Abstract
‘The oath is what sustains democracy,’ declared the Athenian orator and statesman Lycurgus in the 4th century BCE. When placed in context, this statement reveals the gods from whom one cannot escape the consequences of breaking an oath, even through one’s descendants. The aim of the lessons on this theme is to understand the role played by the deities in this process and how sacrifice contributed to its development. A first step in this direction is to re-read the verses of the ancient poets that speak of oaths. This poetic introduction begins by analysing a fragment from the *Titanomachy* featuring the centaur Chiron, who sets humanity on the path to justice by revealing to them ‘oaths, sacrifices and the signs of Olympus’. The interplay of these three elements highlights the relational nature of these gifts to humankind. A comparison is drawn with traditions that portray the Titan Prometheus as a benefactor of humankind and which associate justice with the gifts of Zeus himself. It is then Hesiod’s work that fuels the reflection on this opening, by associating the oath, Horkos, as a divine power, with a genealogy from the Theogony that traces its origin to Eris, Strife, herself the daughter of Nyx, Night. The implications of this genealogy for Hesiod’s portrayal of the oath are analysed, whilst also drawing on the various passages that refer to it in *Works and Days *.
