Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-04-09
AncIent Greel Marriages.

Among the ancient Greeks, the mar
riage ceremony consisted SO to speak, OF
three acts. The first took place before
the hearth of the father; the third before
the hearth of the husband; the second
was the passage of the one from the
other.
l. In the paternal dwelling, in the
presence of the father, surrounded ordi-
narily by his family, offers a sacrifice.
The sacrifice concluded, he declares
pronouncing a sacramental formula
that he gives his daughter to the young
man. This declaration is absolutely in
dispensable to the marriage; for the
young girl would not be able to go at
once to worship at the hearth of her hus.
band if her father had not already sepa.
rated her from the paternal hearth To
enable her TO adopt her new religion
she must be freed from every bond that
attaches her to the first religion.
2. The young girl is carried to the
house of the husband. Sometimes the
husband himself conducts her. In GER
tain cities the duty of bringing her be-
longs to one OF those men who, among
the Greeks, we're clothed with a sacer-
dotal character and were called heralds.
The bride is usually placed upon a car;
her face was covered with veil, and on
her head was a crown. The crown, as
we shall often have occasion to see, was
dsed in all the ceremonies of this wor-
ship. She was dressed in white. White
was the color of the yestments in all the
religious acts. She was preceded by a
torch-the nuptial torch. For the whole
distance they sang around her religious
hymns. This hymn they called the hy-
meneal, and the importance of this sa-
cred chant was so great that they gave
its name to the whole ceremony.
The bride dares not go Of her own
accord into her new dwelling Her hus-
band must take her, and simulate q
seizure by force. She must cry out, and
the women that accompany her must
pretend to defend her. Why this rite?
Is it a symbol of the modesty of the
bride? This is hardly probable; the
moment for shame has not yet come; for
what is now to take place is a religious
ceremony. Was it not to mark more
strongly that the wife, who was now to
sacrifice to the FIRE, had herself no right
there, that she did not approach it Of
her own free will, and that the master of
the place and OF the god introduced her
by an act of.hi power2 However this
may be, after forced struggle the hus-
band raises her in his arms, and carries
her through the doorway, taking good
care, however, that her feet do not touch
the sill. What precedes is only prep
aration-a prelude to the ceremony
The sacred act now commences in the
house.
3. They approach the hearth. The
wife is brought into the presence Of the
domestic divinity. She is sprinkled
with the lustral water. She touches the
sacred FIRE. Prayers are repeated.
Finally, the husband and wife share be-
tween themselves a cake or loaf. This
sort of light meal, which commences
and ends with a libation and prayer.
this sharing of nourishment in presence
of the FIRE, puts the husband and wife
in religious communion with each other,
and in communion with the domestic
gods
We can understand, too, that such a
marriage was indissolusble, and that
divorce was almost impossible. The
Roman law did, indeed, permit the dis