Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

320 Glossary of Greek Terms
antipathy toward the Sophists has colored our modern perception of
Sophists.
stade — A distance of about 210 yards (the length of a Greek running track),
from which the word stadium derives.
symposium — Drinking party (literally “drinking together”) attended
exclusively by men and hetairai.
synhedrion — Council of Greek city-states established by Philip II of
Macedon.
syrinx — Wind instrument consisting of a number of pipes bound together.
syssition — Communal dining area where Spartans ate their evening meals.
thês — Member of the lowest economic group instituted by Solon. Thêtes
(the plural) gained considerable political influence in the fifth century,
because they largely comprised the rowers in Athens’s navy. The term was
also used to identify hired workers.
trireme — Three-banked warship that enabled the Athenians to dominate
the Aegean Sea in the fifth century b.c.e.
tropaion — Trophy erected on the battlefield after a victory marking the
spot where the enemy was routed (from tropê, “a turning around”).
tyrant — Self-appointed ruler of a state, who was usually an aristocratic
usurper. Tyrants, who first flourished in the seventh and sixth centuries
b.c.e. , often contributed significantly to the cultural development of their
communities, though they were later vilified for their despotism.
xenia —Ritualized guest friendship between aristocrats belonging to different
communities who were obligated to offer hospitality to one another
when either of them was traveling. Xenia features prominently in Homeric
society and existed in some form throughout Greek history.