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Hymenaion

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An ancient wedding song or poem sung in honor of bride and groom

Detailed Definition
Hymenaion: An ancient Greek wedding song or poem invoking Hymen, god of marriage, characterized by joyful, ritualistic refrains and blessings for the couple; it served both ceremonial and communal functions in nuptial celebrations.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hymenaion: A wedding song, as in Sappho’s fragment: “Raise high the roof beam, carpenters! / Like Ares comes the bridegroom…” — invoking celebration and divine blessing.
Additional Notes
Ancient Greek wedding song. Alternative term for epithalamion. Related: epithalamion, prothalamion, wedding poetry. Study: ritual functions of wedding songs.
Also Known As
Wedding song Marriage hymn Nuptial ode Bridal verse
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