Athenaeus departs from Aristarchus’ readings in many lines of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He emphasizes Aristarchus’ lack of familiarity with Homeric banquets in order to prove that the grammarian misrepresented the real manners of heroes. On the contrary, Athenaeus detects in Telemachus, Pisistratus and Menelaus a behaviour which is akin to that of his own characters.