Laudator Temporis Acti

Aristophanes, Knights 90-94 (tr. Jeffrey Henderson):

How dare you cast aspersions on the creative power of wine?
Can you come up with anything more effective?
Don't you see, it's when people drink that
they get rich, they're successful, they win lawsuits,
they're happy, they can help their friends.

οἶνον σὺ τολμᾷς εἰς ἐπίνοιαν λοιδορεῖν;
οἴνου γὰρ εὕροις ἄν τι πρακτικώτερον;
ὁρᾷς, ὅταν πίνωσιν ἄνθρωποι, τότε
πλουτοῦσι, διαπράττουσι, νικῶσιν δίκας,
εὐδαιμονοῦσιν, ὠφελοῦσι τοὺς φίλους.

Horace, Epistles 1.5.16-20 (tr. H. Rushton Fairclough):

What a miracle cannot the wine-cup work! It unlocks secrets,
bids hopes be fulfilled, thrusts the coward into the field,
takes the load from anxious hearts, teaches new arts.
The flowing bowl—whom has it not made eloquent?
Whom has it not made free even amid pinching poverty?

quid non ebrietas dissignat? operta recludit,
spes iubet esse ratas, ad proelia trudit inertem,
sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artes.
fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?
contracta quem non in paupertate solutum?