DRINKING-CUPS.
One single vintner doth remain behind,
Defrauded by his wine-merchant.
And the line in the Geryonis of Stesichorus—
A measure of three flagons ([Greek: emmetron hôs trilagynon]),
leaves it quite uncertain under what gender the word is to be classed as far as respects that line. But Eratosthenes says that the words [Greek: petasos] and [Greek: stamnos] are also used as feminine nouns by some authors.
101. But the name [Greek: skyphos] is derived from [Greek: skaphis], a little boat. And this likewise is a round vessel made of wood, intended to receive milk, or whey; as it is said in Homer—
Capacious chargers all around were laid,
Full pails ([Greek: skaphides]), and vessels of the milking trade.
Unless, indeed, [Greek: skyphos] is quasi [Greek: skythos], because the Scythians were in the habit of drinking more than was decent. But Hieronymus the Rhodian, in his treatise on Drunkenness, says to get drunk is called [Greek: skythizô]; for that [Greek: th] is a cognate letter to [Greek: ph]. But at subsequent times scyphi were made of earthenware and of silver, in imitation of the wooden ones. And the first makers of cups of this kind were the Bœotians, who obtained a high reputation for their manufacture; because Hercules originally used these cups in his expeditions. On which account they are called Heracleotici by some people. And they are different from other cups; for they have on their handles what is called the chain of Hercules. And Bacchylides mentions the Bœotian scyphi in these words, (addressing his discourse to Castor and Pollux, and invoking their attendance at a banquet)—
Here there are no mighty joints
Of oxen slain,—no golden plate,
No purple rich embroidery;
But there is a cheerful mind,
And a sweetly-sounding Muse,
And plenty of delicious wine,
In cups of Theban workmanship ([Greek: Boiôtioisin en skyphoisin]).
And next to the Bœotian scyphi, those which had the highest reputation were the Rhodian ones, of the workmanship of Damocrates. And the next to them were the Syracusan cups. But the [Greek: skyphos] is called by the Epirotes [Greek: lyrtos], as Seleucus reports; and by the Methymnæans it is called [Greek: skythos], as Parmeno says, in his book on Dialects. And
