[340] νώμησαν … δεπάεσσι. The way for interpreting this line with precision has been prepared by Buttm. and Nitzsch. The following account, while in the main it follows them, supple ments them in some points. To begin with “δεπάεσσι”. That it is closely joined with ἐπαρξάμενοι is proved by Od.18. 418, “οἰνοχόος μὲν ἐπαρξάσθω δεπάεσσι”, where there is no alternative. Now, the “οἰνοχόος” (represented here by “κοῦροι”) held the “πρόχοος” ( Od.18. 397), the “δέπα” were in the hands of the company; he was ‘wine-pourer,’ not ‘cup-bearer.’ So that, whatever is meant by “ἐπαρξάμενοι, δεπάεσσι” cannot be the dativus instrumenti, but means rather ‘into the cups.’ “ἐπάρχεσθαι”, as Buttm. has shown, is a word connected with ritual. Reserving the question of the force of “ἐπί”, we see that “ἀρξάμενοι” signifies the offering in sacrifice of a ‘first portion’ of anything. The particular method of this religious ceremony as applied to wine-drinking may be ascertained from Od.18. 425“νώμησαν δ᾽ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπισταδόν: οἱ δὲ θεοῖσι”
“σπείσαντες μακάρεσσι πίον”. That is, the wine-pourer, as he came round to each of the company, poured into the cup of each a first drop, to be emptied in libation, and then he poured in the full draught. The pouring in of the first drop and the pouring it out in libation are respectively “ἐπάρχεσθαι” and “σπένδειν”. Cp. Od.18. 419“οἰνοχόος μὲν ἐπαρξάσθω δεπάεσσιν”“ὄφρα σπείσαντες κατακείομεν”. And so, in the passage before us, “ἐπαρξάμενοι” attaches to “σπεῖσαν” (342), which further indicates that “νώμησαν” prepares for “ἔπιον”. The preposition in “ἐπαρξάμενοι” signifies ‘in succession;’ it is amplified in Od.18. 425 into “ἐπισταδόν”, which means ‘stopping at each in succession.’ The same force attaches to it in Od.1. 143“κῆρυξ δ᾽ αὐτοῖσιν θάμ᾽ ἐπῴχετο οἰνοχοεύων”, and in Plato, Rep.372.B “ἐπιπίνοντες”. By comparison of Od.18. 425 and 418 we see that the pourer did not first go round “ἐπαρχόμενος”, and then make a second round to fill the cups, but that he stopped for each drinker to make his “σπονδή”, and then filled his cup.
It may be worth while here to investigate the word “ἐπὶ δεξιά” or “ἐνδέξια” which occurs in some passages in connection with wine-pouring. Is it from ‘left to right’ of the company, or of the winepourer, as he stands facing them? Doubtless of the company: cp. Od.21. 141“ὄρνυσθ᾽ ἐξείης ἐπὶ δεξιὰ πάντες ἑταῖροι”, “ἀρξάμενοι τοῦ χώρου ὅθεν τέ περ οἰνοχοεύει”, where we see that the direction followed by the “οἰνοχόος” was identical with the direction implied by “ἐνδέξια” generally, independent of any “οἰνοχόος” or any other person standing in front. In other words, “ἐνδέξια” is from left to right of the company and not of the pourer. The principle on which this direction, and not the opposite one, was followed had regard to the sun's course relatively to the Northern Hemisphere, and the wine in its movement was as it were to take the sun's place. A noticeable passage as to “ἐπὶ δεξιά” is Hdt.2. 36“γράμματα γράφουσι καὶ λογίζονται ψήφοισι Ἕλληνες μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀριστερῶν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ φέροντες τὴν χεῖρα: Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν δεξιῶν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀριστερά: καὶ ποιεῦντες ταῦτα, αὐτοὶ μέν φασι ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ ποιεῖν, Ἕλληνας δὲ ἐπ᾽ ἀριστερά”.
