ... Every fish of the mullet-kind lives on sea-weed and sand. ... The kephalos lives in mud, and is in consequence heavy and slimy; it never feeds on any other fish. ... Of all fishes the mullet is the most voracious and insatiable, and in consequence its belly is kept at full stretch; whenever it is not starving, it may be considered as out of condition." ↩
- 4From discussion of the proverb "the mullet fasts" (see under kappa 1429); the wording is verbatim from Pausanias
*)attikw=n o)noma/twn sunagwgh/ kappa29. ↩ - 5So already kappa 1431. ↩
Linked from3 entries
- κ1429Κεστρᾶν τεμάχηmullets' slicesAristophanes in Clouds [sc. uses the phrase]. kestreai are not the same as kestreis ["mullets"]; instead, some think that murries [myrainai] are called kestrai; others say it is not those, but a different kind of fish.…
- κ1431Κεστρεύςmullet, kestreusWhat is now known as a kephalos.
- κ1433Κεστρῖνοςkestrinos, cestrinusA type of fish. Whether it differs from a kestreus is debatable.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history6 revisions · last 3 Jan 2015
- Revised — David Whitehead
- more of same — David Whitehead
- more of same — David Whitehead
- updated some refs — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Nick Nicholas