Marriage and Funeral in Ancient Greece

Marriage and Funeral in Classical Athens

Marriage in Classical Athens was inevitable. It was a part of life. Everyone had to get married, just as everyone had to someday face death. Although most people would not see a connection between marriage and death, the Greeks did. Both define an irreversible physical changeÐ'--the loss of virginity and the loss of life. This idea of loss, rebirth, and renewal are present in both wedding and funeral. This is evident in the way wedding and funeral ceremonies complement each other in character and content. Both ceremonies are interwoven with ritual meaning and overlapping rites.

There are three distinctive parts to a Greek marriage: the engue, ekdosis, and gamos (Powers). The engue refers to the betrothal arranged by the kurioi, which are the fathers of the bride and groom (Duby 273). In this ceremony a verbal contract is made called engye. This is basically an agreement upon marriage between the groom and father of the bride. The dowry is also paid to the groom during this time. The agreement is sealed by the phrase Ð''I hand over this woman to you for the ploughing of legitimate children' (Blundell 101). Witnesses were present as proof of engue in case the legitimacy of children was ever questioned.

As the engue marked a pledge the ekdosis marked a transformation of the bride as she shifted from a child to an adult, a virgin to a wife. Actions that symbolized this transfer included cutting of the bride's hair, removing the girdle she wore since puberty, and taking a ritual bath in water from a sacred spring.

During the ekdosis the daughter is given away by the father to her husband. The bride and groom prepare for the wedding with offerings, dedications, and sacrifices. All of these rites are for purification and conciliation.

The bride offers locks of her hair to the virgin deity Artemis in hopes that the god would ease her passage from virginity. The bride's girdle is also taken off and consecrated to Artemis or Athena (Blundell 105). This pre-wedding ritual is one of the few events women are allowed to participate in.

The bride and groom both take a ritual bath which is believed to induce fertility (Avagianou 6). Sacred spring water for the bath is carried in a loutrophorus which means "someone who carries the bath water" (Rehm 15).

The bride is then assisted in adorning herself for the public ceremony which begins with a feast at the family's home. She shows up veiled and both she and the groom wear a crown of garland to mark the occasion. There is plenty of music and dancing as the families celebrate the wedding.

Later that night, the bride, groom, and the groom's best friend are carried into the couple's future home by chariot. This procession is the central event of the Athenian wedding (Duby 280). The family follows the chariot by foot with gifts. The mother of the bride carries a torch. The flames of torches and sound of music function against evil spirits which intend to harm the bride during the procession (Avagianou 11).

To mark the initiation into her new home, the bride eats a quince or apple demonstrating that her livelihood now comes from her husband. The bride and groom are showered with fruits and nuts to symbolize prosperity and fertility (Rehm 17).

Finally the physical union in the nuptial bed marks the goal of transferal of bride to husband. Gamos is the consummated and now complete marriage.

The next day there is another ceremony for the women only. Gifts are presented to the bride such as baskets, vases, pots, furniture, jewelry, combs, perfume, mirrors, and wreaths (Avigianou 18).

Like the wedding, the funeral, or kedeia, is a three part drama consisting of the prothesis, ekphora, and the deposition of the body (Garland 22). Death was a momentous event in the social and religious lives of the Greeks. A proper burial, or other acceptable disposal of the dead, such as cremation, was necessary to ensure that the psyche, or soul, could leave the body freely and enter the Underworld.

The women play the most significant role in funeral rituals. Their duties are to fully prepare the body for funeral by bathing the body, anointing it with oil, and adorning it with flowers, wreaths, ribbons, and jewelry (Kurtz 144). The body is also dressed in an ankle length, white sheath and a golden crown is placed upon the head to symbolize dignity.

The prothesis is a carefully orchestrated proceeding which takes place the day after death in the home of the deceased (Kurtz 144). The house is hung with wreaths and sprays of leaves, and a vessel is placed outside the door of the house as a notification and warning of death. The duration of this phase varies, but it normally lasts one day. Plato proclaimed that it lasts only long enough to confirm death (Kurtz 146).

During the prothesis, the body is laid out and displayed on a Kline, or a bed. The dead lay on the kline with their feet toward the door. It is from that direction the men come in procession raising their right hands, palm outwards toward the gods. The women stand at the end of the kline beating their head, raising their hands, and tearing their hair in lamentation (Kurtz 144). Elaborate mourning rites were carried out by women to honor the dead, satisfy family duties, and appease the soul of the departed. The mourners all dress in black to show honor and respect to the dead.

The most important part of the prothesis was the ritual lament. The Greeks believed that the dead were capable of hearing the funeral lament, and thus performed extravagant dirges to satisfy the soul of the deceased (Vermule 14). While singing, the people involved would move around the kline in a pattern resembling a dance. The goos was an improvised lament sung by friends and relatives.

Another type of lament called the threnos was sung by professional mourners. The hired singer would lead off the lament followed by the family singing the goos. A chorus of women cried out in accompaniment. Laments called kommoi were sung in turn by principal singers and a chorus.

The second stage in the Greek funeral was the ekphora, the procession through the city to the grave site. The ekphora occurred on the third day after death (Kurtz 145). Men led the procession and the women followed. Women were primarily responsible for carrying the appropriate offerings to the gravesite. Women also sang throughout the procession, often stopping at street corners for increased outbursts of wailing and lamentation (Humphreys 86). The procession was also an opportunity to display the wealth and status of the deceased and his surviving family.

Less is known about the third stage of the Greek funeral, the burial and its surrounding