Wine Symbol in A History of the World in Six Glasses

From nearly the beginning of its existence, wine has been the drink of power and sophistication. Arguably more than any of the other symbol-drinks in Standage’s book, then, wine’s symbolic significance is plain, and has stayed the same over time. From the time of the prosperous ancient Greeks (who considered wine a celebration of prosperity, hedonism, and sensuality) to the early days of the United States (during which wine was a symbol of the decadent European culture America was leaving behind), wine has symbolized elitism and cultural sophistication. It’s important to bear in mind, however, that for some Greeks, like Socrates and Plato, wine was more than an invitation to hedonism—it was also an opportunity for the drinker to overcome vices with intelligence and self-control.

Wine Quotes in A History of the World in Six Glasses

The A History of the World in Six Glasses quotes below all refer to the symbol of Wine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Enthusiasm for civilized competition and Greece’s presumed superiority over foreigners were apparent in the Greek love of wine. It was drunk at formal dining parties, or symposia, which were venues for playful but adversarial discussion in which drinkers would try to outdo each other in wit, poetry, or rhetoric. The formal, intellectual atmosphere of the symposion also reminded the Greeks how civilized they were, in contrast to the barbarians, who either drank lowly, unsophisticated beer or—even worse—drank wine but failed to do so in a manner that met with Greek approval.

Related Symbols: Beer, Wine

Page Number and Citation: 52

Explanation and Analysis:

As wine became more widely available—so widely available that even the slaves drank it—what mattered was no longer whether or not you drank wine, but what kind it was. For while the availability of wine was more democratic in Greek society than in other cultures, wine could still be used to delineate social distinctions.

Related Symbols: Wine

Page Number and Citation: 54-55

Explanation and Analysis:

Plato saw drinking as a way to test oneself, by submitting to the passions aroused by drinking: anger, love, pride, ignorance, greed, and cowardice. He even laid down rules for the proper running of a symposion, which should ideally enable men to develop resistance to their irrational urges and triumph over their inner demons.

Related Characters: Plato

Related Symbols: Wine

Page Number and Citation: 65

Explanation and Analysis:

While the richest Romans drank the finest wines, poorer citizens drank lesser vintages, and so on down the social ladder. So fine was the calibration of wine with status that drinkers at a Roman banquet, or convivium, would be served different wines depending on their positions in society.

Related Symbols: Wine

Page Number and Citation: 77

Explanation and Analysis:

Wherever alcohol is drunk, wine is regarded as the most civilized and cultured of drinks. In those countries, wine, not beer, is served at state banquets and political summits, an illustration of wine’s enduring association with status, power, and wealth.

Related Symbols: Beer, Wine

Page Number and Citation: 89-90

Explanation and Analysis:

Jefferson did his best to cultivate wines in America and advocated a reduction in the excise duty charge on imported wine as “the only antidote to the bane of whiskey.” But his cause was hopeless. Wine was far more expensive, contained less alcohol, and lacked the American connotations of whiskey, an unpretentious drink associated with independence and self-sufficiency.

Related Characters: Thomas Jefferson (speaker)

Related Symbols: Wine, Spirits

Page Number and Citation: 127

Explanation and Analysis:

Wine Symbol Timeline in A History of the World in Six Glasses

The timeline below shows where the symbol Wine appears in A History of the World in Six Glasses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...beverages, we can understand important things about human culture. He singles out six drinks: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola. Each one was “the defining drink during a pivotal historical... (full context)

...that often, workers were paid in beer. Later on, in the Mediterranean, humans began making wine from grapes. Wine became a symbol of Greek intellectual culture. (full context)

...of sheep, lambs, ducks, chickens, etc.—but the most important part of the meal was the wine that Ashurnasirpal served. While beer was the most common drink at the time, the King... (full context)

It is not known how, exactly, wine was invented. It’s been around at most since 6,000 BCE, when the invention of pottery... (full context)

In general, wine never became as popular and widespread in Mesopotamian society as it did in Mediterranean societies.... (full context)

