seminar handouts

8/3/2019 Seminar Handouts

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A Symposium on the Symposium

What was a symposium?

Who- the elite

Thearistocracy of war had become an aristocracy of leisure. (Murray- The Greek

Symposium in History p263)

Where- the andron

What Kind(s) of Events went on there? Drinking, eating, poetry, music/ lyre/ singing, games, conversation


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How far was the purpose of the symposium for drinking or intellectualconversation?

the evening of the twelfth (Anthesterion) was a traditional occasion toinvite friends to a party it was apparently the tradition that each drinker

consumed his own share in silence. This was the complete antithesis of

symposium with its sharing of talk and song ( Davidson (1997)Courtesans and Fishcakes p. 51)

Etiquette

Three kraters only do I propose for sensible for sensible men , one forhealth, the second for love and pleasure and the third for sleep; when this

has been drunk up, wise guest make for home (Eubulus F94)

Fresco from tomb of the Diver 475 BCE

How did it Develop?

Through hoplite warfare? was transformed into a leisure group under the impact of the changed

position of the aristocracy, in a world where their military function

had been taken over by the hoplite army of the polis (Bremmer

(1990) Adolescents, Symposion, and Pedestryp136)

What Was Needed to Hold a Symposium?

One-handled kantharos, ca. 500 B.C.; Archaic

Attributed to the Class of the One-Handled Kantharoi

Greek, Attic

Terracotta; H. 11 3/8 in. (28.9 cm)

Rogers Fund, 1963 (63.11.4)

From:

www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/symp/hod_63.11.4.htm


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What are the sources?

Pottery- both itself and the images on it It dies not seem wise to threat treat the images on Attic Vases, however

precise and detailed they may be, simply as photographic documents

(Lissarrague (1990), Around the krater: an aspect of banquet imageryp196)

Homer Archaic Fragments Poetry and Music

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Theognis of Megara Solon The Iliad- 17.248-51 The Odyssey- 17.264 Eubulus- fragment 94 Pindar Pyth. 1.97 Aristotle- Politics 7.15.9 Ibycus

Secondary Sources

Berquist, B. (1990) Sympotic space: a functional aspect of Greekdinning-rooms in O. Murray (ed), Sympotica. A Symposium on the

Symposion. Oxford.

Boardman, J. (1990) Sympotic Furniture in O. Murray (ed),Sympotica. A Symposium on the Symposion. Oxford.

Bremmer, J. (1990) Adolescents, Symposion and pederasty, in O.Murray (ed), Sympotica. A Symposium on the Symposion. Oxford.

Calame, C. (1999) Eros and the masculine: the polis in ThePoetics of Eros in Ancient Greece

Davidson, J.(1990) The symposium in Courtesans and Fishcakes.London

Fehr, B. (1990) Entertainers at the Symposion: the alketoi in thearchaic period in O. Murray (ed), Sympotica. A Symposium on the

Symposion. Oxford. Lissarrague, F. (1990) Around the krater: an aspect of banquet

imagery, in O. Murray (ed), Sympotica. A Symposium on theSymposion. Oxford.


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Murray, O (1983) The Greek symposion in history, in E. Gabba(ed.) Tria Corda. Scritti in onore di Arnaldo Monigliano. Como.

Sparkes, B (1996) The Red and the Black. Studies in GreekPottery. London .

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Nicholas Cooke

S0561595

Archaic Greek Symposium

Furniture, Layout and Entertainment

Furniture

Evolution of the Kline (FIG. 1)o Geometric vases portraying death processions, with the

usage of kline as death beds (FIG. 2)o Nineveh inscriptions of 640 BC (FIG. 4) portraying a

reclined King Ashurbanipal holding court. A combination of

the previous oriental period and transmission of eastern

sophistication enhances its popularityo End of 7th BC Lydian poet Alcman portraying either a

wedding or a feast in Sardis, from his childhood

o A contemporary vase also shows a similar scene to this,although a woman was present- challenging its provenance

