A Prince And His Demigoddess

Chapter 32 The Celebration Begins

As the wedding day approached, Pepper received RSVPs from everyone that was invited and whether or not they would bring a guest. With that, Pepper booked the hotel rooms they would need for the three-day wedding celebration. The first day would be a pre-wedding Feast, with Alina spending time with her family and preparing for the wedding with her female relatives. The second day was the wedding, and the third was the post-wedding ceremony.

Pepper did a lot of research about ancient Greek weddings. Alina was not a member of the Greek Orthodox church. So those traditions couldn't be followed. Pepper read everything she could get her hands on, but it wasn't until Athena gave her a book about their customs. Pepper began to read and found the tradition interesting.

Marriage in ancient Greece had less of a basis in personal relationships and more in social responsibility. The goal and focus of all marriages were intended to be reproduction, making marriage an issue of public interest. The parents usually arranged marriages; on occasion, professional matchmakers were used. Each city was politically independent, and each had its laws concerning marriage. For the wedding to be legal, the woman's father or guardian permitted a suitable man who could afford to marry. Daughters were usually married to uncles or cousins. Wintertime marriages were prevalent due to the significance of that time to Hera, the goddess of marriage. The couple participated in a ceremony that included rituals such as veil removal, but it was the couple living together that made the marriage legal. Marriage was understood to be the official transition from childhood into adulthood for women.

Pepper shuttered when she thought of Alina marrying her uncle or cousin and was glad she would marry Thor. There was a change in the arrangement, though. Hera would marry the couple in the Spring instead of Winter; since the couple was anxious to get married, Hera would make an exception.

The following part of the ceremony was The gamos was the wedding day, where a series of rituals surrounded the transfer of the bride from her father's home to that of her new husband. It started with a sacrifice, proteleia (premarital), for the gods to bless the two being wed. The day's rituals began with a nuptial bath given to the bride. This bath symbolized purification and fertility, and the water would have been delivered from a unique location or container called the loutrophoros. The bride and groom then made offerings at the temple to ensure a fruitful future life. Both families would attend a wedding feast at the home of the father of the bride. However, men and women sat at different tables; the women would sit and wait until the men were done. The most significant ritual of the wedding day was the anakalypteria, which removed the bride's veil. This signified the completion of the transfer to her husband's family.

Vase Painting of Wedding Procession

The woman consecrated the marriage by moving into the suitors living quarters. Once the woman stepped in the house, the συνοικεῖν ( synoikein, 'living together') legalized the engysis that the suitor and the kyrios made. The day after the marriage, it was typical for the bride's friends to visit the new home. Though the reason is unknown, it is thought this may have been to ease the transition into their new life.