superodalisque
Well-Known Member
i just stumbled upon this and i just had to put it here because the accounts of fatness are so interesting. i love how they call fatness a luxury. some of it might not be to everyone's taste but...i hope its ok
here is the link to the site were i found it: http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/SymposiumLecture.html
Fat Men of Antiquity
Finally, Athenaeus discusses the luxury of famous individuals, including the famous barbarian king Sardanapalos, who stayed indoors all the time, and thus became effeminate and spent all of his time with women, doing womanly tasks. Sagaris the Maryandinian "in his luxurious indulgence was fed until he was an old man at the lips of his nurse, not wishing to take the trouble to chew, and .. he never carried his hand down lower than his navel (ou popote de ten kheira katotero tou omphalou proenegkasthai). After a long list of other luxurious livers, the books turns to famous fat people, whose over-indulgence in foods made them grotesque in appearance. Dionysios the Tyrant of Heracleia was so fat... he was so fat that he put a box in front of his body when he talked to people, so they could only see his face. Ptolemy VII Euergetes was so fat... he was so fat that his belly was too big to measure with one's arms, and so he covered it with a tunic which reached to his feet and which had sleeves reaching to his wrists, and never went out without a staff to support him. His son Alexander was so fat... he was so fat that "he could not even go out to ease himself unless he had two men to lean upon as he walked." Magas, the king of Cyrene was so fat... he was so fat that he "was weighted down with monstrous masses of flesh in his last days; in fact he choked himself to death because he was so fat, never taking any exercise and always eating quantities of food." Python, the orator of Byzantium was so fat... he was so fat that he made a fat joke with a political point. When civil strife threatened the stability of Byzantium, he exhorted his fellow citizens to reconcile by saying, "You, fellow-citizens, can see what my body is like; but I have a wife who is much fatter even than I. When, then, we are of one mind, even an ordinary narrow bed can hold us; but if we quarrel, the whole house isn't big enough" to hold us (550f).
here is the link to the site were i found it: http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/SymposiumLecture.html
Fat Men of Antiquity
Finally, Athenaeus discusses the luxury of famous individuals, including the famous barbarian king Sardanapalos, who stayed indoors all the time, and thus became effeminate and spent all of his time with women, doing womanly tasks. Sagaris the Maryandinian "in his luxurious indulgence was fed until he was an old man at the lips of his nurse, not wishing to take the trouble to chew, and .. he never carried his hand down lower than his navel (ou popote de ten kheira katotero tou omphalou proenegkasthai). After a long list of other luxurious livers, the books turns to famous fat people, whose over-indulgence in foods made them grotesque in appearance. Dionysios the Tyrant of Heracleia was so fat... he was so fat that he put a box in front of his body when he talked to people, so they could only see his face. Ptolemy VII Euergetes was so fat... he was so fat that his belly was too big to measure with one's arms, and so he covered it with a tunic which reached to his feet and which had sleeves reaching to his wrists, and never went out without a staff to support him. His son Alexander was so fat... he was so fat that "he could not even go out to ease himself unless he had two men to lean upon as he walked." Magas, the king of Cyrene was so fat... he was so fat that he "was weighted down with monstrous masses of flesh in his last days; in fact he choked himself to death because he was so fat, never taking any exercise and always eating quantities of food." Python, the orator of Byzantium was so fat... he was so fat that he made a fat joke with a political point. When civil strife threatened the stability of Byzantium, he exhorted his fellow citizens to reconcile by saying, "You, fellow-citizens, can see what my body is like; but I have a wife who is much fatter even than I. When, then, we are of one mind, even an ordinary narrow bed can hold us; but if we quarrel, the whole house isn't big enough" to hold us (550f).
