Όρκοι, κατάρες, γλώσσα, θρησκεία και δικαιϊκές πρακτικές στην αρχαία Ελλάδα

In this paper we are focusing to the special relationship between oaths, curses and legal practices in the social-religious environment of ancient Greek society, showing the dynamics of language -especially oral speech- in this field. In fact, in such a study, the question is the relationship between law and magic, since curses, katadesmoi (curse tablets), magic papyri and any other magical-religious practices are in fact the only means of practicing magic, and to a certain extent are associated with legal practices of antiquity, both in Babylon and in Greece or ancient Rome. Of course, this connection between the law and the realm of magic is not new and does not occur only in ancient Greece. Its origins are ancient and its roots are derived from the relationship of the community or the individual with the idea of taboo, the forbidden, which is in any case the essential context in which the idea of the law develops. An additional factor involved here is the use of language and the psycho-mechanisms that make it a dynamic tool, through which sympathetic magic is achieved in primitive societies, as described by J. Frazer in his work The Golden Bough.Oaths, curses, language, religion and legal practices in ancient Greec