Deipnosophistae

For profligate debauchery is engendered by drunkenness. On which account Antiphanes, in his Arcadia, says—

1. For it, O father, never can become
2. A sober man to seek debauchery,
3. Nor yet to serious cares to give his mind,
4. When it is rather time to drink and feast.
5. But he that cherishes superhuman thoughts,
6. Trusting to small and miserable riches,
7. Shall at some future time himself discover
8. That he is only like his fellow-men,
9. If he looks, like a doctor, at the tokens,
10. And sees which way his veins go, up or down,
11. On which the life of mortal man depends.

And, in his Aeolus, mentioning with indignation the evil deeds which those who are great drinkers do, he says—

1. Macareus, when smitten with unholy love
2. For one of his own sisters, for a while
3. Repress'd the evil thought, and check'd himself;
4. But after some short time he wine admitted
5. To be his general, under whose sole lead
6. Audacity takes the place of prudent counsel,
7. And so by night his purpose he accomplish'd.

And well, therefore, did Aristophanes term wine the milk of Venus, saying—

1. And wine, the milk of Venus, sweet to drink;

because men, after having drunk too much of it, have often conceived a desire for illicit amours.

But Hegesander the Delphian speaks of some men as ἔξοινοι; by which term he means, overtaken with wine; speaking thus:—

Comeon and Rhodophon being two of the ministers who managed the affairs of Rhodes, were both drunk; and Comeon attacking Rhodophon as a gambler, said—

1. O you old man, the crew of youthful gamblers
2. Beyond a doubt are pressing hard upon you.

And Rhodophon reproached him with his passion for women, and with his incontinence, abstaining from no sort of abuse.

And Theopompus, in the sixteenth book of his Histories, speaking of another Rhodian, says—

When Hegesilochus had become perfectly useless, partly from drunkenness and gambling, and when he had utterly lost all credit among the Rhodians, and when instead his whole course of life was found fault with by his own companions and by the rest of the citizens.

. . . .Then he goes on to speak of the oligarchy which he established with his friends, saying—

And they violated a great number of nobly-born women, wives of the first men in the state; and they corrupted no small number of boys and young men; and they carried their profligacy to such a height that they even ventured to play with one another at dice for the free-born women, and they made a bargain which of the nobly-born matrons he who threw the lowest number on the dice should bring to the winner for the purpose of being ravished; allowing no exception at all; but the loser was bound to bring her to the place appointed, in whatever way he could, using persuasion, or even force if that was necessary. And some of the other Rhodians also played at dice in this fashion; but the most frequent and open of all the players in this way was Hegesilochus, who aspired to become the governor of the city.

And Antheas the Lindian, who claimed to be considered a relation of Cleobulus the philosopher, as Philodemus reports, in his treatise on the Sminthians in Rhodes, being an oldish man, and very rich, and being also an accomplished poet,

celebrated the festivals in honour of Bacchus all his life, wearing a dress such as is worn by the votaries of Bacchus, and maintaining a troop of fellow-revellers. An he was constantly leading revels both day and night; and he was the first man who invented that. kind of poetry which depends upon compound words, which Asopodorus the Phliasian afterwards employed in his conversational Iambics. And he too used to write comedies and many other pieces in the same style of poetry, which he used to recite to his phallus-bearers.

When Ulpian had heard all this he said,—Tell me, my good Pontianus, says he, in what author does the word πάροινος occur? And he replied—

1. You will undo me with your questions..

(as the excellent Agatho says)—

1. . . . . and your new fashion,
2. Always talking at an unseasonable time.

But since it is decided that we are to be responsible to you for every word, Antiphanes, in his Lydian, has said—

1. A Colchian man drunken and quarrelsome (πάροινος).

But you are not yet satisfied about your πάροινοι, and drunkards; nor do you consider that Eumenes the king of Pergamus, the nephew of Philetærus, who had formerly been king of Pergamus, died of drunkenness, as Ctesicles relates, in the third book of his Times. But, however, Perseus, whose power was put down by the Romans, did not die in that way; for he did not imitate his father Philip in anything; for he was not eager about women, nor was he fond of wine; but when at a feast he was not only moderate himself, but all his friends who were with him were so too, as Polybius relates, in his twenty-sixth book. But you, O Ulpian, are a most immoderate drinker yourself (ἀῤῥυθμοπότης), as Timon te Phliasian calls it. For so he called those men who drink a great quantity of unmixed wine, in the second book of his Silli—

1. Or that great ox-goad, harder than Lycurgus's,
2. Who smote the ἀῤῥυθμόποται of Bacchus,
3. And threw their cups and brimming ladles down.

