Deipnosophistae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
11.1
Come now, where shall our conversation rise?
11.1
His course to Ithaca the hero sped
11.1
When first the product of Laertes' bed
11.1
Was new disclosed to birth; the banquet ends
11.1
When Euryclea from the queen descends,
11.1
And to his fond embrace the babe commends:)
11.2
The cups away did lead him from the table.
11.2
He placed the corpses lowly on the shore
11.2
On a broad couch of leaves; and by their side
11.2
A dainty feast he spread, and brimming cups,
11.2
And garlands on their noble temples wreathed.
11.2
A stupid serpent drinking deep of blood (αἱματοπώτης).
11.2
Much then did Bacis use the cup (ποτήριον).
11.2
One is better than a thousand cups (ποτήρια).
11.2
I am become a wine-bibber (οἰνοπώτης).
11.2
And many countless cups (ποτήρια), O beauteous Iphis.
11.2
And from the cups (ποτηρία). . . . .
11.3
As a cloth is placed in front of a sideboard (κυλικεῖον);
11.3
As if he had been offering a libation,
11.3
He's broken all the goblets in the sideboard (κυλικεῖον).
11.3
And he found out the use of sideboards (κυλικεῖα) for us.
11.3
Hermes the son of Maia, polish'd well
11.3
Upon the sideboard. . . . .
11.3
But, after many years, I now have come
11.3
Home from my enemies; and scarce have found
11.3
Relations who would own me, or companions
11.3
Of the same tribe or borough. I enroll'd
11.3
My name among a club of cup-collectors (κυλικεῖον):
11.3
Jupiter is the guardian of my doors—
11.3
Protector of my tribe. I pay my taxes.)
11.5
Not ploughing ready-furrow'd ground,
11.5
But, seeking for a goblet,
11.5
I come to speak about the cups (κυλικηγορήσων).
11.5
I've come now to the vineyard of the Cylicranes,
11.5
And seen Heraclea, a beauteous city.
11.7
For now the floor and all men's hands are clean,
11.7
And all the cups, and since the feasters' brows
11.7
Are wreathed with garlands, while the slaves around
11.7
Bring fragrant perfume in well-suited dishes;
11.7
And in the middle stands the joyful bowl.
11.7
And wine's at hand, which ne'er deserts the guests
11.7
Who know its worth, in earthen jars well kept,
11.7
Well flavour'd, fragrant with the sweet fresh flowers;
11.7
And in the midst the frankincense sends forth
11.7
Its holy perfume; and the water's cold,
11.7
And sweet, and pure; and golden bread's at hand,
11.7
And duly honour'd tables, groaning under
11.7
Their weight of cheese and honey;—then an altar,
11.7
Placed in the centre, all with flow'rs is crown'd.
11.7
And song and feasting occupies the house,
11.7
And dancing, and all sorts of revelry:—
11.7
Therefore it does become right-minded men
11.7
First with well-omen'd words and pious prayers
11.7
To hymn the praises of the Gods; and so,
11.7
With pure libations and well-order'd vows,
11.7
To win from them the power to act with justice-
11.7
For this comes from the favour of the Gods;
11.7
And you may drink as much as shall not hinder
11.7
You from returning home without assistance,
11.7
Unless, indeed, you're very old: and he
11.7
Deserves to be above his fellows lauded
11.7
Who drinks and then says good and witty things,
11.7
Such as his memory and taste suggests,—
11.7
Who lays down rules, and tells fine tales of virtue;
11.7
Not raking up the old Titanic fables,
11.7
Wars of the Giants, or the Lapithæ,
11.7
Figments of ancient times, mere pleasing trifles,
11.7
Full of no solid good; but always speaking
11.7
Things that may lead to right ideas of God.
11.8
I do not love the man who, 'midst his cups,
11.8
Says nothing but old tales of war and strife,
11.8
But him who gives its honour due to mirth,
11.8
Praising the Muses and the bright-faced Venus.
11.8
Hail, our great king, our saviour, and our father!
11.8
And let the cupbearers now mix us wine
11.8
In silver jugs: and let the golden bowl
11.8
Pour forth its pure libations on the ground,
11.8
While duly honouring the mighty Jove.
11.8
First of the Gods, and first in all our hearts,
11.8
We pour libations to Alcmena's son,
11.8
And to the queen herself,—to Procles too,
11.8
And the invincible chiefs of Perseus' line.
11.8
Thus let us drink and sport; and let the song
11.8
Make the night cheerful; let the glad guests dance;
11.8
And do thou willingly preside among us:
11.8
But let the man who's a fair wife at home
11.8
Drink far more lustily than those less happy.
11.9
No one can find a just pretence to grudge us
11.9
Our harmless pleasure, since we never injure
11.9
One of our neighbours. Know you not, my friend,
11.9
That what is called life is but a name,
11.9
Well soften'd down (to make it palatable),
11.9
For human fate? And whether any one
11.9
Thinks that I'm right or wrong in what I say,
11.9
I cannot change a word; for well I know,
11.9
And long have I consider'd the whole matter,
11.9
That all th' affairs of men are full of madness,
11.9
And we who live are only sojourners,
11.9
Like men who go to some great festival,
11.9
Starting from death and darkness to a pastime,
11.9
And to this light which we behold before us.
11.9
But he who laughs and drinks most cheerfully,
11.9
And most enjoys the charming gifts of Venus,
11.9
And most attends on feasts and festivals,
11.9
He goes through life, and then departs most happily.
11.9
Come, O Venus, hither come,
11.9
Bringing us thy goblets fair,
11.9
Mingled with the merry feast;
11.9
And pour out sparkling wine, I pray,
11.9
To your and my companions gay.
11.10
A. In what way are you now prepared to drink?
11.10
Tell me, I pray.
11.10
B. In what way are we now
11.10
Prepared to drink? Why any way you please.
11.10
A. Shall we then now, my father, tell the guests
11.10
To push the wine to the right
11.10
B. What! to the right?
11.10
That would be just as though this were a funeral."The following is the note of Dalecampius on this line:—While the corpse of a dead person was being burnt, those who attended the funeral, going round the funeral pile, in order to see the face of the corpse from all sides, walked round as the undertaker bade them, sometimes turning ἐπὶ δεξιὰ, sometimes ἐπ’ ἀριστερά. The writers on Greek antiquities have observed that those who were following a corpse to the tomb went round the funeral pile from right to left, and when the funeral was over, returned going from left to right."—Schweig.
11.11
Here in my hands I hold a wretched piece
11.11
Of earthen goblet, broken all around,
11.11
Sad relic of a band of merry feasters;
11.11
And often the fierce gale of wanton Bacchus
11.11
Dashes such wrecks with insult on the shore.
11.13
Aethops, who with his fervent heat doth ripen
11.13
Th' autumnal vines of sweetly flow'ring Bacchus,
11.13
From which men also call wine Aethops (αἴθοπα οἶνον).
11.13
Twelve large vessels of unmix'd red wine,
11.13
Mellifluous, undecaying, and divine,
11.13
Which now (some ages from his race conceal'd)
11.13
The hoary sire in gratitude reveal'd.
11.13
Such was the wine, to quench whose fervent steam
11.13
Scarce twenty measures from the living stream
11.13
To cool one cup sufficed; the goblet crown'd,
11.13
Breathed aromatic fragrancies around.Odyss. xi. 209.
11.13
He fill'd one cup, of well-turn'd iv'ry made,
11.13
With dark ambrosial drops of foaming wine;
11.13
And twenty measures of the sober stream
11.13
He poured in, and with the blood of Bacchus
11.13
Mingled fresh tears, shed by the weeping nymphs.
11.14
This is the tomb of Pytheas, a man
11.14
Both wise and good, the fortunate possessor
11.14
Of a most countless number of fine cups,
11.14
Of silver made, and gold, and brilliant amber.
11.14
These were his treasures, and of them he had
11.14
A store, surpassing all who lived before him.
