Ὅρκος nei poemi omerici: una proposta etimologica

Ὅρκος in the Homeric poems: an etymological proposal · The debate surround- ing the etymology of the Greek terms regarding the oath is a long and ongoing one. In this paper I will present a parallel between the Greek root of ὅρκος and ὅρκια and the Hittite ark-i/ark-, which means ‘cut off’ in a sacrificial context, referring to the ritual slaughtering of the animal. The Greek root and the formulas in the Homeric poems in which it recurs, ὅρκια πιστὰ τέμνειν e ὅρκον ὀμνύναι, can be explained as ‘cutting off/touching the parts of the sacrificial victim worthy of faith’. These types of rites as- sociated with an oath are well attested in all the cultures of the Ancient Near East as well as those of Indo-European and Semitic cultures, but the formulas do not seem to preserve the memory of the connection between their meaning and the religious act, the translation of which in modern languages is associated with ‘swearing’. Being aware of the speculative nature of this study, I hope it offers a small contribution to the under- standing of these rites and ‘speech-acts’.