Oracle | Article about Oracle by The Free Dictionary Oracle | Article about Oracle by The Free Dictionary Related to Oracle: Oracle Database oracle, in Greek religion, priest or priestess who imparted the response of a god to a human questioner. The word is also used to refer to the response itself and to the shrine of a god. Every oracular shrine had a fixed method of divination. Many observed signs, such as the motion of objects dropped into a spring, the movement of birds, or the rustle of leaves. Often dreams were interpreted. A later and popular method involved the use of entranced persons whose ecstatic cries were interpreted by trained attendants. Before an oracle was questioned consultants underwent rites of purification and sacrifice. There were many established oracles in ancient Greece, the most famous being those of Zeus at Dodona Dodona , in Greek religion, the oldest oracle, in inland Epirus, near modern Janina, sacred to Zeus and Dione. According to Herodotus, an old oak tree there became an oracle when a black dove, from Egyptian Thebes, settled on it. ..... Click the link for more information.

and of Apollo at Delphi Delphi , locality in Phocis, Greece, near the foot of the south slope of Mt. Parnassós, c.6 mi (10 km) northeast of the port of Cirrha. It was the seat of the Delphic oracle, the most famous and most powerful of ancient Greece. ..... Click the link for more information. and at Didyma in Asia Minor. Other oracular shrines were located in Syria, Egypt, and Italy. Oracle (religion, spiritualism, and occult) In ancient Greece, the populous consulted with oracles, which are those able to contact the gods and answer questions put to the deities. Although the priesthood led public worship and offered necessary sacrifices, the oracles made the personal contact and expressed the will of the gods. These oracles would go into trances and frequently speak in a greatly changed voice, with no later recollection of what they had said. The words uttered by the oracle were frequently confusing to the questioner, often ambiguous or even nonsensical. The priests interpreted what was said and thereby brought order out of possible chaos. This was especially the case when the questioner was an ambassador or diplomatic figure and where the question held political significance.

Delphi was the Greek center for oracles. It was only open for nine months out of the year. When open, the oracle could only be approached on one day a month. The order of questioners was determined by lot, although it was possible for those with influence to gain precedence. Greece was not the only place for oracles. Many primitive societies had similar soothsayers. James Wellard, writing in Man, Myth and Magic, suggests that all practitioners of divination are, in effect, oracles, and that African tribes, Australian aborigines, medieval necromancers, astrologers, and modern psychiatrists are all variations on the same theme. Oracle (religion, spiritualism, and occult) An Oracle is a shrine to a deity, at which questions may be asked. It is also the term for the answers to those questions. Sometimes the “channel” giving those answers is also referred to as the oracle. The word comes from the Latin oraculum, meaning “to speak.” Oracles were numerous in antiquity. Among the most celebrated were the Oracle of Delphi, the Oracle of Dodona, of Amphiaraus in Bæotia, and of Trophonius at Lebadea.

In Italy, the best known oracle was that of Fortuna at Præneste. Various methods of presenting the oracles—the answers to questions—were employed, differing from one site to another. The most common method was “incubation.” This required the enquirer to sleep in the sacred area until he or she received an answer in a dream. Also common was direct voice from the priestess, who acted much like a medium. Here, however, she was acting as an intermediate between human and deity, rather than between human and spirit of the deceased. Sometimes oracles were received by the petitioner clairvoyantly or clairaudiently. The expression “to work the oracle” meant to influence the message given; to bring pressure to bear to obtain an utterance in your favor. Sources: Buckland, Raymond: The Fortune–Telling Book: The Encyclopedia of Divination and Soothsaying. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2004 Encyclopedia Britannica. Chicago: William Benton, 1964 Parke, H. W.: Sibyls and Sibylline Prophecy in Classical Antiquity.

New York: Routledge, 1988 Potter, D.: Sibyls in the Greek and Roman World. Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archæology 3, 1990 Rose, H.J.: Religion in Greece and Rome. New York: Harper & Row, 1959 Oracle in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Orient, a prediction that supposedly came from a divinity and was communicated by priests to inquiring believers; the site where such predictions were given was also called an oracle. The most famous oracles were those of Ammon at Thebes (Egypt), Zeus at Dodona (Epirus), Apollo at Delphi (Greece), and Faunus and Fortuna at Praeneste (Italy). In modern literary language, the term “oracle” is also used to describe the prophesying divinity himself or the priest who gives the answers or prophecies that supposedly come from the divinity. In a figurative sense an oracle is a person whose judgments are acknowledged as absolute truth, as revelation. oracle 1. a prophecy, often obscure or allegorical, revealed through the medium of a priest or priestess at the shrine of a god 2.

a shrine at which an oracular god is consulted 3. an agency through which a prophecy is transmitted 4. Bible ZEUS CULT 4 DODONA - Ancient Greek Religion ZEUS CULT 4 DODONA Zeus "Jupiter Verospi", Greco-Roman marble statue, Pio-Clementino Museum, Vatican Museums ZEUS DODONAIOS was the god of the celebrated oracle at Dodona--reputedly the oldest of its kind in Greece. It was located in the northern Greek region of Epeiros. The oracles were interpreted by bare-footed priests named Selloi from the rustling leaves of the holy oak trees. Later three elderly priestesses named Peleiades ("Doves") were appointed as the voice of the oracle. CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES THE ORACLE OF ZEUS DODONAEUS Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 97 (from Scholiast on Sophocles Trachinae 1167) (trans.

Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) : "There is a land Hellopia with much glebe and rich meadows, and rich in flocks and shambling kine. There dwell men who have many sheep and many oxen, and they are in number past telling, tribes of mortal men. And there upon its border is built a city, Dodona; and Zeus loved it and appointed it to be his oracle, reverenced by men . . . And they [the doves] lived in the hollow of an oak (phêgou). From them men of earth carry away all kinds of prophecy,--whosoever fares to that spot and questions the deathless god, and comes bringing gifts with good omens." Plato, Phaedrus 275b (trans. Fowler) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) : "Sokrates : They used to say, my friend, that the words of the oak in the holy place of Zeus at Dodona were the first prophetic utterances.

The people of that time, not being so wise as you young folks, were content in their simplicity to hear an oak or a rock, provided only it spoke the truth." Strabo, Geography 5. 2. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "As for the Pelasgoi, almost all agree, that some ancient tribe of that name spread throughout the whole of Greece . . . The Zeus Dodonaios (of Dodona) is by the poet [Homer] himself named Pelasgikos (the Pelasgian) : ‘O Lord Zeus, Dodonaios, Pelasgikos.’" Strabo, Geography 7. 7. 5 : "The Molossoi [a tribe of Epeiros] grew to still greater power . . . partly because of the fact that the oracle at Dodona was in their country, an oracle both ancient and renowned." Strabo, Geography 7. 7. 9 ff : "All Epeiros and the Illyrian country were rugged and full of mountains . . .

at the present time desolation prevails in most parts, while the parts that are still inhabited survive only in villages and in ruins. And even the oracle at Dodona, like the rest, is virtually extinct. This oracle, according to Ephoros, was founded by the Pelasgoi. And the Pelasgoi are called the earliest of all peoples who have held dominion in Greece. And the poet speaks in this way : ‘O Lord Zeus, Dodonaios, Pelasgios’; and Hesiod : ‘He came to Dodona and the oak-tree, seat of the Pelasgoi.’ The Pelasgoi . . . [are] the people who lived in the neighborhood of the temple of Dodona, Homer too makes it perfectly clear from their mode of life, when he calls them ‘men with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground,’ that they were barbarians; but whether one should call them ‘Helloi,’ as Pindaros does, or ‘Selloi,’ as is conjectured to be the true reading in Homeros, is a question to which the text, since it is doubtful, does not permit a positive answer.

Philokhoros says that the region round about Dodona, like Euboia, was called Hellopia, and that in fact Hesiodos speaks of it in this way : ‘There is a land called Hellopia, with many a corn-field and with goodly meadows; on the edge of this land a city called Dodona hath been built.’ It is thought, Apollodoros says, that the land was so called from the marshes around the temple . . . And as for the myths that are told about the oak-tree and the doves, and any other myths of the kind, although they, like those told about Delphoi, are in part more appropriate to poetry, yet they also in part properly belong to the present geographical description. In ancient times, then, Dodona was under the rule of the Thesprotians; and so was Mount Tomaros, or Tmaros (for it is called both ways), at the base of which the temple is situated. And both the tragic poets and Pindaros have called Dodona ‘Thesprotian Dodona.’ But later on it came under the rule of the Molossoi.

And it is after the Tomaros, people say, that those whom the poet calls interpreters of Zeus--whom he also calls ‘men with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground’--were called tomouroi; and in the Odyssey some so write the words of Amphinomos, when he counsels the wooers not to attack Telemakhos until they inquire of Zeus : ‘If the tomouroi of great Zeus approve, I myself shall slay, and I shall bid all the rest to aid, whereas if god averts it, I bid you stop.’ For it is better, they argue, to write tomouroi than themistes; at any rate, nowhere in the poet are the oracles called themistes, but it is the decrees, statutes, and laws that are so called; and the people have been called tomouroi because tomouroi is a contraction of tomarouroi, the equivalent of tomarophylakes.

Now although the more recent critics say tomouroi, yet in Homeros one should interpret themistes (and also boulai) in a simpler way, though in a way that is a misuse of the term, as meaning those orders and decrees that are oracular, just as one also interprets themistes as meaning those that are made by law. For example, such is the case in the following : ‘to give ear to the decree of Zeus from the oak-tree of lofty foliage.’ At the outset, it is true, those who uttered the prophecies were men (this too perhaps the poet indicates, for he calls them hypophetai, and the prophets might be ranked among these), but later on three old women were designated as prophets, after Dione also had been designated as temple-associate of Zeus.

Suidas, however, in his desire to gratify the Thessalians with mythical stories, says that the temple was transferred from Thessalia, from the part of Pelasgia which is about Skotoussa (and Skotoussa does belong to the territory called Thessalia Pelasgiotis), and also that most of the women whose descendants are the prophetesses of today went along at the same time; and it is from this fact that Zeus was also called Pelasgios." Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 1 : "Kineas says that there was a city in Thessalia, and that an oak-tree and the oracle of Zeus were transferred from there to Epeiros." Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 1a : "In earlier times the oracle [of Dodona] was in the neighborhood of Skotoussa, a city of Pelasgiotis; but when the tree was set on fire by certain people the oracle was transferred in accordance with an oracle which Apollon gave out at Dodona. However, he gave out the oracle, not through words, but through certain symbols, as was the case at the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya.

Perhaps there was something exceptional about the flight of the three pigeons from which the priestesses were wont to make observations and to prophesy. It is further said that in the language of the Molossians and the Thesprotians old women are called peliai and old men pelioi. And perhaps the much talked of Peleiades were not birds, but three old women who busied themselves about the temple." Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 1c : "According to the Geographer, a sacred oak tree is revered in Dodona, because it was thought to be the earliest plant created and the first to supply men with food. And the same writer also says in reference to the oracular doves there, as they are called, that the doves are observed for the purposes of augury, just as there were some seers who divined from ravens." Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 2 : "Among the Thesprotians and the Molossians old women are called peliai and old men pelioi, as is also the case among the Makedonians; at any rate, those people call their dignitaries peligones . . .

And this, it is said, is the origin of the myth about the pigeons in the Dodonaian oak-tree." Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 3 : "The proverbial phrase, ‘the copper vessel in Dodona,’ originated thus : In the temple was a copper vessel with a statue of a man situated above it and holding a copper scourge, dedicated by the Korkyraians; the scourge was three-fold and wrought in chain fashion, with bones strung from it; and these bones, striking the copper vessel continuously when they were swung by the winds, would produce tones so long that anyone who measured the time from the beginning of the tone to the end could count to four hundred. Whence, also, the origin of the proverbial term, ‘the scourge of the Korkyraians.’" Strabo, Geography 9. 5. 20 : "Skotoussa [in Perrhaibia, Thessalia] I have already mentioned in my account of Dodona and of the oracle in Thessaly." Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 13. 3 (trans.

Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "[The historical general] Pyrrhos the Molossian . . . [after a war with the Makedonians] dedicated the bucklers of the Makedonians to Zeus Dodonaios (of Dodona). They too have an inscription :--‘These once ravaged golden Asia, and brought slavery upon the Greeks. Now ownerless they lie by the pillars of the temple of Zeus, spoils of boastful Makedonia.’" Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 17. 5 : "Among the sights of Thesprotia are a sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona and an oak sacred to the god." Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 2. 15 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) : "The keel which had been fitted beneath the ship [Argo] was wrought of an ancient tree, the tree which Zeus used for his oracular utterances at Dodona." Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 2. 33 : "[Ostensibly a description of a painting at Neapolis (Naples) :] Dodona.

Here is the golden dove still on the oak, wise in her sayings; here are oracles which are utterances of Zeus; here lies the axe abandoned by the tree-cutter Hellos, from whom are descended the Helloi of Dodona; and fillets are attached to the oak, for like the Pythian tripod it utters oracles. One comes to ask it a question and another to sacrifice, while yonder band from Thebes stands about the oak, claiming as their own the wisdom of the tree; and I think the golden bird has been caught there by decoy. The interpreters of Zeus, whom Homer knew as ‘men with unwashen feet that couch on the ground’ [Iliad 16.235], are a folk that live from hand to mouth and have as yet acquired no substance, and they assert that they will never do so, since they think they enjoy the favour of Zeus because they are content with a picked-up livelihood.

For these are the priests; and one is charged with hanging the garlands, one with uttering the prayers, a third must attend to the sacrificial cakes, and another to the barley-grains and the basket, another makes a sacrifice, and another will permit no one else to flay the victim. And here are Dodonaian priestesses of stiff and solemn appearance, who seem to breathe out the odour of incense and libations. The very place, my boy, is painted as fragrant with incense and replete with the divine voice; and in it honour is paid to a bronze Ekho, whom I think you see placing her hand upon her lips, since a bronze vessel has been dedicated to Zeus at Dodona, that resounds most of the day and is not silent till someone takes hold of it." Pliny the Elder, Natural History 4. 2 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) : "The Molossi in whose territory is the temple of Jove [Zeus] of Dodona, famous for its oracle." Suidas s.v. Propheteia (trans.

Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : "Propheteia (the prophetic gift) : . . . the priestesses Pythia [of Apollo at Delphoi] and Dodona [of Zeus at Dodona] who divine through trees." Other references: Iliad 16.233, Herodotus 2.55. PROPHECIES OF THE ORACLE OF DODONA Strabo, Geography 6. 1. 5 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "Pandosia [a town in Brettion, Italia] . . . near which Alexandros the Molossian was killed. He, too, was deceived by the oracle at Dodona, which bade him be on his guard against Akheron and Pandosia; for places which bore these names were pointed out to him in Thesprotia, but he came to his end here in Brettion. Now the fortress [of Pandosia in Brettion] has three summits, and the River Akheron flows past it.

And there was another oracle that helped to deceive him : ‘Three-hilled Pandosia, much people shalt thou kill one day’; for he thought that the oracle clearly meant the destruction of the enemy, not of his own people." Strabo, Geography 9. 2. 4 : "Ephoros says that the Thrakians, after [historically] making a treaty with the Boiotians, attacked them by night when they, thinking that peace had been made, were encamping rather carelessly . . . and the Pelasgians, when the war was still going on, went to consult the oracle [of Dodona], as did also the Boiotians.

Now Ephoros is unable, he says, to tell the oracular response that was given to the Pelasgians, but the prophetess replied to the Boiotians that they would prosper if they committed sacrilege; and the messengers who were sent to consult the oracle, suspecting that the prophetess responded thus out of favor to the Pelasgians, because of her kinship with them (indeed, the temple also was from the beginning Pelasgian), seized the woman and threw her upon a burning pile, for they considered that, whether she had acted falsely or had not, they were right in either case, since, if she uttered a false oracle, she had her punishment, whereas, if she did not act falsely, they had only obeyed the order of the oracle.

Now those in charge of the temple, he says, did not approve of putting to death without trial--and that too in the temple--the men who did this, and therefore they brought them to trial, and summoned them before the priestesses, who were also the prophetesses, being the two survivors of the three; but when the Boiotians said that it was nowhere lawful for women to act as judges, they chose an equal number of men in addition to the women. Now the men, he says, voted for acquittal, but the women for conviction, and since the votes cast were equal, those for acquittal prevailed; and in consequence of this prophecies are uttered at Dodona by men to Boiotians only; the prophetesses, however, explain the oracle to mean that the god ordered the Boiotians to steal the tripods and take one of them to Dodona every year; and they actually do this, for they always take down one of the dedicated tripods by night and cover it up with garments, and secretly, as it were, carry it to Dodona." Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 25. 1 (trans.

Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "The god at Dodona too manifestly advises us to respect suppliants. For about the time of Apheidas the Athenians received from Zeus of Dodona the following verses :--‘Consider the Areopagos, and the smoking altars of the Eumenides, where the Lakedaimonians are to be thy suppliants, when hard-pressed in war. Kill them not with the sword, and wrong not suppliants. For suppliants are sacred and holy.’" SOURCES Oracles Oracles/Sibyls (700 B.C. - A.D. 300) The oracles of Greece and the sibyls of Rome were women chosen by the gods through which divine advice would be spoken through them. They were popular throughout the great empires and pilgrims would make their way from far off places just to ask them a question and receive the answer of a god. Although many accounts show that their prophecies were true, this is a bit skewed. They were not infallible and many texts refused to mention the errors that the oracles and sibyls made.

