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Horkos
In Greek mythology, Horkos (/ˈhɔːrkɒs/; Ancient Greek: Ὅρκος [hór.kos], lit. 'Oath') personifies the curse that is inflicted on any person who swears a false oath. According to Hesiod, Horkos was the son of Eris (Strife). He is one of the divine enforcers of oaths, which were an important part of the ancient Greek system of justice.
According to Hesiod's Theogony, Horkos was the son of Eris (Strife), attended at birth by the Erinyes (Furies), with no father mentioned. Like all the children of Eris, Horkos is a personification of an abstract concept, and represents one of the many harms which might be thought to result from discord and strife. The tragic playwright Sophocles has Horkos as the son of Zeus, appropriately since Zeus Horkios was the guarantor of oaths. Compare with Hyginus which has Iusiurandum (Oath) as the offspring of Aether and Terra (Earth). According to Herodotus, Horkos was said to have a "nameless" son with neither hands nor feet.
Horkos is the divine personification of, and fulfiller of, a particular kind of curse. That curse is the one a person makes against themselves, when swearing an oath, which takes effect if the oath is foresworn. According to Hesiod, the Erinyes assisted in Horkos' birth. Such an association is fitting, since the Erinyes were divine agents who fulfilled curses, including the conditional self-curse involved in oath taking, as personified by Horkos. Both the Erinyes and Horkos were divine punishers of oath-breaking or perjury.
Such punishments could extend beyond just the oath-breakers themselves to their offspring. According to Herodotus, the Spartan king Leotychidas claimed that Horkos (through a nameless son) would punish those who foreswore an oath, or even considered doing so, by destroying all a man's family and household. Even though these punishments might take place over generations, and so occur slowly over time, Horkos and his son are also presented as acting quickly. Hesiod has Horkos "run" to exact his retribution, while the story related by Herodotus has Horkos' son, though lacking hands and feet, pursue oath-breakers "swiftly".
Horkos is invoked by name in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, and possibly also by Pindar in one of his victory odes. Horkos functions within the sphere of Zeus' daughter Dike (Justice), thus Horkos will punish those who mistreat Dike, just as Dike herself will bring "evil to the human beings who drive her out and do not deal straight." Martin West likens Horkos' role in the realm of men, with the role of Styx, by whom the gods swear their oaths, in the realm of the gods.
Hesiod (fl. c. 700 BC), in his Theogony, has Horkos as one of the many harmful offspring of Eris (Strife):
And loathsome Strife bore painful Toil and Forgetfulness and Hunger and tearful Pains, ... and Oath [Horkos], who indeed brings most woe upon human beings on the earth, whenever someone willfully swears a false oath.
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Horkos
In Greek mythology, Horkos (/ˈhɔːrkɒs/; Ancient Greek: Ὅρκος [hór.kos], lit. 'Oath') personifies the curse that is inflicted on any person who swears a false oath. According to Hesiod, Horkos was the son of Eris (Strife). He is one of the divine enforcers of oaths, which were an important part of the ancient Greek system of justice.
According to Hesiod's Theogony, Horkos was the son of Eris (Strife), attended at birth by the Erinyes (Furies), with no father mentioned. Like all the children of Eris, Horkos is a personification of an abstract concept, and represents one of the many harms which might be thought to result from discord and strife. The tragic playwright Sophocles has Horkos as the son of Zeus, appropriately since Zeus Horkios was the guarantor of oaths. Compare with Hyginus which has Iusiurandum (Oath) as the offspring of Aether and Terra (Earth). According to Herodotus, Horkos was said to have a "nameless" son with neither hands nor feet.
Horkos is the divine personification of, and fulfiller of, a particular kind of curse. That curse is the one a person makes against themselves, when swearing an oath, which takes effect if the oath is foresworn. According to Hesiod, the Erinyes assisted in Horkos' birth. Such an association is fitting, since the Erinyes were divine agents who fulfilled curses, including the conditional self-curse involved in oath taking, as personified by Horkos. Both the Erinyes and Horkos were divine punishers of oath-breaking or perjury.
Such punishments could extend beyond just the oath-breakers themselves to their offspring. According to Herodotus, the Spartan king Leotychidas claimed that Horkos (through a nameless son) would punish those who foreswore an oath, or even considered doing so, by destroying all a man's family and household. Even though these punishments might take place over generations, and so occur slowly over time, Horkos and his son are also presented as acting quickly. Hesiod has Horkos "run" to exact his retribution, while the story related by Herodotus has Horkos' son, though lacking hands and feet, pursue oath-breakers "swiftly".
Horkos is invoked by name in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, and possibly also by Pindar in one of his victory odes. Horkos functions within the sphere of Zeus' daughter Dike (Justice), thus Horkos will punish those who mistreat Dike, just as Dike herself will bring "evil to the human beings who drive her out and do not deal straight." Martin West likens Horkos' role in the realm of men, with the role of Styx, by whom the gods swear their oaths, in the realm of the gods.
Hesiod (fl. c. 700 BC), in his Theogony, has Horkos as one of the many harmful offspring of Eris (Strife):
And loathsome Strife bore painful Toil and Forgetfulness and Hunger and tearful Pains, ... and Oath [Horkos], who indeed brings most woe upon human beings on the earth, whenever someone willfully swears a false oath.