Deipnosophistae

And a great many of the guests were drinking, and putting lumps of meal into their wine, a custom which Hegesander of Delphi mentions. Accordingly Epinicus, when Mnesiptolemus had given a recitation of his history, in which it was written how Seleucus had used meal in his

1. Once I beheld the noble king Seleucus,
2. One summer's day, drinking with mighty pleasure
3. Some wine with meal steep'd in it. (So I took
4. A note of it, and show'd it to a crowd,
5. Although it was an unimportant thing,
6. Yet still my genius could make it serious.)
7. He took some fine old Thasian wine, and eke
8. Some of the liquor which the Attic bee
9. Distils who culls the sweets from every flower;
10. And that he mingled in a marble cup,
11. And mix'd the liquor with fair Ceres' corn,
12. And took the draught, a respite from the heat.

Now it was not the fashion among the Lacedæmonians to practise the system of pledging healths at their banquets, nor to salute one another with mutual greetings and caresses at their feasts. And Critias shows us this in his Elegies:—

1. And this is an old fashion, well establish'd,
2. And sanction'd by the laws of noble Sparta,
3. That all should drink from one well-fill'd cup;
4. And that no healths should then be drunk to anyone,
5. Naming the tender object: also that
6. The cup should not go round towards the right.
7. The Lydian goblets . . . .
8. * * * *
9. And to drink healths with skill and well-turn'd phrase,
10. Naming the person whom one means to pledge.
11. For, after draughts like this, the tongue gets loose,
12. And turns to most unseemly conversation;
13. They make the body weak; they throw a mist
14. Over the eyes; and make forgetfulness
15. Eat recollection out of the full heart.
16. The mind no longer stands on solid ground;
17. The slaves are all corrupted by licentiousness,
18. And sad extravagance eats up the house.
19. But those wise youths whom Lacedæmon breeds
20. Drink only what may stimulate their souls
21. To deeds of daring in th' adventurous war,
22. And rouse the tongue to wit and moderate mirth.
23. Such draughts are wholesome both for mind and body,
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24. And not injurious to the pocket either:
25. Good, too, for deeds of love; authors of sleep,
26. That wholesome harbour after toil and care:
27. Good, too, for health-that best of goddesses
28. Who mortal man befriend: and likewise good
29. For piety's best neigbour temperance.

1. For fierce, immoderate draughts of heady wine
2. Give momentary pleasure, but engender
3. A long-enduring pain which follows it.
4. But men at Sparta love a mode of life
5. Which is more equal; they but eat and drink
6. That which is wholesome, so that they may be
7. Fit to endure hard pains, and do great deeds.
8. Nor have they stated days in all the year
9. When it is lawful to indulge too much.

And a man who is always ready for wine is called φίλοινος.. But he is called φιλοπότης who is always ready to drink anything; and he is called φιλοκωθωνιστὴς who drinks to the degree of drunkenness. And of all heroes, the greatest drinker is Nestor, who lived three times as long as other men; for he evidently used to stick to his wine more closely than other people, and even than Agamemnon himself, whom Achilles upbraids as a man given to much drinking. But Nestor, even when a most important battle was impending, could not keep away from drinking. Accordingly Homer says—

1. But not the genial feast or flowing bowl
2. Could charm the cares of Nestor's watchful soul.

1. The hero stood and brandish'd Mars's cup,
2. Like great Timotheus, and his polish'd spear.

But there is nothing more covetous than thirst; on which account the poet has called Argos thirsty, or rather causing great thirst, as having been much desired on account of the length of time the person of whom he is speaking had been absent from it. For thirst engenders in all men a violent desire for abundant enjoyment; on which account Sophocles says—

1. Though you were to unfold unnumber'd treasures
2. Of wisdom to a thirsty man, you'd find
3. You pleased him less than if you gave him drink.

1. I wish to fight with you, as much as e'er
2. A thirsty man desired to quench his thirst.

1. I bid you check your hand which thirsts for blood.

1. For you are kind to every stranger,
2. So let me drink and quench my thirst.

I thirst to gratify you.

