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[632] Nestor's cup was a favourite subject of discussion among ancient commentators and archaeologists, from whose remarks Athenaeus has preserved us extracts of more compass than value. The best commentary on it is the gold cup found by Schliemann at Mykene, and represented in the cut at the end of this volume; see App. E. Itdiffers from that here described only in having two handles (οὔατα) instead of four, and one dove to each instead of two. The πυθμένες are probably the supports, the strips of gold which we see running from the base to the handles. We must suppose that in Nestor's cup towards the top each of these was divided or widened so as to meet a pair of handles placed side by side. There is an obvious use for such double handles when a heavy cup is passed from one drinker to another. Another interpretation is that the cup besides the base of the hollow part itself had a foot. The rim round the base of the Mykenaean cup looks something like a true bottom or stand. The ἧλοι were either rivets to fasten the parts together, as at the foot of the Mykenaean cup, or studs added for mere ornament.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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