Oaths and Swearing in Ancient Greece

Alan H. Sommerstein; Isabelle C. Torrance

Open Access Published by De Gruyter 2014

Oaths and Swearing in Ancient Greece

Alan H. Sommerstein and Isabelle C. Torrance

Volume 307 in the series Beiträge zur Altertumskunde

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110227369

Overview
Contents

About this book

The oath was an institution of fundamental importance across a wide range of social interactions throughout the ancient Greek world, making a crucial contribution to social stability and harmony; yet there has been no comprehensive, dedicated scholarly study of the subject for over a century. This volume of a two-volume study explores the nature of oaths as Greeks perceived it, the ways in which they were used (and sometimes abused) in Greek life and literature, and their inherent binding power.

Author information

A. H. Sommerstein, University of Nottingham; I. C. Torrance, University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	x
1. What is an oath? A.H. Sommerstein Publicly Available Download PDF	1
2. Oath and curse Kyriaki Konstantinidou Publicly Available Download PDF	6
3. Oaths in traditional myth I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	48
4. Friendship and enmity, trust and suspicion L. A. Kozak and A.H. Sommerstein Publicly Available Download PDF	60
5. The language of oaths A.H. Sommerstein and I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	76
6. Ways to give oaths extra sanctity I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	132
7. Oaths, gender and status Judith Fletcher, A.J. Bayliss and I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	156
8. Oaths and characterization: two Homeric case studies L. A. Kozak Publicly Available Download PDF	213
9. Oratory and rhetoric A.H. Sommerstein Publicly Available Download PDF	230
10. “Artful dodging”, or the sidestepping of oaths I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	240
11. The binding power of oaths A.H. Sommerstein and I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	281
12. Responses to perjury I.C. Torrance and K. Konstantinidou Publicly Available Download PDF	295
13. The informal oath A.H. Sommerstein Publicly Available Download PDF	315
13a. Swearing oaths in the authorial person I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	348
14. The Hippocratic Oath I.C. Torrance Publicly Available Download PDF	372
15. The decline of the oath? A.H. Sommerstein Publicly Available Download PDF	381
Bibliography Publicly Available Download PDF	394
Index locorum Publicly Available Download PDF	413
Subject index Publicly Available Download PDF	445

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: All those interested in ancient Greek history.
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 463
Keywords: Greece; oath; polis

eBook

Published: September 4, 2014
ISBN: 9783110227369

Hardcover

Published: August 19, 2014
ISBN: 9783110200591