Introduction

Abstract

This book looks at the symposium and komos in Aristophanes and the comic fragments from two angles, considering the use of these forms of celebration to help shape a play’s plot or to depict characters, and discussing the information found in comedy on some practical sympotic matters. It explores the context of relevant scenes, the activities shown, their humour, and the social status of their characters. From this, conclusions are drawn about the audience’s sympotic-komastic knowledge and about the question whether the symposium is an exclusively aristocratic institution or whether also citizens of lower social status have access to it.