depicted on the black-figured vase No. =637=, of sixth-century date
(fig. 247). The departure took place at nightfall by torch-light, and
the bride and bridegroom usually (as in the present instance) made the
journey in a mule-car, attended by a friend called the _parochos_. On
the vase (fig. 247) the bride and bridegroom are seen in front of the
mule-car, and the _parochos_ is seated behind. When the pair reached
their home, they were welcomed by the father and mother of the
bridegroom, and a procession was formed to the hearth-altar. This is
a scene depicted on No. =638=, a reproduction of a painting on a
toilet-box in the Third Vase Room (D 11, on Case F). The bridegroom
leads the bride by the hand towards the hearth-altar, by the side of
which stands the hearth-goddess Hestia, holding a sceptre and what
is probably a fig, an allusion to the figs, dates and other fruits
showered over the wedded pair as they reached the hearth, and thence
called [Greek: katachysmata] (down-pourings). Before the pair go a
boy playing on the double-flutes and two women holding torches, who
probably move round the altar, as well as another woman, who perhaps
leads the way to the bridal chamber (figs. 248 and 249).
[Illustration: FIG. 248.--TOILET-BOX WITH WEDDING PROCESSION.]
[Illustration: FIG. 249.--BRIDEGROOM LEADING BRIDE TO HEARTH-ALTAR.
Design on the toilet-box (No. 638).]
(_d_) Upon the day following the marriage the relations and friends
brought presents to the house ([Greek: epaulia]).[91] The presents
consisted chiefly in objects likely to be useful to the bride, such as
vases, articles of toilet, spinning implements, etc. The subject was
a favourite one with the Greek vase-painters, probable examples being
the designs on E 188 in Case 47 and the toilet-box E 773 in Case H in
the Third Vase Room. A still better instance occurs on the restored
"marriage vase" E 810 in Case H in the same room.
=Roman Marriage.=--Roman practice recognised various methods of lawful
marriage. The illustrations and objects shown in this Case deal only
with certain ceremonies which were common to all of them. They concern
(_a_) the betrothal; (_b_) the actual wedding rites; and (_c_) the
escorting (_deductio_) of the bride to the house of the bridegroom.
[Illustration: FIG. 250.--ROMAN WEDDING CEREMONY (NO. 641).]
(_a_) The betrothal took the form of a solemn contract between the
fathers and guardians on either side. In all Roman contracts it
was customary that a pledge should be given, and this pledge often
consisted in a ring. It was fitting, therefore, that a ring given to
the woman by her betrothed should come to be a sign of the betrothal
contract. It is natural to identify these rings with a series of Roman
rings which have for their design two clasped right hands. An example
in gold of about the third century A.D. (No. =639=) is shown in this
Case.
(_b_) The actual ceremony of marriage consisted in the solemn clasping
of hands (_dextrarum iunctio_), an action seen on the relief on the
sepulchral chest (No. =640=) placed in this Case. The inscription
shows that the chest was dedicated by a freedman and imperial scribe
named Vitalis to the memory of his wife Vernasia Cyclas. The ceremony
is only shown in an abbreviated form on this chest, but it appears in
more detail on a relief from a sarcophagus (No. =641=; fig. 250). The
husband and wife clasp hands, and between them stands the _pronuba_ or
matron-friend of the bride, placing a hand on the shoulder of each.
On the left of the group stands a man, perhaps the bride's father.
To left and right of this scene of everyday Roman life we have
the mythological personages whose attendance at the wedding may be
supposed to be of good augury--Mars, Victory and Fortune. The clasping
of hands was followed by a sacrifice to Jupiter, and this closed
the actual wedding ceremonies. The sacrifice is represented in the
illustration (fig. 251) taken from a Roman sarcophagus.[92] The bride,
and bridegroom stand by the burning altar, upon which the latter
pours a libation. Behind the pair stands _Juno pronuba_, the presiding
goddess of the wedding rites. On the right a bull is being led up to
sacrifice, and on the left stand Venus, Hymenaeus and the Graces.
[Illustration: FIG. 251.--ROMAN WEDDING SACRIFICE.]