11.14
But the divine, the golden-hair'd hero,
11.14
Great Polynices, set before his father first
11.14
A silver table, beautifully wrought,
11.14
Whilome the property of th' immortal Cadmus;
11.14
And then he fill'd a beauteous golden cup
11.14
Up to the brim with sweet and fragrant wine;
11.14
But Œdipus, when with angry eyes he saw
11.14
The ornaments belonging to his sire
11.14
Now set before him, felt a mighty rage,
11.14
Which glow'd within his breast, and straightway pour'd
11.14
The bitterest curses forth on both his sons,
11.14
(Nor were they by the Fury all unheard,)
11.14
Praying that they might never share in peace
11.14
The treasures of their father, but for ever
11.14
With one another strive in arms and war.
11.15
And he proclaims to strangers from all quarters
11.15
A mighty contest, promising among them
11.15
Goblets well wrought in brass, and beauteous vases
11.15
Inlaid with gold, and silver drinking-cups,
11.15
Full twice threescore in number, fair to see.
11.16
But, mindful of the gods, Achilles went
11.16
To the rich coffer in his shady tent,
11.16
(There lay the presents of the royal dame;)
11.16
From thence he took a bowl of antique frame,
11.16
Which never man had stain'd with ruddy wine,
11.16
Nor raised in offerings to the pow'rs divine,
11.16
But Peleus' son; and Peleus' son to none
11.16
Had raised in offerings but to Jove alone.Iliad, xvi. 225, Pope's version.
11.16
And she received the gift, and on the bowl
11.16
Admiring gazed with much delighted soul.
11.16
They pledged each other in their golden cups.Iliad, iv. 3.
11.17
And others drain with eager lips the cup,
11.17
Full of the juice of ancient wine, o'ershadow'd
11.17
With sparkling foam,—the golden-wrought rich cup,
11.17
Which circled round they raised: one long, deep draught
11.17
They drain, and raise the bottom to the skies.
11.17
O you, who . . . . . and vomit golden . . .
11.17
Could you but see the well-prepared cups,
11.17
All made of gold, my Trophimus; by heaven,
11.17
They are magnificent! I stood amazed
11.17
When I beheld them first. Then there were also
11.17
Large silver cups, and jugs larger than I.
11.18
And never let a man a goblet take,
11.18
And first pour in the wine; but let the water
11.18
Come first, and after that, then add the wine.
11.18
Bring me water -bring me wine,
11.18
Quick, O boy; and bring, besides,
11.18
Garlands, rich with varied flowers;
11.18
And fill the cup, that I may not
11.18
Engage in hopeless strife with love.
11.18
Pour in three measures of the limpid stream,
11.18
Pure from an everflowing spring; and then
11.18
Add a fourth cup of sacred rosy wine.
11.19
The sketch was by Parrhasius,—by Mys
11.19
The workmanship; and now I represent
11.19
The lofty Troy, which great Achilles took.
11.21
You see that when men drink, they then are rich;
11.21
They do whate'er they please,—they gain their actions,
11.21
They're happy themselves, and they assist their friends.
11.21
When the sad, laborious cares
11.21
Flee from the weary hearts of men,
11.21
And in the wide, expansive ocean
11.21
Of golden wealth we all set sail,
11.21
Floating towards the treacherous shore.
11.21
E'en he who is poor, is rich when he
11.21
Has fill'd his soul with rosy wine;
11.21
And he who's rich. . . .
11.21
becomes elated
11.21
Beneath the glad dominion of the vine.
11.22
'Tis death to drink of wine when water's mix'd:
11.22
But she took equal shares, two choes full
11.22
Of unmix'd wine, in a large ancyla:
11.22
And calling on her dear Corinthian lover
11.22
By name, threw in his honour a cottabus.
11.22
When she does throw to the youths a cottabus
11.22
From her ancyla, stretching her white arm forth.
11.22
The cottabus of th' ancyla (ἀγκυλήτους κοττάβους).
11.23
Throw down th' acatia,
11.23
and take instead
11.23
The larger goblets; and the old woman lead
11.23
Straight to the cup; . . . the younger maiden . . . .
11.23
. . . . . . . fill it; have your oar
11.23
All ready, loose the cables, bend the sails.
11.24
In a rich golden cup he pour'd the wine;Odyss. iii. 40.
11.24
To each a portion of the feast he bore,
11.24
And held the golden goblet (ἄλεισον) foaming o'er;
11.24
And gave the goblet (δέπας) to Ulysses' son.
11.24
The cup which Peleus' son
11.24
Had raised in offerings to Jove alone.
11.24
High in his hands he rear'd the golden bowl
11.24
By both its ears.
11.25
And opening a fair cask of fragrant wine,
11.25
He pours it straight into the hollow cup;
11.25
And then he drank it sheer and not disturb'd,
11.25
And drain'd it at one draught (ἐξεμύστισε).
11.25
Gentle musician, let that dulcet strain
11.25
Proceed; and, while I drink this luscious draught,
11.25
Play you a tune; then you shall drink yourself.
11.25
For mortal man has no great wants on earth,
11.25
Except to love and eat;-and you're too stingy.
11.26
He pour'd upon his head
11.26
Ambrosia from a holy cup (ἀρύβαλλος).
11.26
You are most accursed of all women,
11.26
Who come to supper with your ἀρύστεις.
11.26
And drinking out of golden argyrides.
11.28
A baucalis, with four rings mark'd on it.
11.28
'Tis sweet for men to drink (καταβαυκαλίσαι)
11.28
Cups of the juice by bees afforded,
11.28
At early dawn, when parch'd by thirst,
11.28
Caused by too much wine overnight.
11.30
A. Shall I describe to you the appearance first
11.30
O' the cup you speak of? Know, then, it was round;
11.30
Exceeding small; old, sadly broken too
11.30
About the ears; and all around the brim
11.30
Were carved letters.
11.30
B. Were there those nineteen
11.30
Engraved in gold,—To Jupiter the Saviour?The Greek has ἕνδεκα, eleven, being the number of letters in διὸς σωτῆρος. I have altered the number to make it correspond to the letters in To Jupiter the Saviour.
11.30
A. Those, and no others.
11.30
And the god's cup long since has call'd me,
11.30
Showing this writing,—delta, then iota,
11.30
The third letter was omega, then nu,
11.30
Then u came next, and after that a sigma
11.30
And omicron were not deficient.
11.30
Neither you, nor the carriage-horse, nor samphoras.
11.30
Before long series of songs were heard,
11.30
And the ill-sounding san from out men's mouths.
11.30
A. Above all things I hate a letter'd cup,
11.30
Since he, my son, the time he went away,
11.30
Had such a cup with him.
11.30
B. There are many like it.
11.32
And as for all the kinds of drinking-cups,
11.32
Lady, all fair to see,—dicotyli,
11.32
Tricotyli besides, the mighty deinus,
11.32
Which holds an entire measure, and the cymbion
11.32
The scyphus and the rhytum; on all these
11.32
The old woman keeps her eyes, and minds nought else.
11.32
Dost know, O Creon, what the upper part
11.32
Of your head doth resemble? I can tell you:
11.32
'Tis like a deinus turned upside down.
11.32
A. I lately introduced a hook-nosed woman,
11.32
Her name Nicostrata; but surnamed also
11.32
Scotodeina, since (at least that is the story)
11.32
She stole a silver deinus in the dark.
11.32
B. A terrible thing (δεινὸν), by Jove; a terrible thing!
11.32
A strange thing (δεινὸν) is this deinus and calathiscus.
11.33
Let others bring the bowl of solid silver,
11.33
Or golden cups (δέπαστρα), which in my halls are stored.
11.33
And golden cups (δέπαστρα), and a pure untouch'd vessel
11.33
Of honey sweet, which will be beat for him.
11.34
And you shall have a gift worth running for,
11.34
A finger handled cup, not touch'd by fire,
11.34
The mighty prize once given by Pelias,
11.34
And by swift Castor won.
11.34
ἄπυρον κατέθηκε λέβητα,
11.34
And for the fifth he gave a double bowl,
11.34
Which fire had never touch'd;
11.35
A. If that is not enough, here is the boy
11.35
Bringing the elephant.
