wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Symposium

Term (Greek sympósĭon; Latin symposium) for a drinking event accompanied by spirited conversation, jokes, songs, music, games and performances with moderate, controlled consumption of wine in ancient Greece. The earliest mentions of it come from the poet Xenophanes (570-470) from the 6th century BC, as well as from the historian Herodotus (482-425 BC) and the philosopher Plato (428/427-348/347 BC), who described the rules in his law book "Nomoi". The custom spread from Greece to Rome and Italy and was widespread until the end of antiquity, especially among the wealthy. The Greek term means "communal, social drinking". However, it should by no means be understood as just a boisterous drinking and eating binge, as the focus was on communal, godly, ritualised and civilised conviviality. The painting shows the famous work "Symposion" by Plato (428/427-348/347 BC) with the participants Aristophanes (450-380 BC) and Socrates (470-399 BC).

Griechenland - Szene aus Platons Symposion und Amphore 500 v. Chr.

Rituals

The Greek writer Plutarch (45-125) describes the symposia "as a pastime characterised by cultivated behaviour and ending in friendship" . The guests gathered around the house altar at the end of a meal (deipnon). The participants garlanded themselves with flowers, ivy and myrtle, as well as white and red woollen bandages to demonstrate their membership of the circle of Dionysus' servants. The symposium was then introduced with ritual acts of purity such as washing hands and sprinkling with fragrant essences. One person was often chosen as the symposiarch for the evening, who was known among the Romans at similar festivals as the "Rex bibendi" (drinking king, also known as "Rex convivii" = banquet king). He was responsible for the programme and the main themes.

He also determined the mixing ratio of wine and water, as pure wine was not usually drunk in civilised circles. The vessels used for this were the bell-shaped crater with the wine and the mushroom-shaped psycter filled with cooling mass (e.g. snow) floating in it. A favourite drinking vessel was the kantharos with two handles. Sometimes the symposiarch also determined the number of cups per participant. The mixture ratio and the number of cups were used to control the degree of intoxication and thus create the desired pleasant intoxication as slowly and persistently as possible. The aim was for each participant to have roughly the same level of intoxication, but this was difficult due to the different constitutions. An honourable man was expected to remember his virtue despite the drinking and find his way home unaccompanied afterwards.

Symposion - Psykter, Trinkschale, Krater

At the beginning, a libation was offered to the gods by spilling some of it with a prayer. Then the set topics were discussed. People solved riddles that they set each other or decided to play the popular game of finding apt comparisons. Occasionally, dancers, flute players or mimes were also invited. The historian Xenophon (430-354 BC) also reports on artistic performances. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the game of skill known as kottabos was also very popular. This was followed by the singing of skolia (impromptu poetry). One principle was that anything said under the influence of alcohol could not be held up to the guest in a sober state. One of the duties of the symposium organiser was to encourage "free speech" and "spontaneous action" without offending third parties. The loosened tongue of the revellers was an early form of the "brainstorming" practised in companies today.

Further information

Today, the term symposium is used to describe cultural and economic meetings between experts for the purpose of brainstorming and exchanging ideas. In his work Satyricon, the Roman poet Petronius (+66) describes a banquet similar to a symposium as an image of the customs of Rome in the first century AD. Further examples of the cultural and religious significance of wine and wine drinking are listed under drinking culture. The subject of alcohol abuse from antiquity to modern times with bizarre stories and prominent protagonists can be found under Intoxication.

Painting: Deur Anselm Feuerbach - Google Art Project, Publieke domein, Skakel
Psykter: By Jastrow, Public domain, Link
Drinking bowl: Public domain, Link
Crater: Public domain, Link

Voices of our members

Thomas Götz

Serious sources on the internet are rare - and Wine lexicon from wein.plus is one such source. When researching for my articles, I regularly consult the wein.plus encyclopaedia. There I get reliable and detailed information.

Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,379 Keywords · 46,983 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,713 Pronunciations · 202,093 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS