I. Introduction 
	a. Definition of an oracle.
	b. Why oracles were important
	c. How a message was received
	d. When and where oracles existed
	e. Reasons to consult the oracles

II Main Report
	a. The Oracle at Delphi
		1, Origin of the oracle
		2. What people of political importance consulted this oracle.
		3. What the site is like today
	b. The Oracle at Dodona
		1. Origin of the oracle
		2. How messages were received.
			a. false oracles
	c. The Oracle of Ammon
		1. Origin of the oracle
			a. similarities to the origin of the Oracle at Dodona.
		2. Important information about the Oracle of Ammon

III. Conclusion
	a. What I learned
	b. How Greek oracles compared with other oracles.
	c. My opinion on this assignment.

	An oracle is a person that can speak to the gods.  They were consulted before any major event; including marriage,
war, peace, introduce a change in government, to enact laws, to plant new colonies, and to raise an edifice.  By consulting
the oracle you showed that they were to obey the exact words of the divinity.


	Priestesses were often the oracles, and the priests typically were the people whom translated the messages into
something the average Greek could understand.  Priestesses only received answers from the gods when she was in a trance.
When in trance, her hair would stand on end, her eyes would glaze over, she would have terrible tremors and shaking,
and she would react often with violent madness, sputtering phrases that were only decipherable by the priests.

	Priestesses entered trances through doing things such as eating laurel leaves, and smelling gasses, as at 
Mt. Paranassus where sulfur fumes were that caused violent convulsions..

	Priests that interpreted the messages were often not very dependable, because everybody wanted to get a good reply
from the oracle, many people offered bribes unto the priests, which were most times were accepted without resistance.

	Often the first words the oracles says are interpreted to he the answer, but things like animals acting strangely,
or the wind rustling through the branches of an oak tree, were also accepted as signs from the gods.

	Oracle existed from well before Christ's birth, and many believe that it stopped as soon as Christ entered this
world, but that is false.  Many oracles still existed, although they were less frequently consulted, and they were 
declining.  Oracular events ended in the fourth century AD.

	The oracles played a very important role in Greek religion.  They foretold future events, and were said to be a
 direct link to the gods through a mortal being.  

	Some very amazing things happened when the Priestesses communicated with the gods.  When in trance the priestess
would often howl, and cry out words, only understood by the priests.  One priestess, as told by Plutarch was thrown into
such an excessive fury that she had to be held down and lead to the sacred tripod, where the messages were received.  
The priestess was so violent that many people were afraid of what the oracle was telling of the future.

The Oracle At Delphi

The origin of the Delphic Oracle

	8,000 feet above see level on Mt. Paranassus, near a large spring that was held sacred.  Sulfuric fumes flowed from
cracks in the Earth's crust.  The gasses caused goats to convulse, and act very strangely, tossing and turning, and even 
sometimes as a result dying.  When people on the mountain discovered this they walked over to the cracks in the Earth.  
They were soon overtaken by the fumes, which had similar effects on humans.

	The discovery of this was considered a miracle, and immediately work began erecting a shrine in the area near the
cracks.  The god Apollo, god of music poetry and the sun, was said to have been the god communicating down from 
Mt. Olympus, speaking to the mortal oracle.
	
Who consulted the Oracle at Delphi 
(important figures such as political leaders etc.)

	The person who visited the oracle, whom is most famous is Croesus.  Croesus wanted to take of Persia, so as many
people did in time of decision, consulted the oracle.  As usual the oracle's answer was vague and could be interpreted 
in different ways.  The oracle had in this verse

	*"I count the sand, I measure out the sea,
	The silent and the dumb are heard by me;
	E'en now the odors of my sense that rise,
	A tortoise boiling with lamb supplies;
	While brass below and brass above it lies"

	Croesus was not satisfied with this answer, so he gave gifts and made more sacrifices.  Then the oracle replied with
this second verse:

	**"When o'er the Modes a mule will sit on high,
	O'er pebbly Hermus then, soft Lydian, fly;
	Fly with all haste, for safety scorn thy fame,
	Not scruple to deserve a coward's name."

Croesus thought this meant that he would defeat the Persians.

	As it ended, a great empire did fall.  Croesus' empire, Lydia was destroyed, and taken over by the Persians.  
Lydia never again became of any importance.

	Croesus threatened to attack Delphi, because the answer said he would win, but to no avail what the Priests at the
temple said that they should have asked which empire would fall.

General information about the Delphic Oracle

	The oracle was also called Pythia by Greek poets, because of the snake the python.  The Pythia was consulted in only
one month of the year, sometime in spring.

