Kottabos, the drinking game

   Drinking games are in high fashion these days. No matter how we beautify things and try to pack them into playful form, the goal is self-forgetful and total drunkenness. Anyway, drinking together always has a cultural aspect. But what about the ancients? Maybe they were more civilized than we are? Reading from ancient symposia (if we think only of Plato’s Symphosium), however, philosophical drinking does not quite reflect the prudence and moderation of wine consumption. Addiction, alcoholism and, of course, all kinds and degrees of drunkenness have been known since ancient times. This is exactly what a popular game of antiquity, the kottabos, is about.

  It’s the kind of game that no one would certainly play sober, but it can’t be completely drunk, so the essence of the game unfolds in a kind of slightly drunken state. A long stick was set up, on top of which another stick was laid crosswise, from which two cups hung down like two pans of a scale. Competitors have to aim with wine in their mouths and spit into the cups. There was a bronze statuette under each of the two cups, and the goal was for the cup to push the bronze figure below.

  A simpler version of this is when several smaller, empty cups are placed in a container filled with water and the participants have to get the wine into them (i.e., spit into the empty cups). These are not small spit, but the empty cups have to be sunk. The winner is the one who can sink most of the cups. Apparently, during the secondary filling of the cups, the contestants also poured a huge amount of wine down their own throats.

  In general, everyone was happy to take part in these games, not only because of the community experience and the atmosphere, but they also made bets with preference. After all, the ancient man (also) loved to bet, so almost always, they made bets on everything. I think this can also be seen as an ancient classic form of entertainment. Of course, these bets did not necessarily mean a cash bet: often the games were given a lot of erotic charge by having the loser undress or give someone a kiss or fulfill other unspoken desires. As a result, men and women played together, as is the main feature of joint drinking games today, mixing gender and enhancing mood with provocative content.

  The game itself is of Sicilian origin, but we know very little about it because the sources are very controversial. Or maybe it was so clear and obvious that it would have been a shame to write about it. We can read about a game written by Athenaeus where Eros and Hymenaeos were played. A silver plate was set up. The judge for the game was Ganymede, who held a wreath in his hand. Instead of the usual statue of Manes, the target was a statue of the goddess Hebe, which had to be found. According to the will of fate, Hymenaeos targeted first, but he failed. Then came Eros, who prayed to his mother, Aphrodite:

He measured the space with a sure look

And from a distance he threw his wine at the target.

Sweet drops of nectar fly up

Towards the head of the image, looking for the target

It fell loudly on the head from the air

Sweet drops of foaming nectar are all.

The lovely clear picture like the one who is in trouble

It seems to be in tears and the son of Venus is waving with joy

(translation by Gyula Palatinus)

  Kottabos was also used for love prophecies: the answer to the love question was read from the voice of a pot filled with wine sounded in the voice of the lover (obviously, after a sufficient amount of wine, the voice of a lambing sheep can already hear the voice of the lover).

 Kottabos was still hugely popular among the Greeks, and was already becoming a fad among the Romans. Or at least according to the minimal literary memories that have remained with us. However, the game seems to be alive and well today, so I believe in a kind of underground survival of the habit rather than its complete extinction.