(_c_) When night had fallen there followed the procession, in
which the bride was escorted from her father's house to that of the
bridegroom, a procession described in one of the most splendid of the
poems of Catullus.[93] Torch-bearers and flute-players led the way,
and the wedding train was accompanied by a crowd, the boys in
which chanted rude jesting verses and petitioned the bridegroom for
nuts.[94] When the doorway of the house was reached, the bridegroom
carefully lifted the bride over the threshold, that there might be no
ill-omened stumbling. "Carry the gilded feet across the threshold,"
sings Catullus, "that the omen may be favourable." This moment is
illustrated by a scene from a Roman comedy (No. =54=), taken from a
lamp exhibited on Table-Case K (see above, p. 28, fig. 17). The bride
is being carried on the back of a man, while a Cupid waits at the
door to receive her. Within the house she received a gift of fire and
water, elements so necessary to the performance of the housewife's
duties, and on the day following the wedding she did sacrifice at her
husband's altar.
(=635=) _Cat. of Vases_, III., E 774; Furtwängler and
Reichhold, _Griech. Vasenmalerei_, I., pl. 57 (3); (=637=)
_Cat. of Vases_, II., B 485; (=638=) _Cat. of Vases_, III.,
D 11; _Ath. Mitt._, XXXII., 1907, p. 80 ff.; (=639=) _Cat. of
Rings_, 276; (=640=) _Cat. of Sculpt._ 2379; (=641=) _Journ.
of Hellenic Studies_, XXXVI., p. 85.
See also Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. _Matrimonium_.
[Footnote 89: Theocr. ii. 17: [Greek:
iunx, helke ty tênon emon poti dôma ton andra].
]
[Footnote 90: Cf. Aristot. [Greek: Ath. Pol.] 3, 5; Dem. _c.
Neaer._, c. 76; Mommsen, _Feste d. Stadt Athen_, p. 393 ff.]
[Footnote 91: See _Jahrb. d. arch. Inst._, 1900, p. 144 ff.]
[Footnote 92: _Mon. dell' Inst._ iv., pl. 9.]
[Footnote 93: No. lxi.]
[Footnote 94: _Ibid._, l. 131 f.]
XXV.--MUSIC AND DANCING.
(Wall-Cases 54-56.)
=Music.=--The Greek term [Greek: mousikê] (music) included much more
than we mean by music. It was applied to the education of the mind
as opposed to [Greek: gymnastikê] (gymnastics), the education of the
body. In the narrower sense, however, it corresponded to the modern
term, and to this the Greeks from early times attached a high
importance. It was the effect of music upon the character which
appealed to them above all things, and it was this which caused Plato
to banish from his ideal state certain modes of music which would, he
thought, be injurious to its well-being. These modes or "harmonies"
were named after race-divisions. We find the Dorian, the Aeolic,
the Ionic, the Lydian, and the Phrygian. The Dorian was universally
approved for its manly qualities, but Plato rejected the Lydian as
useless and effeminate.[95]
Of the stringed instruments used among the Greeks, the lyre was the
most prominent. There were two varieties of this, the kithara and the
lyre proper. The kithara, an instrument with a large wooden sounding
board and upright arms, was played chiefly by professional musicians,
such as the kitharist represented on a fine vase in the Third Vase
Room, who has won a victory at one of the great musical contests (E
460; Pedestal 7). The illustration (fig. 252), taken from an amphora
of the fifth century (E 256, Case H, Third Vase Room), shows Apollo
playing on the kithara, which is supported by a band passing round his
left wrist, but leaving the fingers of the left hand free to play
on the strings. In his right hand he holds the _plectrum_, which is
attached by a cord to the instrument. The _plectrum_ was of various
forms, but its most essential part was the tooth for catching and
sounding the wires. The lyre proper (fig. 253) is distinguished by
its curving arms and sounding board of tortoiseshell (hence called
_chelys_). The wooden framework and parts of the shell of a Greek lyre
found in a tomb near Athens are shown in Case 56 (No. =642=). As the
popular instrument, the lyre was naturally taught in schools. Two
interesting Greek vases (Nos. =643= and =644=), exhibited in these
Cases, give pictures of boys receiving music lessons at a school. In
one instance a boy is learning the lyre, in another the boy is playing
the flutes, while the master, who holds a _plectrum_, is playing on a
lyre. Domestic animals are freely admitted, and the discipline seems
far from severe.
[Illustration: FIG. 252. APOLLO PLAYING ON A KITHARA.]
[Illustration: FIG. 253. LYRE.]
As the school scene shows, flute-playing, though condemned by Plato
and Aristotle,[96] was commonly taught at Athens. Ancient flutes are
distinguished from the modern instruments by the vibrating reed which
formed the mouthpiece, and by the fact that they were always played
in pairs. Hence the frequency with which pairs of ancient flutes are
found. Two of sycamore wood (No. =645=; Case 56) were discovered in
the same tomb (near Athens) as the lyre described above (No. =642=).
