Πόλεις (fr. 219)

235

3 ευτυχής εΐ Ath. : ευτυχήσει Σν : ευτυχείς ΣΕ : εύτυχεϊν Suda καλώς Ath. Suda :
κακώς ΣνΕ φρονεϊν Suda
but men you (pl.) wouldn’t have chosen previously even to be
wine-inspectors,
now generals < — ) Oh city, city!
How lucky you are, rather than clever
Ath. 10.425a-b
τοσαύτη δ’ ήν ή τών παλαιοτέρων τρυφή περί τάς πολυτελείας ώστε μή μόνον
οίνοχόους εχειν άλλα καί οίνόπτας. αρχή γοϋν έστιν οί οίνόπται παρά Αθηναίοις, ής
μνημονεύει έν ταΐς Πόλεσιν Εϋπολις έν τούτοις--. οί δέ οίνόπται ούτοι έφεώρων
τά έν τοϊς δείπνοις, εί κατ’ Ίσον πίνουσιν οί συνόντες. καί ήν ή άρχή ευτελής, ώς ό
ρήτωρ φησί Φιλϊνος έν τή Κροκωνιδών διαδικασία (11.319 Baiter-Sauppe)· καί ότι
τρεις ήσαν οί οίνόπται, οϊτινες καί παρεΐχον τοΐς δειπνοϋσι λύχνους καί θρυαλλίδας,
έκάλουν δέ τινες τούτους καί οφθαλμούς
The luxury the ancients enjoyed was so extravagant that they had not only wine-pour-
ers but also wine-inspectors. In Athens the wine-inspectors were a class of magistrate,
at any rate, which Eupolis mentions in his Poleis in the following lines:-. These
wine-inspectors supervised what went on at their dinner-parties, watching whether
the guests drank equal amounts. And the office was an undistinguished one, as the
orator Philinos reports in his Lawsuit involving the Croconidae (11.319 Baiter-Sauppe);
he adds that there were three wine-inspectors, who also supplied the dinner-guests
with lamps and wicks. But some people referred to them also as “eyes”112
sVEMatr
άποτυχόντα φασί Ποσειδώνα τής χώρας τό κακώς βουλεύεσθαι ένσκήψαι αύτοΐς, τήν
δέ Άθηνάν παρασχεΐν δωρεάν τό κακώς βουλεύεσθαι μέν, έκκλΐναι δέ καλώς. ‘ atr καί
ήν τούτο λεγόμενον έπιχώριον- καί Εϋπολις (νν. 2-3)· ώ-φρονεϊςνΕ
They say that when Poseidon failed to get control of the land, he imposed bad deci-
sion-making on them, but that Athena made them the gift of reaching bad decisions
but having them turn out well.VEMatr And this was a local saying; also Eupolis (vv. 2-3):
Oh-clever*

Meter lambic trimeter.


112

I.e. as “lookouts, spies”; cf. the Eye of the King at Ar. Ach. 92 with Olson 2002 ad
loc.