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—
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
[36] The passage from Pindar is hopelessly corrupt.
[37] A mina was something less than a pound.
[38] A χοεὺς was something under three quarts.
[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.
[40] Sito is from σῖτος, food.
[41] It is uncertain what this name means, or how it should be spelt. Some write it Simalis.
[42] This name appears to mean, "having unexpected gain," ἕρμαιον ἔχων.
[43] Megalartus, from μέγας, large, and ἄρτος, a loaf. Megalomazus, from μέγας, great, and μάζα, a barley-cake.
[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.[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.
[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.)
[47] This was a name given to Pericles by Aristophanes, Acharn. 531.
[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.
[49] This is a mistake of Athenæus. The passage referred to occurs in the fifth book of the De Republica.
[50] A line or two is lost here, containing probably the enigmatical sentence subsequently referred to.
[51] The Greek is ἐν γάστρι ἔχει, which also signifies to be pregnant.
[52] There is probably some corruption in the text here.
[53] There is some mistake here, for they consist of eleven.