Chaos and oath: The political mythology of Hesiod's 'Theogony'. With a prolegomena on oath-taking in ancient Greece

In my dissertation, 'Chaos and Oath: The Political Mythology of Hesiod's Theogony,' I investigated the significance of the political oath in connection with Zeus's ascendance to power and sovereignty (Part III: 'Chaos and Oath in Hesiod's Theogony'). The fact that Hesiod's Theogony bears some similarities with some Near Eastern texts not only led me to investigate the question of how to compare (Part II: 'The Hesiodic Question') but also to investigate oath-taking in daily Greek life (Part I: 'Towards an Anthropology of Oath-taking').; On genealogical grounds I argue that Chaos must be conceived as a spatial-temporal and social-temporal entity. The immediate offspring of Chaos, Erebus and Night as well as their offspring Aither and Day, determine it as a spatial-temporal power, the offspring of Night and Eris as a social-temporal power.; The Hymn to Styx which presents a narrative of how she received the honor of being the great oath of the gods. Scholars so far could only associate it with the assertory oath prescribed in court procedure. Since positive law does not help us to understand a passage which is concerned with a political conflict or war, I argue that the narrative of Styx receiving the honor being the great oath of the gods must be interpreted in terms of natural law philosophy.; With regard to sovereignty I point out that the political oath is a further common motif between Hesiod's Theogony and the Akkadian Epic Enuma Elis in as much as the gods grant Marduk sovereignty through an oath ceremony. The parallel concerning the function and institution of the oath between Hesiod's Theogony and the Hittite Kingship in Heaven has to be drawn in a different way.; Unlike recent scholarship, which addresses the institution of the oath merely in the context of court procedures, i.e. in terms of the assertory or juridical oath, I argue that promissory and political oaths are much more important than usually accepted.; In investigating the significance of political oath-taking in Greek daily life, I place an emphasis on social contracts. The phrase 'social contract' does not only refer to promise-giving in juridical and political contracts such as peace treaties but more importantly promises of civil servants upon entering office. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...