DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0208
186 THE ISLES AND SHRINES OF GREECE
do not deny musical significance to this word sym-
phony, but they also apply it to the agreement which
one makes with his hack-driver !
After the engagement the bridegroom-elect may
visit the girl's home every day, if he chooses, and
may possibly fall in love with her. The betrothal
is generally concluded at the house of the bride,
and a priest is there to bless both rings. The en-
gagement may last three months, six months or a
year. Marriages do not take place during Lent,
except under rare circumstances and by special
permission of the metropolitan. Away down in
Laconia (Mani), the big toe of the Peloponnesus, a
still more Spartan austerity is observed. After the
agreement is made the groom's father is obliged to
give a little money to the father of the girl and some
gifts to the daughter and to her mother; but even
after the exchange of rings the bridegroom is not
allowed to see the girl or to walk with her until the
wedding day. In other parts of Greece, I am told,
more freedom is allowed, and the bridegroom-elect
is treated as a son.
It was through the kindness of Pater Anthimos that
I was invited to an Athenian wedding, solemnized
by this archimandrite; not a wedding in high life,
but somewhere in the middle of the social crust.
On the table in the centre of the room was a tray
filled with candies and a large and beautifully bound
volume of the liturgy. The archimandrite wore a
robe of purplish blue with a gold sash. Me was
assisted by a deacon in red, likewise with a sash of
gold. Candles were brought in, the two largest, about
four feet in length, ornamented with long ribbons.
do not deny musical significance to this word sym-
phony, but they also apply it to the agreement which
one makes with his hack-driver !
After the engagement the bridegroom-elect may
visit the girl's home every day, if he chooses, and
may possibly fall in love with her. The betrothal
is generally concluded at the house of the bride,
and a priest is there to bless both rings. The en-
gagement may last three months, six months or a
year. Marriages do not take place during Lent,
except under rare circumstances and by special
permission of the metropolitan. Away down in
Laconia (Mani), the big toe of the Peloponnesus, a
still more Spartan austerity is observed. After the
agreement is made the groom's father is obliged to
give a little money to the father of the girl and some
gifts to the daughter and to her mother; but even
after the exchange of rings the bridegroom is not
allowed to see the girl or to walk with her until the
wedding day. In other parts of Greece, I am told,
more freedom is allowed, and the bridegroom-elect
is treated as a son.
It was through the kindness of Pater Anthimos that
I was invited to an Athenian wedding, solemnized
by this archimandrite; not a wedding in high life,
but somewhere in the middle of the social crust.
On the table in the centre of the room was a tray
filled with candies and a large and beautifully bound
volume of the liturgy. The archimandrite wore a
robe of purplish blue with a gold sash. Me was
assisted by a deacon in red, likewise with a sash of
gold. Candles were brought in, the two largest, about
four feet in length, ornamented with long ribbons.