BOOK XV.

Footnotes.[61]Odyss. xxi. 293.[62]Diomea was a small village in Attica, where there was a celebrated temple of Hercules, and where a festival was kept in his honour: Aristophanes says—Ὅποθ' Ἡράκλεια τὰ 'ν Διομείοισ γίγνεται.—Ranæ, 651.[63]Because slaves (and the actors were usually slaves) had only names of one, or at most two syllables, such as Davus, Geta, Dromo, Mus.[64]Τήνδε μοῦσαν, this Muse; τήνδ' ἐμοῦσαν, this woman vomiting.[65]The text here is corrupt and hopeless.—Schweig.[66]This passage, again, is hopelessly corrupt. "Merum Augeæ stabulum."—Casaub.[67]There is no account of what this feast of Swings was. The Greek is ἔωραι. Some have fancied it may have had some connexion with the images of Bacchus (oscilla) hung up in the trees. See Virg. G. ii. 389.[68]There is probably some corruption in this passage: it is clearly unintelligible as it stands.[69]Σκευοποιὸς, a maker of masks, etc. for the stage; μιμητὴς, an actor.[70]See Iliad, ix. 186.Τὸν δ' εὗρον φρένα τερπόμενον φόρμιγγι λιγείῃ,καλῇ, δαιδαλέῃ, ἐπὶ δ' ἀργύρεος ζύγος ἤεντὴν ἄρετ' ἐξ ἐνάρων πτόλιν Ἠετίωνος ὀλέσσαςΤῃ ὅγε θυμὸν ἔτερπεν, ἄειδε δ' ἄρα κλέα ἀνδρῶν.Which is translated by Pope:—Amused at ease the godlike man they found,Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound,(The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thebæ came,Of polish'd silver was its costly frame.)With this he soothes his angry soul, and singsTh' immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.—Iliad, ix. 245.[71]Odyss. xvii. 262.[72]Iliad, i. 603.[73]This story is related by Herodotus, vi. 126.[74]See Herodotus, i. 55.[75]Κίνησις, motion.[76]From ὄσχη, a vine-branch with grapes on it, and φέρω, to bear.[77]It is not known what part of the theatre this was.[78]Iliad, xxiii. 2.[79]Odyss. xii. 423.[80]"This passage perplexes me on two accounts; first of all because I have not been able to find such a line in Homer; and secondly because I do not see what is faulty or weak in it; and it cannot be because it is a spondaic verse, for of that kind there are full six hundred in Homer. The other line comes from Iliad, ii. 731."—Schweigh.[81]Iliad, xii. 208.[82]There is a difficulty again here, for there is no such line found in Homer; the line most like it is—Καλὴ Καστιάνειρα, δέμας εἰκυῖα θεῆσι.—Iliad, viii. 305.In which, however, there is no incorrectness or defect at all.[83]Odyss. ix. 212.[84]Iliad, ix. 157.[85]Odyss. i. 237.[86]The Κάρνεια were a great national festival, celebrated by the Spartans in honour of Apollo Carneius, under which name he was worshipped in several places in Peloponnesus, especially at Amyclæ, even before the return of the Heraclidæ. It was a warlike festival, like the Attic Boedromia. The Carnea were celebrated also at Cyrene, Messene, Sybaris, Sicyon, and other towns.—See Smith's Dict. Ant.in voc.[87]From κλέπτω, to steal,—to injure privily.[88]καίτοι τί δεῖλύρας ἐπι τοῦτον, ποῦ 'στιν ἡ τοῖς ὀστράκοιςαὔτη κροτοῦσα; δεῦρο Μοῦσ' Εὐμιπίδου.—Ar. Ranæ, 1305.[89]The Greek word is χρώματα: "As a technical term in Greek music, χρῶμα was a modification of the simplest or diatonic music; but there were also χρώματα as further modifications of all the three common kinds (diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic)." Liddell and Scott,in voc.Smith, Dict. Gr. and Rom. Ant. v.Music, p. 625a, calls them χρόαι, and says there were six of them; one in the enharmonic genus, often called simply ἁρμονία; two in the diatonic, 1st, διάτονον σίντονον, or simply διάτονον, the same as the genus; 2d, διάτονον μαλακόν: and three in the chromatic, 1st,χρῶμα τονιαῖον, or simply χρῶμα, the same as the genus; 2d, χρῶμα ἡμιόλιον; 3d, χρῶμα μαλακόν.V. loc.[90]The Saturnalia originally took place on the 19th of December; in the time of Augustus, on the 17th, 18th, and 19th: but the merrymaking in reality appears to have lasted seven days. Horace speaks of the licence then permitted to the slaves:—"Age, libertate Decembri,Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere—narra."—Sat. ii. 7. 4.—VideSmith, Gr. Lat. Ant.[91]Pind. Ol. i. 80.[92]Ar. Vespæ, 1216.[93]Βίος ἀληλεσμένος, a civilised life, in which one uses ground corn, and not raw fruits.—Liddell and Scott in voc. ἀλέω.[94]This was a Thebes in Asia, so called by Homer (Iliad, vi. 397), as being at the foot of a mountain called Placia, or Placos.[95]The ἡμίνα was equal to a κοτύλη, and held about half a pint.[96]These are all names of different kinds of cheesecakes which cannot be distinguished from one another in an English translation.[97]Eur. Cycl. 393.[98]This is the name given to the Peloponnesus by Homer,—ἐξ Ἀπίης γαίης—II. iii. 49,—where Damm says the name is derived from some ancient king named Apis; but he adds that the name Ἀπία is also used merely as meaning distant (γῆν ἀπὸ ἀφεστῶσαν καὶ ἀλλοδάπην), as is plain from what Ulysses says of himself to the Phæacians—καὶ γὰρ ἔγω ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἔνθαδ' ἱκάνωτηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης.—Odyss. vii. 25.[99]This fragment is full of corruptions. I have adopted the reading and interpretation of Casaubon.[100]There is probably some corruption here.[101]There is probably some great corruption here; for Posidonius was a contemporary of Cicero.[102]There is a dispute whether this word ought to be written Tromilican or Stromilican. The city of Tromilea is mentioned nowhere else.[103]Eur. Cycl. 136.[104]Homer, Iliad, iii. 292.[105]Homer, Iliad, iii, 116.[106]Homer, Iliad, xix. 250.[107]Who these seven first-class authors were, whether tragedians or comic poets, or both, or whether there was one selection of tragic and another of comic poets, each classed as a sort of "Pleias Ptolemæi Philadelphi ætate nobilitata," is quite uncertain.[108]This passage is abandoned as corrupt by Schweighauser.

