An oath sworn in stone.
Have any of you sworn an oath? I mean raised your hand and swore to abide by some precept or law, while saying “so help me god” at the end?
Did the ground rumble? Did lightning streak across the sky, or did you just feel something strangely odd in your stomach, and for a moment you were different, or the world had changed before your eyes?
Those that ‘swear’ make a declaration, calling about a higher power, calling down conditions – a curse – upon oneself if the purpose of the oath is not achieved. In Greek an oath is called an omnumi. In the beauty of the Ancient Greek language the word itself has power and strength…to take an omnumi…to swear “by Zeus” or whatever power that nails you to the oath you swore.
“On my father’s grave…”
“On my children’s lives…”
These are modern oaths, sworn with conviction and on what we hold most dear.
“On my immortal soul…”
Have you ever said that? “On my immortal soul I promise to make it better.” This is basically daring the devil to take it from you.
Have you taken an oath? A real one? An oath is something with your ‘fears’ behind it, and something that made your back tingle with conviction when you raised your hand and said the words?
In the 1930’s a farmer was tilling his land and came across something in the ground. I can imagine he had the same reaction as any farmer when finding a stone that blocks his path. Any person that has worked the soil knows that removing stone from the earth takes effort, especially when all you have is a bull. In this situation, even the bull gets mad at the blasted stone.
What was found was a pillar of local marble and carved into it was an oath that was sworn by a united Greek army before the final battle in the second invasion of the Persian Army.
The Oath of Plataea
You have to imagine a field of men all in different armor, reflecting their status and the city states they represent. They are armed to the teeth. Swords and spears sharp enough to cut your thumb apart if you tried to test the edge of their blades. These men, some rich, some poor, professional soldiers, some part time soldiers, most full time farmers were about to enter into a pact. This pact was important, because the state of the world was this: they were at war, not only with a massive foreign power but with each other. For years these soldiers you can bet at one time fought each other, or lost relatives to a constant state of war between the city states that dotted the coastline and mountains. Think about how it would be to swear an oath to be united with a Spartan that took your Uncle Fred. On this day, they were to ‘swear’ an oath to be united against a common enemy.
Have you ever sworn an oath? I can only think of a few in my lifetime. If you are a doctor or a policeman you have certainly taken an oath. I can name the oaths I have taken: oath of enlistment to the military, the pledge of allegiance, the Boy Scout oath, an oath upon coming a government service employee (that was not as dangerous, and the only danger we faced was mountains of paper work and the obstacles of bureaucracy – now there is something to be scared about.)
While I was reading the Plantea Oath, it all seemed familiar. No, the words were not the same, but the meaning seemed to be quite relatable even after all these years. I’ll go through the interesting bits and you tell me if I am right.
Lines 1-4
The Priest of Area and Athena Ares, Dion Son of Dion of Archarnae has dedicated this space.
These lines simply tell who dedicated this site where the stone was place.
You more than likely have seen lines like this before:
Dedicated by the Forest Park VFW on July 4th, 1948 [or whatever town you came from].
Line 5
…I will not shame the sacred arms and armor nor will I desert the man beside me in line, wherever I shall be stationed.
This I was able to find not in an oath but I did find something similar in something I have seen on posters, key-chains and screen savers throughout the military. It is called the Soldier’s Creed. It starts our “I am an American Fighting man…” and like the Plantea Oath it states: “I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I will always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself…” and it says in italics (for emphasis) “I will never desert a fallen comrade.”
Line 11
And I will hearken to whoever is wielding power sensibly and will obey both the currently established ordinance…
This is familiar, especially to those that have raised their hand to take the enlistment oath: “…I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me…”
Line 16
Witness the gods and goddesses Alaurus, Hestea, Enyos, Tnyalius, Area, and Athena Areia, Zeus, Thallo, Auxo, Hegamone, Heracles,..
Ever been in court? A witness is required to swear an oath to “tell the truth” and usually concludes their statement with a “…so help me god.” In the Plantaea Oath there are appeals to various deities.
And if you are not particularly religious, taking the Plantaea Oath allows for swearing to what is most important to you. For instance…
Line 16
…boundaries of the fatherland…
If you love your country swearing to your country is easy.
Line 16
…wheat, crops, barley, barley, crops, vines, olives and figs…
This seems odd, right? Swearing to food and vegetation? In a basically agrarian society this was an easy thing to swear by. Remember when people say we live in an “information based” society? At one time things were ruled by an oil based society…still are mostly…but in that time, in classical times – food is what ruled, who grew it, who held it, who had the most of it. Death was a step away depending on the rain and the harvest. If you were a farmer you may not have been proficient in the names of all the different gods, and certainly you sacrificed to the gods…any gods that could bring in the next harvest, however if you were truly without religious instruction, no doubt that a farmer here or there may have prayed to the olive and the fig for a good season.
I would have.
Even modern courts have written into their ‘oaths’ to provide an out for those who may be atheists in the alternate statement of “under pain of perjury” rather than the more common “…so help me God.”
Line 21
…I shall fight as long as I am alive, and I shall not value living above my being free.
I don’t know of any oath, but I have heard similar statements such as Nathan Hales: “I regret I have one life to give to my country” and the declaration of Patrick Henry to the Virginia Convention: “Give me liberty or give me death!”
There are a more than a few Soldiers that have tattooed on their arms the famous: “Death before Dishonor.”
And I suppose the Japanese Code of Bushido may have a closer resemblance to Line 21, considering both the Spartan Hoplite and the Japanese Samurai are steeped in the culture of the sword.
Line 21 continued
And I shall not desert the Taxiarch or Enomtarch, neither when he is alive nor when dead. And I shall not quit the field unless the commanders lead me away, and I shall do whatsoever the generals’ order.
In other words, “I shall obey the officers appointed over me…”
Line 29
…And I shall bury in the same spot the dead of those who have fought as my allies, and shall leave behind none of them unburied.
Burial is a big thing in the warrior ethos. There is honor in burial, and dishonor in being left to rot. The soldier is in the business of death, giving it and accepting the inevitability of it. Burial provides a sort of macabre solace to the horror of it. Civil War soldiers pinned their names to their clothes so that they would be identified, in hope their families would know where they were buried. There are graveyards about the world where American servicemen have fought and died noting the nationalities of allied soldiers who fought next to them. You may think it odd to put such importance to the burial rite, after all, once your dead you are dead…but there is a certain comfort in knowing that your body has not become food for carrion and there is a chance that your relatives may come to your place to morn. I am literally feet from graveyard where civil war veterans are buried, and the deceased (or the one that buried him) was kind enough to make his tombstone a table to allow his relatives to have Sunday lunch over his grave (I am not kidding).
Line 33
…and I shall not destroy Athens or Sparta or Plataea or and of the cities that have fought as our allies…
This is a mutual defense treaty. It is a form of an early NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) formed in response to a common enemy.
It is a form of Article 5: The parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all…”
Of course, the Plantaea “Article 5” was broken many times as Sparta and Athens fought against each other in later years. Sometimes today’s allies are tomorrow’s enemies.
Line 39
…may it be sick [my city] and may my city be ravaged; (Line 42) …may it be barren; and may the woman give birth…to monsters, and the cattle give birth…monsters.
This is missing from more modern oaths. There has to be a penalty. Threat of perjury is not enough, with the implied threat of jail time. There should be a more substantial threat. I for one do not want my children born to be monsters (if I had children) or my cattle born misshapen either (if I had cattle). I think it might work, a good superstitious threat, to keep the taker of the oath in line.
If not by my “…immortal soul” I swear by my “hands that I write” or “by my imagination.” Take these away from me and life would truly be horrible.