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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists

BOOK 11 (excerpts)

Translated by C.D.Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.

    !!   An updated version of this translation is available.


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[6.] G   [462] I am aware, too, that Hellanicus says, in his treatise on the Names of Races, that "Some of the Numidians in Libya have no other possessions than a cup, and a sword, and a ewer, and they have small houses made of the stalks of asphodel, merely just to serve as a shade, and they even carry them about with them wherever they go." There is also a spot amongst the Illyrians, which has been celebrated by many people, which is called Kύλικες, near to which is the tomb of Cadmus and Harmonia, as Phylarchus relates in the twenty-second book of his Histories [ Fr_39 ]. And Polemon, in his book on Morychus, says that at Syracuse, on the highest spot of the part called the Island, there is an altar near the temple of Olympia, outside the walls, from which he says that people when putting to sea carry a goblet with them, keeping it until they get to such a distance that the shield in the temple of Minerva cannot be seen; and then they let it fall into the sea, being an earthenware cup, putting into it flowers and honeycombs, and uncut frankincense, and all sorts of other spices besides.

[7.] G   And since I now see your banquet, as Xenophanes of Colophon says, full of all kinds of pleasure-
  For now the floor and all men's hands are clean,
  And all the cups, and since the feasters' brows
  Are wreathed with garlands, while the slaves around
  Bring fragrant perfume in well-suited dishes;
  And in the middle stands the joyful bowl,
  And wine's at hand, which never deserts the guests
  Who know its worth, in earthen jars well kept,
  Well flavoured, fragrant with the sweet fresh flowers;
  And in the midst the frankincense sends forth
  Its holy perfume; and the water's cold,
  And sweet, and pure; and golden bread's at hand,
  And duly honoured tables, groaning under
  Their weight of cheese and honey;- then an altar,
  Placed in the centre, all with flowers is crowned,
  And song and feasting occupies the house,
  And dancing, and all sorts of revelry:-
  Therefore it does become right-minded men
  First with words of good omen and pious prayers
  To hymn the praises of the Gods; and so,
  With pure libations and well-ordered vows,
  To win from them the power to act with justice-
  For this comes from the favour of the Gods;
  And you may drink as much as shall not hinder
  You from returning home without assistance,
  Unless, indeed, you're very old: and he
  Deserves to be above his fellows lauded,
  Who drinks and then says good and witty things,
  Such as his memory and taste suggests,-
  Who lays down rules, and tells fine tales of virtue;
  Not raking up the old Titanic fables,
  Wars of the Giants, or the Lapiths,
  Figments of ancient times, mere pleasing trifles,
  Full of no solid good; but always speaking
  Things that may lead to right ideas of God.

[8.] G   [463] And the exquisite Anacreon says-
  I do not love the man who, amidst his cups,
  Says nothing but old tales of war and strife,
  But him who gives its honour due to mirth,
  Praising the Muses and the bright-faced Aphrodite.

And Ion of Chios says-
  Hail, our great king, our saviour, and our father!
  And let the cupbearers now mix us wine
  In silver jugs: and let the golden bowl
  Pour forth its pure libations on the ground,
  While duly honouring the mighty Zeus.
  First of the Gods, and first in all our hearts,
  We pour libations to Alcmene's son,-
  And to the queen herself,- to Procles too,
  And the invincible chiefs of Perseus' line.
  Thus let us drink and sport; and let the song
  Make the night cheerful; let the glad guests dance;
  And may you willingly preside among us:
  But let the man who has a fair wife at home
  Drink far more lustily than those less happy.

Those also who were called the seven wise men used to make drinking parties; "for wine comforts the natural moroseness of old age," as Theophrastus says, in his treatise on Drunkenness.

[9.] G   On which account, when we are met together in these Dionysiac conversations, no one, as is said in the Tarentines of Alexis-
  No one can find a just pretence to grudge us
  Our harmless pleasure, since we never injure
  One of our neighbours. Know you not, my friend,
  That what is called life is but a name,
  Well softened down (to make it palatable),
  For human fate? And whether any one
  Thinks that I'm right or wrong in what I say,
  I cannot change a word; for well I know,
  And long have I considered the whole matter,
  That all the affairs of men are full of madness,
  And we who live are only on an excursion,
  Like men who go to some great festival,
  Let out from death and darkness to pass the time
  In this light which we now see before us.
  But he who laughs and drinks most cheerfully,
  And most enjoys the charming gifts of Aphrodite,
  And most attends on feasts and festivals,
  He goes through life, and then departs most happily.

