is a fictional dish originating from Aristophanes' 391 BC comedy Assemblywomen, deriving from a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word . In A Greek–English Lexicon, it is defined as the "name of a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, flesh, fowl, and sauces"..
It is the longest Greek word, containing 171 letters and 78 syllables. The transliteration has 183 Latin characters and is the longest word ever to appear in literature, according to the Guinness World Records (1990).
Variant forms The form of the word quoted here is the version listed in the Liddell & Scott Greek lexicon (1940) and quoted therein as being amended by August Meineke, contrasting F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart's 1907 edition of Aristophanis Comoediae (used in the Assemblywomen play) variant of (differences underlined): .
Description The dish was a fricassée, with at least 16 sweet and sour ingredients, including the following: Fish slices Fish of the Elasmobranchii subclass (a shark or ray) Rotted dogfish or small shark's head A generally sharp-tasting dish of several ingredients grated and pounded together Silphion, possibly a kind of giant fennel, now believed extinct A kind of crab, shrimp, or crayfish Honey poured down Wrasse (or thrush) A kind of sea fish or blackbird as topping Wood pigeon Domestic pigeon Rooster The roasted head of dabchick Hare, which could be a kind of bird or a kind of sea hare New wine boiled down Wing and/or fin
Context The term is used in the ultimate chorus of the play, when Blepyrus (and the audience) are summoned to the first feast laid on by the new system.
English translations In English prose translation by Leo Strauss (1966), this Greek word is rendered as "oysters-saltfish-skate-sharks'-heads-left-over-vinegar-dressing-laserpitium-leek-with-honey-sauce-thrush-blackbird-pigeon-dove-roast-cock's-brains-wagtail-cushat-hare-stewed-in-new-wine-gristle-of-veal-pullet's-wings".
English verse translation by Benjamin Bickley Rogers (1902) follows the original meter and the original form of composition:
An older English verse translation by Rev. Rowland Smith (1833) breaks the original word into several verses:
See also
Longest word in English Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. Cneoridium dumosum (Nuttall) Hooker F. Collected March 26, 1960, at an Elevation of about 1450 Meters on Cerro Quemazón, 15 Miles South of Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, México, Apparently for a Southeastward Range Extension of Some 140 Miles List of longest names in Taiwan
References