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The name Pythia is derived from "pythia hiereia" (Greek: πυθία ἱέρεια), meaning ' priestess of the Pythian Apollo '; it is related to Pythios (Πύθιος), an epithet of Apollo, itself deriving from Pytho, which in myth was the original name of Delphi. [13]
The priestess of the oracle at Delphi became known as the Pythia, after the place-name Pytho, which Greeks explained as named after the rotting (πύθειν) of the slain serpent's corpse in the strength of Hyperion (day) or Helios (the sun). [12] Karl Kerenyi notes that the older tales mentioned two dragons who were perhaps intentionally ...
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.
The Pythia was the mouthpiece of the oracles of the god Apollo, and was also known as the Oracle of Delphi. [7] The Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture. Distinctively, this woman was essentially the highest authority both civilly and religiously in male-dominated ancient Greece.
Lycurgus Consulting the Pythia (1835/1845), as imagined by Eugène Delacroix. 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. Many are anecdotal, and have survived as proverbs.
This double meaning is true in ancient Greek and Latin also. [7] The Greeks and Romans did not have a standard word that would apply in all cases. Manteion (μαντεῖον), Psychomanteion (ψυχομαντεῖον) and chresterion (χρηστήριον) were common in Greek. A prophecy might be referenced by the name of the god: "Apollo ...
The word enthusiasm originates from the Greek ἐνθουσιασμός from ἐν (en, “in”) and θεός (theós, “god”), meaning "inspired or possessed by [a] god". Applied by the Greeks to manifestations of divine possession, by Apollo (as in the case of the Pythia ), or by Dionysus (as in the case of the Bacchantes and Maenads ...
Another popular theory held that the maxims were first spoken by the Delphic oracle, and therefore represented the wisdom of the god Apollo. [10] Clearchus of Soli , among others, attempted to reconcile the two accounts by claiming that Chilon, enquiring of the oracle what was best to be learnt, received the answer "Know thyself", and ...