The explanation of this custom, M.de Coulanges states, is that food prepared on an altar and eaten by a number of persons together, was believed to establish between them a sacred tie which endured through life.

[205] Even a slave was to a certain degree admitted into the family by the same tie of common eating of food.

At Athens he was made to approach the hearth; he was purified by pouring water on his head, and ate some cakes and fruit with the members of the family.

This ceremony was analogous to those of marriage and adoption.

It signified that the new arrival, hitherto a stranger, was henceforth a member of the family and participated in the family worship.