Another pair of flutes (in bronze) from Italy (No. =646=; fig. 254)
have their mouthpieces in the form of busts of Maenads. A terracotta
shows a pair of female musicians (No. =647=) playing with a drum and
double flutes. To assist the playing of the two flutes together a
mouth-band was often worn, as may be seen from designs on vases,
_e.g._, on a cup of Epiktetos (E 38; Third Vase Room), and on some of
the Cypriote sculptures in the Gold Ornament Room passage.
A framed impression from a Greek hymn to Apollo inscribed on stone is
here exhibited (No. =648=). Musical notes, indicated by letters of the
Greek alphabet in various positions, are placed at intervals over
the letters to guide the singer. The inscription was found at Delphi,
where other inscriptions of a similar character have come to light.
Flute-playing was very popular with the Romans, among whom it was
considered the proper accompaniment of every kind of ceremony.[97] For
military purposes they used several other wind instruments. Two bronze
mouthpieces (No. =649=) in Case 55 may perhaps come from long straight
trumpets (_tubae_). The Roman curved horn (_cornu_) is represented by
two large specimens in bronze (No. =650=) placed at the top of Cases
55, 56. The terracotta bugle in Case 55 is probably a model of the
Roman _bucina_ (No. =651=).
[Illustration: FIG. 254.--BRONZE FLUTES AND CYMBALS (NOS. 646, 654).
1:3.]
The simplest of all ancient wind instruments is the rustic Pan's pipe
(_syrinx_), usually formed of seven or eight hollow reeds fastened
together with wax. The Greek Pan's pipe has the reeds of equal length,
the different notes being produced by the different positions of the
natural joints of the reed. An example may be seen among the Cypriote
sculptures in the Gold Ornament Room passage. The Roman _syrinx_
had its lower edge sloping, the result of cutting off the reeds
immediately below the natural joints. A terracotta statuette in Case
55 (No. =652=) represents a shepherd boy playing on a Pan's pipe of
the Roman kind, and a marble relief from Ephesus at the top of Case 54
(No. =653=) shows a beardless man seated with a large _syrinx_ in his
hands. The Greek inscription tells us that the relief was dedicated by
Ebenos, a "first flute," to Hierokles his piper.
It was the Pan's pipe which gave Ktesibios of Alexandria (third
century B.C.; cf. p. 120) the model on which he constructed his
water-organ, an instrument which became popular with the Romans. A
Roman "contorniate" shown in Case 58 has one of these water-organs
represented upon it. The air was supplied by water pressure and the
notes were played by means of a key-board.
Cymbals were largely used by the Greeks and Romans in religious
ceremonies of an ecstatic character, such as the mysteries of Demeter
and Kore and the worship of Kybele. Among the cymbals in Case 56 is
an interesting pair (No. =654=; fig. 254) inscribed in Greek with the
name of Oata their owner ([Greek: Oatas eimi]). They were originally
joined together by a chain, part of which still remains. In the lower
part of Cases 55-56 is a considerable variety of bells in bronze (No.
=655=).
(=643=) and (=644=) _Cat. of Vases_, III., E 171, 172;
(=645=) For the structure of the ancient flute, cf. especially
Baumeister, _Denkmäler_, s.v. _Flöten;_ (=648=) _Bull. de
Corr. Hell._, XVIII., pl. 21; (=652=) For the _syrinx_, cf.
Tillyard in _Journ. Hell. Stud._, XXVII. (1907), p. 167 ff.;
(=653=) _Cat. of Sculpt._, II., 1271.
See in general, _Camb. Comp. to Gk. Stud._, pp. 370-374;
Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. _Musica_.
=Dancing.=--Dancing among the Greeks and Romans differed in many
ways from our own. In the first place dances (which were generally
accompanied by the flutes) were largely associated with religion.
Plato in his _Laws_ gave it as his opinion that, in imitation of
the Egyptian example, all dancing should be made to take a religious
character.[98] This ceremonial side of Greek dancing is illustrated
by a primitive stone vessel from Cyprus (No. =655=), which represents
three draped women dancing in a ring. Among the Romans the processions
of the Salii or dancing priests of Mars are among the best-known
examples of religious dancing.