	It was an important thing to give a gift to Apollo.  Most people, if they could possibly afford it bought extravagant
and exotic gifts for Apollo, for answering their question.

	At each meeting with the oracle, who was typically a woman [priestess] and five priests to  help offering sacrifices,
and one to interpret her messages.  For a long period of time, messages were delivered in hexameter verses (verses
including six lines), but the practice of this was eventually discontinued, and forgotten.

	Unlike many other sites, the Delphic site can be located, and linked to a specific location today.

The Oracle at Dodona

Origin of The oracle at Dodona

	The legend of the origin of Dodona is that first, two priestesses were carried away from Egypt.  One was taken to
Dodona, and the other to Ammon.  Then two black doves flew from the city of Thebes in Egypt, again one to Dodona the other 
to Ammon.  The doves had human voices, which they used to become acquainted to the people, then they became oracles.  
This is what gave birth to the unusual custom, that not only humans, but doves were also considered priests in Dodona.

	Zeus became the god whom was worshipped, and communicated to at Dodona.  Oracles were not only taken directly from 
the priestesses here.  Sometimes unusual actions of doves, or the wind whistling through the branches of an oak tree were
accepted as answers.

	Messages were also accepted from a murmuring fountain, pots and kettles hung to catch the wind and the clanking of
the pans against a brazen statue were interpreted as a message.

	People claimed to have spoken with Zeus through the oak trees, which were his symbol and were sacred in Dodona.  
Even Jason and the Argonauts claimed to receive messages through beams in their ship which were made of Dodonan oak.

	Originally oracles of Dodona were men, then that changed, as every other site had female oracles.

	There is also a legend of a stream in Dodona, which had cold water with the power to light a torch.  Each day towards
noon the water disappeared completely, but was always restored to full by midnight, and there it decreased until noon, and
the cycle repeated every day.

Origin of the oracle of Ammon

	•There is a legend, that two black doves took flight from the city of Thebes in Egypt.  One went to Dodona, the other
to Ammon.  The doves had human voices, and became quite important to religion.

	•The oracle of Ammon was also an oracle that communicated to Zeus.  And as in Dodona priests and doves alike were 
priests.

Other Facts about Ammon

	•Ammon is about a nine day trip from Alexandria.  The oracle was consulted by Greek heroes, including Heracles and 
Perseus.

	•Near the temple was a fountain, that had cold running water at noon and midnight, and was warm in the morning and in
the evening. 

	•The large temple at Ammon had over 100 priests.  Out of the many priests only the elders delivered the messages.

	I learned many things about oracles, and oracular events.  First, I knew only about the oracle at Delphi, and I 
didn't even know that they spoke with Apollo there.

	In the course of finding information about Greek oracles, there were always oracles of other cultures mixed with the
information   As in one city in Egypt, not only animals other than humans served as priests, but a bull served as an oracle,
the Sacred Bull of Apis.  The bull would answer yes and no, good and bad, by accepting food, it was a good sign, but if the 
bull refused to take the food it was a bad sign.

	Another thing I learned is that oracles existed, not only in Greece, bur in many parts of the world.  Even tribes of
South America that still exist have oracles.

	Overall it was an interesting project, and I learned a great deal of information about oracles, and Greek Mythology.

Book of Fate - Ancient Oracles.  Available at 

Baker, Charles F, and Basil F. Baker.  The Classical Companion.  Place not Given: Cobblestone Publishing, Not Dated.

Cohen, Daniel.  Ancient Greece.  New York: Doubleday, 1990.

Wyllys, Charles Elliot. Mysteries; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural.  New York: Harper Brothers, 1852.

Footnotes:

* Wyllys, Charles.  Glimpses of the Supernatural. New York: Harper Brothers, 1852.
**. Wyllys, Charles.  Glimpses of the Supernatural. New York: Harper Brothers, 1852.

	Recent reports have shown that oracular consultation is on the rise.  More people believing what is told to them.
We interviewed one man, here at the oracular site Delphi, who said he wants to take over Persia.  He is the ruler of Lydia.
The priests replied in their usual vague answers, that were interpreted by this man to mean he would be victorious.
He was not successful.  Now he blames the oracles for all of his troubles.  Now it is feared that Lydia may never gain
importance.
This man, whom wishes to remain anonymous, confronted the oracle with his questioning of the result.  All that the priests
had to say is that the man should have asked which empire would fall.

	Is the oracle real?  Is the oracle responsible for the destruction of Lydia?  Is the oracle scamming people?  Well,
we'll leave these questions for you to decide.

				                                                            - John A. Valko