At the location of the symposium, we assume that the special dinning room also had to be prepared quite carefully. This involved a lot of work for the host, or at least for his servants and slaves, as we can see on a Pelike painted by the Pan painter. Here we can see a slave carrying a kline, where the symposiats reclined, and a trapeza for the food and drink of the symposiats. We assume that he is moving these pieces into position in the dinning room, as the furniture was arranged around the edge of the room, with the most honoured seat being to the right of the door.
As the Greeks did not drink they’re wine neat, it was up to the Symposiarch to dilute the wine to his preference before the drinking session began. We can see an example of this on a stamnos painted by Smirkos, showing two slaves with amphoras approaching a larger dinos with the intention of mixing the contents. The younger of the two slaves greets the other, who replies by bending his head, in keeping with the festive feel of the symposium on the other side of the vase.
On another red-figure kylix by Douris, we have a very good example of the next and most important stage in the symposium, the actual drinking. Here we can see men reclined on their couches and slaves pouring out drink from oinochoai, both groups gesturing to their companions as they talk. The central figure, assumed to be the Symposiarch as he is more splendidly dressed than the others, raises his kylix for a refill, or perhaps to make a toast to his guests. Other elements of a symposium can also be seen, such as the trapezas used for holding the food and drink of the symposiats and the decorative wall hangings on the imaginary wall of the dinning room.
Next in importance was music, provided by the flute and the lyre. Both men and women became musicians and performed at events such as symposia. Women could be part of the entertainment as musicians, dancers or hetaira, however they were never invited guests. On a red-figure kylix by Epiktetos we can see a professional dancer playing the castanets, accompanied by a young man playing a double aulos. The female is performing a very expressive dance, whereas the man is merely moving in time to the music, as we can see his himation is quite stiff. Other means of entertainment were provided by the guests themselves, such as playing games, telling stories or making speeches.
The final part of the evening’s festivities saw the symposiats travelling home in a drunken state or partaking in a revel. On an amphora by Euthymides we can see the guests of a symposium going on to the revel stage of the entertainment. The figures are all older men, who appear to be dancing singly and are in no particular setting: they could still be in the dinning room or even on their way to crashing another party. The symposiats generally arrived home in high spirits, and on a red-figure oinchoe from the late classical period we can the rare scene of a symposiat actually arriving home. Though the vase is quite damaged, we can see a man hammering on the door of a beautiful house with his staff, and a woman, presumably his wife, approaching cautiously, clearly doubting whether or not she should let him in.