For I do not call you simply ποτικὸς, or fond of drinking; and this last is a word which Alæus has used, in his Ganymede. And that a habit of getting drunk deceives our eyesight, Anacharsis has shown plainly enough, in what he says here he shows that mistaken opinions are taken up by drunken men. For a fellow-drinker of his once, seeing his wife at a banquet, said,

Anacharsis, you have married an ugly woman.

And he replied,

Indeed I think so too, but however now, give me, O boy, a cup of stronger wine, that I may make her out beautiful.

After this Ulpian, pledging one of his companions, said,—But, my dear friend, according to Antiphanes, who says, in his Countryman—

1. A. Shut now your eyes, and drink it all at once.
2. B. 'Tis a great undertaking.
3. A. Not for one
4. Who has experience in mighty draughts.

Drink then, my friend; and—

1. A. Let us not always drink

(as the same Antiphanes says, in his Wounded Man,)

1. Full cups, but let some reason and discussion
2. Come in between, and some short pretty songs;
3. Let some sweet strophes sound. There is no work,
4. Or only one at least, I tell you true,
5. In which some variation is not pleasant.
6. B. Give me, then, now at once, I beg you, wine,
7. Strengthening the limbs (ἀρκεσίγυιον), as says Euripides—
8. A. Aye, did Euripides use such a word?
9. B. No doubt—who else?
10. A. It may have been Philoxenus,
11. 'Tis all the same; my friend, you now convict me,
12. Or seek to do so, for one syllable.

And he said,—But who has ever used this form πῖθι? And Ulpian replied,—Why, you are all in the dark, my friend, from having drunk such a quantity of wine. You have it in Cratinus, in his Ulysseses,—

1. Take now this cup, and when you've taken, drink it (πῖθι),
2. And then ask me my name.

And Antiphanes, in his Mystic, says—

1. A. Still drink (πῖθι), I bid you.
2. B. I'll obey you, then,
3. For certainly a goblet's figure is
4. A most seductive shape, and fairly worthy
5. The glory of a festival. We have—
6. Have not we? (for it is not long ago)—
7. Drunk out of cruets of vile earthenware.
8. May the Gods now, my child, give happiness
9. And all good fortune to the clever workman
10. For the fair shape that he bestow'd on thee.

And Diphilus, in his Bath, says—

1. Fill the cup full, and hide the mortal part,
2. The goblet made by man, with godlike wine:
3. Drink (πῖθι); these are gifts, my father, given us
4. By the good Jove, who thus protects companionship.

And Ameipsias, in his Sling, says—

1. When you have stirr'd the sea-hare, take and drink (πῖθι).

And Menander, in his Female Flute-player, says—

1. Away with you; have you ne'er drunk, O Sosilas?
2. Drink (πῖθι) now, I beg, for you are wondrous mad.

And in the future tense of πίνω, we should not read πιοῦμαι, but πιόμαι without the υ, lengthening the ι. And this is the way the future is formed in that line of Homer—

1. (πιόμενʼ ἐκ βοτάνης) Drank after feeding.

And Aristophanes, in his Knights, says—

1. He ne'er shall drink (πίεται) of the same cup with me:

and in another place he says—

1. Thou shalt this day drink (πίει) the most bitter wine;

though this might, perhaps, come from πιοῦμαι. Sometimes, however, they shorten the ι, as Plato does, in his Women Returning from Sacrifice—

1. Nor he who drinks up (ἐκπίεται) all her property:

and in his Syrphax he says— And ye shall drink (πίεσθε) much water. And Menander uses the word πῖε as a dissyllable, in his Dagger—

1. A. Drink (πῖε).
2. B. I will compel this wretch,
3. This sacrilegious wretch, to drink (πιεῖν) it first:

and the expression τῆ πίε, take and drink, and πῖνε, drink. So do you, my friend, drink; and as Alexis says, in his Twins,—

1. Pledge you (πρόπιθι) this man, that he may pledge another.

And let it be a cup of comradeship, which Anaceron calls ἐπίστιος. For that great lyric poet says—

1. And do not chatter like the wave
2. Of the loud brawling sea, with that
3. Ever-loquacious Gastrodora,
4. Drinking the cup ἐπίστιος.

