Ancient Greek Wedding Customs: Did You Know This? (Easy Guide to Marriage Rituals in Ancient Greece)

So, I got this wild idea the other day to dive into the world of ancient Greek weddings. Yeah, I know, pretty random, right? But I was curious about how they did the whole marriage thing back in the day. Turns out, it’s a whole different world compared to our modern-day weddings.

Getting the Ball Rolling

First off, I had to figure out when these shindigs usually happened. Apparently, most Greek weddings went down in a month they called “Gamelion,” which is basically our January. Makes sense, I guess, especially with that sweet Mediterranean weather. They did this to honor some goddess, I think.

Ancient Greek Wedding Customs: Did You Know This? (Easy Guide to Marriage Rituals in Ancient Greece)

The Matchmaking Game

Next, I looked into how they picked who married who. Let me tell you, it wasn’t exactly a love story for the ages. A lot of times, it was more about duty or politics than actual romance. Daughters were pretty much considered their dad’s property until they got hitched. Kinda messed up, if you ask me.

The Suitor Showdown

  • Once a girl hit puberty, her dad would basically put her on the market.
  • Suitors would show up at their place and compete for her hand.
  • Sometimes it was through poetry, other times it was straight-up athletic contests.

Can you imagine having to win over your future spouse by reciting poetry or winning a foot race? Wild, right?

The Pre-Wedding Prep

Before the big day, brides had their own version of a bachelorette party, called “proaulia.” But instead of getting wasted and dancing on tables, they were busy making offerings to the gods. They’d give up their childhood toys and stuff. It’s like a symbolic goodbye to their single life.

The Formal Agreement

And then there’s this thing called “engisys.” It’s basically the formal agreement between the groom and the bride’s dad. No one really asked the bride what she wanted. The dad would just hand her over like a prize.

Wrapping Up

Man, after going through all this, I’m kinda glad I live in modern times. Sure, our weddings can be stressful, but at least we get to choose who we marry (most of the time) and it is not often to be decided by some competition games. Ancient Greek weddings were definitely a product of their time, with all the good and the bad that comes with it.

Ancient Greek Wedding Customs: Did You Know This? (Easy Guide to Marriage Rituals in Ancient Greece)

Anyway, that’s my little adventure into ancient Greek wedding customs. Hope you found it as interesting as I did. Or at least, mildly entertaining. It is really an eye-opening experience to do this research.

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