. Choosing A Partner
The restricted Athenian women did not have opportunities to socialize with young males, so it was their father, brother or other male legal guardian who chose a suitable husband. The fathers of the bride and the groom to be, would meet before witnesses and agree to marry their children, without of course asking them to attend or consent. This agreement, though only verbal, was legally binding.
In ancient Athens, the appropriate age for marriage was between 12 to 16 for women and from 24 up to 30 for men. Nowadays, this age difference seems rather big, but back then it was considered ideal. Moreover, obligated by law, Athenians could only marry Athenians.
In ancient Sparta, where women enjoyed more freedom, the role of matchmaking …show more content…
The main reason for marrying was to be able to have legitimate children. Illegitimate children could never bear the title of citizen. And citizenship was taken very seriously, as it came with all the political privileges and the right to be treated as an equal.
Beside that, legislation on the subject of celibacy, said that men older than 35 years old who were still unmarried, had to pay an annual fine and could not hold high office. In Sparta, they were much stricter. Celibacy was considered a failure to fulfill one's duty to the state. Another of Lycurgus' laws, prohibits unmarried Spartans to participate in athletic competitions and imposes harsh punishments. Spartans went as far as publicly humiliating bachelors, by smacking and insulting them while they dragged them naked around the altar.
Another reason for wedding, was to ensure a family's property and status. One very peculiar institution demanded a woman with no male siblings to marry her father's closest unmarried relative, in case her father died. If she was already married, her previous marriage had to be terminated, unless her father had adopted his son–in–law before his death. Evidently, inbreeding and incest were allowed and King Leonidas himself had married his own niece, in order to maintain power in the …show more content…
Τελετη
The wedding ritual took place in three phases. The first phase, called "proteleia", occured the day before the wedding. The bride's parents offered sacrifices to the marriage gods, as well as the Nymphs, Muses and Moires. The Athenians also sacrificed calves or heifers, symbols of kindness and innocence, to the "thrice-ancestors", so that they would grant the newlyweds children.
Special offerings were presented to the godess Artemis, who was often called upon to relieve childbirth pain. Females devoted a strand of their hair and the toys the loved as children. Males wrapped their strand around a bunch of grass, symbol of all the agricultural work they now had to handle.
Another tradition, was the purification with water brought from a river or fountain and carried by the bride's closest friend. It was of the utmost importance that the bride did not bathe in stagnant water, not just for health reasons, but also because running water symbolized the continuity of family life, namely conceiving a baby.
In Athens, water was brought by the sacred river Ilisos that runned through the city. The Kallirrhoe spring, named after the virgin who drowned there, was one of the most important and famous ones in ancient Athens. It was probably used for all kinds of religious ceemonies, including marital
The restricted Athenian women did not have opportunities to socialize with young males, so it was their father, brother or other male legal guardian who chose a suitable husband. The fathers of the bride and the groom to be, would meet before witnesses and agree to marry their children, without of course asking them to attend or consent. This agreement, though only verbal, was legally binding.
In ancient Athens, the appropriate age for marriage was between 12 to 16 for women and from 24 up to 30 for men. Nowadays, this age difference seems rather big, but back then it was considered ideal. Moreover, obligated by law, Athenians could only marry Athenians.
In ancient Sparta, where women enjoyed more freedom, the role of matchmaking …show more content…
The main reason for marrying was to be able to have legitimate children. Illegitimate children could never bear the title of citizen. And citizenship was taken very seriously, as it came with all the political privileges and the right to be treated as an equal.
Beside that, legislation on the subject of celibacy, said that men older than 35 years old who were still unmarried, had to pay an annual fine and could not hold high office. In Sparta, they were much stricter. Celibacy was considered a failure to fulfill one's duty to the state. Another of Lycurgus' laws, prohibits unmarried Spartans to participate in athletic competitions and imposes harsh punishments. Spartans went as far as publicly humiliating bachelors, by smacking and insulting them while they dragged them naked around the altar.
Another reason for wedding, was to ensure a family's property and status. One very peculiar institution demanded a woman with no male siblings to marry her father's closest unmarried relative, in case her father died. If she was already married, her previous marriage had to be terminated, unless her father had adopted his son–in–law before his death. Evidently, inbreeding and incest were allowed and King Leonidas himself had married his own niece, in order to maintain power in the …show more content…
Τελετη
The wedding ritual took place in three phases. The first phase, called "proteleia", occured the day before the wedding. The bride's parents offered sacrifices to the marriage gods, as well as the Nymphs, Muses and Moires. The Athenians also sacrificed calves or heifers, symbols of kindness and innocence, to the "thrice-ancestors", so that they would grant the newlyweds children.
Special offerings were presented to the godess Artemis, who was often called upon to relieve childbirth pain. Females devoted a strand of their hair and the toys the loved as children. Males wrapped their strand around a bunch of grass, symbol of all the agricultural work they now had to handle.
Another tradition, was the purification with water brought from a river or fountain and carried by the bride's closest friend. It was of the utmost importance that the bride did not bathe in stagnant water, not just for health reasons, but also because running water symbolized the continuity of family life, namely conceiving a baby.
In Athens, water was brought by the sacred river Ilisos that runned through the city. The Kallirrhoe spring, named after the virgin who drowned there, was one of the most important and famous ones in ancient Athens. It was probably used for all kinds of religious ceemonies, including marital