And, in the words of the beautiful Sappho,-
  Come, O Aphrodite, hither come,
  Bringing us thy goblets fair,
  Mingled with the merry feast;
  And pour out sparkling wine, I pray,
  To your and my companions gay.

[10.] G   And we may add to all this, that different cities have peculiar fashions of drinking and pledging one another; as Critias mentions, in his Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, where he says- "The Chian and the Thasian drink out of large cups, passing them on towards the rights hand; and the Athenian also passes the wine round towards the right, but drinks out of small cups. But the Thessalian uses large cups, pledging whoever he pleases, without reference to where he may be; but among the Lacedaemonians, every one drinks out of his own cup, and a slave, acting as cupbearer, fills up again the cup when each has drained it." And Anaxandrides also mentions the fashion of passing the cup round towards the right hand, in his Countrymen, speaking as follows:
  [464] (A)   In what way are you now prepared to drink?
  Tell me, I pray.
  (B)   In what way are we now
  Prepared to drink? Why any way you please.
  (A)   Shall we then now, my father, tell the guests
  To push the wine to the right?
  (B)   What! to the right!
  That would be just as though this were a funeral.

[11.] G   But we may decline entering on the subject of goblets of earthenware; for Ctesias says- "Among the Persians, that man only uses an earthenware who is dishonoured by the king." And Choerilus the epic poet says-
  Here in my hands I hold a wretched piece
  Of earthen goblet, broken all around,
  Sad relic of a band of merry feasters;
  And often the fierce gale of wanton Dionysus
  Dashes such wrecks with insult on the shore.

But I am well aware that earthenware cups are often very pleasant, as those which are imported among us from Coptus; for they are made of earth which is mixed up with spices. And Aristotle, in his treatise on Drunkenness, says- "The cups which are called Rhodian are brought into drinking parties, because of the pleasure which they afford, and also because, when they are warmed, they deprive the wine of some of its intoxicating properties; for they are filled with myrrh and rushes, and other things of the same sort, put into water and then boiled; and when this mixture is put into the wine, the drinkers are less apt to become intoxicated." And in another place he says-" The Rhodian cups consist of myrrh, flowery rushes, saffron, balsam, spikenard, and cinnamon, all boiled together; and when some of this compound is added to the wine, it has such effect in preventing intoxication, that it even diminishes the amorous propensities, checking the breath in some degree."

[12.] G   We ought not, then, to drink madly, looking at the multitude of these beautiful cups, made as they are with every sort of various art, in various countries. " But the common people," says Chrysippus, in the introduction to his treatise on what is Good and Evil, "apply the term madly to a great number of things; and so they call a desire for women γυναικομανία, a fondness for quails ὀρτυγομανία; and some also call those who are very anxious for fame δοξομανεῖς; just as they call those who are fond of women γυναικομανεῖς , and those who are fond of birds ὀρνιθομανεῖς: all these nouns having the same notion of a propensity to the degree of madness. So that there is nothing inconsistent in other feelings and circumstances having this name applied to them; as a person who is very fond of delicacies, and who is properly called φίλοψος and ὀψοφάγος, may be called ὀψομανής; and a man very fond of wine maybe called οἰνομανής; and so in similar instances. And there is nothing unreasonable in attributing madness to such people, since they carry their errors to a very mad pitch, and wander a great distance from the real truth.

[13.] G   Let us, then, as was the custom among the Athenians, drink our wine while listening to these jesters and buffoons, and to other artists of the same kind. And Philochorus speaks of this kind of people in these terms [ Fr_171 ] - "The Athenians, in the festivals of Dionysus, originally used to go to the spectacle after they had dined and drunk their wine; and they used to witness the games with garlands on their heads. But during the whole time that the games were going on, wine was continually being offered to them, and sweetmeats were constantly being brought round; and when the choruses entered, they were offered wine; and also when the exhibition was over, and they were departing, wine was offered to them again. And Pherecrates the comic poet bears witness to all these things, and to the fact that down to his own time the spectators were never left without refreshment."

