gnōthi seauton – “know thyself”…

You read the enigmatic maxim, engraved on the pronaos (porch) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and ponder it’s meaning. The long and arduous walk up the steep paths of the Parnassian mountains, not to mention the month long journey from Megara, have left you a lot of time to reflect on this sacred pilgrimage you are making, as well as the big decision you are to make about leaving your homeland in search of a better life. The busy crowds weaving their way up the paths like a serpent show you are not the only one seeking answers from the Pythia, the sacred priestess of Apollo who gives out prophecies to individuals and states alike from across the ancient world. Perhaps the inscription is asking you to think about your own hopes and fears before placing all of your life decisions in the words of the oracle. The other inscriptions, “nothing to excess” and “surety brings ruin” give you less confidence.

So must have thought the many people the oracle greeted at Delphi. As the most important sacred site in the ancient Greek world the Pythia was consulted on matters both great and small by both states and individuals.

The city of Delphi, a small settlement by modern definitions, would have been swamped by people from across the ancient world. The Pythia was available for consultation only one day per month, and so even if you had managed to make the successful pilgrimage to the site the chance of receiving Apollo’s oracle was still not a certainty. Though the Pythia was indeed the focal point there were many other alternative forms of divination available to those unfortunate souls who missed their narrow chance of meeting with the priestess. For example in a cave above Delphi a popular local cult to the god Pan offered another oracle who offered prophecies through some form of randomised lottery with answers picked at random. Similar smaller fortune tellers and diviners have also been attested at the site, suggesting there were more pilgrims than the Pythia was able to realistically meet with.

Even if you didn’t manage to consult the priestess you would get a chance to watch the procession that accompanied her into the temple the morning of the monthly consultations. She would bathe in a small spring next to the sanctuary to purify herself, before making her way to the temple with her entourage of priests and attendants known as the prophetes. However even with the rarity with which the Delphic oracle held her consultations the priests still needed to seek approval from Apollo before she was allowed to receive a pilgrim. To achieve this a sacred ritual was performed… by pouring cold water on a goat (!?!?!?!), if the goat shuddered when the water was poured then Apollo approved, if not then your attempt to consult the oracle had failed. Diodorus Siculus tells a story of a goat herder whose goats would fall into a crack in the earth and act strangely around the site, and when he entered the fissure began seeing prophetic projections, and it was because of this that the first shrine was erected, so this is possibly the reasoning behind the goat, but one can only imagine the frustration at trying to get this goat to shudder, imagine what a waste your trip would had all your fortunes been placed on some water on a goat! In fact, we hear of a story related by Plutarch that on one occasion a foreign deputation tried to cheat this seemingly silly ritual, to disastrous consequence…

“As it happened, a deputation from abroad had arrived to consult the oracle. The victim, it is said, remained unmoved and unaffected in any way by the first libations; but the priests, in their eagerness to please, went far beyond their wonted usage, and only after the victim had been subjected to a deluge and nearly drowned did it at last give in. What, then, was the result touching the priestess? She went down into the oracle unwillingly, they say, and halfheartedly; and at her first responses it was at once plain from the harshness of her voice that she was not responding properly; she was like a labouring ship and was filled with a mighty and baleful spirit. Finally she became hysterical and with a frightful shriek rushed towards the exit and threw herself down, with the result that not only the members of the deputation fled, but also the oracle-interpreter Nicander and those holy men that were present.” Plutarch, Obsolescence of Oracles 51

This shows us that proper ceremony and tradition were important at Delphi, as here Plutarch suggests the priestess went temporarily insane when the rituals were not performed correctly.

So the goat has shuddered, good news! The proceedings can go ahead. We might now imagine a scene of travel-weary pilgrims jostling for first-place like a Black-Friday sale, or punters camping out weeks in advance confidently boasting that they’re securing their place. In fact there was some degree of organisation around this to ensure an orderly queue. Priority was given to different groups, locals from Delphi could jump the queue and visit first; this was followed by Greeks from cities who were part of the governing council of Delphi (called the Amphictyoni), then all other Greeks, then non-Greeks.

You’ve got lucky – the Pythia is not as busy today and you’ve managed to gain approval to meet with her. You walk through the doors into the darkened hall where the Pythia awaits, and…. We’re not entirely sure. There is a wealth of evidence on the Oracle of Delphi, from eyewitnesses such as Plutarch and Herodotus, to references in other historical works, tragedies, geographies, comedies etc. – yet there is great divergence and a surprising degree of vagueness when it comes to exactly what happens when you stand in front of the Pythia.