CHAPTER LXXVII.

CONTINUATION OF THE VOYAGE TO DELOS.

Marriage Ceremonies.

LOVE presided at the festivals of Delos; and the numerous youth which the god had assembled around him acknowledged no other laws than his. Sometimes in concert with Hymen, he crowned the constancy of faithful lovers; sometimes he excited a tender languor and anxiety in hearts before insensible; and by these multiplied triumphs prepared the way for the most glorious of all—the marriage of Ismene and Theagenes.

As I was witness to the ceremonies with which this union was accompanied, I shall proceed to relate them, and describe practices which the laws, custom, and superstition, have introduced, to provide for the security and happiness of the most sacred of engagements; and if, in this account, some apparently frivolous circumstances should be found, they will acquire importance and dignity from the simplicity of the times from which they derive their origin.

Silence and tranquillity began to be restored at Delos. The multitude of strangers diminished like a river, which, after having overflowed the plain, gradually retires into its bed. The inhabitants of

in

the island had risen before the dawn; they were crowned with flowers, and incessantly offered up, the temples, and before their houses, sacrifices to render the gods propitious to the marriage of Ismene.TM The moment when it was to be concluded was arrived. We were assembled in the house of Philocles: the door of the apartment of Ismene opened, and we saw her and Theagenes come out of it, followed by their parents, and a public officer," who had just drawn up the instrument of their engagement. The conditions of this engagement were simple: in it no provision had been made for any discussion of interest between their relatives, nor any cause of divorce between the contracting parties; and with respect to the marriage portion, as Theagenes was already related to Philocles, it was thought sufficient to mention a law of Solon, which, to prevent the property of a family from being carried out of it, enacts that heiresses shall marry their nearest kinsmen.

We were dressed in magnificent habits, which we had received from Ismene. That which Theagenes wore was her own work. Her ornaments were, a necklace of precious stones, and a purple robe embroidered with gold. Both wore on their hair, which flowed on their shoulders, and was perfumed with essences, crowns of poppy, sesamum, and other plants sacred to Venus. Thus habited,

q

Charit. de Chor. et Callir. Amor. lib. 3. p. 44. " Theodr. Prodr. de Rhod. et Dosicl. Amor. lib. 3. p. 450. • Aristoph. in Plut. v. 529. Schol. ib. in Av, v. 671. Achill. Tat. lib. 2. Aristoph. in Plut. ibid. Eurip. in Iphig. in Aul. v. 903. Schol. Aristoph. in Pac. v. 869; in Av. v. 159. Schol, ib.

p. 85.

they mounted a chariot,' and proceeded towards the temple. Ismene had Theagenes on her right, and on her left a friend of Theagenes, who was to follow him in this ceremony. The people who thronged around them scattered flowers and perfumes in their way. They cried out: These are not mortals; it is Apollo and Coronis; it is Diana and Endymion; it is Apollo and Diana! They sought to procure us favourable omens, and to prevent such as were of evil portent. One said: I saw this morning two turtles long hover in the air, and at length rest together on a branch of that tree. Another said: Drive away the solitary crow, and let her go far hence to mourn the loss of her faithful companion; for she brings the most ill-boding of auguries."

The bride and bridegroom were received at the gate of the temple by a priest, who presented to each of them a branch of ivy, the symbol of the bonds by which they were to be for ever united. He then conducted them to the altar, where every thing was prepared for the sacrifice of a heifer to Diana,' to the chaste Diana, whom, as well as Minerva." and the other divinities who had never submitted to the yoke of Hymen, they thus endeavoured to appease. They also employed Jupiter and Juno, whose union

r

Euripid. in Helen. Conv. t. iii. p. 450.

v. 728. Suid. in Zɛuyos. Suid. ibid. Poll. lib. 10. Eustath. in Iliad. lib. 6. tom. ii. p. 652. lin. 45.

Choer. et Call. Amor. lib. 3.

c. 9.

P. 44.

Horus. Apoll. Hieroglyph. 8. et Dosicl. Amor. lib. 9. page 422.

Lucian. de

cap. 7. § 33.

t Charit. de

"Elian, de Animal. lib. 3.

* Theod. Prodr. de Rhod. 'Eurip. Iphig. in Aul.

Potter, Archæol. Græc. lib. 4. c. 11. p. 610.

с

a

and loves shall be eternal; the Heavens and the Earth, the concurrence of which produces fertility and plenty; the Parcæ, because they hold in their hands the life of mortals; the Graces, because they embellish the pleasures of happy marriages; and, lastly, Venus, from whom Love derives his birth, and who bestows happiness on mortals.a

The priests, after having examined the entrails of the victims, declared that the gods approved the marriage. To conclude the ceremonies, we proceeded to the Artemisium, where the lovers deposited each a lock of their hair on the tomb of the last Theori of the Hyperboreans. That of Theagenes was wound about a handful of grass, and that of Ismene round a spindle. This custom reminded them of the first institution of marriage, at which time it was intended to signify that the husband was to be occupied in the labours of the field, and the wife to manage the household affairs.

Philocles now took the hand of Theagenes, and, joining it to the hand of Ismene, pronounced these words: "I bestow on you my daughter, that you may give legitimate citizens to the republic."-The bride and bridegroom then swore to each other an inviolable fidelity; and their parents, after having received their oaths, ratified them by new sacrifices.

Schol. ibid.

Poll. lib. 3. 293. lin. 26.

• Herodot.

Menander. ap. Clem.

* Aristoph. in Thermoph. v. 982. c. 3. Suid. in Τελεῖα. b Procl. in Tim. lib. 5. p. Poll. lib. 3. c. 3. d Etymol. Magn. in Faunλ. lib. 4. c. 34. Callim. in Del. v. 296. Alex. Strom. lib. 2. p. 502.

f

Meurs. Lect. Att. lib. 3. c. 1.

Night began to come on when we came out of the temple to return to the house of Theagenes. The procession, lighted by numberless torches was accompanied by bands of musicians and dancers; h the house was hung with garlands, and splendidly illuminated.i

1

As soon as the new-married couple set their feet on the threshold of the door, a basket of fruit was, for a moment, placed on their heads, as a presage of the plenty they were to enjoy. We at the same time heard the name of Hymenæus re-echoed on all sides." This was a young man of Argos, who formerly restored to their country some Athenian maidens who had been taken by pirates. He obtained for his reward one of the captives, of whom he was passionately enamoured; and since that time the Greeks contract no marriage without celebrating his memory."

m

These acclamations followed us into the banqueting hall, and continued during the supper; when some poets entered, and recited epithalamiums.

A child, half covered with branches of hawthorn and oak, appeared with a basket of loaves, and sang a hymn beginning with these words: "I have changed my former state for a happier."" The Athenians sing this hymn at one of their festivals, to

Homer. Iliad. lib. 18. Eurip. in Alcest. v. 915. Æthiop. lib. 6. p. 278.

v. 491. Hesiod. Scut. Herc. v. 275. Id. in Helen. v. 728. i Hesiod.

Pierr. Grav. de Stoch. planch. 70.

I Homer. ibid. Anacr. od. 18. Callim. in. Del. v. 296. m Mem. de l'Acad. des Bell. Lettr. t. ix. p. 307.

in Εφυγον.

n

Hesych. et Suid.