Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 45

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[45] Why on the festival of the Veneralia do they pour out a great quantity of wine from the temple of Venus?¹

Is it true, as most authorities affirm, that Mezentius, general of the Etruscans, sent to Aeneas and offered peace on condition of his receiving the year’s vintage? But when Aeneas refused, Mezentius promised his Etruscans that when he had prevailed in battle, he would give them the wine. Aeneas learned of his promise and consecrated the wine to the gods, and after his victory he collected all the vintage and poured it out in front of the temple of Venus.

Or is this also symbolic, indicating that men should be sober and not drunken on festival days, since the gods take more pleasure in those who spill much strong drink than in those who imbibe it?

Quaestiones Romanae. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Current edition Perseus

The Roman Questions (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 45 focus

275e

διὰ τί τῶν Οὐενεραλίων ¹ τῇ ἑορτῇ πολὺν οἶνον ἐκχέουσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης;

πότερον, ὡς οἱ πλεῖστοι λέγουσι, Μεζέντιος ² ὁ Τυρρηνῶν στρατηγὸς ἔπεμψε πρὸς Αἰνείαν σπενδόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ λαβεῖν τὸν ἐπέτειον οἶνον; ἀρνησαμένου δʼ ἐκείνου, τοῖς Τυρρηνοῖς ὑπέσχετο κρατήσας μάχῃ δώσειν τὸν οἶνον Αἰνείας δὲ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν αὐτοῦ πυθόμενος τοῖς θεοῖς τὸν οἶνον καθιέρωσε, καὶ μετὰ τὸ νικῆσαι συναγαγὼν τὸ καρπευθὲν ἐξέχεε πρὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης.

ἢ καὶ τοῦτο σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ χρῆναι νήφοντας ἑορτάζειν ἀλλὰ μὴ μεθύοντας, ὡς τῶν θεῶν μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐκχέουσι χαιρόντων τὸν πολὺν ἄκρατον ἢ τοῖς πίνουσι;

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 45 focus

[45] διὰ τί τῶν Οὐενεραλίων ¹ τῇ ἑορτῇ πολὺν 275e οἶνον ἐκχέουσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης; πότερον, 25 ὡς οἱ πλεῖστοι λέγουσι, Μεζέντιος ὁ Τυρρηνῶν στρατηγὸς ἔπεμψε πρὸς Αἰνείαν σπενδόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ λαβεῖν τὸν ἐπέτειον οἶνον· ἀρνησαμένου δʼ ἐκείνου, τοῖς Τυρρηνοῖς ² ὑπέσχετο κρατήσας μάχῃ δώσειν τὸν οἶνον· Αἰνείας δὲ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν αὐτοῦ πυθόμενος τοῖς θεοῖς τὸν οἶνον καθιέρωσε, καὶ μετὰ τὸ νικῆσαι συναγαγὼν τὸ καρπευθὲν ἐξέχεε πρὸ τοῦ 5 ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης· ἢ καὶ τοῦτο σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ χρῆναι νήφοντας ἑορτάζειν ἀλλὰ μὴ μεθύοντας, ὡς τῶν θεῶν μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐκχέουσι χαιρόντων τὸν πολὺν ἄκρατον ἢ τοῖς πίνουσι; 275f

Translations (1)

Roman Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Chauncy, Isaac translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 45 focus

[45]

Question 45.

Why is it that in the solemn feast called Veneralia they let wine run so freely out of the temple of Venus?

Solution. Is this the reason (as some say), that Mezentius the Etrurian general sent to make a league with Aeneas, upon the condition that he might have a yearly tribute of wine; Aeneas refusing, Mezentius engaged to the Etrurians that he would take the wine by force of arms and give it to them; Aeneas, hearing of his promise, devoted his wine to the Gods, and after the victory he gathered in the vintage, and poured it forth before the temple of Venus? Or is this a teaching ceremony, that we should feast with sobriety and not excess, as if the Gods were better pleased with the spillers of wine than with the drinkers of it?

Notes on the current edition

The Roman Questions

1. Cf. Ovid, Fasti, iv. 877 ff.: Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, i. 65; Pliny, Natural History, xiv. 12 (88), where the authority cited is Varro. Plutarch speaks of the festival of Vinalia (April 23) as Veneralia perhaps because Venus (together with Jupiter) was the protecting deity of the vine.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 45

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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