Dionysus at the table

The ancient Greek meal is divided into two parts. First, the deipnon, the nourishing part: barley cakes (maza), bread, cheese, olives, sometimes sacrificed meat. Then, once the tables are cleared and hands washed, comes the symposion, the time for shared wine. First, a few drops are poured to the gods (the libation), then the master of the banquet sets the mixture of water and wine in the large krater that all will drink while conversing, singing, and listening to the lyre. To drink wine undiluted, without mixing it with water, was to behave like a barbarian—or a god. And the god of wine, that's me.

The central gesture of every Greek banquet: wine is never drunk pure. It is mixed with water (often three or four parts water to one part wine) in a large vessel called a krater, sometimes sweetened with honey or scented with resin, thyme, or cinnamon. This is the heart of the cult of Dionysus.