11.35
B. In God's name tell me,
11.35
What beast is that?
11.35
A. 'Tis a mighty cup,
11.35
Pregnant with double springs of rosy wine,
11.35
And able to contain three ample measures;
11.35
The work of Alcon. When I was at Cypseli,
11.35
Adæus pledged me in this selfsame cup.
11.36
Sos. The king then pledged him in a certain village.
11.36
B. A wondrous thing. What can you mean? Is this
11.36
A kind of goblet?
11.36
Sos. No; I mean a village
11.36
Near Thyria.
11.36
B. Why, my whole thoughts were borne
11.36
Off to the Rhodian cups, O Sosia,
11.36
And to those heavy bowls they call ephebi.
11.37
A psycter, and a cyathus, and cymbia,
11.37
Four rhyta, and three hedypotides,
11.37
A silver strainer, too.
11.37
And Archephon had twelve ἡδυπότια.
11.38
And then the Sun, great Hyperion's offspring,
11.38
Embarked in his golden cup, that he
11.38
Might cross the ocean's wide expanse, and come
11.38
To the deep foundations of immortal Night;
11.38
To his fond mother, and his virgin bride,
11.38
And his dear children. And the son of Jove
11.38
Came to the grove
11.38
Shaded with laurels and with bays.
11.38
And then the most illustrious Erythea
11.38
Sent the Sun forth in a convenient cup.
11.38
There in the west is found the golden cup,
11.38
Great Vulcan's work, your father's property,
11.38
In which he's borne along his rapid course
11.38
O'er the dark waters of the boundless sea.
11.38
When, his work done, he flies before dark Night,
11.38
Borne on her black-horsed chariot.
11.39
For the Sun labours every day, nor ever
11.39
Do he or his fleet steeds know pleasing rest
11.39
From that bright hour when the rosy Morn,
11.39
Leaving her ocean-bed, mounts up to heaven.
11.39
For all across the sea, a lovely bed
11.39
Of precious gold, the work of Vulcan's hands,
11.39
Conveys the god; passing on rapid wings
11.39
Along the water, while he sleeps therein,
11.39
From the bright region of th' Hesperides,
11.39
To th' Ethiopian shore, where his swift car
11.39
And fiery horses wait within their stalls
11.39
Till bright Aurora comes again and opes
11.39
Her rosy portals. Then Hyperion's son
11.39
Ascends again his swift untiring car.
11.41
And when he had, though scarcely, come t' himself,
11.41
He begg'd a cup of wine (κύλικα), and when he'd got it,
11.41
He drank down frequent draughts, and drain'd it well;
11.41
And, as the proverb says, the man sometimes
11.41
Is quite a bladder, and sometimes a sack.
11.41
A. Come hither you, you faithful child of Thericles,
11.41
You noble shape, and what name shall we give you
11.41
Are you a looking-glass of nature? If
11.41
You were but full, then I could wish for nothing
11.41
Beyond your presence. Come then—
11.41
B. How I hate you,
11.41
You old Theolyta.
11.41
A. Old dost thou call me, friend?
11.41
B. What can I call you else? but hither come,
11.41
Let me embrace you; come to your fellow-servant:
11.41
Is it not so?
11.41
A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . you try me.
11.41
B. See here I pledge you in fair friendship's cup.
11.41
A. And when you've drunk your fill, then hand the cup
11.41
Over to me the first.
11.42
And when they had done supper, (for I wish
11.42
To put all things that happen'd in the interval
11.42
Together,) then the thericlean cup
11.42
Of Jove the Saviour was introduced,
11.42
Full of the luscious drops which o'er the sea
11.42
Came from the isle of the delicious drinks,
11.42
The sea-girt Lesbos, full, and foaming up,
11.42
And each one in his right hand gladly seized it.
11.42
I never drain'd a cup more carefully,
11.42
For I did make the earthen cask more clean
11.42
Than Thericles did make his well-turn'd cups
11.42
E'en in his youth.
11.42
And then they drain'd the valiant cup yclept
11.42
The thericlean; foaming o'er the brim,
11.42
With Lacedæmonian lip, loud sounding
11.42
As if 'twere full of pebbles, dark in colour,
11.42
A beauteous circle, with a narrow bottom,
11.42
Sparkling and brilliant, beautifully wash'd,
11.42
All crown'd with ivy; and the while they call'd
11.42
On the great name of Jove the Saviour.
11.42
O potter's earth, you whom great Thericles
11.42
Once fashion'd, widening out the circling depth
11.42
Of your large hollow sides; right well must you
11.42
Have known the natures and the hearts of women,
11.42
That they are not well pleased with scanty cups.
11.42
There is, besides, a thericlean cup,
11.42
Having a golden wreath of ivy round it,
11.42
Carved on it, not appended.
11.42
He drank a thericlean cup of unmix'd wine,
11.42
Right full, and foaming o'er the brim.
11.43
And in the midst a thericlean bowl
11.43
Resplendent stood; full of old clear white wine,
11.43
And foaming to the brim. I took it empty,
11.43
And wiped it round, and made it shine, and placed it
11.43
Firm on its base, and crown'd it round with branches
11.43
Of Bacchus' favourite ivy.
11.43
And being moderately drunk, he took
11.43
And drain'd the thericleum (τὴν θηρίκλειον).
11.43
Drinking a thericleum of three pints.
11.43
A. I want now the large thericlean cup (τῆς θηρικλείου τῆς μεγάλης).
11.43
B. I know it well.
11.43
A. Likewise the Rhodian cups;
11.43
For when I've pour'd the liquor into them,
11.43
I always seem to drink it with most pleasure.
11.44
Then there were robes of fine embroidery,
11.44
And silver plate, and very skilful chasers
11.44
Who ornament the thericlean cups,
11.44
And many other noble bowls besides.
11.44
Therefore my master very lately took
11.44
The well-turn'd orb of a thericlean cup,
11.44
Full foaming to the brim with luscious wine,
11.44
Mix'd half-and-half, a most luxurious draught,
11.44
And gave it me as a reward for virtue;
11.44
I think because of my tried honesty;
11.44
And then, by steeping me completely in it,
11.44
He set me free.
11.44
He mixes beautifully a large cup
11.44
Of earthenware, of thericlean fashion,
11.44
Holding four pints, and foaming o'er the brim;
11.44
Not Autocles himself, by earth I swear,
11.44
Could in his hand more gracefully have borne it.
11.44
And bring a thericlean cup, which holds
11.44
More than four pints, and's sacred to good fortune.
11.45
I breakfasted on one small piece of cheesecake,
11.45
And drank a cadus full of wine.
11.45
A. Craters, and cadi, olkia, and crunea.
11.45
B. Are these crunea?
11.45
A. To be sure these are,
11.45
Luteria, too. But why need I name each
11.45
For you yourself shall see them.
11.45
B. Do you say
11.45
That the great monarch's son, Pixodarus,
11.45
Has come to this our land?
11.45
Let us then drink; perhaps among our cups
11.45
We may on some new wise and merry plan
11.45
With all good fortune light. Come, soak me well
11.45
In cups (κάδοις) of Chian wine, and say to me,
11.45
Come, sport and drink, good Hedylus; I hate
11.45
To live an empty life, debarr'd from wine.
11.45
From morn till night, and then from night till morn,
11.45
The thirsty Pasisocles sits and drinks,
11.45
In monstrous goblets (κάδοις), holding quite four quarts,
11.45
And then departs whatever way he pleases.
11.45
But midst his cups he sports more mirthfully,
11.45
And is much stronger than Sicelides.
11.45
How his wit sparkles I Follow his example,
11.45
And ever as you write, my friend, drink too.
11.46
The wine of Mercury, which some draw forth
11.46
From a large jug, and some from a cadiscus,
11.46
Mix'd with pure water, half-and-half.
11.47
Bring here the vinegar cruets, and canthari.
11.47
And then I saw Hermaiscus turning over
11.47
One of these mighty canthari, and near him
11.47
There lay a blanket, and his well-fill'd wallet.
