DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0635
OP THE MISCELLANY CUSTOMS OF GREECE,
607
processions, before whom went a boy in white apparel, with a torch in
his hand. It was also customary for the bridegroom and his friends to
give presents to the bride, which they called avaxaXu^t^ia (1) ; and He-
sychius will have the third day to be called «vaxa\uir7jjgiov, because then
the bride first appeared publicly unveiled. Suidas tells us the gifts were
so called, because she was then first shewn to.her bridegroom. For the
same reason they are sometimes called Sswg?iT£a, oirW^ia, ad^'jxara, and
tf$o<ftp8siyx%tfgm, because the bridegroom had then leave to converse freely
with her; for virgins before marriage were under strait confinement, be-
ing rarely permitted to appear in public, or converse with men ; and,
when allowed that liberty, wore a veil over their faces ; this was termed
■Kttkvitrgov, or •xaXuWga, and was not left off" in the presence of men till
this time ; whence some think the bride was called vufitpyj «Vo r« vE'ov, i. e.
Tgw<rw£ (pai'vstfdai, that being the first time she appeared in a public compa-
ny unveiled (2) : hence the poet speaks of Pluto's gifts to Proserpina,
when she unveiled herself, as we read in those verses of Euphorion,
cited by the scholiast upon Euripides (3) : .
Tf p* nrort Kgcv//»c S'agov 7rcpt n.ip<rt$ov'uH
Eivi ydfjioif, art 7rpa>rov iiranrfccio-Qm
Nuuqifix a"7rupoio 7r2.pM.Kiwr a. x.a.xuTT'rfiav.
Pluto to Proserpine a present gave,
When first she laid aside her maiden veil,
And at the marriage shew'd herself uncover'd.
There is a story of the sophister Harmocrates, relating to this custom,
that having a woman not very agreeable imposed upon him by Severus
the Roman emperor, and being asked his wvaxaXuirrj^ia, when she took
off her veil, he replied, syxaXu^r^ia ju-sv »v toioco't^v Xa.|x£avwv, it would be
more proper to make her a present to keep her veil on, unless her face was
more agreeable.
The ceremonies of the Spartan marriages being different from all
others, I have reserved them for this place, and shall set them down in
Plutarch's own words (4) : ' When the Spartans had a mind to marry,
their courtship was a sort of rape upon the persons they had a fancy for,
and those they chose not tender and half children, but in the flower of
their age, and full ripe for an hu.-band. Matters being agreed between
them, the Nuf/.<psur£/a, or women that contrived and managed the plot,
shaved off the bride's hair close to the skin, dressed her up in man's
clothes, and left her upon a mattress ; this done, in comes the bridegroom
in his every-day clothes, sober and composed, as having supped at his
ordinary in the common-hall, and steals as privately as he can into the
room where the bride lay, unties her virgin-girdle, and takes her into his
embraces ; thus, having staid a short time with her, he returns to the
rest of his comrades, with whom he continues to spend his life, remain-
ing with them as well by night as by day, unless he steals a short visit to
his bride, and that could not be done without a great deal of circumspec-
tion and fear of being discovered Nor was she wanting (as may be sup-
posed) on her part to use her woman's wit in watching the most favoura-
ble opportunities for their meeting, and making appointments when com-
pany was out of the way. In this manner they lived a long time, inso-
1 Suidas. (3) Phoenissis.
2) PhurmUus de Natura Deorura in Neptuno- (4) Lycurgo, p. 48, edit, Pari-
607
processions, before whom went a boy in white apparel, with a torch in
his hand. It was also customary for the bridegroom and his friends to
give presents to the bride, which they called avaxaXu^t^ia (1) ; and He-
sychius will have the third day to be called «vaxa\uir7jjgiov, because then
the bride first appeared publicly unveiled. Suidas tells us the gifts were
so called, because she was then first shewn to.her bridegroom. For the
same reason they are sometimes called Sswg?iT£a, oirW^ia, ad^'jxara, and
tf$o<ftp8siyx%tfgm, because the bridegroom had then leave to converse freely
with her; for virgins before marriage were under strait confinement, be-
ing rarely permitted to appear in public, or converse with men ; and,
when allowed that liberty, wore a veil over their faces ; this was termed
■Kttkvitrgov, or •xaXuWga, and was not left off" in the presence of men till
this time ; whence some think the bride was called vufitpyj «Vo r« vE'ov, i. e.
Tgw<rw£ (pai'vstfdai, that being the first time she appeared in a public compa-
ny unveiled (2) : hence the poet speaks of Pluto's gifts to Proserpina,
when she unveiled herself, as we read in those verses of Euphorion,
cited by the scholiast upon Euripides (3) : .
Tf p* nrort Kgcv//»c S'agov 7rcpt n.ip<rt$ov'uH
Eivi ydfjioif, art 7rpa>rov iiranrfccio-Qm
Nuuqifix a"7rupoio 7r2.pM.Kiwr a. x.a.xuTT'rfiav.
Pluto to Proserpine a present gave,
When first she laid aside her maiden veil,
And at the marriage shew'd herself uncover'd.
There is a story of the sophister Harmocrates, relating to this custom,
that having a woman not very agreeable imposed upon him by Severus
the Roman emperor, and being asked his wvaxaXuirrj^ia, when she took
off her veil, he replied, syxaXu^r^ia ju-sv »v toioco't^v Xa.|x£avwv, it would be
more proper to make her a present to keep her veil on, unless her face was
more agreeable.
The ceremonies of the Spartan marriages being different from all
others, I have reserved them for this place, and shall set them down in
Plutarch's own words (4) : ' When the Spartans had a mind to marry,
their courtship was a sort of rape upon the persons they had a fancy for,
and those they chose not tender and half children, but in the flower of
their age, and full ripe for an hu.-band. Matters being agreed between
them, the Nuf/.<psur£/a, or women that contrived and managed the plot,
shaved off the bride's hair close to the skin, dressed her up in man's
clothes, and left her upon a mattress ; this done, in comes the bridegroom
in his every-day clothes, sober and composed, as having supped at his
ordinary in the common-hall, and steals as privately as he can into the
room where the bride lay, unties her virgin-girdle, and takes her into his
embraces ; thus, having staid a short time with her, he returns to the
rest of his comrades, with whom he continues to spend his life, remain-
ing with them as well by night as by day, unless he steals a short visit to
his bride, and that could not be done without a great deal of circumspec-
tion and fear of being discovered Nor was she wanting (as may be sup-
posed) on her part to use her woman's wit in watching the most favoura-
ble opportunities for their meeting, and making appointments when com-
pany was out of the way. In this manner they lived a long time, inso-
1 Suidas. (3) Phoenissis.
2) PhurmUus de Natura Deorura in Neptuno- (4) Lycurgo, p. 48, edit, Pari-