Abstract
The introduction to the lecture briefly returns to the question of the so-called 'divinized abstractions' that populate the genealogical lists of the Theogony, to underline the anachronism of such a label. Divine powers conceived as acting in the world cannot be reduced to the status of allegories without depriving ourselves of a proper understanding of archaic poetry. The aim of the lesson is to restore to Nuit's descendants - , of which horkos, the oath, is a part - all their evocative power in the perspective of a poem understood as a reading of the world and society.
The lesson then turns to an analysis of the swearing scenes in chants III and XIX of theIliad. The first features the Greek and Trojan armies laying down their weapons in favor of a single combat between Paris and Menelaus, and pledging to respect the outcome of the confrontation. The second sees Agamemnon agree to return his captive to Achilles, with many gifts in compensation, but also to swear that he has not touched her. The lexicon and ritual devices of each scene are compared with the constituent elements of the sacrificial scenes studied last year.
