Aulos in the context of "Classical archaeology"

An ode (from Ancient Greek: ᾠδή, romanized: ōidḗ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also enter.

Greek odes were originally poetic pieces performed with musical accompaniment. As time passed on, they gradually became known as personal lyrical compositions whether sung (with or without musical instruments) or merely recited (always with accompaniment). The primary instruments used were the aulos and the lyre (the latter was the most revered instrument to the ancient Greeks).

In Ancient Greece, the symposium (Ancient Greek: συμπόσιον, sympósion, from συμπίνειν, sympínein, 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, or conversation. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems, such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara. Symposia are depicted in Greek and Etruscan art that shows similar scenes.

In modern usage, it has come to mean an academic conference or meeting, such as a scientific conference. The Latin equivalent of a Greek symposium in Roman society is convivium.

Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more commonly one of the activities or events developed over thousands of years specifically to engage an audience.

Although people's attention is captured by different things due to individual preferences, most forms of entertainment are recognisable and familiar. Storytelling, music, drama, dance, and various kinds of performance exist in all cultures, were supported in royal courts, and developed into sophisticated forms over time, eventually becoming available to the general public. Modern times have accelerated this process through an entertainment industry that records and sells entertainment products. Entertainment can be adapted to suit any scale, ranging from an individual choosing private entertainment from an enormous array of pre-recorded products, to a banquet for two, to parties of any size with music and dance, to performances for thousands, and even global audiences.

The architectural form of theatre in Rome has been linked to later, more well-known examples from the 1st century BC to the 3rd Century AD. The theatre of ancient Rome referred to a period of time in which theatrical practice and performance took place in Rome. The tradition has been linked back even further to the 4th century BC, following the state’s transition from monarchy to republic. Theatre during this era is generally separated into genres of tragedy and comedy, which are represented by a particular style of architecture and stage play, and conveyed to an audience purely as a form of entertainment and control. When it came to the audience, Romans favored entertainment and performance over tragedy and drama, displaying a more modern form of theatre that is still used in contemporary times.

'Spectacle' became an essential part of an everyday Romans expectations when it came to theatre. Some works by Plautus, Terence, and Seneca the Younger that survive to this day, highlight the different aspects of Roman society and culture at the time, including advancements in Roman literature and theatre. Theatre during this period of time would come to represent an important aspect of Roman society during the Republican and Imperial periods of Rome.

The Symposium (Ancient Greek: Συμπόσιον) is a Socratic dialogue written by Xenophon in the late 360s B.C. In it, Socrates and a few of his companions attend a symposium (a dinner party at which Greek aristocrats could enjoy entertainment and discussion) hosted by Kallias for the young man Autolykos. Xenophon claims that he was present at the symposium, although this is disputed because he would have been too young to attend. The dramatic date for the Symposium is 422 B.C.

Entertainment at the dinner is provided by the Syracusan and his three performers. Their feats of skill thrill the attendants and serve as points of conversation throughout the dialogue. Much of the discussion centers on what each guest is most proud of. All their answers are playful or paradoxical: Socrates, for one, prides himself on his knowledge of the art of match-making.

The dithyramb (/ˈdɪθɪræm/; Ancient Greek: διθύραμβος, dithyrambos) was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in The Laws, while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the Republic that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is the only speaker.

However, in The Apology Socrates went to the dithyrambic poetswith some of their own most elaborate passages, asking their meaning, but got a response of, "Will you believe me?" which "showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them."

The Turdetani were an ancient pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula, living in the valley of the Guadalquivir (the river that the Turdetani called by two names: Kertis and Rérkēs (Ῥέρκης) and which was later known to the Romans as Baetis), in what was to become the Roman Province of Hispania Baetica (modern south of Spain). Strabo considers them to have been the successors to the people of Tartessos and to have spoken a language closely related to the Tartessian language.