Footnotes.

[61]Odyss. xxi. 293.

[62]Diomea was a small village in Attica, where there was a celebrated temple of Hercules, and where a festival was kept in his honour: Aristophanes says—Ὅποθ' Ἡράκλεια τὰ 'ν Διομείοισ γίγνεται.—Ranæ, 651.

[62]Diomea was a small village in Attica, where there was a celebrated temple of Hercules, and where a festival was kept in his honour: Aristophanes says—

Ὅποθ' Ἡράκλεια τὰ 'ν Διομείοισ γίγνεται.—Ranæ, 651.

[63]Because slaves (and the actors were usually slaves) had only names of one, or at most two syllables, such as Davus, Geta, Dromo, Mus.

[64]Τήνδε μοῦσαν, this Muse; τήνδ' ἐμοῦσαν, this woman vomiting.

[65]The text here is corrupt and hopeless.—Schweig.

[66]This passage, again, is hopelessly corrupt. "Merum Augeæ stabulum."—Casaub.

[67]There is no account of what this feast of Swings was. The Greek is ἔωραι. Some have fancied it may have had some connexion with the images of Bacchus (oscilla) hung up in the trees. See Virg. G. ii. 389.

[68]There is probably some corruption in this passage: it is clearly unintelligible as it stands.

[69]Σκευοποιὸς, a maker of masks, etc. for the stage; μιμητὴς, an actor.

[70]See Iliad, ix. 186.Τὸν δ' εὗρον φρένα τερπόμενον φόρμιγγι λιγείῃ,καλῇ, δαιδαλέῃ, ἐπὶ δ' ἀργύρεος ζύγος ἤεντὴν ἄρετ' ἐξ ἐνάρων πτόλιν Ἠετίωνος ὀλέσσαςΤῃ ὅγε θυμὸν ἔτερπεν, ἄειδε δ' ἄρα κλέα ἀνδρῶν.Which is translated by Pope:—Amused at ease the godlike man they found,Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound,(The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thebæ came,Of polish'd silver was its costly frame.)With this he soothes his angry soul, and singsTh' immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.—Iliad, ix. 245.

[70]See Iliad, ix. 186.

Τὸν δ' εὗρον φρένα τερπόμενον φόρμιγγι λιγείῃ,καλῇ, δαιδαλέῃ, ἐπὶ δ' ἀργύρεος ζύγος ἤεντὴν ἄρετ' ἐξ ἐνάρων πτόλιν Ἠετίωνος ὀλέσσαςΤῃ ὅγε θυμὸν ἔτερπεν, ἄειδε δ' ἄρα κλέα ἀνδρῶν.

Τὸν δ' εὗρον φρένα τερπόμενον φόρμιγγι λιγείῃ,

καλῇ, δαιδαλέῃ, ἐπὶ δ' ἀργύρεος ζύγος ἤεν

τὴν ἄρετ' ἐξ ἐνάρων πτόλιν Ἠετίωνος ὀλέσσας

Τῃ ὅγε θυμὸν ἔτερπεν, ἄειδε δ' ἄρα κλέα ἀνδρῶν.

Which is translated by Pope:—

Amused at ease the godlike man they found,Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound,(The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thebæ came,Of polish'd silver was its costly frame.)With this he soothes his angry soul, and singsTh' immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.—Iliad, ix. 245.