But the name which we give it is ἀνίσων.

But do not you be afraid to drink; nor will you be in

any danger of falling on your hinder parts; for the people who drink what Simonides calls—

1. Wine, the brave router of all melancholy,

can never suffer such a mischance as that. But as Aristotle says, in his book on Drunkenness, they who have drunk beer, which they call πῖνος, fall on their backs. For he says,

But there is a peculiarity in the effects of the drink made from barley, which they call πῖνος, for they who get drunk on other intoxicating liquors fall on all parts of their body; they fall on the left side, on the right side, on their faces, and on their backs. But it is only those who get drunk on beer who fall on their backs, and lie with their faces upwards.

But the wine which is made of barley is by some called βρύτος, as Sophocles says, in his Triptolemus—

1. And not to drink the earthy beer (βρύτον).

And Archilochus says—

1. And she did vomit wine as any Thracian
2. Might vomit beer (βρύτον), and played the wanton stooping.

And Aeschylus, also, mentions this drink, in his Lycurgus—

1. And after this he drank his beer (βρύτον), and much
2. And loudly bragg'd in that most valiant house.

But Hellanicus, in his Origins, says that beer is made also out of roots, and he writes thus:—

But they drink beer (βρύτον) made of roots, as the Thracians drink it made of barley.

And Hecatæus, in the second book of his Description of the World, speaking of the Egyptians, and saying that they are great bread-eaters, adds,

They bruise barley so as to make a drink of it.

And, in his Voyage round Europe, he says that

the Pæonians drink beer made of barley, and a liquor called παραβίη, made of millet and conyza. And they anoint themselves,

adds he,

with oil made of milk.

And this is enough to say on these topics.

1. But in our time dear to the thyrsus-bearers
2. Is rosy wine, and greatest of all gods
3. Is Bacchus.

As Ion the Chian says, in his Elegies—

1. For this is pretext fit for many a song;
2. The great assemblies of th' united Greeks,
3. The feasts of kings, do from this gift proceed,
4. Since first the vine, with hoary bunches laden,
5. Push'd from beneath the ground its fertile shoots,
6. Clasping the poplar in its firm embrace,
7. And from its buds burst forth a numerous race,

1. Crashing, as one upon the other press'd;
2. But when the noise has ceased they yield their juice,
3. Divinest nectar, which to mortal men
4. Is ever the sole remedy for care,
5. And common cause of joy and cheerfulness.
6. Parent of feasts, and laughter, and the dance,
7. Wine shows the disposition of the good,
8. And strengthens all their noble qualities.
9. Hail! then, O Bacchus, president of feasts,
10. Dear to all men who love the wreathed flowers;
11. Give us, kind God, an age of happiness,
12. To drink, and play, and cherish just designs.

But Amphis, in his Philadelphi, praising the life of those who are fond of drinking, says:—

1. For many causes do I think our life,
2. The life of those who drink, a happy one;
3. And happier far than yours, whose wisdom all
4. Lies in a stern and solemn-looking brow.
5. For that slow prudence which is always busy
6. In settling small affairs, which with minuteness,
7. And vain solicitude, keeps hunting trifles,
8. Fears boldly to advance in things of weight;
9. But our mind, not too fond of scrutinising
10. Th' exact result of every trifling measure,
11. Is ever for prompt deeds of spirit ready.

