Later On

Did Greeks of the Classical era (ca 500-400 BCE) chew with their mouths shut as a matter of etiquette? Or did they chomp away with food flying in every direction? (It makes a difference in my visualization of the feast in Plato’s Symposium.)

UPDATE: I’m thinking that chewing with your mouth shut was not a point of etiquette in Classical Athens. Reason: If it were, in the plays and comedies and other writings we would probably encounter people characterized as “uncouth” by their manner of eating. The lack of any such references is consistent with customs that allowed the type of eating seen in some cultures in which visceral enjoyment of food is communicated with eating noises: lip-smacking, open-mouth vigorous chewing, slurping, belching, and the like. Given the olfactory challenges of life at that time (as described in Extra Virginity), I think a modern visitor transported to the time might view the people of Classical Athens as pigs on stilts. Possibly.