Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece was a formative civilisation in the history of wine, establishing practices of viticulture, trade, and cultural use that shaped the Mediterranean and beyond. Wine in Greece held social, religious, and economic significance, and many of its traditions influenced later Roman and European developments.[1]
Background
Viticulture in Ancient Greece expanded from earlier traditions of the Near East, with evidence of wine production by the second millennium BCE.[2] By the classical period, wine was an established staple of Greek diet and commerce, traded widely throughout the Aegean and Mediterranean. Amphorae recovered from shipwrecks and archaeological sites illustrate the extent of this trade, with exports reaching Egypt, Southern Italy, and the Black Sea region.[3]
Viticulture and winemaking
Greek viticulture was adapted to the varied landscapes of the peninsula and islands, often on terraced hillsides. Vineyards were managed with attention to pruning and soil care, though techniques remained rudimentary compared to modern methods.[4] Grapes were pressed by foot or with simple mechanical devices, and wines were frequently stored and transported in clay amphorae sealed with resin, a practice that influenced the later style of retsina.[5]
Wine was often diluted with water before consumption, a convention that distinguished Greek practice from that of neighbouring peoples. The blending of herbs and aromatics was also recorded, reflecting a view of wine as both a pleasure and a medicinal product.[6]
Cultural significance
Wine occupied a central place in Greek social and religious life. The symposium, a formalised drinking gathering, combined wine with intellectual discourse, poetry, and music.[7] Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy, was a central figure in Greek religion and myth, with festivals such as the Dionysia celebrating his cult through ritual drinking and theatre.[8]
Wine was also a marker of cultural identity: diluted wine symbolised moderation and civilisation, in contrast to the perceived excesses of “barbarian” drinking customs. The Greek traditions of viticulture and symposium were later absorbed and adapted by the Romans, ensuring their continuity into the wider Mediterranean world.[9]
See also
References
- ↑ Phillips, A Short History of Wine, HarperCollins, 2000, pp. 27–38, ISBN 978-0066212821.
- ↑ Unwin, Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade, Routledge, 1991, pp. 98–104, ISBN 978-0415075370.
- ↑ Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000–586 B.C.E., Doubleday, 1990, p. 447, ISBN 978-0385423091.
- ↑ Unwin, Wine and the Vine, Routledge, 1991, p. 112.
- ↑ Dalby, Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, Routledge, 1996, p. 76, ISBN 978-0415122319.
- ↑ Detienne, Les Jardins d’Adonis: La mythologie des aromates en Grèce, Gallimard, 1972, pp. 45–47, ISBN 978-2070294000.
- ↑ Phillips, A Short History of Wine, 2000, p. 35.
- ↑ Dalby, Siren Feasts, 1996, pp. 83–85.
- ↑ Unwin, Wine and the Vine, 1991, p. 121.