roasted and mixed with honey. As the evening advances the wedding
car will be outside the door. The mother hands the bride over to
the groom, who leads her to the chariot, and he and the groomsman
sit down, one on either side, while with torches and song the
friends to with the car in jovial procession to the house of the
young husband.

[*]This winter month was sacred to Hera, the marriage guardian.


"Ho, Hymen! Ho, Hymen! Hymeneous! Io!"


So rings the refrain of the marriage song; and all the doorways
and street corners are crowded with onlookers to shout fair wishes
and good-natured raillery.

At the groom's house there is a volley of confetti to greet the
happy pair. The bride stops before the threshold to eat a quince.[*]
There is another feast,--possibly riotous fun and hard drinking. At
last the bride is led, still veiled, to the perfumed and flower-hung
marriage chamber. The doors close behind the married pair. Their
friends sing a merry rollicking catch outside, the Epithalamium.
The great day has ended. The Athenian girl has experienced the
chief transition of her life.

[*]The symbol of fertility.


30. The Mental Horizon of Athenian Women.--Despite the suggestions