Design of klineo High leggedo Coucho With or without a headrest/pillowo Later development into a chaise-loungeo Debate within it being heavy or light- light due to it

originating in the east with the nomadic Persians, or heavy

due to it being a piece of special furniture.o Biblical evidence (Amos 6: 4-7) states the usage of Ivory as

their construct- emphasizing their price, weight and

importance

Use of kline


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o Sleep vs. Feast vs. Deatho Sleep- a large, specialized piece of furniture requires a

special space, and a large investment into ito More likely not used for sleep- as Greek beds were much

lower, or on the ground. Elite usage of symposium alsoemphasizes the need for space and frivolity, both of which

were not privy to all classeso Death- most likely to happen in beds- coupled with

geometric pottery and the theory of lying in state provides a

compelling argument for sympotic deathbeds.

o There is also a link between feasting and death- the idea ofthe lonely symposium of the east, correlated with the

heroic image of receiving gifts whilst lying in state, to create

a court scene, before and whilst in death

Layout

Introduction to Symposium Layouto All non-literal evidence of layout; can only be recovered

due to 2-D nature of vases and archaeological floor plans

presenting our visual imageryo A distinction is required between public and private

symposia; especially in early periods as private symposia

either didnt exist, or were cult rooms (Kommos Temple A

and B)o Usual fittings: paved/cemented floor, raised border on walls,

couches/couch mounts, off centre door, drainage, wall

stucco and water access

o Two types of room- Long (more popular in Archaic and lessin Classical), and Broad (non-existent in Archaic, popular in

Classical and Hellenistic), with either 7 or 11 couch space

What was Necessary?o The room was mainly of square or rectilinear construct,

with some circular exampleso The most suitable shapes were those that allowed

maximum audio-visual performance; allowing all to see

and hear equally of each other and of performers

o The facilitation of eating, drinking, ritual andentertainment

Evolution of Layout

o A basic transferral from long to broad rooms, facilitatedthrough evidence of room frequency over time


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o Archaic long room usage most likely a gathering of seated(not reclined) elites feasting, then a transfer to reclined,

more private ceremonies

Bergquists theory

o 2 symposia per room, facilitating maximum usage ofspace, and audio-visual experience (FIG. 3)

o Applies for long and broad rooms that could allow morecouches than walled couches

o Issue with theory lies in the split nature of the theory- twogroups wouldnt be able to communicate with each other

as efficiently; as that is the basis of all symposia

Entertainment Process

o Libationo Purificationo Prayerso Consumption of wine and foodo Performances including poetry, mime, dance, music and

various Akletoi (performers of various skill and content)

Drinkingo Led by a King of the Symposium (debated by Murray-

due to the equal nature of the Homeric feasts), also

named the baselius, archon or prytaiso Drinking was heavily regulated by the King out of

respect for Dionysus gift (wine) and to control the guests

drinking, as it separated the elite from drunkenness

(methyesthai; harmful drinking) and barbarism; as they

were unable to control their drunkennesso The drinking was a catalyst for limitless expression

within the guests- to facilitate poetic or sexual expressionthat might be suppressed in civic society

Communicationo An elaborate and ritualistic form of statement and

response communication was developed, along withArchaic monadic poetry

o There was a distinction between the public and privatepoetry; the sympotic poets (Alcaeus and Sappho) and

the professional poets (Anacreon)


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o Murray goes so far to say that almost all of thedistinctive features of high culture of archaic Greece are

expressions of the sympotic way of life1

o The communication ultimately led to a poetic

competition between the guests, that was either preparedbefore, or improvised, which promoted the collective

growth and sharing of the elite

Love (eros)o Importance of this subject shown through its prevalence

in poetry

o Facilitated by jovial nature of symposia, and winedrinking, love was given to others in a distinct

controlled, and ritualised mannero Distinction required between negative effects of love

and its violent aspects and that of gratifying and

sublime love2

o The atmosphere of the symposium allowed the guests toexchange in tendencies and attitudes

3that would have

been frowned upon in society, to engage in a regulated,

controlled and ritualized exercise of the passions4, an

outlet for various orgiastic erotic homo and

heterosexual practices5

Akletoio Invited or uninvited performers of varying skill,

technai, who roam from symposium to symposiumsearching for work, paid in money or food and wine

o The unskilled akletoi were featured in pottery andliterature- The Odyssey and The Iliad

o In all cases, they are heavily disfigured (on purpose ornaturally), drunken loons who were laughed at for just

being drunk and disfiguredo Their acts also included dances that are portrayed as

being overweight, yet again on purpose (paddeddancers-) or naturally (due to overeating), that included