Amused at ease the godlike man they found,

Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound,

(The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thebæ came,

Of polish'd silver was its costly frame.)

With this he soothes his angry soul, and sings

Th' immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.—Iliad, ix. 245.

[71]Odyss. xvii. 262.

[72]Iliad, i. 603.

[73]This story is related by Herodotus, vi. 126.

[74]See Herodotus, i. 55.

[75]Κίνησις, motion.

[76]From ὄσχη, a vine-branch with grapes on it, and φέρω, to bear.

[77]It is not known what part of the theatre this was.

[78]Iliad, xxiii. 2.

[79]Odyss. xii. 423.

[80]"This passage perplexes me on two accounts; first of all because I have not been able to find such a line in Homer; and secondly because I do not see what is faulty or weak in it; and it cannot be because it is a spondaic verse, for of that kind there are full six hundred in Homer. The other line comes from Iliad, ii. 731."—Schweigh.

[81]Iliad, xii. 208.

[82]There is a difficulty again here, for there is no such line found in Homer; the line most like it is—Καλὴ Καστιάνειρα, δέμας εἰκυῖα θεῆσι.—Iliad, viii. 305.In which, however, there is no incorrectness or defect at all.

[82]There is a difficulty again here, for there is no such line found in Homer; the line most like it is—

Καλὴ Καστιάνειρα, δέμας εἰκυῖα θεῆσι.—Iliad, viii. 305.

In which, however, there is no incorrectness or defect at all.

[83]Odyss. ix. 212.

[84]Iliad, ix. 157.

[85]Odyss. i. 237.

[86]The Κάρνεια were a great national festival, celebrated by the Spartans in honour of Apollo Carneius, under which name he was worshipped in several places in Peloponnesus, especially at Amyclæ, even before the return of the Heraclidæ. It was a warlike festival, like the Attic Boedromia. The Carnea were celebrated also at Cyrene, Messene, Sybaris, Sicyon, and other towns.—See Smith's Dict. Ant.in voc.

[87]From κλέπτω, to steal,—to injure privily.

[88]καίτοι τί δεῖλύρας ἐπι τοῦτον, ποῦ 'στιν ἡ τοῖς ὀστράκοιςαὔτη κροτοῦσα; δεῦρο Μοῦσ' Εὐμιπίδου.—Ar. Ranæ, 1305.

[88]

καίτοι τί δεῖλύρας ἐπι τοῦτον, ποῦ 'στιν ἡ τοῖς ὀστράκοιςαὔτη κροτοῦσα; δεῦρο Μοῦσ' Εὐμιπίδου.—Ar. Ranæ, 1305.

καίτοι τί δεῖ

λύρας ἐπι τοῦτον, ποῦ 'στιν ἡ τοῖς ὀστράκοις

αὔτη κροτοῦσα; δεῦρο Μοῦσ' Εὐμιπίδου.—Ar. Ranæ, 1305.

[89]The Greek word is χρώματα: "As a technical term in Greek music, χρῶμα was a modification of the simplest or diatonic music; but there were also χρώματα as further modifications of all the three common kinds (diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic)." Liddell and Scott,in voc.Smith, Dict. Gr. and Rom. Ant. v.Music, p. 625a, calls them χρόαι, and says there were six of them; one in the enharmonic genus, often called simply ἁρμονία; two in the diatonic, 1st, διάτονον σίντονον, or simply διάτονον, the same as the genus; 2d, διάτονον μαλακόν: and three in the chromatic, 1st,χρῶμα τονιαῖον, or simply χρῶμα, the same as the genus; 2d, χρῶμα ἡμιόλιον; 3d, χρῶμα μαλακόν.V. loc.

[90]The Saturnalia originally took place on the 19th of December; in the time of Augustus, on the 17th, 18th, and 19th: but the merrymaking in reality appears to have lasted seven days. Horace speaks of the licence then permitted to the slaves:—"Age, libertate Decembri,Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere—narra."—Sat. ii. 7. 4.—VideSmith, Gr. Lat. Ant.

"Age, libertate Decembri,Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere—narra."—Sat. ii. 7. 4.—VideSmith, Gr. Lat. Ant.

"Age, libertate Decembri,

Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere—narra."—Sat. ii. 7. 4.

—VideSmith, Gr. Lat. Ant.

[91]Pind. Ol. i. 80.

[92]Ar. Vespæ, 1216.

[93]Βίος ἀληλεσμένος, a civilised life, in which one uses ground corn, and not raw fruits.—Liddell and Scott in voc. ἀλέω.

[94]This was a Thebes in Asia, so called by Homer (Iliad, vi. 397), as being at the foot of a mountain called Placia, or Placos.

[95]The ἡμίνα was equal to a κοτύλη, and held about half a pint.

[96]These are all names of different kinds of cheesecakes which cannot be distinguished from one another in an English translation.

[97]Eur. Cycl. 393.

