βρωτόν

From LSJ

εἰς πέλαγος σπέρµα βαλεῖν καὶ γράµµατα γράψαι ἀµφότερος µόχθος τε κενὸς καὶ πρᾶξις ἄκαρπος → throwing seeds and writing letters at sea are both a vain and fruitless endeavor

Source

Russian (Dvoretsky)

βρωτόν: τό тж. pl. Eur., Xen., Plut. = βρῶμα.