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[209] ἓν δέπας. It was customary in the earliest times to pour the wine into the water, and not, as later, the water into the wine. Cp. Od.7. 164.

ἓν δέπας ἐμπλήσας is just equivalent to the Latin past participle, ‘unum poculum impletum;’ as, inf. 340, “ἐπέθηκε θυρεὸν μέγαν ὑψόσ᾽ ἀείρας” would be represented by ‘obicem magnum sursum sublatum admovit.’ Translate, then, ‘He poured one full cup of wine into twenty measures of water.’ For the use of ἀνά to express ‘distribution’ compare “ἀν-έμισγε δὲ σίτῳ

φάρμακα λυγρά Od.10. 235, “ἀνὰ δὲ κρῖ λευκὸν ἔμιξαν Od.4. 41.Nitzsch compares Xen. Anab.3. 4. 21ἓξ λόχους ἀνὰ εἴκοσι ἄνδρας”. In Pliny's time the wine of Maroneia kept something of its ancient fame, the proportion of the water with this wine in common use being eight to one, “sextarios singulos octonis aquaeN. H. 14. 6.

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hide References (5 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (5):
    • Homer, Odyssey, 10.235
    • Homer, Odyssey, 4.41
    • Homer, Odyssey, 7.164
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 3.4.21
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 14.6
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