Deipnosophistae

And Nicolaus the Peripatetic, in the hundred and third book of his History, says that Mithridates, the king of Pontus, once proposed a contest in great eating and great drinking (and the prize was a talent of silver), and that he himself gained the victory in both; but he yielded the prize to the man who was judged to be second to him, namely, Calomodrys, the athlete of Cyzicus. And Timocreon te Rhodian a poet, and an athlete who had gained the vcitory in the pentathlum, ate and drank a great deal, as the epigram on his tomb shows—

1. Much did I eat, much did I drink, and much
2. Did I abuse all men; now here I lie;—
3. My name Timocreon, my country Rhodes.

And Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, in one his Prefaces, says that Timocreon came to the great king of Persia, and being entertained by him, did eat an immense quantity of food; and when the king asked him, What he would do on the strength of it? he said that he would beat a great many Persians; and the next day, having vanquished a great many, one after another, taking them one by one, after this, he beat the air with his hands; and when they asked him what he wanted, he said that he had all those blows left in him if any one was inclined to come on. And Clearchus, in the fifth book of his Lives, says, that Cantibaris the Persian, whenever his jaws were weary with eating, had his slaves to pour food into his mouth, which he kept open as if they were pouring it into an empty vessel. But Hellanicus, in the first book of his Deucalionea, says that Erysichthon, the son of Myrmidon, being a man perfectly insatiable in respect of food, was called Aethon. And Polemo, in the first book of his Treatise addressed to Timæus, says that among the Sicilians there was a temple consecrated to gluttony, and an image of Ceres Sito;[*](Sito is from σῖτος, food.) near which, also, there was a statue of Himalis,[*](It is uncertain what this name means, or how it should be spelt. Some write it Simalis.) as there is at Delphi one of Hermuchus,[*](This name appears to mean, having unexpected gain, ἕρμαιον ἔχων. ) and as at Scolum, in Bœotia, there a e statues of Megalartus[*](Megalartus, from μέγας, large, and ἄρτος, a loaf. Mgalomazus, from μέγας, great, and μάζα, a barley-cake.) and Megalomazus.

And Alcman the poet records himself to have been a great eater, in his third book of Odes, when he says—

1. And presently I will bestow
2. On you a large round dish well fill'd;
3. And even now 'tis on the fire,
4. Full of pulse-broth, which e'en the glutton
5. Alcman would like to feast on warm,
6. After the wintry solstice sets in;
7. For he for dainties does not care,
8. But loves the common people's dishes,
9. As long as they are full enough.

And in his fifth book he also displays his love of eating, speaking thus—

1. God has bestow'd on man three various seasons,
2. The summer, and the winter, and the autumn;
3. And a fourth too, the spring, when men can dance,
4. But scarce are able to get much to eat.

And Anaxilas the comic poet, speaking in his play called Chrysochous of a man named Ctesias, says—

1. You now have nearly all things, save the art
2. Of Ctesias himself; for wise men say,
3. That he does recognise nought but the beginning
4. Of a rich banquet, and denies the end.

And in his Rich Men he says—

1. A. Others may also burst when fed too well
2. Not Ctesias alone.-
3. B. What should hinder it?
4. A. For he, as wise men say, loves the beginning
5. Of any feast, but ne'er can make an end of it.

And in his play called The Graces he includes a man called Cranaus in his list of great eaters; saying—

1. Men do not come and ask at random now,
2. Does Cranaus eat less than Ctesias?
3. Or do they both keep constantly devouring?

And Philetærus, in his Atalante, says—

1. If it were needful, I could run more stadia
2. Than e'er were run by Sotades; I surpass
3. E'en Taureas himself in these my labours;
4. And out-run Ctesias himself in eating.

And Anaxippus, in his Thunderbolt, says—

1. A. For now I see Damippus here approaching
2. From the palaestra.
3. B. What! that man of stone?
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4. Him whom your friends e'en now, from his great strength,
5. Surname the Thunderbolt?
6. A. Most probably;
7. For I think he will overturn all tables
8. Which he once strikes with his consuming jaw.

And in these lines the comic poet shows that it was from this man that he had given his play the title of The Thunderbolt. And Theophilus, in his Epidaurus, says—

1. There was a Mantinean centurion,
2. Atrestides his name; who of all men
3. That ever lived could eat the greatest quantity.