11.47
But I (for opposite the house there was
11.47
A wine-shop recently establish'd)
11.47
There watch'd the damsel's nurse; and bade the vintner
11.47
Mix me a measure of wine worth an obol,
11.47
And set before me a full-sized cantharus.
11.47
How dry and empty is this cantharus!
11.47
And again, in another place-
11.47
Soon as she took it, she did drink it up,—
11.47
How much d'ye think? a most enormous draught;
11.47
And drain'd the cantharus completely dry.
11.47
Pour, boy, no longer in the silver tankard,
11.47
But let us have again recourse to the deep.
11.47
Pour, boy, I bid you, in the cantharus,
11.47
Pour quick, by Jove, aye, by the Cantharus,The cantharus was also a kind of beetle worshipped in Egypt, and as such occasionally invoked in an oath. pour.
11.47
But now they do no longer canthari make,
11.47
At least not large ones; but small shallow cups
11.47
Are come in fashion, and they call them neater,
11.47
As if they drank the cups, and not the wine.
11.48
A gentle breeze mocking the curling waves,
11.48
Sciron's fair daughter, gently on its course
11.48
Brought with a noiseless foot the cantharus;
11.48
here cantharus evidently means a boat.
11.48
And then Chærestratus, in his own abode,
11.48
Working with modest zeal, did weep each day
11.48
A hundred canthari well fill'd with wine.
11.48
A. Is it a ship of twenty banks of oars,
11.48
Or a swan, or a cantharus? For when
11.48
I have learnt that, I then shall be prepared
11.48
Myself t' encounter everything.
11.48
B. It is
11.48
A cycnocantharus, an animal
11.48
Compounded carefully of each.
11.48
A. Leaving the salt depths of the Aegean sea,
11.48
Theophilus has come to us, O Strato.
11.48
How seasonably now do I say your son
11.48
Is in a prosperous and good condition,
11.48
And so's that golden cantharus.
11.48
B. What cantharus?
11.48
A. Your vessel.
11.48
B. You say my ship is safe?
11.48
A. Indeed I do,
11.48
That gallant ship which Callicles did build,
11.48
And which the Thurian Euphranor steer'd.
11.48
Peleus—but PeleusThere is a pun here on the name, as if Peleus were derived from πηλὸς, clay. is a potter's name,
11.48
The name of some dry withered lamp-maker,
11.48
Known too as Cantharus, exceeding poor,
11.48
Far other than a king, by Jove.
11.49
And they all had well-fill'd carchesia,
11.49
And out of them they pour'd libations, wishing
11.49
All manner of good fortune to the bridegroom.
11.49
And they were at the table in the middle,
11.49
Between the dishes and carchesia;
11.50
Come, O boy, and bring me now
11.50
A celebe, that I may drink
11.50
A long deep draught, and draw no breath.
11.50
It will ten measures of water hold,
11.50
And five of mighty Chian wine.
11.50
He bade the heralds bear to them a bladder
11.50
Fill'd with dark wine, and the most choice of all,
11.50
The celebea in his house which lay,
11.50
Fill'd with pure honey.
11.50
But taking up a mighty celebeum
11.50
In both his hands, well filled with richest honey,
11.50
Which in great store he had most excellent.
11.50
And golden cups of wine, and then besides,
11.50
A celebeum yet untouch'd by man,
11.50
Full of pure honey, his most choice of treasures.
11.50
And crown this celebeum with the wool,
11.50
Well dyed in scarlet, of the fleecy sheep.
11.50
Or whether you from any other stream
11.50
Have fill'd your celebe with limpid water.
11.50
And the attendant pour'd forth luscious wile,
11.50
Holding a celebe of goodly size.
11.51
After those monsters fierce
11.51
Learnt the invincible strength of luscious wine;
11.51
Then with a sudden fury,
11.51
With mighty hands they threw the snow-white milk
11.51
Down from the board,
11.51
And of their own accord
11.51
Drank away their senses in the silver-mounted horns.
11.51
With silver-mounted horns,
11.51
Fitted with mouthpieces of rich-wrought gold.
11.51
And when a man has drain'd the golden cup,
11.51
She, pressing it beneath her tender arm,
11.51
Returns it to him full.
11.51
Do you now know the thing you ought to do?
11.51
Give not that cup to me; but from this horn
11.51
Give me but once more now to drink a draught.
11.51
He then the sacred drink of nectar quaff'd
11.51
From the gold-mounted brims of th' ample horns,
11.51
And then they all did drink awhile.
11.53
And all the crowd of shepherds flock'd together,
11.53
One bearing a huge ivy bowl of milk,
11.53
Refreshing medicine of weary toil;
11.53
Another brought the juice o' the purple vine.
11.53
Holding a cup (κισσύβιον) of dark rich-colour'd wine.
11.53
For he abhorr'd to drink at one long draught
11.53
Th' amystis loved in Thrace, not drawing breath:
11.53
And soberly preferr'd a small cissybium:
11.53
And when for the third time the cup (ἄλεισον) went round,
11.53
I thus addressed him . . . . . .
11.53
This threshold shall contain (χείσεται) them both.
11.55
Then, too, there is in Cappadocia,
11.55
O Struthion, a noble golden cup,
11.55
Called condu, holding ten full cotyle.
11.55
A. Why do you so attend to this one soldier?
11.55
He has no silver anywhere, I know well;
11.55
But at the most one small embroider'd carpet,
11.55
(And that is quite enough for him,) on which
11.55
Some Persian figures and preposterous shapes
11.55
Of Persian griffins, and such beasts, are work'd.
11.55
B Away with you, you wretch.
11.55
A. And then he has
11.55
A condu, a wine-cooler, and a cymbium.
11.55
But he first pour'd libations to the gods
11.55
From a large silver condu; then he rose,
11.55
And straight departed by another road.
11.56
He brought a cotylus first, a pledge for his neighbours.
11.56
He brings a cotylus.
11.56
And then the priest utt'ring well-omen'd prayers,
11.56
Stood in the midst, and in a gorgeous dress,
11.56
Pour'd a libation from the cotylus.
11.57
And other women, more advanced in age,
11.57
Into their stomachs pour'd, without restraint,
11.57
From good-sized cotylæ, dark Thasian wine,
11.57
The whole contents of a large earthen jar,
11.57
Urged by their mighty love for the dark wine.
11.57
And all around the corpse the black blood flow'd,
11.57
As if pour'd out from some full cotyle.
11.57
There is many a slip
11.57
'Twixt the cup (κοτύλης) and the lip.
11.57
And having bought three chœnixes of meal,
11.57
All but one cotyla, he accounts for twenty.
11.57
And then to drink a double measure,
11.57
Two heminæ of tepid water full,
11.57
Turn up the hemina, O boy.
11.57
The cotylisca? By no means.
11.57
A cotyliscium (κοτυλίσκιον) with a broken lip.
11.57
And he makes music with his brazen κότυλαι.
11.57
Nor will I crown the cotyliscus.
11.57
And Simmias interprets the word κοτύλη by ἄλεισον.
11.59
A. Crateres, cadi, holcia, crounea,
11.59
B. Are these crounea?
11.59
A. Yes, indeed these are.
11.59
Three sovereign antidotes for poison
11.59
Are buried in a single cyathis.
11.60
Now wash the κύλιξ out; I'll give you then
11.60
Some wine to drink: put o'er the cup a strainer,
11.60
And then pour in some wine.
11.60
O Thrasybulus, now I send
11.60
This pair of pleasantly-meant odes
11.60
As an after-supper entertainment for you.
11.60
May it, I pray, be pleasing
11.60
To all the guests, and may it be a spur
11.60
To draw on cups of wine,
11.61
But this is taper-brimm'd (φοξίχειλος),
11.61
His head was sharp at top.
11.61
And a Chian κύλιξ hung on a peg aloft.
11.61
But it is best to bring, as soon as possible,
11.61
Dark wine, and one large common bowl for all,
11.61
And some κυλιχνίδες besides
11.61
Let us at once sit down and drink our wine,
11.61
Why do we wait for lights? Our day is but
11.61
A finger's span. Bring forth large goblets (κύλιχναι) now
11.61
Of various sorts. For the kind liberal son
11.61
Of Jove and Semele gave rosy wine,
11.61
Which bids us all forget our griefs and cares;
11.61
So pour it forth, and mix in due proportion.
