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Delphi among the main Greek sanctuaries. Delphi (/ ˈ d ɛ l f aɪ, ˈ d ɛ l f i /; [1] Greek: Δελφοί), [a] in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world.
In extended use, oracle may also refer to the site of the oracle, and the oracular utterances themselves, are called khrēsmoí (χρησμοί) in Greek. Oracles were thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to people.
Throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, there were several prophetic women called Sibyls who were associated with religious centers. The Sibyl of Dodona, was dated to the second millennium BC by Herodotus. A Sibyl famous among the Greek colonists living near Naples, Italy, was located at Cumae and she had a strong influence upon the Romans ...
The so-called Libyan Sibyl was identified with prophetic priestesses presiding over the ancient Zeus-Amon (Zeus represented with the horns of Amon) oracle at the Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. The oracle here was consulted by Alexander after his conquest of Egypt. The mother of the Libyan Sibyl was Lamia, the daughter of Poseidon.
The Oracle then descended into the adyton (Greek for 'inaccessible') and mounted her tripod seat, holding laurel leaves and a dish of Kassotis spring water into which she gazed. Nearby was the omphalos (Greek for 'navel'), which was flanked by two solid gold eagles representing the authority of Zeus, and the cleft from which emerged the sacred ...
The Sibylline Oracles in their existing form are a chaotic medley. They consist of 12 books (or 14) of various authorship, date, and religious conception. The final arrangement, thought to be due to an unknown editor of the 6th century AD (Alexandre), does not determine identity of authorship, time, or religious belief; many of the books are merely arbitrary groupings of unrelated fragments.
In roughly the same year, Xenophon, a student of Socrates, was encouraged to visit the Oracle for advice on whether to accompany 10,000 mercenary Greek soldiers on an expedition to overthrow the king of Persia. "So Xenophon went and asked Apollo to what one of the gods he should sacrifice and pray in order best and most successfully to perform ...
Classical oracles is a category for the oracle-sites, prophets, seers, prophetic daemons and oracular books - real, forged or imagined - of Greek and Roman antiquity. Subcategories This category has the following 6 subcategories, out of 6 total.