acts of homosexual encounters

1Oswyn Murray, The Greek Symposium in History, pg. 264

2Ezio Pellizer, Outlines of Morphology of Sympotic Entertainment, pg. 180

3Ezio Pellizer, Outlines of Morphology of Sympotic Entertainment, pg. 182

4 Ezio Pellizer, Outlines of Morphology of Sympotic Entertainment, pg. 1835

Ezio Pellizer, Outlines of Morphology of Sympotic Entertainment, pg. 182


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o The usage of the akletoi is very simple- cheapentertainment facilitated by drunkenness and desire not

to displease Dionysus that made the viewers happier

with their situation

FIG. 1Greek kline, http://www.linea-antiqua.com/images/kline_mosaikfisch.jpg

FIG 3: Bergquists sympotica layout

Lon Room

Broad Room


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FIG 2: Geometric Vase with Death Procession,Necropolis of

Dipylon,, National Archaeological Museum, Athens


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Bibliography

Birgitta Bergquist, Sympotic Space: A Functional Aspect of Greek

Dining-Rooms

John Boardman, Symposium Furniture

Burkhard Fehr, Entertainers at the Symposium

Oswyn Murray, The Greek Symposium in History

Ezio Pellizer, Outlines of Morphology of Sympotic Entertainment

Alex Hall

Poetry and Pottery:

Literary and artistic sources for thesymposion

Murray (1983): 257 = For it is a simple if unrecognised fact that of all the Greek

social institutions known to us, more evidence exists for the symposium than for

any other

Literary Sources

Oxford Classical Dictionary: (735-6)Three overlapping types of symposium literature =

1) Poetry produced for the symposium; includes most of Archaic solo lyric poetry. Certainthemes and forms like the epigram and the scolion are characteristic. E.g. that of Horace.

2) Plato established the prose genre of the Symposium, imagined dialogue of set speeches ordiscussions. Plato wrote on idealised love; Xenophons Symposium more realistic and

less serious. Aristotle wrote on drunkeness, Epicurus on physical effects of wine and sex.

3) Antiquarian works e.g. Plutarchs Symposium.

Murray (1983): 258Our collections of fragments come from the longest symposion of all:

took place in Rome in the early 3rd

century, and was recorded by the Greek sophist from Naucratis in

Egypt, Athenaeus. TheDeipnosophistae is single largest source of quotations from Greek authors.

Davidson, J. (1997)Platos The Symposium

philosophical dialogue written by Plato, c. 385 BC.discussion on the nature of love: a series of speeches, both satirical and serious, given by a group of

men at a symposium or drinking party at the house of the tragedian Agathon at Athens.

Murray (1983): 258According to the best authorities the symposium is divided into kraters or mixing bowls:

Three kraters only do I mix for the temperate one to health, which they empty first, the second to

love and pleasure, the third to sleep. When this is drunk up wise guests go home. The fourth krater is

ours no longer, but belongs to hybris; the fifth to uproar, the sixth to drunken revel, the seventh to


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black eyes. The eighth is the policemans, the ninth belongs to biliousness, and the tenth to madness

and hurling furniture. (Eubulus)

Bremner (1990): 1387th cent Alcaeus fragment wine, beloved boy and truth

7th cent Semonides of Amorgus fragment concerned with relationship between men and gods, directedat a boy.

In Homer, pouring wine assigned to kouroi.

This confirmed by Archaic and early Classical art which has beardless sometimes nude wine pourers at

symposia all over Greece.

Ref. Hipponax boy wine pourer who broke a cup

Ref. Anacreon starts two poems exhorting such a boyRef. catalogues for festival of Poseidon in Ephesos eg. Euripides as a schoolboy was a wine pourer.

Artistic Sources

Sparkes, B. (1996) Watched Pots: 64 8985 In fashioning drinking cups, potters produced some of their finest

creations. These images designed to instruct, amuse, titillate.

Lissarague, F. (1990)

198 the krater was central point of image and central point of event, being thesource of the wine.

Evidence for kouroi at Symposia slave boy taking care of older mans possessions

so he does not lose them.

e.g. Sparkes 86

Ref Theognis frag. 503 8


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My head is heavy with wine, Onomacritus, it over powers me. I am no longer the manager of my

judgement, and the room is going round and round. But, come, let me stand and find out whether the

wine has hold of my feet as well as the minf within me. Im afraid that in my fortified state I may do

something foolish and bring great disgrace upon me.

