Kylikes-shallow, footed cups with two handles, used for drinking wine-are among the most common painted vessels from ancient Athens, an indication of the importance of wine in Athenian culture. Used at drinking parties called symposia, kylikes often depict scenes from these events. In the center, or tondo, of this cup, a man reclines on a couch beside a low table. He holds a kylix in one hand and reaches out with the other toward a standing woman who tugs at his beard in a gesture of supplication, demonstrating her inferior status. Around the exterior of the cup, groups of men and women interact, probably at the same symposion. These additional revelers belie the intimacy of the moment shown in this tondo; while not public events, these parties could often be large and rowdy.

Plato's Symposion, one of the philosopher's most famous dialogues, describes an educated group of men, including Socrates, arguing about the true form of love. As in ancient Greek reality, no women take part in Plato's dialogue; the only women normally permitted to attend Greek symposia were hetairai, trained entertainers, but they never reclined at the meal with men. In addition to drinking and conversation, these events often included dancing, music, and sex, and hetairai were educated in at least one of these arts. Despite the relatively chaste representation of the couple in the tondo, the intimacy of the scene indicates that erotic entertainment was probably intended, serving as a reminder of the sexual privileges enjoyed by elite Athenian men.

---