c. 475-450 B.C. Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. 81403
A typically male practice, the symposium was barred to women, who could participate only as servants, musicians or companions for a night.
APPROFONDIMENTI
The symposium: forms of conviviality
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.