UNDERSTANDING DELPHI THROUGH TIBET

Abstract

The question of the exact nature of the Pythia's expertise has been the subject of academic debate for a very long time. It would indeed not be an exaggeration to say that this has been, and continues to be, one of the most controversial questions in the study of ancient Greek religion. Modern scholars are sharply divided over whether any inspired female oracles, and especially the Pythia at Delphi, had the ability to prophesy in hexameter verse without male assistance. During the classical period the two most famous oracles were those of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus in north-western Greece and of Apollo at Delphi, which was located on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus. According to Plato (Phaedrus244), the Delphic priestess, as well as the priestesses at Dodona, prophesied in a state of altered consciousness (which he callsmania), and were practitioners of ‘inspired prophecy’ (mantikē entheos).