Oracle - in ancient times, one of the means by which a person tried to enter into direct communication with the deity. The sayings of the oracle were considered revelations of the deity; they were obtained by questioning in a certain place, through well-known intermediaries, most of the priests of this deity, who were also interpreters of the revelation received.
The oracle was given to people by the goddess of the Earth Gaia, he was guarded by her son, the gigantic serpent Python. After killing Python, Apollo took possession of the prophet and received the epithet Pythian.
Sitting on a tripod, Pythia, the priestess-prophetess, chewed on bay leaves, fell into a state of ecstasy and began to prophesy. Her predictions, which sometimes sounded completely unintelligible, were interpreted by the priests. Although both in Greece itself and in Asia Minor there were a number of different Apollo oracles, it was the Delphic oracle that for a long time was the center of the religious life of the Greek world.
Anyone visiting Delphi pays tribute to a tradition that existed more than 3 thousand years ago. In the XII century BC. the first pilgrims began to come here seeking advice from the Pythia, the most famous oracle of the ancient world, and continued to flock to Delphi in large numbers until the 4th century AD.
The best time to visit was the seventh day of the month, when everyone could ask the oracle a question and receive advice in solving both minor problems and major ones. Found in Delphi, as well as in other sanctuaries, tablets with inscriptions allow us to assert that over the centuries the issues that have occupied people have not undergone major changes. People wanted to know if their spouses were loyal to them, whether they could trust a friend, or accept a particular job offer.
The significance of this priestly community in the history of Greece is enormous. The Delphic temple was ruled by a college of five "saints" or high priests, who were elected from the most ancient and noble Delphic families; their dignity was for life. Under their supervision were two priests who performed divine services, and several "prophets" who were with the pythia, through whose lips the oracle gave his answers, and who wrote down her words.
The Pythia was elected from the noble Delphic families. Before, a girl was chosen for this rank, later an elderly woman; upon entering the rank, she had to lead a holy, pure life, because Apollo gave revelations through her lips. At first there was only one day in the year, designated to inquire of the oracle. Later, when the number of inquirers increased, so did the number of days on which the oracle gave answers.
The Oracle of the Delphic Oracle prepared for divination by fasting, ablutions, rituals of purification, chewed laurel leaves, dressed in long clothes and with her hair loose, sat on a golden tripod covered with laurel branches, placed over the gap from which the gas flowed. The action of the gas soon made her delirious; She in this state uttered fragmentary words, and the prophets standing beside her wrote them down, and based on their answers, set forth in verses.
Promotional video:
The meaning of the poems was dark, amenable to different interpretations. Having compiled an answer, the prophets gave it to the questioner, who was waiting in a room above the grotto. So the Pythia's answers were not products of prophetic exaltation; the pythia was losing self-consciousness; her personal mind was fading; the clearer did her lips convey the voice of a deity; - so the Greeks understood the prophecy of the Pythia. The state in which the gas brought her was severe, painful. And as a matter of fact, the answers received by those who ask the oracle did not belong to the pythia, but to her assistants.
The cave of the pythia was connected by a dark, fragrant gallery with that section of the temple, which was the most sacred, and in which there were a stone that marked the middle of the earth, and an altar with an unquenchable fire. The one inquiring about the oracle would offer on this altar some animal, usually a goat; to the questioning of the oracle and, sacrifice, he was prepared by ablutions and rituals of purification.
Later, when the temple became rich, a golden statue of Apollo stood in its most sacred section. The Delphic temple, attended by many worshipers, became the center of a vast market; plentiful offerings, accumulating in the temple, formed a huge mass of wealth. The temple owned the land cultivated by the villagers or slaves under his control, and gave a large income. At the beginning of the 6th century BC, after the First Holy War, all the lands of the city of Chrissa were given to the temple. It was a whole district, reaching the sea, on the shore of which, at the mouth of the Plist, there was a pier, the town of Kirra.
The Delphic oracle, from whom the Greeks asked for advice in all important matters, was a theocratic institution that had a great influence on the course of development of the state and popular life of the Hellenes.
He tamed the savagery of violent morals with the power of humanity, helped to abolish the sacrifice of people, curbed arbitrariness, mitigated civil strife, blood revenge, and other rough customs, helped the development of agriculture and all peaceful pursuits, demanded that those guilty of murder atone for their sin by repentance.