I didn’t know what to expect walking into this event. In the end, I found it both fun and informative. It was interesting to hear about the history that shaped binge-drinking and bro culture today and to take a closer look at our own perceptions of drinking. Recreating the painting was especially entertaining. It was nice to get the answers to questions that I had never really thought to ask before.

It was a really cool experience learning about the history of binge drinking, but my favorite part was watching the portrait being drawn. It is cool to see peoples art abilities, and it was fun watching things come along. I never knew much about the history of drinking, so all the information was pretty new to me. There are many reasons explaining why people abuse alcohol and how it became such a popular pastime.

Aside from learning about binge drinking, it was a cool experience to interact with Professor Fontaine in a casual setting. I don’t always get to speak to professors in a non-class setting, so this was especially interesting for me.

I recently went to Michael Fontaine’s Rose Cafe about the culture behind binge-drinking. It was interesting (and fun!) to learn about the history behind drinking and about bro culture. We also got the opportunity to read a translation of a latin text detailing the events occurring inside a painting. The painting was really weird, since it has pictures of  cows and goats vomiting frogs. I was initially really confused by the painting, but it reading the text definitely helped.

Recently, I attended Michael Fontaine’s unusual talk on binge drinking. I describe this talk as unusual, because it was unlike any Rose Cafe I have ever attended before. We read the translation of a Latin text that described a fictitious painting in great detail. Titled “The Garden of Drunkenness,” the text started off with a description of the landscape (a garden surrounded by a field), and then moved onto the people present. The initial people described seemed to behave fairly normally. These people depicted drinking in moderation. They would drink for a bit and enjoy the festivities around them, and then they would go home. All of this occurred outside of the garden. However, the text continued with those who entered into the garden–those who did not want to stop drinking. These people were not described as people at all, but rather as various animals. Also, most of these animals are vomiting, but for the most part, it is not wine that they are vomiting (the exception is the sheep, who are “naive drunks”). Instead, the pigs are vomiting snakes, the cow are vomiting frogs, the goats are vomiting gemstones, and the bears are vomiting swords and sticks (There are other animals vomiting as well, but this list is already growing quite long). The text then ends with an explanation of what happens when the animals then leave the garden. Throughout our reading of the text in the cafe, a couple of students volunteered to draw everything that was being described. At first, I was skeptical as to why it was necessary to draw out the descriptions in the text, but once we finished reading it I realized that it was incredibly detailed, and that drawing it out was actually quite helpful.

Unsurprisingly binge drinking is more prevalent in certain cultures than others. This makes sense since certain things are taboo in some cultures or some things are used for merely only ceremonial purposes. But, what surprised me was that in some European countries where you would expect there to be a lot of binge drinking didn’t really have binge drinking as a problem there. I was surprised to learn that it wasn’t really a thing in Italy even though Italy is known for its vineyards. Also, we passed around a replica of a wine cup from a couple of centuries ago. And it was really small and the part where you put the wine was really shallow. The size of the glass shows how drinking culture in society has changed.

The talk wasn’t really about how drinking is bad for you and that you should never drink. It really was about how with everything, alcohol should be taken in moderation. Michael Fontaine helped depict this to us by having us read out loud a story about a party. The basic premise was that the party devolved from being a happy occasion into an ugly one due to an excess of alcohol.

Since we had to read the story out loud this was probably the most interactive Rose Cafe, plus we were even able to see the story visually because two people drew what was being described in the story.

Sooooo… Binge-drinking. I’m honestly not 100% sure why I decided to go to this talk in the first place – I don’t drink, and I’m not particularly interested in the concept of alcohol. But I was definitely not disappointed: it was very intriguing!

We’ve talked about the ancient origins of binge-drinking, how it became widespread, and also talked about how binge-drinking is and was related to ideas of (toxic) masculinity. Those were really interesting topics to discuss, but the talk also went in other (very amusing) directions.

