46. And Philip, the father of Alexander, was a man very fond of

drinking, as Theopompus relates in the twenty-sixth book of his

History. And in another part of his History he writes, "Philip was a

man of violent temper and fond of courting dangers, partly by nature,

and partly too from drinking; for he was a very hard drinker, and

very often he would attack the enemy while he was drunk." And in his

fifty-third book, speaking of the things that took place at Chæronea,

and relating how he invited to supper the ambassadors of the Athenians

who were present there, he says, "But Philip, when they had gone away,

immediately sent for some of his companions, and bade the slaves summon

the female flute-players, and Aristonicus the harp-player, and Durion

the flute-player, and all the rest who were accustomed to drink with

him; for Philip always took people of that sort about with him, and

he had also invented for himself many instruments for banquets and

drinking-parties; for being very fond of drinking and a man intemperate

in his manners, he used to keep a good many buffoons and musicians and

professed jesters about him. And when he had spent the whole night

in drinking, and had got very drunk and violent, he then dismissed

all the rest, and when it was day-break proceeded in a riotous manner

to the ambassadors of the Athenians. And Carystius in his Historical

Commentaries says, that Philip, when he intended to get drunk, spoke in

this way: "Now we may drink; for it is quite sufficient if Antipater is

sober." And once, when he was playing at dice, and some one told him

that Antipater was coming, he hesitated a moment, and then thrust the

board under the couch.

47. And Theopompus gives a regular catalogue of men fond of drinking

and addicted to drunkenness; and among them he mentions the younger

Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, whose eyes were a good deal injured

by wine. And Aristotle, in his Polity of the Syracusans, says that

he sometimes was drunk for three months at a time together, owing to

which he had got somewhat weak in the eyes. And Theophrastus says

that his companions also, who were flatterers of the supreme power,

pretended not to see well, and to be led by the hand by Dionysius, and

not to be able to see the meat that was served up before them, nor the

cups of wine, on which account they got the name of Dionysiocolaces,

or flatterers of Dionysius. Nysæus also, who was tyrant of Syracuse,

drank a great deal, and so did Apollocrates; and these men were the

sons of the former Dionysius, as Theopompus tells us in the fortieth

and forty-first books of his History; and he writes thus about Nysæus:

"Nysæus, who was afterwards tyrant of Syracuse, when he was taken for

the purpose of being put to death, and knew that he had only a few

months to live, spent them wholly in eating and drinking." And in his

thirty-ninth book he says: "Apollocrates, the son of Dionysius the

tyrant, was an intemperate man, and addicted to drinking; and some

of his flatterers worked upon him so as to alienate him as much as

possible from his father." And he says that Hipparinus, the son of

Dionysius, who behaved like a tyrant when drunk, was put to death.

And about Nysæus he writes as follows: "Nysæus, the son of the elder

Dionysius, having made himself master of Syracuse, got a four-horse

chariot, and put on an embroidered robe, and devoted himself to

gluttony and hard drinking, and to insulting boys and ravishing women,

and to all other acts which are consistent with such conduct. And he

passed his life in this manner." And in his forty-fifth book the same

historian, speaking of Timolaus the Theban, says: "For though there

have been a great many men who have been intemperate in their daily

life, and in their drinking, I do not believe that there has ever

been any one who was concerned in state affairs, more intemperate,

or a greater glutton, or a more complete slave to his pleasures than

Timolaus, whom I have mentioned." And in his twenty-third book,

speaking of Charidemus of Oreum, whom the Athenians made a citizen, he

says: "For it was notorious that he spent every day in the greatest

intemperance, and in such a manner that he was always drinking and

getting drunk, and endeavouring to seduce free-born women; and he

carried his intemperance to such a height that he ventured to beg a

young boy, who was very beautiful and elegant, from the senate of the

Olynthians, who had happened to be taken prisoner in the company of

Derdas the Macedonian."

[Sidenote: ARCADION.]

48. A man of the name of Arcadion, too, was a very great drinker,

(but it is uncertain whether this is the same man who was at enmity

with Philip,) as the epigram shows which Polemo has preserved in his

treatise on the Inscriptions existing in different Cities—

This is the monument of that great drinker,

Arcadion; and his two loving sons,

Dorcon and Charmylus, have placed it here,

At this the entrance of his native city:

And know, traveller, the man did die

From drinking strong wine in too large a cup.

And the inscription over some man of the name of Erasixenus says that

he also drank a great deal.

Twice was this cup, full of the strongest wine,

Drain'd by the thirsty Erasixenus,

And then in turn it carried him away.

Alcetas the Macedonian also used to drink a great deal, as Aristos

the Salaminian relates; and so did Diotimus the Athenian: and he was

the man who was surnamed the Funnel. For he put a funnel into his

mouth, and would then drink without ceasing while the wine was being

poured into it, according to the account of Polemo. And it has been

already mentioned that Cleomenes the Lacedæmonian was a great drinker

of unmixed wine; and that in consequence of his drunkenness he cut

himself to pieces with a sword, is related by Herodotus. And Alcæus

the poet also was very fond of drinking, as I have already mentioned.

And Baton of Sinope, in his essay on Ion the poet, says that Ion was

a man fond of drinking and amorous to excess; and he himself, too, in

his Elegies, confesses that he loved Chrysilla the Corinthian, the

daughter of Teleas, with whom Teleclides, in his Hesiods, says that the

Olympian[47] Pericles also was in love. And Xenarchus the Rhodian, on

account of the excessive way in which he used to drink, was surnamed

"The Nine-gallon Cask;" and Euphorion the Epic poet mentions him in his

Chiliades.

49. And Chares the Mitylenæan, in his History of Alexander, speaking

of Calanus the Indian philosopher, and saying that he threw himself

on a funeral pile that had been raised, and so died, says also that

Alexander instituted some gymnastic games at his tomb, and also a

musical contest of panegyrics on him.—"And he instituted," says Chares,

"because of the great fondness of the Indians for wine, a contest as

to who should drink the greatest quantity of unmixed wine; and the

prize was a talent for the first, and thirty minæ for the second, and

ten minæ for the third. And of those who entered for the prize and

drank the wine, thirty-five died at once by reason of the cold; and a

little afterwards six more died in their tents. And he who drank the

greatest quantity and won the prize, drank four choes of unmixed wine,

and received the talent; and he lived four days after it; and he was

called the Champion." And Timæus says that "Dionysius the tyrant gave,

at the festival of the Choes, to the first man who should drink a

choeus, a golden crown as a prize:" and he says also that "Xenocrates

the philosopher was the first person who drank it; and that he, taking

the golden crown, and departing, offered it up to the Mercury who was

placed in his vestibule, on which statue he was always accustomed on

every occasion to offer up the garlands of flowers which he had, every

evening as he returned home; and he was much admired for this conduct."

And Phanodemus says, that the festival of the Choes was established at

Athens by Demophoon the king, when he was desirous to receive Orestes

in hospitality on his arrival at Athens. And that, as he did not like

him to come to the temples, or to share in the libations offered to

the gods, before his trial was decided, he ordered all the temples to

be shut, and a choeus of wine to be set before everybody, saying that

a cheesecake should be given as a prize to the first person who drank

it up. And he bade them, when they had finished drinking, not to offer

up the garlands, with which they had been crowned, in the temples,

because they had been under the same roof with Orestes; but he desired

each man to place his garland round his own cup, and so to bring them

to the priestess at the temple which is in the Marshes, and after that

to perform the rest of the sacred ceremonies in the temple. And from

thence it was that this festival got the name of the Choes. But on the

day of the festival of the Choes, it is customary for the Athenians to

send presents and pay to the sophists, who also themselves invite their

acquaintances to a banquet, as Eubulides the dialectician shows us in

his drama entitled the Revellers, where he says—

[Sidenote: DIONYSIUS.]

You're acting like a sophist now, you wretch,

And long for the pay-giving feast of Choes.

* * * *

50. But Antigonus the Carystian, in his essay on the Life of Dionysius

of Heraclea, who was called the Turncoat, says that Dionysius, when he

was feasting with his slaves at the festival of the Choes, and was not

able, by reason of his old age, to avail himself of the courtesan whom

they brought him, turned round and said to those who were feasting with

him—

I cannot now, so let another take her.

But Dionysius, as Nicias of Nicæa tells us in his Successions, had

been from the time he was a boy very furious in the indulgence of

his amorous propensities; and he used to go to all the common women

promiscuously. And once, when walking with some of his acquaintances,

when he came near the house where the girls are kept, and where,

having been there the day before, he had left some money owing, as he

happened to have some with him then, he put out his hand and paid it

in the presence of all of them. And Anacharsis the Scythian, when a

prize for drinking was proposed at the table of Periander, demanded the

prize, because he was the first man to be drunk of all the guests who

were present; as if to get to the end were the goal to be aimed at,

and the victory to be achieved in drinking as in running a race. But

Lacydes and Timon the philosophers, being invited to an entertainment

which was to last two days, by one of their friends, and wishing to

adapt themselves to the rest of the guests, drank with great eagerness.

