ABSTRACT
Oath-making rituals have been an integral part of judicial practice worldwide, persisting in many cultures up to the present day. Oaths in ancient Greece were similar to those being performed in China during the same era in featuring the summoning of chthonic deities as witnesses and judges, as well as the recitation of a curse stating one’s willingness to suffer the same fate as the victim if one committed perjury (Burkert 1985: 199-203, 221-222; Harrison 1991 (1903): 64-67; Nilsson 1925: 89; Zaidman and Pantel 1992 (1989): 94).1 The rise of Christianity did nothing to diminish the importance of these rites, and in some cases they were even incorporated into Christian liturgy, being held during masses, featuring the use of crosses or relics, and including the now standard phrase “so help me God”. The swearing in of witnesses remains standard court procedure, and our own term for jurors derives from the practice of allowing defendants to choose their own “conjurors”/compurgators (Kadri 2006: 37, 71-72; Lea 1974 (1866): 26-32, 58-59).
