Young Dionysus, Greek God of Wine, Roman Copy of Greek Original, 4th century BCE
Photo © thisisbossi

For Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates, there was nothing at all wrong with wine in and of itself. Quite the contrary, in fact, because wine was regarded as an important product of civilization which brings significant benefits. At the same time, though, they recognized in wine something with great potential for harm if used improperly. Thus like so many other things, wine must be enjoyed in moderation — I can almost see Plat, Socrates, or Aristotle doing public service ads saying "please drink responsibly." One corollary of this principle...

Greek Wine Mug, Art Institute of Chicago
Photo © swanksalot

Although it is possible to grow grapes for wine throughout the Mediterranean region, it took several centuries for vines to be introduced in most areas. We can, in fact, trace the introduction of grapes first by the Phoenicians, then by the Greeks and finally by the Romans as each civilization engaged in trade, established trade routes, and created colonies. Greek wine jars can be found on the Italian peninsula as early as the 8th century BCE; grape vines planted by Romans in Gaul and Spain were used for wine exported back to Rome by the 2nd century CE. The spread of grape vines for making wine also meant the spread of wine culture — as well as...

Dionysus, Greek God of Wine, Roman copy of Greek Original by Alcamenus in 5th century BCE
Photo © thisisbossi

Dionysus, Bachus, and Liber are the names of the ancient Greek and Roman god of wine. This god embodied many of the qualities which Greeks and Romans saw in wine itself: life and death, nature and civilization, male and female. There were a lot of different gods in ancient Greek and Roman society, but people who enjoy wine today should take a second look at Dionysus, Bacchus, or Liber to ponder what this god meant to ancient civilizations and what he might still have to tell us about wine today.

Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek, Lebanon
Photo © liberalmind1012

It's difficult to underestimate the value and role of wine in both ancient Greek and ancient Roman cultures. Wine was integrated into philosophy, religion, art, poetry, music, and more. It would in fact be impossible to accurately explain ancient Greek and ancient Roman cultures without discussion about wine, wine's effects, and wine's history. Given how much modern Western culture owes to ancient Greece and ancient Rome, we should inquire as to the lasting impacts of their ideas about wine on us today.

Greek Wine Cup (Kylix) with Satyr & Nymph (500-490 BCE)
Photo © The Consortium

What can paintings and other visual arts tell us about the place and role of wine in ancient cultures? Knowledge of the role of wine in ancient cultures is somewhat limited because we can have so few sources of information. Greece and Rome left behind more sources of information for us than most because they had so many writers of history, philosophy, and politics. Even here, though, matters are not always clear because wine is simply referenced in other contexts. No one sat down to write a single "all about wine" book, so there must be a great deal which we still don't know. This means...