The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 2 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Philosophy
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
And then they drain'd the valiant cup yclept
The thericlean; foaming o'er the brim,
With Lacedæmonian lip, loud sounding
As if 'twere full of pebbles, dark in colour,
A beauteous circle, with a narrow bottom,
Sparkling and brilliant, beautifully wash'd,
All crown'd with ivy; and the while they call'd
On the great name of Jove the Saviour.
And Ararus, or Eubulus, whichever it was who was the author of the
Campylion, says—
O potter's earth, you whom great Thericles
Once fashion'd, widening out the circling depth
Of your large hollow sides; right well must you
Have known the natures and the hearts of women,
That they are not well pleased with scanty cups.
And Alexis, in his Horseman, says—
There is, besides, a thericlean cup,
Having a golden wreath of ivy round it,
Carved on it, not appended.
And in his Little Horse he says—
He drank a thericlean cup of unmix'd wine,
Right full, and foaming o'er the brim.
43. But Timæus, in the twenty-eighth book of his History, calls the cup
thericlea, writing thus:—"There was a man of the name of Polyxenus who
was appointed one of the ambassadors from Tauromenium, and he returned
having received several other presents from Nicodemus, and also a
cup of the kind called thericlea." And Adæus, in his treatise on
Descriptions, considers that the thericleum and the carchesium are the
same. But that they are different is plainly shown by Callixenus, who,
in his Account of Alexandria and its customs, says—"And some people
marched in the procession, bearing thericlea (and he uses the masculine
form θηρικλείους), and others bearing carchesia." And what kind of
cup the carchesium was, shall be explained in due time. There is also
another kind called the thericlean bowl (θηρίκλειος κρατὴρ), which is
mentioned by Alexis, in his Cycnus—
And in the midst a thericlean bowl
Resplendent stood; full of old clear white wine,
And foaming to the brim. I took it empty,
And wiped it round, and made it shine, and placed it
Firm on its base, and crown'd it round with branches
Of Bacchus' favourite ivy.
Menander also has used the form θηρίκλειος as feminine, in his Fanatic
Woman, when he says—
And being moderately drunk, he took
nd drain'd the thericleum (τὴν θηρίκλειον).
And in his Begging Priest he says—
Drinking a thericleum of three pints.
And Dioxippus, in his Miser, says—
_A._ I want now the large thericlean cup (τῆς θηρικλείου τῆς μεγάλης).
_B._ I know it well.
_A._ Likewise the Rhodian cups;
For when I've pour'd the liquor into them,
I always seem to drink it with most pleasure.
And Polemo, in the first book of his treatise on the Acropolis at
Athens, has used the word in the neuter gender, saying— "Neoptolemus
offered up some golden thericlean cups (τὰ θηρίκλεια) wrought on
foundations of wood."
44. And Apollodorus of Gela, in his Philadelphia or the Man who killed
himself by Starvation, says—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account