Skolion

scolia), was a song sung by invited guests at banquets in ancient Greece.

[1] "Capping" verses were exchanged, "by varying, punning, riddling, or cleverly modifying" the previous contribution.

[citation needed] In later use, the form was used in a more stately manner for chorus poetry in praise of the gods or heroes.

[5][6] Although often referred to as a skolion, its context as a short tombstone inscription scarcely suggests such a characterisation.

The confusion about this piece in modern scholarship is due to the association made by the scholiast to Plato's Gorgias 451e between the epigram and the skolion.