But if, as I imagine, any city which is governed by a democracy, thirsting for its liberty, should have evil-disposed cupbearers to wait upon it, and should be intoxicated to an improper degree with unmixed wine . . . .

Proteas the Macedonian was also a very great drinker, as Ephippus tells us in his treatise on the Funeral of Alexander and Hephæstion: and he had an admirable constitution, and he had practised drinking to a great degree. Accordingly, Alexander, having once asked for a cup containing two choes, and having drank from it, pledged Proteas; and he, having taken it, and having sung the praises of the king a great deal, drank it in such a manner as to be applauded by every one. And presently Proteas asked for the same cup again, and again he drank and pledged the king. And Alexander, having taken the cup, drank it off in a princely manner, but he could not stand it, but leaned back on the

1. A. My good friend, Struthias, I thrice have drunk
2. A golden cup in Cappadocia,
3. Containing ten full cotylæ of wine.
4. St. Why, then you drank more than king Alexander.
5. A. At all events not less, I swear by Pallas.
6. St. A wondrous feat.

Alexander, once supping with Medeus the Thessalian, when there were twenty people present at the party, pledged every one of the guests, receiving a similar pledge from all of them, and then, rising up from the party, he presently went off to sleep.

But Darius, who destroyed the Magi, had an inscription written on his tomb,—

I was able to drink a great deal of wine, and to bear it well.

And Philip, the father of Alexander, was a man very fond of drinking, as Theopompus relates in the twenty-sixth book of his History. And in another part of his History he writes,

Philip was a man of violent temper and fond of courting dangers, partly by nature, and partly too from drinking; for he was a very hard drinker, and very often he would attack the enemy while he was drunk.

Now we may drink; for it is quite sufficient if Antipater is sober.

And Theopompus gives a regular catalogue of men fond of drinking and addicted to drunkenness; and among them he mentions the younger Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, whose eyes were a good deal injured by wine. And Aristotle, in his Polity of the Syracusans, says that he sometimes was drunk for three months at a time together, owing to which he had got somewhat weak in the eyes. And Theophrastus says that his companions also, who were flatterers of the supreme power, pretended not to see well, and to be led by the hand by Dionysius, and not to be able to see the meat that was served up before them, nor the cups of wine, on which account they got the name of Dionysiocolaces, or flatterers of Dionysius Nysæus also, who was tyrant of Syracuse, drank a great deal, and so did Apollocrates; and these men were the sons of the former Dionysius, as Theopompus tells us in the fortieth and forty-first books of his History; and he writes thus about Nysæus:

Nysæus, who was afterwards tyrant of Syracuse, when he was taken for the purpose of being put to death, and knew that he had only a few months to live, spent them wholly in eating and drinking.

Apollocrates, the son of Dionysius the tyrant, was an intemperate man, and addicted to drinking; and some of his flatterers worked upon him so as to alienate him as much as possible from his father.

Nysæus, the son of the elder Dionysius, having made himself master of Syracuse, got a four-horse chariot, and put on an embroidered robe, and devoted himself to gluttony and hard drinking, and to insulting boys and ravishing women, and to all other acts which are consistent with such conduct. And he passed his life in this manner.

For though there have been a great many men who have been intemperate in their daily life, and in their drinking, I do not believe that there has ever been any one who was concerned in state affairs, more intemperate, or a greater glutton, or a more complete slave to his pleasures than Timolaus, whom I

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have mentioned.

For it was notorious that he spent every day in the greatest intemperance, and in such a manner that he was always drinking and getting drunk, and endeavoring to seduce free-born women; and he carried his intemperance to such a height that he ventured to beg a young boy, who was very beautiful and elegant, from the senate of the Olynthians, who had happened to be taken prisoner in the company of Derdas the Macedonian.

A man of the name of Arcadion, too, was a very great drinker, (but it is uncertain whether this is the same man who was at enmity with Philip,) as the epigram shows which Polemo has preserved in his treatise on the Inscriptions existing in different Cities—

1. This is the monument of that great drinker,
2. Arcadion; and his two loving sons,
3. Dorcon and Charmylus, have placed it here,
4. At this the entrance of his native city:
5. And know, traveller, the man did die
6. From drinking strong wine in too large a cup.