And accordingly, in the first day, Lacydes went away first, as soon

as he was quite satiated with drink. And Timon, seeing him as he was

departing, said—

Now have we gain'd immortal praise and fame,

Since we have slain great Hector. . . .

But on the next day Timon went away first because he could not drink

up the goblet in which he had been pledged, and Lacydes seeing him

departing, said—

Wretched are they who dare encounter me.

51. And Herodotus, in his second book, relates that Mycerinus the

Egyptian, having been told by the soothsayers that he was fated to

live but a short time, used to light a great number of lamps when

night arrived, and spend all his time in drinking and luxury, relaxing

neither by day nor by night; and when he withdrew into the marshes

and into the groves, or wherever he heard that there were meetings of

young people to amuse themselves, he always got drunk. And Herodotus

tells us that Amasis also, who was another of the Egyptian kings, was

a very hard drinker indeed. And Hermeas the Methymnæan, in the third

book of his History of Sicily, says that Nicoteles the Corinthian was a

man greatly addicted to drinking. And Phænias the Eresian, in the book

entitled, The Slaying of Tyrants out of Revenge, says that Scopas the

son of Creon, and the grandson of the former Scopas, was throughout

his whole life very fond of drinking; and that he used to return from

banquets at which he had been present, sitting on a throne, and carried

by four palanquin-bearers, and in that way he used to enter his house.

And Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that Antiochus

the king was a man very fond of wine; and that he used to get drunk,

and then go to sleep for a long time, and then, as evening came on, he

would wake up, and drink again. And it was very seldom, says he, that

he transacted the affairs of his kingdom when he was sober, but much

more frequently when he was drunk; on which account there were two

men about him who managed all the real business of the state as they

pleased, namely Aristos and Themiso, Cyprians by birth, and brothers;

and they were both on terms of the greatest intimacy with Antiochus.

52. And Antiochus the king, who was surnamed Epiphanes, was also a

great drinker,—the one, I mean, who had been a hostage among the

Romans, whom Ptolemy Euergetes mentions in the third book of his

Commentaries, and also in the fifth; saying that he turned to Indian

revellings and drunkenness, and spent a vast quantity of money in those

practices; and for the rest of the money which he had at hand, he spent

[Sidenote: ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.]

a part of it in his daily revels, and the rest he would scatter about,

standing in the public streets, and saying, "Let whoever chance gives

it to, take it:" and then, throwing the money about, he would depart.

And very often, having a plaited garland of roses on his head, and

wearing a golden embroidered robe, he would walk about alone, having

stones under his arm, which he would throw at those of his friends who

were following him. And he used to bathe also in the public baths,

anointed all over with perfumes; and, on one occasion, some private

individual, seeing him, said, "You are a happy man, O king; you smell

in a most costly manner:" and he, being much pleased, said, "I will

give you as much as you can desire of this perfume." And so he ordered

an ewer containing more than two choes of thick perfumed unguent to

be poured over his head; so that the multitude of the poorer people

who were about all collected to gather up what was spilt; and, as the

place was made very slippery by it, Antiochus himself slipped and fell,

laughing a great deal, and most of the bathers did the same.

But Polybius, in the twenty-sixth book of his Histories, calls this

man Epimanes (mad), and not Epiphanes (illustrious), on account of his

actions. "For he not only used to go to entertainments of the common

citizens, but he also would drink with any strangers who happened to be

sojourning in the city, and even with those of the meanest class. And

if," says Polybius, "he heard that any of the younger men were making a

feast anywhere whatever, he would come with an earthen bowl, and with

music, so that the greater part of the feasters fled away alarmed at

his unexpected appearance. And very often he would put off his royal

robes, and take a common cloak, and in that dress go round the market."

53. And in the thirty-first book of his Histories, the same Polybius

tells us "that when Antiochus was celebrating some public games at

Antioch, he invited all the Greeks and any of the multitude who

chose to come to the spectacle. And when a great many people came,

he anointed them all in the gymnasia with ointment of saffron, and

cinnamon, and nard, and amaracus, and lilies, out of golden vessels:

and then, inviting them all to a feast, he filled sometimes a thousand

and sometimes fifteen hundred triclinia with the most expensive

preparations; and he himself personally attended to waiting on the

guests. For, standing at the entrance, he introduced some, and others

he placed upon the couches; and he himself marshalled the servants who

brought in the different courses; and, walking about among the guests,

at times he sat down in one place, and at times he lay down in another.

And sometimes he would put down what he was eating, and at other times

he would lay down his cup, and jump up, and change his place, and go

all round the party, standing up himself, and pledging different people

at different times; and then, mingling with the musicians, he would be

brought in by the actors, entirely covered up, and laid down on the

ground, as if he had been one of the actors himself; and then, when

the music gave the signal, the king would leap up, and dance and sport

among the actors, so that they were all ashamed. To such absurdities

does a want of education, when joined with drunkenness, reduce

miserable men." And his namesake, the Antiochus who carried on war in

Media against Arsaces, was very fond of drinking; as Posidonius of

Apamea relates in the sixteenth book of his History. Accordingly, when

he was slain, he says that Arsaces, when he buried him, said—"Your

courage and your drunkenness have ruined you, O Antiochus; for you

hoped that, in your great cups, you would be able to drink up the

kingdom of Arsaces."

54. But the Antiochus who was surnamed the Great, who was subdued by

the Romans (as Polybius relates in his twentieth book), having arrived

at Chalcis, in Euboea, celebrated a marriage when he was fifty years

of age; and after he had undertaken two most enormous and important

affairs, namely, the liberation of the Greeks (as he himself professed)

and the war against the Romans. At all events, he, being smitten with

love for a damsel of Chalcis, was very anxious to marry her at the very

time that he was engaged in this war, being a man very fond of drinking

and delighting in drunkenness. And she was the daughter of Cleophanes,

one of the nobles, and superior to all the maidens of her country

in beauty. Accordingly, he celebrated his marriage in Chalcis, and

remained there all the winter, not once giving the smallest thought to

the important affairs which he had in hand. And he gave the damsel the

name of Euboea. Accordingly, being defeated

[Sidenote: DEMETRIUS.]

in the war, he fled to Ephesus, with his newly-married bride. And

in the second book, the same Polybius relates that Agron, the king

of the Illyrians, being delighted at having gained a victory over

the haughty Ætolians, being a man much addicted to drinking, and to

drunkenness, and banqueting, fell ill of a pleurisy, and died. And the

same historian says, in his twenty-ninth book, that Genthion, the king

of the Illyrians, on account of his great fondness for drinking, did a

great many intemperate things during his life, being incessantly drunk,

both night and day; and having murdered Pleuratus, his brother, who was

about to marry the daughter of Menunius, he married the damsel himself,

and treated his subjects with great cruelty. And he says, in the

thirty-third book of his History, that Demetrius, when he fled after

having been a hostage at Rome, and became king of the Syrians, became a

great drinker, and was drunk the greater part of the day. And he also,

in his thirty-second book, says that Orophernes, who was for a short

time king of Cappadocia, disregarded all the customs of his country,

and introduced the artificial luxury of the Ionians.

55. On which account, that divinest of writers, Plato, lays down

admirable laws in his second book—"That boys, till they are eighteen

years of age, should absolutely never taste wine at all; for that it is

not well to heap fire on fire: that men up to thirty years of age may

drink wine in moderation; and that the young man should wholly abstain

from much wine and from drunkenness. But that a man, when he arrives at

forty years of age, may feast in large banquets, and invoke the other

gods, and especially Bacchus, to the feasts and amusements of the older

men; since he it is who has given men this means of indulgence, as an

ally against the austerity of old age, for which wine was the best

medicine; so that, owing to it, we grow young again, and forget our

moroseness." And then he proceeds to say—"But there is a report and

story told that this god was once deprived of his mind and senses by

his mother-in-law, Juno; on which account he sent Bacchic frenzy, and

all sorts of frantic rage, among men, out of revenge for the treatment

which he had experienced; on which account also he gave wine to men."

56. But Phalæus, in his Epigrams, makes mention of a woman, whose name

was Cleo, as having been a very hard drinker—

Cleo bestow'd this splendid gift on Bacchus,

The tunic, fringed with gold and saffron hues,

Which long she wore herself; so great she was

At feasts and revelry: there was no man

Who could at all contend with her in drinking.

And it is a well-known fact that all the race of women is fond of

drinking. And it was not without some wit that Xenarchus introduces, in

his Pentathlum, a woman swearing this most horrible oath:—

May it be granted me to pass from life

Drinking abundant draughts of wine, while you,

My darling daughter, live and prosper here.

