symposion Greek banquet

Am Ende des 8. Jhs. v. Chr. richtete ein elitärer Zirkel Athens bei der Bestattung seiner Angehörigen in der Kerameikos-Nekropole ein neues Ritual ein: die "Opferrinnen-Zeremonie". Sie stellt allerdings entgegen dieser Bezeichnung keinen Opfer- oder Beigabenbrauch dar, sondern einen Akt der Status-Inszenierung am Grab, wie eine Revision des archäologischen Befundes zeigt. Die Vernetzung der "Opferrinnen-Zeremonie" mit der übrigen materiellen Hinterlassenschaft der damaligen Lebenskultur in Athen und mit relevanten Homer-Passagen als mentalitätsgeschichtlichen Zeugnissen soll im weiteren helfen, ihre kulturhistorische Bedeutung zu erfassen.

The book tells the story of the Athenian elite between 600 and 400 BCE on the basis of the imagery on the luxury pottery from which the wealthy drank at their banquets. The statistical evaluation of more than 6,000 representations lend insight into the lives of the elite as horse owners, athletes, and revellers. The image analysis is prefaced by a cultural historical section that describes the history and socio-economics of the elite.

Das Buch erzählt die Geschichte der Elite Athens zwischen 600 und 400 v. Chr. anhand der Bilder auf der Luxuskeramik, aus der die Reichen bei ihren Festen tranken. Über 6000 ausgewertete Darstellungen liefern Erkenntnisse über das Leben der Elite als Pferdehalter, Athleten und Bankettgesellschaft. Der Bildanalyse ist ein kulturgeschichtlicher Teil vorangestellt ist, der die Elite über die Historie und sozioökonomische Aspekte definiert.

This paper deals with the House of Leukaktios, which has been discovered during Polish excavations at Ptolemais, Libya, in 2001– 2007. The house has almost completely preserved mosaic pavements and the plan of Graeco-Roman type with an open central court (atrium), acting as the focal point around which the rooms were arranged. The name of one of the last owners, Leukaktios, is written twice on the mosaics in the atrium and in the triclinium. The author proposes the identification of several rooms. Room 1, a triclinium, has a mosaic with the characteristic U-shaped geometric frame around a central figural panel that depicts a personification of Victory or Nike. Room 14 is identified as an andron/triclinium with a similar U-shaped version lay out of the mosaic pavement. Room 9, which is situated in front of the andron/triclinium, could be interpreted as a gyneceum. The central panel which represents Dionysos and sleeping Ariadna has a parallel from the House of Dionysos in Cyrene, where the mosaic bears a rare Greek inscription dedicated to a woman.
Room 4 is identified as a reception hall. The mosaics are homogeneous in style and belong to the last phase of the building between AD 215 and 225.

symbolism, iconography, and gestures, used on the sarcophagi of the Etruscan noblewomen, Seianti Harunina Tlesnasa and Larithia Seianti. Both of these figures, along with multiple other Etruscan women, are fully presented reclining on the lid of their sarcophagus pulling their veil out and from their face. The objective is to clarify if this gesture is an anakalypsis, or ‘unveiling gesture,’ and what that gesture may suggest or imply for the deceased. The research strategy was to examine certain communicative elements used on various female Etruscan sarcophagi; identify the origins, purpose, and functionality of the icons; comprehend their communicative value and connection between the deceased and the divine. The purpose of this research is to determine both the anakalypsis and the intended audience, and interpret the message being communicated.

Recent studies on early Christian gatherings have demonstrated convincingly that the Greco-Roman banquet was the context in which Christians gathered for their meetings. What has not been provided, however, is a comprehensive discussion of what Christians did during said gatherings, and in what order they did it. This article attempts to discuss all known components of early Christian gatherings and to arrange them in their relative order.

Christians used to gather around the table for a full meal in the style of the Roman Symposium. They did so because it was culturally normal and a way to tell the Jesus story. Over the first four centuries the full banquet meal held on Saturday evening becomes the Eucharistic Rite of only bread and cup on Sunday morning. This is a brief examination of some of the historical and cultural realities that led to this shift.