And, in his Pancratiast, he introduces the athlete as eating a great deal, where he says—

1. A. Of boil'd meat about three mine weight.
2. B. Now mention something else.
3. A. A fine pig's face;
4. A ham; four pettitoes;—
5. B. Oh, Hercules!
6. A. Three calves' feet, and one hen.
7. B. Oh, Phœbus, oh!
8. What else?
9. A. Two minæ weight of figs: that's all.
10. B. And how much did you drink?
11. A. Twelve measures only
12. Of unmix'd wine.
13. B. Oh, Bacchus! oh, Sabazius!

And whole nations also have been ridiculed by the comic poets for their gluttony; as the Bœotians, for instance. Accordingly, Eubulus says, in his Antiopa—

1. We are courageous men to toil and eat,
2. And to endure sharp pain; the Attic race
3. Is quick and eloquent, and they eat little;
4. But the Bœotians eat enormously.

And in his Europa he says—

1. Go now and build up the Bœotian city,'
2. Where the men eat all day and never tire.

And in his Ionian he says—

1. He is so thorough a Bœotian
2. In all his manners, that, like them, 'tis said
3. He's never tired nor content with eating.

And in his Cercopes he says—

1. And after that I came to Thebes, where men
2. Spend the whole night in feasts and revelry;
3. And each man has a privy at his doors,
4. Which is a great boon to an o'er-fed man;
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5. For men who have got a long way to go,
6. And who eat much and bite their weary lips,
7. Are some of the most ludicrous of sights.

And in his Mysians he represents some one as making the following speech to Hercules—

1. You leaving, as you say, the Theban plain,
2. Where valiant men sit eating all the day,
3. Being all throat, and close beside the privy.

Diphilus in his Bœotian, says—

1. That man can eat, beginning before dawn,
2. Or come again and eat till the following day.

Mnesimachus, in his Busiris, says—

1. . . . . . . . For I am a Bœotian,
2. Who do not eat much else, except these things.

Alexis, in his Trophonius, says—

1. And now that you may not be found out thus,
2. And spoken of as men of Bœotia,
3. By those whose wont it is to run you down,
4. As men unequali'd in creating noise,
5. And knowing nothing else save how to eat
6. And drink unceasingly the whole night long;
7. Strip yourselves quick, and all prepare for action.

And Achæus, in his Contests, says—

1. A. Are you now speaking to the spectators here,
2. Or to the body of competitors?
3. B. To those who eat much, as men training do.
4. A. Whence do the strangers come from?
5. B. They're Bœotians.

And very likely it is because of all this that Eratosthenes, in his Epistles, says, that Pempelus, when he was asked,

What sort of people the Bœotians appeared to him?

answered,

That they only spoke just as vessels might be expected to speak, if they had a voice, of how much each of them could hold.

And Polybius of Megalopolis, in the twentieth book of his Histories, says that the Bœotians, having gained great glory at the battle of Leuctra, after that relaxed their courage again, and turned to feasting and drunkenness, and to making parties for eating among friends; and many of them, even of those who had children, spent the greater part of their substance on their feasts so that there were a great number of Bœotians who had more invitations to supper than there were days in the month. On which account the Megarians, hating such a system as that, abandoned their alliance, and joined themselves to the Achæans.

The people of Pharsalus also are ridiculed by the comic poets as being enormous eaters; accordingly Mnesimachus, in his Philip, says—

1. A. Has any man of the Pharsalians come,
2. That he may eat up e'en our very tables?
3. B. There's no one come at all.
4. A. So much the better;
5. Perhaps they have all gone somewhere else to eat
6. Some city of Achaīa ready roasted.

And that it was a general imputation on all the Thessalians, that they were great eaters, Crates tells us in his Lamia, saying—

1. Great words three cubits long,
2. Cut into huge Thessalian slices thus:—

and he by this alludes to the Thessalians as cutting their meat into overgrown pieces. And Philetærus, in his Lampbearers, says also—

1. And a huge piece of pork, enough to break
2. One's arm, cut in the coarse Thessalian fashion.

They used to speak also of a Thessalian mouthful, as something enormous. Hermippus says in his Fates—

1. But Jupiter, considering nought of this,
2. Wink'd, and made up a huge Thessalian mouthful.

And such great bits of meat Aristophanes, in his Men Frying, calls Capanic, saying—

1. What is all this
2. To the great Lydian and Thessalian banquets?

And presently he says—

1. More splendid (καπανικώτερα) far than the Thessalian;

meaning big enough to load a wagon. For the Thessalians use the word καπάνη as equivalent to ἀπήνη. Xenarchus, in his Scythians, says—

1. A. They kept to seven Capanæ for the games
2. At Pisa.
3. B. What do you mean?
4. A. In Thessaly
5. They call their carts Capanæ.
6. B. I understand.

