Sweet force, from wine proceeding, Now warms my soul with love, And on my spirit leading, With hopes my heart does move. It drives dull care away, And laughs at walls and towers; And bids us think and say, That all the world is ours. The man who drinks plenty of wine, Will never for wealth be wishing; For his cellar's a ceaseless mine, And an undisturb'd heart he is rich in. And Sophocles says-- Drinking is a cure for woe. And other poets call wine-- Fruit of the field, which makes the heart to leap. And the king of all poets introduces Ulysses saying-- Let generous food supplies of strength produce, Let rising spirits flow from sprightly juice, Let their warm heads with scenes of battle glow,[65:1] and so on. 11. It is in consequence of wine that both comedy and tragedy were discovered in Icarium, a village of Attica; and it was at the time of the grape harvest that these inventions were first introduced, from which comedy was at first called τρυγῳδία. Euripides, in the Bacchæ, says that Bacchus Gave men the wine which every grief dispels; Where wine is not, there Venus never dwells, Nor any other thing which men hold dear. And Astydamas says that Bacchus Gave men the vine which cures all mortal grief, Parent of genial wine. "For," says Antiphanes, "a man who continually fills himself with wine becomes indifferent and careless; but he who drinks but little is very meditative." And Alexis says-- I'm not beside myself with drink; nor have I so much taken As not to be quite understood by those to whom I'm speaking. But Seleucus says that it was not an ancient custom to indulge in wine or any other luxury to excess, except, indeed, on the occasion of some sacred festival; which is the origin of the names θοῖναι, and θάλιαι, and μέθαι--Θοῖναι meaning that men thought it right διὰ θεοὺς οἰνοῦσθαι, to drink wine on account of the gods; θάλιαι meaning that χάριν θεῶν ἡλίζοντο, they assembled and met together in honour of the gods. And this comes to the same as the Homeric expression δαῖτα θάλειαν. And Aristotle says that the word μεθύειν is derived from the fact that men used wine μετὰ τὸ θύειν after sacrificing. 12. Euripides says that it is possible that Those who with humble gifts approach the gods, May often holier be, than those who load The groaning altars with whole hecatombs; and the word τέλος, which he employs in the first line, means "sacrifice." And Homer uses the same word when he says-- God holds no sacrifice in more esteem, Than hearts where pious joy and pleasure beam.[66:1]