Al nome di Teognide di Megara è legata l’unica ampia raccolta di poesia monodica arcaica e classica a noi giunta per tradizione diretta: un insieme di elegie per un totale di poco più di 1400 versi, ai quali si devono aggiungere, per tradizione indiretta, almeno altre 4 elegie monodistiche (non considerando altri versi di dubbia attribuzione). Il testimone più antico di questa raccolta è il cod. A (Parisin. Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. 388), del X secolo, pubblicato nel 1815; nella cosiddetta elegia del "sigillo", collocata più o meno all’inizio della raccolta (vv. 19-26), esso presenta l’affermazione: «sono versi di Teognide il Megarese» (v. 22 sg.). Il cod. A appare diviso in due libri A e B, di cui il secondo scompare nei testimoni recenziori della tradizione manoscritta: oggi si ritiene che il libro B sia una selezione delle elegie erotiche, operata in età bizantina (IX-X sec. d. C.). Teognide è noto come autore di elegie, radunate in una raccolta scritta, almeno a partire dal tardo V secolo a. C.: suoi versi vengono citati o imitati da Ferecrate, Crizia il tiranno, Senofonte, e da Platone, che ne parla come di un autore ben conosciuto e stimato. Secondo la Suda (X sec. d. C.), Teognide è vissuto nel VI sec. a. C. e ha scritto elegie per un totale di 2800 versi, come ammaestramenti morali per il suo giovane amante Cirno. È solo a metà del 1500 che si notano dei difetti nella raccolta di Teognide: alcune elegie sono assegnate dalla tradizione indiretta ad altri autori (Tirteo, Mimnermo, Solone), un certo numero di poesie è stranamente ripetuto due volte nella raccolta, e il disordine tematico regna ovunque. Si comincia dunque a dubitare che quanto tramandato sotto il nome di Teognide sia effettivamente tutto suo, e nasce la moderna Questione teognidea. La raccolta viene interpretata come un corpus, dal momento che non tutte le poesie possono essere del poeta Teognide, e il problema cui si cerca a lungo di dare risposta (principalmente nel XIX e nel XX secolo) è quello di come questo corpus si sia costituito: la risposta che generalmente viene data è che il corpus teognideo è un’antologia, formata per aggregazione di due, o tre, o quattro, oppure molteplici fonti, in un’epoca variamente identificata (le proposte vanno dallo scorcio del VI sec. a. C. alla tarda età bizantina). Sono state però individuate anche sequenze di elegie che devono ricondursi alle recitazioni simposiali dell’età greca arcaica: esse mostrano che la costituzione di almeno buona parte del corpus si deve ad un apporto simposiale molto antico, e possono far interpretare l’intero corpus come una raccolta nata dalla registrazione scritta di varie elegie eseguite oralmente nei simposi.
Per ricevere il libro, inviare un'email a giuliocolesanti@libero.it
To take the book, send an email to giuliocolesanti@libero.it

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions
Key words: mythological mosaic, House of Aion, Nea Paphos, Late Antiquity, Roman art, allegorical narrative, allusive language of mythological pictures, wordplay (Marsyas-Messias), Jesus Christ, anti-Christian polemic, Dionysos, Cassiopeia, Apollon, Nereides, Abstract Personifications, Greek Mythology, ΚΥΠΡΟΣ

in: Jenny Strauss Clay, Irad Malkin & Yannis Z. Tzifopoulos (eds), Panhellenes at Methone. Graphê in Late Geometric and Protoarchaic Methone, Macedonia (ca. 700 BCE), Berlin–New York 2017 (De Gruyter, Trends in Classics, Suppl. vol. 44), p. 309-327

