Book 11
10
And we may add to all this, that different cities have peculiar fashions of drinking and pledging one another; as Critias mentions, in his Constitution of the Lacedæmonians, where he says—The Chian and the Thasian drink out of large cups, passing them on towards the right hand; and the Athenian also passes the wine round towards the right, but drinks out of small cups. But the Thessalian uses large cups, pledging whoever he pleases, without reference to where he may be; but among the Lacedæmonians, ever one drinks out of his own cup, and a slave, acting as cupbearer, fills up again the cup when each has drained it. Andnaxandrides also mentions the fashion of passing the cup round towards the right hand, in his Countrymen, speaking as follows:— A. In what way are you now prepared to drink? Tell me, I pray. B. In what way are we now Prepared to drink? Why any way you please. A. Shall we then now, my father, tell the guests To push the wine to the right B. What! to the right? That would be just as though this were a funeral."The following is the note of Dalecampius on this line:—While the corpse of a dead person was being burnt, those who attended the funeral, going round the funeral pile, in order to see the face of the corpse from all sides, walked round as the undertaker bade them, sometimes turning ἐπὶ δεξιὰ, sometimes ἐπ’ ἀριστερά. The writers on Greek antiquities have observed that those who were following a corpse to the tomb went round the funeral pile from right to left, and when the funeral was over, returned going from left to right."—Schweig.