And Hecatæus says that the Egyptians were great bread-eaters, eating loaves of rye, called κυλλήστιες, and

bruising barley to extract a drink from it; and on this account Alexis, in his treatise on Contentment, says that Bocchoris and his father Neochabis were contented with a moderate quantity of food; as Lycon of Iasus relates in his treatise on Pythagoras. But he did not abstain from animal food, as Aristoxenus tells us; and Apollodorus the Arithmetician says, that he even sacrificed a hecatomb when he found out that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares of the two sides containing it—

1. When the illustrious Pythagoras
2. Discover'd that renowned problem which
3. He celebrated with a hecatomb.

But Pythagoras was a very sparing drinker, and lived in a most frugal manner, so that he often contented himself with honey by itself. And nearly the same thing is told us of Aristides, and of Epaminondas, and of Phocion, and of Phormio, the generals. But Manius Curius, the Roman general, lived on turnips all his life; and once, when the Sabines sent him a large sum of gold, he said he had no need of gold while he ate such food as that. And this story is recorded by Megacles in his treatise on Illustrious Men.

And there are many people who approve of moderate meals, as Alexis tells us in his Woman in Love—

1. But I am content with what is necessary,
2. And hate superfluous things; for in excess
3. There is not pleasure, but extravagance.

And in his Liar he says—

1. I hate excess; for those who practise it
2. Have only more expense, but not more pleasure.

And in his Foster Brothers he says—

1. How sweet all kinds of moderation are!
2. I now am going away, not empty, but
3. In a most comfortable state,—for wise
4. Mnesitheus tells us that 'tis always right'
5. T' avoid extravagance in everything.

And Ariston the philosopher, in the second book of his Amatory Similitudes, says that Polemo, the Academic philosopher, used to exhort those who were going to a supper, to consider how they might make their party pleasant, not only for the present evening, but also for the morrow. And Timotheus, the son of Conon, being once taken by Plato from

a very sumptuous and princely entertainment to one held at the Academy, and being there feasted in a simple and scholar- like manner, said that those who supped with Plato would be well the next day also. But Hegesander, in his Commentaries, says that on the next day Timotheus, meting with Plato, said,

You, O Plato, sup well, more with reference to the next day than to the present one!

But Pyrrho the Elean, when on one occasion one of his acquaintances received him with a very sumptuous entertainment, as he himself relates, said,

I will for the future not come to you if you receive me in this manner; that I may avoid being grieved by seeing you go to a great expense for which there is no necessity, and that you, too, may not come to distress by being overwhelmed by such expenses; for it is much better for us to delight one another by our mutual companionship and conversation, than by the great variety of dishes which we set before one another, of which our servants consume the greater part.

But Antigonus of Carystus, in his Life of Menedemus, relating the way in which the banquets of that philosopher are managed, says, that he used to dine with one or two companions at most; and that all the rest of his guests used to come after they had supped. For in fact, Menedemus's supper and dinner were only one meal, and after that was over they called in all who chose to come; and if any of them, as would be the case, came before the time, they would walk up and down before the doors, and inquire of the servants who came out what was being now served up, and how far on the dinner had proceeded. And if they heard that it was only the vegetables or the cured fish that was being served up, they went away; but if they were told that the meat was put on the table, then they went into the room which had been prepared for that purpose. And in the summer a rush mat was spread over each couch, and in the winter a fleece. But every one was expected to bring his own pillow; and the cup, which was brought round to each person, did not hold more than one cotyla. And the dessert was lupins or beans as a general rule; but sometimes some fruits, such as ere in season, were brought in; in summer, pears or pomegranates; and in spring, pulse; and in winter, figs. And we have a witness as to these things, Lycophron the Chalcidian, who

wrote a satyric drama entitled Menedemus, in which Silenus says to the satyrs—

1. O cursed sons of a most excellent father,
2. I, as you see, have quite a fancy for you:
3. For, by the gods I swear, that not in Caria,
4. Nor in fair Rhodes, nor royal Lydia,
5. Have I e'er eaten so superb a supper;
6. Phœbus Apollo! what a feast it was.

