All you need to know about Greek Symposia

“Cigarettes, Whisky and Wild Wild Women” is the title of a song that the not-so-young among us may remember. Yet, there is nothing new under the sun for in antiquity the Greeks would enjoy their own version of fun with “Wine, Women and Wisdom” as these were the main ingredients for their Symposia.

The philosophic part may have been an elegant pretext for their decadent banquets where all was about enjoying themselves with wine, women, and music. In an earlier post, The Symposium by Plato I touched the subject as I was more interested in Plato as tutor of Aristotle, who in turn was the tutor of young Alexander.

But there is far more to say about these symposia that were open for men only – the only women present were hetaera hired to entertain the men – who met in a special room, the andron, where the couches shared by two men were lined up against the outer walls. Many such rooms were found all over the Greek world and many such scenes were depicted on countless vases as the tradition goes back to the 9^th century BC.

A very systematic and detailed article has appeared in National Geographic and it is very much worth reading as it highlights and illustrates the many aspects of the Symposia.