amystis

• the emptying of a cup at one draught, Hor. C. 1, 36, 14.

• , ἄμυστις, the emptying of a cup at a draught, a bumper, H.

AMYSTIS(ἀμυστὶ πίνειν, ἄμυστιν πίνειν, ἀμυστίζειν), from ἀ and μύω, a draught taken without drawing breath (Athen. 11.25, 783 d). It was a favourite amusement with the Greeks to try how much they could swallow in this way, and very large quantities are said to have been drunk. Plato (Symp. 214 A) represents Socrates and Alcibiades as draining off the contents of a wine-cooler holding eight κοτύλαι, or nearly two quarts, while Alexander the Great is said to have greatly exceeded this amount. Ephippus (ap. Athen. 10.434 a) relates that he succeeded in emptying a vessel containing two χόες, or more than two gallons and a half, and afterwards attempted to drink a second in the same way. This, however, affected him so much as to bring on the illness which resulted in his death. The name was also applied to a kind of vessel adopted for this kind of drinking. (Athen. 10.60, p. 442 f; 67, p. 447.)