There is no doubt that the Greeks liked to drink, and one has to look no further than their songs and poems. In fact, some of the earliest written musical compositions in history are Greek drinking songs. Here are some examples, along with my own translations:

Ἡ γῆ μέλαινα πίνει,
πίνει δένδρεα δ'αὖ γῆν
πίνει θάλασσ' ἀναύρους,
ὁ δ'ἥλιος θάλασσαν,
τὸν δ'ἥλιον σελήνη·
τί μοι μάχεσθ', ἑταῖροι,
καὐτῷ θέλοντι πίνειν ;



The black earth drinks,
and the trees in turn drink from the earth
and the sea drinks from the Thessalian river,
and the sun drinks from the sea
and the moon drinks from the sun.
Why do you wish to fight me, comrades,
and also wish to drink with me?

(Anacreontea, 21)

It is interesting to note that the Greeks singing this somehow believe that the moon “drinks” from the sun, which could very well mean that moonlight “comes from” sunlight. This is a song from the Archaic period, which came centuries before the time of great Greek astronomers like Erathostenes and Archimedes who lived during the Hellenistic period. It is a lucky guess, whether calculated or not. Drinking could very well bring out the truth in one after all. We find it also in this next poem, this time from the Hellenistic period:

οἶνος ἔρωτος ἔλεγχος: ἐρᾶν ἀρνεύμενον ἡμῖν
ἤτασαν αἱ πολλαὶ Νικαγόρην προπόσεις.
καὶ γὰρ ἐδάκρυσεν καὶ ἐνύστασε, καί τι κατηφὲς
ἔβλεπε, χὠ σφιγχθεὶς οὐκ ἔμενε στέφανος. 

Wine is a test of love. Nicagoras denied to us
that he was in love, but the abundance of toasts revealed him.
So he cried, bowed his head, and looked down.
And his tightly bound wreath remained not in its place.

(A.P., XII, 135)

Truth is in the wine, and love goes hand in hand with it. But wine and love can also appear in a more conflicted way, like in this drinking song:

Φέρʹ ὕδωρ, φέρʹ οἶνον, ὤ παῖ, φέρε <δ'> ἀνθεμόεντας ἡμῖν
στεφάνους, ἔνεικον, ὡς δή πρὸς Ἔρωτα πυκταλίζω.

Bring the water, bring the wine, servant, and bring the flowery wreath. 
Bring them so that I can throw punches at love.

(Anacreontea, 396)

The poet chooses the verb πυκταλίζω, which is an archaic version of the verb πυκτεύω which specifically means “to fight by punching”, even though he could have just chosen one of the many words that just mean “to fight” in a general sense. Therefore he does not wrestle with love, but rather wants to knock it out, which I think conveys beautifully a typical drunkard’s behaviour.

In the midst of all this violence, a drinker also needs some time to reflect, and ultimately find himself in a state of existential dread.

Ὅταν πίνω τὸν οἶνον,
εὕδουσιν αἱ μέριμναι.
Τί μοι πόνων, τί μοι γόων,
τί μοι μέλει μεπιμνῶν;
Θανεῖν με δεῖ, κἄν μὴ θέλω·
τί δὲ τὸν βίον πλανῶμαι·
πίωμευ οὖν τὸν οἶνον
τὸν τοῦ καλοῦ Λυαίου·
σύν τῷ δὲ πίνειν ἡμᾶς
εὕδουσιν αἱ μέριμναι.

When I drink wine
all my worries go to sleep.
What is hard work to me? What is complaining to me?
What is caring to me?
I will have to die, and I do not wish it.
Why am I lost in my life...
So let us drink the wine
of noble Dionysus
for when we drink with him
all our worries go to sleep.

(Anacreontea, 45)

The existential dread is certainly there, but very short lived. As soon as the questions start creeping in he raises his glass and drinks to the god of wine. Yes, drinking is the time for the Greeks to stop being philosophers and have a little fun while their poetic side runs loose.

Πίνωμεν, καὶ γάρ τι νέον, καὶ ηάρ τι παρʹ οἶνον
εὕποιμ' ἂν λεπτὸν καί τι μελιχρὸν ἔπος.
Ἀλλὰ κάδοις Χίου με κατάβρεχε καὶ λέγε "παῖζε
Ἡδύλε"· μισῶ ζῆν ἐς κενὸν οὐ μεθύων.

Let us drink, for we might find some delicate
and honey-sweetened new word in the wine.
So soak me with the wine from the jars of Chios and say, "Play, Hedylus!".
I would hate an empty and sober life.

(Hedylos, V)

We often talk about the influence that the Greek sciences, arts, and politics had on the Western World, but rarely do we talk about what they brought in regards to drinking. It is the Greeks who brought wine to Gaul after all, and France would not be the World’s greatest exporter of wine today were it not for them. And when the learned François Rabelais declared “boire est le propre de l’Homme”, and wrote the poem “La Dive Bouteille”, it is difficult to imagine that he did so without any of the aforementioned poems in mind.