Fishing from the earliest times - Blog

Mf/i^^W^—PRAISE OF KA'nPOi: 263" noble congerFrom Sicyon's bay, the conger which the GodOf the deep sea doth bear aloft to HeavenFit banquet for his brethren." ^8. The Ka-wpoq—by some identified with the Aper, by sometranslated the " Sea-Hog." Neither scientifically, nor in mylist can I place this fish ; it was apparently unknown to theRomans.Of the fish as Caper, except in Ennius,^ " Caproque apudAmbracienses," and Phny, XI. 112, " et is qui caper vocatur,"Latin literature is silent. Nor do these two quotations aid,because the firstoccurs in the poet's imitation or translationof Archestratus (Apul., ApoL, p. 384), while PHny simplytransUterates Aristotle's KairpoQ,^Of its right to be near the top of the list, the words ofNonnius bear high proof ": Among the fishes which the Greekssought with mad desire, and at any cost to procure, was firstand foremost the Kairpog, which, though called Aper, wasunknown to the Romans."fish,Archestratus * outdoes even himself in his eulogy of thisAmbracia,for he straightly enjoins any one lucky enough to be in" Buy it at once, and let it not escape you.Not if you buy it at its weight in gold ;Else will the indignation of the godsO'erpower you : for 'tis the Flower of Nectar,"The immediate sequel to these lines is of interest. Thepoet, transported from earth to heaven at the thought of hisfavourite dainty, describes it in wording which recalls the mostsolemn rites of Hellenic religion. There were certain foodsreserved for communicants. There were mysteries whichnone but advanced initiates might witness. There were objectsof pecuhar sanctity borne by virginal ministrants. There^ Philemon, ap. Athen., 7. 32.- Hedyphagetica. The reading is most uncertain.3 In N. H., II. 13, and IV. 9. This cannot be our boar-fish which is marine,whereas Aristotle talks of it being in the river Achelous. It may possiblybe another name for the Glanis.* In Athen., 7. 72.