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30-424: At a Greek symposium , kraters were placed in the center of the room. They were quite large, so they were not easily portable when filled. Thus, the wine-water mixture would be withdrawn from the krater with other vessels, such as a kyathos ( pl. : kyathoi ), an amphora ( pl. : amphorai ), or a kylix ( pl. : kylikes ). In fact, Homer 's Odyssey describes a steward drawing wine from

60-568: A Celtic tomb in central France, is the largest known Greek krater , being 1.63 m in height and over 200 kg in weight. Others were in silver, which were too valuable and tempting to thieves to be buried in graves, and have not survived. Ornamental stone kraters are known from Hellenistic times, the most famous being the Borghese Vase of Pentelic Marble and the Medici Vase , also of marble. After rediscovery of these pieces, imitations became

90-424: A Greek symposium, wine was only drunk after dinner, and women were not allowed to attend. The wine was drawn from a krater , a large jar designed to be carried by two men, and served from pitchers ( oenochoe ) . Determined by the symposiarch, the wine was diluted to a specific strength and was then mixed. Slave boys would manage the krater , and transfer the wine into pitchers. They then attended to each man in

120-435: A krater at a banquet and then running to and fro pouring the wine into guests' drinking cups. The modern Greek word now used for undiluted wine, krasi ( κρασί ), originates from the krasis ( κράσις , lit.   ' mixing ' ) of wine and water in kraters. Pottery kraters were glazed on the interior to make the surface of the clay more impervious for holding water, and possibly for aesthetic reasons, since

150-650: A scientific conference. The equivalent of a Greek symposium in Roman society is the Latin convivium. The Greek symposium was a key Hellenic social institution. It was a forum for the progeny of respected families to debate, plot, boast, or simply to revel with others. They were frequently held to celebrate the introduction of youth into aristocratic society. Symposia were also held by aristocrats to celebrate other special occasions, such as victories in athletic and poetic contests. Many archaic poetic sources were written by members of

180-506: A staple of garden decoration in the Baroque and Neoclassical periods. The French artist and landscape designer Hubert Robert included the Borghese Vase, both alone and together with other stone kraters, in several of his works. Symposium In Ancient Greece , the symposium ( Ancient Greek : συμπόσιον , sympósion or symposio , from συμπίνειν, sympínein , 'to drink together')

210-429: A third. The handles were pulled separately. They were studied by archaeologist Tomris Bakır . These are among the largest of the kraters, supposedly developed by the potter Exekias in black-figure style, though in fact almost always seen in red. The lower body is shaped like the calyx of a flower, and the foot is stepped. The psykter -shaped vase fits inside it so well stylistically that it has been suggested that

240-463: The 416 BC Dionysia . According to Plato's account, the celebration was upstaged by the unexpected entrance of the toast of the town, the young Alcibiades , dropping in drunken and nearly naked, having just left another symposium. The men at the symposium would discuss a multitude of topics—often philosophical or political. A symposium would be overseen by a "symposiarch" ( Ancient Greek : συμπόσιάρχης  : symposiárchēs) who would decide how strong

270-509: The Classical period the volute-type continued to be very popular along with the calyx-type, and beside the Corinthian workshop an Attic one was probably active. Exquisite exemplars of both volute- and calyx-kraters come from Macedonian 4th century BC graves. Among them the gilded Derveni Krater represents an exceptional chef d'œuvre of late Classical metalwork. The Vix bronze crater , found in

300-690: The Greek symposia; however, one major difference is that women of status participated more fully in this as in other realms of Etruscan society . Women were allowed to drink wine and recline with men at feasts. Some Etruscan women were even considered "expert drinkers". Additionally, Etruscan women were often buried with drinking and feasting paraphernalia, suggesting that they partook in these activities. The most apparent distinctions between Greek and Etruscan drinking parties appear in Etruscan art. Etruscan paintings show men and women drinking wine together and reclining on

330-426: The Greek virtue of moderation, the symposiarch should have prevented festivities from getting out of hand, but Greek literature and art often indicate that the third- krater limit was not observed. Symposiums are often featured on Attic pottery and Richard Neer has argued that the chief function of Attic pottery was for use in the symposium. An amphora was used as a jug to hold the wine and usually one single cup

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360-466: The body of the vase. Bell kraters were first made in the early 5th century, which meant that it came later than the three other krater types. This form of krater looks like an inverted bell with handles that are faced up. Bell kraters are red-figure and not black-figure like the other kraters. According to most scholars ceramic kraters imitated shapes designed initially for metal vessels; these were common in antiquity, but survivals are very rare, as

390-408: The column krater, but the handles are unique: to make each, the potter would have first made two side spirals ("volutes") as decorative disks, then attached a long thin slab of clay around them both forming a drum with flanged edges. This strip would then have been continued downward until the bottom of the handle, where the potter would have cut a U-shaped arch in the clay before attaching the handle to

420-612: The dregs of their wine in a kylix , a platter-like stemmed drinking vessel, and flung them at a target. Another feature of the symposia were skolia , drinking songs of a patriotic or bawdy nature, performed competitively with one symposiast reciting the first part of a song and another expected to improvise the end of it. Symposiasts might also compete in rhetorical contests, for which reason the word "symposium" has come to refer in English to any event where multiple speeches are made. Etruscan art shows scenes of banqueting that recall aspects of

