Well was it then that Ariston the Chian said that that was the most agreeable drink which partook at the same time of both sweetness and fragrance; for which reason some people prepare what is called nectar about the Olympus which is in Lydia, mixing wine and honeycombs and the most fragrant flowers together. Though I am aware indeed that Anaxandrides says that nectar is not the drink, but the meat of the gods:— Nectar I eat, and well do gnaw it;Ambrosia drink, (you never saw it);I act as cupbearer to Jove,And chat to Juno—not of love;And oftentimes I sit by Venus,With marplot none to come between us. And Alcman says— Nectar they eat at will. And Sappho says— The goblets rich were with ambrosia crown'd,Which Hermes bore to all the gods around. But Homer was acquainted with nectar as the drink of the gods. And Ibycus says that ambrosia is nine times as sweet as honey; stating expressly that honey has just one-ninth part of the power of ambrosia as far as sweetness goes.