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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]
Still from Universal's film Damon and Pythias (1914). In 1564, the material was made into a tragicomic play by the English poet Richard Edwardes (Damon and Pythias).; The best-known modern treatment of the legend is the German ballad Die Bürgschaft, [2] written in 1799 by Friedrich Schiller, based on the Gesta Romanorum version.
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.
Ch. 14 cf. Greek Oracles,www, PRS; Harrison, Jane Ellen, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912. cf. Chapter IX, p. 329 especially, on the slaying of the Python. Kerenyi, Karl, (1951) 1980. The Gods of the Greeks especially pp 135–6. Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo
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.
This earliest documented Delphic Sibyl would have predated by hundreds of years the priestess of Apollo active at the oracle from around the eighth century BC who was known as Pythia. [20] As Greek religion passed through transitions to the pantheon of the Classical Greeks that is most familiar to modern readers, Apollo had become the deity ...
In some Greek cults priestesses served both gods and goddesses; Pythia, or female Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and that at Didyma were priestesses, but both were overseen by male priests. The festival of Dionosyus was practiced by both and the god was served by women and female priestesses known as the Gerarai or the venerable ones.
The Pythia was typically regarded as the foremost oracle within the Greek world, with Herodotus making emphasis on this claim when recounting the story of the Lydian king Croesus. [39] However, prophecies throughout Greek history and mythology were notably vague, and misinterpretation of prophesies would remain a major theme across historical ...