1. Twice was this cup, full of the strongest wine,
2. Drain'd by the thirsty Erasixenus,
3. And then in turn it carried him away.

The Nine-gallon Cask;

And Chares the Mitylenæan, in his History of Alexander, speaking of Calanus the Indian philosopher, and saying that he threw himself on a funeral pile that had been raised, and so died, says also that Alexander instituted some gymnastic games at his tomb, and also a musical contest of panegyrics on him.—

And he instituted,

because of the great fondness of the Indians for wine, a contest as to who should drink the greatest quantity of unmixed wine; and the prize was a talent for the first, and thirty mince for the second, and ten mince for the third. And of those who entered for the prize and drank the wine, thirty-five died at once by reason of the cold; and a little afterwards six more died in their tents. And he who drank the greatest quantity and won the prize, drank four choes of unmixed wine, and received the talent; and he lived four days after it; and he was called the Champion.

Dionysius the tyrant gave, at the festival of the Choes, to the first man who should drink a choeus, a golden crown as a prize:

Xenocrates the philosopher was the first person who drank it; and that he, taking the golden crown, and departing, offered it up to the Mercury who was placed in his vestibule, on which statue he was always accustomed on every occasion to offer up the garlands of flowers which he had, every evening as he returned home; and he was much admired for this conduct.

1. You're acting like a sophist now, you wretch,
2. And long for the pay-giving feast of Choes.

But Antigonus the Carystian, in his essay on the Life of Dionysius of Heraclea, who was called the Turncoat, says that Dionysius, when he was feasting with his slaves at the festival of the Choes, and was not able, by reason of his old age, to avail himself of the courtesan whom they brought him, turned round and said to those who were feasting with him—

1. I cannot now, so let another take her.

1. Now have we gain'd immortal praise and fame,
2. Since we have slain great Hector.

1. Wretched are they who dare encounter me.

And Herodotus, in his second book, relates that Myce- rinus the Egyptian, having been told by the soothsayers that he was fated to live but a short time, used to light a great number of lamps when night arrived, and spend all his time in drinking and luxury, relaxing neither by day nor by night; and when he withdrew into the marshes and into the groves, or wherever he heard that there were meetings of young people to amuse themselves, he always got drunk. And Herodotus tells us that Amasis also, who was another of the Egyptian kings, was a very hard drinker indeed. And Hermeas the Methymnæan, in the third book of his History of Sicily, says that Nicoteles the Corinthian was a man greatly addicted to drinking. And Phænias the Eresian, in the book entitled, The Slaying of Tyrants out of Revenge, says that Scopas the son of Creon, and the grandson of the former Scopas, was throughout his whole life very fond of drinking; and that he used to return from banquets at which he had been present, sitting on a throne, and carried by four palanquin-bearers, and in that way he used to enter his house. And Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that Antiochus the king was a man very fond of wine; and that he used to get drunk, and then go to sleep for a long time, and then, as evening came on, he would wake up, and drink again. And it was very seldom, says he, that he transacted the affairs of his kingdom when he was sober, but much more frequently when he was drunk; on which account there were two men about him who managed all the real business of the state as they pleased, namely Aristos and Themiso, Cyprians by birth, and brothers; and they were both on terms of the greatest intimacy with Antiochus.

And Antiochus the king, who was surnamed Epiphanes, was also a great drinker,—the one, I mean, who had been a hostage among the Romans, whom Ptolemy Euergetes mentions in the third book of his Commentaries, and also in the fifth; saying that he turned to Indian revellings and drunkenness, and spent a vast quantity of money in those practices; and for the rest of the money which he had at hand, he spent

Let whoever chance gives it to, take it:

You are a happy man, O king; you smell in a most costly manner:

I will give you as much as you can desire of this perfume.

But Polybius, in the twenty-sixth book of his Histories, calls this man Epimanes (mad), and not Epiphanes (illustrious), on account of his actions.

