Marriage: Did you mean...?

Love, sex, and marriage in ancient Rome were defined by the patriarchy. The head of the household was the father (the pater familias) who had complete control over the lives of his wife, children, and slaves. This paradigm was justified...

Babylonian Marriage Market by Edwin Long, 1875 CE, Royal Holloway College, London.

The Lebes gamikos (marriage vase) was used in marriage ceremonies in ancient Greece. It was used for sprinkling the bride before the wedding. Apulia, southern Italy, circa 350-320 BCE. (National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK)

Siddhartha and Yasodhara marriage ceremony, depicting the couple circling around the sacred marriage fire, 2nd-3rd century CE. Peshawar Museum, Pakistan.

Fragment from the front of a sarcophagus; relief in blue-veined marble with large crystals (probably Proconnesian), showing a Roman marriage ceremony (dextratrum iunctio, literally joining of hands). Between the bride and groom was a figure...

The Marriage of the Virgin painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520 CE). Around 1504 CE. (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy)

This Byzantine gold marriage ring dates to the 3rd to 4th centuries CE. The ring measures 56 mm in circumference and the bezel measures 10x10 mm. Weight: 4.5 grams. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)

Rosalind Tutoring Orlando in the Ceremony of Marriage in William Shakespeare's As You Like It, Act IV Scene I, oil on canvas by Walter Howell Deverell, c. 1853 Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.

Title page of Defending Clerical Marriage (1524), an open letter by reformer and theologian Katharina Zell (nee Schütz, l. 1497-1562).

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-history-of-marriage-alex-gendler A white, puffy dress. Eternal love. A joint tax return. Marriage means something different to everyone and has changed over time and across cultures. Alex...