CY´ATHUS
CY´ATHUS (
κύαφος),
derived like
κύλιξ from the root
κυ-, which means “hollow” (Curt.
Gr. Et. No. 79), and it is found applied to the hollow of
the hand (see Liddell and Scott, s. v.). It was a small cup, used for
transferring liquids from a larger to a smaller vessel. It had a high
handle, to prevent the hand touching the liquid when the cup was dipped in
the larger vessel. (See the accompanying specimen.) We hear of them as made
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Cyathus. (Dennis, Etruria, ii. p.
471.)
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of silver (
Ath. 424b) and brass (Poll.
10.122). Another form of the word seems to be
κυαφίς, which
Ath. 480b calls
κοτυλῶδες ἀγγεῖον.
That the
κύαφος was also used as a vessel
for drinking from seems to be the opinion of competent archaeologists, e. g.
Stephani and Jahn. (See Becker--Göll,
Charikles,
3.91;
Gallus, 3.403.) For the difficulties
connected with
κυαφίζεσφαι and drinking
according to cyathi, the reader is referred to
SYMPOSIUM
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Cyathus. (Dennis, Etruria, i. p.
cxx.)
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It is maintained by some (e. g. by Ussing) that
[p. 1.590]κύαφος should be applied to the ladle
with a long perpendicular handle, as in the cut below, called
simpulum or
trulla in
Latin.
The term is also applied to an exact measure of capacity. It varies with the
κοτύλη, of which it is always
one-sixth, while it is one-twelfth of the
sextarius. According to most of the tables, it is .0456 of a
litre (=2/25 of a pint); but in the table headed
περὶ
μέτρων καὶ σταφμῶν ἱππιατρικῶν it is .0547 of a litre.
The Greek symbol is
Κυ; the Latin
ΤΙ, Κυ, Κγ. (See Hultsch,
Metrologici
Scriptores, 1.237, and Index; also
Griech. u.
Röm. Metrologie, 104
sqq.,
637-9, and Table x.)
The Greek word is further applied to a cupping-glass for bruises about the
eyes (Ar.
Lys. 444); and brass cups were originally used for
this purpose. (See the Schol. on Ar.
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Cyathus. ( Museo Borbonico, vol. iv., pl.
12.)
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Pax, 572.) But the Latin
cyathus is not so used, the Latin term being
cucurbita, from its gourd-like shape (cf.
σικύα).
[
L.C.P]
