DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0528
480 HYMETTOS HONEY.
the honey is not less renowned at present than it was in former
times : its superior excellence is owing to the variety and quantity
of sweet-scented herbs, particularly thyme, which grow amongst
the rocks;
-------------------------" for in the thirsty soil
Most fragrant breathe the aromatic tribes."1
The best honey is procured at the monasteries of Sirgiani and Ka-
reas ; but other parts of Attica produce nearly as good, and it
forms a considerable part of the income of the monastery on Pente-
likon. The Athenians use it in most of their dishes; and, like the
ancients, conceive that it renders them long lived, and healthy;
an opinion perhaps not entirely chimerical. Fourmont asserts, that
the Hymettos honey is so strong, that it has the same effect as wine
on those who eat it; and Doctor Chandler,2 who appears not to
have been exempt from vulgar errors, and to have had a propensity
for the marvellous, says, that on account of its thymy odour, flies
never settle upon it, but merely buzz about without touching it.
He probably borrowed this notion from John Tzetzes, and Theo-
dore Metochita, who both erroneously affirm the same singularity.
The honey which I had at Athens, was from Hymettos ; and if ex-
posed, it was immediately covered with flies, Avhich not only settled
upon it, but feasted with such freedom that they often remained
prisoners, and
"With powerless wings around them wrapt, expired,
»s
Pliny4 has a similar story concerning the honey which was made on
Mount Carina, in Crete.
1 Armstrong. 2 Travels in Greece, c. 72. p. 126.
3 Thomson's Seasons. * Nat. Hist. b. 21. c. 14.
the honey is not less renowned at present than it was in former
times : its superior excellence is owing to the variety and quantity
of sweet-scented herbs, particularly thyme, which grow amongst
the rocks;
-------------------------" for in the thirsty soil
Most fragrant breathe the aromatic tribes."1
The best honey is procured at the monasteries of Sirgiani and Ka-
reas ; but other parts of Attica produce nearly as good, and it
forms a considerable part of the income of the monastery on Pente-
likon. The Athenians use it in most of their dishes; and, like the
ancients, conceive that it renders them long lived, and healthy;
an opinion perhaps not entirely chimerical. Fourmont asserts, that
the Hymettos honey is so strong, that it has the same effect as wine
on those who eat it; and Doctor Chandler,2 who appears not to
have been exempt from vulgar errors, and to have had a propensity
for the marvellous, says, that on account of its thymy odour, flies
never settle upon it, but merely buzz about without touching it.
He probably borrowed this notion from John Tzetzes, and Theo-
dore Metochita, who both erroneously affirm the same singularity.
The honey which I had at Athens, was from Hymettos ; and if ex-
posed, it was immediately covered with flies, Avhich not only settled
upon it, but feasted with such freedom that they often remained
prisoners, and
"With powerless wings around them wrapt, expired,
»s
Pliny4 has a similar story concerning the honey which was made on
Mount Carina, in Crete.
1 Armstrong. 2 Travels in Greece, c. 72. p. 126.
3 Thomson's Seasons. * Nat. Hist. b. 21. c. 14.