Sympotica: Symposium on the "Symposium" - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198148615 ISBN 13: 9780198148616

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1990

Synopsis

Rituals of commensality are fundamental to the understanding of human societies. The "Symposion" or male drinking group of archaic and classical Greece was an institution whose effects can be detected in the painted pottery and the poetry created for its use, and in many areas of ancient Greek social life, from politics and warfare to sexual attitudes and conceptions of pleasure. Greek sympotic customs spread to other cultures throughout the Mediterranean, with important consequences for their development. "Sympotica" covers the "Symposion" as a whole. It is the record of a symposium held in Oxford in 1984. The contributions discuss the importance of Greek drinking customs for antropology, archaeology, art history, literary studies, history and philosophy, and demonstrate the need for an inter-disciplinary approach. The editor provides a historical introduction to the field of sympotic studies, and a general bibliography. 24 plates illustrate the art of the "Symposion", and three concluding chapters consider the influence of Greek commensality on the Roman world. The work opens up a new field of research into the cultures of the Ancient World.

About this title

Review:

The whole volume is packed with good ideas, and the series of chapter bibliographies and the general bibliography are of great assistance for further study. (Classical Review)

Murray ... did a remarkable job of assembling scholars from a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and institutions in one place at a time. (American Journal of Archaeology)

About the Author:

Oswyn Murray is the editor (along with Jasper Griffin and John Boardman) of The Oxford History of the Classical World, and (with Simon Price) of The Greek City from Homer to Alexander (Clarendon Paperbacks). He has also published Early Greece with Fontana (1980).

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0198148615
• ISBN 13: 9780198148616
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 356
• Editor: Murray Oswyn