Decorations at Banquets

     When ever you think of decorating your house for a special event or holiday, what do you think about putting up? I think about putting out the nice table clothe and making my house look clean and tidy.  In Ancient Greece what did they use to decorate for their banquets and festivals? How were the rooms set up? Do they have furniture?

• The banquet is held in a large room with multiple doors and posts.
• Tall chairs were placed around the walls and the chairs were strewn with embroidered stuff made by the women.
• On the chairs the enthroned the leaders of Phaiakia were drinking and dining. This suggests that the chairs were the klines of classical Greece. A kline is related to the word recline and these chairs could be reclined upon. The seat was a frame with stretched cord about 3 feet off the ground. The frame was 5-6 feet long and 2 feet wide with an armrest on one end.
• boys of gold on pedestals held aloft bright torches of pitch pine so the banquet could be held indoors at night.

Ancient Greek Festival

     During banquets men would lean on elbow couches, making themselves more reclined.  They would be bedecked in garlands.  The couches would be in the Andron and they would be far from the door of which you entered the room.  There would be seven to nine couches in a room and they could hold up to about twenty-seven people.  The rooms were in very domestic settings.  I couldn't imagine having a party in a place like this.

     Apart of the decoration when going to a festival would be the tons of pottery.  Some items would include wine coolers, jugs, various drinking cups, and mixing vessels.  Many of these drinking potteries had scenes of festivals for the Greek god Dionysos, the god of wine.

   I feel that having these decorations at ancient festivals make the living space more lively, as opposed to an empty room with just a few tables and chairs.  Using reclining couches was a way to make people feel more comfortable in the Symposium.