| Home is where the brothel and tavern is, in ancient Greece |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Thursday, 29 January 2009 | |
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Page 1 of 4   
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According to Clare F. Kelly-Blazeby, a Reader of Archeology at the University of Leeds (United Kingdom), “The ancient Greek kapeleion, or taverna, is an institution shunned by classicists and archaeologists alike. Preferring instead to focus on the consumption of wine within sympotic, ritual and religious contexts, this mainstay of popular life in the ancient Greek city has long been ignored.” [April 2006 Assemblage article (graduate journal of archaeology at the University of Sheffield): “Tavernas in ancient Greece c. 475-146 BC: an archaeological perspective”] Instead of going with the majority and saying that the ancient Greeks were “civilized and noble," Dr. Blazeby looks into the “seedier side of classical Greek life.” And, if her research shows the realistic view of ancient Greece life (which I’m sure it does), then they were probably not much different than people today in their attitudes and activities. Dr. Blazeby adds, “In Pompeii, albeit at a later date, tavernas reached a density that compares to modern cities. An assessment of their distribution in ancient Greece must, of necessity, be rather more impressionistic, but take to begin with, the laconic remark which Aristotle in the Rhetoric ascribes to Diogenes the Cynic: ta kapeleia ta Attika phiditia (‘tavernas are the canteens of Attica’). This paper discusses evidence for two possible taverna sites in Athens and Corinth.” The article contains many drawings and photographs that substantiate her discovery about these homestyle arrangements in ancient Greece. She stated, “Taverns are indeed so well hidden. We know them to have existed, yet we cannot seemingly find any physical evidence for the buildings themselves.” [Discovery News: “Ancient Greek Homes Doubled as Pubs, Brothels”] Page two continues with this eye-opening look at ancient Greek people from a much more realistic point-of-view than we usually see in literature and research. |
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