RHYTON
RHYTON (
ῥυτόν), a drinking-horn
(
κέρας), by which name it was
originally called (
Athen. 11.497
b). Athenaeus adds that it was introduced into the statues of
Arsinoë by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and this may be seen on the coins
of Arsinoë [
Dict. of Biogr. ARSINOE]. It is
impossible that by
ὑπὸ πρώτου [τοῦ] φιλαδέλφου
Πτολεμαίου Βασιλέως, Athenaeus can have meant to assert
that Ptolemy invented the
ῥυτόν, since he
himself cites the passage of Demosthenes (
Meid. p. 565.158)
where it is mentioned. It is probable that the word
πρώτου merely distinguishes the earlier Philadelphus from
the later (Attalus II.). The oldest and original form of this drinking-horn
was probably the horn of the ox, but one end of it was afterwards ornamented
with the heads of various animals and birds. We frequently find
representations of the
ῥυτὸν on ancient
vases depicting symposia. Several specimens of these drinkin-ghorns have
also been discovered at Pompeii (
Museo Borbonico, vol. 8.14,
5.20): representations of two of these are given in the annexed cut.
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Drinking-horns from Pompeii.
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Etruscan rhyta. (Dennis.)
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The
ῥυτὸν had a small opening at the
bottom, which the person who drank put into his mouth, and allowed the wine
to run in: hence it derived its name (
ὠνομάσθαι τε
ἀπὸ τῆς ῥύσεως,
Athen. 11.497 e). We see persons
using the
ῥυτὸν in this way in ancient
paintings (
Pitt. d'Ercol. v. tav. 46; Zahn,
Ornam. und
Wandgem. taf. 90). Martial (
2.35）
speaks of it under the name of
rhytium.
(Becker-Göll,
Charikles, vol. iii. p. 91; Guhl u.
Koner, p. 164.)
[
W.S] [
G.E.M]