For he not only used to go to entertainments of the common citizens, but he also would drink with any strangers who happened to be sojourning in the city, and even with those of the meanest class. And if,

he heard that any of the younger men were making a feast anywhere whatever, he would come with an earthen bowl, and with music, so that the greater part of the feasters fled away alarmed at his unexpected appearance. And very often he would put off his royal robes, and take a common cloak, and in that dress go round the market.

And in the thirty-first book of his Histories, the same Polybius tells us

that when Antiochus was celebrating some public games at Antioch, he invited all the Greeks and any of the multitude who chose to come to the spectacle. And when a great many people came, he anointed them all in the gymnasia with ointment of saffron, and cinnamon, and nard, and amaracus, and lilies, out of golden vessels: and then, inviting them all to a feast, he filled sometimes a thousand and sometimes fifteen hundred triclinia with the most

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expensive preparations; and he himself personally attended to waiting on the guests. For, standing at the entrance, he introduced some, and others he placed upon the couches; and he himself marshalled the servants who brought in the different courses; and, walking about among the guests, at times he sat down in one place, and at times he lay down in another. And sometimes he would put down what he was eating, and at other times he would lay down his cup, and jump up, and change his place, and go all round the party, standing up himself, and pledging different people at different times; and then, mingling with the musicians, he would be brought in by the actors, entirely covered up, and laid down on the ground, as if he had been one of the actors himself; and then, when the music gave the signal, the king would leap up, and dance and sport among the actors, so that they were all ashamed. To such absurdities does a want of education, when joined with drunkenness, reduce miserable men.

But the Antiochus who was surnamed the Great, who was subdued by the Romans (as Polybius relates in his twentieth book), having arrived at Chalcis, in Euboea, celebrated a marriage when he was fifty years of age; and after he had undertaken two most enormous and important affairs, namely, the liberation of the Greeks (as he himself professed) and the war against the Romans. At all events, he, being smitten with love for a damsel of Chalcis, was very anxious to marry her at the very time that he was engaged in this war, being a man very fond of drinking and delighting in drunkenness. And she was the daughter of Cleophanes, one of the nobles, and superior to all the maidens of her country in beauty. Accordingly, he celebrated his marriage in Chalcis, and remained there all the winter, not once giving the smallest thought to the important affairs which he had in hand. And he gave the damsel the name of Eubœa. Accordingly, being defeated

On which account, that divinest of writers, Plato, lays down admirable laws in his second book—

That boys, till they are eighteen years of age, should absolutely never taste wine at all; for that it is not well to heap fire on fire: that men up to thirty years of age may drink wine in moderation; and that the young man should wholly abstain from much wine and from drunkenness. But that a man, when he arrives at forty years of age, may feast in large banquets, and invoke the other gods, and especially Bacchus, to the feasts and amusements of the older men; since he it is who has given men this means of indulgence, as an ally against the austerity of old age, for which wine was the best medicine; so that, owing to it, we grow young again, and forget our moroseness.

But there is a report and story told that this god was once deprived of his mind and senses by his mother-in-law, Juno; on which account he sent Bacchic frenzy, and all sorts of frantic rage, among men, out of revenge for the treatment which he had experienced; on which account also he gave wine to men.

But Phalæcus, in his Epigrams, makes mention of a woman, whose name was Cleo, as having been a very hard drinker—

1. Cleo bestow'd this splendid gift on Bacchus,
2. The tunic, fringed with gold and saffron hues,
3. Which long she wore herself; so great she was
4. At feasts and revelry: there was no man
5. Who could at all contend with her in drinking.

1. May it be granted me to pass from life
2. Drinking abundant draughts of wine, while you,
3. My darling daughter, live and prosper here.

And Alcimus the Sicilian, in that book of his which is entitled the Italian History, says that all the women in Italy avoid drinking wine on this account:

When Hercules was in the district of the Crotoniatæ, he one day was very thirsty, and came to a certain house by the wayside and asked for something to drink; and it happened that the wife of the master of the house had privily opened a cask of wine, and therefore she said to her husband that it would be a shameful thing for him to open this cask for a stranger; and so she bade him give Hercules some water. But Hercules, who was standing at the door, and heard all this, praised her husband very much, but advised him to go indoors himself and look at the cask. And when he had gone in, he found that the cask had become petrified. And this fact is proved by the conduct of the women of the country, among whom it is reckoned disgraceful, to this day, to drink wine, on account of the above-mentioned reason.

