Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

148 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
the rounds of the guests’ houses. The usual hour for convening
was the ninth. Generally, the ideal number of guests was nine,
including the host. In Athens in the fourth century b.c.e. , however,
symposia grew so large that it became necessary to appoint a commission
to ensure that the number of guests did not exceed the
legal limit. Because wives and daughters were not permitted to
attend symposia, the only women present were hired companions
known as hetairai, who were discussed earlier (see p. 83).
Rooms Reserved for Drinking
The growing importance of the symposium as an institution from
the fourth century b.c.e. onward was such that well-appointed
houses frequently possessed a special room for drinking known as
an andrôn (see p. 131). At Olynthos, such rooms were often located at
the front of the house, next to the street. An andrôn can be identified
in the archaeological record by its off-center doorway, which enabled
the room to accommodate couches that were arranged alongside one
another and set against the walls. The basic andrôn held four couches,
though some were considerably larger. The couches were made of
either wood or stone. In front of each couch was placed a three-legged
table, on which food was laid out and the drinkers placed their cups.
As private houses became more elegant, andrônes acquired floors
adorned with mosaics and walls hung with tapestries.
Remembering the Gods
The taking of wine was a religious act, somewhat akin to the taking
of communion by Christians. This religious aspect is prominent
in descriptions of the origin of wine. In a late epic entitled the Dionysiaka,
Nonnos ( f l. c.e. 450–70) tells us that a vine first shot up
from the corpse of a youth named Ampelos (the name means vine),
the favorite of Dionysos, as the god was lamenting the death of
his beloved. While Dionysos drank the fruit of the vine, which was
infused with all the beauty and grace of the dead youth, he gradually
forgot his sorrow. The myth thus explains why wine has the
power to enable humans to forget their cares.
Every stage of the symposium was marked by a traditional religious
observance. Before being mixed with water, a few drops of
wine were drunk in honor of the agathos daimôn or “good spirit.” In
a fragment from a lost work, Theophrastos states that the purpose
of this toast was “to serve as a reminder, through a mere taste, of the