[465] And Phanodemus says- "At the temple of Dionysus, which is in the Marshes (ἐν Λίμναις), the Athenians bring wine, and mix it out of the cask for the god, and then drink of it themselves; on which account Dionysus is also called Λιμναῖος, because the wine was first drunk at that festival mixed with water. On which account the fountains were called Nymphs and the Nurses of Dionysus, because the water being mingled with the wine increases the quantity of the wine. Accordingly, men being delighted with this mixture, celebrated Dionysus in their songs, dancing and invoking him under the names of Euanthes, and Dithyrambus, and Baccheutes, and Bromius." And Theophrastus, in his treatise on Drunkenness, says- "The nymphs are really the nurses of Dionysus; for the vines, when cut, pour forth a great deal of moisture, and after their own nature weep." On which account Euripides says that one of the Horses of the Sun is
  Aethops, who with his fervent heat doth ripen
  The autumnal vines of sweetly flowering Bacchus,
  From which men also call wine fiery (αἴθοπα οἶνον).

And Odysseus gave [ Homer, Od_9'208 ]
  Twelve large vessels of unmixed red wine,
  Mellifluous, undecaying, and divine,
  Which now (some ages from his race concealed)
  The hoary sire in gratitude revealed.
  Such was the wine, to quench whose fervent steam
  Scarce twenty measures from the living stream
  To cool one cup sufficed; the goblet crowned,
  Breathed aromatic fragrances around.

And Timotheus, in his Cyclops, says-
  He filled one cup, of well-turned ivory made,
  With dark ambrosial drops of foaming wine;
  And twenty measures of the sober stream
  He poured in, and with the blood of Bacchus
  Mingled fresh tears, shed by the weeping nymphs.

[14.] G   And I know, my messmates, of some men who were proud, not so much of their wealth in money as of the possession of many cups of silver and gold; one of whom is Pytheas the Arcadian, of the town of Phigaleia, who, even when dying, did not hesitate to enjoin his servants to inscribe the following verses on his tomb:
  This is the tomb of Pytheas, a man
  Both wise and good, the fortunate possessor
  Of a most countless number of fine cups,
  Of silver made, and gold, and brilliant amber.
  These were his treasures, and of them he had
  A store, surpassing all who lived before him.

And Harmodius of Lepreum mentions this fact in his treatise on the Laws and Customs of Phigaleia. And Xenophon, in the eighth book of his Cyropaedia [ 8.8'18 ], speaking of the Persians, writes as follows -"And also they pride themselves exceedingly on the possession of as many goblets as possible; and even if they have acquired them by notorious malpractices, they are not at all ashamed of so doing; for injustice and covetousness are carried on to a great degree among them." But Oedipus cursed his sons on account of some drinking-cups (as the author of the Cyclic poem called the Thebais says), because they set before him a goblet which he had forbidden; speaking as follows:-
  But the divine, the golden-haired hero,
  Great Polyneices, set before his father first
  A silver table, beautifully wrought,
  Once the property of the immortal Cadmus;
  And then he filled a beauteous golden cup
  Up to the brim with sweet and fragrant wine;
  But Oedipus, when with angry eyes he saw
  The ornaments belonging to his sire
  Now set before him, felt a mighty rage,
  [466] Which glowed within his breast, and straightway poured
  The bitterest curses forth on both his sons,
  (Nor were they by the Fury all unheard,)
  Praying that they might never share in peace
  The treasures of their father, but for ever
  With one another strive in arms and war.

[15.] G   And Caecilius the orator who came from Cale Acte, in his treatise on History, says that Agathocles the tyrant, when displaying his golden drinking-cups to his companions, said that he had got all these from the earthenware cups which he had previously made. And in Sophocles, in the Larissaeans, Acrisius had a great many drinking-cups; where the tragedian speaks as follows:
  And he proclaims to strangers from all quarters
  A mighty contest, promising among them
  Goblets well wrought in brass, and beauteous vases
  Inlaid with gold, and silver drinking-cups,
  Full twice threescore in number, fair to see.

