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Why are Ancient Greeks fighting?

The “Why Are They Fighting?” picture is actually a picture painted on a large bowl with two handles, called a krater, which was used in a symposium to hold a mixture of wine and water. There were various types of these vases. Some common varieties are the bell-krater, which has horizontal handles and a bell shaped body; the columnar-krater, which has vertical, columnar handles that are set off by the neck of the vase; and the volute-krater, which has vertical handles, which terminate in spirals, also set off the neck. Most krateres were between 25-40 cm. in height. The symposium (from the Greek words for "with" and "drink") was an important social institution especially for upper-class Greek males. It was more or less a drinking party where men got together to reflect on their lives and socialize. Another part of the symposium was to see how much alcohol a man can handle and still be able to dance. In a highly competitive society such as this one, one could never make a fool o...

Posted by: Sandeep Jador

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