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The procession itself began with the departure ritual, a drama of the bride’s pain for leaving her family. The groom grabbed her wrist while the bride's father delivered her to her husband's control, saying "in front of witnesses I give this girl to you for the production of legitimate children."
Her husband and his friend in a cart accompanied her. If the unveiling of the bride had not taken place yet, the bride would still be veiled. Her mother would be the one to carry the torches, in a protective role.
When the couple reached the groom's house, the groom lifted the bride from the chariot, and his mother, holding torches, welcomed her daughter-in-law to her new home. The bride would eat a quince and burn the chariot axle, thereby precluding a journey back to her former home; and, finally, the bride received dried dates, nuts, and figs, thus completing the same ritual a new slave went through to make the final break with her old household. If it had not happened before, the unveiling of the bride happened now as well.
As the couple entered the bridal chamber itself, they passed to the protection of Aphrodite, who would bring harmony and pleasure in the bedroom and ultimately children. While the chamber was still being prepared, the wedding guests could enter the room, but finally the door would shut and remain guarded during the night by a friend of the groom.
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