And Poseidonius, in the twenty-sixth book of his Histories [ Fr_13 ], says that Lysimachus the Babylonian, having invited Himerus to a banquet (who was tyrant not only over the people of Babylon, but also over the citizens of Seleuceia), with three hundred of his companions, after the tables were removed, gave every one of the three hundred a silver cup, weighing four minae; and when he had made a libation, he pledged them all at once, and gave them the cups to carry away with them. And Anticleides the Athenian, in the sixteenth book of his Returns, speaking of Gra, who, with other kings, first led a colony into the island of Lesbos, and saying that those colonists had received an answer from the oracle, bidding them, while sailing, throw a virgin into the sea, as an offering to Poseidon, proceeds as follows:- "And some people, who treat of the history and affairs of Methymna, relate a fable about the virgin who was thrown into the sea; and say that one of the leaders was in love with her, whose name was Enalus, and that he dived down, wishing to save the girl; and that then both of them, being hidden by the waves, disappeared. But that in the course of time, when Methymna had now become populous, Enalus appeared again, and related what had happened, and how it had happened: and said that the girl was still abiding among the Nereids, and that he himself had become the superintendent of Poseidon's horses; [781] but that a great wave having been cast on the shore, he had swam with it, and so come to land: and he had in his hand a goblet made of gold, of such wondrous workmanship that the golden goblets which they had, when compared with his, looked no better than brass."
  * * * * * (several pages have been lost from the main manuscript at this point; modern editors have filled in the gap from an epitome which exists in other manuscripts)

[28.] G   [784] There is also a kind of cup called baucalis: and this, too, is chiefly used in Alexandria, as Sopater the parodist says-
  A baucalis, with four rings marked on it.

And in another passage he says-
  'Tis sweet for men to drink (καταβαυκαλίσαι)
  Cups of the juice by bees afforded,
  At early dawn, when parched by thirst,
  Caused by too much wine overnight.

And the men in Alexandria, it is said, have a way of working crystal, forming it often into various shapes of goblets, and imitating in this material every sort of earthenware cup which is imported from any possible country. And they say that Lysippus the sculptor, wishing to gratify Cassander, when he was founding the colony of Cassandreia, and when he conceived the ambition of inventing some peculiar kind of utensil in earthenware, on account of the extraordinary quantity of Mendean wine which was exported from the city, took a great deal of pains with that study, and brought Cassander a great number of cups of every imaginable fashion, all made of earthenware, and taking a part of the pattern of each, thus made one goblet of a design of his own.

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[54.] G   [477] There is also the ciborium. Hegesander of Delphi says that when Euphorion the poet was dining with the prytanis, the prytanis exhibited to him some ciboria, which appeared to be made in a most exquisite and costly manner. And when the cup had gone round pretty often, he, having drunk very hard and being intoxicated, took one of the ciboria and urinated in it. And Didymus says that it is a kind of drinking-cup; and perhaps it may be the same as that which is called scyphium, which derives its name from being contracted to a narrow space at the bottom, like the Egyptian ciboria [beans].

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[85.] G   [493] "But Sosibius, the solver of puzzles, quoting the lines-
  ἄλλος μὲν μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τραπέζης
  πλεῖον ἐόν, Νέστωρ δ' ὁ γέρων ἀμογητὶ ἄειρεν

writes on this expression- 'Now, the poet has been often reproached for saying that the rest of the men could only lift this cup by a great effort, but that Nestor alone could do so without any extraordinary exertion. For it appeared unreasonable, that when Diomedes and Ajax, and even Achilles too were present, Nestor should be represented as more vigorous than they, when he was so far advanced in years. But though these accusations are brought against him, we may release the poet from them by transposing the order. For in that hexameter-
  πλεῖον ἐόν, Νέστωρ δ' ὁ γέρων ἀμογητὶ ἄειρεν
if we take γέρων out of the middle, we shall unite that to the beginning of the preceding line, after ἄλλος μὲν, and then we shall connect the words as before-
  ἄλλος μὲν γέρων μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τραπέζης
  πλεῖον ἐόν, ὁ δὲ Νέστωρ ἀπονητὶ ἄειρεν

Now then, when the words are arranged in this way, Nestor only appears to be represented as the only one of the old men who could lift the cup without an extraordinary effort!'

