and in another passage he says—

And Antiphanes, in his Leonidas, says—

And Aristophanes, in his Proagon, says—

And in his Danaides he says—

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

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

And Hermippus, in his Soldiers, says—

And Theopompus, in his Callæschrus, says—

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

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

21. "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—

So do you now, O boy, pour me out something stronger; for I do not prescribe to you the exact number of cyathi.[44] 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.

22. 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—

And in his Lampon he says—

And Ephippus, in his Ephebi, says—

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

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—

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

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

And in his Ambassadors he says—

And Archippus, in his Fishes, says—

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

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:—

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

And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, says—

And Phrynichus, in his Weeding Women, says—

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 Ætolia.

24. 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 Æschylus—

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

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—

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:—

And Euripides the poet, when he was a boy, acted as 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 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 Æolians in everything, as even in the tones of their voices.

25. 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—

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—

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

And a few lines further on he says—

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.

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

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

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—

And again—

as Xenarchus says, in his Twins. And accordingly, when 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—

and that Cratinus had said—

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

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

Democritus said—Hesiod, my friends, recommends men

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

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

And Diocles, in his Bees, says—

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

What 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—

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

And Eupolis says, in his Goats,—

And Hermippus says, in his Gods,—

29. But in Anacreon we find one measure of wine to two of water spoken of—

And going on presently, he calls the drinking of unmixed wine, a Scythian draught—

And the Lacedæmonians, according to the statement of Herodotus, in his sixth book, say that Cleomenes the king, having lived among the Scythians, and got the habit of drinking unmixed wine, became perfectly mad from his habit of drunkenness. And the Lacedæmonians themselves, when they take it into their heads to drink hard, say that they are Episcythising. Accordingly, Chamæleon of Heraclea, in his book on Drunkenness, writes thus concerning them:—"Since the Lacedæmonians say also, that Cleomenes the Spartan became mad from having lived among the Scythians, and there learnt to drink unmixed wine; on which account, when they take a fancy to drink unmixed wine they desire their slaves to pour out in the Scythian fashion." And Achæus, in his Æthon, a satyric drama, represents the Satyrs as indignant at being compelled to drink their wine watered, and as saying—

30. But the habit of pouring libations of pure wine, as Theophrastus says, in his treatise on Drinking, was not ancient; but originally libations were what is given to the Gods, and the cottabus, what was devoted to the object of one's love. For men practised throwing the cottabus with great care, it being originally a Sicilian sport, as Anacreon the Teian says—

On which account those songs of the ancient poets, which are called scolia, are full of mention of the cottabus.[45] I mean, for instance, such a scolion as Pindar composed—

And they also consecrated to those of their friends who were dead, all that portion of their victuals which fell from their tables. On which account Euripides says of Sthenobœa, when she thinks that Bellerophon is dead—

31. But the ancients were not in the habit of getting drunk. But Pittacus recommended Periander of Priene not to get drunk, nor to become too much addicted to feasting, "so that," says he, "it may not be discovered what sort of a person you really are, and that you are not what you pretend to be."—

On which account they were wise men who invented the proverb, "Wine has no rudder." Accordingly, Xenophon the son of Gryllus, (when once at the table of Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, the cupbearer was compelling the guests to drink,) addressed the tyrant himself by name, and said, "Why, O Dionysius, does not also the confectioner, who is a skilful man in his way, and one who understands a great many different recipes for dressing things, compel us also, when we are at a banquet, to eat even when we do not wish to; but why, on the contrary, does he spread the table for us in an orderly manner, in silence?" And Sophocles, in one of his Satyric dramas, says—

From which also is derived the saying—

And Sthenelus the poet said very well—

And Phocylides says—

and to this day this custom prevails among some of the Greeks. But since they have begun to be luxurious and have got effeminate they have given up their chairs and taken to couches; and having taken indolence and laziness for their allies, they have indulged in drinking in an immoderate and disorderly manner; the very way in which the tables were laid contributing, as I imagine, to luxury.

32. And it is on this account that Hesiod, in his Eoæ, has said—

And Theognis says—

But Anacharsis the philosopher, wishing to exhibit the power of the vine to the king of the Scythians, and showing him some of its branches, said that if the Greeks did not prune it every year it would by this time have reached to Scythia.

33. But those men do not act wisely who represent and describe Bacchus in their statues or pictures, and who also lead him through the middle of the market-place on a waggon, as if he were drunk; for, by so doing, they show the beholders that wine is stronger than the god. And I do not think that even a good and wise man could stand this. And if they have represented him in this state because he first showed us the use of wine, it is plain that for the same reason they should always represent Ceres as reaping corn or eating bread. And I should say that Æschylus himself erred in this particular; for he was the first person (and not Euripides, as some people say,) who introduced the appearance of drunken people into a tragedy. For in his Cabiri he introduces Jason drunk. But the fact is, that the practices which the tragedian himself used to indulge in, he attributed to his heroes: at all events he used to write his tragedies when he was drunk; on which account Sophocles used to reproach him, and say to him, "O Æschylus,[46] even if you do what you ought, at all events you do so without knowing it;" as Chamæleon tells us, in his treatise on Æschylus. And they are ignorant people who say that Epicharmus was the first person who introduced a drunken man on the stage, and after him Crates, in his Neighbours. And Alcæus the lyric poet, and Aristophanes the comic poet, used to write their poems when they were drunk. And many other men have fought with great gallantry in war when they were drunk. But among the Epizephyrian Locrians, if any one drank untempered wine, except by the express command of his physician for the sake of his health, he was liable to be punished with death, in accordance with a law to that effect passed by Zaleucus.

