Famous oracular statements from Delphi

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Aegeus, a mythical king of Athens, consults the Pythia, who sits on a tripod. An inscription on the cup identifies the Pythia as Themis. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, by the Kodros painter, ca. 440-430 BC, now in the Berlin Museum (Berlin Mus. 2538). This is the only contemporary image of the Pythia.

Pythia was the priestess presiding over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. There are more than 500 supposed Oracular statements which have survived from various sources referring to the oracle at Delphi. The following list presents some of the most prominent and historically significant.

[edit] Early period

Circa the 9th century BC, Lycurgus, (dates are not completely verified, and some even question his existence) regent of Sparta and the writer of the Spartan constitution went to the oracle to ask for guidance. The oracle told Lycurgus that his prayers had been heard and that the state which observed the laws of Lycurgus would become the most famous in the world. With such an endorsement, Lycurgus went to the leading men of Sparta and enlisted their support. Seeking further assistance she also told him:

There are two roads, most distant from each other: the one leading to the honorable house of freedom, the other the house of slavery, which mortals must shun. It is possible to travel the one through manliness and lovely accord; so lead your people to this path. The other they reach through hateful strife and cowardly destruction; so shun it most of all

As a result Lycurgus built a constitution for the Spartans that combined features of a monarchy with two kings, of a land-owning aristocracy and a democracy. The oracle further told him:

Love of money and nothing else will ruin Sparta.^[1]

As a result Lycurgus decreed that no silver money was allowed in Sparta, creating a cumbersome iron currency instead. The oracle was to prove correct. The enslavement of the helots and the gold and silver its soldiers sent home after the Peloponnesian War were to prove to be Sparta's undoing.

In 630 BC the king of the island of Thera, went to Delphi to offer a gift on behalf of his native city, and was told by the oracle:

that he should found a city in Libya.

Because the king did not know where Libya was, he did nothing. Later it did not rain on Thera for a considerable period, and to find out what could be done, the Therans again approached the oracle. She said:

if they ... would make a settlement at Cyrene in Libya, things would go better with them.

To relieve the pressure from the drought, and following the advice of the oracle, the Therans sought advice from the Cretans as to where Libya was and a colony of Thera was established at Platea. But bad luck still followed them for another two years, so they visited the oracle a third time. She said:

Know you better than I, fair Libya abounding in fleeces? Better the stranger than he who has trod it? Oh! Clever Therans!^[2]

The Therans sought advice from the local Libyans who gave them a new site, and the colony prospered.

In 595 BC the affairs of the Oracle were felt too important to be left to the Delphians alone, and the sanctity of the site came to be protected by the Amphictyonic League, a league of 12 cities in existence since 1100 BC. (The league had been named after Amphictyon of Thermopylae, brother of Hellen, the first Greek (or non-Pelasgian) King of Athens.) In that year, nearby Crisa levied a toll on pilgrims, which ushered in the First Sacred War. After 5 years of struggle, the Oracle decreed that the site of Crisa be left fallow, sacred to Apollo. This ushered in a period of great prosperity.

In 594 BC Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, seeking to capture the island of Salamis from Megara and Cirrha was told by the oracle:

First sacrifice to the warriors who once had their home in this island,

Whom now the rolling plain of fair Asopia covers,

Laid in the tombs of heroes with their faces turned to the sunset,

He did, and taking as volunteers 500 young Athenians whose ancestors came from Salamis, was successful in capturing the island, that was to prove so important in later Athenian history. Solon never ceased to support and give credit to the oracle for its support in declaring the island was originally Ionian.

In framing his famous constitutional reforms for Athens, Solon again sought the advice of the oracle who told him:

Seat yourself now amidships, for you are the pilot of Athens.

Grasp the helm fast in your hands; you have many allies in your city.

As a result Solon refused the opportunity to become a revolutionary tyrant, and created a constitution for which he, and Athens, were justly honoured. Through trial by jury, a graduated tax system and the forgiveness of debts he prevented a growing gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots". But he refused to accept the confiscations of the property of the rich, so creating an Athenian middle class. He secured an Oath from the Athenian Council of Magistrates that if they violated these laws they would dedicate a gold statue to the Oracle of Delphi of equal weight to themselves.^[3]

In 582 BC, the Pythian Games, were created, and run every four years, two years after the Olympic games. They were as important in ancient Greece as the Olympic Games, and included prizes in poetry and drama.