"These are the observations of that admirable solver of difficulties, Sosibius. But Ptolemy Philadelphus the king jested upon him with some wit, on account of this and other much talked-of solutions. For as Sosibius received a royal stipend, Ptolemy, sending for his treasurers, desired them, when Sosibius came to demand his stipend, to tell him that he had received it already. And when, not long after, he did come and ask for his money, they said they had given it to him already, and said no more. But he, going to the king, accused the treasurers. [494] And Ptolemy sent for them, and ordered them to come with their books, in which were the lists of those who received those stipends. And when they had arrived, the king took the books into his hands, and looking into them himself, also asserted that Sosibius had received his money; making it out in this way:- These names were set down,- Soter, Sosigenes, Bion, Apollonius, Dion; and the king, looking on these names, said- My excellent solver of difficulties, if you take Σω from Σωτὴρ, and σι from Σωσιγένης, and the first syllable βι from Bιών, and the last syllable from Ἀπολλωνίου, you will find, on your own principles, that you have received your stipend. And you are caught in this way, not owing to the actions of others, but by your own feathers, as the incomparable Aeschylus says, since you yourself are always occupied about solutions of difficulties which are foreign to the subject in hand."

[86.] G   There is the holmus also. This, too, is a drinking-cup, made in the fashion of a horn. Menesthenes, in the fourth book of his Politics, writes thus-" A twisted albatanes and a golden holmus. But the holmus is a cup wrought after the fashion of a horn, about a cubit in height."

[87.] G   There is also the oxybaphum. Now common usage gives this name to the cruet that holds the vinegar; but it is also the name of a cup; and it is mentioned by Cratinus, in his Putina, in this way:
  How can a man now make him leave off this
  Excessive drinking? I can tell a way;
  For I will break his jugs and pitchers all,
  And crush his casks as with a thunderbolt,
  And all his other vessels which serve to drink:
  Nor shall he have a single oxybaphum left,
  Fit to hold wine.

But that the oxybaphum is a kind of small κύλιξ, made of earthenware, Antiphanes proves plainly enough, in his Mystis, in the following words. There is a wine-bibbing old woman praising a large cup, and disparaging the oxybaphum as small. So when some one says to her
  Do you, then, drink;
she answers-
  There I will obey you.
  And, by the gods, the figure of the cup
  Is quite inviting, worthy of the fame
  Of this high festival ; for have we not-
  Have we not, and not long ago, I say,
  Drunk out of earthenware oxybapha?
  But may the gods, my son, give many blessings
  To him who made this cup- a noble cup,
  As to its beauty and its good capacity.

And also in the Babylonians of Aristophanes we hear of the oxybaphum as a drinking-cup, when Dionysus speaks of the demagogues at Athens, saying that they demanded of him two oxybapha when he was going away to trial. For we cannot think that they asked him for anything but cups. And the oxybaphum, which is put before the people who play at the cottabus, into which they pour their drops of wine, can be nothing else but a flat cup. Eubulus also, in his Mylothris, mentions the oxybaphum as a cup-
  And besides, I measure out for drinking
  An oxybaphum all round; and then he swore
  The wine was nothing but pure vinegar,
  And that the vinegar was wine, at least
  Superior to the other.

[88.] G   There is the oinisteria too. The ephebes, when they are going to cut their hair, says Pamphilus, fill a large cup with wine, and bring it to Heracles; and they call this cup an oinisteria. And when they have poured a libation, they give it to the assembled people to drink.

There is the ollix also. Pamphilus, in his Attic Words, describes this as a wooden cup.

[89.] G   There is also the panathenaicum. Poseidonius the philosopher, in the thirty-sixth book of his History [ Fr_25 ], mentions some cups called by this name, [495] speaking thus- "There were also cups made of an onyx, and also of several precious stones joined together, holding about two cotylae. And very large cups, called panathenaica, some holding two choes, and some even larger."

There is the proaron too. This was a wooden cup, into which the Athenians used to pour mixed wine. "In hollow proara," says Pamphilus.

[90.] G   Then there is the pelica. Callistratus, in his Commentary on the Thracian Women of Cratinus, calls this a κύλιξ. But Crates, in the second book of his treatise on the Attic Dialect, writes thus:- "Choes, as we have already said, were called pelicae. But the form of this vessel was at first like that of the panathenaica, when it was called pelica; but afterwards it was made of the same shape as the oenochoe, such as those are which are put on the table at festivals, which they formerly used to call olpae, using them for infusing the wine, as Ion the Chian, in his Sons of Eurytus, says-
  You make a noise, intemperately drawing
  Superfluous wine from the large casks with olpae.

