Vow to the gods, an odious contract Reflections on obligation via the stories of Idomeneus and Jephthah

A Greek Trojan-War hero and a judge of Israel are united by the same proffered divine vow: to sacrifice the first living being they meet if Neptune saves the fleet of Idomeneus caught in a storm or if Yahweh gives Jephthah a military victory. These foolish vows lead to the creation of real contracts for the two heroes to execute, while the victim of the sacrifice will be his son in the case of Idomeneus and his daughter in the case of Jephthah.