[98]This is the name given to the Peloponnesus by Homer,—ἐξ Ἀπίης γαίης—II. iii. 49,—where Damm says the name is derived from some ancient king named Apis; but he adds that the name Ἀπία is also used merely as meaning distant (γῆν ἀπὸ ἀφεστῶσαν καὶ ἀλλοδάπην), as is plain from what Ulysses says of himself to the Phæacians—καὶ γὰρ ἔγω ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἔνθαδ' ἱκάνωτηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης.—Odyss. vii. 25.

[98]This is the name given to the Peloponnesus by Homer,—

ἐξ Ἀπίης γαίης—II. iii. 49,—

where Damm says the name is derived from some ancient king named Apis; but he adds that the name Ἀπία is also used merely as meaning distant (γῆν ἀπὸ ἀφεστῶσαν καὶ ἀλλοδάπην), as is plain from what Ulysses says of himself to the Phæacians—

καὶ γὰρ ἔγω ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἔνθαδ' ἱκάνωτηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης.—Odyss. vii. 25.

καὶ γὰρ ἔγω ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἔνθαδ' ἱκάνω

τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης.—Odyss. vii. 25.

[99]This fragment is full of corruptions. I have adopted the reading and interpretation of Casaubon.

[100]There is probably some corruption here.

[101]There is probably some great corruption here; for Posidonius was a contemporary of Cicero.

[102]There is a dispute whether this word ought to be written Tromilican or Stromilican. The city of Tromilea is mentioned nowhere else.

[103]Eur. Cycl. 136.

[104]Homer, Iliad, iii. 292.

[105]Homer, Iliad, iii, 116.

[106]Homer, Iliad, xix. 250.

[107]Who these seven first-class authors were, whether tragedians or comic poets, or both, or whether there was one selection of tragic and another of comic poets, each classed as a sort of "Pleias Ptolemæi Philadelphi ætate nobilitata," is quite uncertain.

[108]This passage is abandoned as corrupt by Schweighauser.

E'enshould the Phrygian God enrich my tongueWith honey'd eloquence, such as erst did fallFrom Nestor's or Antenor's lips,[109]

E'enshould the Phrygian God enrich my tongue

With honey'd eloquence, such as erst did fall

From Nestor's or Antenor's lips,[109]

as the all-accomplished Euripides says, my good Timocrates—

I never should be able

to recapitulate to you the numerous things which were said in those most admirable banquets, on account of the varied nature of the topics introduced, and the novel mode in which they were continually treated. For there were frequent discussions about the order in which the dishes were served up, and about the things which are done after the chief part of the supper is over, such as I can hardly recollect; and some one of the guests quoted the following iambics from The Lacedæmonians of Plato—

THE COTTABUS.

Now nearly all the men have done their supper;'Tis well.—Why don't you run and clear the tables?But I will go and straight some water getFor the guests' hands; and have the floor well swept;And then, when I have offer'd due libations,I'll introduce the cottabus. This girlOught now to have her flutes all well prepared,Ready to play them. Quick now, slave, and bringEgyptian ointment, extract of lilies too,And sprinkle it around; and I myselfWill bring a garland to each guest, and give it;Let some one mix the wine.—Lo! now it's mix'dPut in the frankincense, and say aloud,"Now the libation is perform'd."[110]The guestsHave deeply drunk already; and the scoliumIs sung; the cottabus, that merry sport,Is taken out of doors: a female slavePlays on the flute a cheerful strain, well pleasingTo the delighted guests; another strikesThe clear triangle, and, with well-tuned voice,Accompanies it with an Ionian song.

Now nearly all the men have done their supper;

'Tis well.—Why don't you run and clear the tables?

But I will go and straight some water get

For the guests' hands; and have the floor well swept;

And then, when I have offer'd due libations,

I'll introduce the cottabus. This girl

Ought now to have her flutes all well prepared,

Ready to play them. Quick now, slave, and bring

Egyptian ointment, extract of lilies too,

And sprinkle it around; and I myself

Will bring a garland to each guest, and give it;

Let some one mix the wine.—Lo! now it's mix'd

Put in the frankincense, and say aloud,

"Now the libation is perform'd."[110]

The guests

Have deeply drunk already; and the scolium

Is sung; the cottabus, that merry sport,

Is taken out of doors: a female slave

Plays on the flute a cheerful strain, well pleasing

To the delighted guests; another strikes

The clear triangle, and, with well-tuned voice,

Accompanies it with an Ionian song.

2. And after this quotation there arose, I think, a discussion about the cottabus and cottabus-players. Now by the term ἀποκοτταβίζοντες, one of the physicians who were present thought those people were meant, who, after the bath, for the sake of purging their stomach, drink a full draught of wine and then throw it up again; and he said that this was not an ancient custom, and that he was not aware of any ancient author who had alluded to this mode of purging. On which account Erasistratus of Julia, in his treatise on Universal Medicine, reproves those who act in this way, pointing out that it is a practice very injurious to the eyes, and having a very astringent effect on the stomach. And Ulpian addressed him thus—

Arise, Machaon, great Charoneus calls.[111]

For it was wittily said by one of our companions, that if there were no physicians there would be nothing more stupid than grammarians. For who is there of us who does not know that this kind of ἀποκοτταβισμὸς was not that of the ancients? unless you think that the cottabus-players of Ameipsias vomited. Since, then, you are ignorant of what this is which is the subject of our present discussion, learn from me, in the first place, that the cottabus is a sport of Sicilian invention, the Sicilians having been the original contrivers of it, as Critias the son of Callæschrus tells us in his Elegies, where he says—

The cottabus comes from Sicilian lands,And a glorious invention I think it,Where we put up a target to shoot at with dropsFrom our wine-cup whenever we drink it.

The cottabus comes from Sicilian lands,

And a glorious invention I think it,

Where we put up a target to shoot at with drops

From our wine-cup whenever we drink it.

And Dicæarchus the Messenian, the pupil of Aristotle, in histreatise on Alcæus, says that the word λατάγη is also a Sicilian noun. But λατάγη means the drops which are left in the bottom after the cup is drained, and which the players used to throw with inverted hand into the κοτταβεῖον. But Clitarchus, in his treatise on Words, says that the Thessalians and Rhodians both call the κότταβος itself, or splash made by the cups, λατάγη.

3. The prize also which was proposed for those who gained the victory in drinking was called κότταβος, as Euripides shows us in his Œneus, where he says—

And then with many a dart of Bacchus' juice,They struck the old man's head. And I was setTo crown the victor with deserved reward,And give the cottabus to such.

And then with many a dart of Bacchus' juice,

They struck the old man's head. And I was set

To crown the victor with deserved reward,

And give the cottabus to such.

The vessel, too, into which they threw the drops was also called κότταβος, as Cratinus shows in his Nemesis. But Plato the comic poet, in his Jupiter Ill-treated, makes out that the cottabus was a sort of drunken game, in which those who were defeated yielded up their tools[112]to the victor. And these are his words—

A.I wish you all to play at cottabusWhile I am here preparing you your supper.* * * * * * *Bring, too, some balls to play with, quick,—some balls,And draw some water, and bring round some cups.B.Now let us play for kisses.[113]A.No; such gamesI never suffer . . . .I challenge you all to play the cottabus,And for the prizes, here are these new slippersWhich she doth wear, and this your cotylus.B.A mighty game! This is a greater contestThan e'en the Isthmian festival can furnish.

A.I wish you all to play at cottabus

While I am here preparing you your supper.

* * * * * * *

Bring, too, some balls to play with, quick,—some balls,

And draw some water, and bring round some cups.

B.Now let us play for kisses.[113]

A.No; such games

I never suffer . . . .

I challenge you all to play the cottabus,

And for the prizes, here are these new slippers

Which she doth wear, and this your cotylus.

B.A mighty game! This is a greater contest

Than e'en the Isthmian festival can furnish.

4. There was a kind of cottabus also which they used to call κάτακτος, that is, when lamps are lifted up and then let down again. Eubulus, in his Bellerophon, says—

Who now will take hold of my leg below?For I am lifted up like a κοτταβεῖον.

Who now will take hold of my leg below?

For I am lifted up like a κοτταβεῖον.

THE COTTABUS.

And Antiphanes, in his Birthday of Venus, says—

A.This now is what I mean; don't you perceiveThis lamp's the cottabus: attend awhile;The eggs, and sweetmeats, and confectioneryAre the prize of victory.B.Sure you will playFor a most laughable prize. How shall you do?A.I then will show you how: whoever throwsThe cottabus direct against the scale (πλάστιγξ),So as to make it fall——B.What scale? Do youMean this small dish which here is placed above?A.That is the scale—he is the conqueror.B.How shall a man know this?A.Why, if he throwSo as to reach it barely, it will fallUpon the manes,[114]and there'll be great noise.B.Does manes, then, watch o'er the cottabus,As if he were a slave?

A.This now is what I mean; don't you perceive

This lamp's the cottabus: attend awhile;

The eggs, and sweetmeats, and confectionery

Are the prize of victory.

B.Sure you will play

For a most laughable prize. How shall you do?

A.I then will show you how: whoever throws

The cottabus direct against the scale (πλάστιγξ),

So as to make it fall——

B.What scale? Do you

Mean this small dish which here is placed above?

A.That is the scale—he is the conqueror.

B.How shall a man know this?

A.Why, if he throw

So as to reach it barely, it will fall

Upon the manes,[114]

and there'll be great noise.

B.Does manes, then, watch o'er the cottabus,

As if he were a slave?

And in a subsequent passage he says—

B.Just take the cup and show me how 'tis done.A.Now bend your fingers like a flute-player,Pour in a little wine, and not too much,Then throw it.B.How?A.Look here; throw it like this.B.O mighty Neptune, what a height he throws it!A.Now do the same.B.Not even with a slingCould I throw such a distance.A.Well, but learn.

