When the rich give a party and the meal is finished, a man carries round amongst the guests a wooden image of a corpse in a coffin, carved and painted to look as much like the real thing as possible, and anything from 18 inches to 3 foot long; he shows it to each guest in turn, and says: "Look upon this body as you drink and enjoy yourself; for you will be just like it when you are dead."[ Herodotus ‘Histories’, II 82] . Herodotus
About This Quote

The above quote comes from Herodotus, who describes a funeral feast hosted by Croesus of Lydia, the ruler of the time. He records that each guest was served with a wooden image of himself, which they were encouraged to drink to. The practicality of the idea is obvious; the guests could be sure that they would resemble their own corpse when they died (not that this does anything to make them drink less).

Source: The Histories

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