The Bœotians used wreaths of wild asparagus, which is full of thorns, but bears excellent fruit; it was therefore thought to resemble ladies, who give their lovers some trouble in gaining their hearts, but whose affection is a sweet reward. The bride carried an earthen vessel full of parched barley, and was accompanied by a maid bearing a sieve, to signify her obligation to attend to domestic concerns; a pestle was likewise tied to the door, for the same purpose. The bride was usually conveyed in a chariot from her father’s house to her husband’s in the evening. She sat in the middle, with the bridegroom on one side, and one of her most intimate female friends on the other. A widower was not allowed to attend his bride, but sent one of his friends for that purpose. Blazing torches were carried before the young couple, and music followed them. Homer thus describes a bridal procession: “The youthful dancers in a circle bound To the soft flute, and cittern’s silver sound; Through the fair streets, the matrons in a row Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show.” When the chariot arrived at the bridegroom’s dwelling, the axletree was burnt, to signify that the bride was never to return to the paternal roof. As they entered, figs and various kinds of fruit were poured on their heads, as an indication of future plenty. A sumptuous banquet was prepared for relations and friends, after which the company diverted themselves with dances and hymeneal songs. At Athens, it was customary for a boy to come in during the feast, covered with thorn boughs and scorns, bearing a basket full of bread, and singing, “I have left the worse and found the better.” Some have supposed this was in commemoration of their change of diet from acorns to corn, but Dr. Potter’s supposition seems much more probable; viz. that it was intended to indicate the superiority of marriage over single life.