Ques. What do you understand by oracles?

Ans. The places where the heathen divinities were supposed to answer those who consulted them, were called oracles. This word was also applied to the responses given.

Ques. Name some of the more famous oracles?

Ans. Among the most celebrated were, the oracles of Jupiter at Dodo´na; of Apollo, at Delphi; of Trophonius, near Lebe´dea in Boeotia; of Jupiter Ammon, in the deserts of Lybia; of Æsculapius at Epidaurus; and the Castalian Fount.

Ques. Describe the oracle of Dodo´na.

Ans. Dodo´na was a town of Epirus, probably situated in the valley now called Joannina, but the exact site has not been ascertained. In the earlier times Jupiter gave answers to his votaries by means of a so-called vocal oak or beach. Brazen instruments, suspended from the higher branches, clashed together when moved by the wind. The priestesses who were appointed to explain the responses of the oracle could attach whatever meaning they pleased to these inarticulate sounds. Later, the Corcyrians presented to the temple a brazen caldron surmounted by a figure of the same metal; the statue held in its hand a whip, the lash of which consisted of three chains, each having an astragalus (a small bone) at the end. These, when moved by the winds, struck the caldron, and produced so continuous a sound that four hundred vibrations were sometimes counted before it ceased. Demosthenes tells us that the responses delivered to the Athenians at Dodo´na were carefully preserved in the public archives; their reverence for the oracle did not, however, prevent them from accusing the priestess of being influenced by bribes when they were dissatisfied with her answers.

The oracle of Dodo´na was probably the most ancient in Greece. The temple was founded by the Pelasgi long before the siege of Troy; it was partially destroyed by the Ætolians during the Social War, and it would seem that it never recovered from this disaster. The town existed many centuries later; and we read of a bishop of Dodo´na who attended the council of Ephesus.

Ques. What does Diodorus tell us concerning the oracle at Delphi?

Ans. This historian relates that a shepherd, while feeding his flocks on the side of Mount Parnassus, observed that his sheep and goats, on approaching a certain cavity in the earth, began to skip and dance about in an extraordinary manner. As he drew near to examine the cause of this phenomenon, the vapors, exhaling from the earth, affected him in the same way; his body was convulsed, and he spoke words which revealed futurity. Others experienced similar effects, and the exhalation was supposed to have a certain divine property. The cavity was approached with reverence; a tripod was placed over it; and a priestess or Pythia was appointed to preside. The words which she uttered when under the influence of the vapor were considered to be inspired by Apollo; crowds came to consult the oracle; a temple was built, and the city of Delphi arose insensibly around the spot.

As the oracle grew in repute it became necessary to appoint a second and a third Pythia to answer those who came to consult the god. The Pythia could not prophesy until she had become intoxicated by the vapor from the sanctuary. This effect was not produced at all times, and on some days it was not permitted to consult the oracle. Spring was considered the most propitious season. When Apollo was favorably disposed, his approach was made known by the moving of a laurel that stood before the gate of the temple. The sacred tree was then seen to tremble in every leaf.

The Pythia was obliged to prepare by fasts, sacrifices and purifications before she ascended the tripod. When under the influence of the mysterious vapor, her hair stood erect, her eyes flashed, she foamed at the mouth, and a convulsive trembling seized her whole body.

She then spoke prophetic words, which were carefully noted by the attendant priests. The oracles were sometimes in verse, but more commonly in prose; in the latter case they were immediately versified by poets employed for that purpose.

Many remarkable oracles are recorded by Herodotus as having been delivered at Delphi, but as a general thing the answers were ambiguous, and so cautiously worded as to seem true, whatever might be the event. Such was the answer given to Croe´sus, king of Lydia, when he consulted the oracle concerning the result of his expedition against the Medes. The Pythia told him that by crossing the river Halys he would ruin a great empire, but as she did not say what empire, whether his own or that of his enemies, the oracle could not fail of being fulfilled. There is no doubt that the Pythia was often influenced by persuasion or bribes, and many illustrious persons were accused of having bought the oracles they desired.

The temple of Apollo at Delphi was enriched by the offerings of different princes, and the surrounding nations vied with one another in the magnificence of their gifts. The building was destroyed by fire in the year 548 B.C., but was soon rebuilt. Xerxes, after having forced the pass of ThermopylÆ, sent a detachment of his army to plunder the treasures of Delphi. The expedition was unsuccessful, owing, as the Delphians asserted, to a manifest interposition of the deity. Afterwards, Philome´lus, a Phocian general, seized these treasures to pay his troops. He is said to have carried off, in gold and silver, a sum equal to ten million dollars. Still later Delphi was threatened by the Gauls, under their king Brennus. According to Pausanias, the city and temple were saved by Pan, as we have seen in the account given of that god; but others declare that the invaders possessed themselves of great booty. Sylla also plundered Delphi, and Nero took from it, at one time, no less than five hundred statues of bronze.

The temple was finally dismantled by Constantine the Great, who adorned his Hippodrome with the sacred tripods.

No traces are known to exist of the cavern whence issued the sacred vapor, but some have thought it might be discovered by searching in the central part of the ruins of the ancient city.

Ques. Who was Trophonius, and for what was his oracle remarkable?

Ans. Trophonius, and his brother Agame´des were the architects of the temple of Apollo at Delphi. According to one legend, when the edifice was finished, they asked the god to reward them for their labor. Apollo promised that he would recompense them on the seventh day, and bade them live happily during the interval. On the seventh night the brothers died in their sleep. The oracle is said to have been discovered on the following occasion: In a time of severe drought the Boeotians consulted Apollo at Delphi, and were directed to seek aid from Trophonius in Lebadea. They proceeded thither, and seeing a swarm of bees enter a chasm in the earth, they followed and discovered a deep cavern. Here they found the oracle of Trophonius, and the aid they sought.

Ques. What ceremonies were observed in consulting this oracle?

Ans. The votary was first purified by solemn ablutions; then, after offering sacrifice, and drinking of a water called Lethe, or oblivion, he descended by means of ladders into the first, or upper cavern. The opening into the lower cave was extremely narrow, and there was apparently nothing to aid the descent. Here, those who were courageous enough to advance, lay upon the ground with their feet within the entrance, taking care to hold in each hand a certain composition of honey. They were then carried downwards with great force, as by the current of a rapid river. In the mysterious depths of the lower cave, the future was revealed, but not to all in the same manner; some saw, others heard what they desired to know.

It has been frequently asserted that those who entered the cave of Trophonius never smiled and we should judge, from the accounts given by ancient writers, that they were subjected to a treatment closely resembling what we now call animal magnetism, or mesmerism.

Ques. Where was the temple of Jupiter Ammon?

Ans. It was situated in an oasis of the Libyan desert, called by the ancients Ammon, and by the modern Arabs, Siwah. It is about five degrees west of Cairo.

The temple is said to have been founded by Bacchus under the following circumstances. While marching through the Libyan desert, Bacchus came to a barren waste of sand where his whole army was in danger of perishing for want of water. He called on Jupiter for aid, and a ram suddenly appeared, which guided them to a verdant oasis, in the midst of which sparkled a clear fountain. Bacchus erected on the spot, a temple which he dedicated to Jupiter. As the surrounding country was called Hammo´des from Hammon or Ammon, sand, the god was worshipped here under this title, and was always represented as having the head and horns of a ram. The temple soon became celebrated as an oracle, and was enriched, like that of Delphi, by splendid offerings. When Camby´ses invaded Egypt, he sent a large body of troops across the desert to seize its treasures. As nothing was ever heard of this expedition, it seems probable that the Persians were purposely misled by their Egyptian guides, and thus perished in the desert. Alexander the Great visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon to question the oracle as to his parentage; and the priests, who were undoubtedly apprised of the object of his visit, did not wait to be questioned, but saluted the king as the son of Jupiter. The site of this temple was discovered in the last century by an English traveller, but the latest and best account is given by Belzoni, who visited it in 1816. The oasis is about six miles in length, with an average breadth of four miles. It is fertile and produces in abundance, rice, wheat and fruits. The ruins of the temple are not extensive; they are, however, interesting, as many pieces of sculpture, including figures of goats with rams’ heads, are found in a good state of preservation. In a beautiful grove of palms, towards the centre of the oasis, is the famous Fons Solis, or Fountain of the Sun, which does not, however, correspond with the description given by Herodotus. According to that historian, this fountain was always tepid at dawn, icy cold at noon; it grew warm again towards sunset, and was boiling hot at midnight. Belzoni says that this account is quite exaggerated, although the water of the fountain felt to him much warmer at midnight than at noon-day. The truth seems to be that little or no change takes place in the fountain, which is well shaded and very deep. The great change which really takes place in the atmosphere is probably the cause of the apparent variation in the temperature of the fountain. Belzoni had no thermometer with him, so that he was unable to test the truth of this supposition.

Ques. Where was the oracle of Æsculapius?

Ans. This god was consulted by the sick in many places, but his most celebrated oracle was in his native city of Epidaurus in Argolis. This oracle was so famous that in the year 293 B.C., when a terrible pestilence was raging in Rome, the Senate sent a solemn embassy to Epidaurus to implore the aid of Æsculapius. The god was propitious, and accompanied the returning embassy in the form of a serpent. According to another account, the priests sent to Rome a sacred serpent which they nourished in the temple.

Ques. What was particularly remarkable in the oracles of Æsculapius?

Ans. It would seem that the priests, who had probably some skill in medicine, made use of every means calculated to encourage the votaries, and inspire them with a confident hope of recovery. They were obliged to sleep in the temple, and we should judge, from the accounts given by ancient writers, that they were subjected to a treatment closely resembling what we now call animal magnetism, or mesmerism.

The temple of Epidaurus was plundered by Sylla to defray the expenses of the war against Mithridates.

Ques. Where was the Castalian Fount?

Ans. There were two celebrated springs of that name; one on Mount Parnassus, which was sacred to the Muses, and another near Daphne, in Syria. This last was believed to impart the knowledge of futurity to those who drank of its waters. The oracle of this fountain promised the empire to Hadrian, while he was yet in a private station. When he ascended the throne, he had the fountain shut up with stones.

Ques. What opinions did the early Christian writers hold with regard to the heathen oracles?

Ans. They believed that although the responses were to be attributed, as a general thing, to mere human jugglery and imposture, there were occasions in which it was impossible to doubt the direct agency of evil spirits. We read in Scripture that Satan spoke by the mouths of the possessed, and none were more likely to fall under this demoniac influence than the priests and other ministrants in these shrines of imposture. Many instances are recorded where Christians imposed silence on oracles by pronouncing the name of Jesus Christ, or by the sign of the cross; and sometimes the same effect was produced by their simple presence in the temple.

Ques. At what period did the oracles cease to give responses?

Ans. No exact date can be assigned; as Christianity spread, these impostures fell gradually into disrepute, and were at length entirely abandoned. It has been asserted that the oracles became silent at the birth of Christ, but this is an error. Milton, however adopts this idea in his beautiful Hymn of the Nativity: