Athenaeus (474e) quotes the description of the karchesion cup by Kallixeinos of Rhodes, a third-century B.C. author: ‘a tall cup, slightly contracted at the middle with handles which extend down to the base’. Scholars have easily recognised in this a variety of kantharos, a cup with two vertical handles and either with a low foot or the footless sessile, both types current in Kallixeinos' day. The ordinary kantharos in its Classical form, with a stem and high-swung handles, may have derived its name, shared with the scarab beetle, from the wing-like appearance of the handles rather than from its overall similarity to a boat, which is one of the other meanings of the word (Ath. 473d–474c). It is doubtful whether Greek usage was ever very precise in these matters but ‘karchesion’ was probably reserved for the footless variety regardless of handle shape.