Ancient
Weddings
by Jennifer
Goodall Powers, SUNY Albany
Original text
© 1997 Jennifer Goodall Powers
Greek Weddings
Ideal Marriage
A woman's value
was based on her ability to produce male heirs for her husband.
So too was a marriage judged. A woman did not become a gyne
until she bore her first child, but remained instead a nymphe,
a married, though childless, woman. Marriage was simply a means
to an end, the end being a legitimate generation. Once a gyne,
a woman was responsible for raising the children and managing
domestic affairs.
There is also a
term to describe the union of the hearts and minds of a married
couple, homophrosune and it is used to define a marriage
as ideal. This term, however, can also be used to indicate a
host guest relationship or a relationship between two friends.
Among the 3.4 million words of Greek in Perseus 2.0, homophrosune
appears only twice, both in the Odyssey.36 One instance refers to the relationship of husband
and wife; Odysseus explains to Nausicaa:
And for
thyself, may the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires;
a husband and a home may they grant thee, and oneness of heart
‹ a goodly gift. For nothing is greater or better than this,
when man and wife dwell in a home in one accord, a great grief
to their foes [185] and a joy to their friends; but they know
it best themselves.37
The second usage
of homophrosune, on the other hand, is a reference to
friendship, as Telemachos tells Nestor's son:
Friends
from of old we call ourselves by reason of our fathers' friendship,
and we are moreover of the same age, and this journey shall yet
more establish us in oneness of heart.38
A synonym for homophrosune,
homonoia, oneness of mind, is used much
more frequently, almost exclusively, by orators and philosophers.
In Plato's Alcibiades,
for instance, Alcibiades and Socrates discuss the role of homonoia
in friendship and marriage.39
Here they agree that since husbands and wives do not share in
each other's endeavors, warfare and weaving respectively, they
are not "in agreement," as the Greek is translated.
Nevertheless, homophrosune was definitely used in one
case to refer to the ideal husband-wife relationship.
Footnotes:
36.
For a list of authors included in Perseus
2.0, see www.perseus.tufts.edu.
37. Hom.
Od. 6.181, Perseus
2.0.
38. Hom.
Od. 15.198, Perseus
2.0.
39. Plat.
Alc. 1126c-1127d, Perseus
2.0.
