Drinking wine in ancient Greece was a divine but demanding business
A small cup, currently on display in the temporary exhibition ‘Drinking with the Gods’ at La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, held a small surprise for any ancient Greek who’d finished sipping their wine and peered with sadness into its dry, empty interior.
A satyr is painted within, his tail in the air as he dives head first into a vat of wine, his own tiny cup left below, untouched.
Such behaviour was frowned upon in Greek society, I learn,
Apollo Magazine
Septembre 3, 2021
© Anaka
because drinking wine was a divine affair, involving the proper rituals and respect for the gods, which separated the Greeks from the barbarians. The satyr, it seems, had forgotten his good manners. Luckily for us modern wine-drinkers, there’s no longer any risk of embarrassing ourselves like a drunken satyr, because this intoxicating exhibition explains how we can avoid insulting the Greek and Roman gods or appearing like barbarians.
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