Page:The Deipnosophists (Volume 2).djvu/374

 Dioxippus, too, mentions this cup, in his Miser; and so does Aristotle, in his treatise on Drunkenness; and so also does Lynceus the Samian, in his Letters.

97. There is also the rhytum—[Greek: rhyton]. The [Greek: y] is short, and the word has an acute accent on the last syllable. Demosthenes, in his speech against Midias, speaks of "rhyta, and cymbia, and phialæ." But Diphilus, in his Eunuch, or The Soldier, (and this play is a new edition of his Stormer of Walls,) says—

And they intend to drink more plenteously Than rhodiaca or rhyta can supply.

And Epinicus, in his Supposititious Damsels, says—

A. And of the large-sized rhyta three are here; To-day one will be forced to drink more steadily, By the clepsydra. B. This, I think, will act Both ways. A. Why, 'tis an elephant! B. Yes, he    Is bringing round his elephants. A. A rhytus, Holding two choes, such as e'en an elephant Could hardly drink; but I have drunk it often. B. Yes, for you're very like an elephant. A. There is besides another kind of cup, Its name a trireme; this, too, holds one choeus.

And, speaking of the rhytum, he says—

A. Bellerophon, on Pegasus's back, Fought and subdued the fire-breathing Chimæra. B. Well, take this cup.

But formerly a drinking-horn was also called a rhytum; and it appears that this kind of vessel was first made by Ptolemy Philadelphus the king, to be carried by the statues of Arsinoe: for in her right hand she bears a vessel of this kind, full of all the fruits of the season; by which the makers of it designed to show that this horn is richer than the horn of Amalthea. And it is mentioned by Theocles, in his Ithyphallics, thus—

For all the journeymen to-day Have sacrificed Soteria; And in their company I've drunk this cup, And now I go to my dear king.

But Dionysius of Sinope, in his Female Saviour, giving a list of some cups, has also mentioned the rhytus, as I have said