Everything about Epithalamium totally explained
Epithalamium (from
Greek;
epi- upon, and
thalamium nuptial chamber, sometimes also spelled "epithalamion") specifically refers to a form of
poem that's written for the
bride. Or, specifically, written for the bride on the way to her marital chamber.
History
It was originally among the
Greeks a song in praise of bride and bridegroom, sung by a number of boys and girls at the door of the nuptial chamber. According to the
scholiast on
Theocritus, one form was employed at night, and another, to arouse the bride and bridegroom on the following morning. In either case, as was natural, the main burden of the song consisted of invocations of blessing and predictions of happiness, interrupted from time to time by the ancient chorus of
Hymen hymenaee. Among the
Romans a similar custom was in vogue, but the song was sung by girls only, after the marriage guests had gone, and it contained much more of what modern morality would condemn as obscene.
Development as a Literary Form
In the hands of the poets the epithalamium was developed into a special literary form, and received considerable cultivation.
Sappho,
Anacreon,
Stesichorus and
Pindar are all regarded as masters of the species, but the finest example preserved in Greek literature is the 18th
Idyll of
Theocritus, which celebrates the marriage of
Menelaus and
Helen. In
Latin, the epithalamium, imitated from
Fescennine Greek models, was a base form of literature, when
Catullus redeemed it and gave it dignity by modelling his
Marriage of Thetis and Peleus on a lost ode of Sappho.
In later times
Statius,
Ausonius,
Sidonius Apollinaris and
Claudian are the authors of the best-known epithalamia in classical Latin; and they've been imitated by
Buchanan,
Julius Caesar Scaliger,
Sannazaro, and a whole host of modern Latin poets, with whom, indeed, the form was at one time in great favor.
The names of
Ronsard,
Malherbe and
Scarron are especially associated with the species in
French literature, and
d'Iarini and
Metastasio in
Italian. Perhaps no poem of this class has been more universally admired than the pastoral
Epithalamium of
Edmund Spenser (
1595), though he's found no unworthy rivals -
Ben Jonson,
Donne and
Francis Quarles. Ben Jonson's friend,
Sir John Suckling, is known for his epithalamium "A Ballad Upon a Wedding." In his ballad, Suckling playfully demystifies the usual celebration of marriage by detailing comic rustic parallels and identifying sex as the great leveler.
At the close of
In Memoriam A.H.H.,
Tennyson has appended a poem, on the nuptials of his sister, which is strictly an epithalamium.
The term is occasionally used beyond poetry, for example to describe
Shakespeare's play
A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Epithalamium'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://epithalamium.totallyexplained.com">Epithalamium Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
