This word is taken in a twofold sense; proper, and figurative. In a proper sense, it signifies a vessel, such as people drink out of at meals, Gen. xl, 13. It was anciently the custom, at great entertainments, for the governor of the feast to appoint to each of his guests the kind and proportion of wine which they were to drink, and what he had thus appointed them it was deemed a breach of good manners either to refuse or not to drink up; hence a man’s cup, both in sacred and profane authors, came to signify the portion, whether of good or evil, which happens to him in this world. Thus, to drink “the cup of trembling,” or of “the fury of the Lord,” is to be afflicted with sore and terrible judgments, Isaiah li, 17; Jeremiah xxv, 15–29; Psalm lxxv, 8. What Christ means by the expression, we cannot be at a loss to understand, since in two remarkable passages, Luke xxii, 42, and John xviii, 11, he has been his own interpreter. _Lethale poculum bibere_, “to drink the deadly cup,” or cup of death, was a common phrase among the Jews; and from them, we have reason to believe, our Lord borrowed it.

OF BLESSING, 1 Corinth. x, 16, is that which was blessed in entertainments of ceremony, or solemn services; or, rather, a cup over which God was blessed for having furnished its contents; that is, for giving to men the fruit of the vine. Our Saviour, in the Last Supper, blessed the cup, and gave it to each of his Apostles to drink, Luke xxii, 20....

CUPAR-FIFE, so called to distinguish it from Coupar-Angus in Perthshire, is a royal and parliamentary burgh of Scotland, and the principal town of the county of Fife. It stands on the left bank of the Eden, in the centre of the Howe or Hollow of Fifeshire, about 6 miles from the sea, and is about 32 miles distant by railway and ferry from Edinburgh. The town-hall, the county hall, and the cornexchange are the chief public buildings, and the principal educational establishment is the Madras Academy, originally founded in 1823 by a joint-stock company, but extended and modified in keeping with the will of Dr Bell, the well-known originator of the “Madras System,” who left it a valuable endowment. The staple trade of Cupar has long been the manufacture of linen; and it also possesses breweries, corn-mills, and tan-yards. There are several collieries in the neighbourhood; and a stone quarry and a considerable pottery exist at Cupar Muir, about a mile and a half to the west of the town. The parliamentary burgh is a member of the St Andrews district; its population in 1871 was 5105. Cupar received its municipal freedom about 1356 by charter from David II. It was early remarkable for its castle, which occupied the height to the east of the town now crowned by the academy buildings, and was one of the principal strongholds of the Macduffs, the earls or thanes of Fife. Being situated between Falkland and St Andrews, the town was frequently visited by the Scottish kings; and in 1583 it was for a time the residence of the court of James VI. The estate of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount was within three miles of Cupar; and on a green esplanade in front of Macduff Castle, still called the Play-field, the satirical drama of the Three Estates and the Tragedy of the Cardinal were ...

CUPID (Amor, *Epωs), in classical mythology, was the god, first, of the principle of love as it was seen to exist throughout nature, and, secondly, of love as a human passion. In the former and earlier phase of his character, he resembled Hermes, and like him was probably a deity of the primitive Pelasgians, since the worship of him at Parion on the Hellespont was connected with the Pelasgic religion of Samothrace, one of the deities of which is named ’A£t-¢poç. The same primitive character appears at Thespiae, where the symbol of his worship was an unhewn stone (àpyòs λι‰ς). He was the oldest of the gods, being the son of Chaos, or of night and day, or of heaven and earth, with a variety of other poetic parentages. But as god of human love he was the son and constant companion of Aphrodite (Venus); yet even in this respect his earlier character is partly visible, since she was goddess of springtime, and brought him up in the fields till spring burst from the beautiful island of Cyprus, and spread fertility over the earth. In his ethical capacity he was regarded as the most recent of the gods, and was represented as a beautiful winged youth with bow and arrows or with a torch. The fact of his having wings would preclude him from being classed with the great deities. But as messenger of Venus he would have the same right to them that Iris derived from her office as messenger of the gods. At Thespiae gymnastic and musical contests (Erotidia) were held in his honour every four years; and generally in Greece his statue was to be found beside those of Hermes and Hercules in the palaestra. The statue of Cupid by Praxiteles at Thespiae was greatly celebrated. The Spartans and Cretans sacrificed to him before battle. In later works of arts Cupid assumed ...