Ancient Greek marriage law ||This article may require cleanup to
meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (October 2009)| Marriage as
a public interest  The ancient Greek legislators considered the
relation of marriage a matter not merely of private, but also of
public or general interest. This was particularly the case at
Sparta, where the subordination of private interests and
happiness to the public was strongly exemplified in the
regulations. For instance, by the laws of Lycurgus, criminal
proceedings might be taken against those who married too late
(graphe opsigamiou) or unsuitably (graphe kakogamiou), as well
as against those who did not marry at all (graphe agamiou).
These regulations were founded on the generally recognised
principle that it was the duty of every citizen to raise up a
strong and healthy progeny of legitimate children to the state.
So entirely, in fact, did the Spartans consider the teknopoioia
(childbearing) as the main object of marriage, which the state
was bound to promote, that whenev