Other Symposium Imagery from Osborne (1990):Plates 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21.

Johnson & Ryan bottom right image (plates 7 & 8) for something more graphic

* Akletoi and shameless dancing

Plate 15 (referenced in Fehr (1990): 190)


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Bibliography

Bremner, Jan (1990) Adolescents, Symposion and pederasty In O. Murray (ed),

Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion. Oxford: 135 148

Bury. R.G. (1909) The Symposium of Plato edited with introduction, critical notes

and commentary. Cambridge.

Fehr, Burkhard (1990) Entertainers at the Symposium; the akletoi in the archaic

period. In O. Murray (ed), Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion. Oxford: 185

195

Davidson, James (1997): The symposium in Courtesans and Fishcakes. London: 44

53.

Lissarague, F. (1990) Around the krater: an aspect of banquet imagery. In O.Murray (ed), Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion. Oxford: 196 - 209

Murray, O. (ed.) ), Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion. Oxford

Murray, O. (1983) The Greek symposium in history, in E. Gabba (ed.) Tria Corda.

Scritti in onore di Arnaldo Momigliano. Como: 257 272

Sparkes, Brian. (1996) The Red and the Black: Studies in Greek Pottery. London: 64

89.

"#$%

A Symposium on the Symposion

What was a Symposium?

Symposium: used in reference to the aristocratic, male feast followed by the ritual

consumption of wine. However, in reality they were much more complex affairs than

just the occasional party thrown by the elite of Athens.

1) My head is heavy with wine, Onomacritus, it overpowers me, I am no longer the

manager of my own judgement, and the room is going round and round. But come, let

me stand and find out whether the wine has hold of my feet as well as the mind within


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me. Im afraid that in my fortified state I may do something foolish and bring great

disgrace upon me.

(Theognis - 503-508)

2) Three kraters only to I propose for sensible men, one for health, the second forlove and pleasure and the third for sleep; when this has been drunk up, wise guestsmake for home. The forth krater is mine no longer, but belongs to hybris; the fifth to

shouting, the sixth to revel; the seventh to blackeyes; the eighth to summonses; the

ninth to bile; and the tenth to madness and people tossing the furniture around.

(Eubulus)

3) When examined from an institutional point of view, the relations between adults

and adolescents whether or not eroticized refer us to educational practices and, as

social anthropology has taught us, any society that has no educational system to

provide for the transition into adulthood of the future members of the community

develops ritualized processes for the purpose.

(Claude Calame, Eros and the masculine: The polis)

4) Be sensible and do not, at the cost of shameful or unjust acts, seize for yourself

prestige, success or wealth. Know that this is so, and do not seek the company of base

men, but always cling to the noble. Drink and dine with them, site with them, and be

pleasing to those whose power is great. For from the noble you will learn noble

things, but if you mingle with the base, you will lose even the sense you have.

Knowing this, associate with the noble, and one day you will say that I give good

advice to my friends. (Theognis, extract from lines 9-38)

5) [20] But the younger ones must not be allowed in the audience at lampoons and at

comedy, before they reach the age at which they will now have the right to recline at

table in company and to drink deeply, and at which their education will render all of

them immune to the harmful effects of such things.(Aristotle, Politics)

What kinds of events went on there?

6) I delight in drinking well and singing to the pipers accompaniment, and I delight

in holding in my hands the tuneful lyre.

(Theognis, extract from 531-34)

7) There entered now upon the scene a common vagabond who used to beg for his

living in the streets of Ithaca and was notorious for his insatiable greed and his ability

to eat and drink all day. (Homer, Odyssey)

What about etiquette?

8) [213e] Reclining there, he proceeded: Now then, gentlemen, you look sober: I

cannot allow this; you must drink, and fulfil our agreement. So I appoint as president

of this bout, till you have had a reasonable drink--myself. Agathon, let the boy bringme as large a goblet as you have. Ah well, do not trouble, he said; boy, bring me


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that cooler there,-- [214a] for he saw it would hold a good half-gallon and more. This

he got filled to the brim, and after quaffing it off himself bade them fill up for

Socrates, saying, Against Socrates, sirs, my crafty plan is as nought. However large

the bumper you order him, he will quaff it all off and never get tipsy with it. (Plato,

Symposium)

9) Now lets delight in drink and fine talk. What will happen afterwards is up to the

gods. (Theognis, lines 1047-48)

10) Men suppose that the gods were brought into being and have the same clothing,

voice and shape as they have. Now if oxen had hands, or horses or lions too had

hands, and could draw with their hands and make things as men do, horses would

paint their gods exactly like horses, and oxen like oxen, would give them their own

bodies and their own shapes, the kinds of appearance that they themselves had.

