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Often appears with: fate, destiny, and necessity · cities and their founding · religious persecution and toleration · myth and the gods of the nations · siege and fortification · prophecy and revelation · diplomacy and embassies · treaties, truces, and peacemaking · prayer and worship · political legitimacy and consent · omens, portents, and signs · monarchy and royal succession
Usually: narrative (17) · curiosity (13) · detachment (7) · wonder (6) · confronting death (4) · crisis of belief (4) · the fall of the great (4) · commentary or gloss (3) · betrayal (3) · injustice endured (3)
“Surely now the heaven shall be below the earth, and the earth raised up on high above the heaven, and men shall have their dwelling in the sea, and fishes shall have that habitation which men had before, seeing that ye, Lacedemonians, are doing away with free governments and are preparing to bring back despotism again into our cities, than which there is no more unjust or more murderous thing among men.” Herodotus, The History of Herodotus — Volume 2 · observation
“Glaucos, thou, Epikydes' son, yea, this for the moment, This, to conquer their word by an oath and to rob, is more gainful. Swear, since the lot of death waits also for him who swears truly. But know thou that Oath has a son, one nameless and handless and footless, Yet without feet he pursues, without hands he seizes, and wholly He shall destroy the race and the house of the man who offendeth. But for the man who swears truly his race is the better hereafter.” Herodotus, The History of Herodotus — Volume 2 · precept
“The Pythian prophetess bade them regard both children as their kings, but honour most the first in age.” Herodotus, The History of Herodotus — Volume 2 · observation
“A heifer,” Phœbus says, “will meet thee in the lonely fields, one that has never borne the yoke, and free from the crooked plough.” Ovid, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII · precept
“Thou saw’st thy friend all undefended die--\n Foul with that sin, from Phoebus’ temple fly.” Epictetus (trans. T. W. Rolleston), The Teaching of Epictetus · vivid
“Go into that island where the river Alpheus mixes his waters with the fair Arethusa.” Ovid, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII · observation
“He made an end of himself by a total abstinence from food; thinking it a statesman's duty to make his very death, if possible, an act of service to the state.” Plutarch, Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans · insight
“Solon, vexed at the disgrace, and perceiving thousands of the youth wished for somebody to begin, but did not dare to stir first for fear of the law, counterfeited a distraction, and by his own family it was spread about the city that he was mad.” Plutarch, Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans · observation
“When again, in a time of great danger, the people were very harsh upon him, demanding a strict account how the public money had been employed, and the like, he bade them, "First, good friends, make sure you are safe.” Plutarch, Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans · precept
“These, O Cephalon,” said he, “are the wages of a king's love.” Plutarch, Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans · wit
Quintus Fabius Pictor returns from Delphi with an oracle urging Roman piety and victory, while Mago at Carthage reports Hannibal’s successes after Cannae.
a guest. That there was no place that he should rather dwell in, than in the dominions of him whom he esteemed an avenger and the protector of his liberty. 11. While these things were carrying on, Quintus Fabius Pictor, the ambassador, returned from Delphi to Rome, and read the response of the oracle from a written copy. In it both the gods were mentioned, and in what manner supplication should be made. It then stat…
Plutarch traces Theseus’s ancestry and youth: his lineage from Erechtheus and Pelops, Pittheus’s role in Troezen, Aegeus’s Delphi oracle, and Aethra’s concealment and delivery of Theseus.
are both of them said to have incurred great odium with their countrymen, if, that is, we may take the stories least like poetry as our guide to the truth. The lineage of Theseus, by his father's side, ascends as high as to Erechtheus and the first inhabitants of Attica. By his mother's side he was descended of Pelops. For Pelops was the most powerful of all the kings of Peloponnesus, not so much by the greatness …
He narrates Lycurgus’ final reforms through an oracle at Delphi, the oath binding Sparta to keep the laws, and Lycurgus’ death by abstinence so the polis would remain stable for centuries.
ascribe to Lycurgus so wicked and barbarous a course, judging of him from the gentleness of his disposition and justice upon all other occasions; to which the oracle also testified. When he perceived that his more important institutions had taken root in the minds of his countrymen, that custom had rendered them familiar and easy, that his commonwealth was now grown up and able to go alone, then, as, Plato somewhere…
Plutarch narrates Solon’s role in the war for Salamis against the Megarians, describing how he feigned madness to circumvent a death law, rallied support, and then restored the campaign through either trickery or an oracle-backed landing.
against the loss of wealth by poverty, or of friends by refusing all acquaintance, or of children by having none, but by morality and reason. But of this too much. Now, when the Athenians were tired with a tedious and difficult war that they conducted against the Megarians for the island Salamis, and made a law that it should be death for any man, by writing or speaking, to assert that the city ought to endeavor to …
During the siege of Veii, the Alban Lake unexpectedly rises and drains violently to the sea, causing alarm; a captive-prophetic Roman is tricked, captured, and reveals that the lake must be diverted to prevent Veii’s fall.
carried ravages into their country, and, through all the Tuscan war, given them much annoyance, but were now reduced by Camillus, and with great loss shut up within their walls. And now, in the very heat of the war, a strange phenomenon in the Alban lake, which, in the absence of any known cause and explanation by natural reasons, seemed as great a prodigy as the most incredible that are reported, occasioned great a…
The senate sends envoys to Delphi; the oracle blames neglect of Latin festivals and commands that the Alban water be kept from the sea or diverted by ditches and trenches, after which priests perform sacrifices and the people work to turn the water.
