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Red-figure bell krater

400-380 B.C.
Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. Stg. 346

 

In symposium scenes the deceased is often identified with Dionysus, one of the Greek gods so close to men that it is sometimes hard to distinguish him from them. In this scene the male personage presents the traditional attributes of Dionysus.

APPROFONDIMENTI

The kottabos

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.

 

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.