And a little further on, he says—

1. And the boy brought us round a scanty cup
2. Of wine that might be worth five pence a bottle-
3. Awfully flat; and then that cursed thing,
4. That hang-dog lupin, danced upon the board,
5. A fitting meal for parasites and beggars.

And presently afterwards, he says that philosophical disqui- sitions were carried on during the entertainment—

1. And for dessert,
2. We had some learned conversation.

It is also related that those who met in this way very often kept on conversing to such a time that

the bird which calls the morn still caught them talking, and they were not yet satisfied.

But Arcesilaus, when giving a supper to some people, when the bread fell short, and his slave made him a sign that there were no loaves left, burst out laughing, and clapped his hands; and said,

What a feast we have here, my friends! We forgot to buy loaves enough; run now, my boy:

—and this he said, laughing; and all the guests who were present burst out laughing, and great amusement and entertainment were excited, so that the very want of bread was a great seasoning to the feast. And at another time, Arcesilaus ordered Apelles, one of his friends, to strain some wine; and when he, not being used to doing so, shook some of the wine and spilt some, so that the wine appeared much thicker than usual, he laughed, and said,

But I told a man to strain the wine who has never seen anything good any more than I myself have; so do you now get up, Aridices; and do you go away and tap the casks that are outside.

And this good-humour of his so pleased and excited the mirth of those present, that they were all filled with joy.

But those of the present day who give entertainments, especially the inhabitants of the beautiful Alexandria, cry out,

and make a noise, and curse the cup-bearer, the steward, and cook; and the slaves are all crying, being beaten with fists and driven about in every direction. And not only do the guests who are invited sup with great discomfort and annoyance, but even if there is any sacrifice going on, the god himself would veil his face and go away, leaving not only the house, but even the entire city, in which such things take place. For it is absurd for a man, proclaiming that people should all confine themselves to words of good omen, to curse his wife and his children; and such a man as that would say to the guests—

1. And now then let us hasten to the feast,
2. That we may plan the movements of the war;—

for such a man's house—

1. Is redolent of frankincense,
2. And pæans too, and groans at the same time.

Now, when all this had been said, one of the guests who were present said,—We ought, then, when we consider these things, to guard against indulging our appetites too much;

1. For a frugal supper breeds no drunkenness,

as Amphis says, in his Pan: nor does it produce insolence or insulting conduct; as Alexis testifies in his Ulysses Weaving, where he says—

1. For many a banquet which endures too long,
2. And many and daily feasts, are wont t' engender
3. Insult and mockery; and those kind of jests
4. Give far more pain than they do raise amusement.
5. For such are the first ground of evil-speaking;
6. And if you once begin t' attack your neighbour,
7. You quickly do receive back all you bring,
8. And then abuse and quarrels surely follow;
9. Then blows and drunken riot. For this is
10. The natural course of things, and needs no prophet.

And Mnesimachus, in his Philip, on account of the immoderate indulgence in suppers of people of his time, introduces an entertainment which professes to be a preparation for war, and which really is what that admirable writer Xenophon calls a workshop of war. And he speaks thus—

1. Know you now with what men you must fight?
2. With us, who sup upon well-sharpen'd swords,
3. And swallow lighted firebrands for dainties:
4. And then, for our dessert, our slaves bring in,
5. After the first course, Cretan bows and arrows;
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6. And, 'stead of vetches, broken heads of spears,
7. And fragments of well-batter'd shields and breastplates;
8. And at our feet lie slings, and stones, and bows,
9. And on our heads are wreaths of catapults.

And Phœnix the Colophonian says—

1. A cask of wine shall be our sword-a cup
2. Shall be our spear-our hair shall arrows be;
3. Goblets shall be our enemies-wine our horses-
4. Ointments and perfumes our war-cry fierce.

And in the Parasite, Alexis, speaking of some very voracious person, says—

1. And all the younger men do call him parasite,
2. Using a gentler name; but he cares not.
3. And Telephus in speechless silence sits,
4. Making but signs to those who ask him questions;
5. So that the inviter often offers prayers
6. To the great Samothracian gods o' the sea,
7. To cease their blowing, and to grant a calm;
8. For that young man's a storm to all his friends.

