Examining Marriage and the Wedding Ceremony in Ancient Greece

Indianapolis, IN

By using the Lebes gamikos vase, attributed to the Washing painter, as a foundation, this poster will discuss the customs and practices of the wedding ceremony in Ancient Greece. A Lebes gamikos vase would be used primarily for holding the water for the prenuptial bath. The vase depicts an epaulia, or the day after the wedding ceremony, when the bride would receive gifts from family and friends, similar to a bridal shower in modern terms. A primarily male-dominated ceremony, this step was unusually reserved only for women. This poster explores the wedding ceremony, and discusses what marriage meant to the lives of Ancient Greek women. The ceremony is comprised of several steps: the proaulia, the gamos, the proteleia, and finally the epaulia. Marriage was the purpose of a woman's life: the practice was viewed as the way of producing more citizens. Because the fathers of the couple arranged the matches, women had little to no say in the matchmaking process. Since it was disgraceful to remain unmarried, love was not usually a factor in these matches. Through text and image sources from various authors, including text from Euripides' Medea and Richard Lattimore's translation of The Iliad, the poster will further describe the ceremony itself and compare it to weddings of today.