GAME'LII
(
Γαμήλιοι θεοί), that is, the divinities protecting and presiding over marriage. (Pollux, 1.24; Maxim. Tyr. 26.6.) Plutarch (
Quaest. Rom. 2) says, that those who married required (the protection of) five divinities, viz. Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Peitho, and Artemis. (Comp. Dion Chrys.
Orat. vii. p. 568.)
But these are not all, for the Moerae too are called
θεαὶ λαμήλιαι (Spanheim
ad Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 23,
in Del. 292, 297), and, in fact, nearly all the gods might be regarded as the protectors of marriage, though the five mentioned by Plutarch perhaps more particularly than others. The Athenians called their month of Gamelion after these divinities. Respecting the festival of the Gamelia see
Dict. of Ant. s. v.
[
L.S]