And Diphilus, in his Hercules, speaking of some similar kind of person, says—

1. Do you not now behold me drunk and merry,
2. Well fill'd with wine, and all inflamed with anger?
3. Have not I just devour'd a dozen cakes,
4. Every one larger than a good-sized shield?

On which account, Bion of the Borysthenes said, cleverly enough, that

A man ought not to derive his pleasures from the table, but from meditation;

and Euripides says—

1. I pleased my palate with a frugal meal;

signifying that the pleasure derived from eating and drinking is chiefly limited to the mouth. And Aeschylus, in his Phineus, says—

1. And many a most deceitful meal they snatch'd
2. Away from hungry jaws, in haste t' enjoy
3. The first delight of the too eager palate.

And in his Sthenebœa, Euripides speaks of frugality thus—

1. A life at sea is a much troubled life,
2. Not reinforced with pleasures of the table,
3. But like a stable on the shore. The sea itself
4. Is a moist mother, not a nurse on land;
5. 'Tis her we plough; from this our food, procured
6. With nets and traps, comes daily home to us.

For the belly is a great evil to man; concerning which Alexis speaks, in his Men Dying together—

1. And hence you well may see how great an evil
2. The belly is to man; what lessons strange
3. It teaches, and what deeds it forces on us.
4. If there were any power which could take
5. This part alone from out our bodies, then
6. No one would any more do injury
7. Or insult to his neighbour. But from this
8. Flow all the ills that harass human life.

And Diphilus, in his Parasite, says—

1. Well did that wise Euripides oft speak,
2. And this does seem his wisest word of all—

3. But want compels me and my wretched belly;

4. For there is nought more wretched than the belly:
5. And into that you pour whate'er you have,
6. Which you do not in any other vessel.
7. Loaves you perhaps may in a wallet carry,—
8. Not soup, or else you'll spoil it. So again,
9. You put cakes in a basket, but not pulse;
10. And wine into a bladder, but not crabs:
11. But into this accursed belly, men
12. Put every sort of inconsistent thing.
13. I add no more; since it is plain enough
14. That all men's errors are produced by it.'

And Crates the Cynic, as Sosicrates tells us in his Successions, reproached Demetrius Phalereus for sending him a wallet of bread with a flagon of wine.

I wish,

said he,

that the fountains bore bread.

And Stilpo did not think himself guilty of intemperance when, having eaten garlic, he went to sleep in the temple of the Mother of the Gods; but all who eat of that food were forbidden even to enter into it. But when the goddess appeared to him in his sleep, and said,

O Stilpo, do you, though you are a philosopher, transgress the Law?

he thought that he made answer to her (still being asleep),

Do you give me something better to eat, and I will not eat garlic.

After this, Ulpian said,—Since we have feasted (δεδείπναμεν) . . . .And Alexis, in his Curis, has used this expression, where he says—

1. Since we have long since supp'd (δεδείπναμεν);

and so has Eubulus, in his Procris—

1. But we have not yet supp'd (δεδείπναμεν);

and in another passage he says—

1. A man who ought long since to have had supper (δεδειπναναι).

And Antiphanes, in his Leonidas, says—

1. He will be here before we've finish'd supper (δεδειπνάναι).

And Aristophanes, in his Proagon, says—

1. It's time for me to go now to my master,
2. For by this time I think they all have supp'd (δεδειπνάναι).

And in his Danaides he says—

1. You now are insulting me in a drunken manner
2. Before you've supp'd (δεδειπνάναι).

And Plato, in his Sophist, and Epicrates of Ambracia (and this last is a poet of the middle comedy), in his Amazons, says—

1. For these men seem to me to have had their supper (δεδειπνάναι)
2. In capital season.

And, on the same principle, Aristophanes has given us the form ἠρίσταμεν, in his Men Frying—

1. We've drank our fill, my men, and well have dined (ἠπίσταμεν).

And Hermippus, in his Soldiers, says—

1. To dine (ἀριστάναι), and come to this man's house.

And Theopompus, in his Callæschrus, says—

1. We've dined (ἠρίσταμεν);—for I must this discourse cut short.

But, in his Politician, Antipho has used the word καταριστᾶν, saying—

1. When any one has all consumed in dinners (κατηρίστηκεν)
2. His own estate, and that of all his family.

And Amphis has used the word παραδεδειπνημένος, in his Vagabond, saying—

1. The boys who long ago have lost their dinner (παραδεδειπνημένοι).

Let us, then, now,

as Plato says in his Philebus,

pray to the gods, and pour libations to them, whether it be Bacchus, or Vulcan, or whoever else of the gods it may be, who has had the honour of having our cups mixed for his sake. For there are two fountains by us, as if we were cupbearers to mix the wine: and a person might compare a fountain of pleasure to honey; but the fountain of wisdom, which is a sober and wine-eschewing spring, to that of some hard but wholesome water, which we must be very earnest to mix as well as possible.

