Amystis

AMYSTIS (Ἄμυστις), an Indian river, a tributary of the Ganges, flowing past a city called Catadupae (Arrian. Ind. 4), which Mannert supposes, from its name, to have stood at the falls of the Upper Ganges, on the site of the modem Hurdwar, which would make the Amystis the Patterea (Mannert, vol. v. pt. 1. p. 70).

(ἀμυστὶ πίνειν, ἀμυστὶν πίνειν, ἀμυστίζειν), from ἀ and μύω, a draught taken without drawing breath. 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. 214A) 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 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 adapted for this kind of drinking. (Athen. x. 60, p. 442 foll.; 67, p. 447.)