And when Ulpian was about to add something to this Aemilianus said,—It is time for us, my friends, to inquire in some degree about γρῖφοι, that we may leave our cups for a little while, not indeed in the spirit of that work which is entitled the Grammatical Tragedy of Callias the Athenian: but let us first inquire what is the definition of what we call a γρῖφος. . . . And we may omit what Cleobulina of Lindus has proposed in her Epigrams; for our companion, Diotimus of Olympia, has discussed that point sufficiently; but we must consider how the comic poets have mentioned it, and what punishment those who have failed to solve it have undergone. And Laurentius said,—Clearchus the Solensian defines the word thus:

γρῖφος,

says he,

is a sportive problem, in which we are bidden to seek out, by the exertion of our intellect and powers of investigation, what i proposed to us, which has been uttered for the sake of some honour or some penalty.

And in his discussion on these griphi, the same Clearchus asserts that

there are seven kinds of griphi. In the letter, when we say that there is a certain name of a fish or plant, beginning with a. And similarly,

v.2.p.708

when he who proposes the griphus desires us to mention some name in which some particular letter is or is not. Such are those which are called sigma-less griphi; on which account Pindar has composed an ode on the ς, as if some griphus had been proposed to him as a subject for a lyric poem. Then griphi are said to be in the syllable, when we are desired to recite some verse which begins with the syllable βα, as with βασιλεὺς, for instance, or which ends with ναξ, as καλλιάναξ, or some in which the syllables λεων take the lead, as λεωνίδης, or on the other hand close the sentence, as θρασυλέωϝ. They are in the name, when we utter simple or compound names of two syllables, by which some tragic figure, or on the other hand some humble one, is indicated; or some names which have no connexion with anything divine, as κλεώνυμος, or which have some such connexion, as διονύσιος: and this, too, whether the connexion be with one God or with more, as ʽἑρμαφρόδιτος; or whether the name begins with Jupiter, as διοκλῆς, or with Mercury, as ʽἑρμόδωρος; or whether it ends, as it perhaps may, with νῖκος. And then they who were desired to say such and such things, and could not, had to drain the cup.

And Clearchus defined the word in this way. And now you, my good friend Ulpian, may inquire what the cup to be drained is.

But concerning these griphi, Antiphanes says, in his Cnœthis, or the Pot-bellied Man—

1. A. I thought before that those who while at meals
2. Bade me solve griphi, were the silliest triflers,
3. Talking mere nonsense. And when any one
4. Was bade to say what a man bore and bore not,
5. I laugh'd and thought it utter childishness;
6. And did not think that truth did lie beneath,
7. But reckon'd them as traps for the unwary.
8. But now, indeed, I see there is some truth in them;
9. For we, ten men, contribute now for supper,
10. But no one of them all bears what he brings,
11. So here's a case where he who bears bears not,
12. And this is just the meaning of a griphus.
13. So surely this may fairly be excused;
14. But others play tricks with the things themselves,
15. Paying no money, as, for instance, Philip.
16. B. A wise and fortunate man, by Jove, is he.

And in his Aphrodisian he says—

1. A. Suppose I want to say now

   dish

   to you,
2. Shall I say

   dish,

   or shall I rather say,
v.2.p.709
3. A hollow-bodied vessel, made of earth,
4. Form'd by the potter's wheel in rapid swing,
5. Baked in another mansion of its mother,
6. Which holds within its net the tender milk-fed
7. Offspring of new-born flocks untimely choked?
8. B. By Hercules, you'll kill me straight if you
9. Do not in plain words say a

   dish of meat.

10. A. 'Tis well. And shall I speak to you of drops
11. Flowing from bleating goats, and well compounded
12. With streams proceeding from the yellow bee,
13. Sitting on a broad receptacle provided
14. By the chaste virgin born of holy Ceres,
15. And now luxuriating beneath a host
16. Of countless finely-wrought integuments;
17. Or shall I say

    a cheesecake?

18. B. Prithee say
19. A cheesecake.
20. A. Shall I speak of rosy sweat
21. From Bacchic spring?
22. B. I'd rather you'd say wine.
23. A. Or shall I speak of dusky dewy drops?
24. B. No such long paraphrase,—say plainly, water.
25. A. Or shall I praise the cassia-breathing fragrance
26. That scents the air
27. B. No, call it myrrh,—forbear
28. Those sad long-winded sentences, those long
29. And roundabout periphrases; it seems
30. To me by far too great a labour thus
31. To dwell on matters which are small themselves,
32. And only great in such immense descriptions.