They were not perfect and gave false information on occasions, but they were still a central part of the Greek and Roman religions. The most famous of the oracles was the oracle of Apollo, the god of the sun, at Delphi. She was named Pythia. Travelers would ask her questions, many quite personal, such as those dealing with love and marriage, and she would go into a sort of trance and spew out rhymes and riddles for the traveler to ponder. These riddles were supposedly the words of Apollo himself. She would also receive prophecies from dreams. Science has revealed that a possibility for the trances that Pythia would enter was caused by inhalation of large amounts of carbon dioxide, which would produce hallucinations. The release of the large amounts of carbon dioxide was due to volcanic faults that ran underneath the temple at Delphi. One of the oldest oracles in Greece was the oracle of Zeus in Dodona, which was located in northern Greece. Priestesses, called the Peleiades, would translate the oracle sent by Zeus. They listened to the sounds of pots hanging in the trees, the sounds of the wind, and other sounds of nature. They would then translate these noises into a prophecy from Zeus.

They believed that Zeus' voice could be heard through the wind. Plato mentioned an account that he had with the Peleiades in his speech, Phaedrus. Herodotus also has mentioned accounts with these priestesses. Epidaurus was the site of an oracle of Asclepios, the son of Apollo. The oracle was a man named Aelius Aristides. Pilgrims would go to him to ask questions that dealt with medicine, disease, and healing. He was said to give medical advice, and many of the pilgrims hoped to be cured miraculously. Aelius also made prophecies based on his dreams, much like Pythia at Delphi. Rituals were performed before the travelers received an answer or cure from Asclepios. These rituals included some sort of sacrifice, and abstinence and fasting. Those awaiting miracles were recorded to have gone into a hallucinogenic trance during their slumber. This was supposedly the sign that a miraculous healing was taking place. The oracles were constantly turned to in times of crises. These ranging from medical epidemics and plagues, to wars and invasions. The Delphic oracle was mostly consulted with such issues as these.

She told leaders to invade certain areas on many occasions, usually Roman cities or provinces. They did as they were told, although she was not correct every time. The army also turned to Pythia during the wars with Persia. She had predicted defeat for the Greek army. This prophecy was incorrect, because the Greeks defeated the Persians. The influence of the oracles began to wane, although not completely obsolete until the fourth century AD. The sibyls were the Roman equivalents of the Greek oracles. The origin is a prophetess named Sibyl, who like the oracle at Delphi, spoke the words of Apollo by going into a trance. The tradition went on, and women were chosen by the gods to become sibyls. The most famous was the sibyl of Cumae, who wrote nine books of prophecy called the Oracula Sibyllina. These books ultimately predicted the fall of the Roman Empire. The oracles and the sibyls were very controversial figures in Greek and Roman religions, because on many occasions their predictions and prophecies were not correct, and they were proven fallible.

Even so, they remained to be significant in the religions and beliefs of those of some of the greatest civilizations in the world. The question of whether their riddles and predictions were of divine origin or substance-induced hallucinations will remain a mystery for now. Annotated Bibliography Archaeonia. Ancient Greek Oracles. No date. < >(18 December 2005). This was a great website. It not only supplied interesting information on the oracles, but on other aspects of Greek religion, such as the cosmogony, the gods, rituals, and cults. The website also contains information of Greek philosophy, art, sports, history, and lifestyle. The website was easy to read and the purpose was to educate. This site is highly recommended for research. Aset, Sabrina. Pagan Gods and Goddess of the Dodona Oracle. 1997. < >(18 December 2005). The site offered good information. It contained the methods of divination used by the priestesses and also some primary sources of prophecies made by them. This site was also not difficult understand. Boardman, John, Griffin, Jasper, and Murray, Oswyn., eds.

The Oxford History of the Greek and Hellenistic World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. The source did not have much information dealing with the oracles. The only information relevant were the basic purposes of the oracles. The book contains mostly information on politics and militaristic issues. The book could be used for someone on a secondary educational level. Is a good book if looking for basic information on the Ancient Greek empire. Boardman, John, Griffin, Jasper, and Murray, Oswyn., eds. The Oxford History of the Roman World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. The only information about the sibyls in this book was an excerpt from the Sibylline Books. The rest of the book was just basic information such as political, military, and economic aspects of the Roman empire. Nice resource if just doing research on Rome in general. Cartledge, Paul, ed. Cambridge Illustrated History: Ancient Greece. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. This was a decent source. It offered some information on the oracles, such as the beliefs and fallibility of them.

This also offered a lot of general information on many facets of Greek society, such as theatre and the arts, politics, philosophy, and so on. This is good starting point for research. Easterling, P.E., and Muir, J.V., eds. Greek Religion and Society. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987. There was not much information on the oracles in this book surprisingly. The information that was available discussed the involvement of the Pythia in military issues such as the Persian War. This is not the best book to use when researching the oracles, but good if doing research on mythology or the Greek pantheon. Also this book was not easy to read. Flaceliere, Robert. Greek Oracles. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1965. This was a great source. It discussed in detail the different oracles of Greece and their functions. The book also went into detail on the political and philosophical issues facing the oracles and their followers. The book was somewhat easy to read, but great for research on this topic. Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean.

New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. The source was not very helpful on the topic of oracles and sibyls, but it contains a lot of information on political and economic issues of these great empires. It also discusses other civilizations such as Assyria, Mesopotamia, and the Levant. This book is good when looking for political or economic information. This book is not meant for anyone below a college level. Hale, John R., a da Boer, Jellezeiling, Chanton, Jeffrey P., and Spiller, Henry A. Questioning the Delphic Oracle. Scientific American. August 2003. This source dealt with the scientific explanations of the Pythia's trance like states. The information was interesting and useful. This is a difficult read for those not familiar with scientific terms and principles. Good source for research on the Delphic oracle. Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Time. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. The source does not contain much information on the oracles. It discusses more political or social issues, and does not focus on too much religion.

Good if doing research on the politics, or Greece in general. This book was very easy to read. Ozmore Design Group. Oracles. No Date. < > (18 December 2005). This site offered some decent information on the Greek oracles, mainly discussing the different types of oracles and where they were located. This site also mentioned the different methods of divination used by the oracles and the Greeks in general. This site was easy to read and highly recommended. Parke, H.W. The Oracles of Zeus. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967. This book contained some great information on the oracle at Dodona. It also looks at the different sources about this oracle, and the accounts made by famous philosophers and historians. Great book to use when doing research on this topic. The book was not very difficult to read. Zeus - New World Encyclopedia Zeus Statue of Zeus at Olympia Phidias created the 12-meter-tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 B.C.E.

