Historical Women of Power I: The Oracle of Delphi

It's 500 BCE, and the sun is shining over Delphi, the seat of the Oracle of Apollo. According to the legend, Delphi was founded when Zeus sent out two eagles to the east and west. The eagles were meant to meet at the navel of the world, and they met at Delphi - the true centre of the world. Zeus marked the spot with a sacred stone, and the place was thereafter known as the centre of the world. Later, Apollo slayed his chthonic enemy - Python, the great snake - at Delphi, and the legends said that when the Python was slain, its body fell deep into the earth, its smoking body sending fumes through chasms in the earth. 

The oracle sat upon her tripod in John Collier’s The Priestess of Delphi, 1891

Apollo, after saying the Python, took over the snake's Temple and Oracle in Delphi. The Oracle was a blameless woman selected from the local people, who would give advice from Apollo. Sitting above one of the city's chasms on a tripod, inhaling the fumes of Apollo's slain enemy, she fell into an intoxicated trance - making prophecies and murmuring visions whilst possessed by the spirit of Apollo. 

In modern times, it has been hypothesised that the Oracle could have been high off hydrocarbons, causing her 'ravings.' It has been speculated that when the Oracle inhaled the sweet-smelling ethylene - she was violently intoxicated. Some have speculated that the Oracle would use other hallucinogens of the time in order to enter her trances - Laurel, Cannabis, Oleander, and Rhododendron have all been found in other places in the empire, and have been proposed as potential methods of the Orancle's intoxication. 

The Oracle's day would vary wildly depending on the time of year. In the winter months, no prophecies would be made - the temple was surrendered seasonally to Dionysus. Some classicists believe this is because the fumes from the chasm would dry up in the winter months, and the Oracle would be unable to enter her prophetic stupor without the fumes. In the summer months, the Oracle would travel to the Castillian Spring, where she would gather water to cleanse the temple and altar for a day of prophecy. To determine whether Apollo was willing to be consulted, the Oracle would gather water from the spring and cleanse a goat in its waters. If Apollo was willing to channel the Oracle that day, the goat would shudder. If not, the people of Delphi - and far beyond - would have to wait at least a month to consult Apollo through the Oracle.

Travellers came from all over Greece, and beyond would come to consult the Oracle - Sicily to Afghanistan, Athens to Rome, all to ask the Oracle questions about love, diplomacy, and money. First, the locals from Delphi would ask their questions, and then those from all over Greece. Finally, non-Greeks, mostly diplomats from Greece's colonies and ambassadors from the foreign powers. These men would ask a whole manner of questions that would come to shape the ancient world. The Oracle started wars, established colonies, and crowned emperors from her humble temple in Delphi. 

After hearing the questions, and collecting her obligatory sacrificial cake, from the visitors, the Oracle would disappear into her chambers - the Aditon. This is where she sat on her tripod, above the chasm, and channelled the voice of Apollo - entering a stupor where she would mumble her visions. Often, these visions would be ambiguous, for the visitors to themselves deduce the meanings. Some classicists have said that these visions were purposefully vague, to protect the reputation and neutrality of the temple - although these visions could just be the senseless ramblings of a woman really high on ethylene.

Every now and then, a new Oracle of Apollo would come into order. There could only be one Oracle, although there were sometimes multiple Oracles in training. These women would lead virtuous lives and one day hope to become the new Oracle of Apollo. When the time came for the job to be retired, the old Oracle would pass down her wisdom to the new Oracle. Never could the secrets of the Oracles be written down, and the secret arts of prophecy were passed down from Oracle to Oracle, never escaping the line of Oracles, never to be recorded.

From the day of her instalment as the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, the Oracle would be one of the most powerful people in the ancient world. Throughout her career, she - or the ethylene - would shape wars, form countries, make and break relationships, and found colonies. Not a woman, but the voice of Apollo, the Oracle would shape the ancient world forever. No longer limited by her gender, the Oracle would make Greece what it what, and even had a hand in shaping the world we know today. 


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