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5 - Textiles in Alkestis’ thalamos

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2022

By
Amy C. Smith
Edited by
J. A. Baird  and
April Pudsey
J. A. Baird
Affiliation:
Birkbeck College, University of London
April Pudsey
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
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Summary

Perhaps the most commonly invoked aspects of the home found on Athenian vases are doors, which suggest transitions. In the case of marriage scenes, these transitions are the beginnings and ends of the gamelia, the procession from the bride’s home to the groom’s. The doors represent transition and help us to envision the gamelia, as noted in textual sources, but some, perhaps more importantly, provide a glimpse into the home itself, particularly the thalamos or wedding chamber in which the marriage is culminated. A synthesis of sources here aids a more thorough understanding of the importance of the marriage bed and its room, the thalamos, in the home as well as through the wedding ritual. This in turn brings our attention most appropriately to the essential role of the home in the marriage, on the occasion of the wedding and thereafter.

Keywords

furnishingstextilesGreek marriagebedvase paintingAlkestis
Type
Chapter
Information
Housing in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Material and Textual Approaches
 , pp. 181 - 211
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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