But among the Romans, as Polybius says, in his sixth book, it was

forbidden to women to drink wine at all. However, they drink what is

called Passum; and that is made of raisins, and when drank is very like

the sweet Ægosthenite and Cretan wine, on which account men use it

when oppressed by excessive thirst. And it is impossible for a woman

to drink wine without being detected: for, first of all, she has not

the key of the cellar; and, in the next place, she is bound to kiss her

relations, and those of her husband, down to cousins, and to do this

every day when she first sees them; and besides this, she is forced to

be on her best behaviour, as it is quite uncertain whom she may chance

to meet; for if she has merely tasted wine, it needs no informer, but

is sure to betray itself."

And Alcimus the Sicilian, in that book of his which is entitled the

Italian History, says that all the women in Italy avoid drinking wine

on this account: "When Hercules was in the district of the Crotoniatæ,

he one day was very thirsty, and came to a certain house by the wayside

and asked for something to drink; and it happened that the wife of the

master of the house had privily opened a cask of wine, and therefore

she said to her husband that it would be a shameful thing for him to

open this cask for a stranger; and so she bade him give Hercules some

water. But Hercules, who was standing at the door, and heard all this,

praised her husband very much, but advised him to go indoors himself

and look at the cask. And when he had gone in, he found that the cask

had become petrified. And this fact is proved by the conduct of the

women of the country, among whom it is reckoned disgraceful, to this

day, to drink wine, on account of the above-mentioned reason."

[Sidenote: FEMALE DRINKERS.]

57. And what sort of women those among the Greeks are who get drunk,

Antiphanes tells us, in his Female Darter; where he says—

There is a certain neighbouring victualler,

And he, whenever I arrive, being thirsty,

Is th' only man who knows the proper way

In which to mix my wine; and makes it not

Too full of water, nor too strong and heady:

I recollect that once when I was drinking . . . . .

And, in his Woman Initiated, (and it is women who are conversing,) he

writes—

_A._ Would you now like, my dearest friend, to drink?

_B._ No doubt I should.

_A._ Well come, then, take a cup;

For they do say the first three cups one takes

All tend to th' honour of the heavenly gods.

And Alexis, in his Female Dancer, says—

_A._ But women are quite sure to be content

If they have only wine enough to drink.

_B._ But, by the heavenly twins, we now shall have

As much as we can wish; and it shall be

Sweet, and not griping,—rich, well-season'd wine,

Exceeding old.

_A._ I like this aged sphinx;

For hear how now she talks to me in riddles.

And so on. And, in his Jupiter the Mourner, he mentions a certain woman

named Zopyra, and says—

Zopyra, that wine-cask.

Antiphanes, in his Female Bacchanalians—

But since this now is not the case, I'm sure

He is a wretched man who ever marries

Except among the Scythians; for their country

Is the sole land which does not bear the vine.

And Xenarchus, in his Pentathlum, says—

I write a woman's oath in mighty wine.

58. Plato, in his Phaon, relating how many things happen to women

because of wine, says—

Come now, ye women, long ago have I

Pray'd that this wine may thus become your folly;

For you don't think, as the old proverb goes,

That there is any wisdom at a vintner's.

For if you now desire to see Phaon,

You first must all these solemn rites perform.

First, as the nurse of youths, I must receive

A vigorous cheesecake, and a pregnant mealcake,

And sixteen thrushes whole, well smear'd with honey,

Twelve hares, all taken when the moon was full;

But all the other things may be got cheaply.

Now listen. Three half-measures of fine onions;

These for Orthanna. For Conisalus

And his two mates, a plate of myrtleberries,

Pluck'd with the hand: for the great Gods above

Dislike the smell of lamps. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . for the dogs and huntsmen.

A drachma for Lordon; for Cybdasus,

Three obols; for the mighty hero Celes,

Some hides and incense. Now if you bring

These things, you'll certainly obtain admittance;

But if you don't, you'll knock in vain, and long

In vain to enter, and get nothing by it.

And Axionicus says, in his Philinna—

Just trust a woman to drink only water.

59. And whole nations are mentioned as addicted to drunkenness.

Accordingly, Bæton, the measurer of distances for Alexander, in his

book which is entitled Stations of the March of Alexander, and Amyntas

also, in his Stations, says that the nation of the Tapyri is so fond

of wine that they never use any other unguent than that. And Ctesias

tells the same story, in his book Concerning the Revenues in Asia. And

he says that they are a most just people. And Harmodius of Lepreum, in

his treatise on the Laws in force among the people of Phigalea, says

that the Phigaleans are addicted to drinking, being neighbours of the

Messenians, and being also a people much accustomed to travelling.

And Phylarchus, in his sixth book, says that the Byzantians are so

exceedingly fond of wine, that they live in the wine-shops and let

out their own houses and their wives also to strangers: and that they

cannot bear to hear the sound of a trumpet even in their sleep. On

which account once, when they were attacked by the enemy, and could not

endure the labour of defending their walls, Leonidas, their general,

ordered the innkeepers' booths to be erected as tents upon the walls,

and even then it was with difficulty that they were stopped from

deserting, as Damon tells us, in his book on Byzantium. But Menander,

in his play called the Woman carrying the Mysterious sacred Vessels of

Minerva, or the Female Flute-player, says—

Byzantium makes all the merchants drunk.

On your account we drank the whole night long,

And right strong wine too, as it seems to me,—

At least I got up with four heads, I think.

[Sidenote: THE ILLYRIANS.]

And the Argives too are ridiculed by the comic poets as addicted to

drunkenness; and so are the Tirynthians by Ephippus, in his Busiris.

And he introduces Hercules as saying—

_A._ For how in the name of all the gods at once,

Do you not know me, the Tirynthian Argive?

That race fights all its battles when 'tis drunk.

_B._ And that is why they always run away.

And Eubulus, in his Man Glued, says that the Milesians are very

insolent when they are drunk. And Polemo, in his treatise on the

Inscriptions to be found in Cities, speaking of the Eleans, produces

this epigram:—

Elis is always drunk, and always lying:

As is each single house, so is the city.

60. And Theopompus, in his twenty-second book, speaking of the

Chalcidians in Thrace, says: "For they disregarded all the most

excellent habits, rushing readily with great eagerness to drinking and

laziness, and every sort of intemperance. And all the Thracians are

addicted to drinking; on which account Callimachus says—

For he could hardly bear the Thracian way

Of drinking monstrous goblets at one draught;

And always did prefer a smaller cup."

And, in his fiftieth book, Theopompus makes this statement about the

Methymnæans: "And they live on the most sumptuous kind of food, lying

down and drinking—and never doing anything at all worthy of the expense

that they went to. So Cleomenes the tyrant stopped all this; he who

also ordered the female pimps, who were accustomed to seduce free-born

women, and also three or four of the most nobly born of those who

had been induced to prostitute themselves, to be sewn in sacks and

thrown into the sea." And Hermippus, in his account of the Seven Wise

Men, says Periander did the same thing. But in the second book of his

History of the Exploits of Philip he says, "The Illyrians both eat

and drink in a sitting posture; and they take their wives to their

entertainments; and it is reckoned a decorous custom for the women to

pledge the guests who are present. And they lead home their husbands

from their drinking-parties; and they all live plainly, and when they

drink, they girdle their stomach with broad girdles, and at first they

do so moderately; but when they drink more vehemently, then they keep

contracting their belt. And the Ariæans," says he, "have three hundred

thousand slaves whom they call prospelatæ, and who correspond to the

Helots; and they get drunk every day, and make large entertainments,

and are very intemperate in their eating and drinking. On which account

the Celtæ when making war upon them, knowing their intemperance,

ordered all the soldiers to prepare as superb a feast as possible in

the tent, and to put in the food some medicinal herbs which had the

power to gripe and purge the bowels exceedingly. And when this had

been done . . . . And so some of them were taken by the Celtæ and put

to death, and some threw themselves into the rivers, being unable to

endure the pains which they were suffering in their stomachs."

61. Now, after Democritus had uttered all this long uninterrupted

discourse, Pontianus said that wine was the metropolis of all these

evils; and it was owing to this that drunkenness, and madness, and all

sorts of debauchery took place; and that those people who were too much

addicted to it were not unappropriately called rowers of cups, by that

Dionysius who is surnamed the Brazen, in his Elegies, where he says—

And those who bring their wine in Bacchus' rowing,

Sailors through feasts, and rowers of large cups.

And concerning this class of men, (for it is not extinct,) Alexis, in

his Curia, speaking of some one who drunk to excess, says—

This then my son is such in disposition

As you have just beheld him. An Œnopion,

Or Maron, or Capelus, or Timoclees,

For he's a drunkard, nothing more nor less.

And for the other, what can I call him?

A lump of earth, a plough, an earth-born man.

So getting drunk is a bad thing, my good friends; and the same Alexis

says, with great cleverness, to those who swallow wine in this way, in

his Opora, (and the play is called after a courtesan of that name,)—

Are you then full of such a quantity

Of unmix'd wine, and yet avoid to vomit?