Did Greeks and non-Greeks banquet together in the first half of the first millennium BCE, and if so, how does this mode of cultural contact explain the evidence of cultural exchange between Greece and the Near East? Following suggestions in scholarship that Greeks shared a banqueting culture with West Semitic peoples, and that Greeks sometimes banqueted with non-Greeks, this dissertation presents evidence that Greeks banqueted with non-Greeks, explains why they should have done so in terms of earlier practices and anthropological theory, and argues that multicultural banquets were the primary mode of peaceful cultural contact in the thought-world of Greeks in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. Chapter 1 addresses the evidence for multicultural banqueting before the first millennium, and finds that it was a feature of diplomacy in the Late Bronze Age (1700-1100). Objects and texts are examined and used as evidence that members of various populations learned foreign banqueting customs. I argue that the multicultural banqueting in the Iron Age (1100-750) and Archaic period (750-490) is a revival of Late Bronze Age diplomatic practices. Chapter 2 addresses evidence for reclined banqueting in the Iron Age, arguing that it is a result of multicultural banqueting among various groups. It is interpreted as a feature of diplomacy and as an instantiation of the anthropological theory of Mary Helms (1988) that elites seek out external symbols of status in order to be recognized as elite by foreigners and to differentiate themselves at home. Chapter 3 focuses on the Iliad and finds that multicultural banquets are philologically distinguished from banquets among Greeks, and that the banquet is essential in cultural contact where hostility is possible. Chapter 4 focuses on the Odyssey and demonstrates that banqueting mediates contact between Greeks and non-Greeks in the Archaic imagination. I hope hereby to construct a stable mode of contact that explains the evidence of cultural exchange between Greek and West Semitic populations, such as the alphabet, the burning of incense in ritual, and adaptations of gods and cults. The multicultural banquet becomes an interpretive model for developments in Archaic Greek literature, culture, and society.

This paper proposes a new interpretation of the famous fourth century A.D. mosaic of the “Seven Sages” and the “Anger of Achilles”. Discovered in Merida in 1982, this mosaic was previously analyzed and interpreted by J.M. Aharez Martinez and M.-H. Quet. The occurrence of these two iconographic themes in one mosaic tends the author to compare the description of the “Anger of Achilles” in the first book of the Iliad with the maxims of the Seven Sages of Greece. The study of both written and iconographic sources shows that he image of the “Anger of Achilles” evokes allusively the moral precepts of the Seven Sages. The mosaic constitutes therefore an example of the practical use of “artificiosa memoria “.

This paper reconsiders the emergence of an iconographic formula in the context of Western Anatolia in the sixth and fifth centuries BC, which came later to be termed the 'Funerary Banquet' or 'Totenmahl'. Consisting usually of a single  male shown in a 'sympotic' context (reclining on a kline, with drinking service), flanked by attendants and often accompanied by a female consort, this formula is known earlier, and elsewhere, but the standarisation of the image type as a funerary motif at this juncture is notable. The paper addresses why this phenomenon occurred there and then, and whether there were specific meanings associated with it. It argues that the motif emerged in a context of heightened competition in drinking culture in both the Achaemenid Empire and the late Archaic Aegean zone. While the 'funerary banquets' of Western Anatolia never displayed overt signs of eschatological significance, its ambiguity meant that it was particularly resonant in funerary contexts, and could accommodate multiple explanations on the part of viewers, encouraging investment with funerary meaning which eventually affected its further trajectory in later periods. (See also Introduction of the volume for general discussion of the 'funerary banquet' motif in ancient art and its interpretation.)

