From the Feast of the Cross to the Feast of the Life-Giving Spring | Wedding Customs and Songs of Doliche and Pythio
Kakadiaris, Alex. Wedding customs and songs of Doliche and Pythio of Elassona.
In Thessaliko Hmerologio, 2000, vol. 37, pp. 165–176.
Introductory Notes
The folkloric material presented here was collected during our service in Doliche as a temporary teacher under a community contract, during the school year 1959–1960. Our family ties with many families of Pythio further enriched this collection, which was completed in the winter of 1962–1963. However, it remained largely unpublished, and its existence was not mentioned even in the two articles we published at the time in the Larissa newspaper Thessalika Nea concerning Pythio.
With this publication, we hope to make the wedding customs and songs of Pythio and Doliche more widely known.
In these two villages, ancient traditions survived, though today they have been weakened not only due to migration and modern technological life, but also because of the implementation of the new administrative division (the “Kapodistrias” plan), which harshly separated the two neighboring settlements, assigning Doliche to mountainous Livadi and Pythio to Kallithea with its refugee population—whose customs differ from their own.
We believe that the reader will find and appreciate in this collection the beauty contained in the songs of the Greek wedding, which our prosaic era has stripped, to a greater or lesser extent, of its simple elegance.
I. Wedding Customs
The wedding preparations begin at the start of the week during which livestock is slaughtered, sourdough is prepared, and bread is baked: the wedding loaf, the offerings for the church, the invitation breads used to invite guests, and the loaves consumed up to and including the wedding Sunday.
Water is also needed, which the bride fetches symbolically in a ritual manner, accompanied by relatives and friends, like another Homeric Nausicaa, while the following song is sung:
(traditional song text follows)
Invitations are also extended on the wedding day itself, with a flask filled with raki offered by the chief bratimos (best man). Dancing and joking continue throughout the week, culminating on Saturday night in family gatherings for each of the betrothed.
Early on the wedding morning, cooking begins. The groom hosts his relatives, followed by dancing with musicians, and then his grooming begins. In the center of the main room, the barber shaves him, while those present sing traditional grooming songs.
After the shaving, relatives—often moved to tears—throw coins into a basin of water placed on the table as a tip for the barber. Once dressed in his wedding attire, the groom descends the stairs accompanied by musicians, relatives, and bratimoi. As he leaves the house, gunshots announce the beginning of the wedding procession.
The groom steps over the threshold of his parental home, passing between his parents’ interlocked hands, symbolizing rebirth. He then drinks wine from a glass in which his parents have symbolically washed their fingers to cleanse past sorrows. The glass is thrown backward and caught to prevent it from breaking, and he is showered with rice, wheat, corn, and sugared almonds.
Accompanied by bratimoi and close relatives—but not his parents—the groom proceeds singing to the godfather’s house. Along the way, passersby are treated to drinks, and blessings are exchanged. One bratimos carries a plate with fruit and roasted chickpeas for snacks.
At the godfather’s house, marked by the ceremonial banner (flambouro), the groom kisses the godfather’s hand and receives money. Dancing follows, led by the godfather holding the banner, then the groom, and then all relatives.
When it is time to depart, a farewell song is sung, and the procession returns to the groom’s home. The banner is carried exclusively by the godfather’s relatives, followed by the godfather himself in a place of honor.
Later, the wedding party proceeds to the bride’s house, singing wedding songs. Two or three bratimoi race ahead—on foot or horseback—to be the first to receive the white handkerchief from the bride, announcing the groom’s arrival. This honor is highly prized and sometimes a source of dispute.
At the bride’s home, gunshots announce the arrival. The groom enters, sometimes facing playful resistance, and symbolically “unlocks” siblings born in the same month or day to avert misfortune. Inside, seated wedding songs are sung, sweets are offered, and dancing begins.
The bride, dressed in her wedding attire, remains in another room. A bratimos presents her shoes, symbolically tossing them into her arms before placing them on her feet, while bridesmaids strike his back playfully until he exits the room.
The dowry is then collected amid ritual bargaining, loaded onto pack animals or vehicles, and transported to the groom’s home. Meanwhile, guests proceed to the church.
The wedding procession advances with the banner, musicians, godfather, groom, and finally the bride accompanied by family. Along the way, ritual songs are sung, guests are showered with rice, and blessings are offered.
At the church, the marriage sacrament is performed. Faces glow with joy: the groom proud, the bride modest and radiant. Relatives discreetly pin needles to the couple’s clothes to ward off evil.
After the ceremony, congratulations are offered—primarily to the groom’s family and the godfather. The couple returns arm in arm to the groom’s home amid song and blessings.
There, the bride offers gifts to her new relatives. Honey or sweets are offered for good fortune, and dancing resumes. Wine flows freely, musicians are generously tipped, and the couple dances with all guests, ensuring no one feels excluded.
Late at night, farewells are sung. The godfather departs first, followed by the in-laws. Exhausted, the household prepares for rest.
Early the next morning, the bride—accompanied by female relatives—fetches water from the village fountain in a ritual meant to bring prosperity. She kicks over a water vessel three times as a song is sung:
(traditional verse follows)
Returning home, dancing resumes briefly before guests depart with the wish:
“May you be well-rooted, newly crowned, and blessed with many descendants.”
DOLICHE 