And in his Ring he says—

Is not, then, drunkenness the greatest evil,

And most injurious to the human race?

[Sidenote: EVILS OF DRUNKENNESS.]

And in his Steward he says—

For much wine is the cause of many crimes.

And Crobylus, in his Female Deserter, says—

What pleasure, prithee tell me, can there be

In getting always drunk? in, while still living,

Yourself depriving thus of all your senses;

The greatest good which nature e'er has given?

Therefore it is not right to get drunk; for "A city which has been

governed by a democracy," says Plato, in the eighth book of his Polity,

"when it has thirsted for freedom, if it meets with bad cupbearers

to help it, and if, drinking of the desired draught too deeply, it

becomes intoxicated, then punishes its magistrates if they are not very

gentle indeed, and if they do not allow it a great deal of licence,

blaming them as wicked and oligarchical; and those people who obey

the magistrates it insults." And, in the sixth book of his Laws, he

says—"A city ought to be like a well-mixed goblet, in which the wine

which is poured in rages; but being restrained by the opposite and

sober deity, enters into a good partnership with it, and so produces a

good and moderate drink."

62. For profligate debauchery is engendered by drunkenness. On which

account Antiphanes, in his Arcadia, says—

For it, O father, never can become

A sober man to seek debauchery,

Nor yet to serious cares to give his mind,

When it is rather time to drink and feast.

But he that cherishes superhuman thoughts,

Trusting to small and miserable riches,

Shall at some future time himself discover

That he is only like his fellow-men,

If he looks, like a doctor, at the tokens,

And sees which way his veins go, up or down,

On which the life of mortal man depends.

And, in his Æolus, mentioning with indignation the evil deeds which

those who are great drinkers do, he says—

Macareus, when smitten with unholy love

For one of his own sisters, for a while

Repress'd the evil thought, and check'd himself;

But after some short time he wine admitted

To be his general, under whose sole lead

Audacity takes the place of prudent counsel,

And so by night his purpose he accomplish'd.

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

saying—

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.

63. 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—

O you old man, the crew of youthful gamblers

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."

[Sidenote: EVILS OF DRUNKENNESS.]

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.

And 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.

64. 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—

You will undo me with your questions . .

(as the excellent Agatho says)—

. . . . and your new fashion,

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—

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 the Phliasian calls it. For so he called those

men who drink a great quantity of unmixed wine, in the second book of

his Silli—

Or that great ox-goad, harder than Lycurgus's,

Who smote the ἀῤῥυθμόποται of Bacchus,

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 Alcæus has used, in his Ganymede. And that a habit

of getting drunk deceives our eyesight, Anacharsis has shown plainly

enough, in what he says where 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, "O 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."

65. After this Ulpian, pledging one of his companions, said,—But, my

dear friend, according to Antiphanes, who says, in his Countryman—

_A._ Shut now your eyes, and drink it all at once.

_B._ 'Tis a great undertaking.

_A._ Not for one

Who has experience in mighty draughts.

Drink then, my friend; and—

_A._ Let us not always drink

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

Full cups, but let some reason and discussion

Come in between, and some short pretty songs;

Let some sweet strophes sound. There is no work,

Or only one at least, I tell you true,

In which some variation is not pleasant.

_B._ Give me, then, now at once, I beg you, wine,

Strengthening the limbs (ἀρκεσίγυιον), as says Euripides—

_A._ Aye, did Euripides use such a word?

_B._ No doubt—who else?

_A._ It may have been Philoxenus,

'Tis all the same; my friend, you now convict me,

Or seek to do so, for one syllable.

And he said,—But who has ever used this form πῖθι̣? 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 Ulysses,—

Take now this cup, and when you've taken, drink it (πῖθι),

And then ask me my name.

And Antiphanes, in his Mystic, says—

_A._ Still drink (πῖθι), I bid you.

_B._ I'll obey you, then,

For certainly a goblet's figure is

A most seductive shape, and fairly worthy

The glory of a festival. We have—

Have not we? (for it is not long ago)—

Drunk out of cruets of vile earthenware.

May the Gods now, my child, give happiness

And all good fortune to the clever workman

For the fair shape that he bestow'd on thee.

[Sidenote: FORMS OF ΠΙΝΩ.]

And Diphilus, in his Bath, says—

Fill the cup full, and hide the mortal part,

The goblet made by man, with godlike wine:

Drink (πῖθι); these are gifts, my father, given us

By the good Jove, who thus protects companionship.

And Ameipsias, in his Sling, says—

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

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

Away with you; have you ne'er drunk, O Sosilas?

Drink (πῖθι) now, I beg, for you are wondrous mad.

66. 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—

(πιόμεν᾽ ἐκ βοτάνης) Drank after feeding.

And Aristophanes, in his Knights, says—

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

and in another place he says—

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—

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—

_A._ Drink (πῖε).

_B._ I will compel this wretch,

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,—

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—

And do not chatter like the wave

Of the loud brawling sea, with that

Ever-loquacious Gastrodora,

Drinking the cup ἐπίστιος.

But the name which we give it is ἀνίσων.

67. 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—

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—

And not to drink the earthy beer (βρύτον).

And Archilochus says—

And she did vomit wine as any Thracian

Might vomit beer (βρύτον), and played the wanton stooping.

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

And after this he drank his beer (βρύτον), and much

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.

68. But in our time dear to the thyrsus-bearers

Is rosy wine, and greatest of all gods

Is Bacchus.

As Ion the Chian says, in his Elegies—

For this is pretext fit for many a song;

The great assemblies of th' united Greeks,

The feasts of kings, do from this gift proceed,

Since first the vine, with hoary bunches laden,

Push'd from beneath the ground its fertile shoots,

Clasping the poplar in its firm embrace,

And from its buds burst forth a numerous race,

[Sidenote: ΓΡΙΦΟΙ.]

Crashing, as one upon the other press'd;

But when the noise has ceased they yield their juice,

Divinest nectar, which to mortal men

Is ever the sole remedy for care,

And common cause of joy and cheerfulness.

Parent of feasts, and laughter, and the dance,

Wine shows the disposition of the good,

And strengthens all their noble qualities.

Hail! then, O Bacchus, president of feasts,

Dear to all men who love the wreathed flowers;

Give us, kind God, an age of happiness,

To drink, and play, and cherish just designs.

But Amphis, in his Philadelphi, praising the life of those who are fond

of drinking, says:—

For many causes do I think our life,

The life of those who drink, a happy one;

And happier far than yours, whose wisdom all

Lies in a stern and solemn-looking brow.

For that slow prudence which is always busy

In settling small affairs, which with minuteness,

And vain solicitude, keeps hunting trifles,

Fears boldly to advance in things of weight;

But our mind, not too fond of scrutinising

Th' exact result of every trifling measure,

Is ever for prompt deeds of spirit ready.

69. And when Ulpian was about to add something to this Æmilianus

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 is 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 α. And similarly,

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 Θρασυλέων. 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 ῾Eρμαφρόδιτος; or

whether the name begins with Jupiter, as Διοκλῆς, or with Mercury, as

Ὲρμόδωρος; 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.

70. But concerning these griphi, Antiphanes says, in his Cnoethis, or

the Pot-bellied Man—

_A._ I thought before that those who while at meals

Bade me solve griphi, were the silliest triflers,

Talking mere nonsense. And when any one

Was bade to say what a man bore and bore not,

I laugh'd and thought it utter childishness;

And did not think that truth did lie beneath,

But reckon'd them as traps for the unwary.

But now, indeed, I see there is some truth in them;

For we, ten men, contribute now for supper,

But no one of them all bears what he brings,

So here's a case where he who bears bears not,

And this is just the meaning of a griphus.

So surely this may fairly be excused;

But others play tricks with the things themselves,

Paying no money, as, for instance, Philip.

_B._ A wise and fortunate man, by Jove, is he.

And in his Aphrodisian he says—

[Sidenote: ΓΡΙΦΟΙ.]

_A._ Suppose I want to say now "dish" to you,

Shall I say "dish," or shall I rather say,

A hollow-bodied vessel, made of earth,

Form'd by the potter's wheel in rapid swing,

Baked in another mansion of its mother,

Which holds within its net the tender milk-fed

Offspring of new-born flocks untimely choked?

_B._ By Hercules, you'll kill me straight if you

Do not in plain words say a "dish of meat."

_A._ 'Tis well. And shall I speak to you of drops

Flowing from bleating goats, and well compounded

With streams proceeding from the yellow bee,

Sitting on a broad receptacle provided

By the chaste virgin born of holy Ceres,

And now luxuriating beneath a host

Of countless finely-wrought integuments;

Or shall I say "a cheesecake?"

_B._ Prithee say

A cheesecake.

_A._ Shall I speak of rosy sweat

From Bacchic spring?

_B._ I'd rather you'd say wine.

_A._ Or shall I speak of dusky dewy drops?

