Kottabos

Kottabos player, red-figure kylix, about 510 BC

Kottabos (Ancient Greek: κότταβος) was a party game played at symposia in Ancient Greece. It was popular in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. It was also popular with the Etruscans. The game is played by flinging a bit of wine from one's cup at targets. The player would utter the name of his lover.^[1] The game was probably of Sicilian origin but spread throughout the Greek world. Many Greek poets mention the game in their works. By the time of the Roman Empire and the Age of Alexander the Great, the game had died out. It is not mentioned in Latin literature.

Kottabos Media

Attic red-figure psykter, by Euphronios, c. 520 BC.
Symposium scene with kottabos player (center). Fresco from the Tomb of the Diver, 475 BC. Paestum National Museum, Italy.
Kottabos player; red-figure Attic kylix; Louvre
Woman playing kottabos, plate, by the Bryn Mawr Painter, Attic Greek, c. 480 BC. Sackler Museum, Harvard University

References

↑ "99/117/1 Drinking cup (kylix), red-figure style, glazed terracotta, attributed to the Antiphon Painter, Athens, Greece, c. 490–480 BCE – Powerhouse Museum Collection". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2012-07-24.

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[1] "99/117/1 Drinking cup (kylix), red-figure style, glazed terracotta, attributed to the Antiphon Painter, Athens, Greece, c. 490–480 BCE – Powerhouse Museum Collection". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2012-07-24.

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