Jancis Robinson

Lyric Poetry

Appears in

Oxford Companion to Wine

Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

About

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!’

Become a Premium Member to access this page

Unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of the world’s best cookbooks
Over 150,000 recipes with thousands more added every month
Recommended by leading chefs and food writers
Powerful search filters to match your tastes
Create collections and add reviews or private notes to any recipe
Swipe to browse each cookbook from cover-to-cover
Manage your subscription via the My Membership page

Already a member?

Download on the App Store

Pre-register on Google Play

Best value

'Brilliant app for foodies'

'Spotify of cookbooks'

Part of

The licensor does not allow printing of this title