A smaller mixing vase was a stamnos , which would be used for more intimate ocasions. It began with food - the Athenians did not drink with the meal. Each guest would be given a garland to wear on his head. The simplest would be where the guests bring their own instruments and play and sing - and of course kottabos. Such hetairas would also join in with the kottabos games and other ribaldry.
Many vases show uninhibited communal sex as the climax to the evening.
Painters show the loss of control by depicting the partygoers as satyrs - men with gross features and horses' tails. The Etruscans, unlike thenGreeks and Romans, had a very elaborate burial ritual, where the dead were placed in underground rooms, furnished as they would have been in life. The Classics Pages are written and designed by Andrew Wilson . Comments, questions and contributions welcome.