“Sing us a song, Mr. Piano Man”: The Symposium and Musical Development in Ancient Greece

McKenzie Mullally Clark

Beta Iota at Wake Forest University

The symposium was one of the most important cultural institutions in Ancient Greece.  It played a significant part in creating a sense of  unity among the otherwise autonomous city-states, by helping to establish common customs and codes of behavior.  Eating and drinking was not only an opportunity for sustenance, it was vital to the functioning of the polis in establishing and maintaining relationships between citizens.  Furthermore, the sympotic entertainment, was very important in the development of ancient Greek music and poetry.  Through the dionysiac ritual, new forms of poetry such as monodic lyric poetry were developed, and older forms such as the dithyrambs were “civilized.”   These innovations spread quickly and were very influential.  Due to the involvement of Dionysus, the symposium was connected to the important dramatic festival, the Great Dionysia, and the innovative entertainments of the symposium easily transferred from the private ritual to the public one.   The symposium's influence was not limited to drama, or even Greek culture, however.  The influence of sympotic poetry and music and dance can still be felt even today, from Christian Hymns to frat parties.