diogenes_of_sinope:athenaeus_book_ii.49.a-b
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Diogenes of Sinope
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae Book II.49.a-b
<blockquote>When a Cynic1) called the four-legged table a tripod, Ulpian, one of the guests at the savant's dinner, took exception and said: “To‑day 'I am going to have business on my hands after a period of idleness.' For where does he get his word 'tripod'? . . . unless, of course, he counts Diogenes' staff along with his legs and calls him a tripod, Bwhen everybody else call what are here set before us four-legged tables.”
Source</blockquote>
1)
Cynulcus. Ulpian, a purist, insists that the tripod, properly a table with three legs, should not be called a trapeza, which has four, though trapeza is the generic word for table. If you call a table trapeza, you may as well call Diogenes a tripod, with his two legs and a staff to support him.
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