ON THE LIFE OF PYTHAGORAS

...from poppy seeds and sesame, and from the skin of squill original Greek: σκίλλης; a sea-onion used in ancient medicine thoroughly washed until the outer juice was purged away; also from the stalks of asphodel, mallow
5 leaves, meal, barley, and chickpeas. All of these, chopped into equal weights, he mixed into a paste with honey from Mount Hymettus Mt. Hymettus in Greece was famous for its honey.. For quenching thirst, he prepared a mixture of cucumber seeds and fat raisins,
10 removing the seeds from them, along with coriander flowers and mallow seeds likewise, and purslane A nutritious succulent plant., and grated cheese, fine meal, and
15 cream; all of which he mixed with honey from the islands. He claimed that Hercules original Greek: Ἡρακλέα had learned these things
20 from Demeter when he was sent into the waterless regions of Libya. From this, his body constantly maintained the same condition, as if
25 measured by a rule; it was never healthy at one moment and sickly at another, nor did it appear sometimes
30 stout and growing, and at other times thin and gaunt. His soul likewise always revealed a similar character through
35 his appearance; for he was never overly expanded by pleasure, nor contracted by grief, nor was he visibly moved by joy or sor-

...about to enter the inner shrines original Latin: penetralia, and to remain there for some time, he used foods that stave off hunger and thirst as much as possible.
5 Indeed, to stave off hunger, he composed a mixture from poppy seeds and sesame, and from the skin of squill original Latin: scillæ thoroughly washed, until it is
10 purged of its outer juice; also from the flowers of asphodel, and leaves of mallow; from meal, barley, and chickpeas. All these things, finely chopped in equal
15 weight, he reduced into a mass with Hymettian honey. But against thirst, he prepared a mixture from cucumber seeds and fatter raisins,
20 with the stones removed, and coriander flowers, likewise from mallow seeds, and purslane, and scrapings of cheese, from the pollen of
25 flour, and the fat of milk: all these he mixed together with honey from the islands. He affirmed that Hercules had been taught this
30 method by Ceres The Roman name for the Greek goddess Demeter. when he was sent into arid Libya. From this his body, as if in a certain equilibrium, constantly
35 preserved the same condition; so that it was not now healthy, now sick; now fat and thick, now thin and gaunt. The habits of his mind likewise always
35 shone forth from his face. Nor was he [moved] by pleasure