THE SIMPOSION

Ancient Greece gave us so many neccesery things democracy, mathematics, medicine, even
ancient computers. Or so we believe. But, how much do we know about lives, and how did the
ancient Greeks spent their days? Answer may lay closer than we thought.
*Slike crveno i crno figuralnih vaza
Weve all seen these. Paintings from greek pottery. From William Hamilton and John Beazley
we consider them as art, immediatly destinguishing styles: Black figure and Red figure styles.
We direct our researches towards recognizing mythological scenes, even artists. But, what
was the function of these vases? Were they just carring these amazing paintings or were they
daily used?
*Slika dananjeg simpoziona
Weve also seen these. Big gatherings, academic conferences for researches, they provide an
important channel for exchange of information between researchers. If you google this word,
simposium, you will find the origin of the word.
*Slika grkog simpoziona
These were the gatherings that were central to greek society. The word symposion litteraly
means drinking together, but in meaning of highly ritualized drinking for upper-class men.
*This was a male aristocratic activity, where they coversed, spent time telling jokes, enjoyed
and entertained by hired musicians, male or female, and place where they could meet with
prostitutes, with which they involved into sexual gratification.
*But, mainly, this was a prime site for the socialization of upper-class males: it was a place in
which personalities were formed, consolidated, and reinforced, an elite event, and as such, it
was intimately bound up with politics. Emphasis on hedonism, competative motivation
pervade the symposium.
Socijalizacija: Symposia helped to reinforce the shared status and cultural bond held between
the elite of the polis or city-state. the guests might play games, listen to and perform music
(especially the lyre), tell each other stories, give each other advice on daily problems, discuss
politics and enjoy each others company. But, the symposions were held on for numerous
reasons, the main, and ussual was to great a new member of greek society - the introduction
of young men into aristocratic society.
Politika: some were formal philosophical discussions whilst other symposia seem to have been
nothing more than drinking-bouts.Various topics were also discussed such as philosophy,
politics, poetry and the issues of the day.
Poezija itd
Considering also that the symposium was considered a centre for the transmission of
traditional values, it seems logical that poetry should reflect not only the happenings but also
the aims and intentions of the symposium. For example, Anacreon, writing in the 6th century
BCE, provides guidance regarding the proper ratio of mixing water to wine.So, while the
symposium may provide the subject matter, poetry can provide the constraints and guidance
for such subject matter. A key aspect of the relationship between the symposium and poetry
is poetrys ability to depict sympotic activities.
The symposium is widely referenced in Greek literature, theatre and the visual arts,
particularly pottery decoration. The symposium was a popular setting in Greek literature and
theatre. Aristophanes plays the Wasps and Lysistrata both include symposia scenes. Plato
devoted a whole dialogue to the practice in his Symposium which is set in 416 BCE. Here the
historical characters of Socrates, Aristophanes, Agathon and Alcibiades, amongst others, meet
to celebrate the release of Agathons successful play and end up discussing the meaning of
love, doing so until dawn. Socrates concludes that the highest form of love is the love of true

beauty, that is the ideal essence of beauty, the unchanging and perfect Form of beautyand in
latter-day interpretations is concidered the origin of the concept of Platonic love. We also
learn something of the procedures of a symposium; we are told the characters follow the
whole ritual. First, Socrates dresses up for the occasion and puts on a pair of fancy sandals
which is indicative of the social importance of a symposium. In the home of Agathon, the
group reclines on couches and first dines. Then they pour a libation to the gods, then sing a
hymn and finally settle down to drinking wine, launching into a juicy topic of discussion.
*Slika Platonovog simpoziona
The symposium was open only to Greek males and the only women permitted were the
hetairai - high class prostitutes trained in music (especially the aulos or flute), dance,
gymnastics and high culture. These higher-class prostitutes were educated in music and
culture and often formed lasting relationships with married men.
Riddles were a favorite sympotic pastime. Greek riddle is more than a tricky question. Point is
that you never speak of thing itself, but to twist it together with other things. This could lead
to hyper-elaborate speech. There were different types od sympotic riddles, and the most
ancient one would be the double-meaning (What is the same everywhere and nowhere Time). So the principle od double meaning (homonymia) involved a splitting of meaning,
twisting language. But, the drinker would also have to decode the sentences, such as:
A man that was not a man saw and did not see a bird that was not a bird perched on wood
that was not wood, which he hit with a stone that was not a stone = Near-sighted eunuch hit
a bat perched on a flannel-stalk with a lump of pumice.Those who failed to guess the answer
had to drain a cup of wine mixed with salt-water
Vino :wine was a key component of the symposium. The wine was measured in krater, which
was placed at the center of the chamber. The wine would be mixed with water , beacuse only
barbarians drink their wine neat. After prayers and libations for the gods, the men drank.
Drinking game: Guests were also encouraged to show off their own poetic and intellectual
skills with off the cuff recitals and repartee. SKOLION: a special class of drinkig song: one
man would begin, the next one would continue trying to outdo him or cap the previous one,
and passing from one drinker to the next, the song would wind its way around the party, and
the name skolion or crooked seems to evoke this meandring path. We even, rarely, find
snatches of these songs inscribed on the vases. Kylix would mark the progress of the song
which each singer would hold in turn. Cups could even be used in competitions like kottabos,
or the strife of cups, that was a drinking game that involved flickering wine-less at a target.
Vaze: The wealth of information about symposia has been handed down to us in the form of
painted vases made in the sixth and fifth centuries BC (although the debated origins of the
symposium suggest it evolved in the 7th century BC. The best known sympotic vases are
those decorated in the red-figure style in Attica . The vases provide information about how
they were used in the drinking activities as well as some ideas about what the Greeks did and
discussed at symposia. Images of symposia are useful in helping us to understand the setting
of the symposium. They show us the participants, sometimes with special costumes, as well
as furniture, pots and other paraphernalia. The simplest depiction of a symposium is of a man
reclining on a couch or kline. A wide range of vases were used at the symposium. First wine,
brought in amphorai or pelikai, and water, brought in hydriai, were mixed in krateres or
(smaller) stamnoi, usually placed in the centre of the room. Sometimes the wine would be
cooled in a psykter suspended within the krater. individual vessels: kylix or rhyta in whichThe
drink was then ladled or poured by slave boys or girls
One of the central premises is that the paintings on the pottery of the symposium may be
used to iluminate the poetry, because they both participate in the same social ritual. Not only
important for wine, vases were pictoral counter part for poetry.
Attic poterry is symposium furniture. They participated in this social rituals. Attic vases were
exported throughout the Mediterranean world, and in various contexts, they served a wide

area od purposes: they could be dedications, grave-goods... A single vase can even play first
one, then another role. But the chief function of Attic pottery was to serve at symposions.