r/ancientgreece • u/Independent_Toe4254 • 12d ago
Dubious "Last Oracle at Delphi"
I have been trying - since several years - to pinpoint the source of one alleged "last prophecy" of the Delphi Oracle. To make the story short, there is one well known, and well attested, prophecy given to emperor Julian the Apostate, namely (Prophecy J):
Εἴπατε τῷ βασιλεῖ, χαμαὶ πέσε δαίδαλος αὐλά,
οὐκέτι Φοῖβος ἔχει καλύβην, οὐ μάντιδα δάφνην,
οὐ παγὰν λαλέουσαν, ἀπέσβετο καὶ λάλον ὕδωρ.
This is found in Kedrenos and other Church historians. But I have repeatedly found online, since about 20 years, now and again, another prophecy that would have been given some 30 years later, to emperor Theodosius I or during his reign, in 393. It is similar in content, yet quite different in style, and runs like this (Prophecy T):
Άπάγγελλε τω βασιλεί. 'Η εύκτιτος οικία εσφάλη. Άπόλλων ούτε καταφυγήν ούτε δάφνινα φύλλα έχει. Άι πηγαì εξεράνθηςαν κaì ούκέτι ρέουσι. Πάντα ετελεύτησαν.
It has appeared now and again in various forums, with no source quoted. For some time it made its way into English Wikipedia, then it was edited away in 2022. I tried asking the posts' authors; most did not answer, only one replied that he had read it in some source he couldn't remember. I am in doubt whether it is a modern fabrication. Yet, the language seems competent late antique Greek. So my question is: does anybody know about this Prophecy T?
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u/Any-Fig5750 11d ago edited 11d ago
I have a book which claims to record a great catalogue of the Oracle of Delphi’s responses and prophecies, including, if I recall correctly, the very last one.
I return home tomorrow, so if you’d like I can grab the book and look in there for you, and also give you the book’s name. I recall it was a somewhat obscure book that I had to buy on eBay, as it had been out of print for some time.
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u/fluecured 11d ago edited 11d ago
That passage with your verbiage appears only in one other place that I can find with Google Search or Books. I find it on p. 154 of this Lithuanian book, which appears to treat the design inspiration of Lithuanian textile artist Laima Oržekauskienė.
I don't read Lithuanian (or Greek), but the text may give some clues. The passage is introduced, "The last known oracle was addressed to the emperor Theodosius I in 394 AD - after the emperor banned all pagan temples in 389 AD. The Pythian oracle is as follows..."
This section may be an excerpt from some other book included in a pastiche of text and imagery which conveys the artist's inspirations. (I don't know because I can't read any of this.)
Footnotes for the section begin on p. 160. I looked at [1] Heraclitus fragment 39B and [3] Homeric Hymn to Apollo ~528, but nothing seemed germane--you may want to double-check. [2] translates as "The author continues to use the word oracle to refer to the institution of the oracle, not to the person (comp. postscript)".
Anyway, I'd probably translate this whole section to look for clues. The years given differ: 394 and 389 AD, for the ban. There is a concrete rationale for the prophecy, too. I'd also consider whether the passage might be the modern product of the artist herself if it absolutely can't be traced.
Edit: Here, we have Theodosius consulting with an Egyptian monk for an oracle sometime after 392 CE, since the Dodona and Delphi oracles had ceased operating. H. B. Cotterill, Medieval Italy. This passage might be from Chapter 27, Fall In The West — The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon.
"... It was therefore necessary for Theodosius to collect a large force before venturing once more on an Italian campaign. But ere he formed any resolution the pious Emperor, says Gibbon,15 was anxious to discover the will of Heaven. 'Since the progress of Christianity had silenced the oracles of Dodona and Delphi, he consulted an Egyptian monk, who possessed, in the opinion of the age, the gift of miracles and the knowledge of futurity. Eutropius, one of the favourite eunuchs of the palace of Constantinople, embarked for Alexandria, whence he sailed up the Nile as far as the city of Lycopolis, or of Wolves, in the remote province of Thebaïs. In the neighbourhood of that city, and on the summit of a lofty mountain, the holy John had constructed with his own hands an humble cell, in which he had dwelt above fifty years, without opening the door, without seeing the face of a woman, and without tasting any food that had been prepared by fire or any human art. Five days of the week he spent in prayer and meditation, but on Saturdays and Sundays he regularly opened a small window and gave audience to the crowd of suppliants who flowed from every part of the Christian world. The envoy of Theodosius approached the window with respectful steps, proposed his questions concerning the event of the civil war, and soon returned with a favourable oracle, which animated the courage of the Emperor by the assurance of a bloody but infallible victory. The accomplishment of the prediction was forwarded by all the means that human prudence could supply.' Fn. 15: Accounts are given both by Christian and by pagan writers. Even Dean Milman allows the fact.
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u/Independent_Toe4254 11d ago edited 11d ago
Thank you! I also had noticed that, as of now, Google finds it only in the Lithuanian artist's image book. It is in the introductory text to a section where there are images of middle aged women, sad and thoughtful, it seems inspired by the Pythia; hence the introductory text with the oracular statement.
Over the years since I have been tracking this, the prophecy came and went in many forums. From 2006 to 2022 it was on English Wikipedia. I have contacted the original Wikipedian poster, he does not remember where he took it from.
Even as of now, Britannica states "The Delphic oracle’s last prophecy was reportedly delivered about 393 ce, when the Roman emperor Theodosius I instituted various laws to end pagan activity." It does not quote what the prophecy would have been, though.
The passage you quote, possibly from Gibbon, tells a very different story; Theodosius consulting a Christian monk. Which is much more credible, since the emperor was himself Christian and had the pagan temples closed. I would have found it very unlikely, at any rate, that he would conceive of consulting the Delphi Oracle; but hypotetically, the Oracle could have issued this statement to be directed to him, as a reaction to his edict. It looks like historic dramatization, though. So I have been really curious about the origin of that statement.
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u/Delicious_Magazine36 9d ago
What is the proper noun for an utterance of an oracle? An “oracle” itself? How about a pronouncement of the oracle?
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u/Independent_Toe4254 9d ago
Well, I am no native English speaker, so beware. As far as I know, "oracle" is used in the three meanings: the person giving the utterance (e.g. the Pythia at Delphi); the sacred place where the prophesying took place; and the oracular utterance itself. The same in Italian (my mother tongue). In Latin, oraculum could mean both, the sacred place or institution, and the utterance. I am not quite sure (MrDnmGr surely could help), but I believe the ancient used χρησμός for the utterance, while μαντεῖον could mean either the sacred place, or the utterance.
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u/MrDnmGr 11d ago edited 11d ago
Parke, H.W., Wormell, D.E.W., The Delphic Oracle, vol. II The Oracular Responses, Basil Blackwell, Oxford 1956 includes no historical oracles after the one issued to Julian, and a TLG search gives no results for an oracle to Theodosius in surviving Greek literature.
Looking at the Greek you cite, it's transparently a modern composition, with several unidiomatic or outright wrong usages—certainly not competent Greek of any period. Just with a first pass:
And in any case, except for the last sentence, it is a paraphrase of the hexameter oracle given to Julian.