Abstract: Le village de Shahba, devenu la colonie romaine de Philippopolis, est situé à quatre-vingt dix kilomètres au sud de Damas et à vingt kilomètres au nord de Suweida’ en Syrie du Sud. Sa notoriété et son développement sont dus à l’empereur Philippe l’Arabe qui a transformé la petite bourgade où sa famille s’était installée, en une petite, mais riche cité de 244 à 249 lors de son règne.
La mosaïque polychrome qu’on pourrait appeller mosaïque de la « Fête Nocturne Pannychis » - à cause de sa représentation personnifiée - a été quelque peu oubliée par la littérature scientifique. On trouve cependant quelques brèves descriptions dans les travaux de J. Balty, de J.-Ch. Balty, de H. Hatoum, de L. Abad Casal, de H. Sichterman et d’A. Kossatz-Deismann. À ma connaissance, elle n’a été publiée que par petits fragments. Seul J.-Ch. Balty, dans un article du LIMC consacré à la personnification abstraite d’Euphrasia, propose une rapide interprétation de la mosaïque en expliquant le sens des mots « pannychis » et « euphrasia ».
La mosaïque de Pannychis n’est plus malheureusement en place, on peut néanmoins supposer, vu le thème représenté, qu’elle devait probablement orner une salle à manger (triclinium ou œcus).
Cette mosaïque rectangulaire, abritée au musee de Shahba, est composée d’une large bordure géométrique, de six petits panneaux représentant des personnifications inscrites sur les cotés courts du tapis, et d’un grand tableau central avec une effigie des trois Grâces (Charites) mis en valeur dans une belle bordure géométrique de ruban torsadé. Les tableaux angulaires représentent les Quatre Saisons. En commençant par l’angle gauche dans la rangée inférieure et en suivant le mouvement contraire à celui des aiguilles d’une montre, les Saisons sont placées en ordre suivant : Theros (l’Été), Methoporon (l’Automne), Heimon[e] (l’Hiver) et Ear (le Printemps). Entre l’Été et l’Automne, l’artiste a placé le buste de la personnification féminine de Pannychis – de la Fête Nocturne. Entre les personnifications du Printemps et de l’Hiver, le portrait en trois quart de la personnification féminine d’Euphrasia – (la Gaîté, la Joie dans un festin, la Réjouissance) a été placée.
Quel sens se cache derrière toutes ces images et à quelle idée elles font allusions ? Si le tableau central est le plus grand, il n’est que complémentaire par rapport aux panneaux latéraux. La clé du programme de la mosaïque est la personnification de Pannychis – de la Fête Nocturne. La personnification de la Gaîté – Euphrasia fait son pendant.
Que sait-on de ces faites nocturnes que les citoyens romains hellénisés en Orient célébraient en se réunissant en grand nombre ? Une source inestimable dans la recherche sur l’histoire des mentalités grecques sous la domination romaine est l’auteur grec d’Éphèse connu sous le nom d’Artémidore de Daldis, spécialiste de l’oniromancie. Il est célèbre grâce à son manuel d’interprétation des rêves (Onirocriticon) rédigé probablement à Éphèse à la fin du IIe siècle. Artémidore parle des Fêtes nocturnes vues dans les rêves. La fête nocturne est célébrée très joyeusement par ses participants. C’est une fête bruyante avec danse et musique. C’est l’occasion pour tout le monde de se rassembler et de faire de nouvelles connaissances. De plus, cette fête permet aux jeunes de dépasser certaines interdictions et d’exprimer leurs sentiments. Les nouveaux couples formés durant cette fête nocturne peuvent confirmer leur engagement par un mariage. Artémidore effectue des rapprochement entre la Fête nocturne et la réunion de personnes, le mariage, la gaîté, la bonne humeur, l’abondance et l’acquisition des biens (pour les pauvres). Le Pannychis et l’Euphrasia sont présents ensemble dans le texte d’Artémidore comme sur la mosaïque de Philippopolis. Sa description met l’accent sur des éléments caractérisant la Fête Nocturne : la joie, la bonne humeur et l’abondance (de la table et des boissons) que les fêtes offrent aux participants. La signification des Charites est complémentaire de celle qui est évoquée par les personnifications de Pannychis et d’Euphrasia. Le tableau de la mosaïque de Philippopolis fait sans doute allusion aux fêtes nocturnes que le propriétaire envisageait d’organiser, et sans aucun doute organisait dans sa demeure.
La mosaïque de la Fête Nocturne de Philippopolis qui ornait probablement un triclinium rappelle ce qu’on rencontre dans d’autres salles à manger chez les riches propriétaires. La théorie du caractère allusif à la vie de l’aristocratie de l’époque romaine (et de ses nouveaux riches) dans la décoration interne des maisons et des villa a de plus en plus de partisans parmi les chercheurs. La mosaïque de Philippopolis ressemble à la décoration des salles à manger qui évoquent la fête, les festins, la boisson, la bonne nourriture, la musique et la danse, tout les ingrédients d’un banquet réussi.

