Marriage, Gamos (γάμος)

Athenian tradition ascribed the introduction of the marriage relation to Cecrops (Athen. xiii. 2), before whose time men were said to have had wives in common, as was the case in historic times among the non-Hellenic tribes on the borders of the Greek world—e. g. the Massagetae, Nasamones, and Ausenses ( Herod.i. 126; iv. 172Herod., 180). In the rest of Greece monogamy was of slow growth as against promiscuity of sexual relation; yet in the Iliad and Odyssey the households described are monogamistic, even though concubines are mentioned. (See Concubina (Pallakis).) Throughout the greater part of Greece the position of the married women was a very subordinate one, the chief exception being found in the usage of Sparta, and to a less degree of Crete and Cyrene and, in general, the Doric States. (See Aristot. Polit. ii. 9; Lac. Apophtheg.) As to illicit relations between the sexes, see Porne.

We may now consider the subject of Athenian marriage. Marriage at Athens was made compulsory by Solon ( De Amore Prol. 2); but the law fell into disuse. A youthful citizen was not allowed to marry until his name was entered in the tribal register (ληξιαρχικὸν γραμματεῖον). The restrictions as to whom he might marry differed from those imposed in modern times, being in part looser, in part more severe. Prohibitions on the ground of consanguinity were less numerous than with us. A man might not marry a direct ancestor or descendant; nor might he marry step-mother or step-daughter, mother-in-law or daughter-inlaw; nor, with an exception to be noticed, his sister. The marriage of Oedipus was looked on with horror, and the fact that it was accidental was not regarded as an alleviation. On the other hand, the marriage of a brother with a half-sister on the father's side did sometimes occur (Demosth. c. Eubul. p. 1304. 20; Themist. 32). Marriage with a niece was common; with an aunt naturally less so, but there was nothing to forbid it.

The prohibition of marriage between a citizen and an alien belongs to a different class from the prohibition by reason of relationship. It would hardly seem to have existed in the early period of Athenian history ( Herod.vi. 130). The influx of foreigners into Athens in the time of Pericles was doubtless the cause that necessitated a more stringent law—namely, that both the parents of a citizen must be citizens; whence it resulted that marriage with an alien was forbidden ( Pericl. 37).

Marriage at Athens took place in two ways: either by ἐγγύησις or by ἐπιδικασία. Ἐγγύησις was the ordinary method, and meant the act of the father or guardian Kyrios (κύριος) of a maiden in giving her in betrothal to her future husband. The act was a solemn one, the relatives of either side being witnesses. Whenever any woman had a κύριος, marriage could take place by no other method than this. If, however, a woman were left an heiress (ἐπίκληρος) without having a κύριος, then the next of kin might claim her in marriage, preference being given to kindred on the father's side; such a claim was called ἐπιδικασία, and was brought in the first instance before the archon. (See Epiclerus.) the public interest in such a claim being allowed lay in the danger of dissensions being caused by rival suitors, of which Aristotle (Polit. v. 4) gives instances. If the heiress were poor (θῆσσα), it was likely that no claimant would come forward; in this case the archon was bound to compel the next of kin either himself to marry the heiress or to portion her and give her in marriage (Demosth. c. Macart. p. 1067. 51). It is to be inferred that the next of kin was regarded as κύριος of the heiress in such a case as this. Legitimate children at Athens were invariably the offspring of a marriage ratified according to one of these forms.

At the time of the betrothal the dowry of the bride was settled, and this was a most important point for her future welfare. For the wife was reckoned to have no claim at all on her husband's property. Supposing her husband died, even the most distant cousin might inherit from him; but the wife, never. Nay, she might not even continue to reside in his house after his death, unless she pleaded pregnancy; in that case she would come under the protection of the archon, and would remain undisturbed until the child was born (Demosth. c. Macart. p. 1076. 75). Hence the dowry was the only security to the wife against extreme poverty in the event of her husband's death, or if she were divorced; the husband, therefore, had to give a guarantee for its return in the shape of some piece of landed property. It would, however, be incorrect to suppose that the dowry would ever become the wife's absolute property; it would in the case supposed revert to her κύριος, who would either support her from it or give her in marriage again. But as against her husband or his creditors, it was absolutely hers. The dowry, as has been said, did not exist in Homer's time, and was a gradual growth; Plato disapproved of it (De Leg. vi. 777 A) as tending to produce avarice; in early times it was small.