_B._ No such long paraphrase,—say plainly, water.

_A._ Or shall I praise the cassia-breathing fragrance

That scents the air?

_B._ No, call it myrrh,—forbear

Those sad long-winded sentences, those long

And roundabout periphrases; it seems

To me by far too great a labour thus

To dwell on matters which are small themselves,

And only great in such immense descriptions.

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

_A._ It is not mortal, nor immortal either,

But as it were compounded of the two,

So that it neither lives the life of man,

Nor yet of God, but is incessantly

New born again, and then again deprived

Of this its present life; invisible,

Yet it is known and recognised by all.

_B._ You always do delight, O lady, in riddles.

_A._ No, I am speaking plain and simple things.

_B._ What child then is there which has such a nature?

_A._ 'Tis sleep, my girl, victor of human toils.

And Eubulus, in his Sphingocarion, proposes griphi of this kind,

himself afterwards giving the solution of them—

_A._ There is a thing which speaks, yet has no tongue;

A female of the same name as the male;

The steward of the winds, which it holds fast;

Rough, and yet sometimes smooth; full of dark voices

Scarce to be understood by learned men;

Producing harmony after harmony;

'Tis one thing, and yet many; e'en if wounded

'Tis still invulnerable and unhurt.

_B._ What can that be?

_A._ Why, don't you know, Callistratus?

It is a bellows.

_B._ You are joking now.

_A._ No; don't it speak, although it has no tongue?

Has it not but one name with many people?

Is't not unhurt, though with a wound i' the centre?

Is it not sometimes rough, and sometimes smooth?

Is it not, too, a guardian of much wind?

Again:—

There is an animal with a locust's eye,

With a sharp mouth, and double deathful head;

A mighty warrior, who slays a race

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:—

I know a thing which, while it's young, is heavy,

But when it's old, though void of wings, can fly

With lightest motion, out of sight o' th' earth.

This is thistledown. For it—

While it is young, stands solid in its seed,

But when it loses that, is light and flies,

Blown about every way by playful children.

Listen, now, to this one—

There is an image all whose upper part

Is its foundation, while the lower part

Is open; bored all through from head to feet;

'Tis sharp, and brings forth men in threefold way,

Some of whom gain the lot of life, some lose it:

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.

[Sidenote: ΓΡΙΦΟΙ.]

72. And Antiphanes, in his Problem, says—

_A._ A man who threw his net o'er many fish,

Though full of hope, after much toil and cost,

Caught only one small perch. And 'twas a cestreus,

Deceived itself, who brought this perch within,

For the perch followeth the blacktail gladly.

_B._ A cestreus, blacktail, perch, and man, and net,—

I don't know what you mean; there's no sense in it.

_A._ Wait while I clearly now explain myself:

There is a man who giving all he has,

When giving it, knows not to whom he gives it,

Nor knows he has the things he does not need.

_B._ Giving, not giving, having, and not having,—

I do not understand one word of this.

_A._ These were the very words of this same griphus.

For what you know you do not just now know,

What you have given, or what you have instead.

This was the meaning.

_B._ Well, I should be glad

To give you too a griphus.

_A._ Well, let's have it.

_B._ A pinna and a mullet, two fish, both

Endued with voices, had a conversation,

And talk'd of many things; but did not say

What they were talking of, nor whom they thought

They were addressing; for they both did fail

In seeing who it was to whom they talk'd.

And so, while they kept talking to each other,

The goddess Ceres came and both destroy'd.

73. And in his play called Sappho, Antiphanes represents the poetess

herself as proposing griphi, which we may call riddles, in this manner:

and then some one else is represented as solving them. For she says—

_S._ There is a female thing which holds her young

Safely beneath her bosom; they, though mute,

Cease not to utter a loud-sounding voice

Across the swelling sea, and o'er the land,

Speaking to every mortal that they choose;

But those who present are can nothing hear,

Still they have some sensation of faint sound.

And some one, solving this riddle, says—

_B._ The female thing you speak of is a city;

The children whom it nourishes, orators;

They, crying out, bring from across the sea,

From Asia and from Thrace, all sorts of presents:

The people still is near them while they feed on it,

And pour reproaches ceaselessly around,

While it nor hears nor sees aught that they do.

_S._ But how, my father, tell me, in God's name,

Can you e'er say an orator is mute,

Unless, indeed, he's been three times convicted?

_B._ And yet I thought that I did understand

The riddle rightly. Tell me then yourself.

And so then he introduces Sappho herself solving the riddle, thus—

_S._ The female thing you speak of is a letter,

The young she bears about her is the writing:

They're mute themselves, yet speak to those afar off

Whene'er they please. And yet a bystander,

However near he may be, hears no sound

From him who has received and reads the letter.

74. And Diphilus, in his Theseus, says that there were once three

Samian damsels, who, on the day of the festival of Adonis, used to

delight themselves in solving riddles at their feasts. And that when

some one had proposed to them this riddle, "What is the strongest of

all things?" one said iron, and alleged the following reasons for her

opinion, because that is the instrument with which men dig and cut, and

that is the material which they use for all purposes. And when she had

been applauded, the second damsel said that a blacksmith exerted much

greater strength, for that he, when he was at work, bent this strong

iron, and softened it, and used it for whatever purposes he chose. And

the third said, they were both wrong, and that love was the strongest

thing of all, for that love could subdue a blacksmith.

And Achæus the Eretrian, though he is usually a very clear poet as

respects the structure of his poems, sometimes makes his language

obscure, and says many things in an enigmatical style; as, for

instance, in his Iris, which is a satyric play. For he says, "A cruet

of litharge full of ointment was suspended from a Spartan tablet,

written upon and twisted on a double stick;" meaning to say a white

strap, from which a silver cruet was suspended; and he has spoken of

a Spartan written tablet when he merely meant the Spartan scytale.

And that the Lacedæmonians put a white strap, on which they wrote

whatever they wished, around the scytale, we are told plainly enough by

Apollonius Rhodius, in his Treatise on Archilochus. And Stesichorus, in

his Helen, speaks of a footpan of litharge; and Ion, in his Phoenix or

Cæneus, calls the birdlime the sweat of the oak, saying—

The sweat of oaks, and a long leafy branch

Cut from a bush supports me, and a thread

Drawn from Egyptian linen, clever snare

To catch the flying birds.

[Sidenote: RIDDLES.]

75. And Hermippus says, that Theodectes of Phaselus, in his book on

the Pupils of Isocrates, was a wonderfully clever man at discovering

any riddles that might be proposed to him, and that he too could

propose riddles to others with great acuteness. As that riddle about

shade, for instance;—for he said that there was a nature which is

greatest at its birth and at its decease, and least when at its height.

And he speaks thus:—

Of all the things the genial earth produces,

Or the deep sea, there is no single one,

Nor any man or other animal

Whose growth at all can correspond to this:

For when it first is born its size is greatest;

At middle age 'tis scarcely visible,

So small it's grown; but when 'tis old and hastens

Nigh to its end, it then becomes again

Greater than all the objects that surround it.

And in the Œdipus, which is a tragedy, he speaks of night and day in

the following riddle:—

There are two sisters, one of whom brings forth

The other, and in turn becomes its daughter.

And Callisthenes, in his Greek History, tells the following story,

that "when the Arcadians were besieging Cromnus, (and that is a small

town near Megalopolis,) Hippodamus the Lacedæmonian, being one of

the besieged persons, gave a message to the herald who came to them

from the Lacedæmonians, showing the condition in which they were by

a riddle, and he bade him tell his mother—'to be sure and release

within the next ten days the little woman who was bound in the temple

of Apollo; as it would not be possible to release her if they let those

days elapse.' And by this message he plainly enough intimated what he

was desirous to have understood; for the little woman meant is Famine,

of which there was a picture in the temple of Apollo, near the throne

of Apollo, and it was represented under a woman's form; so it was

evident to every one that those who were besieged could hold out only

ten days more because of famine. So the Lacedæmonians, understanding

the meaning of what had been said, brought succour with great speed to

the men in Cromnus."

76. There are also many other riddles, such as this:—

I saw a man who by the means of fire

Was glueing brass unto another man

So closely that they two became like brothers.

And this expression means the application of a cupping-glass. And a

similar one is that of Panarces, mentioned by Clearchus, in his Essay

on Griphi, that "A man who is not a man, with a stone which was not a

stone, struck a bird which was not a bird, sitting on a tree which was

not a tree." For the things alluded to here are a eunuch, a piece of

pumice-stone, a bat, and a narthex[48]. And Plato, in the fifth book

of his Laws,[49] alludes to this riddle, where he says, that those

philosophers who occupy themselves about minute arts, are like those

who, at banquets, doubt what to eat, and resemble too the boys' riddle

about the stone thrown by the eunuch, and about the bat, and about the

place from which they say that the eunuch struck down the bat, and the

engine with which he did it.

