Ancient Weddings
by Jennifer Goodall Powers, SUNY Albany

Wedding ceremonies are an important feature of any culture. They can mark the beginning of a new life, the joining of two families, or act as a public confirmation of the love between two people. The characteristics of a wedding can give us important insight into the culture of the individuals involved in the wedding.

Ancient Weddings examines the wedding ceremonies of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Greek Weddings

Introduction & Types of Marriage

The History of Marriage

The Wedding Ceremony

Ideal Marriage

Roman Weddings

• Introduction & Types of Marriage
• Preparing for a Wedding
• The Wedding Ceremony
• Ideal Marriage

Sappho and Her Wedding Songs

• Introduction
• Book of Epithalamia
• Other Epithalamia
• Sappho's Attitude Toward Marriage

Catullus and His Wedding Songs

• Marriage at the Time of the Elegiac Poets and Epithalamia
• Carmen 61: The Wedding of Junia Aurunculeia and Manlius Torquatus
• Carmen 62: A Marriage Hymn
• Carmen 64: Foedus Amicitiae or Servitium Amoris?

Bibliography

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