Greek mythology shows us that for a long time, perhaps many centuries, the ancestors of the Greeks knew but very little about the sea or about rivers. The numerous monsters of the sea, products of the imagination, combined in their forms the parts of marine and, land animals, including man. The angry waves suggested to them some creature that was wroth; in the ocean depths what more likely to be found than the caverns empty and dry, the homes of the monsters with which they had peopled it? Their knowledge of the sea was of very slow growth. It was yet a divine thing in Homer's time, who lived just before the dawn of history. Their knowledge of marine life had made but little if any greater advance than their knowledge of the sea itself. The people of Homer make no use whatever of fish. We do not find a word indicating that either noble or slave ate fish, although the bill of fare in the Homeric household is given to us with considerable fullness.

Passing over two centuries or more to the Athens of Pericles time, we will find that a great change has been wrought. Fish is now the daintiest viand that comes into the Athenian market. The fishing industry has developed and grown to immense proportions. The fishmonger has taken on a character which seems destined to be eternal. Till this day it has suffered no change except that he has transferred to his wife some of the traits that once were his.

The task of supplying the fish-market of Athens and, other cities must have required a large number of fishermen. For at this time fish might almost be called the national dish, hence an enormous consumption, whereas the means of capture were far inferior to those of today. As a matter of fact the market was supplied from a very wide area, but chiefly from the seas to the east. Far along the north and south shores of the Black Sea the industry was a flourishing one. Particularly from these regions were salted and dried fish supplied. Here they were prepared in the huts of the individual fisherman and were gathered up by the traders, who sailed their little boats far and wide in search of traffic. The fish were exchanged for merchandise, especially for earthen utensils and for clothing. These salted and dried fish were the staple varieties and were supplied to the market in great quantities, as they were the principal food of the poorer classes and were sold very cheap.

The hours for the fish market in Athens must have been a time of very great interest, not only to the Athenian householder but to the foreigner sojourning within the city. To preserve order and also to give all customers an, equal chance to procure the rare specimens offered for sale, several stringent laws were enacted to govern the market. Among other regulations was one requiring the opening of the market to be announced by the ringing of a bell. Apparently there was no fixed moment of time when this bell should be rung, but the time varied little from day to day. If we can believe our ancient authorities, the ringing of the bell was the occasion for a rush, pell-mell, to the market, each seeking to obtain the first choice. Strabo tells us an interesting story anent this custom. On one occasion a musician was performing before a number of invited guests, and when, in the midst of a composition, the bell rang, in a moment the guests, were up and away to the market, all except one man, who was deaf. When the lyrist had finished he Was very careful to thank his lone auditor for his courtesy in remaining to hear him through, instead of running away when the bell rang, as the rest did. "Oh, has the bell rung?" asked the deaf man. And when informed that it had, he, too, hastened to the market.

The Greek interest in fishes seems never to have gone beyond their utility as an article of food. The building of aquaria and fish-ponds never came to be the sport of the Greeks, although they became extravagant luxuries among the Romans. Likewise fishing never became the sport of a Greek gentleman, unless, perchance, at a rather late period. Plato excludes fishing from the sports of a freeborn gentleman. The only sport he would have him engage in was the chase, which, athletic games aside, was about the only outdoor sport a Greek gentleman seems to have indulged in. For instance, there is no mention in Greek literature of horseback riding as a pastime, yet horsemanship was an accomplishment in which every Greek gentleman received special training. Likewise, though fishing was not a recognized sport, yet the science of angling was well understood among them by the third century B. C., and probably much earlier. This we learn, from a beautiful poem by the Alexandrian poet Theocritus, entitled "The Fishermen." I will quote a portion of the poem translated into prose, partly because it gives us a picture of some ancient professional fishermen in the camp, partly because it mentions all the ancient instruments of the business.