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Polybius, Histories 12.24.1-2

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ὅτι διαπορεῖν ἔστι περὶ τῆς αἱρέσεως Τιμαίου. φησὶ γὰρ τοὺς ποιητὰς καὶ συγγραφέας διὰ τῶν ὑπεράνω πλεονασμῶν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασι διαφαίνειν τὰς ἑαυτῶν φύσεις. λέγων τὸν μὲν ποιητὴν ἐκ τοῦ δαιτρεύειν πολλαχοῦ τῆς ποιήσεως ὡς ἂν εἰ γαστρίμαργον παρεμφαίνειν, τὸν δ’ Ἀριστοτέλην, ὀψαρτύοντα πλεονάκις ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασιν, ὀψοφάγον εἶναι καὶ λίχνον.

One must have doubts about Timaeus’s way of thinking: for he says that poets and writers reveal their own natures through those things which they concentrate on excessively in their writings. He says that the poet [Homer] reveals himself to be some kind of glutton because of the distribution of food throughout his poetry; and that Aristotle, who frequently discusses food preparation in his writings, was therefore a gourmet with an appetite.

Written by aleatorclassicus

July 12, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Posted in Polybius