In Homer’s Iliad, wine flows not only in the halls of kings but also among the immortals. In an early passage of the epic poem, Hephaestus, the blacksmith god of Olympus, fills a goblet and hands it to his mother, Hera, who smiles as she drinks.
The double-handled cup he uses — a depas amphikypellon — was a prized vessel during the Bronze Age and for generations, scholars have assumed that wine-drinking was the preserve of the elite.
However, new research suggests that it was not only aristocrats who enjoyed a tipple in and around Troy, the siege of which is described in the Iliad — so did the common folk.
The study, published in the American Journal of Archaeology, presents the first chemical evidence that wine was drunk at the site in Turkey identified as having been the ancient city of Troy.
The work involved extracting residue samples from two depas goblets excavated from its ruins. More than 100 of these clay vessels, typically 12-40cm in height and with a narrow base, have been unearthed in the city, dating to 2500-2000BC.
The results showed the presence of succinic and pyruvic acids, distinctive byproducts of grape fermentation.
The finding confirms a hypothesis of Heinrich Schliemann, the 19th-century German archaeologist who first identified the remnants of Troy. He speculated that depas goblets were used to consume wine in celebratory feasts, much like those depicted in Homeric poetry.
The new study not only bolsters that idea, but goes a step further. Analysis of beaker-type vessels unearthed in the outer parts of the city, away from its citadel, found that these humble cups also bore the telltale chemical signatures of wine.
Stephan Blum of the University of Tübingen in Germany, an author of the study, said the depas goblets analysed predate the period described in the Iliad, which mentions military technologies, including types of armour, that appear to date to about 1200BC. Their design would evolve, but double-handed vessels would continue to be linked to wine-drinking.
In the Bronze Age, wine could be an expensive commodity, often transported across long trade routes. If it was widely consumed in Troy, this could raise questions about the city’s social and economic structure. Was Troy wealthier than previously thought, with even its commoners able to afford a taste of luxury?
Blum leans towards a different explanation: the surrounding region was so well suited to cultivating grapes that wine became a staple. “From the time of Schliemann, the idea has stuck in archaeology that wine was consumed by some kind of elite because it’s considered as precious or luxurious. I would agree if you go to eastern Anatolia or Mesopotamia, where wine isn’t being produced. But an area like Troy in western Anatolia, it’s the perfect place to grow vines,” he said.
“So our idea is that in Troy, drinking wine was much more democratic than was previously thought. It’s a bit like today — you can drink wine from a very beautiful wine glass, or you can have it from a coffee cup if you want.”