The marriage ceremonial at Athens, among the higher classes, was more elaborate than with us. The consecration of all girls to Artemis, when they were ten years old, at the festival Brauronia, stood in intimate relation with it. When the marriage itself drew near, the sacrifice to the tutelar gods of marriage (θεοὶ γαμήλιοι) took place. This was performed by the father, and might take place some days before the marriage, or on the day itself. As to who the tutelary deities were, custom appears to have varied. Diodorus Siculus (v. 73) names Zeus and Hera; but Pollux names Hera, Artemis, and the Fates (iii. 38): Artemis is also mentioned in relation to Boeotia and Locris in Plutarch (Aristid. 20); and the Nymphs are mentioned in Plutarch (Amat. Narr. 1). The sacrifice itself was called προτέλεια γάμων, or προγάμεια, and it was regarded as a dedication of the bride to the deities named, some locks of the bride's hair (ἀπαρχαί) being offered as a symbol of the dedication. On the wedding day itself bride and bridegroom bathed in water drawn from a particular fountain of running water: at Athens this was the fountain Callirrhoë, also called ἑννεάκρουνος ( Thuc.ii. 15). The water from this fountain was carried either by a boy or a girl, from which custom was probably derived that other custom of placing over the tombs of those who died unmarried the image of a girl carrying water. Late in the evening of the wedding day the bridegroom brought his bride from her parents' house on a car (ἅμαξα) drawn by horses, mules, or oxen; on either side of her sat the bridegroom and his “best man” (παράνυμφος or πάροχος, Av.1735). In front of the car went the torch-bearing procession (δᾷδες νυμφικαί), the nuptial torch having been lit by the mother of the bride or of the bridegroom; bride and bridegroom were crowned with chaplets, and clothed in festal attire, as also were the attendants, the bride being covered with a long veil; congratulations were poured out by relations, friends, and well-wishers, and the cry Ὑμὴν Ὑμέναἰ ὦ resounded to the sweet melody of flutes ( Aristoph. Pax, 1316- 1356). On their reaching the bridegroom's house, a peculiar custom prevailed in Boeotia: the axle of the car was burned, to symbolize the irreversible step taken. The bridegroom who had been married before could not bring his bride home in this exultant way; a friend (νυμφαγωγός) in that case brought the bride to him from her house. At the entrance to the bridegroom's house sweetmeats (καταχύσματα) were thrown upon the wedded pair; the doors of the house were covered with garlands, as were those of the bride's house.

Then followed the wedding-feast (θοίνη γαμική), usually in the house of the bridegroom—one of the most important parts of the entire ceremonial; for the guests were in fact witnesses to the marriage, and their testimony was the final and single proof that it had taken place, since documentary evidence was not looked for or provided (Demosth. c. Onet. p. 869. 20; Athen. v. p. 185 a). At the wedding-feast women were allowed to be present, though at different tables from the men (Lucian, Conviv. 8). Sesame-cakes, symbolical of a fertile marriage, formed a part of the feast. At the conclusion of the feast the bride was conducted, veiled, into the bridal-chamber; the bridegroom closed the door; and a law of Solon enjoined that the bride and bridegroom should eat a quince together, to symbolize the sweetness of their conversation ( Plut. Sol.20). The epithalamium was then sung before the door of the bridal-chamber by a chorus of maidens, and the song was accompanied with dancing. But the Scholiast on this passage tells us that some epithalamia were sung in the early morning to wake the wedded pair, the two kinds being called κατακοιμητικά and διηγερτικά respectively.

On the second or third day after the marriage the bride for the first time showed herself without a veil, and the gifts which she on that day received from her relatives were thence called ἀνακαλυπτήρια or ὀπτήρια.

Among them was a garment (ἀπαυλιστηρία) presented by the bride to the bridegroom, who, on the succeeding night, did not sleep with his bride, but in his father-in-law's house, the bride being unveiled, and the ἀνακαλυπτήρια presented the day after.

An offering to Aphrodité was made by the wedded pair, either on the wedding-day or on the day after. Another ceremony observed after marriage was the sacrifice which the husband offered up on the occasion of his bride being registered among his own phrateres.

Marriages generally took place in the winter (Aristot. Polit. vii. 16); and the month Gamelion (our January) derived its name from the favour in which it was held for this purpose. The fourth day of the month, according to Hesiod ( Op.800), was the most favourable day; and as in a lunar month this would be the day on which the first crescent of the new moon appeared, the interpretation of Proclus seems correct: that the day when sun and moon met in the same quarter of the heavens was the day when man and woman might best meet in wedlock. Pindar, however (Isthm. vii. 44), and Euripides (Iph. in Aul. 717) prefer the full moon.

After marriage the wife lived with the other female inmates of the house in the γυναικωνῖτις, or women's apartments: in a large house these would be a separate building, connected by a passage with the men's rooms. The wife then had the superintendence of the entire household: she had charge of the education of the boys till they were put under a master, of the girls till they were married; she tended the sick, whether free or slave; the kitchen, the furniture, the stores came under her; and last, not least, the ταλάσια ἔργα ( Oecon.vii. 6), all that related to the spinning and weaving of wool and the making of clothes, for it must be remembered that the clothes of an ancient household were mostly made within the house itself. If the establishment were a large one, the wife would have a house-keeper (ταμία) to assist her. If the husband were alone, the wife would dine with him, and familiar jesting would pass between them (Lysias, l. c.), or perhaps even serious conversation on politics (Demosth. c. Neaera, p. 1382. 142); but if the husband had other male friends with him, it was thought indecorous for the wife to appear.

It will be seen that the wife had no lack of duties, but they were duties that would naturally be felt to be monotonous; and it is interesting to find that religious exercises were then, as in later times, one of the chief resources of the married woman.

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