The elegy was sung to the accompaniment of the aulus (aulos), an instrument translated as "flute" but which was end-blown like the oboe. It usually was played in pairs (diaulus) by a flute-girl (aulêtris), who, like the hetaira, was expected to offer sexual favors at the symposium. The elegy is an example of so-called sympotic poems and is represented by the sensual verses of Anacreon and those of Theognis, who celebrates his lover and laments the passing of aristocratic power.
In the scene above, a symposiast reclines on a striped cushion, keeping time with his hand and holding the flutes (auloi) of the young girl who dances before him. On the wall is her flute case.