11.61
Drops of wine (λάταγες) fly from Teian culichnæ,
11.62
A. For I am coming almost boil'd away
11.62
From the hot bath; my throat is parch'd and dry;
11.62
Give me some wine. I vow my mouth and all
11.62
My jaws are sticky with the heat.
11.62
B. Shall I
11.62
Then take the κυλίσκη, O damsel, now?
11.62
A. By no means, 'tis so small; and all my bile
11.62
Has been stirr'd up since I did drink from it,
11.62
Not long ago, some medicine. Take this cup
11.62
Of mine, 'tis larger, and fill that for me.
11.62
And then they bade the potter to prepare
11.62
Some goblets for the men, of broader shape,
11.62
Having no walls, but only a foundation,
11.62
And scarcely holding more than a mere shell.
11.62
More like to tasting cups; but for themselves
11.62
They order good deep κύλικες, good-sized,
11.62
Downright wine-carrying transports, wide and round,
11.62
Of delicate substance, swelling in the middle.
11.62
A crafty order: for with prudent foresight
11.62
They were providing how, without much notice,
11.62
They might procure the largest quantity
11.62
Of wine to drink themselves; and then when we
11.62
Reproach them that 'tis they who've drunk up everything,
11.62
They heap abuse on us, and swear that they,
11.62
Poor injured dears, have only drunk one cup,
11.62
Though their one's larger than a thousand common cups.
11.63
But when fair Rhode came and shook above you
11.63
A cymbium full of mighty unmix'd wine.
11.63
Perhaps large cups (ποτήρια) immoderately drain'd,
11.63
And cymbia full of strong unmixed wine,
11.63
Have bow'd your heads, and check'd your usual spirit.
11.63
A. Had then those cymbia the faces of damsels
11.63
Carved on them in pure gold?
11.63
B. Indeed they had.
11.63
A. Wretched am I, and wholly lost . . . .
11.64
Chæremon brings no culices to supper,
11.64
Nor did Euripides with cymbia fight,
11.64
Give him a choeus then of wine, O messmate,
11.64
And let him bring his cymbium, and be
11.64
A second Euripides to-day.
11.64
But it were well to learn the plays of Bacchus,
11.64
And all the verses which Demophoon
11.64
Made upon Cotys; and, at supper-time,
11.64
To spout the eclogues of the wise Theorus.
11.64
* * * * * *
11.64
And let Euripides, that banquet-hunter,
11.64
Bring me his cymbia.
11.64
Come you on horseback hither, or in a boat (κύμβαισι)?
11.65
Then rising, all with goblets (κυπέλλοις) in their hands,
11.65
The peers and leaders of the Achaian bands
11.65
Hail'd their return.
11.65
Golden, two-handled.
11.65
And heralds, going round among the chiefs,
11.65
Gave each a golden cup (κύπελλον) with labour wrought.
11.65
The swineherd gave a goblet (κύπελλον) full to each.
11.66
But come now, with your cothon in your hand,
11.66
Move o'er the benches of the speedy ship,
11.66
And lift the covers from the hollow casks,
11.66
And drain the rosy wine down to the dregs;
11.66
For while we're keeping such a guard as this,
11.66
We shan't be able to forego our wine;
11.66
They leapt into th' horse-transports gallantly,
11.66
Buying cothones; but some bought instead
11.66
Garlic and onions.
11.66
Let a man give me wine to drink at once,
11.66
Taking that capital servant of the throat,
11.66
The ample cothon—fire-wrought, and round,
11.66
Broad-ear'd, wide-mouth'd.
11.66
Shall I, then, drink from out a wryneck'd cothon,
11.66
Breaking my own neck in the hard attempt?
11.66
And then he hurl'd a four-pint cothon at me,
11.66
An ancient piece of plate, an heirloom too.
11.68
We are abundantly well off at this time
11.68
For golden cylinders; and all those robes
11.68
From Persia, all those quaintly carved works,
11.68
Are now within, and richly-chased goblets,
11.68
Figures and faces variously carved,
11.68
Tragelaphi and labronia.
11.68
And now the drinking of healths began, and now
11.68
Labroniæ, inlaid with precious stones,
11.68
Were set upon the board; and slaves stood round
11.68
With Persian fly-flappers.
11.68
A. The tragelaphus, and likewise the pristis,
11.68
The batiace, and labronius too.
11.68
B. These seem to me to be the names of slaves.
11.68
A. By no means; they are all the names of cups;
11.68
And this lambronius is worth twenty pieces.
11.69
He gladly shared the Sybaritic feasts,
11.69
And drank the Chian wine from out the cups
11.69
Called the lacecnæ, with a cheerful look.
11.70
What will you do, then, when you've drunk
11.70
One single lepaste full of new wine?
11.70
You've drunk up all my blood, O king, my master!
11.70
But there was then a festival: a slave
11.70
Went round, and brought us all a lepaste,
11.70
And pour'd in wine dark as the deep-blue sea;
11.70
but the poet means here to indicate the depth of the cup.
11.70
He took an agèd woman, who had been
11.70
A long time ill, sick of a ling'ring fever,
11.70
And bruising some small root, and putting it
11.70
Into a noble-sized lepaste there,
11.70
He made her drink it all, to cure her sickness.
11.70
For she was always in the company
11.70
Of young men, who did nothing else but drink;
11.70
And with a lot of aged women too,
11.70
Who always do delight in good-sized cups.
11.70
A sponge, a dish, a feather; and, besides,
11.70
A stout lepaste, which, when full, they drain
11.70
To the Good Deity, raising loud his praises,
11.70
As chirps a grasshopper upon a tree.
11.70
Callimachus, 'tis stated, once did charm
11.70
The Grecian heroes by some promised gain,
11.70
When he was seeking for their aid and friendship.
11.70
The only thing he fail'd in was th' attempt
11.70
To gain the poor, thin-bodied Rhadamanthus
11.70
Lysander with a cothon, ere he gave him
11.70
A full lepaste.
11.70
If there was one of the spectators thirsty,
11.70
He would a full lepaste seize, and drain
11.70
The whole contents.
11.70
And the lepasta, fill'd with fragrant wine,
11.70
Shall fill me with delight the livelong day.
11.70
A stout lepaste, which, well-fill'd with wine,
11.70
They drain in honour of the Happy Deity,
11.70
Rousing the village with their noise and clamour.
11.70
To drink sweet wine from a sweet-smelling lepaste.
11.70
If anything should happen to me when
11.70
I've drain'd this promising lepaste, then
11.70
I give my whole possessions unto Bacchus.
11.71
Callistion, contending against men
11.71
In drinking, ('tis a marvellous thing, but true,)
11.71
When fasting, drank three whole choeis of wine;
11.71
And now her cup, fashion'd of purple glass,
11.71
Adorn'd with bands fragrant of luscious wine,
11.71
She offers here to you, O Paphian queen.
11.71
Preserve this first, that so your walls may bear
11.71
The spoils of all the love excited so.
11.71
Craters, cadi, holcia, cruneia—
11.71
Are they cruneia? aye, and luteria.
11.71
But why need I each separate article
11.71
Enumerate? for you yourself shall see them.
11.72
The vessel is a ναξιονργὴς cantharus;
11.73
And you, Syriscus, now this mele take,
11.73
And bring it to her tomb—do you understand
11.73
Then pour a due libation.
11.73
The metaniptrum of the Fortunate God;
11.73
Feasting, libations, and applause . . .
11.73
Archilochus, receive this metaniptris,
11.73
The brimming cup of Jupiter the Saviour.
11.73
Receive this metaniptris of Hygeia.
11.73
He raised aloft a mighty metaniptris,
11.73
Brimfull of wine, in equal portions mix'd,
11.73
Repeating all the tine Hygeia's name.
11.73
Do you, my friend, receive
11.73
This metaniptris full of wine,
11.73
The sweetly dewy gift of Bacchus.
