CAS CL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Greek Lyric, Lyric Poetry, Ancient Bards
20 Mar 2015
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Document Summary
The relationship between the coach and the athlete, higher status (older)-lower status (younger). Athletic facilities such as gymnasium and palaestra (place for wrestling practice) were places where athletes trained and young boys were educated; now we look at another important social context for education of young males: the symposium. Sym together" + posis drink = symposium, plural symposia drinking together". In greek this is a post-eating stage of a banquet. When a meal is finished the tables are taken and in the andron (men"s hall) men would drink wine. Drinking for pleasure was accompanied with dancing, music, conversation and sex. The symposium had a social and cultural significance: it was the organizing principle and the focus was on greek male aristocrats. Men would talk about politics, war, philosophy and would perform the lyric poems (called lyric because they were perform with accompaniment of a lyre).