But now a vessel of that sort, which has been consecrated in some fashion or other, is placed on the table at festivals alone. And that which comes into everyday use has been altered in form, being now generally made like a ladle, and we call it choeus." But Cleitarchus says that the Corinthians, and Byzantians, and Cyprians call an oil-cruet, which is usually called lecythus, olpa; and the Thessalians call it prochous. But Seleucus says that the Boeotians call a κύλιξ pelichna; but Euphronius, in his Commentaries, says that they give this name to a choeus.

[91.] G   There is the pella. This is a vessel resembling the scyphus, having a wider bottom, into which. men used to milk the cattle. Homer says [ Il_16'641 ] -
  Thick as beneath some shepherd's thatched abode,
  The pails (πέλλαι) high foaming with a milky flood,
  The buzzing flies, a persevering train,
  Incessant swarm, and chased, return again.

But Hipponax calls this pellis; saying,-
  Drinking from pellides; for there was not
  A culix there,- the slave had fallen down,
  And broken it to pieces;
showing, I imagine, very plainly that the pellis was not a drinking-cup, but that on this occasion they used it as one, from want of a regular culix. And in another place he says-
  And they at different times from out the pella
  Did drink; and then again Arete pledged them.

But Phoenix of Colophon, in his Iambics, interprets this word as identical with the phiala ; saying,-
  For Thales,- most useful of all the citizens,
  And, as they say, by far the best of men
  Who at that time were living upon earth,-
  Took up a golden pellis.

And in another place he says-
  And with one hand he pours from out the pellis,
  Weak as he was in all his limbs and fingers,
  A sharp libation of sour vinegar,
  Trembling, like age, by Boreas much shaken.

But Cleitarchus, in his Dialects, says that the Thessalians and Aeolians call the milk-pail pelleter; but that it is a drinking cup which they call pella. But Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says that the Boeotians give the name of pelleter to a culix.

[92.] G   There is also the pentaploa. Philochorus mentions this, in the second book of his treatise on Attic Affairs [ Fr_15 ]. But Aristodemus, in the third book of his Commentary on Pindarus, says that on the third day of the Scira, games are celebrated at Athens, in which the young men run races; and that they run, holding in their hands a branch of the vine loaded with fruit, which is called oschus. And they run from the temple of Dionysus to the temple of Athena Sciras; and he who has gained the victory takes a cup of the species called pentaplous, and feasts with the rest of the runners. [496] But the cup is called pentaplous, as containing five (πέντε) ingredients; inasmuch as it has in it wine, and honey, and cheese, and meal, and a little oil.

There is the petachnum. This is a cup of a flat shape, which is mentioned by Alexis, in his Dropidas; and the passage has been already cited [ 3.125'f ]. And Aristophanes also mentions it in his Dramas, where he says-
  And every one in-doors drinks out of petachna.

[93.] G   There is the plemochoe, too. This is an earthenware vessel, shaped like a top, not very steady; and some people call it the cotyliscus, as Pamphilus tells us. But they use it at Eleusis on the last day of the Mysteries, which day they call Plemochoai, from the cups. And on this day they fill two plemochoae, and place one looking towards the east, and the other looking towards the west, saying over them a mystic form of words; and the author of the Peirithous names them (whoever he was, whether Critias the tyrant, or Euripides), saying,-
  That with well-omened words we now may pour
  These plemochoae into the gulf below.

There is a vessel, too, called the pristis; and that this is a species of cup has been already stated in the discussion on the batiacium [ 11.784'a ].

[94.] G   There is the prochytes, too. This is a kind of drinking-cup, as Simaristus says, in the fourth book of his Synonymes. But Ion the Chian, in his Elegies, says-
  But let the cup-bearing maidens fill for us
  A crater with their silver prochytae;
and Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says it is a wooden vessel, from which the countrymen drink: and Alexander also mentions it in his (?) Tigon. And Xenophon, in the eighth book of his Cyropaedia [ 8.8'10 ], calls some kinds of culices, prochoides, writing thus (and it is of the Persians that he is speaking):- " But it was a custom among them not to bring prochoides into their banquets, evidently because they think that not drinking too much is good both for the body and the mind. And even now the custom prevails that they do not bring them; but they drink such a quantity of wine that, instead of carrying in their cups, they themselves are carried out, when they can no longer go out themselves in an upright attitude."

