Ancient Life: Tying the Knot

Perhaps the most festive moments of an ancient Athenian wedding celebration occurred in the evening as the bride and groom were escorted from the bride’s childhood home to the groom’s home in a mule cart—as shown on this mid-sixth century B.C. vase, by the so-called Amasis Painter.

The bride is shown holding a crown that she would have worn beneath her veil before it was removed in a ceremony known as anakalupteria (unveiling of the bride). Earlier in the day, our bride would have sacrificed her childhood toys to Artemis, the goddess of virginity, and cut off a lock of her hair as a sacrifice to Hera, Zeus’s consort and the protectress of women and marriage. Both bride and groom would have made separate offerings to Aphrodite to ensure a fruitful marriage.

In the hours before the wedding, the bride would have ritually bathed, dressed and donned her veil. Then the ceremony would have begun, with both families feasting together, the men sitting on one side of the room and the women on the other.