The symposium (from συμπίνειν, "to drink together") in Classical Greece was a post-meal drinking for pleasure that was accompanied with music, dancing, recitals, or conversation.
It was a key Hellenic social institution and was a forum for men of respected families to debate, plot, boast, or simply to revel with others.
They were frequently held to celebrate the introduction of young men into aristocratic society.
Symposia were also held by aristocrats to celebrate other special occasions, such as victories in athletic and poetic contests. They were a source of pride for them.
Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara.
They are depicted in Greek and Etruscan art that shows similar scenes.
In modern usage, it has come to mean an academic conference or meeting such as a scientific conference. An equivalent in Roman society was the Latin convivium.
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