What Happened at an Ancient Greek Symposium

Symposium country connected an ancient Greek Kylix, oregon drinking cup. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain

The symposium was 1 of the astir important aspects of past Greek culture, arsenic it served arsenic an indispensable mounting for discussions, revelry, and debates among immoderate of the astir salient figures successful Greek antiquity.

Symposium, oregon “συμπόσιον” successful Greek, comes from the words “σύν” and “πίνω,” oregon “drink together” successful different words. It describes a banquet amongst galore guests, each men, that usually occurred aft a repast had been served.

During the symposium, men of the aristocracy drank vino and enjoyed music, performances, dancing, and different forms of entertainment.

Serious debates and discussions regarding matters of nationalist interest, politics, art, culture, and doctrine took spot astatine symposia.

Ancient Greek Symposium: eat, drink, philosophize

Ancient texts specified arsenic Plato’s Symposium and Xenophon’s Symposium, some of which were written successful the 4th period BC, supply a look into the ritualized drinking party.

Symposia were held successful backstage homes successful a peculiar country called an “Andron.” The country was usually situated astatine the beforehand of the house, and those participating successful the lawsuit would recline connected couches that lined the room.

Ancient Greeks would besides recline arsenic they ate. The habit of reclining to dine successful ancient Greece dates backmost to astatine slightest the 7th period B.C. and was aboriginal adopted by the Romans.

Strangely, Greeks are ever pictured lying connected their near side—never their right.

The crushed for this contented is not wholly clear, but historians and classicists person debated the taxable for decades.

Some reason that lying connected this peculiar broadside leaves the close manus escaped to grasp vessels utilized to devour and drink; yet, determination are examples of Greeks successful past creation reclining connected their near broadside and inactive utilizing their near hands to devour and drink.

According to scholars, it would beryllium uncommon for an andron to location much than 7 to 9 couches, which constricted the fig of full participants to nether thirty.

The peculiar country and the couches recovered wrong it, on with the cups utilized to portion wine, were usually finely decorated and served arsenic a amusement of one’s wealthiness and good taste.

Entertainment could see musicians playing the flute and different past instruments, poesy recitals, dances, and adjacent acrobats.

There was besides an erotic constituent to galore symposia, arsenic evidenced by the ample fig of vases and artworks depicting intersexual scenes astatine the past drinking parties.

Sex and drinking games

Although lone men were allowed to enactment successful the symposium itself, women were permitted to participate the andron arsenic entertainers oregon courtesans.

In past Greece, courtesans, oregon “hetairai,” were not simply escorts. They were seen arsenic educated, interesting, and intelligent truthful that they could person engaging discussions with their clients.

A fig of peculiarly alluring and intelligent hetairai became celebrated and garnered important power successful past Greece, most notably Phryne.

Hetairai attended symposia to supply not conscionable enactment but besides to execute euphony and adjacent prosecute successful debates and discussions with the participants. Ancient vases besides picture intersexual enactment betwixt men astatine symposia.

While the intersexual and much intelligence aspects of the symposium whitethorn beryllium good known, galore whitethorn beryllium amazed to larn that the past Greeks besides played drinking games.

Ancient Greeks are celebrated for their emotion of wine, but the vino they drank does not lucifer the alcoholic beverage we devour today.

In antiquity, Greeks drank diluted vino that was mixed with h2o successful a instrumentality called a krater.

Drinking undiluted vino was thing associated with non-Greeks, who were considered barbarians and was thought to origin unruly and unbecoming behavior.

For this reason, past Greeks drank diluted wine, which allowed them to support their composure and aforesaid control.

This diluted water-wine premix near dregs from the wine-making process astatine the bottommost of drinkers’ vessels. A fashionable drinking crippled called “kottabos” progressive throwing one’s dregs astatine the bottommost of their cupful onto the floor, with the hopes of spelling retired the archetypal missive of their lover’s sanction with the remnants, oregon of hitting a peculiar spot connected the floor.

For this reason, astir floors successful the peculiar rooms wherever symposia took spot were waterproof.