Klinai

Klinai (Greek for couches; singular klinē),[1] known in Latin as lectus triclinaris,[2] were a type of ancient furniture used by the ancient Greeks in their symposia and by the ancient Romans in their somewhat different convivia.[3]

Votive relief showing a funerary banquet, 5th century BC. The dead man is shown as a heroised man lying on a klinē. On display in Room 19-20 of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

In the later part of the Hellenistic period an arrangement of three klinai positioned in a 'U' shape developed, which together formed the triclinium.[4] Each kline of a triclinium offered room for three diners, and the seating arrangement of the reclining dinner guests was given a strict significance.[4]

A two-klinai arrangement created a biclinium, with the two couches either at a right angle[5] or facing each other.[6] Biclinium (plural biclinia) may also mean a dining couch for two persons in ancient Rome. [7]

References
  1. Stansbury-O'Donnell, Mark (2015). A History of Greek Art. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-1-4443-5014-2. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. Venit, Marjorie Susan (2016). Visualizing the Afterlife in the Tombs of Graeco-Roman Egypt. Cambridge University Press. p. 51. ISBN 9781107048089. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. Murray, Oswyn. "convivium". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. Tomlinson, Richard Allan. "dining-rooms". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  5. Mols, Stephan T.A.M. (2020). Wooden Furniture in Herculaneum: Form, Technique and Function. BRILL. p. 124. ISBN 9789004425842. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  6. Salza Prina Ricotti, Eugenia (1987). The importance of water in Roman garden triclinia. Ancient Roman Villa Gardens. Issue 10 of Dumbarton Oaks colloquium on the history of landscape architecture. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (Washington, DC), Dumbarton Oaks. p. 17. ISBN 9780884021629. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  7. "biclinium". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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