One of the things prof. Fontaine discussed was an ancient work advocating for moderation in alcohol consumption. To illustrate that, he then brought out his translation of a text describing an imaginary painting by Greek artist Apelles: “the Garden of Drunkenness”. In this garden, those who consume wine in moderation are treated to a banquet, and leave the place relaxed and happy. However, those who keep consuming alcohol afterwards are turned into animals, tortured, and enslaved. The descriptions are quite detailed and, as you can probably imagine, hearing and reading them was quite amusing. However, the good news is that you don’t have to imagine it! As we all read the text out loud, two students drew the garden on the board. And here is the final result:

Professor Fontaine came to speak about the origins of binge drinking and its relation to the beginnings of toxic masculinity. Although binge drinking is heavily associated with Americans nowadays (this can be seen via a Google image search), its origins are actually from Germany. After the Crusades and with the inventions of guns, the German knights found themselves idly trying to pass time. To fill their lonely void, they indulged in drinking and drinking competitions. A huge cause of binge drinking was bro culture. This was not very surprising to me because most binge drinking happens at frat parties where bro culture is very prevalent. I just had no idea dated back so long ago.

This past Wednesday I was able to attend the seminar on binge drinking with Michael Fontaine. I found it incredibly interesting and fun. Learning that the origins to what is refered to as binge drinking today was due to knights and their growing feelings of uselessness was oustanding. Furthermore, the ineractive reading of the poem interpretation was really fun. I had forgotten how fun and absorbing it was to analyze texts and develop a visual image from the readings. I had really enjoyed my literature and history classes in high school because of this. I have been taking science classes my entire time here and this experience got me really interested in taking some history classes at some point in the next two years.

This week I attended the Rose Café where Professor Michael Fontaine came and spoke about the history of binge drinking, and how this behavior first started. I found it particularly interesting, but not at all surprising, when he talked about how binge drinking started as a way for knights to prove their masculinity in the absence of physical fighting. In a way I was somewhat surprised that it took people this long to regard drinking large volumes of alcohol as a “manly” or “tough” endeavor, especially considering that men had been proving their manliness in different ways (primarily through fighting) for thousands of years. I also found it especially interesting when he told us that an entire book had been written on how to win drinking games back in the 15th century (the author even cited personal experience). Of course, knights were not playing pong back in the day, but rather they would simply sit in a circle and drink until someone passed out. The objective of such a “game” was to drink as much as possible without throwing up or passing out. Sometimes its the simple things that are the best. This talk was also very interactive, and I was one of the people who got to draw the drunken scene that was being read aloud by other students on the whiteboard. While the scene itself was fictitious, it was amazing to think about just how much alcohol people drank during that time period, and how by our current standards, their entire society would likely be considered alcoholics.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Professor of Classics Michael Fontaine speak about his current research surrounding alcohol consumption in history, both in the classical era as well as Renaissance Europe. As someone study Latin, as well as a general student of history, this talk was one of particular importance and interest to me. It struck me, firstly, to see that while “binge drinking,” as commonly understood in modern America, is not viewed as kindly throughout the rest of the world, nor throughout history. In fact, I learned, its origins lie in distinctly European societies, as a result of the knightly class losing its medieval role in society and looking for something to “fill the void” as it were. While I was thouroughly engrossed by Professor Fontaine’s elucidation of this aspect of European history, I am not interested in looking further, beyond Europe. What was the relationship of, say, the ancient Chinese with alcohol? Or the Maya, or the Indians?

Despite misconceptions about the topic of this week’s Rose cafe,  I found Dr. Fontaine’s presentation on binge drinking in the 16th century to be both amusing and thought-provoking. He managed to synthesize an engaging presentation by likening historical sources’ perceptions and attitudes toward drinking with those of college students today. And this was not to paint alcohol consumption as acceptable and justified by historical accounts, but rather also emphasize the downfalls to drinking – hangovers, foul language, lewd behavior, and in extreme cases, liver damage and edema. In addition, as a byproduct of the applicability of the subject and comical historical accounts, a great deal of humor was derived from the crowd. This made it an altogether relatable and enjoyable history lesson, and I hope to hear more of Dr. Fontaine’s lectures in the future.

Last night, I attended the Rose Cafe Talk with Michael Fontaine where he talked about the origins of binge drinking. What I really liked about this talk was that it was not a lecture on why we shouldn’t binge drink or why binge drinking is bad for you, but to create an artistic depiction of the effects of binge drinking. In other words, the talk embellished drinking in moderation rather than criticizing binge drinking.

It’s interesting to see that a lot of areas of our culture such as binge drinking and bro culture can be dated way back, even though these aspects are culture are more prominent in some countries than others. I think that sometimes reflecting about where certain culture/norms come from and why they exist can allow you to reconsider why we continue to participate in such norms.