Athenaeus

[1] Athenaeus himself states that he was the author of a treatise on the thratta, a type of fish mentioned by Archippus and other comic poets, and of a history of the Syrian kings.

It is an immense store-house of information, chiefly on matters connected with famous cooks, dining, but also containing remarks on music, songs, dances, philosophy, games, courtesans, and luxury.

Nearly 800 writers and 2,500 separate works are referred to by Athenaeus; one of his characters (not necessarily to be identified with the historical author himself) boasts of having read 800 plays of Athenian Middle Comedy alone.

Book XIII, for example, is an important source for the study of sexuality in classical and Hellenistic Greece, and a rare fragment of Theognetus' work survives in 3.63.

The Deipnosophistae professes to be an account given by an individual named Athenaeus to his friend Timocrates of a banquet held at the house of Larensius (Λαρήνσιος; in Latin: Larensis), a wealthy book-collector and patron of the arts.

The Deipnosophistes belongs to the literary tradition inspired by the use of the Greek banquet . Banqueters playing Kottabos while a musician plays the Aulos , decorated by the artist 'Nicias'/'Nikias'.