Deipnosophistae

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,

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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,
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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.

And Alexis, in his Sleep, proposes a griphus of this kind—

1. A. It is not mortal, nor immortal either
2. But as it were compounded of the two,
3. So that it neither lives the life of man,
4. Nor yet of God, but is incessantly
5. New born again, and then again deprived
6. Of this its present life; invisible,
7. Yet it is known and recognised by all.
8. B. You always do delight, O lady, in riddles.
9. A. No, I am speaking plain and simple things.
10. B. What child then is there which has such a nature!
11. A. 'Tis sleep, my girl, victor of human toils.

And Eubulus, in his Sphingocarion, proposes grip i of this kind, himself afterwards giving the solution of there—

1. A. There is a thing which speaks, yet has no tongue
2. A female of the same name as the male;
3. The steward of the winds, which it holds fast;
4. Rough, and yet sometimes smooth; full of dark voices
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5. Scarce to be understood by learned men;
6. Producing harmony after harmony;
7. 'Tis one thing, and yet many; e'en if wounded
8. 'Tis still invulnerable and unhurt.
9. B. What can that be?
10. A. Why, don't you know, Callistratus?
11. It is a bellows.
12. B. You are joking now.
13. A. No; don't it speak, although it has no tongue?
14. Has it not but one name with many people?
15. Is't not unhurt, though with a wound i' the centre?
16. Is it not sometimes rough, and sometimes smooth?
17. Is it not, too, a guardian of much wind?

Again:—

1. There is an animal with a locust's eye,
2. With a sharp mouth, and double deathful head;
3. A mighty warrior, who slays a race
4. Of unborn children.

('Tis the Egyptian ichneumon.) For he does seize upon the crocodile's eggs, And, ere the latent offspring is quite form'd, Breaks and destroys them: he's a double head, For he can sting with one end, and bite with th' other. Again:—

1. I know a thing which, while it's young, is heavy,
2. But when it's old, though void of wings, can fly
3. With lightest motion, out of sight o' th' earth.

This is thistledown. For it—

1. While it is young, stands solid in its seed,
2. But when it loses that, is light and flies,
3. Blown about every way by playful children.

Listen, now, to this one—

1. There is an image all whose upper part
2. Is its foundation, while the lower part
3. Is open; bored all through from head to feet;
4. 'Tis sharp, and brings forth men in threefold way,
5. Some of whom gain the lot of life, some lose it:
6. All have it; but I bid them all beware.

And you yourselves may decide here, that he means the box into which the votes are thrown, so that we may not borrow everything from Eubulus.

And Antiphanes, in his Problem, says—

1. A. A man who threw his net o'er many fish,
2. Though full of hope, after much toil and cost,
3. Caught only one small perch. And 'twas a cestreus,
4. Deceived itself, who brought this perch within,
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5. For the perch followeth the blacktail gladly.
6. B. A cestreus, blacktail, perch, and man, and net,—
7. I don't know what you mean; there's no sense in it.
8. A. Wait while I clearly now explain myself:
9. There is a man who giving all he has,
10. When giving it, knows not to whom he gives it,
11. Nor knows he has the things he does not need.
12. B. Giving, not giving, having, and not having,—
13. I do not understand one word of this.
14. A. These were the very words of this same griphus.
15. For what you know you do not just now know,
16. What you have given, or what you have instead.
17. This was the meaning.
18. B. Well, I should be glad
19. To give you too a griphus.
20. A. Well, let's have it.
21. B. A pinna and a mullet, two fish, both
22. Endued with voices, had a conversation,
23. And talk'd of many things; but did not say
24. What they were talking of, nor whom they thought
25. They were addressing; for they both did fail
26. In seeing who it was to whom they talk'd.
27. And so, while they kept talking to each other,
28. The goddess Ceres came and both destroy'd.