77. And of this sort also are those enigmatical sayings of Pythagoras,

as Demetrius of Byzantium says, in the fourth book of his treatise on

Poets, where, for instance, he says, "A man should not eat his heart;"

meaning, "a man should cultivate cheerfulness." "One should not stir

the fire with a sword;" meaning, "one should not provoke an angry man;"

for anger is fire, and quarrelsomeness is a sword. "One should not

step over a yoke;" meaning, "one should avoid and hate all kinds of

covetousness, but seek equality." "One should not travel along the high

road;" meaning, "one should not follow the opinions of the multitude,

(for the common people approve of whatever they take in their heads

without any fixed principle,) but one should rather go on the straight

road, using sense as one's guide." "One should not sit down upon a

bushel;" meaning, "one should not be content with merely considering

what is sufficient for the present day, but one should always have an

eye to the future" * * * * * * * * *[50] "For death is the boundary and

limit of life;" and this saying is meant to forbid us approaching the

subject with anxiety and grief.

[Sidenote: ΓΡΙΦΟΙ.]

78. And Dromeas the Coan used to play at riddles in much the same way

as Theodectes, according to the statement of Clearchus: and so did

Aristonymus, the player on the harp, without any vocal accompaniment:

and so did that Cleon who was surnamed Mimaulus, who was the best actor

of Italian mimes that ever appeared on the stage without a mask. For in

the style of play which I have mentioned already, he was superior even

to Nymphodorus. And Ischomachus the herald was an imitator of his, who

used to give his representations in the middle of a crowd, and after he

had become celebrated, he altered his style and used to act mimes at

the jugglers' shows. And the riddles which these men used to propose

were of the following kind:—A clown once had eaten too much, and was

very unwell, and when the physician asked him whether he had eaten to

vomit, No, said he, but I ate to my stomach. And another was,—A poor

woman had a pain in her stomach, and when the physician asked her

whether she had anything[51] in her stomach, How should I, said she,

when I have eaten nothing for three days?

And the writings of Aristonymus were full of pompous expressions: and

Sosiphanes the poet said to Cephisocles the actor, reproaching him as

a man fond of long words, "I would throw a stone at your loins, if I

were not afraid of wetting the bystanders." But the logical griphus is

the oldest kind, and the one most suited to the natural character of

such enigmatical language. "What do we all teach when we do not know it

ourselves?" and, "What is the same nowhere and everywhere?" and also,

"What is the same in the heavens and on the earth and in the sea?"

But this is a riddle arising from an identity of name; for there is a

bear, and a serpent, and an eagle, and a dog, both in the heavens and

on the earth and in the sea. And the other riddle means Time; for that

is the same to all people and everywhere, because it has not its nature

depending on one place. And the first riddle means "How to live:" for

though no one knows this himself, he teaches his neighbour.

79. And Callias the Athenian, whom we were discussing just now, and

who was a little before Strattis in point of time, wrote a play which

he called Grammatical Science; and the plot of it was as follows. The

prologue consists of the elements, and the actor should recite it,

dividing it into paragraphs, and making the termination in the manner

of a dramatic catastrophe, into "Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, eta, theta.

For ει is sacred to the God; iota, cappa, lambda, mu, nu, xu, the

diphthong ou, pi, rho, sigma, tau, the present υ, phi, chi, which is

next to psi, all down to omega." And the chorus consisted of women,

in pairs, made of two elements taken together, composed in metre and

lyrical odes in this fashion;—"Beta alpha ba, beta ei be, beta eta be,

beta iota bi, beta ou bo, beta upsilon bu, beta omega bo." And then,

again, in the antistrophe of the ode and of the metre, "Gamma alpha,

gamma ei, gamma eta, gamma iota, gamma omicron, gamma upsilon, gamma

omega." And in the same way he dealt with all other syllables—all

which have the same melody and the same metre in the antistrophes. So

that people not only suspect that Euripides drew all his Medea from

this drama, but they think that it is perfectly plain that he drew the

system of his choruses from it. And they say that Sophocles, after he

had heard this drama, endeavoured to divide his poem in respect of the

metre, and did it thus, in the Œdipus,—

I shall not grieve myself nor you,

Being convicted of this action.

On which account, all the rest admitted the system of antistrophes from

his example, as it should seem, into their tragedies. Then, after this

chorus, Callias introduces another speech of vowels, in this manner:

(and this also the reciter must divide into paragraphs in the same way

as the previous portions, in order that that delivery may be preserved

which the author originally intended)—

Alpha alone, O woman; then one should

Say Ει alone in the second place: next,

Still by itself you will say, thirdly, Eta;

Fourth, still alone, Iota; fifthly, Ou.

In the sixth place, Upsilon by itself.

The last of all the seven vowels is

The slow-paced Omega. The seven vowels

In seven verses; and when you've recited

All these, then go and ponder by yourself.

80. Callias was also the first man who taught the elements of learning

by iambics, in a licentious sort of language, described in the

following manner—

[Sidenote: EURIPIDES.]

For I'm in labour, ladies; but from shame,

I will, my dear, in separate lines and letters,

Tell you the name of the child. There is a line

Upright and long; and from the middle of it

There juts forth on each side a little one,

With upward look: and next a circle comes,

On two short feet supported.

And afterwards, following this example, as any one may suspect,

Mæandrius the prose writer, turning away a little from the usual

pronunciation in his descriptions, wrote those things which are found

in his Precepts, in a less polished style than the above-mentioned

Callias. And Euripides appears to have followed the same model when he

composed those verses, in his Theseus, in which the elements of writing

are described. But the character is an illiterate shepherd, who is

showing that the name of Theseus is inscribed in the place in this way—

For I indeed do nothing know of letters,

But I will tell you all their shapes, and give

Clear indications by which you may judge.

There is a circle, round as though 't had been

Work'd in a lathe, and in its centre space

It has a visible sign. Then the second

Has first of all two lines, and these are parted

By one which cuts them both across the middle.

The third's a curly figure, wreathed round.

The fourth contains one line which mounts right up,

And in a transverse course three others hang

From its right side. The letter which comes fifth

Admits of no such easy explanation;

For there are two diverging lines above,

Which meet in one united line below.

The letter which comes last is like the third.

[So as to make Θ Ε Σ Ε Υ Σ]

And Agathon the tragic poet has composed a similar passage, in his

Telephus; for there also some illiterate man explains the way of

spelling Theseus thus:—

The letter which comes first is like a circle,

Divided by a navel in the middle;

Then come two upright lines well join'd together;

The third is something like a Scythian bow:

Next comes a trident placed upon its side;

And two lines branching from one lower stem:

The last again the same is as the third.

And Theodectes of Phaselus introduces an illiterate clown, who also

represents the name of Theseus in his own way—

The letter which comes first a circle is,

With one soft eye; then come two upright lines

Of equal and exact proportions,

United by one middle transverse line;

The third is like a wreathed curl of hair;

The next a trident lying on its side;

The fifth two lines of equal length above,

Which below join together in one base;

The sixth, as I have said before, a curl.

And Sophocles has said something like this, in his Amphiaraus, which is

a satyric drama, where he introduces an actor dancing in unison with

his explanation of the letters.

81. But Neoptolemus the Parian, in his treatise on Inscriptions, says

that this inscription is engraved on the tomb of Thrasymachus the

sophist at Chalcedon—

My name is Theta, ro, alpha, and san,

Upsilon, mu, alpha, chi, ou, san again:

Chalcedon was my home, wisdom my trade.

And there is a poem of this kind upon Pan, by Castorion the Solensian,

as Clearchus says: every foot[52] consists of one entire word, and so

every line has its feet in pairs, so that they may either precede or

follow each other; as for instance—

σὲ τὸν βόλοις νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον

ναίονθ᾽ ἕδος, θηρονόμε πὰν, χθόν᾽ ᾿αρκάδων,

κλήσω γραφῇ τῇδ᾽ ἐν σοφῇ, πάγκψειτ᾽ ἔπη

συνθεὶς, ἄναξ, δύσγνωστα μὴ σοφοῖς κλύειν,

μουσοπόλε θὴρ, κηρόχυτον ὅς μείλιγμ᾽ ἱεῖς.

[Which may be translated thus—

O thou that dwellest on the lofty plain,

Stormy with deep loud-sounding falls of snow,

Th' Arcadian land,—lord of the forest kinds,

Thee, mighty Pan, will I invoke in this

Sagacious writing, carefully compounding

Words difficult for ignorant men to know,

Or rightly understand. Hail, friend o' the Muse,

Who pourest forth sweet sounds from waxen flute.]

And so on in the same manner. And in whatever order you place each

of these pairs of feet it will give the same metre; as you may, for

instance, transpose the first line, and instead of—

σὲ, τὸν βόλοις νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον,

you may read it—

νιφοκτύποις σὲ τὸν βόλοις δυσχείμερον.

[Sidenote: ΓΡΙΦΟΙ.]