Italy to portend some extraordinary event. But the greatest talk of it was in the camp that besieged Veii, so that in the town itself, also, the occurrence became known. As in long sieges it commonly happens that parties on both sides meet often and converse with one another, so it chanced that a Roman had gained much confidence and familiarity with one of the besieged, a man versed in ancient prophecies, and of rep…
Alexander’s birth is surrounded with omens and disputed claims: Philip’s dreams, Olympias’ serpent and prophecies, Delphi’s command to honor Ammon, and Alexander’s Ephesus temple fire as a fatal sign.
to his divine extraction. Others again affirm that she wholly disclaimed any pretensions of the kind, and was wont to say, "When will Alexander leave off slandering me to Juno?" Alexander was born the sixth of Hecatombaeon, which month the Macedonians call Lous, the same day that the temple of Diana at Ephesus was burnt; which Hegesias of Magnesia makes the occasion of a conceit, frigid enough to have stopped the co…
Phocion repeatedly refuses popular pressure, offers blunt parables and warnings to the Athenians, settles disputes with the Boeotians by urging negotiation, and sparrs verbally with speakers like Demosthenes and Lycurgus.
old system, more complete in itself, and more harmonious and uniform, which prevailed in the times of Pericles, Aristides, and Solon; when statesmen showed themselves, to use Archilochus's words, -- Mars' and the Muses' friends alike designed, To arts and arms indifferently inclined, and the presiding goddess of his country was, he did not fail to see, the patroness and protectress of both civil and military wisdom…
Aratus is plotted against by Philip, secretly poisoned via Taurion, and dies in Aegium; Achaeans and Sicyonians dispute burial law and consult Delphi, which results in Aratus’s honored burial at Sicyon and later cycles of sacrifice.
though in reality this was not a change of his nature, but a bold unmasking, when safe opportunity came, of the evil inclinations which his fear had for a long time made him dissemble. For that the respect he at the beginning bore to Aratus had a great alloy of fear and awe appears evidently from what he did to him at last. For being desirous to put him to death, not thinking himself, whilst he was alive, to be prope…
After Europa’s abduction, Agenor commands Cadmus to find her or never return; Cadmus consults Delphi, follows a motherless heifer, and prepares to found a city at Bœotia.
FABLE I. [III.1-34] Jupiter, having carried away Europa, her father, Agenor, commands his son Cadmus to go immediately in search of her, and either to bring back his sister with him, or never to return to Phœnicia. Cadmus, wearied with his toils and fruitless inquiries, goes to consult the oracle at Delphi, which bids him observe the spot where he should see a cow lie down, and build a city there, and give…
The commentary argues that the fountain Arethusa and the river Alpheus myth arose from confusing Sicilian place-names, and it cites Delphi’s oracle to Archias and Pausanias’ skepticism.
[Footnote 73: *Hoary willows.*--Ver. 590. The leaf of the willow has a whitish hue, especially on one side of it.] [Footnote 74: *Orchomenus.*--Ver. 607. This was a city of Arcadia, in a marshy district, near to Mantinea. There was another place of the same name, in Bœotia, between Elatea and Coronea, famous for a splendid temple to the Graces, there erected.] [Footnote 75: *Psophis.*--Ver. 607. This wa…
The explanation section about the tribute says Athens consults the oracle at Delphi, Minos demands youths and virgins annually or every nine years, and hostile Greek propaganda later rationalizes it via Pasiphaë’s bull and Venus’s revenge.
FABLE II. [VIII.152-182] Minos, having overcome the Athenians, obliges them to pay a tribute of youths and virgins of the best families, to be exposed to the Minotaur. The lot falls on Theseus, who, by the assistance of Ariadne, kills the monster, escapes from the labyrinth, which Dædalus made, and carries Ariadne to the island of Naxos, where he abandons her. Bacchus wooes her, and, to immortalize her nam…
Herodotus explains Spartan dynastic politics: Anaxandrides takes a second wife, the later son is Cleomenes, and Dorieos’ challenge drives him to found colonies in Libya and then seek a settlement in Sicily via Delphi.
one, to bear thee children." When they spoke to him after this manner, Anaxandrides consented, having two wives, a thing which was not by any means after the Spartan fashion. 41. Then when no long time had elapsed, the wife who had come in afterwards bore this Cleomenes of whom we spoke; and just when she was bringing to the light an heir to the kingdom of the Spartans, the former wife, who had during the time befor…
An ally debate in the Greek coalition condemns Spartan despotism; Corinthians Socles argues Lacedemonians and others should not replace free government, using Corinth’s oligarchic Bacchiadai and the lineage-prophecy behind Kypselos as precedent.
