Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/62

 56 THE FAMILY. BOOK 11. by his family, offers a sacrifice. The sacrifice con- cluded, be declares — pronouncing a sacramental formu- la — that be gives bis daughter to the young man. This declaration is absolutely indispensable to the marriage; for the young girl would not be able to go at once to worship at the hcarlh of lier husband, if her father bad not already separated her from the pater- tal hearth. To enable her to adopt her new religion, she must be freed from every bond that attaches her to her first religion. 2. The young girl is carried to the house of the hus- band. Sometimes the husband himself conducts her. In certain cities the duty of bringing her belongs to one of those men wjio, among the Greeks, were clothed with a sacerdotal character, and who were called heralds. The bride was usually jjlaced upon a car; her liace was covered with a veil, and on her head was a crown. The crown, as we shall often have occasion to see, was used in all the ceremonies of this woiship. She was dressed in white. White was the color of the vestments in all the religious acts. She was preceded by a torch — the nuptial torch. For the whole dis- tance they sang around her religious hymns, whose refrain was w A"')*'? ^ iuii'cxie. This hymn they called the ht/mencal, and the importance of this sacred chant was so great that they gave its name to the whole ceremony. The bride dares not go of her own accord into her new dwelling. Her husband must take her, and simu- late a seizure by force. She must cry out, and the women that accompany her must pretend to defend her. Why this rite ? Is it a symbol of the modesty of the bride? This is hardly probable: the moment for shame has not yet come; for what is now to take place