B.Just take the cup and show me how 'tis done.

A.Now bend your fingers like a flute-player,

Pour in a little wine, and not too much,

Then throw it.

B.How?

A.Look here; throw it like this.

B.O mighty Neptune, what a height he throws it!

A.Now do the same.

B.Not even with a sling

Could I throw such a distance.

A.Well, but learn.

5. For a man must curve his hand excessively before he can throw the cottabus elegantly, as Dicæarchus says; and Plato intimates as much in his Jupiter Ill-treated, where some one calls out to Hercules not to hold his hand too stiff, when he is going to play the cottabus. They also called the very act of throwing the cottabus ἀπ' ἀγκύλης, because they curved (ἀπαγκυλόω) the right hand in throwing it. Though some say that ἀγκύλη, in this phrase, means a kind of cup. And Bacchylides, in his Love Poems, says—

And when she throws ἀπ' ἀγκύλης,Displaying to the youths her snow-white arm.

And when she throws ἀπ' ἀγκύλης,

Displaying to the youths her snow-white arm.

And Æschylus, in his Bone Gatherers, speaks of ἀγκυλητοὶ κότταβοι, saying—

Eurymachus, and no one else, did heapNo slighter insults, undeserved, upon me:For my head always was his mark at whichTo throw his cottabus . . . .[115]

Eurymachus, and no one else, did heap

No slighter insults, undeserved, upon me:

For my head always was his mark at which

To throw his cottabus . . . .[115]

Now, that he who succeeded in throwing the cottabus properly received a prize, Antiphanes has shown us in a passage already quoted. And the prize consisted of eggs, sweetmeats, and confectionery. AndCephisodorus, in his Trophonius, and Callias or Diocles, in the Cyclopes, (whichever of the two is the author,) and Eupolis, and Hermippus, in his Iambics, prove the same thing.

Now what is called the κατακτὸς cottabus was something of this kind. There is a high lamp, having on it what is called the Manes, on which the dish, when thrown down, ought to fall; and from thence it falls into the platter which lies below, and which is struck by the cottabus. And there was room for very great dexterity in throwing the cottabus. And Nicochares speaks of the Manes in his Lacedæmonians.

6. There is also another way of playing this game with a platter. This platter is filled with water, and in it there are floating some empty saucers, at which the players throw their drops out of their cups, and endeavour to sink them. And he who has succeeded in sinking the greatest number gains the victory. Ameipsias, in his play entitled The Men playing at the Cottabus or Mania, says—

Bring here the cruets and the cups at once,The foot-pan, too, but first pour in some water.

Bring here the cruets and the cups at once,

The foot-pan, too, but first pour in some water.

And Cratinus, in his Nemesis, says—

Now in the cottabus I challenge you,(As is my country's mode,) to aim your blowsAt the empty cruets; and he who sinks the mostShall, in my judgment, bear the palm of victory.

Now in the cottabus I challenge you,

(As is my country's mode,) to aim your blows

At the empty cruets; and he who sinks the most

Shall, in my judgment, bear the palm of victory.

And Aristophanes, in his Feasters, says—

I mean to erect a brazen figure,That is, a cottabeum, and myrtle-berries.

I mean to erect a brazen figure,

That is, a cottabeum, and myrtle-berries.

And Hermippus, in his Fates, says—

Now soft cloaks are thrown away,Every one clasps on his breastplate,And binds his greaves around his legs,No one for snow-white slippers cares;Now you may see the cottabus staffThrown carelessly among the chaff;The manes hears no falling drops;And you the πλάστιγξ sad may seeThrown on the dunghill at the garden door.

Now soft cloaks are thrown away,

Every one clasps on his breastplate,

And binds his greaves around his legs,

No one for snow-white slippers cares;

Now you may see the cottabus staff

Thrown carelessly among the chaff;

The manes hears no falling drops;

And you the πλάστιγξ sad may see

Thrown on the dunghill at the garden door.

And Achæus, in his Linus, speaking of the Satyrs, says—

Throwing, and dropping, breaking, too, and naming (λέγοντες),O Hercules, the well-thrown drop of wine!

Throwing, and dropping, breaking, too, and naming (λέγοντες),

O Hercules, the well-thrown drop of wine!

And the poet uses λέγοντες here, because they used to utter the names of their sweethearts as they threw the cottabi on the saucers. On which account Sophocles, in his Inachus, called the drops which were thrown, sacred to Venus—

THE COTTABUS.

The golden-colour'd drop of VenusDescends on all the houses.

The golden-colour'd drop of Venus

Descends on all the houses.

And Euripides, in his Pleisthenes, says—

And the loud noise o' the frequent cottabusAwakens melodies akin to VenusIn every house.

And the loud noise o' the frequent cottabus

Awakens melodies akin to Venus

In every house.

And Callimachus says—

Many hard drinkers, lovers of Acontius,Throw on the ground the wine-drops (λατάγας) from their cups.