And what sort of women those among the Greeks are who get drunk, Antiphanes tells us, in his Female Darter; where he says—

1. There is a certain neighbouring victualler,
2. And he, whenever I arrive, being thirsty,
3. Is th' only man who knows the proper way
4. In which to mix my wine; and makes it not
5. Too full of water, nor too strong and heady:
6. I recollect that once when I was drinking . . . .

1. A. Would you now like, my dearest friend, to drink?
2. B. No doubt I should.
3. A. Well come, then, take a cup;
4. For they do say the first three cups one takes
5. All tend to th' honour of the heavenly gods.

1. A. But women are quite sure to be content
2. If they have only wine enough to drink.
3. B. But, by the heavenly twins, we now shall have
4. As much as we can wish; and it shall be
5. Sweet, and not griping,—rich, well-season'd wine,
6. Exceeding old.
7. A. I like this aged sphinx;
8. For hear how now she talks to me in riddles.

1. Zopyra, that wine-cask.

1. I write a woman's oath in mighty wine.

Plato, in his Phaon, relating how many things happen to women because of wine, says—

1. Come now, ye women, long ago have I
2. Pray'd that this wine may thus become your folly;
3. For you don't think, as the old proverb goes,
4. That there is any wisdom at a vintner's.
5. For if you now desire to see Phaon,
6. You first must all these solemn rites perform.
7. First, as the nurse of youths, I must receive
8. A vigorous cheesecake, and a pregnant mealcake,
9. And sixteen thrushes whole, well smear'd with honey,
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10. Twelve hares, all taken when the moon was full;
11. But all the other things may be got cheaply.
12. Now listen. Three half-measures of fine onions;
13. These for Orthanna. For Conisalus
14. And his two mates, a plate of myrtleberries,
15. Pluck'd with the hand: for the great Gods above
16. Dislike the smell of lamps . . . . . . . .
17. . . . . . . . for the dogs and huntsmen.
18. A drachma for Lordon; for Cybdasus,
19. Three obols; for the mighty hero Celes,
20. Some hides and incense. Now if you bring
21. These things, you'll certainly obtain admittance;
22. But if you don't, you'll knock in vain, and long
23. In vain to enter, and get nothing by it.

1. Just trust a woman to drink only water.

And whole nations are mentioned as addicted to drunkenness. Accordingly, Bæton, the measurer of distances for Alexander, in his book which is entitled Stations of the March of Alexander, and Amyntas also, in his Stations, says that the nation of the Tapyri is so fond of wine that they never use any other unguent than that. And Ctesias tells the same story, in his book Concerning the Revenues in Asia. And he says that they are a most just people. And Harmodius of Lepreum, in his treatise on the Laws in force among the people of Phigalea, says that the Phigaleans are addicted to drinking, being neighbours of the Messenians, and being also a people much accustomed to travelling. And Phylarchus, in his sixth book, says that the Byzantians are so exceedingly fond of wine, that they live in the wine-shops and let out their own houses and their wives also to strangers: and that they cannot bear to hear the sound of a trumpet even in their sleep. On which account once, when they were attacked by the enemy, and could not endure the labour of defending their walls, Leonidas, their general, ordered the innkeepers' booths to be erected as tents upon the walls, and even then it was with difficulty that they were stopped from deserting, as Damon tells us, in his book on Byzantium. But Menander, in his play called the Woman carrying the Mysterious sacred Vessels of Minerva, or the Female Flute-player, says—

1. Byzantium makes all the merchants drunk.
2. On your account we drank the whole night long,
3. And right strong wine too, as it seems to me,—
4. At least I got up with four heads, I think.

1. A. For how in the name of all the gods at once,
2. Do you not know me, the Tirynthian Argive?
3. That race fights all its battles when 'tis drunk.
4. B. And that is why they always run away.

1. Elis is always drunk, and always lying:
2. As is each single house, so is the city.