How were symposia conducted in ancient Greece?

The symposium, or drinking party, was an important part of
ancient culture and literature. Many surviving ancient works frame intellectual
dialogues as conversations occuring at symposia. Among the surviving examples from
classical Athens are Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, both of which describe
symposia attended by Socrates, his followers, and other important Athenian intellectual
figures. Later examples of ancient symposiastic literature include Petronius' Satyricon,
Macrobius' Saturnalia, Plutarch's Table Talk, and Athenaeus' Deipnosophists. Symposia
were regularly scheduled events at the philosophic and sophistic schools of
antiquity.

The symposium participants were upper class men.
The normal activities at a symposium included performances both by hired entertainers
and the participants. Often a manager was hired who would supply flute girls, acrobats,
and other musicians. Particopants reclined and couches and shared food and wine while
watching the entertainers. They might also themselves recite poems accompanied by the
lyre (upper class Athenians studied music so that they could perform works by poets like
Simonides and accompany themselves on the lyre). Among the more intellectual
participants, entertainers might be dismissed to facilitate intellectual
conversation.