Ritualized feasts accompanied by exuberant fun and plenty of wine were an important part of the male pastime in ancient Greece.
During the so-called symposia, musical works were performed, dancers and acrobats of both sexes performed to delight the eyes of vacationers.
Fairly tipsy guests joined in the performance of songs, they themselves participated in artistic performances, games and competitions. An invariable feature of the symposia was the presence of specially invited women of "easy virtue".
Descriptions of those ancient events to our time thanks to numerous references to ancient authors and works of art.
But, perhaps, the most unusual in the imagination of modern people is the favorite game of drunken ancient Greeks, which is an obligatory component of any symposium and is called kottab.
A cottab player watches a girl playing the flute.
For a long time, numerous researchers of Ancient Greece were completely confused about the interpretation of the events depicted in the frescoes, where invariably lying half-naked men for some unknown reason waving bowls and plates over their heads.
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The mystery of what is happening was added by the many discovered frescoes depicting an incomprehensible action.
The game of kottab was very popular in ancient Greece since the 5th century BC. e. Originating in the Sicilian colonies, it was not only entertainment but also a very peculiar kind of sport.
In fact, kottab is nothing more than a competition in marksmanship, but the "athletes" themselves were pretty drunk and performed lying down, and threw the remnants of wine from their glasses into various surrounding objects.
Sometimes the game became more difficult and figurines, dishes and glasses were chosen as the target.
There were many different modifications to the original game.
Main varieties:
Method number 1
A small plate was fixed at the top of the figurine. A large plate was located below.
The players tried to take turns filling a small plate with enough wine to tip over onto the lower plate. And with as big a roar as possible.
Method number 2
Looks exactly like Method # 1, except that the player had to hit the head of the figurine on the way to the plate it supported.
Method number 3
It consisted of hitting a statuette in the head. There were no additional conditions.
It was believed that winning a kottabe provided good luck in love. In addition, the winner was awarded numerous gifts.
Surprisingly, famous people like Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides mention their love for this, almost strange game.