There is also the prusias; and it has been already said that this is an upright kind of cup, and it derived its name from Prusias king of Bithynia, who was a man very notorious for his luxury and effeminacy; as is mentioned by Nicander of Chalcedon, in the fourth book of his History of the Events of the Life of Prusias.

[95.] G   There are also rheonta; for this was a name given to some cups: and Astydamas mentions them in his Hermes, speaking thus:-
  First of all were two silver craters large,
  And fifty phialae, and ten cymbia,
  And twelve rheonta, two of which were gold,
  The others silver;- of the gold ones, one
  Was like a griffin, one like Pegasus.

There is also the rhysis. This is called a golden phiala by Theodorus; and Cratinus, in his Laws, says- "Pouring a libation from a rhysis."

[96.] G   There is also the rhodias. Diphilus, in his Stormer of Walls (but Callimachus calls the play The Eunuch), speaks thus-
  And they intend to drink more plenteously
  Than rhodiaca or rhyta can supply.

Dioxippus, too, mentions this cup, in his Miser; and so does Aristotle, in his treatise on Drunkenness; and so also does Lynceus the Samian, in his Letters.

[97.] G   There is also the rhytum - ῥυτόν. The upsilon is short, and the word has an acute accent on the last syllable. Demosthenes, in his speech against Meidias, speaks of "rhyta, and cymbia, and phialae." But Diphilus, in his Eunuch, or The Soldier, (and this play is a new edition of his Stormer of Walls,) says-
  [497] And they intend to drink more plenteously
  Than rhodiaca or rhyta can supply.

And Epinicus, in his Supposititious Damsels, says-
  (A)   And of the large-sized rhyta three are here;
  To-day one will be forced to drink more steadily,
  By the clepsydra [water-clock].
  (B)   This, I think, will act
  Both ways.
  (A)   Why, 'tis an elephant
  (B)   Yes, he,
  Is bringing round his elephants.
  (A)   A rhytus,
  Holding two choes, such as even an elephant
  Could hardly drink; but I have drunk it often.
  (B)   Yes, for you're very like an elephant.
  (A)   There is besides another kind of cup,
  Its name a trireme; this, too, holds one chous.

And, speaking of the rhytum, he says-
  (A)   Bellerophon, on Pegasus's back,
  Fought and subdued the fire-breathing Chimaera.
  (B)   Well, take this cup.

But formerly a drinking-horn was also called a rhytum; and it appears that this kind of vessel was first made by Ptolemy Philadelphus the king, to be carried by the statues of Arsinoe: for in her left hand she bears a vessel of this kind, full of all the fruits of the season; by which the makers of it designed to show that this horn is richer than the horn of Amaltheia. And it is mentioned by Theocles, in his Ithyphallics, thus-
  For all we artists have to-day
  Made sacrifice for the Soteria;
  And in their company I've drunk (?) the double horn,
  And now I go to my dear king.

But Dionysius of Sinope, in his Female Saviour, giving a list of some cups, has also mentioned the rhytum, as I have said before [ 11.467'd ]; but Hedylus, in his Epigrams, mentioning the rhytum made by Ctesibius the engineer, speaks thus-
  Come hither, all you drinkers of pure wine,-
  Come, and within this shrine behold this rhytum,
  The cup of fair Arsinoe Zephyritis,
  The true Egyptian Besas, which pours forth
  Shrill sounds, whenever its stream is opened wide,-
  No sound of war; but from its golden mouth
  It gives a signal for delight and feasting,
  Such as the Nile, the king of flowing rivers,
  Pours as its melody from its holy shrines,
  Dear to the priests of sacred mysteries.
  But honour this invention of Ctesibius,
  And come, O youths, to fair Arsinoe's temple.

