Oaths, Curses

In the Hellenistic era, oaths (ὅρκοι hórkoi) and curses (ἀραί araí) – interrelated verbal acts of human communication with the divine – continue to occur in a variety of sources and to perform the usual functions in both private and public life. Oaths, both public and among individuals, maintain the same structure and language as in the Archaic and Classical periods, the only significant difference being that oaths of loyalty can now be sworn by the name of the ruling king. As regards curses, on the contrary, a significant change in their nature and scope takes place in poetry: Hell. literary ἀραί araí adopt a series of characteristics, including the use of mythological and occasionally historical exempla as a repository of punishments, often organized as a catalogue, a display of erudition, and a humoristic disproportion between the offence and the punishment. Hell. poetic ἀραί araí are revenge curses, as they are uttered in response to a prior offence. Ἀραί, however, can also take the form of conditional curses: the penalties that they threaten will only come into play if the offence is committed. The best example of provisional curses is provided by the so-called ἀραὶ ἐπιτύμβιοι araì epitúmbioi ‘funeral curses’ (Inscriptions of Ancient Greek, 06. Funerary Inscriptions). Attested as early as the sixth-century BCE, but especially common in the Imperial age, they aimed at protecting tombs from maltreatments at the hand of wayfarers through an explicit prohibition which involves formulaic language (Formulaic Language).