Horkos

In Greek mythology, the figure of Horkos (Greek: Ὅρκος, "oath") personifies the curse that will be inflicted on any person who swears a false oath. In Aesop’s Fables there is a cautionary story, numbered 239 in the Perry Index, indicating that retribution is swift where the god is defied. Oath-taking and the penalties for perjuring oneself played an important part in the Ancient Greek concept of justice,

Divine retribution

Hesiod's Theogony identifies Horkos as the son of Eris ("strife") and brother of various tribulations: Ponos ("toil"), Limos ("starvation"), the Algea ("pains"), the Hysminai ("conflicts"), the Makhai ("battles"), the Phonoi ("murders"), the Androktasiai ("man-slaughters"), the Neikea ("quarrels"), the Pseudologoi ("lies"), the Amphilogiai ("disputes"), Dysnomia ("lawlessness"), Atë ("ruin"), and Lethe ("forgetfulness"). In his Works and Days, Hesiod states that the (Furies) assisted at the birth of Horkos, "whom Eris bore, to be a plague on those who take false oath", and that the fifth of the month was especially dangerous as being the day on which he was born. However, according to the moral given in an ethical parable related by Aesop, there is no fixed day on which the god’s punishment falls on the wicked.