In private life dancing was regarded by the Greeks rather as an
entertainment to be provided by hired performers than as a recreation
in which guests could take their part.[99] Hence with them men and
women did not dance together as in the modern fashion. The demand for
dancing girls to entertain the guests at banquets led to the training
of large numbers of this class. A vase (No. =656=), placed in the
lower part of Case 54, shows dancing girls being instructed in their
art. They repeatedly appear on Greek vases dancing before the feasting
guests (_e.g._ on E 68 in Case E in the Third Vase Room, the interior
of a cup in the style of Brygos). These girls often carried castanets
when dancing, as may be seen on the lekythos (No. =657=) and in the
relief from Melos (No. =658=).
[Illustration: FIG. 255.--GREEK WOMEN DANCING. Ca. 2:7.]
Greek women sometimes danced in private among themselves, especially
on the occasion of some domestic festival.[100] It is with this kind
of dancing that we should probably associate the terracotta figurines
(fig. 255). They illustrate the important part played by the arms and
the drapery in ancient dancing, which was largely mimetic. Ovid notes
that supple arms are one of the principal qualifications for a good
dancer.[101] This tradition was undoubtedly inherited from Greek
dancing, for (religious rites apart) the Romans regarded the art as an
unseemly one, so much so that Cicero remarked "that practically no one
except a madman danced when sober."[102]
(=656=) _Cat. of Vases_, III., E 185; (=657=) _Ibid._, E
642: (658) _Cat. of Terracottas_, B 370. For Greek dancing in
general, cf. Emmanuel, _La danse grecque_.
[Footnote 95: Plat., _Rep._ iii. 398-9.]
[Footnote 96: Plato, _Rep._ iii. 399 D;
Arist., _Pol._ viii. 6, 5 ff.]
[Footnote 97: Ovid, _Fasti_, vi. 659 f.:
cantabat fanis, cantabat tibia ludis,
cantabat maestis tibia funeribus.
]
[Footnote 98: Plat., _Leg._ 799 A.]
[Footnote 99: Cf. the famous story of Hippokleides
(Herodot., vi. 129), whose dancing lost him a bride.]
[Footnote 100: Aristoph., _Lys._ 408; Athen., xv. 668 D.]
[Footnote 101: _Ars. Amat._ i. 595:
si vox est, canta; si mollia bracchia, salta.
]
[Footnote 102: _Pro Mur._ 6; cf. Nepos, _Epam._ 1.]
XXVI.--DOMESTIC AND PET ANIMALS; FLOWERS.
(Wall-Cases 57-58.)
The upper part of Wall-Cases 57, 58 contains a number of
representations of domesticated and pet animals. The series includes
cattle, goats, pigs, dogs, cats, pigeons and poultry. Often, but not
always, the animal is associated with some human actor, as when the
child rides on a dog, pig, or goat, or when the large cock tries to
peck at the bunch of grapes in a child's hand (No. =659=).
More than one of the pigeons wears a _bulla_ round its neck (No.
=660=) to avert the evil eye (see p. 136), and a cock is decked with
a wreath of ivy leaves (No. =661=). On a vase (No. =662=) a girl has
tied a string to the hind leg of a tortoise, and dangles it before her
dog; on another (No. =663=) two children are making a dog jump through
a hoop. In a relief already mentioned (p. 198, No. =603=) the dog
seeks the notice of its studious mistress, little Avita. In the scene
of the music school (No. =643= in Case 55) the boy plays with the cat
behind the master's chair. Another form of amusement is illustrated
by the kylix, No. =664=. A boy is seated, and holds on his knee a cage
containing a bird, probably a quail. Quail-fighting was a very popular
amusement at Athens, where odds were freely betted on the result of
the encounter. The wooden instrument, seen above the boy, would be
used to provoke the quails to fight with one another. The game of
quail-striking ([Greek: ortygokopia]) was another variety of sport
with quails. In this the object was to prove the endurance of the
quail by striking it with the fingers or pulling out its feathers.
A Roman lamp (No. =665=; fig. 256) gives an interesting view of an
itinerant with his troop of performing animals. On his right is an
ape, on his left a cat climbing a ladder. Above are two hoops for the
animals to jump through.
[Illustration: FIG. 256.--ITINERANT WITH PERFORMING ANIMALS (NO. 665).
2:3.]
=Flowers.=--In Cases 57-58 will be seen a set of funeral wreaths (No.
