The structure of the promises in the epics

Promise is one of the religious and social elements and is the basis for the discipline in the ancient societies . Mitra is the god of promise that every time enters a land it unites that land´s gods and preserves its holiness. Promise which has a great standing and holiness for the Indian and European people, has been evident in their epics and myths , and it determines an important part of the events and the fates of the heroes of the epics. In this essay, first we will review the structure of the different kinds of the promises in the epics, myths and historical works in Iran, India and Greece. Then we will compare and analyze their common elements. The results show that rituals such as sacrificing ,pouring wine on the tombs, presenting the witness, hand shaking with pressure, and the holiness of the water and fire at the time of the promise, are the common elements of the promises. These common rituals give us a structural model which is observed in most of the promises. Comparing these common elements with the epics and the religious beliefs show that these common elements and patterns have a very close relationship with the Mitraism rituals( the god of the promise) , and it is the god of promise which ,by preserving its holiness in the minds and the religious eyesight of the Indian and European people, constitutes the elements of the promises.