He is represented as the guardian of man, and dispenser of good and evil. […] This was to offer it to the wisest man in Greece. […] His figure is that of an effeminate young man, to denote the joys which commonly prevail at feasts; and sometimes an old man, to teach us that wine taken immoderately, will enervate us, consume our health, render us loquacious and childish, like old men, and unable to keep secrets. […] friend to man! […] He is represented as an old man, with a long, flowing beard, and sitting upon the waves of the sea.