11.73
Bromius gives this placid joy,
11.73
To lead all men to happiness.
11.73
Our table shall now be this barley cake,
11.73
And then this metaniptrum of Good Fortune . . . . .
11.73
Pour over him the metaniptrum of health.
11.74
Pour out for us now seven mathalides
11.74
Full of sweet wine.
11.75
And some seasonably then exclaim'd,
11.75
My fellow-countryman, I drink to you;
11.75
And in his hand he held an earthenware manes,
11.75
Of ample size, well able to contain
11.75
Five cotylæ of wine; and I received it.
11.75
This is a contest, and a noise of kisses;
11.75
I give a prize to him who gains the victory
11.75
In elegantly throwing the cottabus,
11.75
And striking with just aim the brazen head.
11.75
A. I then will show you how: whoever throws
11.75
The cottabus direct against the scale (πλώστιγξ,)
11.75
So as to make it fall—
11.75
B. What scale? Do you
11.75
Mean this small dish which here is placed above?
11.75
A. That is the scale-he is the conqueror.
11.75
B. How shall a man know this?
11.75
A. Why, if he throw
11.75
So as to reach it barely, it will fall
11.75
Upon the manes,The manes was a small brazen figure. and there'll be great noise.
11.75
B. Does manes, then, watch o'er the cottabus,
11.75
As if he were a slave?
11.75
You'll see, says he, a cottabus rod.
11.75
Wallowing round among the chaff;
11.75
But the manes hears no drops,—
11.75
And you the wretched scale may see
11.75
Lying by the garden gate,
11.75
And thrown away among the rubbish.
11.76
Next her white hand a spacious goblet brings,
11.76
A goblet sacred to the Pylian kings
11.76
From eldest times; the massy, sculptured vase,
11.76
Glittering with golden studs, four handles grace,
11.76
And curling vines, around each handle roll'd,
11.76
Support two turtle-doves emboss'd in gold.
11.76
On two firm bases stood the mighty bowl,
11.76
Lest the top weight should make it loosely roll:
11.76
A massy weight, yet heaved with ease by him,
11.76
Though all too great for men of lesser limb.
11.76
He spoke,—and, furious, hurl'd against the ground
11.76
His sceptre, starr'd with golden studs around;
11.76
A radiant baldric, o'er his shoulder tied,
11.76
Sustain'd the sword that glittered at his side:
11.76
Gold were the studs—a silver sheath encased
11.76
The shining blade.
11.78
There do they shine in heaven,—ornaments
11.78
Fix'd there for ever as the night comes round.
11.79
When the seven daughters of the Libyan king
11.79
Rise in the heavens, then begin to mow;
11.79
And when they hide their heads, then plough the ground.
11.79
Their size is small, their light but moderate,
11.79
Yet are they famous over all the world;
11.79
At early dawn and late at eve they roll,
11.79
Jove regulating all their tranquil motions;
11.79
He has ordain'd them to give signs to men,
11.79
When winter, and when summer too begins,—
11.79
What is the time for ploughing, what for sowing.
11.79
No bird of air, nor dove of trembling wing,
11.79
That bears ambrosia to th' ethereal king,
11.79
But shuns these rocks.
11.79
No bird of air, nor dove of trembling wing;
11.79
There earth, there heaven, there ocean he design'd,—
11.79
Th' unwearied sun, the moon completely round,—
11.79
The starry lights, that heaven's high convex crown'd,—
11.79
The Pleiads, Hyads, with the Northern Team,
11.79
And great Orion's more refulgent beam;
11.79
To which, around the axle of the sky,
11.79
The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye;
11.79
Still shines exalted on th' ethereal plain,
11.79
Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main,—
11.79
The Bear, whom trusting rustics call the Wain.
11.80
And may great Mercury, whose protecting pow'r
11.80
Watches o'er contests, Maia's mighty son,
11.80
Grant you success. But Atlas was the sire
11.80
Of seven dark-hair'd daughters, beautiful,
11.80
Surpassing all the maidens upon earth,
11.80
And now in heaven they're call'd Peleiades.
11.80
And it is natural
11.80
That great Oarion should advance
11.80
Not far from the seven Pleiades, at the tail (ὀρίας).
11.80
The seven celebrated daughters of
11.80
The mighty Atlas, much bewail'd with tears
11.80
Their father's heaven-supporting toil; where they
11.80
Now take the form of night-appearing visions,
11.80
The wingless Peleiades.
11.80
The mighty Jove was nourished long in Crete,
11.80
Nor yet had any of the heav'nly beings
11.80
E'er recognised their king; meanwhile he grew
11.80
In all his limbs; and him the trembling doves
11.80
Cherish'd, while hidden in the holy cave,
11.80
Bringing him, from the distant streams of ocean,
11.80
Divine ambrosia: and a mighty eagle,
11.80
Incessant drawing with his curved beak
11.80
Nectar from out the rock, triumphant brought
11.80
The son of Saturn's necessary drink.
11.80
Him, when the God of mighty voice had cast
11.80
His father Saturn from his unjust throne,
11.80
He made immortal, and in heaven placed.
11.80
And so, too, did he give the trembling doves (πελειάσιν)
11.80
Deserved honour; they who are to men
11.80
Winter's and summer's surest harbingers.
11.80
The swiftest ministers of air came near,
11.80
The quivering peleiades.
11.80
Nor do the evening cool πέλειαι set.
11.80
And now you have your home in heaven,
11.80
Showing your title with the winged doves.
11.80
Which mortals call Peleiades.
11.80
And now the Peleiades of winter set.
11.80
Then the Peleiades do hide their heads;
11.81
And curling vines, around each handle roll'd,
11.81
Bear two Peleiades emboss'd in gold;
11.81
On two firm bases stood the mighty bowl;
11.81
Two tripods (δοιοὺς δὲ τρίποδας), and ten golden talents;
11.81
Two attendants (δοιοὶ θεράπογτες):
11.81
There grew two (δοιοὶ) olives, closest of the grove,
11.81
With roots entwined and branches interwove,
11.81
Alike their leaves, but not alike they smiled
11.81
With sister fruits,—one fertile, one was wild:—
11.82
And curling vines, around each handle roll'd,
11.82
Bear two Peleiades emboss'd in gold:
11.82
On two firm bases stood the mighty bowl;
11.82
They are indeed declared by mortal man
11.82
To be in number seven; yet no more
11.82
Than six have e'er been seen by mortal eyes.
11.82
Not that a star can e'er have disappear'd
11.82
Unnoticed from the pure expanse of heaven
11.82
Since we have heard of its existence; but
11.82
The number has been stated carelessly,
11.82
And therefore they are usually call'd seven.
11.82
No bird of air, nor dove of trembling wing,
11.82
That bears ambrosia to th' ethereal king,
11.82
But shuns these rocks. In vain she cuts the skies,
11.82
They fearful meet, and crush her as she flies.
11.83
The draught prescribed fair Hecamede prepares,
11.83
Arsinous' daughter, graced with golden hairs
11.83
(Whom to his aged arms a royal slave
11.83
Greece, as the prize of Nestor's wisdom, gave):
11.83
A table first with azure feet she placed,
11.83
Whose ample orb a brazen charger graced;
11.83
Honey, new press'd, the sacred flour of wheat,
11.83
And wholesome garlic crown'd the savoury treat
11.83
Next her white hand a spacious goblet brings,
11.83
A goblet sacred to the Pylian kings;
11.83
Temper'd in this, the nymph of form divine
11.83
Pours a large portion of the Pramnian wine;
11.83
With goats'-milk cheese a flavorous taste bestows,
11.83
And last with flour the smiling surface strows.
11.83
This for the wounded prince the dame prepares;
11.83
The cordial beverage reverend Nestor shares.
11.84
A massy weight, yet heav'd with ease by him,
11.84
Though all too great for men of smaller limb;
11.84
Ἀλλ’ ὃς μὲν μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τρατέζης,—
11.84
And bring two lambs, one male, with snow-white fleece,
11.84
The other black, who shall the breed increase.
