Jancis Robinson

Lyric Poetry

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

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There are many references to wine in the lyric poets of Ancient greece. Archilochos, writing in the middle of the 7th century bc, describes the comfort brought by wine on a long sea journey:

Along the rowers’ benches bring your cup And lift the lids of the big wine jars up And drain the good red wine: we can’t, ’tis clear Be sober all the time we’re watching here.

Fifty years later, Alkaios of Lesbos (who knew and admired the poetess Sappho) has many references to wine, often in vigorous verse: ‘Wet your lungs with wine; for the dog star is coming round, and everything is thirsty with heat.’ In an early variant of not waiting for the sun to be over the yard-arm, he writes: ‘Drink! Why wait for the lamps? The day is almost done!’