(Xenophanes, fragment 14 and fragment 15)

What are the literary and artistic sources?

Artistic:

Are there any features of these images that helpful in understanding the symposium?


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Bibliography:

Almagro-Gorbea M. (2001) Cyprus, Phoenicia and Iberia: fromprecolonization to colonization in the Far West, in Italy and Cyprus.

Apollodorus (1998), The Library of Greek Mythology, Oxford University Press,Oxford.

Aristotle, Politics.

Calame, C. (1999), The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece.

Davidson, J (1997), Courtesans and Fishcakes, The Consuming Passions ofClassical Greece. Fontana Press, London.

Eubulus

Gabba, E (ed.), (1983), Tria Concord. Scritta in onore di Arnoldo Momigliano.

Graham, J,W (1974), Houses of Classical Athens, Phoenix, vol. 28, no. 1,pp. 45 54.

Hall, J, M (2007), A History of the Archaic Greek World, Blackwell Publishing,Oxford.

Homer, Odyssey

Murray, O (ed), (1990), Sympotica. A Symposium on the Symposium. Oxford.

Osborne, R (2005), Greece in the Making, 1200-479BC. Routledge , London.


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Plato, Symposium.

Podlecki, A, J (1984), The Early Greek Poets and Their Times. University ofBritish Columbia Press, Vancouver.

Pomeroy, S. B, Burstein, S. M, Donlan, W, Tolbert Roberts, J (2004), A BriefHistory of Ancient Greece. Politics, Society and Culture. Oxford UniversityPress, Oxford.

Sansone, D (2004), Ancient Greek Civilisation, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.

Sparkes, B (1996), The Red and the Black. Studies in Greek Pottery. London.

Theognis, Fragments.

Roberts, J (ed) (2007), Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World, Oxford

University Press, Oxford.

Xenophanes, Fragments.

&'!(

Davidson defines symposium as the most formal context in the Archaic Greek world

for a drinking party. Boardman in his article Symposion Furniture mentionshow

symposium has been linked with the idea of holding court, as was more associatedwith the East.

6Boardman does not like this idea; however it is not completely without

merit, when looking at Theognis fr19-38 for example, he advices his son Cyrnus not

to seek out the company of base men but to always cling to the noble. Drink and dine

with them, sit with them, and be pleasing to those whose power is great. This would

not seem to far away from holding court. Oswyn Murray puts forward an interesting

idea on this topic. Murray views symposium as a classic example of the type of

activity engaged in by the warrior mens associations. As Murray sees it the warrior

group was transformed into a leisure group under the impact of the changed position

of the aristocracy, in a world where their military function had been taken over by the

hoplite army of the polis. In other words Murray seems to believe that the

symposium of the archaic period was rather an evolution of the common or mass

meal of the warrior class,7

as described in PlutarchsLife of Lykourgus and evident

also in Crete and in extracts of Homer. This idea does not seem without merit when

looking more closely at what went on in symposium, especially with respect to the

involvement of adolescent boys in symposium.

6 Boardman p1247

Murray quoted in Bremmer article p136


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To answer this question simply, a lot of eating, drinking, playing music, singing,

giving thanks to the Gods (the Good Divinity), dancing, conversation, sleeping and

just to emphasize the fact a lot of drinking. One of the best Theognis extracts on this

topic would be fr 531-34 My heart is always warmed whenever I hear the pipes

sounding a lovely voice. I delight in drinking well and singing to the pipers

accompaniment, and I delight in holding in my hands the tuneful lyre. In a laterfragment he also talks about delighting in feasting and in the dances of paeans or

thanks-giving. The group of men involved would feast lying on what is known as a

kline. This was a bed of sorts with high rising legs, quite impractical for sleeping and

before its use in symposium was linked more with carrying the dead.The food was

placed in front of the kline on small side tables. A Corinthian vase for example from

around the seventh century BCE depicts Herakles in the house of Eurytos. He is lying

on a kline on his left side leaving his right hand free to manipulate the meat which is

