Tour of a Grecian Evening

H: Welcome to Wildcat Tours! I’m Helena

A: And I’m Alexis. We’re going to take you on a magic tour of ancient Greece. Fasten your seat belts and note the emergency exits here and here.

H: Clap your hands with me three times, to transform the bus into a jet plane. One Two Three.

A: As we speed towards ancient Greece, take a look out the window and enjoy the beauty of the evening.

H: Here we are, hovering right outside the house of a wealthy Greek merchant. Let’s check out going on inside!

A: Squeeze your arms and buzz with me so we can shrink down to fly mode and spy on this evening’s festivities, bzzzzzzz.

H: It’s just about dinner time and it looks like the husband and wife are getting ready to sit down….oops! I mean recline for dinner. I know it looks weird, but it’s all the rage for the upper classes to lay propped up on their elbows on a reclining couch during this meal. See how they use their free hand to pick up bits of food from the low table in front of them (Garland 91)?

A: Of course, you can’t really eat pot roast lying down, so the Greeks have adapted the way they prepare food to suit their relaxed positions. Most food is in small pieces and eaten with the fingers, although a spoon or a piece of bread might also be used to scoop up some foods (Adkins 414).

H: If you were to crash this dinner party, you might not the love the food. The Greeks rarely eat meat, except for during religious festivals, so steak is out of the question. It looks likefish, figs, bread, and olives are on the menu tonight (Pearson).

A: Ok, so maybe you think this dinner is a little boring, but don’t worry - the real fun will start after the meal – at least for the men. Let’s fly into the other room to check it out. This, my friends, is a Greek drinking party known as a symposium. The tradition is for nine men, including the host, to gather at nine o’clock. Even though it’s a party, there are very strict rules. The Symposiarch is in charge of the festivities. He decides how many cups of water are added to dilute the wine and how many cups of wine each guest must drink. He is also allowed to throw out guests that become too rowdy – sort of like an American bouncer (Garland).

H: Another American custom that can be seen at a symposium is the party foul. You are branded as an uneducated lout if you drop your cup, burst out laughing during prayer, or spit across the table at the wine pourer (Garland). While this behavior is unacceptable, some very strange customs are allowed. For instance, it is quite normal for men to bring their chamber pots with them to symposia (Ricotti). Yes, you heard that correctly.

A: Ladies, at this point you might be glad to hear that you aren’t invited to the party. Actually, I take that back, if you are a hired companion, or flute girl, you are welcome to attend, but respectable women are not welcome. Symposium is the ancient Greek equivalent of the man cave, only instead of video games and football, the men discuss philosophy and politics and play drinking games. One of the most popular games is kottabos. The objectis to flick wine droplets into a vessel, causing it to topple off of a small platform (Garland). Table top football anyone?

H: Well, I hope you have enjoyed this brief tour of Grecian food and night life. Let’s zoom out of this house and return to normal size!

A: Everybody stretch up high so we can turn the bus to human size. Stretchhhhhhhh. And now, on to the next stop!

Works Cited

Adkins, Lesley, and Roy A. Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. New York: Facts on File, 1997.

The Drinking Party. Photograph. Christopher Xenopoulos Janus. Hellenic Communication Service 2000. 5 Feb. 2009 <

Garland, Robert. Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Painter, Codrus. HAIDES & PERSEPHONE. Attic Red Figure. 450 - 400 BC. BritishMuseum, London. Theoi Project . 2007. 5 Feb. 2009 <

Pearson, Anne. Ancient Greece. 1992. Eyewitness Books. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

A Rich Man’s House in Greece . Photograph. Pat Taylor. Greek Architecture. University of Richmond. 5 Feb. 2009 <

Ricotti, Eugenia Prina. “Good and bad table manners in ancient Greece.” Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti - Sito web ufficialeespr-archeologia. 2007. 5 Feb. 2009 <