HYMEN, or HYMENÆUS, a fabulous divinity, the son of Bacchus and Venus Urania, was supposed by the ancients to preside over marriages; and accordingly was invoked in epithalamiums, and other matrimonial ceremonies, under the formula, Hymen, o Hymenæe!
The poets generally crown this deity with a chaplet of roses; and represent him, as it were, dissolved and enervated with pleasures; dressed in a yellow robe, and shoes of the same colour; with a torch in his hand.—Catullus, in one of his epigrams, addresses him thus: Cinge tempora floribus, Suaveolentis amaraci.
It was for this reason, that the new-married couple bore garlands of flowers on the wedding-day: which custom also obtained among the Hebrews; and even among Christians, during the first ages of the church, as appears from Tertullian, De corona militari, where he says, Coronant & nuptæ sponsores.—S. Chrysostom likewise mentions these crowns of flowers; and to this day the Greeks call marriage σφαγμός, in respect of this crown or garland.