And never let a man a goblet take,
And first pour in the wine; but let the water
Come first, and after that, then add the wine.
And Anacreon says—
Bring me water—bring me wine,
Quick, O boy; and bring, besides,
Garlands, rich with varied flowers;
And fill the cup, that I may not
Engage in hopeless strife with love.
And before either of them Hesiod had said—
Pour in three measures of the limpid stream,
Pure from an everflowing spring; and then
Add a fourth cup of sacred rosy wine.
And Theophrastus says—"The ancient fashion of the mixture of wine was quite opposite to the way in which it is managed at the present day; for they were not accustomed to pour the water on the wine, but the wine on the water, in order, when drinking, not to have their liquor too strong, and in order also, when they had drunk to satiety, to have less desire for more. And they also consumed a good deal of this liquor, mixed as it was, in the game of the cottabus."
19. Now of carvers of goblets the following men had a high reputation,—Athenocles, Crates, Stratonicus, Myrmecides the Milesian, Callicrates the Lacedæmonian, and Mys; by which last artist we have seen a Heraclean cup, having most beautifully wrought on it the capture of Troy, and bearing also this inscription—
The sketch was by Parrhasius;—by Mys
The workmanship; and now I represent
The lofty Troy, which great Achilles took.
20. Now among the Cretans, the epithet [Greek: kleinos], illustrious, is often given to the objects of one's affection. And it is a matter of great desire among them to carry off beautiful boys; and among them it is considered discreditable to a beautiful boy not to have a lover. And the name given to the boys who are carried off in that manner is [Greek: parastathentes]. And they give to the boy who has been carried off a robe, and an ox, and a drinking-cup. And the robe they wear even when they are become old, in order to show that they have been [Greek: kleinoi].
21. You see that when men drink, they then are rich;
They do whate'er they please,—they gain their actions,
They're happy themselves, and they assist their friends.
