Serious Drinking: Vases of the Greek Symposium

sERious drinking: Vases of the Greek Symposium

“Drink with me, play music with me, love with me, wear a crown with me, be mad with me when I am mad and wise when I am wise.” - Athenaeus

The ancient Greek symposium (from the setting. In studying side A of this 4th century Greek symposion) was a highly choreographed, B.C. vase, one can readily observe a symposi- Serious Drinking: Vases of all-male drinking party that often drew ast’s idealized version of himself in the heroic the Greek Symposium has to a close with a riotous parade about the soldiers taking leave of their women. The been organized collaboratively shuttered streets of town. Wine, and the soldiers, like the drinkers, depart from female by Susan Rotroff, professor in temporary self-abandonment it offered, was society to participate in decidedly male action. the Department of Classics and the chief ingredient of these gatherings; yet The symposium is the peaceful inverse of the Department of Art History intoxication was not the party’s sum intent. battle; both define the society, one in fostering and Archaeology; Grizelda Certain rules were devised under the auspices community and the other in defending it. The McClelland, PhD candidate in of a designated leader, the symposiarch or ban- krater itself is emblematic of the symposium’s the Department of Classics and quet master, who regulated the socializing communal ideals. Its physical placement the Department of Art History of his guests. It was he who set the tenor of at the center of the room is analogous to its and Archaeology; and Emily the party, defining how much wine was to be function. The krater’s imagery speaks to all Olson, MA candidate in the served, what poetry recited, and what music viewers; its wine is offered in equal parts to all. Department of Art History and performed. As conveyed in Plato’s Symposium, ´ Archaeology. a philosophical text on the nature of love, the The serving and pouring vessels of the sympo- symposiarch even determined the evening’s Presented in conjunction with sium fulfilled a comparable convivial function topic of conversation. the fall 2008 course “Ancient in presenting scenes for all to admire. Highly- Athens,” this exhibition allows decorated amphoras replenished the supply of students to examine these Befitting such choreography, the party took wine in the mixing bowls, stamnoi and kraters. vases as a valuable piece of place within a very specific architectural The Nolan amphora, set alongside the mix- the Athenian material record. space, the andron, or room for men. The ing bowls in this exhibition, depicts a scene The course concentrates on the exhibition attempts to recreate this milieu of pederastic pursuit. The extended right physical setting and monu- in the placement of its vases, positioned as arm of the older male painted upon the vase ments of Athens, as revealed by they would have been in the ancient gather- was visual shorthand for an erotic chase, an both archaeology and ancient ing. Typically quite small in size, the andron iconography readily read by the symposium texts, and how they functioned featured a row of couches placed against three guest. Such “legibility” implicated the viewer within the context of Athenian walls. All participants reclined upon these in the scene. It likely titillated and likewise civic and religious life. Serious couches and faced the center of the room. inquired of the guest what his prospects for Drinking will be on view in Here, in the midst of all the men, the krater, the evening might be. It probed the viewer’s the Teaching Gallery from the mixing bowl that contained the wine and role. Would he, spurred by the spectacle of the August 22, 2008, to January water to be serve, stood. Nolan scene, exercise restraint, or give himself 5, 2009. over to passion? As drinking cups, kylikes and kantharoi, were raised and wine was poured Accordingly, a bell krater stands at the center from oinochoai, painted ﬁgures shifted before of this exhibition, evocative of the original the eyes of the drinker. Bodies arched with the

TEACHING GALLERY Serious Drinking (con’t) contours of the vase, ﬂipping head over heel or sidelong with the movements of the vessel. These François Lissarrague, The Aesthetics of the Greek vibrant images—accompanied by young dancers, Banquet: Images of Wine and Ritual (Princeton, New the music of ﬂutes, and courtesans—pressed the Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990). question. Gisela M. A. Richter and Marjorie J. Milne, Shapes The kylix of the Elbows Out painter is more subtle and Names of Athenian Vases (New York: Plantin in its imagery. The elegant cup is decorated by a Press, 1935). simple red glaze band, and a series of birds, includ- ing roosters, strut along its frieze. To the modern The Beazley Archive: Classical Art Research Center observer, the birds perhaps appear charming www.beazley.ox.ac.uk though quite stylized. But to the symposiast, the roosters may have elicited a specific reaction. The Saint Louis Art Museum: Ancient Art Collection rooster was once an exotic love gift, a pet prof- www.slam.org/index.aspx?id=56 fered by an older man in the courting of a lover. Many vases depict scenes of love-bird exchanges, and while our vase is less literal in its depiction, certainly a guest warmed with wine would rec- ognize the consummate symposiast motif, eros, Key Terms erotic love winged. andron: A room for men, used especially for enter- - Grizelda McClelland taining guests during a symposium, in an ancient Athenian house.

kantharos: A drinking cup; usually a deep bowl set upon a stem, with two handles rising from the brim and curving downward to join the body. RELATED EVENTS

krater: A large vessel that contained the mixture Spotlight Gallery Talk of wine and water drunk at the ancient sym- Wednesday, September 3, 6 pm posium, and has four main types: bell, calyx, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum column, and volute. Grizelda McClelland, PhD candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology, will kylix: A drinking cup; usually with a low, thin stem lead a discussion of Hermonax’s Nolan amphora and two handles. (475–465 B.C.). oinochoe: A pouring vessel used to serve wine to symposium guests, with a trefoil lip designed to direct the flow of the liquid.

SELECTED RESOURCES olpe: A pouring vessel used to serve wine to symposium guests, often with a single elegant high John Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases handle. (London: Thames & Hudson, 1974). stamnos: A round vessel with broad shoulders and John Boardman, Athenian Red Figure Vases two horizontal handles used for the mixing of wine and water. (London: Thames & Hudson, 1989).