A kind of pupil-blunter [
koramblĂȘ] which dulls [
amblunousa] clear-sightedness.[1] Better [put], [something] going against sleep.[2] Hence it is the first thing served in banquets, and is not planted near a vine.[3]
And the Egyptians would eat boiled cabbage before other dishes, so they would not get drunk on wine.[4]
And
Alcaeus' offspring says: "kneading most ingenious notions from a quite loud [
krambotatou] mouth". Namely from a very sweet one, from a very dry one.
Because the cabbage is the only thing a vine will not wrap itself around. [5]
*kra/mbh: kora/mblh tis ou)=sa, h( a)mblu/nousa to\ dioratiko/n. be/ltion de\ h( tw=| ka/rw| a)ntibai/nousa. o(/qen kai\ prw/th e)n sumposi/ois di/dotai kai\ par' a)/mpelon ou) futeu/etai. kai\ oi( *ai)gu/ptioi pro\ tw=n a)/llwn e)desma/twn e(fqa\s kra/mbas h)/sqion, dia\ to\ mh\ mequ/skesqai oi)/nw|. fhsi\ de\ *)alkei/das: a)po\ krambota/tou sto/matos ma/ttwn a)steiota/tas e)pinoi/as. oi(=on h(duta/tou, chrota/tou. o(/ti h( a)/mpelos kra/mbh| mo/nh| ou) periple/ketai.
[1] Folk etymology from the
scholia to
Aristophanes,
Knights 539 (see below, at n.5); also in the
Etymologicum Gudianum and
Etymologicum Magnum;
kora/mbh and
kora/mblh are made up from
ko/rh "pupil" and
a)mblu/nw "make (something) dull". See the LSJ entry for
kra/mbh at web address 1.
[2] In the
Etymologicum Gudianum and
Etymologicum Magnum ko/rw| "satiety? boy?" This spelling is consistent with the folk etymology of
kora/mblh, but makes no more sense.
[3] Also from the
Etymologicum Gudianum and
Etymologicum Magnum. The first claim is elaborated on below. The context for the latter claim comes from the myth (also mentioned in the
scholia to
Knights) that cabbages came from the tears of
Lycurgus, king of the Edones, after Dionysus had driven him mad and caused him to murder his children. As
Geoponica 12.17.17 (Paxamos, here citing Nestor) explains, "
Lycurgus, bound under the vine left his tears there, and cabbage is said to have grown from the tears; and for that reason the cabbage and the vine are hostile to each other. So if a cabbage is brought near a vineyard in arable land, it either withers at once, or makes the vine wither".
[4] Further illustration of the perceived enmity of cabbage and wine, from
Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists 1.34C-E (1.62 Kaibel).
Athenaeus also cites
Timaeus as reporting that the Sybarites ate cabbage before drinking, because it would make wine "dimmer", and adds support from
Alexis and
Eubulus (referring to the equivalent
r(a/fanos). Cabbage is as a hangover cure in [
Aristotle],
Problems 3.17 (873a37-b24).
[5] On the interpretation of this quotation from
Aristophanes,
Knights 539, see
kappa 2319. '
Alcaeus' offspring' is Heracles (grandson of
Alcaeus), but the verse is spoken by the Chorus, and Heracles does not feature in
Knights. The verse is explained here in terms of the hostility of vines and cabbages, though no real connection is made.
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