The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in Ancient Greece , imagined here in a sixteenth-century engraving In Greek mythology , Zeus was the highest ranking god among the pantheon of Olympian gods. He held jurisdiction over Mount Olympus, as well as the sky and thunder. The son of Cronus and Rhea , Zeus was the youngest of several siblings. Contents Zeus is arguably the most identifiable character in all the world's mythology; his representation in art and sculpture as the well-muscled, white-bearded patriarch has had immense influence upon colloquial understandings of God in the Western world. Etymology Zeus is a continuation of the theonym Dyeus, which referred to the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky. In Sanskrit , Zeus was known by the virtually identical Dyaus or Dyaus Pita ("Sky Father"). Similarly, in Latin, the term Jupiter, which referred to Zeus in the Roman tradition, is derived from Iuppiter. Iuppiter, as it were, derived from the Proto-Indo-European dyeu which meant "to shine," and "sky, heaven, god." To the Greeks and Romans, the god of the sky was also the supreme god.

The similarity between Zeus' Greek title and those for the celestial gods in Sanskrit and Latin provides strong linguistic evidence that the god had a connection to the Proto-Indo-European sky god. Zeus was the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name had such an apparent Indo-European etymology. Zeus in myth The Chariot of Zeus, from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church (1879) Birth & Childhood Zeus' father Cronus attained the rank of king of the gods by usurping his father, Uranus . Before the birth of Zeus, Cronus sired Hestia, Demeter , Hera , Hades , and Poseidon by Rhea . However, he swallowed each of the infants as soon as they were born, fearing that one of them would usurp him as he had his father and thereby inherit his role as supreme divinity. As Zeus was about to be born, Rhea devised a plan not only to save him, but also to exact retribution upon Cronus for his acts against his own father and children. She covertly gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes in place of her newborn child.

Cronus promptly swallowed the swaddled rock thinking that it was his son. With Cronus tricked, Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. There are various versions of the story following this event, including variations where Zeus was then raised by: Gaia , the earth-mother goddess; Melissa, who nursed him with goat 's-milk; a nymph named Adamanthea who hid him by dangling him on a rope from a tree so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father who ruled over all three jurisdictions; a nymph named Cynosura who was later placed among the stars by Zeus as a sign of his gratitude; a goat named Amalthea, while a company of soldiers danced, shouted and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry. Divine Ascendence After reaching manhood, Zeus overthrew Cronus. First, he disgorged the stone which Cronus had swallowed and set it down at Pytho under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign of order and justice to mortal men, better known as the Omphalos.

Next, he extracted his siblings in an order reverse of that in which they had been swallowed. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to regurgitate his brothers and sisters; in others, Zeus cut open Cronus' stomach . With his own brothers and sisters freed, Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Gigantes, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes), from their dungeon in Tartarus, a shadowy underworld region. As a token of their gratitude, the Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia. Together, Zeus and his siblings, along with the Gigantes, Hecatonchires, and Cyclopes, ousted Cronus and the other Titans in a ten-year battle better known as the Titanomachy. Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her children. Thus, in the aftermath of the great war, Zeus battled Gaia's other children, the monsters Typhon and Echidna, who posed a threat to his newfound supremacy.

He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under a mountain, but left Echidna and her children alive as challenges for future heroes . All defeated enemies were then cast into Tartarus themselves. After these battles, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers Poseidon and Hades . Jurisdiction over particular realms was determined by drawing lots. Poseidon drew the waters, Hades the underworld, and Zeus the sky and air. Since sky gods were considered most high in the Greco-Roman tradition, Zeus therefore assumed supremacy over the rest of the gods. In order to protect his power, he quickly followed in his father’s footsteps, swallowing his first wife Metis after it had been prophesied that Metis would bear extremely powerful children, the second of whom would be a son more powerful than Zeus himself. Consorts and Conquests Hera was both sister and consort of Zeus. The only child of their union was Ares , though Hera produced other offspring of her own. The conquests of Zeus among nymphs and the mythic mortal progenitors of Hellenic dynasties are famous. Olympian mythography credits him with unions with other goddesses such as Demeter , Latona, Dione and Maia.

Zeus is said to have made love to numerous mortal women, including Semele, Io, Europa and Leda. Zeus also undertook a pederastic relationship with Ganymede. Many myths render Hera as jealous of Zeus' philandering, consistently cultivating enmity toward his mistresses and their children that he had sired. For a time, a nymph named Echo was actually assigned the task of distracting Hera from Zeus' affairs by incessantly talking; upon discovering the ruse, Hera cursed Echo to repeat the words of others. Offspring Not only was Zeus a virile lover, he also incredibly fecund. Notable offspring include: the Three Fates (by Ananke), the Muses (by Mnemosyne) Hermes (by Maia) This is only a partial list; Zeus is even claimed to be the father of Alexander the Great (by Olympias). Among the multitude of children Zeus spawned, Hercules was often described as his favorite, as the two were very close. In one story where a tribe of earth-born giants threatened Olympus and the Oracle at Delphi decreed that only the combined efforts of one god and one mortal could stop the creature, Zeus chose Hercules to fight by his side.

They proceeded to defeat the monsters, a testament to their veritable partnership. Function As king of the Gods, Zeus was said to rule over all that exists from the snowy peaks of Mount Olympus. Based on his celestial abode, it was thought that Zeus was revealed to humanity by way of the daylight and rain. He also served as the protector of landed wealth, preserver of household goods, and guardian of travelers against those who might seek to victimize them. Zeus' close affiliation with the Fates allowed him to know all that is, was and will be. Even with this foreknowledge, Zeus was said to dispense success and misfortune to men as he saw fit. Zeus also assumed the role of guarantor of the social and moral order, adjudicating the behavior of humans as well as that of his fellow deities. Thus, it was Zeus who often meted out punishment for misdeeds. For instance, he condemned Tantalus to eternal torture in Tartarus for trying to trick the gods into eating the flesh of his butchered son.

