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Thesmophorius of Trœzene entitles the second θεσμοφοριάζουσαι of Aristophanes θεσμοφοριάσασαι.. In that play the poet speaks of Peparethian wine:— Shun, my boy, the Pramnian cup, Nor Thasian drink, nor Chian sup; Nor let your glass with Peparethian brighten— For bachelors that liquor's too exciting. Elbulus says— As sweet as Wine from Leucas or Miletus. Archestratus, the author of The Art of giving a Banquet, says,— When a libation to the gods you make, Let your wine worthy be, and ripe and old; Whose hoary locks droop o'er his purple lake, Such as in Lesbos' sea-girt isle is sold. Phœnicia doth a generous liquor bear, But still the Lesbian I would rather quaff; For though through age the former rich appear, You'll find its fragrance will with use go off. But Lesbian is the true ambrosial juice, And so the gods, whose home's Olympus, think it; And if some rather the Phoenician choose, Let them, as long as they don't make you drink it. The Thasian isle, too, noble wine doth grow, When passing years have made its flavour mellow, And other places too; still all I know Is that the Lesbian liquor has no fellow. I need not stop to tell you all the names Of towns which in the generous contest vie, Each for itself the vict'ry hotly claims; But still the Lesbian wine beats all, say I.
