Unlike others, who drank pure wine, Greeks mixed their wine with water. This, they believed, was what civilized individuals should do. Only barbarians–and the gods–drank pure wine, which the Greeks believed to arouse violent impulses and madness. Meanwhile, Greeks drank wine at formal parties called symposia, where witty, adversarial discussions of philosophy, science, and politics took place.
Here, alcohol loosened the men’s inhibitions enough so that they could speak more freely yet not enough to devolve into chaos. This was the epitome of Greek culture; it demonstrated the supposed Greek superiority while also showing off Greek affluence through the sheer availability of wine.
Wine would be put into krater and shared communally, tying to the Greek concept of democracy, as sharing a single, same vat implied equality of some sort. Each krater had a specific water to wine ratio, and having a greater ratio of water allowed Greeks to refrain from becoming overly intoxicated.
Through this practice, Greeks were able to maintain the use of their rational minds, which was important due to the emphasis on logic in traditional Greek philosophy. The purpose of symposia was to facilitate rational inquiry through adversarial discussion. However, Greeks also drank in excess and engaged in acts of passion, offering an interesting dichotomy by contrasting logic and passion within Greek culture.
Other cultures would also emulate the Greeks in wine drinking, even the Romans, who wished to maintain a distinction between Greek and Roman cultures to justify the latter’s status as “superior.” By carrying on this tradition, it becomes clear how ancient Greek culture stood as a source of inspiration for other classical civilizations.
While wine acted as a means of distinguishing social status for both Rome and Greece, it played a bigger role in Rome. During Greek symposia, individuals drank from the same krater, illustrating the Greek concept of democracy. On the other hand, Roman feasts saw that guests were given different qualities of wine based on their social rank. Wine’s role in symposia highlights that Greeks saw the beverage as a philosophical aperitif; meanwhile, Romans used it as a social tool to display their prestige.
Rome also emphasized wine as a medicine. While wine–much like beer–had previously been used in various pharmaceutical endeavors, Rome was where this belief was made expressly obvious. Galen, Marcus Aurelius’s personal physician, hoped to find the best wine for the emperor’s health plan. After all, the better the wine, the stronger its medicinal effects would be–or so he thought.
The quality of wine was determined by a myriad of factors, the major ones being age and the region in which its grapes were grown. Specifically, Galen believed that wine could act as an antidote against general illnesses, and as such, the emperor consumed Faustian Falernian wine every day.
Wine was indeed one of Rome’s most popular beverages, and this did not change when the empire embraced Christianity. However, in the Middle East, Muslims chose to oppose wine at the decree of Muhammad. This was done for two reasons: first, Muhammad had been advised by Allah to ban the excessive consumption of alcohol, as to prevent violent, erratic behavior. Second, wine was the beverage of Christians, the Muslims’ enemy. Thus, they also had a political reason to denounce wine as well.
Today, wine continues to be a prominent drink, with prices ranging from ten to five hundred thousand dollars. Expensive wines remain a symbol of wealth and social prestige, as well as a beverage to socialize over. Though no wine from ancient Greece and Rome has lasted to this day, but other wines—aged, perhaps, for a year or several—may someday be regarded as timeless treasures, connecting modern connoisseurs with the enduring legacy of winemaking traditions.
Source:
Standage, Tom. A History of the World in 6 Glasses. Atlantic Books, 2006, pp. 43-78
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