The rustle of leaves, the cooing of pigeons, the ringing of cauldrons, the murmuring of a spring: the harmony of sounds in the mantics of the Dodonian oracle

Abstract

The ancient Greeks believed in various predictions. One of the most ancient oracles of Ancient Greece was the Dodonian oracle, located in Northern Greece in a remote and mountainous region called Epirus. The main symbol of Dodona was the sacred oak, with the help of which the god Zeus announced his will. The Dodona oracle can be called the oracle of sounds: the rustle of the leaves of the sacred oak, the cooing of doves nesting on its branches, the sacred cauldrons, which, in contact with each other, emitted a melodic sound, the murmur of a spring with water that possessed miraculous powers. The blows into the cauldron also symbolized protection from some kind of harmful effect. It is still not known exactly which of them were utilized for mantics, but they all created and emitted sounds that created an appropriate emotional environment and thus influenced the feelings of visitors. But it can be assumed that at different stages in the history of the Dodona oracle, various sound means were used.