Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics
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Subject: Language And Linguistics
General Editor: Georgios K. Giannakis
Associate Editors: Vit Bubenik, Emilio Crespo, Chris Golston, Alexandra Lianeri, Silvia Luraghi, Stephanos Matthaios
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The Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics (EAGLL) is a unique work that brings together the latest research from across a range of disciplines which contribute to our knowledge of Ancient Greek. It is an indispensable research tool for scholars and students of Greek, of linguistics, and of other Indo-European languages, as well as of Biblical literature.
Subscriptions: brill.comOaths, Curses
(3,214 words)
Abstract Oaths and curses are interrelated verbal acts of human communication with the divine. Curses are requests to a supernatural force that evil may befall another. Oaths are promises or assertions guaranteed by invoking the gods and calling upon oneself an explicit or implicit self-curse. The underlying belief in the punitive powers of the gods differentiates the oath from mere promise or assertion and the curse from invective. Distinctive linguistic indicators occur within a framework of various private and public performances of swearing and cursing. Oath (
hórkos) and curse …
Date:
2014-01-22