This is a booklet accompanying the 2018 Calendar published by Thrace Foundation, which presents in a general-public-format some silver vases from the V. Bojkov Collection. Some of them are thus far unpublished and will be included in the forthcoming: Sideris A., 2021: "Metal Vases and Utensils in the Vassil Bojkov Collection, vol. 2", Thrace Foundation, Sofia.

In this paper, I  hope to have been able to demonstrate that the residue analysis of Heuneburg´s pottery does not only provide conclusive evidence illustrating, as the BEFIM project admirably has, new and unexpected patterns of transalpine wine consumption, but also can give us insights to highly sophisticated facets of transalpine participation in and appropriation of Mediterranean wine focussed ritual. In this study, I have concentrated on the possible implications of what is at first glance jarring and erratic analytic evidence that has been brushed aside as the fortuitous results of sequential vessel use in the BEFIM´s publications.
Obviously, future sampling will show whether the theses posited in this paper, which are based on a small number of reported residues, will be validated or dismissed as the result of fortuitous admixtures. It is, however, worth mentioning that more conventional admixtures to kykeon und pelanos, i.e., recipes involving barley or wheat flowers would, at the present level of residue detection go unnoticed. This would imply that the adoption of Mediterranean libation patterns in the Heuneburg might well have been more widespread than analysis can demonstrate so far.

This article examines a group of about one hundred Attic Black-Glaze vases, mainly drinking vessels, dating to the late 4th and 3rd century BC. They all bear an  inscription, generally the name of a deity in the genitive, as well as West Slope decoration. After examining their shapes and decoration, I analyse the inscriptions themselves in order to try to understand the significance and use of these drinking cups.

Mario Cesarano, «Nola polis degli Ausoni» nella Periegesi di Ecateo alla luce della documentazione dalle necropoli [143-168]
When Hekataios of Miletos speaks of Nola, a town of Campania near Naples, uses an apparent contradiction in terms: while he defines Nola as a polis belonging to the ‘Ausones’, some ancient writers considered the Ausones an indigenous people without poleis. We can assume that in the VI century BC Nola reached such a high level of ‘urban’ organization so as to share a cultural Mediterranean koine. The Greeks were the main intermediaries of this common culture, but not the only ones: through the grave goods some burials document the development of a Nolan community between VIII and VI century BC and the contacts between indigenous people, Greeks inhabiting the gulf of Cuma and some Etruscan groups settled in Campania. The result of this analysis allows us to put up for discussion the old concepts of hellenization and colonization, and to reflect carefully as to new notions of hibridity and creolization.
Nola – Ausones – Corinthian pottery – symposium – krater

Please note the following addenda to the catalogue. Thanks to Dr. Andras Marton!

1. Paris, Museé Auguste Rodin, Inv. TC503
Lit.: F. Brommer, Die Rückführung des Hephaistos, JdI 52, 1937, 214–216 Nr. 1 Abb. 15–16; F. Brommer, Satyroi (Würzburg 1937) 20. 52 Anm. 10; R. J. Hopper, Addenda to Necrocrinthia, BSA 44, 1949, 249 s. v. Mastoi; A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy (Oxford 1962) 307 Nr. 47; A. Seeberg, Hephaistos Rides Again, JHS 85, 1965, 104 Nr. 4 Anm. 12; H. Wiegartz, Zur Deutung der „Waffenläufer-Stele“, MarbWPr 1965, 63 Anm. 73; J. R. Green, Ajax or Nymph? An Aryballos in Dunedin, AntK 9, 1966, 9 Anm. 13; LIMC IV (1988) 639 Nr. 131 s. v. Hephaistos (A. Hermary – A. Jacquemin).