Many hard drinkers, lovers of Acontius,

Throw on the ground the wine-drops (λατάγας) from their cups.

7. There was also another kind of way of playing at the cottabus, in the feasts which lasted all night, which is mentioned by Callippus in his Festival lasting all Night, where he says—

And he who keeps awake all night shall haveA cheesecake for his prize of victory,And kiss whoe'er he pleases of the girlsWho are at hand.

And he who keeps awake all night shall have

A cheesecake for his prize of victory,

And kiss whoe'er he pleases of the girls

Who are at hand.

There were also sweetmeats at these nocturnal festivals, in which the men continued awake an extraordinary time dancing. And these sweetmeats used to be called at that time χαρίσιοι, from the joy (χαρὰ) of those who received them. And Eubulus, in his Ancylion, mentions them, speaking as follows—

For he has long been cooking prizes forThe victors in the cottabus.

For he has long been cooking prizes for

The victors in the cottabus.

And presently afterwards he says—

I then sprang out to cook the χαρίσιος.

But that kisses were also given as the prize Eubulus tells us in a subsequent passage—

Come now, ye women, come and dance all night,This is the tenth day since my son was born;And I will give three fillets for the prize,And five fine apples, and nine kisses too.

Come now, ye women, come and dance all night,

This is the tenth day since my son was born;

And I will give three fillets for the prize,

And five fine apples, and nine kisses too.

But that the cottabus was a sport to which the Sicilians were greatly addicted, is plain from the fact that they had rooms built adapted to the game; which Dicæarchus, in his treatise on Alcæus, states to have been the case. So that it was not without reason that Callimachus affixed the epithet of Sicilian to λάταξ. And Dionysius, who was surnamed the Brazen, mentions both the λάταγες and the κότταβοι in his Elegies, where he says—

Here we, unhappy in our loves, establishThis third addition to the games of Bacchus,That the glad cottabus shall now be play'dIn honour of you, a most noble quintain—All you who here are present twine your hands,Holding the ball-shaped portion of your cups,And, ere you let it go, let your eyes scanThe heaven that bends above you; watching wellHow great a space your λάταγες may cover.

Here we, unhappy in our loves, establish

This third addition to the games of Bacchus,

That the glad cottabus shall now be play'd

In honour of you, a most noble quintain—

All you who here are present twine your hands,

Holding the ball-shaped portion of your cups,

And, ere you let it go, let your eyes scan

The heaven that bends above you; watching well

How great a space your λάταγες may cover.

8. After this, Ulpian demanded a larger goblet to drink out of, quoting these lines out of the same collection of Elegies—

Pouring forth hymns to you and me propitious,Let us now send your ancient friend from far,With the swift rowing of our tongues and praises,To lofty glory while this banquet lasts;And the quick genius of Phæacian eloquenceCommands the Muses' crew to man the benches.

Pouring forth hymns to you and me propitious,

Let us now send your ancient friend from far,

With the swift rowing of our tongues and praises,

To lofty glory while this banquet lasts;

And the quick genius of Phæacian eloquence

Commands the Muses' crew to man the benches.

For let us be guided by the younger Cratinus, who says in his Omphale—

It suits a happy man to stay at homeAnd drink, let others wars and labours love.

It suits a happy man to stay at home

And drink, let others wars and labours love.

In answer to whom Cynulcus, who was always ready for a tilt at the Syrian, and who never let the quarrel drop which he had against him, now that there was a sort of tumult in the party, said—What is this chorus of Syrbenians?[116]And I myself also recollect some lines of this poetry, which I will quote, that Ulpian may not give himself airs as being the only one who was able to extract anything about the cottabus out of those old stores of the Homeridæ—

Come now and hear this my auspicious message,And end the quarrels which your cups engender;Turn your attention to these words of mine,And learn these lessons....

Come now and hear this my auspicious message,

And end the quarrels which your cups engender;

Turn your attention to these words of mine,

And learn these lessons....

which have a clear reference to the present discussion. For I see the servants now bringing us garlands and perfumes. Why now are those who are crowned said to be in love when their crowns are broken? For when I was a boy, and when I used to read the Epigrams of Callimachus, in which this is one of the topics dilated on, I was anxious to understand this point. For the poet of Cyrene says—

And all the roses, when the leaves fell offFrom the man's garlands, on the ground were thrown.

And all the roses, when the leaves fell off

From the man's garlands, on the ground were thrown.

GARLANDS.

So now it is your business, you most accomplished man, to explain this difficulty which has occupied me these thousandyears, O Democritus, and to tell me why lovers crown the doors of their mistresses.

9. And Democritus replied—But that I may quote some of the verses of this Brazen poet and orator Dionysius, (and he was called Brazen because he advised the Athenians to adopt a brazen coinage; and Callimachus mentions the oration in his list of Oratorical Performances,) I myself will cite some lines out of his Elegies. And do you, O Theodorus, for this is your proper name—

Receive these first-fruits of my poetry,Given you as a pledge; and as an omenOf happy fortune I send first to youThis offering of the Graces, deeply studied,—Take it, requiting me with tuneful verse,Fit ornament of feasts, and emblem of your happiness.