You may also remark that each pair of feet consists of ten[53] letters;

and you may produce the same effect not in this way, but in a different

one, so as to have many ways of putting one line; for instead you may

read—

μέτρον φράσον μοι, τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβών:

or this way—

λαβὼν μέτρον μοι τῶν ποδῶν, μέτρον φράσον.

[And you may take this line too—]

οὐ βούλομαι γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβεῖν,

[and transpose it thus—]

λαβεῖν μέτρον γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν οὐ βούλομαι.

82. But Pindar, with reference to the ode which was composed without a

σ in it, as the same Clearchus tells us, as if some griphus had been

proposed to him to be expressed in a lyric ode,—as many were offended

because they considered it impossible to abstain from the σ, and

because they did not approve of the way in which the idea was executed,

uttered this sentence—

Before long series of songs were heard,

And the ill-sounding san from out men's mouths.

And we may make use of this observation in opposition to those who

pronounce the sigma-less ode of Lasus of Hermione to be spurious, which

is entitled The Centaurs. And the ode which was composed by Lasus to

the Ceres in Hermione, has not a σ in it, as Heraclides of Pontus says,

in the third book of his treatise on Music, which begins—

I sing of Ceres and her daughter fair,

The bride of Clymenus.

83. And there are great numbers of other griphi. Here is one—

In a conspicuous land I had my birth,

The briny ocean girds my country round,

My mother is the daughter fair of Number.

By the conspicuous land (φανερὰ) he means Delos (as δῆλος is

synonymous with φανερὸς), and that is an island surrounded by the sea.

And the mother meant is Latona, who is the daughter of Coius, and

the Macedonians use κοῖος as synonymous with ἀριθμός. And the one on

barley-water (πτυσάνη)—

Mix the juice of peel'd barley, and then drink it.

And the name πτισάνη is derived from the verbs πτίσσω, to

pound, and ἄνω, to bruise. There is also the one on the snail, which is

quoted in the Definitions of Teucer—

An animal destitute of feet and spine

And bone, whose back is clad with horny shell,

With long, projecting, and retreating eyes.

And Antiphanes, in the Man who admires himself, says—

Coagulated, tender-bodied milk.

Dost understand me not? I mean new cheese.

And Anaxandrides, in his Ugly Woman, says—

He's lately cut it up; then he confined

The long, unbroken portions of the body

In earthen vases, wrought in crackling fire,—

A phrase, my men, invented by Timotheus,

Who meant to say in dishes.

And Timocles, in his Heroes, says—

_A._ And when the nurse of life was taken away,

Fierce hunger's foe, sweet friendship's guardian,

Physician of voracious hunger, which

Men call the table . . . .

_B._ How you tire yourself,

When you might say "the table" in a word.

And Plato, in his Adonis, saying that an oracle was given to Cinyras

concerning his son Adonis, reports it in these words—

O Cinyras, king of hairy Cyprians,

Your son is far the fairest of all men,

And the most admirable: but two deities

Lay hands upon him; one is driven on

By secret courses, and the other drives.

He means Venus and Bacchus; for both of them loved Adonis. And the

enigma of the Sphinx is reported by Asclepiades, in his essay on the

Subjects on which Tragedies have been written, to have been such as

this—

There is upon the earth an animal

With two feet, and with four, and eke with three,

And with one voice; and it alone, of all

The things which move on earth, or in the heavens,

Or o'er the boundless sea, doth change its nature;

But when its feet are of the greatest number,

Then is its speed the slowest, and strength least.

84. And there are also some sayings partaking of the character of

griphi, composed by Simonides, as is reported by Chamæleon of Heraclea,

in his treatise on the Life and Writings of Simonides—

[Sidenote: ENIGMATICAL SAYINGS.]

The father of a kid which roves for food,

And a sad fish, had their heads near together;

And when they had received beneath their eyelids

The son of Night, they did not choose to cherish

The bull-slaying servant of the sovereign Bacchus.

But some say that these verses were inscribed on some one of the

ancient offerings which were dedicated at Chalcis; and that on it were

represented the figures of a goat and a dolphin; to which animals

allusion is made in the above lines. And others say that a dolphin and

a goat were embossed in that part of a psaltery where the strings are

put in, and that they are what is meant here; and that the bull-slaying

servant of Bacchus is the dithyrambic. And others say that the ox which

is sacrificed to Bacchus in the town of Iulis is struck with an axe by

some one of the young men: and that the festival being near, the axe

had been sent to a forge, and Simonides, being then a young man, went

to the smith to fetch it; and that when he found the man asleep, and

his bellows and his tongs lying loosely about with their fore parts

touching one another, he then came back, and told the before-mentioned

problem to his friends. For the father of a kid he called the bellows,

and the sad fish the tongs (which is called καρκῖνος, or the crab).

The son of Night is sleep, and the bull-slaying servant of Bacchus

is the axe. And Simonides composed also another epigram which causes

perplexity to those who are ignorant of history—

I say that he who does not like to win

The grasshopper's prize, will give a mighty feast

To the Panopeiadean Epeus.

And it is said, that when he was sojourning at Carthea he used to train

choruses; and that the place where these exercises took place was in

the upper part of the city, near the temple of Apollo, a long way from

the sea; so that all the rest of the citizens, and Simonides himself,

went down to get water, to a place where there was a fountain; and that

an ass, whose name was Epeus, used to carry the water up for them; and

they gave him this name, because there was a fable that Epeus himself

used to do this; and there was also represented in a picture, in the

temple of Apollo, the Trojan fable, in which Epeus is represented as

drawing water for the Atridæ; as Stesichorus also relates—

For the great daughter of Jove pitied him

Bearing incessant water for the kings.

And as this was the case, they say that it was a burden imposed on

every member of the choruses who was not present at the appointed

time, that he should give the ass a chœnix of barley; and that this

is stated by the same poet; and that what is meant by not liking

to win the grasshopper's prize, is not liking to sing; and that by

Panopeiadean is meant the ass, and the mighty feast is the chœnix of

barley.

85. And of the same kind is the epigram of Theognis the poet,—

For a sea-corpse has call'd me now back home,

Which, though dead, speaketh with a living mouth.

Where he means the cockle. And we may consider of the same character

those sentences in which we use words which resemble men's names, as—

λαβὼν ἀριστόνικον ἐν μάχῃ κράτος:

He gain'd in battle a glorious victory;

where ἀριστόνικος sounds like the name of a man, Aristonicus. And there

is also that riddle which is so frequently repeated—

Five men came to one place in vessels ten,

And fought with stones, but might not lift a stone,

And died of thirst while water reach'd their chins.

86. And what punishment had the Athenians who could not solve this

riddle when proposed to them, if it was only to drink a bowl of mixed

wine, as Clearchus has stated in his Definition? And, in the first

book of his treatise on Proverbs, he writes thus—"The investigation

of riddles is not unconnected with philosophy; for the ancients used

to make a display of their erudition by such things; for they used

at their entertainments to ask questions, not such as the men of the

present day ask one another, as to what sort of amorous enjoyment is

the most delicious, or what kind of fish is nicest, or what is most in

season at the moment; or again, what fish is best to eat at the time of

Arcturus, or what after the rising of the Pleiades, or of the Dog-star.

And then they offer kisses as prizes for those who gain the victory in

such questions; such as are hateful to men of liberal sentiments; and

as a punishment for those who are defeated they enjoin them to drink

sheer wine; which they drink more willingly than the cup of health. For

these things are well adapted to any one who has devoted his attention

to the writings of Philænis and Archestratus, or who has studied the

books called Gastrologies.

[Sidenote: CAPPING VERSES.]

They preferred such plays as these;—when the first person had recited

a verse, the others were bound to quote the verse following; or if

any one had quoted a sentence from some poet, the rest were bound to

produce a sentence from some other poet expressing the same sentiments.

After that, every one was bound to repeat an iambic. And then, each

person was to repeat a line of such and such a number of syllables

precisely; and so on with everything that related to any acquaintance

with letters and syllables. And in a similar manner they would be bound

to repeat the names of all the commanders in the army which attacked

Troy, or of all the Trojan leaders: or to tell the name of some city

in Asia beginning with a given letter; and then the next person was to

tell the name of a city in Europe: and then they were to go through

the rest according as they were desired to give the names of Grecian

or barbarian cities; so that this sport, not being an inconsiderate

one, was a sort of exhibition of the ability and learning of each

individual. And the prizes given were a garland and applause, things by

which love for one another is especially sweetened."

87. This, then, was what Clearchus said; and the things which he says

one ought to propose, are, I imagine, such as these. For one person to

quote a line in Homer beginning with Alpha, and ending with the same

letter, such as—

Ἀγχοῦ δ᾽ ἱσταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα.

Ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε νῦν μάστιγα καὶ ἡνία σιγαλόεντα.

Ἀσπίδας εὐκύκλους λαισήαϊ τε πτερόεντα.