laid out on the table in front of him. This is the standard representation of a man at

symposium for the next half-century.8After the solid section of dinner was concluded

by the removal of the tables, the room was swept, the guests washed there hands and

were sometimes garlanded and anointed. The wine was then mixed in what wasknown as a krater, poured into a jug and distributed amongst the guests. Libations and

paeans were then dedicated to the Gods and the guests continued with conversation of

love, pleasure and other such things, music and dancing was of course essential as

was poetry good examples being the poem by Ibycus and also the extract of the

poem by Solon. Certain vases depict the symposium procession already drunk

accompanied by pipe players, presumably going from one party to another, gate

crashing therefore was not unheard of or unexpected. Bremmer in his interesting

discussion of the role of adolescent boys in symposium questions whether symposium

was used as a means of educating and inducting the boys. If this was indeed the case

it would give strong weight to the idea expressed by Oswyn Murray that the archaic

symposium was indeed an evolution of the warrior mass dinner. He uses the example

of Crete where the boys, scantly clad, would sit on the ground by their fathers feet.

They would serve both themselves and the adults. Each adult had his own drinking

cup whereas the young boys all shared out of a communal krater. At the end of the

feast the men discussed issues amongst themselves and encouraged bravery amongst

the boys. This practice was not dissimilar in Sparta. Was it common in other areas of

Greece? Bremmer points out that much of the poetry associated with symposium is

advice directly addressed to boys Theognis for example addresses his son telling

him not to drink too much and to keep the right company. Aleus quote wine and truth

boy is another example.9

Bremmer suggests that looking at ancient sources such as

the comedy Clouds it seems likely that boys were most likely encouraged to singsongs glorifying historic heroes. This would seem in part to support Murrays idea.

Bear in mid also Bremmers discussion of the idea of right of passage Macedonia

and in Athens mentioned in Politics 7.15.9 also the homosexual aspect depicted

on some vases.

8 Boardman p1259

Bremmer p137


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There seem to have been quite a few ideas of etiquette in symposium when it came to

drink and drink consumption. Theognis fr 503-508 basically advices that you leave

when the room starts spinning which in many cases is still considered good etiquette

today. In fr971-2 excessive drinking comes highly unrecommended. Theognis main

advice on etiquette however would seem to be just go with the flow (467-96).

Etiquette it seems dictated that someone be chosen before the symposium kicked offto control both the measure and quantity of wine which was to be consumed.

Davidson puts forward that a standard amount of wine to be consumed at one

gathering would have been three kraters Dionysus in the play Eubulus announces

three kraters only do I propose for sensible men, one for health, one for love and

pleasure and a third for sleep. Etiquette it seems also dictated the strength of the wine;

this was also agreed upon before hand. The wine was mixed with water in a large

mixing bowl. The majority of fragments refer to a 50/50 mix but in Sophilus The

Daggerthis mix seems to be considered greedy and simply unmixed therefore too

strong. Even a mixture of one third wine to two parts water could be considered too

strong, whereas one quarter wine was considered too weak it seems the generally

most accepted mix of water and wine was 2 parts wine and 5 parts water apparentlygiving it the consistency of modern beer LOVELY.

Answering this question at first quite simply, food, wine music, poetry and guests

were needed to hold a symposium as well as a kline and side tables. But since the lay

out and mood of the symposium were key it would seem logical that the right kind of

space would be needed to hold a successful symposium. A symposium in the private

sphere i.e. in someones house was typically held in the andron or man room. This

room would usually hold seven during symposium but in some cases up to fifteen.The guests were arranged more or less in a squared circle. This circle was broken by a

door which meant there was a first position and a last with conversation going anti-

clockwise. Nothing takes place behind the drinkers; the whole visual space is

constructed to make sightlines converge and ensure reciprocity. The space according

to Davidson was meant to conspire with the alcohol to create a sense of entering a

separate reality, blocking out the outside world and all reminders in much the

sameway that clubs and casinos do not have clocks and windows for the same reason.

If one of the ideas of symposium was to forge bonds of friendship and community this

effect would be key and therefore the space a symposion was held in would be a key

aspect.

)*!+%,+

18/10/07

Robert Jahoda

Gavin Hardy

Symposia Tutorial Handout


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www.rdg.ac.uk/Ure/tour/tour_images/sympos2.jpgAthenian bell krater (ca. 390 BC), Ure Museum inv. no. 45.8.1, depicting four men at a symposium

What was a Symposium?

