1. Don't break an oath!
2. Probably don't do a lot of other things...there are many myths!
In Medea, oath-breaking (in this case, the oath taken with marriage) is seen as taboo and to say that it was frowned upon would be an understatement. One of the reasons oath-breaking was probably such a serious offense is because ZEUS, Mr. Olympian Extraordinaire, was the keeper of the oaths; and it's probably not the wisest idea to cross Zeus.
I looked into oath-taking in Ancient Greek and found out that when you took an oath, you "called down a conditional curse on [yourself], to take effect if [you] lied or broke [your] promise." In a way, when Jason broke his marital vows to Medea, he also murdered Kreon's daughter and his own children (indirectly, of course). It's also interesting to note that, unknowingly, he directly contributed to Kreon's daughter's death when he extended Medea's gift offer to her.
Jason, just like his fellow "civilized" countrymen, knew that breaking an oath was a major no-no. Still, hungry for power and status, he broke it nonetheless. While I feel bad for the children, Jason got what was coming to him. He got served the ultimate Ancient Greek justice, with a side of burning, poisoned flesh. Yuck! Not my favorite image of the play, honestly...
Source for Zeus and oath stuff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horkos
6 comments:
Oath taking was not just a big deal back in the times of Ancient Greece. There are many examples of how legal contracts and oaths taken to God are taken very seriously in today's modern society. One of our most well known is obviously the marriage vow where both the husband and wife are pledging their loyalty to each with God as their witness. Breaking this or committing adultery is sin. Other oaths that are taken can be seen in aspects of the judiciary, legislative, and presidential system. People in court are put under oath to tell the truth. The president, law makers, and judges are put under oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States. We even taken an oath at school: the honor code. With this, we are promising not to cheat and to uphold the values of St. Martin's Episcopal school. It is not surprising that Zeus is not happy with Medea breaking her oath. There is almost always consequences for anyone who breaks an oath back then and today.
To add to what Ben and Jessie have said, I think it is important to look at the purpose of the oaths. An oath is used as a contract and as we all know today contracts are used to put into writing important things such as financial transactions. These things are put into writing because having someone's word is not enough when you are talking high stakes. So the Greeks as a means of dealing with high stake transactions would use oaths with the gods as their witness to ensure the security of whatever "transaction" is occurring. The people of Greece were extraordinarily religious and would have taken their oath very serious because of their fear of godly punishment.
I think Jessie along with Ritchie and Ben really bring to light how much of a big deal oaths were to ancient Greeks. As pointed out, oaths have a different connotation in ancient Greek society than they may have today. They carried much more weight and were much more powerful than a pinky-promise or spitting into a handshake; breaking such a promise when sworn by the gods can bring the gods' wrath upon you. It brings up the question of fate vs freewill. As Jessie said, in the Greeks' prospective, he definitely had it coming because he broke the oath; he deserved what happened to him. But, was Medea's actions controlled by fate, or from her own free will. Is she solely responsible for her horrible actions, or was it like before when Aphrodite forced her to fall in love with Jason, or was it some combination of fate and free will? part of the intrigue of this play is that it leaves you pondering and thinking after it is over, and it truly leaves the answer of fate vs free will up the audience.
I think it's highly ironic how Zeus frowns upon the notion of breaking oaths when, according to myths, he continuously cheated on his wife Hera with countless other people. Although his antics with numerous women were very much known by the other gods of Olympus, no one could really punish him, as he was their ruler. However, Hera is seen to exact revenge on the bastard spawn of her husband, as she sees that he has broken his own vows to her.
The religion of the Ancient Greeks isn’t the only one in which paths are important. As Ben mentions, marriage is seen as an oath taken before God (seemingly the Judeo-Christian God) and adultery is seen as breaking that oath (this happens in Medea). There are also several examples of oaths that were taken in the Bible. For example, 2 Corinthians 1:23 and Galatians 1:20 speaks of making an oath to God. One of the most famous examples of an oath in the Bible is an oat made by God himself as represented in Hebrews 6:17. It says “In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath”. God made an oath to the Chosen People, the Jews, promising them land and descendants. In this way, oaths of God were seen as very serious and showed when one was made to Him, it was seen as loyalty.
Your posts made me think about the significance of an oath, especially before a legal hearing, for someone that is an atheist since they lack belief in divine powers. Because of the First Amendment, the government is not allowed to force anyone to perform any religious act such as swearing oaths on a bible. However, atheists must still give an affirmation that they will remain truthful during the hearing or face the same legal consequences as a Christian if caught lying. (Source: https://www.atheists.org/legal/faq/courts/)
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