Contrary to general belief, the purpose of divination was not simply to ‘‘know the future.’’ Extant oracular responses almost all bear upon the clarification of a specific point, present, future, or past (Iliad 1.69-70), of concern to the consultant. In a world in which the smallest error could prove fatal, man depended upon divination to act in the most effective way when confronted with an immediate choice entailing unknown and thus potentially harrowing repercussions (Jouan 1991).
The Greeks made no distinction in their lives between the sacred and the profane, be it in the sphere of the family, the community, or the city, and accordingly favored frequent contact with the gods. The general goodwill of the gods was solicited through festivals, purifications, thanksgivings, prayers, sacrifices and offerings, dances and hymns, and prescriptions of all sorts in sanctuaries and competitions. But other rites were more focused and called for action from the gods in direct response: magic, mystery cults, and divination, through which one could encounter the god in a personal fashion and even fuse with him.
Divination is one form of access to divine revelation amongst many others. In Greece, knowledge, feelings, and in fact every natural or cultural efflorescence were inspired by the gods: agriculture was revealed by Demeter; the techniques and the discoveries associated with the intellect were the work of Athena; the inspiration of love derived from Aphrodite and Eros; medical knowledge was the work of healing deities. Rites themselves were dictated by the gods, just as was the secret of the mysteries. Philosophy did not lag behind. Just like the other Presocratics, Pythagoras was regarded as being as truthful as the Delphic oracle (Aristippos 4 A 150 Giannantoni), Parmenides derived his knowledge from a goddess (fr. 1 DK), and the cult that Plato offered to the Muses in the garden of the Academy was far from accidental (Motte 1973:411-29; Schefer 2002). Socrates had said: ‘‘I am a soothsayer’’ (Plato Phaedrus 292c), and Pindar had proclaimed, ‘‘Pronounce your oracles, Muse, I will be the prophet’’ (fr. 150 Maehler). Oracular and poetic forms of knowledge, similar as they were, were inspired by Apollo and the Muses, and they often came from the bottom of a cave (Duchemin 1955:21-94; Ustinova 2004).
The notion of revelation was of central importance to Greek religion, but not in a Judeo-Christian sense. Men who wished to conform with the will of the gods, for fear of incurring their wrath otherwise, found help in divine signs. The proliferation of diviners and of oracle collections is tangible proof of this in a society without revealed books such as the Bible. Again, it is important to understand that archaic poets, who were always considered to be the religious initiators of hellenism and to some extent its prophets, were held to be inspired by the gods (Xenophanes fr. 11 D-K). This tendency was so strong that, whenever one stressed the ‘‘immorality’’ of the Homeric or Orphic gods, one immediately promoted an allegorical reading of them, right up until the end of ancient thought. Homer, Hesiod, Plato, Aristotle, and even a late collection of texts, the Chaldaean Oracles, for example, were seen as the varied expression of one single and unique revealed truth (Brisson 1996).
Divination in Greece was therefore far from an unreasonable, irrational outgrowth from ‘‘rational’’ Greek thought. Already in the archaic period all its procedures were in place or in gestation, and well integrated into Greek patterns of thought. The gods agreed to communicate some of their absolute knowledge with men, and divination was simply one privileged means of enabling this. This involved an analogical way of thinking that presupposed a certain sense of predestination: in myth, no matter how man tries to evade a prediction, it will always come to pass (Iliad 16.441-2; Xenophon Anabasis 7.8.8-22; Moreau 1991). In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (247-93) the young god himself declares his intention of giving men his rulings, which express the will of Zeus. Almost all gods and numerous heroes had their oracle somewhere, but Apollo was without contest the god of divination.
Like every form of contact with the sacred, divination involves an emotional response on the consultant’s part, and this can vary according to context and to the sensitivity and education of each individual (e. g., Thucydides 6.70.1). The consultation of an oracle can be a hypocritical act or it can express an intensely genuine piety. A distinction can moreover be made between the active and passive role of the oracle’s beneficiary. Men can ask for a sign and get it, or they can receive a spontaneous sign (Plutarch, Themistocles 13.2-5). Entering an oracular sanctuary obviously requires an active role. Dreams could impose themselves on a dreamer in his home, or in a sanctuary that specialized in oniromancy (divination by dreams).
World History
