Nephalia

Nephalia (Ancient Greek: νηφάλια, nifália, 'calm') is believed to originate from nifálios (νηφάλιος), itself derived from the verb nḗphō (νήφω),[1] meaning to be sober or to drink no wine (and, by extension, to be self-controlled).

[3] It is one of the basic religious acts which defined piety in ancient Greek culture, dating back to the Bronze Age and even prehistoric Greece.

The etiquette of the symposium required that when the first bowl (krater) of wine was served, a libation was made to Zeus and the Olympian gods.

[11] The Greek verb spéndō (σπένδω), meaning 'pour a libation' or 'conclude a pact', derives from the Indo-European root *spend-, 'make an offering, perform a rite, engage oneself by a ritual act'.

In the Book of the Dead in the Odyssey, Odysseus digs an offering pit around which he pours in order honey, wine, and water.

[16] The Libation Bearers is the English title of the center tragedy from the Orestes Trilogy of Aeschylus, in reference to the offerings Electra brings to the tomb of her dead father Agamemnon.

[11] Sophocles gives one of the most detailed descriptions of libation in Greek literature in Oedipus at Colonus, performed as atonement in the grove of the Eumenides:

First, water is fetched from a freshly flowing spring; cauldrons which stand in the sanctuary are garlanded with wool and filled with water and honey; turning towards the east, the sacrificer tips the vessels towards the west; the olive branches which he has been holding in his hand he now strews on the ground at the place where the earth has drunk in the libation; and with a silent prayer he departs, not looking back.