from your cities, in order that with common counsel and a common force we might conduct him to Athens and render back to him that which we formerly took away." 92. Thus they spoke; but the majority of the allies did not approve of their words. The rest however kept silence, but the Corinthian Socles 78 spoke as follows: (a) "Surely now the heaven shall be below the earth, and the earth raised up on high above the he…
In the Chersonese, Miltiades gains authority after helping Dolonkians fulfill a Delphi oracle about hospitality to find a founder; he builds a wall against Apsinthians and is later freed by Croesus.
Now the number of furlongs 21 across the isthmus at this place is six-and-thirty, and from this isthmus the Chersonese within is altogether four hundred and twenty furlongs in length.. 37. Having made a wall then across the neck of the Chersonese and having in this manner repelled the Apsinthians, Miltiades made war upon the people of Lampsacos first of all others; and the people of Lampsacos laid an ambush and took…
Herodotus reports a Spartan account of how Aristodemus’ twins, Eurysthenes and Procles, were chosen for kingship by watching which one their mother washed and fed first.
inferior in no other way (for it is descended from the same ancestor), but the house of Eurysthenes has always been honoured more, apparently because he was the elder brother.. 52. For the Lacedemonians, who herein agree with none of the poets, say that Aristodemos the son of Aristomachos, the son of Cleodaios, the son of Hyllos, being their king, led them himself (and not the sons of Aristodemos) to this land which…
Demaratos is born after Ariston’s questionable denial of paternity, then grows to be contested; Cleomenes and Leotychides use his birth as grounds, and Delphi’s oracle is manipulated to rule against Demaratos.
anything else except this one thing only, but at length being compelled by the oath and by the treacherous deception, 46 he allowed her to be taken away from him.. 63. Thus had Ariston brought into his house the third wife, having dismissed the second: and this wife, not having fulfilled the ten months 47 but in a shorter period of time, bore him that Demaratos of whom we were speaking; and one of his servants repor…
Leotychides argues to Athens that religion requires returning the hostage men, recounting a Spartan deposit story of Glaucos of Epikydes, who consulted the Delphi and returned the money rather than keep it by oath.
it right to give them back to the one without the other: so since the Athenians said that they would not give them back, Leotychides spoke to them as follows: (a) "Athenians, do whichever thing ye yourselves desire; for ye know that if ye give them up, ye do that which religion commands, and if ye refuse to give them up, ye do the opposite of this: but I desire to tell you what kind of a thing came to pass once in S…
Harpagos conquers the Carians, then a Cnidian attempt to dig through a narrow isthmus is halted by a Delphi oracle that Zeus would have made the land an island, so they submit without resistance.
prophetess had given this oracle, the men of Cnidos not only ceased from their digging but delivered themselves to Harpagos without resistance, when he came against them with his army. 175. There were also the Pedasians, who dwelt in the inland country above Halicarnassos; and among these, whenever anything hurtful is about to happen either to themselves or to their neighbours, the priestess of Athene has a great be…
Theras asks the Lacedemonians to spare the Minyai, leads a Spartan-linked settlement from Thera, and the island later takes its name from him; a later settler line is tied to Delphic omens and Avenging deities for Oedipus and Laius.
Pyrgos, Epion, Nudion; of these the Eleians sacked the greater number within my own lifetime. The island meanwhile got its name of Thera after Theras 130 who led the settlement. 149. And since his son said that he would not sail with him, therefore he said that he would leave him behind as a sheep among wolves; and in accordance with that saying this young man got the name of Oiolycos, 131 and it chanced that this n…
The poem invokes the Muse to stay with Arkesilas’ fellow, Kyrene’s king in Cyrene, then recounts an oracle at Delphi predicting the founding of Kyrene in Libya by Battos’ line and its later fulfillment through generations.
* * * * * This day O Muse must thou tarry in a friend's house, the house of the king of Kyrene of goodly horses, that with Arkesilas at his triumph thou mayst swell the favourable gale of song, the due of Leto's children, and of Pytho. For at Pytho of old she who sitteth beside the eagles of Zeus--nor was Apollo absent then--the priestess, spake this oracle, that Battos should found a power in fruitful Libya, that s…
The notes describe Hellenistic longing for direct divine revelation, discuss ecstasy and oracles, recount a Delphi story of a friend killed by robbers, and argue Epictetus emphasizes conscience as God’s revelation.
1. The strong and growing yearning for some direct, personal revelation of God, some supernatural manifestation of His existence and care for men, is noted by Zeller as a special trait of Hellenistic times. Such a revelation must have been longed for by many as the only satisfying answer to the destructive logic of the Pyrrhonists, and men's minds were also of course led that way by the insistence of the Stoic thinke…