Originating in Sicily, this game was played in various versions; in one of the most popular, each diner, resting on an elbow, poured the last drops of wine from his cup into a basin of water with little saucers floating on it, trying to sink them. Another version consisted of pouring the last drops from one's own cup into another, in equilibrium on a vertical support.

Around wine there gradually developed a form of conviviality that included dining. The term symposion indicates "drinking together", a kind of private drinking party. From the 5th century B.C. on, the whole group of activities centred around eating and drinking assumed a symbolic value, allusive to a condition of celestial beatitude.