7. And again Homer instructs us as to what we ought to do before a banquet, namely how we ought to allot the first-fruits of the dishes to the gods. At all events Ulysses and his friends, although in the cave of the Cyclops-- Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare For his return with sacrifice and prayer.[293:5] And Achilles, although the ambassadors were impatient, as they had arrived in the middle of the night, still-- Himself opposed t' Ulysses full in sight Each portion parts, and orders every rite; The first fat offerings to th' Immortals due, Amid the greedy flames Patroclus threw. And also he introduces the guests as making libations-- He said, and all approved; the heralds bring The cleansing water from the living spring, The youths with wine the sacred goblets crown'd, And large libations drench'd the sand around. The rite perform'd, the chiefs their thirst allay, Then from the royal tent they take their way.[294:1] And this ceremony Plato also observes in his Banquet. For he says--"Then after they had supped and made libations, they sang pæans to the god with all customary honours." And Xenophon speaks in very nearly the same terms. But in Epicurus there is no mention of any libation to the gods, or of any offering of first-fruits. But as Simonides says of an immodest woman-- And oftentimes she eats unhallow'd victims. 8. He says too that the Athenians were taught the proper proportions in which wine should be mixed by Amphictyon when he was king; and that on this account he erected a temple to the Upright Bacchus. For he is then really upright and not likely to fall, when he is drunk in proper proportions and well mixed; as Homer has it-- Hear me, my friends! who this good banquet grace,-- 'Tis sweet to play the fool in time and place. And wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic and the serious smile; The grave in merry measures frisk about, And many a long-repented word bring out.[294:2] For Homer does not call wine ἠλεὸς in the sense of ἠλίθιος, that is to say, foolish and the cause of folly. Nor does he bid a man be of a sullen countenance, neither singing nor laughing, nor ever turning himself to cheerful dancing in time to music. He is not so morose or ill-bred. But he knew the exact proportions in which all these things should be done, and the proper qualities and quantities of wine to be mixed. On which account he did not say that wine makes the sage sing, but sing very much, that is to say, out of tune and excessively, so as to trouble people. Nor, by Jove, did he say simply to smile, and, to frisk about; but using the word merry, and applying that to both, he reproves the unmanly propensity to such trifling-- Makes . . . . . . . The grave in merry measure frisk about, And many a long-repented word bring out.