2. Paris, Louvre, Inv. MNB 1193
Fundort Italien
Lit.: Ravaisson, F., Sur un vase peint du musée du Louvre. Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 21, 2, 1877, 170–171; M. M. Ch. Daremberg – Edm. Saglio (Hrsg.), Dictionnaire des antiquités Grecques et Romaines III, 2 (1904) Abb. 4856; E. H. Dohan, Some Unpublished Vases in the University Museum, Philadelphia, AJA 38, 1934, 530; E. Buschor, Satyrtänze und frühes Drama (München 1943) 27; D. Callipolitis-Feytmans, Dinos corinthien de Vari, AEphem 1970, 96 Anm. 4; E. Pemberton, Wine, Women and Song: Gender Roles in Corinthian Cult, Kernos 13, 2000, 87 Anm. 10.

3. Athen, National Museum, Inv. 2441
Lit.: Chr. Blinkenberg, La chronique du temple Lindien (Kopenhagen 1912) 435 Abb. 5; H. Payne, Necrocorinthia. A Study of Corinthian Art in the Archaic Period (Oxford 1931) 185; T. J. Dunbabin (Hrsg.), The Sanctuaries of Hera Akraia and Limenia, Perachora 2 (Oxford 1962) 254. 260 Nr. 2467. 2528; E. Hofstetter, Sirenen im archaischen und klassischen Griechenland, Beiträge zur Archäologie 19 (Würzburg 1990) 50–51.

5. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Inv. T 717
Lit.: R. Lullies, Neuerwerbungen Kassel 1966–1971, AA 1972, 7 Nr. 7 Abb. 13.

6. Nîmes, Musée Archéologique, Inv. 908.51.1357
Lit.: C. Landes – A.-F. Laurens (Hrsg.), Les collections de céramique grecque dans le midi de la France. Ausstellungskatalog Lattes (Lattes 1988) 103–104. 111 Anm. 74 Abb. 74.

7. Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Inv. 1204
Lit.: O. Antonsson, Antik Konst (Stockholm 1958) 84. 154  Nr. 84.

Il est habituel de qualifier un « Banquet » de dialogue, c'est-à-dire d'ouvrage littéraire en forme de conversation, relatant dans ce cas les propos échangés par des convives lors d'une occasion précise dans un lieu donné 1. Il vaut pourtant la peine d'analyser la représentation des lieux où se déroulent les réunions conviviales de ce type, mais aussi de réfléchir aux modalités des échanges entre les convives. L'intérêt d'une telle étude réside dans le fait qu'elle permet de dégager trois caractéristiques propres au genre du « banquet » tel qu'il a été pratiqué par Platon et ses successeurs : d'abord une nette tendance à passer sous silence le décor du banquet (quand bien même ce décor pouvait, dans la réalité, être très soigné et constituer un sujet de conversation) ; ensuite un curieux manque d'interaction entre les banqueteurs (qui s'oppose aux débats parfois vifs et passionnés des banquets réels) ; enfin la retranscription d'une conversation qui souvent n'a plus grand-chose à voir avec un dialogue.

From basic needs, such as lighting, heating or cooking, to symbolic or ritual engagement, hearths in indoor contexts serve as a focal point. This is especially evident, both spatially and architecturally, in structures with central hearths. With any gathering around a hearth, the types of social groups involved need to be determined and their interactions clearly assessed in each specific case. Beyond clearly domestic contexts, many rooms or buildings have been deemed religious or cultic places often based solely on the presence of a hearth, despite other possible interpretations. This volume appraises and contextualises diversity in practice centering on the hearth in the Aegean and, more widely, in areas of the Western Mediterranean closely connected to Greek civilization, notably through its colonies, revealing surprising similarities but also local adaptations. In the West, the use of the hearth often has a unique character arising from local adaptations born of indigenous practices. The combined approach presented here, detailing technical aspects of the hearths themselves, their architectural settings and any associated artefacts or furnishings, affords a rich spectrum for cross-cultural analysis between these Mediterranean regions.