...referring to the foreigners’ inability to speak intelligently). Greeks showed off their sophistication by drinking wine. Wine was an intellectual’s drink—the Greeks liked to participate in symposiums, during which they drank... (full context)

In general, wine was a vital part of the Greeks’ belief in their own superiority to the rest... (full context)

The Greeks drank wine by mixing it with water. This mixture was the beverage consumed at the symposium, or... (full context)

...A game called kottabos, in which the players had to flick the last drops of wine in their glass at a specific target, was all the rage in ancient Greece, and... (full context)

...not only because of the sophistication of his arguments but because he succeeds in drinking wine without collapsing from drunkenness. In the dialogue, Socrates argues that wine is an opportunity for... (full context)

...discuss the universe, was an apt symbol of Greek democracy. At a symposium, full of wine, everyone was equal. Yet this equality was limited—only male landowners were allowed to participate in... (full context)

Wine was the perfect symbol of Greek culture: intellectual and elitist, yet hedonistic. In the centuries... (full context)

...We can see the differences between Greece and Rome in the way these cultures viewed wine. For the Greeks, wine was a mark of sophistication and pleasure, but for Romans, wine... (full context)

As Rome grew in power, it continued to use Greek methods for making wine. Powerful Romans purchased villas, where slaves worked hard to produce wine. This wine was then... (full context)

...of a loyal follower, who sent his slave to go to the market to buy wine for Antonius. At the market, the slave requested an especially fine wine—and when the merchant... (full context)

Like the Greeks, the Romans regarded wine as a drink for everyone to enjoy—and yet, even more so than the Greeks, they... (full context)

In 170 CE, there was a huge wine tasting in Rome. Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman emperor, sent his personal doctor, Galen, to... (full context)

...diminishing the size of the empire. While tribes disrupted Roman trade routes, the culture of wine in Rome remained very strong. One reason for this was the rise of Christianity. Wine... (full context)

...any kind, calling it an “abomination.” There were complex cultural reasons for Islam’s rejection of wine. In general, however, Islam turned its back on “the old notions of sophistication,” of which... (full context)

Wine remains the quintessential beverage in the Mediterranean, usually consumed in moderation and with meals. In... (full context)

Distillation involves vaporizing and then re-condensing a liquid. This process makes the liquid pure. When wine is distilled, it becomes much more alcoholic, because wine’s boiling point is lower than water’s—that... (full context)

...the Bad,” was lying on his deathbed. His doctors decided to try a new medicine—distilled wine, or “aqua vitae.” They had learned of the distillation technique from Arabic texts. The doctors... (full context)

...in exploring the New World. All of these nations used alcohol to trade with Africa: wine and brandy were accepted forms of currency for slave traders in Africa. As Standage puts... (full context)

...During the early 1700s, colonists in North America had to make due without beer or wine, since these products were highly expensive to ship across the ocean. This changed in the... (full context)

...the invention of new whiskey derivatives, such as bourbon, which incorporated corn into its recipe. Wine remained fairly popular in America, but despite the fact that President Thomas Jefferson loved it,... (full context)

...1800s. Shortly after Silliman began selling soda, Americans found other recipes for the liquid. The “wine spritzer” was invented when chemists discovered that wine mixed with soda was less intoxicating than... (full context)

Pemberton’s original recipe for French Wine Coca contained alcohol. But because he recognized the influence of the Temperance Movement, which was... (full context)

...they knew how to brew anything at all: water. For centuries, beverages like beer or wine were welcome alternatives to water because they carried no deadly diseases. Now, however, water purification... (full context)

...beer and Coke “tell stories” about history. Although drinking a coffee or a glass of wine is an ordinary act, this act was made possible by the ingenuity of thousands of... (full context)

A History of the World in Six Glasses

Thomas Standage

Wine Symbol Analysis

Wine Quotes in A History of the World in Six Glasses

Wine Symbol Timeline in A History of the World in Six Glasses