Ancient Greeks and Romans entered into verbal contracts called oaths which were made before the gods, with the promse of divine punishment in the event of violating the vow. Oathmaking played an important ruled in Hellenic society; oaths sealed trade deals or served as coming of age rituals (ie the ephebic oath). The practice is useful for contemporary polytheists; vows could serve as initiation rituals into a group of worshippers, wedding rituals etc.

The Iliad provides a typical example of oath:

“Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, and thou Sun, that beholdest all things and hearest all things, and ye rivers and thou earth, and ye that in the world below take vengeance on men that are done with life, whosoever hath sworn a false oath; [280] be ye witnesses, and watch over the oaths of faith. If Alexander slay Menelaus, then let him keep Helen and all her treasure; and we will depart in our seafaring ships. But if so be fair-haired Menelaus shall slay Alexander, [285] then let the Trojans give back Helen and all her treasure, and pay to the Argives in requital such recompense as beseemeth, even such as shall abide in the minds of men that are yet to be. Howbeit, if Priam and the sons of Priam be not minded to pay recompense unto me, when Alexander falleth, [290] then will I fight on even thereafter, to get me recompense, and will abide here until I find an end of war.””

-Book 3 of the Iliad

1. Hold up your hand with your ringfinger and little finger down to palm while holding your other digits up.

2. Recite oath.

3. Make an offering to the god, such as a libation or throwing meat on a fire.

Oaths typically have a three part structure: the swearer declares the vow’s promise then states specific gods as witnsses to the promise and finally calls down a curse that will punish him/her if he/she violates the contract. For example: “I swear by (god’s name here) that I will (promise here) or may I suffer (punishment here).” There’s no reason why you can’t write your own oaths using that structure since the classics show that vows were spontaneously composed on the spot, not part of a sacred litany. It was common for Helios or Apollo to be invoked as witnesses since Hellenes believed either entity saw all through his eye the sun.

Ancient Greek wedding rituals have been preserved but it would be more practical for modern Hellenists to use oaths in the place of vows. (It would be the most accurate to get married with a judge, priests were rarely involved in Hellenic weddings.) After the wedding vows the couple should seal the union with a handshake and take a bath (called a loutra)together to symbolize their new union. The oath below would be ideal for any wedding:

“In our lawful marriage-chamber you shall share my bed, and nothing will separate us in our love until the appointed death enshrouds us.”

-Argonautica

Another lovers’ oath is found in Tibullus’ elegies which would be perfect for a wedding.

” No! ne’er shall rival lure me from thine arms!

(In such sweet bond did our first sighs agree!)

Save for thine own I see no woman’s charms;

No maid in all the world is fair but thee.

Would that no eyes but mine could find thee fair!

Displease those others! Save me this annoy!

I ask not envy nor the people’s stare:—

Wisest is he who loves with silent joy.

With thee in gloomy woods my life were gay,

Where pathway ne’er was found for human feet,

Thou art my balm of care, in dark my day,

In wildest waste, society complete.

If Heaven should send a goddess to my bed,

All were in vain. My pulse would never rise.

I swear thee this by Juno’s holy head—

Greatest to us of all who hold the skies.

What madness this? I give away my case!

Swear a fool’s oath! Thy tears my safety won.

Now wilt thou flirt, and tease me to my face—

Such mischief has my babbling fully done.

Now am I but thy slave: yet thine remain,

My mistress’ yoke I never shall undo.

To Venus’ altar let me drag my chain!

She brands the proud, and smiles on lovers true.”

Other ancient oaths:

In the Argonautica Medea swears “by mighty Ouranos and by Gaia below, the Mother of the Gods, that provided your demands are not impossible I will help you as you wish, with all the power that in me lies.”

“Free shall the maidens sojourn in this land.

Unharried, undespoiled by mortal wight:

No native hand, no hand of foreigner

Shall drag them hence; if any man use force—

Whoe’er of all our countrymen shall fail

To come unto their aid, let him go forth,

Beneath the people’s curse, to banishment.”

-Aeschylus, Suppliants

“I swear by Zeus, Gaia, Helios, Poseidon, Athena, and Ares, by all gods and goddesses, that I will maintain peace and will not break the treaties concluded with Philip of Macedon; I will not bear arms with intent to injure, nor against those who keep their word, on land or at sca. I will not take in war any city, garrison, or port belonging to those who participate in the peace, whether by cunning or invention. I will overthrow neither the kingship of Philip and his descendants, nor. the constitutions in force among the participants at the time they swore the oaths of peace. I will not act against the treaties, nor allow any other to do so, as far as I am able. If any shall do anything whatsoever contrary to these oaths and treaties, I will provide all the succor the victim asks, and I will fight any who breaks the common peace, according to the decisions of the common council and the commands of the hegemon.”

-Treaty of Corinth

“We swear to Zeus Soter, god Caesar Augustus, and the ancestral holy Maiden to have good will towards Gaius Caesar Augustus and his whole household and to consider as friends whomever he may choose as friends and to consider as enemies whomever he accuses. If we swear truly, may it go well for us, but if we swear falsely, the opposite will happen. The ambassadors offered themselves at their own expense: Gaius Varius Castus son of Gaius of Voltinia tribe, Hermophanes son of Zoilos, Ktetos son of Pisistratos, Aischrion son of Kalliphanes, and Artemidoros son of Philomousos. The ambassadors prayed to Capitolinian Zeus (i.e. Jupiter) for the safety of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus and they sacrificed in the name of the city.”

-Oath of the Assians

“I too, Aeneas, take the sacred vow.

By earth and sea and stars in heaven I swear,

by fair Latona’s radiant children twain,

and two-browed Janus; by the shadowy powers

of Hades and th’ inexorable shrines

of the Infernal King; and may Jove hear,

who by his lightnings hallows what is sworn!

I touch these altars, and my lips invoke

the sacred altar-fires that ‘twixt us burn:

we men of Italy will make this peace

inviolate, and its bond forever keep,

let come what will; there is no power can change

my purpose, not if ocean’s waves o’erwhelm

the world in billowy deluge and obscure

the bounds of heaven and hell. We shall remain

immutable as my smooth sceptre is“

-Aeneid, Virgil

“All-seeing sun, and thou, Ausonian soil,

For which I have sustain’d so long a toil,

Thou, King of Heav’n, and thou, the Queen of Air,

Propitious now, and reconcil’d by pray’r;

Thou, God of War, whose unresisted sway

The labors and events of arms obey;

Ye living fountains, and ye running floods,

All pow’rs of ocean, all ethereal gods,

Hear, and bear record: if I fall in field,

Or, recreant in the fight, to Turnus yield,

My Trojans shall encrease Evander’s town;

Ascanius shall renounce th’ Ausonian crown:

All claims, all questions of debate, shall cease;

Nor he, nor they, with force infringe the peace.

But, if my juster arms prevail in fight,

(As sure they shall, if I divine aright,)

My Trojans shall not o’er th’ Italians reign:

Both equal, both unconquer’d shall remain,

Join’d in their laws, their lands, and their abodes;

I ask but altars for my weary gods.

The care of those religious rites be mine;

The crown to King Latinus I resign:

His be the sov’reign sway. Nor will I share

His pow’r in peace, or his command in war.

For me, my friends another town shall frame,

And bless the rising tow’rs with fair Lavinia’s name.”

-Aeneid, Virgil