And among the people of Massilia there was a law that the women should drink water only. And Theophrastus says, that to this day that is the law at Miletus. And among the Romans no slave ever drank wine, nor any free woman, nor any youth born of free parents till he was thirty years of age. And Anacreon is very ridiculous for having referred all his poems to the subject of drunkenness; for, owing to this, he is found fault with as having in his poems wholly abandoned himself to effeminacy and luxury, as the multitude are not aware that while he wrote he was a sober and virtuous man, who pretended to be a drunkard, when there was no necessity at all for his doing so.

34. And men who are ignorant of the power of wine, say that Bacchus is the cause of madness to men; in saying which they abuse wine in a very senseless manner. On which account Melanippides says—

And Aristotle, in his treatise on Drinking, says, "If the wine be moderately boiled, then when it is drunk, it is less apt to intoxicate; for, as some of its power has been boiled away, it has become weaker." And he also says, "Old men become drunk more quickly on account of the small quantity of natural warmth which there is in them, and also of the weak-genius get drunk very quickly, on account of the great quantity of natural warmth that there is in them; for, in consequence, they are easily subdued by the warmth proceeding from the wine which is added to their natural warmth. And some of the brute beasts are also capable of becoming intoxicated; such as pigs when they are filled with the husks of pressed grapes; and the whole race of crows, and of dogs, when they have eaten of the herb called œnussa: and the monkey and the elephant get intoxicated if they drink wine; on which account they hunt monkeys and crows when the former have been made drunk with wine, and the latter with œnussa.

as Crobylus says, in his Woman who deserted her Husband—

And Alexis, in the revised edition of his Phrygian, says—

And Aristotle says, that the wine called the Samagorean wine was so strong that more than forty men were made drunk with a pint and a half of it after it had been mixed with water.

35. Democritus having said this, and having drunk, said,—Now if any one can gainsay any of these statements let him come forward: and then he shall be told, as Evenus says—

But I, since I have now made this digression about the mixtures of the ancients, will resume the thread of my original discourse where I let it drop; considering what was said by Alcæus the lyric poet. For he speaks, somewhere or other, in this way—

For in these words some people do not think that he is alluding to the mixture of wine and water at all; but that, being a moderate and temperate man, he would not drink more than one cyathus of pure wine, or perhaps, at the most, two. And this is the interpretation given to the passage by Chamæleon of Pontus, who was ignorant how fond of wine Alcæus had been. For this poet will be found to have been in the habit of drinking at every season and in every imaginable condition of affairs. In winter he speaks thus—

And in summer, he writes—

And in spring, he says—

and he continues—

And in his misfortunes he sings—

And in his hours of joy he says—

And, giving some general advice, he says—

How, then, could a man who was so very devoted to drinking be a sober man, and be content with one or two cups of wine? At all events, his very poem, says Seleucus, testifies against those people who receive the line in this sense. For he says, in the whole passage—

In which words he plainly enough intimates that his meaning is, that one cup of wine is to be mixed with two of water.

36. But Anacreon likes his liquors stronger still; as is shown by the verses in which he says—

And Philetærus, in his Tereus, speaks of two measures of water to three of wine. And he speaks thus,—

And Pherecrates, in his Corianno, speaks even of two measures of water to four of wine, and says—

And Ephippus, in his Circe, says—

37. And Timocles speaks of half-and-half in his Conisalus,—

And Alexis, in his Dorcis, or the Caressing Woman, says—

And Xenarchus, or Timocles, in his Purple, says—

And Sophilus, in his Dagger, says,—

And Alexis, in his play entitled The Usurer, or Liar, says—

And again, in his Supposititious Son, he says—

And Menander, in his Brethren—

And the verb κατασείω was especially used of those who fell down from drinking, taking its metaphor from the shaking down fruit from the tree.

And Alexis, in his Man cut off, says—

38. And Diodorus of Sinope, in his Female Flute-player, says—

And it was not without some wit that Lysander the Spartan, as Hegesander relates in his Commentaries, when some vintners sold wine which had been much watered in his camp, ordered some one to supply it properly tempered, that his men might buy it with less water in it. And Alexis has said something which comes to nearly the same thing, in his Æsop; thus—

39. "But to drink to the degree of drunkenness," says Plato, in his sixth book of the Laws, is neither becoming anywhere—except perhaps in the days of festival of the god who gave men wine for their banquets,—nor is it wholesome: and, above all, a man ought to guard against such a thing who has any thoughts of marriage; for at such a time, above all other times, both bride and bridegroom ought to be in full possession of their faculties; when they are entering upon what is no small change in the circumstances of their life; and also they ought to be influenced by anxiety that their offspring shall be the offspring of parents in the fullest possible possession of all their faculties; for it is very uncertain what day or what night will be the originating cause of it." And in the first book of his Laws he says—"But respecting drunkenness it may be a question, whether we ought to give way to it as the Lydians do, and the Persians, and the Carthaginians, and the Celtæ, and the Spaniards, and the Thracians, and other nations like them; or whether like you, O Lacedæmonians, one ought wholly to abstain from it. But the Scythians and the Thracians, who indulge altogether in drinking unmixed wine, both the women and all the men, and who spill it all over their clothes, think that they are maintaining a very honourable practice, and one that tends to their happiness. And the Persians indulge to a great extent in other modes of luxury which you reject; but still they practise them with more moderation than the Scythians and Thracians.

40. 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 wine, having written a drama entitled Mnesiptolemus, and having turned him into ridicule, as the comic poets do, and using his own words about that sort of drink, represents him as saying:—