It is, then, time for us now to drink wine; and let some one of the slaves bring us goblets from the sideboard, for I see here a great variety of beautiful and variously-ornamented drinking-cups. Accordingly, when a large cup had been given to him, he said,—But, O boy, draw out and pour into my cup a liquor with not quite so much water in it; not like the man in the comic poet Antiphanes, who, in the Twins, says—

1. He took and brought me an enormous cup,
2. And I pour'd into it unmixed wine,
3. Not to the honour of a boy, but all
4. My cups, and they were numberless, I quaff'd
5. To all the gods and goddesses of heaven.
6. Then, after them, I drank twice as much more
7. To the great goddess and the noble king.

So do you now, O boy, pour me out something stronger; for I do not prescribe to you the exact number of cyathi.[*](The cyathus held the twelfth part of a sextarius, which was about a pint; and the Romans who wished to preserve a character for moderation used to mix their wine in the proportion of nine cyathi of water to three of wine. Poets, who, according to Horace, were good for nothing till they were inebriated, reversed these proportions:— Tribus aut novemMiscentur cyathis pocula commodis.Qui Musas amat impares,Ternos ter cyathos attonitus petitVates. Tres prohibet supraRìxarum metuens tangere Gratia,Nudis juncta sororibus.—Hor. iii. 19. 11. ) But I will show you that the words κύαθος and ἀκρατέστερον (wine with less water in it) are both used: and then, too, I will give you a lecture about cupbearers.

But, first of all, I will speak about the habit of drinking strong drinks, with reference to which we find the word ζωρότερον. Antiphanes, in his Milanion, says—

1. I think this man does drink the cup of health,
2. Making his cupbearer shun too much water (ζωροτέρῳ χρώμενον οἰνοχόῳ).

And in his Lampon he says—

1. My friend Iapyx, mix it somewhat stronger (εὐζωρέστερον).

And Ephippus, in his Ephebi, says—

1. He gave him in each hand a brimming flagon,
2. Mixing in strong wine (ζωρότερον), in Homer's fashion.

And you find some people say that the expression in Homer—

1. Take care and give less water (ζωρότερον κέραιρε),

does not mean that there is to be less water, but that the draught is to be hot; urging that ζωρὸς is derived from ζωτικὸς (giving life), and from ζέσις (boiling);—for that, as there were companions present, it would have been absurd to begin mixing the cups of wine over again. But some say that the word is to be understood as equivalent to εὔκρατον (well-mixed); just as we find the form δεξιτερὸν used instead of δεξιόν. And some say that, since the year is called ὧρος, and since the particle ζα indicates magnitude or number, ζῶρος means merely what has been made many years. And Diphilus, in his Pederastæ, says—

1. Pour me now out a cup of wine to drink;
2. Give it, by Jove! εὐζωρότερον than that;
3. For wat'ry things are ruinous to the stomach.

And Theophrastus, in his treatise on Drinking, says that ζωρότερον means mixed; quoting the following lines of Empedocles;—

1. And soon the things which formerly they learnt
2. Immortal were, did mortal now become,
3. And things unmix'd before became now mix'd (ζωρὰ,)
4. Changing their previous ways and habits all.