In 560 BC Croesus of Lydia, in a trial of oracles, consulted all the famous oracles as to what he was doing on an appointed day. According to Herodotus, the oracle proclaimed:

I count the grains of sand on the beach and measure the sea; I understand the speech of the dumb and hear the voiceless. The smell has come to my sense of a hard shelled tortoise boiling and bubbling with a lamb's flesh in a bronze pot: the cauldron underneath it is of bronze, and bronze is the lid.^[4]

Delphi was declared the winner. Croesus then asked if he should make war on the Persians and if he should take to himself any allied force. The oracles to whom he sent this question included those at Delphi and Thebes. Both oracles gave the same response, that if Croesus made war on the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire. They further advised him to seek out the most powerful Greek peoples and make alliance with them.

Croesus paid a high fee to the Delphians and then sent to the oracle asking "Would his monarchy last long?" The Pythia gave the following answer:

Whenever a mule shall become sovereign king of the Medians, then, Lydian Delicate-Foot, flee by the stone-strewn Hermus, flee, and think not to stand fast, nor shame to be chicken-hearted. ^[5]

Croesus thought it impossible that a mule should be king of the Medes and thus believed that he and his issue would never be out of power. He thus decided to make common cause with certain Greek city states and attack Persia. ^[6]

However, it was he, not the Persians, who was defeated, fulfilling the prophecy but not his interpretation of it. He apparently forgot that Cyrus, the victor, was half Mede (by his mother), half Persian (by his father) and therefore could be considered a mule.^[7]

[edit] Classical Period

In 480 BC, when Xerxes the son of Darius of Persia, returned to finish the job of conquering the Greeks in which his father had failed, the Athenians consulted the oracle. They were told

Now your statues are standing and pouring sweat. They shiver with dread. The black blood drips from the highest rooftops. They have seen the necessity of evil. Get out, get out of my sanctum and drown your spirits in woe.^[8]

It was unambiguous. When persuaded to seek advice a second time, the oracle gave a way for the Athenians to escape their doom. When Athena approached her father to help her city, Zeus responded that he would grant that

a wall of wood alone shall be uncaptured, a boon to you and your children.^[9]

The oracle again advised the Athenians to flee

Await not in quiet the coming of the horses, the marching feet, the armed host upon the land. Slip away. Turn your back. You will meet in battle anyway. O holy Salamis, you will be the death of many a woman's son between the seedtime and the harvest of the grain.^[10]

Meanwhile, the Spartans also consulted the oracle and were told

The strength of bulls or lions cannot stop the foe. No, he will not leave off, I say, until he tears the city or the king limb from limb.^[11]

or in a version according to Herodotus

"Hear your fate, O dwellers in Sparta of the wide spaces;

Either your famed, great town must be sacked by Perseus' sons,

Or, if that be not, the whole land of Lacedaemon

Shall mourn the death of a king of the house of Heracles,

For not the strength of lions or of bulls shall hold him,

Strength against strength; for he has the power of Zeus,

And will not be checked till one of these two he has consumed."^[12]. The Spartans withdrew in consternation, wondering which fate was worse.

The Delphians themselves then asked how Persia could be defeated. The oracle replied

Pray to the Winds. They will prove to be mighty allies of Greece.^[13]

Events overtook the prophecy when the Persian army assaulted Thermopylae, where the Spartans (notably “the 300”) and allies held the pass against them. The Spartans under King Leonidas (The Lion) resisted the Persian advance at Thermopylae until betrayed by treachery. Refusing to retreat, the entire Spartan contingent, including their King (as foretold), lost their lives, but in so doing gained immortal fame. The Persian armada then sailed to nearby Cape Artemisium, where they were met by the Athenian fleet. The Athenian ships fought against great odds, but in three battles managed to hold their own.