11.84
ἒνθα δὲ σὶσυφος ἒσκεν ὃ κέρδιστος γὲνετʼ ἀνδρῶν,—
11.84
There Sisyphus, who of all men that lived
11.84
Was the most crafty, held his safe abode.
11.84
ᾶλλος μέν τις μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τραπέζης
11.84
πλεῖον ἐὸν, νέστωρ δ’ ὁ γέρων ἀμογητὶ ἄειρεν·
11.85
ἄλλος μὲν μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τραπέζης
11.85
πλεῖον ἐόν· νέστωρ δ’ ζ γέρων ἀμογητὶᾶειρεν,
11.85
πλεῖον ἐὸν, νέστωρ δ’ ὁ γέρων ἀμογητὶ ἄειρεν,
11.85
ἄλλος μὲν γέρων μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τραπέζης·
11.85
πλεῖον ἐὸν, ο ʽδὲ νέστωρ ἀπονητὶ ἄειρεν.
11.87
How can a man now make him leave off this
11.87
Excessive drinking? I can tell a way;
11.87
For I will break his jugs and measures all,
11.87
And crush his casks as with a thunderbolt,
11.87
And all his other vessels which serve to drink:
11.87
Nor shall he have a single oxybaphum left,
11.87
Fit to hold wine.
11.87
Do you, then, drink;
11.87
There I will obey you.
11.87
And, by the gods, the figure of the cup
11.87
Is quite inviting, worthy of the fame
11.87
Of this high festival; for have we not—
11.87
Have we not, and not long ago, I say,
11.87
Drunk out of earthenware oxybapha?
11.87
But may the gods, my son, give many blessings
11.87
To him who made this cup-a noble cup,
11.87
As to its beauty and its good capacity.
11.87
And besides, I measure out for drinking
11.87
An oxybaphum all round; and then he swore
11.87
The wine was nothing but pure vinegar,
11.87
And that the vinegar was wine, at least
11.87
Superior to the other.
11.90
You make a noise, intemperately drawing
11.90
Superfluous wine from the large casks with olpæ.
11.91
Thick as beneath some shepherd's thatch'd abode,
11.91
The pails πέλλαι high foaming with a milky flood,
11.91
The buzzing flies, a persevering train,
11.91
Incessant swarm, and chased, return again.
11.91
Drinking from pellides; for there was not
11.91
A culix there,—the slave had fallen down,
11.91
And broken it to pieces;
11.91
And they at different times from out the pella
11.91
Did drink; and then again Arete pledged them.
11.91
For Thales,—honestest of all the citizens,
11.91
And, as they say, by far the best of men
11.91
Who at that time were living upon earth,—
11.91
Took up a golden pellis.
11.91
And with one hand he pours from out the pellis,
11.91
Weak as he was in all his limbs and fingers,
11.91
A sharp libation of sour vinegar,
11.91
Trembling, like age, by Boreas much shaken.
11.92
And every one in-doors drinks out of petachna.
11.93
That with well-omen'd words we now may pour
11.93
These plemochoæ into the gulf below.
11.94
But let the cupbearing maidens fill for us
11.94
A crater with their silver prochytæ;
11.95
First of all were two silver craters large,
11.95
And fifty phialæ, and ten cymbia,
11.95
And twelve rheonta, two of which were gold,
11.95
The others silver;-of the gold ones, one
11.95
Was like a griffin, one like Pegasus.
11.96
And they intend to drink more plenteously
11.96
Than rhodiaca or rhyta can supply.
11.97
And they intend to drink more plenteously
11.97
Than rhodiaca or rhyta can supply.
11.97
A. And of the large-sized rhyta three are here;
11.97
To-day one will be forced to drink more steadily,
11.97
By the clepsydra.
11.97
B. This, I think, will act
11.97
Both says.
11.97
A. Why, 'tis an elephant!
11.97
B. Yes, he
11.97
Is bringing round his elephants.
11.97
A. A rhytus,
11.97
Holding two choes, such as e'en an elephant
11.97
Could hardly drink; but I have drunk it often.
11.97
B. Yes, for you're very like an elephant.
11.97
A. There is besides another kind of cup,
11.97
Its name a trireme; this, too, holds one choeus.
11.97
A. Bellerophon, on Pegasus's back,
11.97
Fought and subdued the fire-breathing Chimænra.
11.97
B. Well, take this cup.
11.97
For all the journeymen to-day
11.97
Have sacrificed Soteria;
11.97
And in their company I've drunk this cup,
11.97
And now I go to my dear king.
11.97
Come hither, all ye drinkers of sheer wine,—
11.97
Come, and within this shrine behold this rhytus,
11.97
The cup of fair Arsinoe Zephyritis,
11.97
The true Egyptian Besa, which pours forth
11.97
Shrill sounds, what time its stream is open'd wide,—
11.97
No sound of war; but from its golden mouth
11.97
It gives a signal for delight and feasting,
11.97
Such as the Nile, the king of flowing rivers,
11.97
Pours as its melody from its holy shrines,
11.97
Dear to the priests of sacred mysteries.
11.97
But honour this invention of Ctesibius,
11.97
And come, O youths, to fair Arsinoe's temple.
11.98
The sannacra, and hippotragelaphi,
11.98
And batiacia, and sannacia.
11.99
To him came Mares, a swift messenger,
11.99
Straight from his house; he fill'd a silver cup ʽσ̔κύθοσ̓,
11.99
And brought it in his hand, and gave it to the king.
11.99
And then the prophet in his right hand took
11.99
The chain that held the bull; and on his back
11.99
Iphiclus laid his hand: and following then,
11.99
Holding a cup σκύπθος in one hand, in the other
11.99
Raising a staff, brave Phylacus advanced,
11.99
And, standing amid the servants, thus he spoke.
11.99
But I, in my right hand holding
11.99
A σκύπθος full of wine,
11.99
Drank to the health of the white-crested Erxion.
11.99
Gave to Arete first the well-fill'd cup.
11.99
And first he fill'd a mighty cup of wine,
11.99
Then pledg'd the hero, Peleus' son divine;
11.99
This wine he pour'd into an ample bowl,
11.99
Radiant with gold, and then with frequent draughts
11.99
He drain'd the flowing cup.
11.99
And a long cup σκύφος τε μακρός
11.99
The goblet of the god invites me ʽὁδὲ σκύθος με τοῦ θεοῦ ʽἈλεἶ.
11.99
There is no wine in the cup οἶνος οὐκ ἔνι ἐν τῷ σκύφεἰ,
11.99
Come, pour the wine into the cup ʽἑ̓ς τὸ σκύφοσ̓.
11.99
And with his aged lips he drank
11.99
A mighty cup ʽμ̔έγα σκύφοσ̓ of fragrant wine.
11.99
I rejoiced when I received τὸ σκύφος.
11.99
A mighty cup ʽἑὐρὺ σκύφοσ̓ of well-grain'd timber framed,
11.99
And fill'd with honied wine.
11.99
But having filled a cup ʽσ̔κύφοσ̓, he gave it him,
11.99
Having himself drunk from the same.
11.99
But Aristarchus in this line writes σκύφον, not σκύφος.
11.99
Gave him the cup ʽσ̔κύφοσ̓ from which he drank himself,
11.99
Well filled with wine.
11.99
And often on the highest mountain tops,
11.99
When some most tuneful festival of song
11.99
Is held in honour of the Gods, you hold
11.99
A golden vessel,—a fine, ample cup ʽσ̔κύφον̓,
11.99
Such as the shepherds, pasturing their flocks
11.99
On the high hills, delight in, . . . . . . . .
11.99
. . . . . . . . . . . . have made cheese
11.99
Most delicate and white to look upon.
11.99
Where are my many gifts and warlike spoils,—
11.99
Where are my gold and silver cups ʽσ̔κυφώματἀ?
11.99
And taking a huge scyphus-shaped cup ʽσ̔κύπφειον δέπασ̓,
11.99
Holding three measures, to his lips he raised it,
11.99
Full of rich wine, which Pholus wisely mix'd
11.99
And gave him; and at one good draught he drank it.
