Two part question

Διkέ μου...

>Remember that people didn't drink water if they could help it, because it makes you sick if its not purified
This is a myth and I'm absolutely mystified as to how people still believe it. You would need to add an insane quantity of alcohol to water for it to have any antiseptic properties. Beer or wine wouldn't have enough, though whiskey or vodka would. But then, drinking whiskey or vodka would just dehydrate you. And actually, drinking most beers and wines would as well.

Also, imagine the expense. Think of how expensive it would be in modern times if someone only drank alcohol instead of water, and then think about how much more expensive everything would've been back then.

Remember as well that alcohol production was a professional and sometimes even regulated position. There weren't enough brewers to supply everyone with alcohol every day.

Πως πάει;

Μαλαkίες.

Εσύ;

There absolutely was enough alcohol for everyone in Southern Europe to drink daily.

Ε τίποτα, πουστιές, προσπαθώ να βγάλω άkρη.

Και εγω. Σε νιωθω.
Δεν γαμιεται...
Πισω στα βασιkα.

The history period with the most drinking, is literally now.

Muslam exists so no.

If you read Greek classics they are always talking about wine, olive oil, bread and cheese.

I'll add some of my insight here, I like this thread already; my answer encompasses both questions

The history is drinking is a long one, inextricably tied with human history. The processes of brewing/fermenting/distillation have been popular since the time of Hammurabi (~17th century BCE) due to the simple fact that alcohol was (and is) more safe for consumption than water in many cases. On top of that, alcohol is a better antiseptic and sanitizer than water, and so is more useful at different points.

Fast forward more than a millennium, and that still isn't an exception. Fermenting grapes with other herbs or fruits in water to produce ethanol actually purifies water that might be dirty or too saline. It was a way of preserving water, as storage in amphorae wasn't necessarily the most sanitary. In short, drinking alcohol was very common throughout all of world history until Prohibition-era in the United States. Before it was lampooned as "a drunkard's choice" and able to be produced in such vast quantities, it was one of the smarter moves for survival

To stave off inebriation, people would just water it down. To apply this specifically to symposia, the symposiarch (master of the event) would dictate the proportions to which the wine was watered down. Maybe 8 water to 1 wine if everyone wanted to stay lucid and talk politics, or 2 water to 1 wine if you wanted to get really debauched. Wine today is vinted to usually no stronger than around 16-18% ABV, but there weren't institutionalized standards on the same scale as we have today in many developed countries, so their wine would clock in closer to 60 proof or so. They would also drink a lot of it.
(If there are any corners I cut in that analysis, let me know. Not giving this my full attention :^))

It's myth to the extent that people did drink water and quite alot of it. It's just that alcohol was more safe than getting water from an untested source i.e not the local well etc.

Greek cities liked moderation and distrusted their eastern neighbors and their girly ways

Wasn't it the late 19th- early 20th century? As a society us swedes almost drank ourselves to death then, and it wasn't uncommon for people to show up to their work handling dangerous machinery drunk. As a result we to this age still have to go to the state run monopoly if we want to buy alcohol as swedish society doesn't trust the swede to handle his own drinking.

But user they didn't have distillation, so the alcohol content would be at best 10%-16%. The 60 ptoof equals to 30% wich from what i understend is impossible without distillation.

There wasn't anything liek vodka until 14th century. They only had beer and wine. Also roman soldiers drank watered down cheap wine so it was not uncommon and pretty much everyone who is not slave drank wine.

You got a point.
Nowdays people tend to stop binging earlier than in the older days.

You cant have %60 without distillation. Don`t pull stuff out of your ass.

>Muslims don't drink

Thanks for the correction user.
Too bad you can only be a cunt about it, though. How about you actually contribute in a meaningful way, shitstain?

Πούστο kαλαμαράες, where is the Enosis φάγγοτς;?;?

Well, he said 60 proof, so 30%, right?

It is possible to create drinks that are 30% alcohol without distillation. However, I don't know much about producing alcoholic drinks and the methods used in Ancient Hellas.