Battle group feasts as a precursor of Symposia:

So spoke fleet Achilleus and sprang to his feet and slaughtereda gleaming sheep, and his friends skinned it and butchered it fairly,

and cut up the meat expertly into small pieces, and spitted them,

and roasted all carefully and took off the pieces.

Automedon took the bread and set it out on the table

In fair baskets, while Achilleus served the meats. And thereon

They put their hands to the good things that lay ready before them.

But when they had put aside their desire for eating and drinking

Iliad XXIV: 621-628

This warrior groupwas transformed into a leisure group under the impact of a

changed position of the aristocracy, in a world where their military function had been

taken over by the hoplite army of the polis.

Bremmer p136

Symposia as purely drinking parties:

We need somebody to take charge of your drinking and decide when youve had

enough and I elect- me! Have a big goblet brought in, wont you, Agathon, if youve

got one? Oh no, dont bother. Hey you, slave, bring over that cooler.

When the slave had filled it up, and while Socrates was drinking, Eryximachus

said, Whats going on here, Alcibiades? Are we just going to gulp drinks down likethis, as if we had thirsts to quench? We could at least make conversation or sing some

songs as we drink

Platos Symposium 213 e-214 b

A highly ritualised occasion and an important crucible for the forging of friendships

alliances and community in ancient Greece

Davidson

What kind of events were there?


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Quote on sympotic furniture and abuse of akletoi:

So he spoke, and caught up a footstool; but Odysseus

crouched against the knees of Doulichian Amphinomos

in fear of Eurymachos, who threw, and hit the cupbearer

in the right hand. The pitcher fell to the ground, clashing

but the cupbearer fell on his back in the dust, groaning.

Odyssey XVIII:394-398

Quote on Akletoi (preceding fight with Odysseus:

And now there arrived a public beggar, who used to go begging

through the town of Ithaka, known to fame for his ravenous belly

and appetite for eating and drinking.

Odyssey XVIII: 1-3

Driven by a hungry stomach or a feeling of personal threat the akletoi perform

themselves as physically and morally imperfect. This makes the invited guests laugh

and assures them of their superiority.

Fehr 187

My heart is always warmed when I hear the pipes sounding a lovely voice. I delight

in drinking well and singing to the pipers accompaniment, and I delight in holding the

tuneful lyre

Theognis 531-34

May no other pursuit arise for me in place of excellence and learning, but ever

holding onto this may I enjoy lyre, dance and song, and may I have noble thoughts in

company with the noble, harming with hurtful deeds neither foreigner or citizen, but

living righteously. Theognis 789

What was needed to hold a symposium?

Attic red-figure bell

krater, symposium

scene, ca. 350-330

B.C., Filotranno

Painter

The female dancers

can be seen

the akletoi being watched by

reclining gentleman

(corinthian bowl)


23/26

www.answers.com/topic/symposium

www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Pottery2.htm

Symposia joined by street parties:

Agathon had stood up to go and lie next to Socrates

when a large number of people from a street party

suddenly arrived at the front door. They found it open,

because someone was just leaving, so they barged straight

in to where the others were and settled themselves down

on couches. Everything went utterly out of control; all

there was left to do was to drink a great deal, and even

that was completely unsystematic.

Platos Symposium 223 b

Symposia as education:

But the younger ones must not be allowed in the audience at lampoons and at

comedy, before they reach the age at which they will now have the right to recline at

table in company and to drink deeply, and at which their education will render all of

them immune to the harmful effects of such things.Aristotle Politics 7.1336

Splitting of theandron?

Increasing preference for broad room shape in later non square dinding rooms was

the inherent potential of this shape for an informal spatial division of the room in twofunctional subgroups, each with a limited number of symposiasts

Tomb of the Diver

475 BC Paestum

This shows the man reclining with his fellows

in his tomb. Not resting alone in state as in

the east, but among his companions

remembering the earthly pleasures of the

feast.

Murray 263

drinking parade

showing the mixing

krater, a reveller and a

kylix as well as a

servant and his

oinochoe (wine jug)

(Attic red figure cup

The mixing of wine

and water, An

Oinochoos - slave

boy? Shown with a

krater mixing the

wine for the

sypmosia


24/26

Bridgewater 47

EtiquetteEtiquette:

A slave washed him so that he could take his place on the couchPlatos Symposium 175 a

Etiquette II:

How do you feel about coming to a dinner uninvited? Would you be prepared to do

that?

