Ancient Wine Parties The Greek Symposium

Hey, I'm Matt. You already know what channel you're watching, so let's talk about ancient wine parties. Today's episode is going to be a fun one. Everybody knows that wine has been central to cultures across the Mediterranean. It seems that a love for fermented grape juice is as old as history itself, and from its humble origins in the Caucasus, it has in the course of time come to conquer the world. Whether you're in California or China, you can probably find a vineyard within driving distance. In my relatively small home state of Maryland, there's an incredible 80 registered vineyards alone. The popularity of wine really speaks for itself. So today, we'll be exploring wine in ancient Greek culture. And for more thought-provoking content, make sure to subscribe. We got new videos coming out every week. Anyways, let's get into it. The history of wine in the West begins in the Caucasus region, where the uncultivated ancestor of common grapes can still be found growing in the wild. As we can see from videos of birds drunk on overripe and fermented fruits, the discovery of alcohol by us talking monkeys was bound to happen sooner or later. The oldest known winery discovered recently in Armenia was determined to date back to But like archaeologist Patrick McGovern said about the discovery, the fact that winemaking was already so well developed in 4000 BC suggests that the technology probably goes back much earlier. Wine became a cultural symbol in not just Greece, but also the Persian Empire, where in Zoroastrian culture, wine became a symbol that variously represented the fire of the sun or liquid gold. The Persians were said to deliberate on important decisions twice, once drunk and once sober. If the decision made sense in both states, obviously it was a good decision. It also had an important role in religious rituals, a role which it has maintained across various Christian denominations. According to Greek myth, the invention of viticulture was discovered by the god Dionysus, who was said to wander across the Near East spreading the knowledge of cultivating the vine. The most famous part of his journey was his time in India, and according to legend, Alexander the Great was said to have reached a city near the Indus which claimed its founder to be none other than the god of wine himself. Like in my intro, the myths of Dionysus would frame his travels as a military conquest, and according to the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus, he conquered the whole world except for Britain and Ethiopia. Dionysus' worship became firmly established in Greek life by the 7th century BCE, though traces of similar wine cults have been found in the earlier Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations. Along with the Greater Dionysia, a festival of theater competitions we talked about briefly in the Hubris video, the Greeks worshipped Dionysus by participating in the Dionysian Mysteries. Like other mystery cults like the Eleusinian Mysteries, initiates called Mystae would participate in secret rituals that used intoxicants and trance-inducing techniques such as dance and music to remove social constraints and produce mystical experiences. Named after these ancient practices, the Roman Bacchanalia were unofficial festivals based off these earlier Greek practices, and the word Bacchanalia retains the meaning of wild, drunken revelry to this day. Ancient mystery religion is one of the most fascinating and obscure parts of ancient Greek culture, and you can look forward to future videos on the subject, but for now, let's talk about the real subject of today's video, the symposium itself. A symposium in ancient Greece was essentially a wine party that took place after big banquets, featuring music, dancing, and lots of great conversation. The Greeks loved their conversation, as you will see. Like most things in ancient Greece, it was a practice only enjoyed by the men, though high-class courtesans and female performers were often hired to entertain the guests. And if you know anything about the spirit of ancient Greece, you won't be surprised that part of the fun came out of competitive games, singing contests, and even rhetorical contests. Plato's dialogue, The Symposium, famously depicts one such friendly competition, where the guests take turns giving speeches in praise of Eros, the god of love. This is why the word symposium has come to be used at any event where multiple speeches are given. The general practices of a symposium included a party leader, called a symposiarch, who would determine the strength of the wine and keep things from getting out of hand. How would they change the strength of the wine? They watered it down, of course. Only savage barbarians drink undiluted wine. The wine was drawn from a large jar called a crater, and served from pitchers by slave boys. Much of the Greek pottery that has survived are amphora and wine vessels that would have been used in just such parties, and they have served as one of the most important sources of archaeological evidence for ancient Greek culture. They are useful for dating the shipwrecks they are often found in, and for determining where the ship came from. Occasionally, the contents inside are so well preserved that we have also gained information on ancient diets and trading practices, and the paintings they were decorated with give us glimpses of mythology, athletic competitions, war, and of course scenes of drinking and relaxation straight from the same sort of parties that they were used Dionysus, seders, and other scenes of celebration were common subjects, and they even show us some of their drinking games. Like that classic game where you fling the dregs of your wine cup at a target, or better yet, try to spell something. You remember that from your college years, right? It was said that three bowls of wine was the ideal amount to drink, and that quantity of three became a reoccurring theme in Greek literature that represented moderation. In the play Simile or Dionysus, the comedic poet Eubulus has Dionysus say, When it comes to us humans, some things just do not change, and there really is nothing new under the sun. Now, how much is a bowl of wine? Well, this is what Greek wine cups looked like, and yeah, it's definitely much more of a bowl than a cup. But they also watered down their wine, so I mean, the Greeks say they're not the savages, but I don't know. I mean, I don't even like wine, but still guys, come on, who waters it down? Thankfully, that's one of the Greek practices that fell out of use over the years. Sorry guys, but what can I say? Anyways, that's all I got to say about that. Next week, we're talking about one of the most enigmatic and indecipherable thinkers in the pre-Socratic world, Heraclitus. That's coming up next week, I hope you're excited, and I'll see you then.