And Plato has used the word κύαθος in the sense of a ladle, in his Phaon, where he says—

1. Taking up thus the ladle (κύαθος) in their mouths.

And in his Ambassadors he says—

1. He stole the ladles (κύαθοι) every time he could.

And Archippus, in his Fishes, says—

1. I bought a ladle (κύαθος) there from Dæsias.

And there is a similar use of the word in the Peace of Aristophanes:—

1. All having fought till they had got black eyes,
2. Lying all on the ground around the κύαθοι;

for black eyes are reduced by having κύαθοι (cupping glasses) applied to them. Xenophon also speaks of the κύαθος in the first book of his Cyropædia; and so does Cratinus; and, besides, so does Aristophanes in many places, and Eubulus in his Orthanna; and Pherecrates, in his Triflers, has spoken of a κύαθος made of silver. But Timon, in the second book of his History of the Silli, has called κύαθοι, ἀρύσαναι; speaking thus:—

1. And ἀρύσαναι, hard to fill with wine;

naming them so from the verb ἀρύομαι, to draw. And they are called also ἀρυστῆρες and ἀρίστιχοι. Simonides says—

1. And no one gave me even one ἀρυστὴρ
2. Of the mere dregs and lees.

And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, says—

1. For I had these ἀρύστιχοι near me.

And Phrynichus, in his Weeding Women, says—

1. (A cup) κύλικʼ ἀρύστιχον·

and from this comes the word ἀρύταινα. They also called this vessel ἔφηβος, as Xenophanes did in his Relationship; and Polybius, in the ninth book of his Histories, says that there is a certain river called the Cyathus, near Arsinoe, a city in Aetolia.

But the word ἀκρατέστερον, meaning the same as ζωρότερον, is used by Hyperides in his oration against Demosthenes; where he writes thus—

If any one drank any wine of much strength (ἀκρατέστερον), it grieved you.

And a similar form is ἀνιαρέστερον, and also the expression in the Heliades of Aeschylus—

1. ἀφθονέστερον λίβα.

And Epicharmus, in his Pyrrha, has the word εὐωνέστερον (cheaper); and Hyperides, in his Oration against Demades, has used the expression—

1. ῥαδιεστέραν τὴν πόλιν.

And as for the word κεραννύω (to mix), that is used by Plato in his Philebus—

Let us, O Protarchus, pray to the gods, and mingle cups (κεραννύωμεν) to pour libations to them.

And Alcæus, in his Sacred Marriage, says—

1. They mix the cups (κεραννύουσιν) and drink them.

And Hyperides, in his Delian Oration, says—

And the Greeks mix (κεραννύουσι) the Panionian goblet all together.

And among the ancients they were the most nobly born youths who acted as cupbearers; as, for instance, the son of Menelaus:—

1. And the king's noble son pour'd out the wine.

And Euripides the poet, when he was a boy, acted s cupbearer. Accordingly, Theophrastus, in his treatise on Drinking, says—

But I hear that Euripides the poet also acted as a cupbearer at Athens, among those who are called the dancers.: and these men were they who used to dance around the temple of the Delian Apollo, being some of the noblest of the Athenians, and they were clothed in garments

v.2.p.670

of the Theræans. And this is that Apollo in whose honour they celebrate the Thargelian festival; and a writing concerning them is kept at Phylæ, in the Daphnephorium.

And Hieronymus the Rhodian gives the same account, who was a disciple of Aristotle, and that too in a book of his entitled a Treatise on Drunkenness. And the beautiful Sappho often praises her brother Larichus, as having acted as cupbearer to the Mitylenæans in the Prytaneum. And among the Romans, the most nobly born of the youths perform this office in the public sacrifices, imitating the Aeolians in everything, as even in the tones of their voices.

And so great was the luxury of the ancients in respect of their sumptuous meals, that they not only had cupbearers, but also men whom they called œnoptæ (inspectors of wines). At all events, the office of œnoptæ is a regular office among the Athenians; and it is mentioned by Eupolis, in his play called The Cities, in the following lines—

1. And men whom heretofore you'd not have thought
2. Fit e'en to make œnoptæ of, we now
3. See made commanders. But oh, city, city!
4. How much your fortune does outrun your sense.

And these œnoptæ superintended the arrangement of banquets, taking care that the guests should drink on equal terms. But it was an office of no great dignity, as Philinus the orator tells us, in his debate on the Croconidæ. And he tells us, too, that the œnoptæ were three in number, and that they also provided the guests with lamps and wicks. And some. people called them

eyes;

but among the Ephesians, the youths who acted as cupbearers at the festival of Neptune were called

bulls,

as Amerias tells us. And the people of the Hellespont call the cupbearer ἐπεγχύτης, or the pourer out; and they call carving, which we call κρεωνομία, κρεωδαισία, as Demetrius of Scepsis tells us, in the twenty-sixth book of his Arrangement of the Trojan Forces. And some say that the nymph Harmonia acted as cupbearer to the gods; as Capito the epic poet relates (and he was a native of Alexandria by birth), in the second book of his Love Poems. But Alcæus also represents Mercury as their cupbearer; as also does Sappho, who says—

1. And with ambrosia was a goblet mix'd,
2. And Mercury pour'd it out to all the gods.

But the ancients used to call the men who discharged this office, heralds (κήρυκες). Homer says—

1. Meanwhile the heralds through the crowded town
2. Bring the rich wine and destined victims down.
3. Idæus's arms the golden goblets prest,
4. Who thus the venerable king addrest.