A tremendous storm then arose at Artemesium, with the most violent winds attacking the ships for three days. The Persians lost about 20% of their warships and perhaps the same number of transport vessels to the storm. The stormy winds and huge waves did not harm the Athenian ships.

Back in Athens Themistocles argued that the wall of wood referred to the Athenian navy and persuaded the Athenians to pursue their policy of using wealth from their Attic silver mines at Laurium to continue building their fleet. On the grounds that the oracle referred to the nearby island of Salamis as "holy", he claimed that those slain would be Greece's enemies, not the Athenians. For these the oracle would have said "O cruel Salamis". His voice carried the day, Athens was evacuated to Salamis and in a following naval battle the Athenian fleet and its allies destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis, while watched by Xerxes. Despite the fact that Athens was burned by the Persians, her occupants were saved, the Persian risk was ended and the authority of the Oracle was never higher.

In circa 440 BC the oracle is also said to have said that there was no one wiser than Socrates, to which Socrates said that either all were equally ignorant, or that he was wiser in that he alone was aware of his own ignorance. This claim is related to one of the most famous mottos of Delphi, which Socrates said he learned there, Gnothi Seauton (Γνώθι Σεαυτόν): "know thyself!". Another famous motto of Delphi is Meden agan (Μηδὲν ἄγαν): "nothing in excess" (literally, "nothing excessively"). Socrates was perhaps only about 30 years old at the time, his fame as a philosopher was yet to come. It has been said that in encouraging Socrates' philosophical leanings, the Oracle was to have its greatest impact upon the future of successive civilisations. One version of the claim stated that a friend of Socrates went before Pythia asking, "Is there any man alive wiser than Socrates?" The answer that he received was simply, "No."

In 403 BC Lysander, the Spartan victor of the Peloponnesian War was warned to beware

Also the dragon (serpent), earthborn, in craftiness coming behind thee.^{[citation needed]}

He was slain from behind in 395 BC by Neachorus, who had a serpent painted upon his shield.

In 401 BC Sparta was warned.

Sure though thy feet, proud Sparta, have a care,

A lame king's reign may see thee trip — Beware!

Troubles unlooked for long shall vex thy shore,

And rolling Time his tide of carnage pour.

Agesilaus, the lame king of Sparta, who acceeded to the Spartan throne at the time of Lysander, through attacking enemies in every quarter, lost control of the seas to the Persians who attacked Spartan coastal locations. In his obsession with Thebes, he incited the Thebans under Epaminondas to fight back. The Spartans were defeated for the first time by the Thebans in the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC; this led to the invasion of Sparta itself and its defeat at the battle of Mantinea in 362 BC.

In 373 BC an earthquake devastated the temple of Delphi. It took the Greek states 50 years to raise the money to rebuild the edifice, as so many states had become poorer through overpopulation, famine, plague and war.

In 359 BC Philip II of Macedon consulted the Oracle and was told

With silver spears you may conquer the world^{[citation needed]}

The king then sought to control the silver mines in the neighbouring Thracian and Illyrian kingdoms, and using them to bribe his way to early victories, playing one Greek state off against the others, and isolating his enemies by bribes to potential allies.

Philip also had a highly spirited black colt that no one could ride. The Oracle of Delphi stated whoever could ride this horse would conquer the world, but despite many attempts neither Philip nor any of his generals could mount the horse. His son, Alexander, later to be called the Great, succeeded as he realized that the horse was afraid of his own shadow. Philip gave the horse Bucephalus to Alexander, who took the steed on his conquest of Asia.

In 353 BC a third Sacred War broke out when Thebes had placed a fine upon Phokis, and Phokis, to pay for the war, heavily taxed the people of nearby Delphi and seized the Treasury of Delphi. The Amphictyonic League led by Philip declared war against Phokis. Philip sought to unite all Greece with Macedon in the Amphictyonic League to attack Persia.

In 339 BC Philip interfered once again against the Amphictyonic alliance when the Krissans trespassed on Apollo's sacred grounds. Philip punished the Krissans, and consequently in 338 c. B.C. defeated the combined armies of the Athenians and the Spartans, thus becoming the dominant force in Greek affairs. Eventually, at the Battle of Chaeronea he was successful against the Athenians and Thebans but he was assassinated before he could lead the invasion of Persia.

