8o HOMER— METHODS OF FISHING 



splash, makes the point of the comparison with which Iris 

 sped on her mission. Nor does the adjective apphed to the 

 fish give any aid, for w^jjo-t-j/c, if it be not redundant, signifies 

 ' raw-flesh devouring ' (rather than ' ravenous ') fish, such as 

 shark or sword-fish. ^ 



But if the early Greeks and Romans only fished for the 

 pot and not for amusement, the question arises, w^hy should this 

 particular Homeric piscator " be after " sword-fish or shark ? 

 Fishing, down to the early Roman times, continued to be more 

 of a distinct trade than was the pursuit of animals and birds. 2 

 Hence the Net with quicker and surer returns and not the Rod 

 was the favourite weapon of the fishermen by trade. 



In F. {Od., IV. 369, and XII. 330) something in the nature 

 of a line and of a bait of some sort (though not necessarily of a 

 rod) attached to the bent, or barbed, hooks, must be implied. 

 Hunger would assuredly continue to " gnaw at their bellies," 

 if their only food was caught by hooks, pure and simple, for, 

 as Juliana Berners pithily puts it, " Ye can not brynge an hoke 

 into a fyssh mouth without a bayte." 



Abstention from fish, however general, did not prevail 

 among Homer's sailors. Athenseus (I. 22) points out that 

 since the hooks used could not have been forged on the Island, 

 and so must have been carried on board the ships, " it is plain 

 sailors were fond of and skilful in catching fish." 



Basing my surmise on opviBag in Od., XII. 331 and on the 

 statement of Eustathius ad loc, that hooks were used for cap- 

 turing sea-birds as well as fish, I suggest that the baits on the 

 hooks were either small fishes (left possibly by the tide in some 

 pool in the rocks), or shellfish, or oysters. These attached to 

 a Hne (with or without a rod) and thrown into the sea were 

 taken by both sea-fowl and fish. 3 



1 Compare its use four times (in the Iliad only) as applied to birds of prey 

 and to dogs ; also figuratively to Achilles as " savage." 



2 Later on it is true we do find the Roman " burgher " becoming also an 

 amateur angler, and gentlefolk, including ladies and children, taking freely 

 to the sport. Piscator is generally used in reference to those who were 

 fishermen by trade, whereas venator and aitceps may be likewise applied to 

 mere lovers of hunting and fowling (H. Bliimner, Die rbmischen Privatalier- 

 turner, Munich, 191 1). 



' A gorge, almost identical with the Neolithic gorge, is used at the present 

 day for catching ducks on the Untersee of Holland. See Introduction. 