And a few lines further on he says—

1. On either side a sacred herald stands;
2. The wine they mix, and on each monarch's hands
3. Pour the full urn.

But Clidemus says that the cooks used to be called heralds. And some people have represented Hebe as acting as cupbearer to the gods, perhaps because their banquets were called Hebeteria. And Ptolemy, the son of Agesarchus, speaks of a damsel named Cleino as the cupbearer of Ptolemy the king, who was surnamed Philadelphus, mentioning her in the third book of his History of Philopator. But Polybius, in the fourteenth book of his History, adds that there are statues of her in Alexandria, in many parts of the city, clad in a tunic alone, holding a cup in her hand.

And so, after this conversation, Ulpian drinking a goblet of wine, said—

1. I drink this cup, a pledge of friendship dear,
2. To all my kinsmen, naming them.

And while he was still drinking, one of those who were present quoted the rest of the passage—

1. When I have drunk, I'll say
2. The rest; for I am choked: but now drink this.

And Ulpian, when he had drunk it up, said,—Clearchus has these lines in his Harp Player; but I, as is said in the Wool-spinners of Amphis, recommend—

1. Let the boy wait on all with frequent goblets.

And again—

1. You fill for me, and I will give you drink;
2. So shall the almond with the almond play:

as Xenarchus says, in his Twins. And accordingly, where some of the guests asked for more wine, and others wished to have it mixed half-and-half, and when some one mentioned that Archippus, in the second edition of his Amphitryon, said—

1. Wretch, who has mix'd for you this half-and-half?

and that Cratinus had said—

1. Giving him half-and-half; but I'm undone;

every one seemed to agree to speak of the way of mixing wine among the ancients.

And when some one mentioned that Menander, in his Hero, said—

1. Here is a measure of well-temper'd wine;
2. Take it, and drink it up;—

Democritus said—Hesiod, my friends, recommends men

1. To pour three parts of water in the cup,
2. And let the fourth part be the vinous juice.

And, perhaps, it was on account of Hesiod that Anaxilas said, in his Nereus,—

1. And this is much more pleasant; for I'd never
2. Have drunk one part of wine to three of water.

And Alexis, in his Nurse, recommends even a more moderate mixture than this—

1. See, here is wine. Shall I, then, give to Criton
2. Equal proportions? This is better far,
3. One part of wine to four of limpid water:
4. Perhaps you'll call that weak; but still, when you
5. Have drunk your fill of this, you'll find your head
6. Clear for discussion,—and the drink lasts longer.

And Diocles, in his Bees, says—

1. A. In what proportions should the wine be mix'd?
2. B. Four parts of water to two parts of wine.

And this mixture, as it is not that in ordinary use, put the questioner in mind of the well-known proverb,—

1. Drink waters three or five; but never four.

That they mean is, You had better take two parts wine with five of water, or one of wine to three of water. But, concerning this mixture, Ion the poet, in his book on Chios, says that Palamedes the soothsayer discovered and prophesied to the Greeks, that they would have a favourable voyage if they drank one portion of wine to three of water. But they, applying themselves to their drink very vigorously, took two pints of wine to five of water;—accordingly Nicochares in his Amymone, playing on the name, says—

1. Here, you Œnornaus,—here. you two and five,—
2. Let you and I now have a drink together.

And he said nearly the same in his Lemnian Women: and Ameipsias, in his Men Playing the Cottabus, says—

1. But I (it is Bacchus who is represented as speaking) am five and two to all of you.

And Eupolis says, in his Goats,—

1. Hail, my friend Bacchus, are you two to five?

And Hermippus says, in his Gods,—

1. A. Then, when we drink, or when we thirsty are,
2. We pray our wine may be in due proportion.
3. B. I do not bring it from a roguish wine-vault,
4. Meaning to mock you: this which I do bring
5. Is, as before, the proper two and five.