450-559: The drinking of assigned quantities of wine, and the oversight of a master of the ceremonies appointed for the occasion from among the guests. Another Roman version of the symposium was the convivium . Women's roles differed in Roman symposia as well. Roman women were legally prohibited from drinking wine as a matter of public morality. Men were expected to control their own wine consumption, but women were not given this authority. Delphic oracle Too Many Requests If you report this error to

480-422: The guests. Among the instruments women might play was the aulos , a Greek woodwind instrument sometimes compared to an oboe . When string instruments were played, the barbiton was the traditional instrument. Slaves and boys also provided service and entertainment. The guests also participated actively in competitive entertainments. A game sometimes played at symposia was kottabos , in which players swirled

510-469: The interior could easily be seen. The exterior of kraters often depicted scenes from Greek life, such as the Attic Late 1 Krater, which was made between 760 and 735 B.C.E. This object was found among other funeral objects, and its exterior depicted a funeral procession to the gravesite. At the beginning of each symposium a symposiarch ( συμποσίαρχος , symposíarchos , 'lord of the common drink'),

540-574: The metal was recyclable. Among the largest and most famous metal kraters in antiquity were one in the possession of the Samian tyrant Polycrates , and another one dedicated by Croesus to the Delphic oracle . There are a few extant Archaic bronze kraters (or often only their handles), almost exclusively of the volute-type. Their main production centres were Sparta , Argos and Corinth , in Peloponnesus. During

570-504: The same cushions. The Sarcophagus of the Spouses , found in the Etruscan region dating to 520–530 BC, depicts a man and women lounging together in the context of a banquet, which is a stark contrast with gendered Greek drinking parties. As with many other Greek customs, the aesthetic framework of the symposium was adopted by the Romans under the name of comissatio . These revels also involved

600-408: The second for love and pleasure, and the third for sleep. After the third one is drained, wise men go home. The fourth krater is not mine any more – it belongs to bad behaviour; the fifth is for shouting; the sixth is for rudeness and insults; the seventh is for fights; the eighth is for breaking the furniture; the ninth is for depression; the tenth is for madness and unconsciousness. In keeping with

630-418: The social elite communities, and so may not be completely representative of the whole local society. Symposia were usually held in the andrōn (ἀνδρών), the citizen quarters of the household. The participants, or "symposiasts", would recline on pillowed couches arrayed against the three walls of the room away from the door. Due to space limitations, the couches would number between seven and nine, limiting

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660-509: The symposium progressed smoothly and without drunken excess. This form originated in Corinth in the seventh century BC, but was taken over by the Athenians where it is typically black-figure . They ranged in size from 35 centimetres (14 in) to 56 centimetres (22 in) in height and were usually thrown in three pieces: the body/ shoulder area was one, the base another, and the neck/ lip/ rim

690-465: The symposium with the pitchers and filled their cups with wine. Certain formalities were observed, most important among which were libations , the pouring of a small amount of wine in honour of various deities or the mourned dead. In a fragment from his c. 375 BC play Semele or Dionysus , Eubulus has the god of wine Dionysos describe proper and improper drinking: For sensible men I prepare only three kraters : one for health (which they drink first),

720-559: The total number of participants to somewhere between fourteen and twenty seven (Oswyn Murray gives a figure of between seven and fifteen couches and reckons fourteen to thirty participants a "standard size for a drinking group"). If any young men took part, they did not recline but sat up. However, in Macedonian symposia, the focus was not only on drinking but hunting, and young men were allowed to recline only after they had killed their first wild boar. Food and wine were served. Entertainment

750-545: The two might have often been made as a set. It is always made with two robust upturned handles positioned on opposite sides of the lower body or "cul". This type of krater, defined by volute -shaped handles, was invented in Laconia in the early 6th century BC, then adopted by Attic potters. Its production was carried on by Greeks in Apulia until the end of the 4th century BC. Its shape and method of manufacture are similar to those of

780-449: The wine for the evening would be, depending on whether serious discussions or sensual indulgence were in the offing. The Greeks and Romans customarily served their wine mixed with water, as the drinking of pure wine was considered a habit of uncivilized peoples . However, there were major differences between the Roman and Greek symposia. A Roman symposium ( convivium ) served wine before, with and after food, and women were allowed to join. In

810-421: Was elected by the participants. He would then assume control of the wine servants, and thus of the degree of wine dilution and how it changed during the party, and the rate of cup refills. The krater and how it was filled and emptied was thus the centerpiece of the symposiarch 's authority. An astute symposiarch should be able to diagnose the degree of inebriation of his fellow symposiasts and make sure that

840-478: Was passed amongst the men. Cups used at symposiums were not as nearly intricate as amphoras. Pottery used at symposiums often featured painted scenes of the god Dionysus, satyrs, and other mythical scenes related to drinking and celebration. Poetry and music were central to the pleasures of the symposium. Although free women of status did not attend symposia, high-class female prostitutes ( hetairai ) and entertainers were hired to perform, consort, and converse with

870-513: Was provided, and depending on the occasion could include games, songs, flute-girls or boys, slaves performing various acts, and hired entertainment. Symposia often were held for specific occasions. The most famous symposium of all, described in Plato's dialogue of that name (and rather differently in Xenophon's ) was hosted by the poet Agathon on the occasion of his first victory at the theater contest of

900-592: Was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, or conversation. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues , Plato 's Symposium and Xenophon 's Symposium , as well as a number of Greek poems , such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara . Symposia are depicted in Greek and Etruscan art , that shows similar scenes. In modern usage, it has come to mean an academic conference or meeting, such as

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