Ancient Greece: The Oracle At Delphi

In Greece there was a city named Delphi, it housed the sanctuary dedicated eventually to the god Apollo. In the early centuries of Greek times, prophecy was practiced in many different ways throughout many different places. While the most popular place to receive oracles in Greek history was at Delphi, from Pythia, there were other locations and gods who performed different acts in order for their fate to be known. The oracle at Delphi shows how important prophecies were to Greeks and why it impacted their well being and futures. In the Mycenaean times, a Delphinian, Apollo the god of prophecy, had a sanctuary in present day Greece. In the Oracle of Delphi Apollo appointed a priestess, Pythia to tell the prophecies to the citizens that needed
to hear their future or an outcome of an event. In the city of Delphi, there were three major events that they were known for which included; the Oracle, Amphictionic League, and the Pythian Games. The Oracle was a widely known tomb that many people and city-states would travel to in order to know their so-called future. While the oracles that Pythia told were always simplistic or broad, the answers were somehow right. Oracles were only no cost to few, depending on your location to the temple was the amount you pay , but only if you were a man. In order to receive your oracle there would either be a fee or if the inquirer was in a certain position it would be at no cost.
Nevertheless there was a temple to that the person in need of an answer would need to enter. Among entering the on the walls of the temple often called the “hollow of God”, inscribed was, “know thyself”. No matter what incurs to the person approaching Pythia, she will always have to preform a ritual in order to be prepared for the telling of the oracle. The process she has to go through is the chewing of laurel and bay leaves, drinking out of the sacred spring, and the wearing of the crown. All of this occurs while Pythia is sitting on a tripod covered with laurel, located in the cellar of the temple of Apollo (as seen in figure one). Pythia would have to be in certain state of mind in order to be fully prepared for the inquirers; because it would put her in a trance. Interesting enough, Pythia, a women, could tell the oracles but never give the answers to a
women. Throughout the different eras of Pythia’s that told the oracles from Delphi, many different stories have occurred to make the oracle a very powerful piece of Greek history.
The following tale about the oracle at Delphi shows that no matter how much someone wants a response to the problem, it may not always be answered. Herakles was a semi divine mortal that happened to have temper associated with him. He wanted to visit Delphi to receive an oracle, after murdering someone without good enough reasoning, which resulted in the gods not being pleased with Herakles. After traveling to Delphi to inquire about his current punishments with the gods, he was refused and ended up removing the tripod from the temple. Of course, that was something too extreme to turn a blind eye towards; Apollo then appeared and couldn't completely handle the situation himself, so, Zeus had to intervene and stopped the situation. Apollo returned Pythia’s tripod back to the sacred spot, while Herakles was sent to slavery. This is an example of how cherished prophecies were in the early centuries of Greece. Their civilization relied on having the future held in a sacred practice of
oracles. While most of the time the oracles were to vague to be wrong, Pythia did have moments were her predictions could be seen as false. An example of this would be the Battle of Salamis, where the first oracle given was false. Which resulted in the city coming back to Delphi to ask Pythia for another oracle, which would cost them more in coins. This time it resulted in a positive reading and the battle ending in win. Proving that Pythia wasn’t always right, while this wasn't always heavily mentioned in the history of the oracle, mistakes did happen. While Delphi was not a big city, or known as a city-state in Greek history, it made a name for itself with the sanctuary of Apollo. Delphi was proven to have an impact of the Greek’s history, with all of the prophecies that were told there, it also proved to have an impact on the way the citizens and other cities or city-states functioned. The oracles that came from this location impacted the history of many civilizations and those who could individually afford the chance to inquire about anything. Throughout Pythia’s time, she had to answer to many people and predict countless outcomes. Which resulted in the oracles being vague and not always spot on with how the future presented itself, considering she was appointed by Apollo, she still withheld the trust of all. Within Delphi the many oracles presented truly show how Greek’s relied on prophecies to prosper.