=666=; cf. p. 226), found at Hawara, in Egypt. Among the flowers which
can be identified in those wreaths are the rose, narcissus, sweet
marjoram, and immortelle. We know, from an epigram of Martial,[103]
that Egypt cultivated roses with such success that she exported them
from Alexandria to Rome during the winter, though at the time when the
poet wrote (latter part of first century A.D.), Italy was, according
to him, in a position to export roses to Egypt. In their gardens the
Romans devoted most of their attention to their trees, which they
cut into fantastic shapes by the agency of the landscape gardener
(_topiarius_). The species of flowers known to them were decidedly
limited in number, but we find gardens of singular beauty depicted
on their wall-paintings, notably on one found at Prima Porta near
Rome.[104]
(=659=) _Cat. of Terracottas_, C 539; (=662=) _Cat. of Vases_,
IV., F 101; (=665=) _Cat. of Lamps_, 679; (=666=) Petrie,
_Hawara_, p. 47.
[Footnote 103: vi. 80.]
[Footnote 104: _Ant. Denkmäler_, I., pl. 11.]
XXVII.--METHODS OF BURIAL.
(Wall-Cases 58-64.)
=Greece.=--In the prehistoric period known as Mycenaean, the
inhabitants of Greek lands probably buried their dead and did not
cremate them. It is possible, however, that a partial burning was in
vogue in this and the succeeding periods in Greece. In the case of the
more wealthy Mycenaean dead, the bodies were elaborately decked with
gold ornaments. Oval plates of gold were tied over the forehead and
mouth of the corpse, in the latter case (where the impression of the
lips can be seen) perhaps with the idea of keeping out evil spirits.
The window-cases in the Gold Ornament Room contain many examples of
these funeral diadems and mouthpieces from Cyprus. In the Homeric
poems we find the bodies of the dead burnt upon a pyre and the ashes
buried beneath a mound.
[Illustration: FIG. 257. FUNERAL LEKYTHOS. Ht. 15-1/4 in.]
Scenes representing the preparation of the body for cremation or
burial are frequently depicted on Greek vases. They occur on the large
"Dipylon" vases, made specially for standing outside the tomb (see
examples in the First Vase Room), and on black-figure vases, where the
body is seen lying on the bier surrounded by mourners. It is, however,
upon the white lekythi of the fifth century (No. =668=; fig. 257), one
of which is here illustrated, that funeral scenes are most commonly
found. We know from Greek literature that these vases were expressly
made for putting in tombs. A speaker in the _Ekklesiazusae_ of
Aristophanes talks of "the man who paints the lekythi for the
dead."[105] On the vase here figured a woman is making offerings at
the tombstone. These offerings were made by the relatives from time
to time, and consisted mainly of sashes, wreaths, and vases, as may be
seen from the vases placed in the Case. The Greek funeral monuments of
the best period are characterised by their restrained beauty. Examples
of the different types will be found in the Phigaleian Room downstairs
and in the Gallery of Casts. In the Cases 59-60, the only tombstones
are the archaic one of Idagygos of Halikarnassos (No. =669=; fig.
258) found in Cyprus, inscribed with an elegiac couplet in which he is
called "the squire of Ares,"[106] and a round stone (No. =670=) with
a late inscription showing that the tomb was that of Menestratos, a
Corinthian buried in Attic soil. The Greek tombs were generally ranged
on either side of the main roads leading from the city gates.
[Illustration: FIG. 258.--INSCRIBED TOMBSTONE OF IDAGYGOS (NO. 669).
Ht. 5 ft. 8 in.]
A terracotta urn of about the third century B.C. (No. =671=) in Case
60 serves as an example of the vases used to contain the calcined
remains of the dead. It holds a number of burnt bones, among them part
of a jaw-bone, with a silver obol adhering to it. The coin was placed
in the mouth of the corpse as the fee of the ferryman Charon for
piloting the dead across Acheron. The gilded figure of a Siren found
in this vase is emblematic of the spirit world.
Two later monuments with Greek inscriptions are the marble chests in
Cases 61-62. Each has a lock-plate (cf. those in Case G), carved
in front in low relief. No. =672= is the cinerary chest of Metras
Tryphon, who had been publicly crowned by the people of Ephesus, and
has this crown represented on his urn. The second chest (No. =673=),
from the temple of Kybele at Sardes, is inscribed with the name of
Metrodoros, who is called a "sprinkler" ([Greek: perirantês]) no doubt
with reference to an office held by him in the temple service. Below
this chest is a marble cup from Rhodes (No. =674=), bearing the
inscription: "The burying-place of those who have lost their ancestral
tomb." This cup, which is ornamented above with flying birds and has
holes for a metal attachment, seems to have been set on a column as a
boundary mark.
[Illustration: FIG. 259.--ITALIAN HUT-URN (NO. 675). Ca. 1:4.]