Perjury in Classical Antiquity.

The present analysis surveys the diachronic developments of social attitudes concerning oaths in the ancient Greek context, from as early as in the poems of Homer and Hesiod, passing through Herodotus’s and Thucydides’s accounts, until the period following the Peloponnesian War. Its main focus is se...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Silva, Rafael Guimarães Tavares da
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Murcia
Repositorio:DIGITUM. Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia
OAI Identifier:oai:digitum.um.es:10201/127363
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.6018/myrtia.524431
http://hdl.handle.net/10201/127363
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Oath
Perjury
Morality
Xenophon
Juramento
Perjurio
Moralidad
Jenofonte
CDU::8- Lingüística y literatura
Descripción
Sumario:The present analysis surveys the diachronic developments of social attitudes concerning oaths in the ancient Greek context, from as early as in the poems of Homer and Hesiod, passing through Herodotus’s and Thucydides’s accounts, until the period following the Peloponnesian War. Its main focus is settled in a more synchronic analysis of the unstable period narrated by Xenophon, mainly in his Hellenica, but also taking into account other sources. The conclusions drawn by this inquiry ought to be understood in the general context of the end of the fifth and the beginning of the fourth centuries BCE, and help to explain the political uncertainty of this period. The doubts entertained about the capacity of the gods in punishing perjurers (despite Xenophon’s own religious opinions) and, therefore, a questioning of the effectiveness of oaths as an institution coordinating the inter-relations among Greek poleis are not only causes of the instability of this period, but also its results.