Some of the punishments Zeus delivered were rather puerile, such as his murder of Salmoneus with a thunderbolt for attempting to impersonate him, by riding around in a bronze chariot while imitating the sound of thunder. Though Zeus could be petty and malicious, he also had a righteous element, perhaps best exemplified when he confronted Capaneus for unbridled arrogance. Worship of Zeus Bust of Zeus in the British Museum Zeus' dominance was demonstrated not only by way of his rule over the Greek Olympian pantheon, but also by his status as the most-supreme cultural artifact of Greece . In some sense, he was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs and the archetypal Greek deity. As such, he was honored with one of the most popular Greek religious cults. Zeus's wide-ranging authority was made evident by the numerous titles applied to him by the ancient Greeks. For example, the title Olympios emphasized Zeus' kingship over both the gods and the Panhellenic festival held at Olympia . A related title was Panhellenios, ("Zeus of all the Hellenes") to whom Aeacus' famous temple on Aegina was dedicated.

Zeus also had alternative epithets based upon his various godly functions. Under the epithet Xenios, Zeus was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger. As Horkios, he was the keeper of oaths. Liars who were exposed were made to dedicate a statue to Zeus, often at the sanctuary of Olympia. Finally, as Agoraios, Zeus watched over business at the marketplace (agora) and punished dishonest traders. These titles and epithets illustrate the broad spectrum of significance Zeus enjoyed in both mythical and religious understanding. Most of the above titles and epithets, for instance, could be found at any number of Greek temples from Asia Minor to Sicily . Certain modes of ritual were held in common as well, such as the sacrifice of a white animal over a raised altar. Cults The major center at which all Greeks converged to pay honor to Zeus was Olympia. Here there was an altar to Zeus made of ash collected from the accumulated remains of many centuries' worth of sacrificed animals. The quadrennial festival there also featured the famous Olympic Games . Outside of Olympia and other major sanctuaries, there were certain modes of worship to Zeus that were shared across the Greek world.

In addition to these Pan-Hellenic forms of worship toward Zeus, local cults maintained their own idiosyncratic ideas about the chief god. On the island of Crete, for instance, Zeus was worshipped at a number of caves at Knossos , Ida and Palaikastro. The stories of Minos and Epimenides suggest that these caves were once used for incubatory divination by kings and priests. Cretan artists typically represented Zeus as a long-haired youth rather than a mature adult. This is probably why he was known as ho megas kouros or "the great youth" on Crete. With the Kouretes, a band of ecstatic armed dancers, it is said Zeus presided over the rigorous military-athletic training and secret rites of the Cretan culture. The Hellenistic writer Euhemerus apparently proposed a theory that Zeus had actually been a great king of Crete at one time, who had posthumously been venerated to the status of a deity. The works of Euhemerus have not survived, but Christian patristic writers adopted this suggestion with enthusiasm.

Colossal seated Zeus from Gaza, Roman period (Istanbul Archaeology Museum) Although Zeus was originally a sky god, many Greek cities honored a local Zeus who lived underground. The classical Zeus also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Athenians and Sicilians honored Zeus Meilichios ("kindly" or "honeyed") while other cities had Zeus Chthonios ("earthy"), Katachthonios ("under-the-earth) and Plousios ("wealth-bringing"). Visual representation of these deities took the form of either snakes or men. They commonly received offerings of black animals that were sacrificed into sunken pits, just as they were for other chthonic deities like Persephone and Demeter as well as for numerous heroes. Olympian gods, by contrast, usually received white animals that were sacrificed upon raised altars. Some cities were not entirely sure whether the deity to whom they sacrificed was a hero or an underground Zeus. For example, the shrine at Lebadaea in Boeotia might belong to the hero Trophonius or to Zeus Trephonius ("the nurturing"), depending on the historical source.

Similarly, the hero Amphiaraus was honored as Zeus Amphiaraus at Oropus outside of Thebes, and the Spartans even had a shrine to Zeus Agamemnon. Oracles Although most oracle sites were usually dedicated to Apollo , the heroes, or various goddesses like Themis, a limited number were dedicated to Zeus. The cult of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, where there is evidence of religious activity from the second millennium B.C.E. onward, centered around a sacred oak. When Homer 's epic, The Odyssey, was composed (c. 750 B.C.E. ), divination was done there by barefoot priests called Selloi, who laid upon the ground and observed the rustling of the leaves and branches (Odyssey 14.326-7) in order to form their predictions. By the time Herodotus wrote about Dodona, female priestesses called peleiades ("doves") had replaced the male priests.

Zeus' consort at Dodona was not Hera, but the goddess Dione, whose name is a feminine form of "Zeus." Her status as a Titaness suggests that she may have been a more powerful pre-Hellenic deity, and perhaps the original occupant of the oracle. Another oracle that may have been dedicated to Zeus is the oracle of Ammon at the oasis of Siwa. Located in the Western Desert of Egypt , this oracle did not lie within the bounds of the Greek world before the time of Alexander (356-323 B.C.E. ), though it did loom large in the Greek mind during the archaic era. Herodotus , for instance, mentions consultations with Zeus Ammon in his account of the Persian War . Zeus Ammon was especially favored at Sparta , where a temple dedicated to him existed by the time of the Peloponnesian War . Significance Zeus is of great importance not only as the ruler of the Greek pantheon, but more generally as one of the most identifiable and influential representations of God in the world.

His depiction as the bearded, over-watching sky god has often been the archetypal image of God in the Western world, including in the Christian tradition in some instances. Images of the old bearded God have been prevalent in popular culture references to the supreme divine. Further, the idea of God as a temperamental, monarchical figure no doubt derives in part from Zeus. Thus, Zeus' presence in the collective religious consciousness of much of humanity is unquestionably immense. References Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion (John Raffan, trans). Oxford: Blackwell Press, 1985. ISBN 0631112413 Carlier, Jeannie. "Zeus." Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mercia Eliade. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1987. 568. Cook, Arthur Bernard. Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion. New York: Bibilo & Tannen, 1964. Volume 1: Zeus, God of the Bright Sky, Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964.