Receive these first-fruits of my poetry,

Given you as a pledge; and as an omen

Of happy fortune I send first to you

This offering of the Graces, deeply studied,—

Take it, requiting me with tuneful verse,

Fit ornament of feasts, and emblem of your happiness.

You ask, then, why, if the garlands of men who have been crowned are pulled to pieces, they are said to be in love. "Is it, since love takes away the strict regularity of manners in the case of lovers, that on this account they think the loss of a conspicuous ornament, a sort of beacon (as Clearchus says, in the first book of his Art of Love) and signal, that they to whom this has happened have lost the strict decorum of their manners? Or do men interpret this circumstance also by divination, as they do many other things? For the ornament of a crown, as there is nothing lasting in it, is a sort of emblem of a passion which does not endure, but assumes a specious appearance for a while: and such a passion is love. For no people are more careful to study appearance than those who are in love. Unless, perhaps, nature, as a sort of god, administering everything with justice and equity, thinks that lovers ought not to be crowned till they have subdued their love; that is to say, till, having prevailed upon the object of their love, they are released from their desire. And accordingly, the loss of their crown we make the token of their being still occupied in the fields of love. Or perhaps Love himself, not permitting any one to be crowned in opposition to, or to be proclaimed as victor over himself, takes their crowns from these men, and gives the perception of this to others, indicating that these men are subdued by him: on which account all the rest say that these men are in love. Or is it because that cannot be loosed which has never been bound, but love is the chain of somewho wear crowns, (for no one else who is bound is more anxious about being crowned than a lover,) that men consider that the loosing of the garland is a sign of love, and therefore say that these men are in love? Or is it because very often lovers, when they have been crowned, often out of agitation as it should seem, allow their crowns to fall to pieces, and so we argue backwards, and attribute this passion to all whom we see in this predicament; thinking that their crown never would have come to pieces, if they had not been in love? Or is it because these loosings happen only in the case of men bound or men in love; and so, men thinking that the loosing of the garland is the loosing also of those who are bound, consider that such men are in love? For those in love are bound, unless you would rather say that, because those who are in love are crowned with love, therefore their crown is not of a lasting kind; for it is difficult to put a small and ordinary kind of crown on a large and divine one. Men also crown the doors of the houses of the objects of their love, either with a view to do them honour, as they adorn with crowns the vestibule of some god to do him honour: or perhaps the offering of the crowns is made, not to the beloved objects, but to the god Love. For thinking the beloved object the statue, as it were, of Love, and his house the temple of Love, they, under this idea, adorn with crowns the vestibules of those whom they love. And for the same reason some people even sacrifice at the doors of those whom they love. Or shall we rather say that people who fancy that they are deprived, or who really have been deprived of the ornament of their soul, consecrate to those who have deprived them of it, the ornament also of their body, being bewildered by their passion, and despoiling themselves in order to do so? And every one who is in love does this when the object of his love is present, but when he is not present, then he makes this offering in the public roads. On which account Lycophronides has represented that goatherd in love, as saying—

I consecrate this rose to you,A beautiful idea;This cap, and eke these sandals too,And this good hunting-spear:For now my mind is gone astray,Wandering another way,Towards that girl of lovely face,Favourite of ev'ry Grace."

I consecrate this rose to you,

A beautiful idea;

This cap, and eke these sandals too,

And this good hunting-spear:

For now my mind is gone astray,

Wandering another way,

Towards that girl of lovely face,

Favourite of ev'ry Grace."

GARLANDS.

10. Moreover, that most divine writer Plato, in the seventh book of his Laws, proposes a problem having reference to crowns, which it is worth while to solve; and these are the words of the philosopher:—"Let there be distributions of apples and crowns to a greater and a lesser number of people, in such a way that the numbers shall always be equal." These are the words of Plato. But what he means is something of this sort. He wishes to find one number of such a nature that, if divided among all who come in to the very last, it shall give an equal number of apples or crowns to every one. I say, then, that the number sixty will fulfil these conditions of equality in the case of six fellow-feasters; for I am aware that at the beginning we said that a supper party ought not to consist of more than five. But we are as numerous as the sand of the sea. Accordingly the number sixty, when the party is completed to the number of six guests, will begin to be divided in this manner. The first man came into the banqueting-room, and received sixty garlands. He gives to the second who comes in half of them; and then each of them have thirty. Then when a third comes in they divide the whole sixty, so that each of them may have twenty. Again, they divide them again in like manner at the entrance of a fourth guest, so that each has fifteen; and when a fifth comes in they all have twelve a-piece. And when the sixth guest arrives, they divide them again, and each individual has ten. And in this way the equal division of the garlands is accomplished.

11. When Democritus had said this, Ulpian, looking towards Cynulcus, said—

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