A performer of the komos, a dance that accompanied drinking parties. In the archaic period the komast is commonly dressed in a tight-fitting tunic and appears to be a professional entertainer. Later the term is used of any dancing, drunken reveller. A small group in late archaic Athens dress as women (though the dress is essentially male, learned from Lydia), wearing snoods, earrings and long dress, and sometimes carrying parasols.
Above: Detail from an Attic red-figure column-crater c.470 BC. New York, Market. Christie's © Christies's
