Often more than simple personal recreation, games at symposia were multifaceted entertainment: they were games of skill that showed off one's personal prowess, entertained onlookers, and contributed to the delight and pleasure that set the "appropriate mood" for the true central aspects of the symposium: "constructive dialogue and appreciation of poetry" (Vetta 1999; 98).
While there were games that did not explicitly include alcohol or talent at heart, such as dice or passing a sprig of myrtle around in a game of poetry improvisation, the most well-known games were those of skill. Kottabos, a game that tested one's aim after drinking alcohol, and askoliasmos, a game of balance, were two important (drinking) games that symposiasts ejoyed. Games of skill were even more impressive when in some state of inebriation, as the impairment made any successes all the more more admirable (Lissarrague 1990; 84).