But Theophrastus, in his treatise on Drunkenness, says that the cup called the rhytum is given to heroes alone. Dorotheus of Sidon says that the rhyta resemble horns, but are perforated at both ends, and men drink of them at the bottom as they send forth a gentle stream; and that it derives its name from the liquor flowing from them (απὸ τῆς ῥύσεως).

[98.] G   There is the sannacra too. Crates, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Attic Dialect, says that it is a drinking-cup which bears this name, but it is a Persian cup. But Philemon, in his Widow, mentioning the batiacia, and jesting on the ridiculousness of the name, says-
  The sannacra, and hippotragelaphi,
  And batiacia, and sannacia.

There is also the seleucis; and we have already stated [ 11.783'e ] that this cup derives its name from king Seleucus; Apollodorus the Athenian having made the same statement. But Polemon, in the first book of his treatise addressed to Adaeus, says these goblets are very like one another, the seleucis, the rhodias, and the antigonis.

[498] Then, there is the scallium. This is a small cup (κυλίκιον), with which the Aeolians pour libations, as Philetas tells us, in his Miscellanies.

  * * * * *

[119.] [508] For Euphraeus, when he was staying with king Perdiccas in Macedonia, was not less a king than the other, being a man of a depraved and calumnious disposition, who managed all the companionship of the king in so cold a manner, that no one was allowed to share in the king's meals unless he knew something about geometry or philosophy; on which account, after Philippus obtained the government, Parmenion, having caught him in Oreus, put him to death; as Carystius relates in his Historical Commentaries. And Callippus the Athenian, who was himself a pupil of Plato, having been a companion and fellow-pupil of Dion, and having travelled with him to Syracuse, when he saw that Dion was attempting to make himself master of the kingdom, slew him; and afterwards, attempting to usurp the supreme power himself, was slain too. And Euagon of Lampsacus (as Eurypylus says, and Dicaeocles of Cnidus, in the ninety-first book of his Commentaries, and also Demochares the orator, in his argument in defence of Sophocles, against Philon) lent his native city money and took its Acropolis as security. Afterwards, being unable to recover the money, he attempted to seize on the tyranny, until the Lampsacenes attacked him, and repaid him the money, and drove him out of the city. [509]   And Timaeus of Cyzicus (as the same Demochares relates), having given largesses of money and corn to his fellow-citizens, and being on this account believed by the Cyzicenes to be an excellent man, after having waited a little time, attempted to overturn the constitution with the assistance of Aridaeus; and being brought to trial and convicted, and branded with infamy, he remained in the city to an extreme old age, being always, however, considered dishonoured and infamous.

And such now are some of the Academics, who live in a scandalous and infamous manner. For they, having by impious and unnatural means acquired vast wealth by trickery, are at present highly thought of; as Chaeron of Pellene, who was not only a pupil of Plato, but of Xenocrates also. And he too, having usurped the supreme power in his country, and having exercised it with great severity, not only banished the most virtuous men in the city, but also gave the property of the masters to their slaves, and gave their wives also to them, compelling them to receive them as their husbands; having got all these admirable ideas from that excellent Republic and those illegal Laws of Plato.

[120.] On which account Ephippus the comic poet, in his Shipwrecked Man, has turned into ridicule Plato himself, and some of his acquaintances, as being sycophants for money, showing that they used to dress in a most costly manner, and that they paid more attention to the elegance of their persons than even the most extravagant people among us. And he speaks as follows-
  Then some ingenious young man rising up,
  Some pupil out of the Academy,
  Brought up at Plato's feet and those of Bryson,
  That bold, contentious, covetous philosopher,-
  And urged by strong necessity, and able,
  By means of his small-wages-seeking art,
  To speak before the assembly, in a manner
  Not altogether bad; having his hair
  Carefully trimmed with a new-sharpened razor,
  And letting down his beard in graceful fall,
  Putting his well-shod foot in his neat slipper,
  Binding his ankles in the equal folds
  Of his well-fitting hose, and well protected
  Across the chest with the breastplate of his cloak,
  And leaning, in a posture dignified,
  Upon his staff; said, as it seems to me,
  With mouthing emphasis, the following speech,
  More like a stranger than a citizen,
  "Men of the land of wise Athenians."

And here let us put an end to this part of the discussion, my friend Timocrates. And we will next proceed to speak of those who have been notorious for their luxury.

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