RESUMO: As personagens do Banquete de Platão são faces de gêneros literários, isto é assente. Mais do que isso, também são máscaras de gêneros sapienciais tradicionais ou inovadores acerca do amor. Platão os dispõe num mútuo desafio entre amigos, convivial e filosófico. Além do mais, no Banquete, como diz Sócrates, celebra-se não apenas Eros e Afrodite, mas também Dioniso (177e). Quais são as máscaras de Dioniso no Banquete de Platão? O discurso de Aristófanes é um discurso cosmogônico, segundo um modelo de teogonia de inspiração órfica, encontrável na comédia As Aves, do Aristófanes real. Ele introduz uma lição de hermenêutica dos mitos, primeira etapa do rito dionisíaco. O discurso de Diotima, sob a máscara dialética e ascética da filosofia, pretende iniciar aos mistérios. Segundo passo do rito, que faz saltar do particular para o universal. O discurso confessional de Alcibíades, que desmascara-se e desmascara Sócrates, é uma revelação epóptica para iniciados ou então a profanação de um mistério. Terceira etapa que traz a verdade profunda que só se diz tomado pela loucura ou embriaguez do amor. Cosmogonia, iniciação e revelação do mistério erótico de Dioniso. //

RÉSUMÉ : Les personnages du Banquet de Platon sont les masques de plusieurs genres littéraires et, en plus, de diverses lignées de discours de sagesse, soit traditionnels soit innovateurs, concernant l'amour. Platon les met en dialogue dans une joute amicale, conviviale, philosophique. D'autre part, dans le Banquet, selon le dire de Socrate, on ne fait pas seulement hommage à Eros et Aphrodite, mais aussi à Dionysos (177e). Quels seraient les masques de Dionysos dans cet hommage à l'intérieur du Banquet de Platon? Le discours du personnage Aristophane, dans le masque du comique, est un discours anthropogonique, selon un modèle de théogonie d'inspiration orphique déjà présent dans les Oiseaux, comédie du vrai Aristophane. Il introduit aussi une leçon d'herméneutique des mythes, première étape du rite dionysiaque. Le discours de Diotime, sous le masque dialectique et ascétique de la philosophie, nous apprend l'initiation aux mystères, c'est un second pas du rite, qui fait sauter du particulier vers l'universel. Le discours confessionnel d'Alcibiade, qui se démasque et qui démasque Socrate, est ou bien une révélation époptique à des initiés ou bien la profanation d'un mystère. Ce troisième pas du rite apporte la profonde vérité qui ne se laisse dire que par ceux qui ont atteint la folie de l'ivresse et de l'amour. Cosmogonie, initiation, et révélation du mystère érotique de Dionysos.

D. Tonglet, Le kyathos attique de Madame Teithurnai. Échanges artisanaux et interactions culturelles entre Grecs et Étrusques en Méditerranée archaïque, Bruxelles, CReA-Patrimoine, parution prochaine (été-automne 2018). [Etude d'archéologie 13]

Abstract: This essay examines  the poetic production connected to the occasion of the symposium (seventh ‒ fifth cent. BCE), a production that underwent different stages of submersion determined by diverse cultural and political factors, and further examines the lullaby as a different type of monodic poetry, composed by and large by women. The author argues that lullabies are a perpetually emergent typology of text on the synchronic level, due to the recursive nature of their compositional occasion, and explores the dynamics which conversely resulted in the total submersion of the individual texts on the diachronic level, partly due to the failure to secure their written transmission.

This article suggests an alternative to the common formal approach to Roman gardens.  Traditional research has considered how the gardens were laid out and how they were planted, more important than which functions they filled.  Here function refers to their use in relation to the architectural whole they are a part of, and not to the general distinction between "ornamental" and "domestic" gardens.  To gain more understanding of their function, the author points to the evidence of the finds from gardens,  which apart from sculpture, has seldom attracted much interest.  (Summary on pages 96-97).

The article analyses the themes of wine, banquet and more generally food in the Lives of the Sophists by Philostratus. While the sophists often take part to banquets, their performances are evaluated with the wine imagery and some of their orations are conceived for a sympotic context. Even Philostratus' biographic project is inspired by technics which are those of sympotic literature.