Existing comment:
The Symposium:
The symposium, a central feature of Greek communal life, was rooted in the aristocratic culture of the 8th century BC. Xenophon and Plate left literary accounts of symposia that emphasize the elements of order and succession (one both spoke and drank in turns) and the important role of physical and spiritual love. Small groups of men reclined on couches in the andron (men's quarters) and conversed about such topics and philosophy, politics, and literature, sometimes inspired by the scenes on painted vases or other imagery in the room. The wine was mixed with water in a large krater or bowl (the poet Anacreon mentions 2:1 and 5:3 proportions of water to wine).
Most Greek lyric and mortal poetry (as well as drinking songs, called skolia) was probably composed for symposia. Though "respectable" women were excluded from symposia, hetairai (courtesans) were present and the best educated of them (such as Perikles' mistress, Aspasia) took part in intellectual discussions. Male and female slaves served the participants and provided other entertainment, such as acrobatic and musical performances. At the conclusion of some symposia, the revelry was carried into the streets of the city, where it occasionally turned violent. |