Αγροίκοι (fr. 3)

47

2 προπινόμενα Making pledges to fellow drinkers at a symposium is
attested as early as Homer (II. 4.3-4; cf. Ath. 1.13f-14a). Participants were
toasted by name (e. g. Critias fr. B 6.3, 6-7; Cic. Tusc. 1.96) as the cup was
passed around; cf. on fr. 1.
μεστ(ά) ακράτου Sc. ο’ίνου (Kiihner-Gerth 1898-1904 1.265-6;
Gildersleeve 1900-1911 §32; cf. Ussher 1973 on Ar. Ec. 1123; contrast Arnott
1996 on Alex. fr. 5.1). According to ancient scholarship, wine was commonly
consumed in a mixture of two parts wine to three parts water (cf. Σ Ar.
Eq. 1187a; Plu. Mor. 657d), although other ratios (esp. equal parts wine and
water; e. g. Cratin. fr. 196; Ar. Pl. 1132; adesp. com. fr. 101.12) were known; in
general, see van Leeuwen 1900 on Ar. Eq. 1187sq. Drinking unmixed wine, on
the other hand, was typically considered barbarous (e. g. Anacr. PMG 356b.3;
Ar. Ach. 75 with Olson 2002 ad loc.; Pl. Lg. 637d) and was generally reserved
for toasts dedicated to the αγαθός δαίμων (e. g. Ar. Eq. 85; Pax 300 with Olson
1998 ad loc.·, Philoch. FGrHist 328 F 5b; Philonides ap. Ath. 15.675b; cf. Arnott
1996 on Alex. fr. 9.3-4; Komornicka 1996. 169-72).
κυμβία A drinking cup apparently named after a boat (e. g. Hsch. κ 4542;
Suda κ 2683; Phot, κ 1199 [cf. κ 1207]), although Haupt 1848. 411-14 (= 1875-
18761.230-3) argues that in fact the boat is named after the cup. As Macrobius
notes, such names are common, e. g. άκατος (Antiph. fr. 3; Theopomp. Com.
fr. 4.2); τριήρης (Antiph. fr. 223.4; Epin. fr. 2.8); κάνθαρος (Phryn. Com. fr. 15;
cf. Ar. Pax 143 with Olson 1998 ad loc.); cf. English ‘schooner’; Wilkins 2000.
238-41. Like most similar cup-names, κυμβίον first occurs in the late fifth/
fourth century, e. g. fr. 33; Theopomp. Com. fr. 32; Ephipp. fr. 9.2; Alex. fr. 100.1.
The name of the boat does not occur before the fifth century (first at S. fr. 127),
although seemingly related words occur as early as Homer (e. g. II. 16.379
άνεκυμβαλίαζον). The word itself appears to be non-Greek (thus Beekes).
The κυμβίον seems to have been long and narrow (έπίμηκες καί στενόν; cf.
the lexicographers cited above; Did. p. 75 fr. 40) and could be ornamented with
chasing (Simaristos ap. Ath. 11.481d τα κοίλα ποτήρια καί μικρά [Kaibel’s
emendation τά ποτήρια καί πλοία μικρά is misguided; for the meaning of
κοίλα, cf. Arist. Oec. 1350b23; Pearson on S. fr. 378]); cf. Alex. fr. 100.1-2 with
Arnott 1996 ad loc., although his difficulty with the passage, like Kaibel’s, is
mistaken; Men. fr. 438 with Korte’s emendation (cited on 1 above). Unless the
shape of the cup can be used as evidence for the shape of the boat, little about
the latter is known other than that it was small and the name could be used
generically for any small vessel (cf. Casson 1971. 329-30).
3 έκάρωσεν A quasi-technical term for the action of a strong agent
and its ability to ‘stupify’ or ‘render unconscious’, the word and its cognates
occur rarely in poetry (Theoc. 24.59) and only here in comedy. For its use to