Ancient
Weddings
by Jennifer
Goodall Powers, SUNY Albany
Original text
© 1997 Jennifer Goodall Powers
Sappho and Her
Wedding Songs
Other of Epithalamia
Other epithalamia
are present in other books and by definition they comment to
some extent on marriage. Fragment 44, for instance, is Sappho's
rendition of a wedding song represented as being sung at Hektor
and Andromache's wedding, but clearly not by Sappho's choir.
These songs portray
a very different picture of marriage. The bride, for instance,
is not the center of attention in these poems. This is very different
from the book of epithalamia in which the bride and her emotions
are the central theme of almost all of them. The songs from the
book of epithalamia were either a window into the bride's emotions
or an invitation to the ceremony where the audience could participate
in the jokes and festivities.
In fragment 27,
on the other hand, the audience feels as if they are on the outside
of the ceremony in these poems, watching or even just hearing
about it.
... for
you were once a (tender) child ...
come and sing this, all of you ... converse ...
and grant us ... (generous) favours; for we are
going to a wedding; and you too (know) this well;
but send the maidens away as quickly as possible;
and may the gods have ... (There is no) road to
great Olympus for mortals ... (Fr. 27)
Since this poem
is highly fragmentary, it is not so easy to discern what is happening.
But it is clear that a group of women are to attend a wedding,
that there will be singing and celebrating, that maidens would
play a part in the ceremony, and that the gods are called upon.
Again, the bride in the song as well as in the ceremony is the
focus of activity. This poem prepares her to leave behind her
childhood and join a new life. The details mentioned in this
poem are drawn from the parts of the wedding ceremony; in fact,
they could collectively constitute a wedding on their own.
All in all, this
theme is reminiscent of fragments 103 and 104, as they all set
a mood for the wedding. And yet, this mood is very different.
The constant barrage of verbal actions ("come ... sing ...
converse ... grant ... going ... send") and almost frenetic
tone ("send the maidens away as quickly as possible")
introduce a tension that was absent from fragments 103 and 104,
which, in general, focused on the beauty and gentleness of the
whole situation. The speaker here is probably one of the girls
whom the bride is leaving behind at Sappho's school, and as such,
she would be less likely to truly celebrate the wedding. Instead,
she seems to be going through the motions in a tense, but required,
way.
Like the previous
fragment, fragment 30 has a certain distance to it.
- night...
maidens...
all night long...
might sing of the sweetest thing for you and
the purple robed bride.
But wake up and come,
fetch the unmarried boys, so that
- we might
see the clear-voiced bird come
(more) than sleep. (Fr. 30)
This song was probably
sung early in the morning after the ceremony by the bride's friends
who had spent the night outside the bridal chamber. It is time
for the boys to return to the groom's house and for the couple
to emerge from the bedroom. This was how the third day of the
wedding ceremony, the §paÊlia, would begin. The maidens
do not address the bride, who was their friend just yesterday.
Instead, they wake the groom and call the other boys back. The
bride has already been shunned by her former friends (and lovers?).
By contrast, fragment
44 seems neither celebratory nor wistful, merely descriptive.
- Cyprus
...
- the herald
came, Idaeus the swift messenger ...
and the rest of Asia ... the undying reputation ...
Hektor and his companions are bringing quick-glancing,
graceful Andromache from holy Thebes and Placia in
ships over the salt sea. (There are) many golden braclets,
purple clothes, ornate toys, countless silver wine cups and ivory.
So he spoke. Nimbly his dear father lept up.
Rumor went to his friends throughout the spacious city.
At once the descendants of Ilos yoked the mules to
the smooth wheeled carriage and the whole crowd of women
and (tender) ankled maidens climbed aboard, separately the daughters
of Priam also ... and men led the horses
under chariots ... unmarried men far and wide ...
charioteer ...
...
like gods ...
holy ... all together ...
set out ... to Ilium,
the sweet sounding flute and cithara were mingled and
sound of castanets, sweetly the maidens
sang a holy song, and a marvelous echo reached
the sky ...
everywhere in the streets was ...
vessels and bowls ...
myrrh and casia and frankincense were mixed together.
The older women cried out,
all the men shouted charmingly a deep sound having called
Pan Apollo, the far-thrower, skilled with the lyre,
they sang in praise of godlike Hektor and Andromache. (Fr. 44)
This description
of the wedding procession of Hektor and Andromache is typical
of an aristocratic Greek wedding procession. People are rejoicing,
the carriage is prepared to carry the bride, singing and music
are lifted to the sky and presents abound. Also seen here as
in the poems discussed above, the bride and groom both receive
compliments and they are compared to gods.
Two other fragments
have wedding themes that are relevant for examination here.
- There
a bowl of ambrosia had been mixed,
- Hermes
took the jug and poured wine for the gods.
They all held wine cups, and they
offered libations and prayed altogether for good things
for the bridegroom. (Fr. 141)
guard her ... bridegrooms ... kings of cities (Fr. 161)
Neither of these
fragments is particularly clear on their context, but the key
word, gambros, bridegroom, is in both. Fragment 141 seems
to be a wedding feast with the men drinking wine, probably before
the procession. In all likelihood, there were only men present
since the men and women, while at the same celebration, did not
sit together. The complete poem may have celebrated a divine
wedding, that of Peleus and Thetis for instance. Fragment 161
may have been an epic wedding, like fragment 44, as would be
indicated by the mention of kings. In the other epithalamia,
there is no comparable reference to kings, thereby making this
fragment unique, and resonating the epic-like description of
Hektor and Andromache's wedding procession in fragment 44.
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