Whatever you say, Aristodemus replied.

Come with me, then, Socrates said, and well distort and alter the proverb, to show

that in fact Good men go of their own accord to good mens feasts,

Platos Symposium 174 b

Quote on etiquette and serving boys:Thereafer beginning from the left he poured drinks for the other

gods, dipping up from the mixing bowl the sweet nectar.

But among the blessed immortals uncontrollable laughter

Went up as they saw Hephaistos bustling about the palace.

Iliad I: 597-600

Quote on Syposium etiquette:

The hero Moulios, the Doulichian herald, mixed them

wine in the bowl. He was the henchman of Amphinomos.

He passed it around to all in order, and they, pouring

A libation to the blessed gods, drank the honey-sweet wineOdyssey XVIII: 423-426

Now lets delight in Drink and fine talk. What will happen after is up to the gods

Theognis 1047-48

[Change of etiquette?]

Story of Hippokleides told in Athenian he asked the flute player to dance and he

began to dance to itHippocleides sent for a table Hippocleides climbing onto it

danced first some Laconian dances, next some attic ones and ended by standing on his

head beating time with his legs in the air. Kleisthenes says son of tisander you have

danced away your marriage. Hippokleides doesnt care was the answer.

Herodotus book 6. 126

What are the literary and artistic sources?

For the artistic sources please refer to the images supplied earlier in the handout.

Obviously we have depictions on kraters, tombs and oinochoe.Do these pictures provide an accurate view of the symposia?


25/26

Three types of poetry

1. Poetry for the symposium including lyric poetry including elegiac and iambicpoetry

2. Plato established the prose of genre from the symposium, an imagined

dialogue /set of speeches or discussions usually appropriate to the behaviour3. Antiquarian works - literary or learned discussions - they would serve to

display questions of philosophical wisdom.

Adapted quote from symposium literature Roberts J (ed) (2005), The Oxford

Dictionary of the Classical World

[Eastern Influence?]

Terracotta revetment from Larissa

From: Boardman J. (1990) sympotic furniture in O Murray (ed) Sympotica. A

symposium on the symposion. Oxford 122-131

[Extra Bibliography]

Aristotle, Politics, from Perseus: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-

bin/ptext?lookup=Aristot.+Pol.+1.1252a.

Herodotus, The Histories, tr. Selincourt, Penguin.

Homer,Iliad, tr. Lattimore, University of Chicago Press.Homer, Odyssey, tr. Lattimore, HarperCollins.

Plato, Symposium, tr. Waterfield, Oxford University Press

Bergquist,B. (1990) sympotic space: a functional aspect of Greek dining-rooms in

Sympotica.A symposium on the symposion. Oxford 37-65

Boardman J. (1990) Sympotic furniture in O Murray (ed) Sympotica.A symposium

on the symposion. Oxford 122-131

Bremmer, J (1990) Adolescents, Symposium and Pedestry, in Murray .O(ed)


Calame, Claude (1999) Eros and the masculine:the polis in Poetics of Eros in

Ancient Greece:91-109


26/26

Davidson, James (1997) The Symposium in Courtesans and Fishcakes. London 44-

53

Fehr. B (1990)Entertainers at the Symposium: the akletoi in the archaic period in


Hall, J.M. (2007),A History of the Archaic Greek World ca. 1200-479BCE. Oxford

Lissarague, F. (1990) Around the krater: an aspect of banquet imagery, in Murray.O(ed) Sympotica.A symposium on the symposion. Oxford 196-209

Murray .O(ed) (1990) Sympotica.A symposium on the symposion Oxford

Murray.O (1983) The Greek Symposium in History in E. Gabba (ed). Tria Corda.

Scrittiin onore di Arnaldo Momigliano. Como: 257-272

Pedley, J.G. (2002), Greek Art and Archaeology, London.

Pomeroy, S, Burstein, S. Donlan, W. Tolbert Roberts, J. (1999),Ancient Greece; A

political, Social and Cultural History, Oxford.

Roberts, J. (ed.) (2005), The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. OxfordSparkes. B. (1996). The Red and the Black. Studies in Greek Pottery. London

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