13
Thereupon Pittacus, addressing Mnesiphilus, asked why Solon did not drink, but by his testimony was discrediting the verses in which he had written Plutarch quotes these lines also in Moralia, 751 E, and Life of Solon, chap. xxxi. (p. 96 E); cf. Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Gr. ii. p. 430, Solon, No. 26. Give me the tasks of the Cyprus-born goddess and Lord Dionysus, Yea, and the Muses besides; tasks which bring cheer among men.
13
Before the other could reply Anacharsis hastened to say, He is afraid of you, Pittacus, and that harsh law of yours in which you have decreed, If any man commit any offence when drunk, his penalty shall be double that prescribed for the sober. Pittacus’s law is often referred to; for example, Aristotle, Politics, ii. 12, 13; Nicomachean Ethics, iii. 5, 8.
13
And Pittacus said, But you at any rate showed such insolent disregard for the law, that last year, at the house of Alcaeus’s brother, you were the first to get drunk and you demanded as a prize a wreath of victory. Cf. Athenaeus, 437 f.
13
And why not? said Anacharsis. Prizes were offered for the man who drank the most, and I was the first’to get drunk; why should I not have demanded the reward of my victory? Else do you instruct me as to what is the aim in drinking much strong wine other than to get drunk.
13
When Pittacus laughed at this, Aesop told the following story: A wolf seeing some shepherds in a shelter eating a sheep, came near to them and said, What an uproar you would make if I were doing that!
13
Aesop, said Chilon, has very properly defended himself, for a few moments ago Supra, 150 B. he had his mouth stopped by us, and now, later, he sees that others have taken the words out of Mnesiphilus’s mouth; for it was Mnesiphilus who was asked for a rejoinder in defence of Solon.
