Homer's era is a historical period of the transition of ancient Greek society from the era of military democracy to the era of polis. In the meantime, the aristocratic leader or? Wang? It plays an important role in social politics and military affairs, but due to the limitation of social productivity, the economic strength of aristocratic leaders is not enough to monopolize political power. Therefore, leaders (kings), elders' meetings and soldiers' meetings all play different roles in political decision-making.
Aristocratic leaders play a leading role in politics, so Homer's era has a strong aristocratic political color. The performance of this aristocratic politics in social life is the banquet often held by aristocratic leaders. This kind of binge drinking often appears in Homer's epic and is an important part of aristocratic leaders' daily life.
There are various scenes of booze depicted in Homer's epic, including large-scale sacrifices of hundreds of cows, small-scale private booze, lively wedding banquets and sad funeral banquets. These banquets have different purposes, scales and activities, but they all have three important ceremonies and procedures:
1. Sacrifice is an important part of the banquet in Homer's epic. Sacrifice is the first and most important procedure, regardless of the size of the banquet.
Generally, people should wash their hands before offering sacrifices, mainly washing their hands. In the Iliad, Achilles sacrificed and prayed to Zeus because he was worried about his friend Patroclus. He washed his hands first, then poured a glass of sparkling wine and looked up at the sky to pray.
When Odysseus presided over the Hundred Sacrifices Festival, he first put the sacrifice around the altar, then washed his hands and grabbed a handful of barley flour. On the one hand, the hand-washing ceremony is to show respect for God, so as to avoid some dirty things blaspheming; On the other hand, it also has its practical significance. In Homer's time, people grabbed food directly with their hands. For example, in the ninth volume of the Iliad, Agamemnon introduced the elders into the camp and put the meat in front of them. They reached for the food in front of them.
Therefore, hand washing also has the practical function of food hygiene. This tradition has been passed down in ancient Greece, which is not only the educational function of its religious ceremonies, but also the result of people's actual needs in daily life.
After the cleaning ceremony, the host of the banquet (usually the commander-in-chief of the army or the tribal leader) should pray for the blessing of the gods. In Homer's epic, we often see Agamemnon seeking refuge from Zeus during the sacrifice.
The Iliad describes a sacrifice hosted by Agamemnon. He killed a five-year-old bull first, and then invited guests around the bull. Agamemnon prayed to Zeus:
The most glorious and greatest Zeus, the God wrapped in dark clouds, the Lord who lives in the sky, please keep the sun from setting and the dusk from falling until we tear down the roof of Priam, burn it to ashes, burn the gate with fire, and pierce the robe on Hecktor's chest with a bronze gun, while his partner falls beside him and gnaws the land with his teeth. ?
After the prayer, sprinkle the coarse ground barley flour first, then pull the sacrificial head back, cut the throat, peel off the sacrificial skin, cut off the sacrificial thigh, cover it with double layers of pure oil, and release the meat on it. These sacrifices were barbecued with dry firewood.
The complete sacrificial ceremony mainly includes cleaning hands, praying, spreading barley flour, cutting sacrifices and burning. Sometimes there are simple sacrifices, such as Odysseus' pig herder Nomaios, who just tore a lock of mane from the sacrifice and threw it into the flame of the stove, praying to all the gods at the same time.
No matter whether the sacrificial ceremony is simple or complicated, it is indispensable to burn sacrifices (or manes symbolizing sacrifice). Because there will be smoke and smell during the burning of the sacrifice, this mist mixed with the smell of the sacrifice goes straight to Olympus, symbolizing that the gods of Olympus share the sacrifice with the victims.
Second, the ancient Greeks believed that only God could drink pure wine without blending, so pure wine was sacrificed to God.
Drinking hard liquor was regarded as a barbaric act by the ancient Greeks, which would make people crazy, so the wine used to entertain guests at the banquet should be mixed with water. Generally, the person in charge of bartending is called a bartender.
The bartender often appears in Homer's epic. At the sacrificial ceremony hosted by Apollo priest crassus, after drinking and eating meat, they filled the mixing jar, drank the wine in a cup first, then divided the wine into adults, and sang praises to God when drinking.
In the ninth volume of the Iliad, Agamemnon hosted a banquet for the elderly and sought a solution to the dilemma. Everyone recommended Odysseus and Ajax as ambassadors of Agamemnon to make peace with Achilles. After the discussion, the herald washed their hands, then filled the jar with wine, and everyone offered a glass, and then distributed the wine to everyone, and everyone drank it heartily.
Homer's epic does not specify the ratio of wine to water when mixing wine. When Achilles was entertaining Odysseus and others, he told Patroclus to adjust the wine to make it stronger. This shows that there is more than one proportion of mixing wine in Homer's era, and it should be divided into shades. Hesiod after Homer explained in his poem that the ratio of drinks is 1:3.
Hesiod lived in the first half of the 8th century BC, not far from Homer's time, and the proportion of mixing wine he described may have originated from Homer's time. Therefore, it is a fixed custom to drink after drinking water in Homer's time, and mixing wine is also called an indispensable link in drinking. Mixing wine needs to be prepared in a special jar. After offering a glass of wine to the gods, everyone can enjoy the pleasure brought by wine.
Third, the official banquet for the leaders is not only to satisfy the appetite, but also to seek spiritual enjoyment.
The process of binge drinking is often accompanied by sports competitions and poetry. This kind of performance is rare in the Iliad, probably because the theme of the epic focuses on the war, while the scenes of the heroes' activities are mainly on the battlefield. It is reasonable to hold a banquet only during the intermission of the war, and it is not necessary to perform or perform less.
Heroes often talk about the next military action after the banquet, which is also one of the contents of the banquet. Later, one of the main contents of drinking in Greek city-states was conversation and debate, but the protagonist was no longer a hero warrior, but a philosopher and celebrity. The only competitive performance in Iliad was at the funeral banquet for Patroclus in Achilles. In addition, Apollo played the piano at the banquet of the gods in Olympus, and the muse sang.
However, in the Odyssey, there were many performances at the banquet. The banquet hosted by suitors at Odysseus' home, the banquet hosted by Lahoz Palace in Mene and the banquet hosted by Alkinus for Odysseus all featured performances such as poetry, dance and competition.
In Odysseus' home, after satisfying their desire to eat and drink, the pursuers began to look for other pleasures, singing and dancing, which were the supplements to the banquet. It can be seen that in Homer's time, performance was already a main content of booze.
Reference: Zhang Lixia's research on drinking in ancient Greek city-states.
Wu's Research on Ancient Greek Ritual Culture
Yan's Homer's Social Studies
(Ancient Greece) Homer's Homer Epic? Odyssey
(Ancient Greece) Homer's Homer Epic? Iliad
(English) Roy Strong's History of European Banquets