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Dionysus' eyebrows shot up before he lurched to his feet. "Who goes there?"
"Ganymede, you old Trojan horse! Come in and eat supper with me." I thought about how Dionysus had once again shown his moodiness. It was only for a friend that his displeasure would have dissipated so rapidly. "Come in, come in! Don't make yourself scarce!" he said pointing at a couch. I couldn't see how Ganymede could even begin to make himself scarce. He weighed at least two hundred and fifty pounds but it was difficult to gauge his real weight since he was well covered by a white robe, much the same as the one which Dionysus wore. The clothes made me wonder if everyone in Athens used the same tailor. Then I remembered that the women of a household made all the clothes for the family within its walls. There were no such things as buttons. In order to fasten clothes, jewelry was used to pin cloth together. I suppose Dionysus wasn't in the mood to bother with fasteners tonight, for he was dressed in plain white. "Let me introduce you to my friends, you old horse! This is Suzi and er, someone she calls You." Dionysus pointed at Ganymede and said, "This is an old friend of mine, Ganymede. He won the Olympic Games ten years ago." You asked in a whisper, "Where is his wreath of olive leaves which is his right as a winner?" I hoped Dionysus wouldn't overhear your question for it might be bad manners for someone to talk about another person who sat at the same table. I excused you on the grounds that I didn't have the best of manners at times neither. Ganymede had good ears. He overheard the question and in between mouthfuls of the various foods at the table, he spoke to us. He certainly had a hearty appetite. Perhaps he thought us most ignorant of the ways of his people. "The winner of the Olympic Games gets a bit more than a wreath of olives. There is a misconception that that's all a winner gets but the truth is, the winner gets money and free meals for the rest of his life." "How much money does a winner get?" you asked. Ganymede mentioned a sum which appeared to puzzle you. Actually, it left me puzzled too so I figured the sum on my pocket calculator. "It's about fifty thousand American dollars."
The copyright of the article WINE AND DINE IN ANCIENT GREECE - Part 2 in Ancient Greece is owned by Suzi Goode. Permission to republish WINE AND DINE IN ANCIENT GREECE - Part 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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