ISBN 0819601489 (reprint) Volume 2: Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning), Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964. ISBN 081960156X Volume 3: Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (earthquakes, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorites) Farnell, Lewis Richard. Cults of the Greek States. Oxford: Clarendon, 1896-1909. Farnell, Lewis Richard. Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality. Oxford: Clarendon, 1921. Wren, Brian. What Language Shall I Borrow? God-talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology. New York: Crossroad, 1989. External links Oracle - tuanhung9293 Oracle Oracle In Classical Antiquity , an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion, predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods . As such it is a form of divination .

The word is derived from the Latin verb ōrāre "to speak" and properly refers to the priest or priestess uttering the prediction. In extended use, oracle may also refer to the site of the oracle, and to the oracular utterances themselves, called khrēsmoi (χρησμοί) in Greek. Oracles were thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to man. In this sense they were different from seers (manteis, μάντεις) who interpreted signs sent by the gods through bird signs, animal entrails, and other various methods. [1] The most important oracles of Greek antiquity were Pythia , priestess to Apollo at Delphi , and the oracle of Dione and Zeus at Dodona in Epirus . Other temples of Apollo were located at Didyma on the coast of Asia Minor , at Corinth and Bassae in the Peloponnese, and at the islands of Delos and Aegina in the Aegean Sea. Only the Delphic Oracle was a female; all others were male.

[2] The Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls , prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Contents [ edit ] Origins Walter Burkert observes that "Frenzied women from whose lips the god speaks are recorded in the Near East as in Mari in the second millennium BC and in Assyria in the first millennium BC. [3] In Egypt the goddess Wadjet (eye of the moon) was depicted as a snake-headed woman or a woman with two snake-heads.Her oracle was in the renowned temple in Per-Wadjet (Greek name Buto ). The oracle of Wadjet may have been the source for the oracular tradition which spread from Egypt to Greece. [4] Evans linked Wadjet with the Minoan snake goddess , a chthonic deity and one of the aspects of the Great Mother. [5] In Greece the old oracles were devoted to the Mother Goddess .

At the oracle of Dodona she will be called Diōnē (the feminine form of Diós, genitive of Zeus , PIE *Dyaeus; or of dīos, "godly", literally "heavenly"), who represents the earth-fertile soil, probably the chief female goddess of the PIE pantheon. Python , daughter (or son) of Gaia was the earth dragon of Delphi represented as a serpent and became the chthonic deity, enemy of Apollo , who slew her and possessed the oracle. [6] In the Bible there is a reference to Oracle in II Chronicles 5:7-9 "And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim: For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle but they were not seen without.

And there it is unto this day." [ edit ] Pythia The Pythia , the oracle at Delphi , only gave prophecies the seventh day of each month, seven being the number most associated with Apollo , during the nine warmer months of the year; thus, Delphi was not the major source of divination for the ancient Greeks. Many wealthy individuals bypassed the hordes of people attempting a consultation by making additional animal sacrifices to please the oracle lest their request go unanswered. As a result, seers were the main source of everyday divination. [1] The temple was changed to a center for the worship of Apollo during the classical period of Greece and priests were added to the temple organization—although the tradition regarding prophecy remained unchanged—and the apparently always-female priestess continued to provide the services of the oracle exclusively. It is from this institution that the English word, oracle, is derived. The Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture. Distinctively, this female was essentially the highest authority both civilly and religiously in male-dominated ancient Greece . She responded to the questions of citizens, foreigners, kings, and philosophers on issues of political impact, war, duty, crime, laws—even personal issues.

[7] Nevertheless there was a catch. The Pythia, when about to deliver, would chew leaves from Apollo's sacred laurel tree and would then sit on her holy tripod, seated in the innermost sanctum, over a crack on the rock from where noxious volcanic fumes emanated. Dazed and disoriented, she would then be "possessed by the voice of Apollo" and utter inarticulate sounds before fainting. Only the priests were present there, and they had the task of "translating" her utterances in plain speech. The priests were extremely well versed on the various matters of state, as part of their work was to debrief pilgrims about all that they knew. In addition, no question to the god was ever dealt with immediately. After the query was submitted, several days of prescribed ceremonial had to be observed before Apollo was so satisfied as to speak through his priestess, which gave the priests precious time for research. The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Lydia , Caria , and even Egypt also respected her and came to Delphi as supplicants .

Croesus , king of Lydia beginning in 560 B.C., tested the oracles of the world to discover which gave the most accurate prophecies. He sent out emissaries to seven sites who were all to ask the oracles on the same day what the king was doing at that very moment. Croesus proclaimed the oracle at Delphi to be the most accurate, who correctly reported that the king was making a lamb-and-tortoise stew, and so he graced her with a magnitude of precious gifts. [8] He then consulted Delphi before attacking Persia , and according to Herodotus was advised, "If you cross the river, a great empire will be destroyed." Believing the response favorable, Croesus attacked, but it was his own empire that ultimately was destroyed by the Persians. She allegedly also proclaimed Socrates to be the wisest man in Greece, to which Socrates said that, if so, this was because he alone was aware of his own ignorance. After this confrontation, Socrates dedicated his life to a search for knowledge that was one of the founding events of western philosophy .

He claimed that she was "an essential guide to personal and state development." [9] This Oracle's last recorded response was given in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I ordered pagan temples to cease operation.[ citation needed ] The oracle's powers were highly sought after and never doubted. Any inconsistencies between prophecies and events were dismissed as failure to correctly interpret the responses, not an error of the oracle. [10] Very often prophecies were worded ambiguously, so as to cover all contingencies - especially so ex post facto. One famous such response to a query about participation in a military campaign was "You will go you will return never in war will you perish". This gives the recipient liberty to place a comma before or after the word "never", thus covering both possible outcomes. Another was the response to the Athenians when the vast army of king Xerxes I was approaching Athens with the intent of razing the city to the ground. "Only the wooden palisades may save you"[ citation needed ], answered the oracle, probably aware that there was sentiment for sailing to the safety of southern Italy and reestablishing Athens there.

