A wedding ceremony is a celebratory marker for the bride and groom as well as for their two families. Further, this joyful event, rich with rituals, extends to the community that the bride and groom are part of. In ancient Greece, weddings were celebrated with many customs and rituals attached. The roles were assigned and expected to be performed according to traditions. Kirk Ormand in his book titled Exchange and… Read more
In this post we are going to examine some aspects of marriage, and its music which come traditionally with singing and dancing. In today’s marriages music, singing and dancing play an essential role in rituals and traditions. Music is played at the beginning of the ceremony, carefully chosen songs are sung during the ceremony, and people dance and sing during the feast. Were rituals and traditions related to music in… Read more
Our community recently welcomed Professor Olga Levaniouk of the University of Washington to the Chatroom. (We hope to share that transcript with you in the coming days.) After the live chat, Professor Levaniouk joined us by video to share additional thoughts about her research on ancient Greek weddings. Together we raise and discuss several provocative questions such as: Why does the bride wish for death at one point in the… Read more