Well it’s a day of feasting and overindulging in the US, as my compatriots celebrate ‘Thanksgiving’. Which brings to mind a different sort of party atmosphere during the ‘lagynophoria’ of Alexandria, and a closer look at one of its most famous celebrants…This is the Drunken Old Woman (‘Die trunkene Alte’) now in Munich – a famous Roman copy of a lost Hellenistic delight.
Her head is tossed back in abandon, toothless mouth open mid-cackle, as a sumptuous garment (who is she anyway?!) slips off her bony, aged frame. Her skirts swirl and puddle around legs that support the long-necked jug she cradles – this is the eponymous lagynos, the wine jug brought from home for the festivities. Here it has been adorned by a wreath…the hero of the hour.
Ancient sources describe the festival as a sort of public street party, with the mixed population of Alexandria turning out to recline, drink, and be merry: the more respectable sort doing so cheek by jowl with the city’s basket of deplorables. When introduced to the goings on, the Ptolemaic queen Arisinoe allegedly remarked ‘it seems a very dirty kind of party…a mixed multitude all putting down stale food and such.’ So anyway, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, with non-stale potluck fare, and hopefully your very own jug of strong wine.
