Laudator Temporis Acti

Panyassis, fragment 12 Kinkel = 16 Bernabé = 19 West (tr. M.L. West):

Come on, friend, drink! This too is a virtue,
to drink the most wine at the banquet
in expert fashion, and to encourage your fellow.
It's just as good to be sharp in the feast as in battle,
busy amid the grievous slaughter, where few men        5
are brave and withstand the furious fight.
I should count his glory equal, who
enjoys being at the feast, and encourages other folk to as well.
A man doesn't seem to me to be really alive, or to live
the life of a hardy mortal, if he        10
sits out the party restraining his appetite for the wine: he's an idiot.
Wine is as much of a blessing as fire for us on earth:
a good shield against harm, accompaniment to every song,
for it has in it a delightful element of the festive, of luxury,
of dancing, of entrancing love,        15
and a refuge from care and depression.
So you must take the toasts at the feast and
drink merrily, and not sit costive like a vulture
after you have fed your face, oblivious of good cheer.

ξεῖν᾿, ἄγε δὴ καὶ πῖν᾿· ἀρετή νύ τίς ἐστι καὶ αὕτη,
ὅς κ᾿ ἀνδρῶν πολὺ πλεῖστον ἐν εἰλαπίνῃ μέθυ πίνῃ
εὖ καὶ ἐπισταμένως, ἅμα τ᾿ ἄλλον φῶτα κελεύῃ.
ἶσον δ᾿ ὅς τ᾿ ἐν δαιτὶ καὶ ἐν πολέμῳ θοὸς ἀνήρ,
ὑσμίνας διέπων ταλαπενθέας, ἔνθά τε παῦροι        5
θαρσαλέοι τελέθουσι μένουσί τε θοῦρον ἄρηα.
τοῦ κεν ἐγὼ θείμην ἶσον κλέος, ὅς τ᾿ ἐνὶ δαιτί
τέρπηται παρεὼν ἅμα τ᾿ ἄλλον λαὸν ἀνώγῃ.
οὐ γάρ μοι ζώειν γε δοκεῖ βροτὸς οὐδὲ βιῶναι
ἀνθρώποιο βίον ταλασίφρονος, ὅστις ἀπ᾿ οἴνου        10
θυμὸν ἐρητύσας μείνηι πότον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐνεόφρων.
οἶνος γὰρ πυρὶ ἶσον ἐπιχθονίοισιν ὄνειαρ,
ἐσθλὸν ἀλεξίκακον, πάσης συνοπηδὸν ἀοιδῆς.
ἐν μὲν γὰρ θαλίης ἐρατὸν μέρος ἀγλαΐης τε,
ἐν δὲ χοροιτυπίης, ἐν δ᾿ ἱμερτῆς φιλότητος,        15
ἐν δέ τε μενθήρης καὶ δυσφροσύνης ἀλεωρή.
τώ σε χρὴ παρὰ δαιτὶ δεδεγμένον εὔφρονι θυμῷ
πίνειν, μηδὲ βορῆς κεκορημένον ἠΰτε γῦπα
ἧσθαι πλημύροντα, λελασμένον εὐφροσυνάων.

See

• Victor J. Matthews, Panyassis of Halikarnassos: Text and Commentary (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1974), pp. 74 ff.
• Tilman Krischer, "Panyassis und die Elegische Dichtung: Typologische Bemerkungen zu F 12," Hermes 102.2 (1974) 157-164
• Peter Roth, "Zu Panyassis F 12-14," Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 134.3/4 (1991) 238-252