And, again, they quoted iambics on a similar principle—

Ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ λέγοιτ᾽ ἄν, ὁ φέρων τ᾽ ἀγαθά.

Ἀγαθὸς ἂν εἴη καὶ ὁ φέρων καλῶς κακά.

Or lines in Homer beginning and ending with ε, as—

Εὗρε λυκάονος υἷον ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε.

Ἐν πόλει ὑμετέρῃ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔμελλον ἔγωγε.

And iambics on the same principle—

Εὐκαταφρόνητός ἐστι πενία, δέρκυλε:

Ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσι τὸν βίον διάπλεκε.

And lines of Homer beginning and ending with η, as—

Ἠ μὲν ἄπ᾽ ὥς εἰποῦσ᾽ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις ᾿αθήνη:

Ἠ δ᾽ ἐν γούνασι πίπτε διώνης δῖ ᾿αφροδίτη.

And iambics—

Ἠ τῶν φίλων σοι πίστις ἔστω κεκριμένη.

Lines in Homer beginning and ending with ι, as—

Ἰλίου ἐξαπολοίατ᾽ ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄφαντοι:

Ἰππόλοχος δέ μ᾽ ἔτικτε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φημὶ γενέσθαι.

Beginning and ending with σ, as—

Συμπάντων δαναῶν, οὐδ᾽ ἢν ᾿αγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς.

And iambics as—

Σοφος ἐστιν ὁ φέρων τἀπὸ τῆς τύχης καλῶς.

And beginning and ending with ω, as—

Ὠς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἀπ᾽ οὐλύμπου νέφος ἔρχεται οὐρανὸν εἴσω.

And iambics as—

Ὠρθωμένην πρὸς ἅπαντα τὴν ψύχην ἔχω.

Sometimes too, it is well to propound lines without a sigma, as—

Πάντ᾽ ἐθέλω δόμεναι, καὶ ἔτ᾽ οἴκοθεν ἄλλ᾽ ἐπιθεῖναι:

and again, to quote lines of Homer, of which the first syllable when

connected with the last, will make some name, such as—

ἌΙας δ᾽ ἐκ Σαλαμῖνος ἄγεν δύο καὶ δεκα νῆΑΣ:

φΥΛείδης ὃν τίκτε Διῒ φίλος ἵπποτα φυλεΥΣ.

Ἰητὴρ δ᾽ ἀγαθὸς Ποδαλείριος ἠδὲ ΜάχαΩΝ.

There are also other lines in Homer expressing the names of vessels

from the first and last syllable, such as—

ὈΛψυμένων Δαναῶν ὀλοφύρεται ἐν φρεσὶ θυΜΟΣ,

which makes Ὄλμος, a mortar;

ΜΥθεῖται κατὰ μοῖραν ἅπερ κ᾽ οἴοιτο καὶ ἄλΛΟΣ,

which makes Μύλος, a millstone;

ΛΥγρός ἐὼν μή πού τι κακὸν καὶ μεῖζον ἐπαύΡῌ,

which makes λύρη, a lyre.

And other lines, the first and last syllables of which give some

eatable, as—

ἈΡγυρόπεζα Θέτις θυγατὴρ ἁλίοιο γέρονΤΟΣ,

which makes ἄρτος, bread;

ΜΗτι σὺ ταῦτα ἕκαστα διείρεο, μὴ δὲ μετάλΛΑ,

which makes μῆλα, apples.

88. And since we have made a pretty long digression about griphi, we

must now say what punishment those people underwent who failed to solve

the griphus which was proposed to them. They drank brine mingled with

their drink, and were bound to drink the whole cup up at one draught;

as Antiphanes shows in his Ganymede, where he says—

[Sidenote: ΓΡΙΦΟΙ.]

_A._ Alas me! what perplexing things you say,

O master, and what numerous things you ask me.

_B._ But now I will speak plainly: if you know

One circumstance about the rape of the child,

You must reveal it quick, before you're hang'd.

_A._ Are you then asking me a riddle, master,

Bidding me tell you all about the rape

Of the child? What's the meaning of your words?

_B._ Here, some one, bring me out a halter quickly.

_A._ What for?

_B._ Perhaps you'll say you do not know.

_A._ Will you then punish me with that? Oh don't!

You'd better make me drink a cup of brine.

_B._ Know you then how you ought to drink that up?

_A._ Indeed I do.

_B._ How?

_A._ So as to make you pledge me.

_B._ No, but first put your hands behind your back,

Then drink it at a draught, not drawing breath.

So when the Deipnosophists had said all this about the griphi, since it

has taken us till evening to recollect all they said, we will put off

the discussion about cups till to-morrow. For as Metagenes says in his

Philothytes—

I'll change my speech, by way of episode,

So as to treat the theatre with many

New dishes rich with various seasonings;

taking the discussion about cups next.

FOOTNOTES

[Footnote 36: The passage from Pindar is hopelessly corrupt.]

[Footnote 37: A mina was something less than a pound.]

[Footnote 38: A χοεὺς was something under three quarts.]

[Footnote 39: It is not quite certain what was the size of the chœnix;

some make it about a pint and a half, while others make it nearly four

pints. The λίτρα is only the Greek form of the Roman _libra_, and was a

little more than three-quarters of a pound.]

[Footnote 40: Sito is from σῖτος, food.]

[Footnote 41: It is uncertain what this name means, or how it should be

spelt. Some write it Simalis.]

[Footnote 42: This name appears to mean, "having unexpected gain,"

ἕρμαιον ἔχων.]

[Footnote 43: Megalartus, from μέγας, large, and ἄρτος, a loaf.

Megalomazus, from μέγας, great, and μάζα, a barley-cake.]

[Footnote 44: The cyathus held the twelfth part of a _sextarius_, which

was about a pint; and the Romans who wished to preserve a character for

moderation used to mix their wine in the proportion of _nine_ cyathi of

water to _three_ of wine. Poets, who, according to Horace, were good

for nothing till they were inebriated, reversed these proportions:—

Tribus aut novem

Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis.

Qui Musas amat impares,

Ternos ter cyathos attonitus petit

Vates. Tres prohibet supra

Rixarum metuens tangere Gratia,

Nudis juncta sororibus.—_Hor._ iii. 19. 11.]

[Footnote 45: The cottabus was a Sicilian game, much in vogue at the

drinking-parties of young men in Athens. The simplest mode was when

each threw the wine left in his cup so as to strike smartly in a metal

basin, at the same time invoking his mistress's name. If all fell in

the basin, and the sound was clear, it was a sign that he stood well

with her. The basin was called κοτταβεῖον, the action of

throwing ἀποκοτταβίζειν, and the wine thrown λάταγες,

or λαταγή. The game afterwards became more complicated, and

was played in various ways; sometimes a number of little cups (ὀξύβαφα)

were set floating, and he who threw his cottabus so as to

upset the greatest number, in a given number of throws, won the prize,

which was also called κοτταβεῖον. Sometimes the wine was thrown upon a

scale (πλάστιξ), suspended over a little image (μάνης) placed in water:

here the cottabus was to be thrown so as to make the scale descend

upon the head of the image. It seems quite uncertain what the word is

derived from.—Vide L. & S. Gr. Eng. Lex. υ. κότταβος.]

[Footnote 46: Schlegel gives a very different interpretation to this

story. He says—"In Æschylus the tragic style is as yet imperfect, and

not unfrequently runs into either unmixed epic or lyric. It is often

abrupt, irregular, and harsh. To compose more regular and skilful

tragedies than those of Æschylus was by no means difficult; but in the

more than mortal grandeur which he displayed, it was impossible that

he should ever be surpassed, and even Sophocles, his younger and more

fortunate rival, did not in this respect equal him. The latter, in

speaking of Æschylus, gave a proof that he was himself a thoughtful

artist;—'Æschylus does what is right, without knowing it.' These few

simple words, exhaust the whole of what we understand by the phrase,

powerful working unconsciously." This is the comment of a man of real

sense, learning, taste, and judgment.—_Dramatic Literature_, p. 95.

(Bohn's Standard Library.)]

[Footnote 47: This was a name given to Pericles by Aristophanes, Acharn.

531.]

[Footnote 48: "Νάρθηξ, a tall umbelliferous plant, (Lat. _ferula_,)

with a slight knotted pithy stalk, in which Prometheus conveyed the

spark of fire from heaven to earth."—L. & S. Gr. Eng. Lex. in voc.

νάρθηξ.]

[Footnote 49: This is a mistake of Athenæus. The passage referred to

occurs in the fifth book of the De Republica.]

[Footnote 50: A line or two is lost here, containing probably the

enigmatical sentence subsequently referred to.]

[Footnote 51: The Greek is ἐν γάστρι ἔχει, which also signifies to be

pregnant.]

[Footnote 52: There is probably some corruption in the text here.]

[Footnote 53: There is some mistake here, for they consist of eleven.]