The Delphic Oracle is probably the most famous oracle in classical Greece. A woman called the Pythia would sit on a three legged stool at the edge of a crevice in the Temple of Apollo. She would breathe the fumes coming out of the crevice and then I believe she had an interpreter who would interpret what she babbled. There are hundreds of prophecies existing that came from Delphi. Kings would go there and consult before going to war. All of the important people came to Delphi before making decisions. Just a few that I can remember: Oedipus was told by the Oracle at Delphi that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Alexandr the Great came to the Oracle before going to war. The Pythia wouldn't talk to him until he finally pulled her by the hair and started dragging her around. She screamed "Let me go. No one can beat you." I don't know of any of the prophesies at Delphi that survived that did not come true.
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branchandroot
The Oracle at Delphi--What I retained from my classics education
Date: 2007-03-28 02:40 am (UTC)I don't know of any of the prophesies at Delphi that survived that did not come true.