In 336 BC when the young Alexander the Great, Philip's son, arrived at Delphi to have his fortune foretold, before setting forth to attack the Persian Empire, the Oracle, uncharacteristically remained silent and could not be prompted to say anything, asking him to come back later. Furious, Alexander dragged Pythia by the hair out of the adyton until she screamed -

Let go of me; you’re unbeatable.^{[citation needed]}

The moment he heard these words he dropped her, saying "Now I have my answer"^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Roman Period

In 279 BC plundered by a Celtic invasion, the oracle declared

Care for these things falls on me!

The Celts were met by earthquakes, avalanches, and a massive snow storm, forcing them to retreat. But the Romans were a different matter.

In 191 BC, the sanctuary of Delphi fell into the Roman sphere of influence, and the oracle generally supported the rise of Rome henceforth.

133 BC In the War between Carthaginian Hannibal and the Romans, the volcano of Thera created an artificial island. The Oracle predicted both the eventual Roman victory and the appearance of the island, in a notable prophecy that stated

When Trojan race (the Romans) the victory shall win

From Punic (Carthaginian) foe, lo! wonders shall begin;

Unearthly fires from out the sea shall flash,

Whirlwinds toss stones aloft, and thunder crash,

An isle unnamed,unknown, shall stand upright,

The weak shall beat the stronger in the fight.

In 86 BC Sulla the Roman Dictator seized the treasury of Delphi in order to finance his siege of Athens, during the Roman Civil Wars of the Late Republic.

In 83 BC Delphi was razed by an attack from the Thracian tribe of Maedi who extinguished the sacred fire which had been burning uninterrupted for millennia.

At the time of Pompey the Great, Cicero, Pompey's ally, consulted the Oracle as to how he should find greatest fame and was told:

make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life.

It was wise advice for Pompey was subsequently defeated by Julius Caesar. Cicero cultivated his oratory and his skills in the courts in preserving Rome from the Catilinarian conspiracy, earning undying fame.

In 67 AD Emperor Nero, who was just 30 years old and had just killed his own mother, when visiting the Oracle was told

Your presence here outrages the god you seek. Go back, matricide! The number 73 marks the hour of your downfall!

He was angered and had the Pythia buried alive. Nero thought he would have a long reign and die at 73. Instead his reign came to a short end after a revolt by Galba who was 73 years of age at the time.

Before 117 AD the Emperor Hadrian visited Delphi before he reached the throne. After drinking of the Kassotis his destiny as Emperor was proclaimed. When he had acceeded to the throne, he ordered it blocked up so no one else could get the same idea in the same way.

In the second century AD the Amphictyonic League, which had protected Delphi since 595 BC, was disbanded.

In 303 AD when the Emperor Diocletian visited Delphi and asked why the quality of the Oracular utterances had declined, the oracle stated it was as a result of Christian influence. It led to Diocletian's persecution of the Christians, and Christian animosity against the Oracle, which eventually led to its destruction.

In 361 AD, despite the attempt by the Emperor Julian revive the Oracle by removing Hadrian's plug and to exempt the temple from taxation and protect its priesthood, the Oracle never recovered its former glory.

In 389 AD, under the reign of Theodosius I, Christian attacks against pagan temples continued, reaching a head when the Emperor ordered that all pagan temples be shut. The oracle declared to the Emperor in 393 AD

Tell the king; the fair wrought house has fallen.

No shelter has Apollo, nor sacred laurel leaves;

The fountains are now silent; the voice is stilled.

It is finished.

Within two years the Emperor Theodosius was dead. Within twenty the Western Roman Empire had fallen to Alaric the Visigoth, invaded by a barbarian for the first time in 800 years.

[edit] References

• Fontenrose, Joseph, The Delphic Oracle, Its Responses and Operations, with a Catalogue of Responses, University of California Press, 1981.
• Parke, H. W., A History of the Delphic Oracle, Basil Blackwell, 1939.
• Plutarch, Moralia, tr. Frank Cole Babbitt, Loeb Library Series, Harvard University Press, 1962.