From Kyrene silphium and ox hide,
From the Hellespont mackerel and salted fish of all kinds,
From Thessaly salt and ribs of beef,
From the Syracusans pork and cheese…
From Egypt papyrus for sails and books,
Frankincense from Syria, and from lovely Crete cypress for the Gods.
From Aftica an abundance of ivory,
From Rhodes raisins and dried figs that bring sweet dreams,
From Euboea pears and plump apples…
Paphlagonia provides divine acorns and shining almonds;
These are the delights of the banquet.
Phoenicia furnishes dates and the finest wheat flour,
And Carthage carpets and colorful carpets.*

*Hermippos fragment #63 noted in Meineke, A. Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum. Berolini, 1847.

—Barbara W. McConnell