n in
singing the wedding song to Hymenaeus to the sound of flutes as the
chariot leads slowly toward the bridegroom's house. At the close of the
_Birds_ of Aristophanes, when occurs the wedding of Pisthetaerus and
Basileia, the chorus attends the wedded pair with the following lines:

"Jupiter, that god sublime,
When the Fates in former time
Matched him with the Queen of Heaven
At a solemn banquet given,
Such a feast was held above,
And the charming God of Love
Being present in command,
As a bridegroom took his stand
With the golden reins in hand,
Hymen, Hymen, Ho!"

The new home, like that of the bride's father, is adorned with garlands
of laurel and ivy--the laurel for the husband, as the symbol of victory,
and the delicate and graceful ivy for the bride, embodying her
attachment for her husband, as that of the ivy for the sturdy oak. At
the door, the bridegroom's mother is awaiting the young couple, with the
burning torches in her hand. As the spouses enter, a shower of
sweetmeats is poured upon their heads, partly in jest, partly to
symbolize the abundance and prosperity invoked upon them. To typify the
bride's new duties as mistress of the house, a pestle used for bruising
corn has been hung up near the bridal chamber; and in conformity to
another custom, prevailing since the days of Solon, she is expected to
eat a quince, which was considered to be a symbol of fruitfulness. Soon
the bridegroom's mother attends the couple to the _thalamos_, or nuptial
chamber, where, for the first time, the bride unveils herself to her
husband. Meanwhile, before the door, the bride's attendants, crowned
with hyacinth, join in the epithalamium, or marriage hymn, a
characteristic specimen of which we possess in the bridal hymn to Helen,
by Theocritus:

"Slumberest so soon, sweet bridegroom?
Art thou overfond of sleep?
Or hast thou leaden-weighted limbs?
Or hast thou drunk too deep
When thou didst fling thee to thy lair?
Betimes thou shouldst have sped,
If sleep were all thy purpose,
Unto thy bachelor's bed,
And left her in her mother's arms,
To nestle and to play,
A girl among her girlish mates,
Till deep into the day:--
For not alone for this night,
Nor for the next alone,
But through the days and through the years
Thou hast her for thine own."

And it ends thus: