Play and Games in Ancient Greece

In ancient Greece, elite men would gather for an exclusive drinking party known as a symposion: lounging on couches, sipping from specialized cups, reciting poetry, being entertained by musicians and performers, telling ribald jokes, and playing lively games. 

This youth in the center of the frieze of a large mixing bowl is playing kottabos, a popular game associated with drinking. 

He loops his index finger through the handle of a cup and prepares to swing it, tossing the dregs of wine. A target would stand in the middle of the room. This was messy. Archaeologists have even excavated waterproof floors in rooms where the symposion took place.

On the interior of this drinking cup, a woman is playing kottabos.  

She is depicted in the nude with short hair, reclining on a couch in a symposion context. At an event exclusively for male elites, she is probably a sex worker, and here she adopts a male role. 

Her body would slowly be revealed as a symposiast drained the dark wine in his cup. 

Here, three boys compete in a game of knucklebones. It is unclear what version of the game they are playing, as there were several. Could they be rolling the pieces on the ground like dice and adding the numerical values given to each side? Or are they knocking their opponents’ pieces?

Children’s activities are often depicted on choes, specialized vessels with a trefoil (three-spouted) mouth and ovoid body used during the holiday of Anthesteria. This festival of wine and revelry was also the occasion for young boys to be formally accepted into their fathers’ kinship groups.

The Greeks enjoyed playing petteia, a two-player strategy game involving throwing dice and moving pieces on a board. 

Here, two Greek heroes, Achilles and Ajax, play petteia during a break from the Trojan War. Ancient viewers would have been familiar with the myths and the heroes' fate at Troy: Achilles is shot in his heel, and Ajax falls on his own sword.

Boardgames could have a strong association with civic order, and the movement of the pieces on the board would appeal to the Greeks as akin to the movement of citizens in the city. Playing boardgames and moving pieces is symbolic of teaching the players how to be a good citizen.