Book 15
4
There was a kind of cottabus also which they used to call κάτακτος, that is, when lamps are lifted up and then let down again. Eubulus, in his Bellerophon, says— Who now will take hold of my leg below? For I am lifted up like a κοτταβεῖον. And Antiphanes, in his Birthday of Venus, says— A. This now is what I mean; don't you perceive This lamp's the cottabus: attend awhile; The eggs, and sweetmeats, and confectionery Are the prize of victory. B. Sure you will play For a most laughable prize. How shall you do? A. I then will show you how: whoever throws The cottabus direct against the scale (πλάστιγξ), So as to make it fall——B. What scale? Do you Mean this small dish which here is placed above? A. That is the scale—he is the conqueror. B. How shall a man know this? A. Why, if he throw So as to reach it barely, it will fall Upon the manes,The manes was a small brazen figure. and there'll be great noise. B. Does manes, then, watch o'er the cottabus, As if he were a slave? And in a subsequent passage he says— B. Just take the cup and show me how 'tis done. A. Now bend your fingers like a flute-player, Pour in a little wine, and not too much, Then throw it. B. How? A. Look here; throw it like this B. O mighty Neptune, what a height he throws it! A. Now do the same. B. Not even with a sling Could I throw such a distance. A. Well, but learn.