Some thought that it was a recommendation to fortify the Acropolis with a wooden fence and make a stand there. Others, Themistocles among them, said the oracle was clearly for fighting at sea, the metaphor intended to mean war ships. Others still insisted that their case was so hopeless that they should board every ship available and flee to Italy , where they would be safe beyond any doubt. In the event, variations of all three interpretations were attempted: some barricaded the Acropolis, the civilian population was evacuated over sea to nearby Salamis Island and to Troizen , and the war fleet fought victoriously at Salamis Bay . Should utter destruction have happened, it could always be claimed that the oracle had called for fleeing to Italy after all. [ edit ] Dodona Dodona was another oracle devoted to the Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia , but here called Dione . The shrine of Dodona was the oldest Hellenic oracle, according to the fifth-century historian Herodotus and in fact, dates to pre-Hellenic times, perhaps as early as the second millennium BC when the tradition probably spread from Egypt.Zeus displaced the Mother goddess and assimilated her as Aphrodite .

It became the second most important oracle in ancient Greece, which later was dedicated to Zeus and to Heracles during the classical period of Greece.At Dodona Zeus was worshipped as Zeus Naios or Naos (god of springs Naiads ,from a spring which existed under the oak), and Zeus Bouleos (cancellor). Priestesses and priests interpreted the rustling of the oak leaves to determine the correct actions to be taken.The oracle was shared by Dione and Zeus. [ edit ] Trophonius Trophonius was an oracle at Lebadea of Boeotia devoted to the chthonian Zeus Trophonius. Trophonius is derived from the Greek word "trepho" (nourish) and he was a Greek hero, or demon or god. Demeter - Europa was his nurse. [11] Europa (in Greek: broad-eyes) was a Phoenecian princess who Zeus transformed into a white bull abducted and carried her to Creta, and is equated with Astarte as a moon goddess by ancient sources. [12] Some scholars connect Astarte with the Minoan snake goddess, whose cult as Aphrodite spread from Creta to Greece.

[13] [ edit ] "Oracles" in other cultures Main article: Divination The term "oracle" is also applied to parallel institutions of divination in other cultures. Specifically, it is used in the context of Christianity for the concept of divine revelation , and in the context of Judaism for the Urim and Thummim breastplate, and in general any utterance considered prophetic . [14] Main articles: Oracle bone script and Oracle bone Oracles were common in many civilizations of antiquity. In China, the use of oracle bones dates as far back as the Shang Dynasty , (1600–1046 BC). The I Ching , or "Book of Changes", is a collection of linear signs used as oracles that are from that period. Although divination with the I Ching is thought to have originated prior to the Shang Dynasty, it was not until King Wu of Zhou (1046–1043 BC) that it took its present form.

In addition to its oracular power, the I Ching has had a major influence on the philosophy, literature and statecraft of China from the time of the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC – AD 256). [ edit ] Celtic polytheism In Celtic polytheism , divination was performed by the priestly caste, either the druids or the vates . This is reflected in the role of "seers" in Dark Age Wales ( dryw ) and Ireland ( fáith ). [ edit ] Hinduism In ancient India , the oracle was known as Akashwani or Asariri (Tamil), literally meaning "voice from the sky" and was related to the message of god. Oracles played key roles in many of the major incidents of the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana . An example is that Kansa , the evil uncle of lord Krishna , was informed by an oracle that the eighth son of his sister Devaki would kill him. There are still a few existing and publicly accessible Oracles in India. [ edit ] Tibetan Buddhism In Tibet , oracles have played, and continue to play, an important part in religion and government.

The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit that enters those men and women who act as media between the natural and the spiritual realms. The media are, therefore, known as kuten, which literally means, "the physical basis". The Dalai Lama , who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the Nechung Oracle , which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has according to custom, a custom that has endured for centuries, consulted the Nechung Oracle during the new year festivities of Losar . [15] Nechung and Gadhong are the primary oracles currently consulted; former oracles such as Karmashar and Darpoling are no longer active in exile. Another oracle the Dalai Lama consults is the Tenma oracle , for which a young Tibetan woman is the medium for the goddess. The Dalai Lama gives a complete description of the process of trance and spirit possession in his book Freedom in Exile. [1] .

[ edit ] Pre-Columbian Americas In the migration myth of the Mexitin, i.e., the early Aztecs , a mummy -bundle (perhaps an effigy ) carried by four priests directed the trek away from the cave of origins by giving oracles. An oracle led to the foundation of Mexico-Tenochtitlan . The Yucatec Mayas knew oracle priests or chilanes, literally 'mouthpieces' of the deity. Their written repositories of traditional knowledge, the Books of Chilam Balam , were all ascribed to one famous oracle priest who correctly had predicted the coming of the Spaniards and its associated disasters. [ edit ] Sub-Saharan Africa The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria in Africa have a long tradition of using oracles. In Igbo villages, oracles were usually female priestesses to a particular deity, usually dwelling in a cave or other secluded location away from urban areas, and, much as the oracles of ancient Greece, would deliver prophecies in an ecstatic state to visitors seeking advice. Two of their ancient oracles became especially famous during the pre-colonial period: the Agbala oracle at Awka and the Chukwu oracle at Arochukwu .

[16] Though the vast majority of Igbos today are Christian , many of them still use oracles. Amongst the related Yoruba peoples of the same country, the Babalawos (and their female counterparts, the Iyanifas) serve collectively as the principal aspects of the tribe's World-famous Ifa divination system. Due to this, they customarily officiate at a great many of its traditional and religious ceremonies. [ edit ] Norse mythology In Norse mythology , Odin took the severed head of the mythical god Mimir to Asgard for consultation as an oracle. The Havamal and other sources relate the sacrifice of Odin for the oracular Runes whereby he lost an eye (external sight) and won wisdom (internal sight; insight ). to be a consulted oracle [ edit ] Hawaii In Hawaii , oracles were found at certain heiau . These oracles were found in towers covered in white kapa. In here, priests received the will of gods. These towers were called "'Anu'u." AN example of this can be found at Ahu'ena heiau in Kona .

Question: The most renowned oracles were Zeus (at Dodona) and Apollo. Where was Apollo based?
Answer: Delphi