11.100
A. And yet among the flagons into which
11.100
We pour'd the wine out of the casks, now tell me
11.100
What is the measure some of them contain ʽπ̔ηλίκοι τινέσ̓?
11.100
B. They hold three choes each.
11.100
Bring us the full flagon ʽτ̔ὸν μεστὸν λάγυνον̓.
11.100
And this most odious flagon's ʽλ̔άγυνος οὗτοσ̓ full of vinegar.
11.100
I have an empty flagon, my good woman,
11.100
And a full wallet.
11.100
This flagon ʽἥδε λάγυνοσ̓ O Archinus, seems to hold
11.100
One half of pitch from pines, one half of wine;
11.100
And I have never met a leaner kid:
11.100
And he who sent these dainties to us now,
11.100
Hippocrates, has done a friendly deed,
11.100
And well deserves to meet with praise from all men.
11.100
O conduct worthy of a housebreaker
11.100
Or felon, thus to take a flagon now
11.100
Under one's arm, and so go round the inns;
11.100
And then to sell it, while, as at a picnic,
11.100
One single vintner doth remain behind,
11.100
Defrauded by his wine-merchant.
11.101
Capacious chargers all around were laid,
11.101
Full pails ʽσ̔καφίδεσ̓, and vessels of the milking trade.
11.101
Here there are no mighty joints
11.101
Of oxen slain,—no golden plate,
11.101
No purple rich embroidery;
11.101
But there is a cheerful mind,
11.101
And a sweetly-sounding Muse,
11.101
And plenty of delicious wine,
11.101
In cups of Theban workmanship ʽβ̔οιωτίοισιν ἐν σκύφοισιν̓.
11.102
Cymbia, phialæ, tragelaphi, culices.
11.102
But there are five phialæ, and two tragelaphi.
11.102
Tragelaphi, labronii.
11.102
And for this rich and sordid bridegroom now,
11.102
Who owns so many talents, slaves, and stewards,
11.102
And pairs of horses, camels, coverlets,—
11.102
Such loads of silver plate, such phialæ,
11.102
Triremes, tragelaphi, carchesia,
11.102
Milkpails of solid gold, vessels of all sorts;
11.102
For all the gluttons and the epicures
11.102
Call casks brimful of wine mere simple milkpails.
11.102
You swallow'd, in one small hystiacum,
11.102
A cheesecake of pure meal, and groats, and flour.
11.103
He placed a phiale upon the board,
11.103
By both hands to be raised (ἀμφίθετον), untouch'd by fire;
11.103
A golden phiale, and doubled fat;
11.103
An ample charger, of unsullied frame,
11.103
With flowers high wrought, not blacken'd yet by flame,
11.104
Receive from me these round-bottom'd phialæ,
11.104
Go quick, O damsels; hither bring the cups,
11.104
And the mesomphali;—
11.104
Receive from me these round-bottom'd phialæ.
11.104
She took a golden round-bottom'd (μεσόμφαλον) phiale,
11.104
Brimful of wine; to which Telestes gave
11.104
The name of acatos;
11.104
Garlands to all, and well-boss'd chrysides (ὀμφαλωταὶ χρυσίδες).
11.105
Here, you sir; where are you now carrying
11.105
That silver phiale (τὴν ἀργυρίδα τηνδί)?
11.105
Making libations with a golden phiale (χρυσίδι,)
11.105
He gave the serpents drink.
11.105
He first completely drain'd an ample cup,
11.105
Golden (χρυσίδα) and round, then carried it away.
11.106
He pledged the guests in phthoïdes,
11.106
We, in our private and public capacity,
11.106
Do pledge you now in this philotesian culix.
11.106
Now does the shadow of the descending sun
11.106
Mark seven feet: 'tis time for supper now,
11.106
And the philotesian company invites me.
11.106
O thou Persuasion, mistress of my soul!
11.106
And you, O philotesian cup of wine.
11.107
I, seeking to do honour to the king,
11.107
To Ptolemy and to his sister, took
11.107
Four χυτρίδια of strong, untemper'd wine,
11.107
And drank them at a draught, with as much pleasure
11.107
As any one ever swallow'd half-and-half:
11.107
And, for the sake of this agreement, why
11.107
Should I not now feast in this splendid light?
11.108
A psygeus, holding three full cotylæ.
11.108
And from Olympicus he then received
11.108
Six thericlean cups, and then two psycters.
11.108
And, as the present fashion is, they shouted
11.108
For more untemper'd wine; and some one took
11.108
A mighty psycter, giving them to drink,
11.108
And so destroy'd them wretchedly.
11.108
Now take the boys, and make them hither bring
11.108
The thericlean and the Rhodian cups;
11.108
But bring yourself the psycter and the cyathus,
11.108
Some cymbia too.
11.108
And one man having stolen a psycter,
11.108
And his companion, who has taken away
11.108
A brazen cyathus, both lie perplex'd,
11.108
Looking for a chœnix and a cotylis.
11.108
I went to see my friend while at his inn,
11.108
And there I met a dark-complexion'd man,
11.108
And told my slaves, for I brought two from home,
11.108
To put in sight the well-clean'd drinking-cups:
11.108
There was a silver cyathus, and cups
11.108
Weighing two drachmas each; a cymbium,
11.108
Whose weight was four; a ψυκτηρίδιον,
11.108
Weighing two obols, thinner than Philippides.
11.109
But when they call a ψυγεὺς a ψυκτηρίς,
11.109
And σεύτλιον τεῦλα, and the φακῆ φακεὺς,
11.109
What can one do? For I rightly said,
11.109
Give me, I pray, Pyrgothemis, some change
11.109
For this your language, as for foreign money.
11.109
How then are we to live? Our bedclothes are
11.109
A saddlecloth, and our well-fitting hat
11.109
Only a psycter. What would you have more?
11.109
Here is the very Amalthean horn.
11.109
And putting on the board a tripod and cask,
11.109
And psycter too, he gets drunk on the wine;
11.109
So will the drink be fiercer: therefore now,
11.109
If any one should say it is not fit
11.109
T' indulge in wine at present, just leave out
11.109
This cask, and this one single drinking-cup,
11.109
And carry all the rest away at once.
11.109
And gentle airs, in the cool, shady places (ψυκτηρίυις);
11.109
The trees, affording a cool shade (ψυκτήρια),
11.109
Shall now embrace him in their loving arms;
11.109
There shall my cool shade (ψυκτήριον) be, O king of men.
11.110
A. What will there be, then, for the gods
11.110
B. Why, nothing,
11.110
Unless now some one mixes wine for them.
11.110
A. Stop; take this ᾠδὸς, and abandon all
11.110
Those other worn-out fashions; sing no more
11.110
Of Telamon, or Pæon, or Harmodius.
11.111
And the old woman did not leave untouch'd
11.111
One single cup, but drank of all that came.
11.111
And then again she carries round to all
11.111
A cup of unmix'd wine.
11.111
Farewell all other things, as long
11.111
As cups of wine go freely round.
11.113
How that learned Plato invented fictitious marvels!
11.117
Fled to the shades below,
11.117
Lamenting its untimely fate, and leaving
11.117
Its vigour and its youth.
11.120
Then some ingenious young man rising up,
11.120
Some pupil of the New Academy,
11.120
Brought up at Plato's feet and those of Bryso,
11.120
That bold, contentious, covetous philosopher,—
11.120
And urged by strong necessity, and able,
11.120
By means of his small-wages-seeking art,
11.120
To speak before th' assembly, in a manner
11.120
Not altogether bad; having his hair
11.120
Carefully trimm'd with a new-sharpen'd razor,
11.120
And letting down his beard in graceful fall,
11.120
Putting his well-shod foot in his neat slipper,
11.120
Binding his ancles in the equal folds
11.120
Of his well-fitting hose, and well protected
11.120
Across the chest with the breastplate of his cloak,
11.120
And leaning, in a posture dignified,
11.120
Upon his staff; said, as it seems to me,
11.120
With mouthing emphasis, the following speech,
11.120
More like a stranger than a citizen,—
11.120
Men of the land of wise Athenians.