Greek divination


Greek divination is the divination practiced by ancient Greek culture as it is known from ancient Greek literature, supplemented by epigraphic and pictorial evidence. Divination is a traditional set of methods of consulting divinity to obtain prophecies about specific circumstances defined beforehand. As it is a form of compelling divinity to reveal its will by the application of method, it is, and has been since classical times, considered a type of magic. Cicero condemns it as superstition. It depends on a presumed "sympathy" between the mantic event and the real circumstance, which he denies as contrary to the laws of nature. If there were any sympathy, and the diviner could discover it, then "men may approach very near to the power of gods."
The Greek word for a diviner is mantis, pl. manteis, generally translated as "seer" or "soothsayer." A mantis is to be distinguished from a hiereus, "priest," or hiereia, "priestess," by the participation of the latter in the traditional religion of the city-state. Manteis, on the other hand, were "unlicensed religious specialists," who were "expert in the art of divination." The first known mantis in Greek literature is Calchas, the mantis of the first scenes of the Iliad. His mantosune, or "art of divination", endowed him with knowledge of past, present, and future, which he got from Apollo. He was the army's official mantis. Armies of classical times seldom undertook any major operation without one, usually several. Mantosune in the army was a risky business. Prophets who erred were at best dismissed. The penalty for being a fraud was usually more severe.
One of the characteristics of Greek mantic culture is "a contrast between official and independent practicioners." On the official side were the internationally recognized oracles, who divined under the auspices of a specified divinity according to a specified method, had their own temple at a specified location, and were supported by their own priesthood; for example, the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, the Oracle of Zeus at Dodona, and so on. Although these oracles were located in sovereign city-states, they were granted a political "hands-off" status and free access so that delegations from anywhere could visit them.
The English language has reduced mention of mantic pronouncements to one word, "oracle," based on Latin oraculum, which can also mean the mantic center. This double meaning is true in ancient Greek and Latin also. The Greeks and Romans did not have a standard word that would apply in all cases. Manteion and chresterion were common in Greek. A prophecy might be referenced by the name of the god: "Apollo said..." or "Zeus said...." or by the name of the location: "Delphi says..." etc. Implication was common: hieron, "the sacred ," fatus meus, "my fate," etc.
The other type of mantis was the independent consultant mentioned above. The important generals and statesmen had their own prophets, to avoid such difficulties as Agamemnon experienced, when Calchas forced him to sacrifice his daughter and ransom his female prize in the opening of The Iliad. Privately hired manteis, such as Alexander used, never seemed to disagree with command decisions, or if a possibly negative prophecy was received, made sure that it was given the most favorable interpretation. By that time, based on what Cicero said, the leaders were probably skeptical of prophecy, but the beliefs of the superstitious soldiers were a factor to be considered.

Oracles

Oracles were individuals committed to and capable of practice.
Amongst others, there were oracles at Delphi and Dodona, although Greek divination had less of an institutional facet.

Tiresias

Of all oracles of ancient Hellenic culture and society, a man named Tiresias was thought as the most vital and important.

Oracular deities

Zeus

was known as Zeus Moiragetes, which is to refer to the power of Zeus to know the fate of mortals. The newly-born Zeus himself learnt his fate by the night and, accordingly, by Phanes, while within a dark cave.
Herodotus stated the earliest oracle was the oracle of Zeus located at Dodona, although archaeological remains at Delphi date to earlier. There was an oracle at Dodona from the 5th century BCE, although the oracle of Zeus might have still have had a practice at the same locus earlier, prior to construction of the temple, a possibility which seems probable since the temple remains show an oak tree at the location.

Apollo

Apollo, the most important oracular deity, is most closely associated with the supreme knowledge of future events which is the possession of Zeus. Apollo was known as Apollo Moiragetes, referring to Apollo as the god of fate. The oracle at Delphi gave oracles from Apollo.
Apollo in an oracular function is associated with both, purification and truth. Even though the prophecies given by him were ambiguous, he is said to have never uttered a lie.
Apollo's oracle at Delphi is the most famous and was the most important oracular site of ancient Greece.
According to Homer and Callimachus, Apollo was born with prophetic abilities and the power of reading the will of Zeus. However, a less popular belief is that he was instructed by Pan in divination as found within myth.

Apollo and Hermes

transfers to Hermes a skill in cleromancy, upon the request of Hermes. Speaking within the hymn, Apollo expounds on the difficulty he experiences with his own divination, and then proceeds to provide the gift of divination to his brother Hermes, though a lesser skill, because the mantic dice are not under the control and influence of the will of Zeus. Hermes' skill at divination, though inferior to the skill of Apollo, is still of a divine nature.
The gift of Apollo is bee maidens with oracular abilities.
Hermes
Hermes is associated with divination by lottery, otherwise known as cleromancy.
The triad of bee maidens are prophetic via Hermes.

Pan and the nymphs

In Arcadia Pan was the principal oracular deity, instead of Apollo. Prophecy is associated with caves and grottoes within Greek divination, and the Nymphs and Pan were associated variously with caves. Panolepsy is a cause of inspirational states of mind, including abilities of a mantic nature.

Prometheus

The god Prometheus gave the gift of divination to humanity.
Aeschylus wrote Prometheus Bound during the 5th century BCE in which Prometheus founded all the art of civilization including divination. This he did by stealing fire from the gods and gifting this fire to humankind. The 5th century BCE telling is a re-telling of a story told by Hesiod within the 8th century BCE

Methodologies

Greek practice made use of various techniques for divination, which are classified as direct or indirect, spontaneous or artificial.

Classifications

Direct

In direct divination, a divinater might experience dreams, temporary madness, or phrensy ; all these things being states in which an inspired recognition of truth is attained. The divinator must take steps to produce a state of being and mind which allow for the experience of divination. Attested techniques include, sleeping in conditions whereby dreams might be more likely to occur, inhaling mephitic vapour, chewing leaves from the bay plant, and drinking of blood.

Indirect

This is divination whereby a divinator observes natural conditions and phenomenon

Augury

Augury, or divination by omens, is a practice which still survives to the modern era.

Cleromancy

This is divination by throwing of lots, stones, or dice. Cleromancy was practiced at places including Dodona, and by the Pythia at Delphi.
Astragalomancy is a type of cleromancy performed by throwing the knuckle-bones of sheep or other ruminants to be able to tell the future. As each face of the astragalos is assigned a numerical value, astragaloi can be rolled like dice and the resultant roll matched to a table of possible outcomes. A number of these tables were engraved on public monuments in southern Anatolia.

Extispicy

Divination by way of the making of a sacrifice took the form of examination of entrails, by which is meant the bowels and viscera.

Enthusiastic

Enthusiastic prophecy is when a god speaks through the mouth of a diviner.
Pan was able to dwell within people, which is known as panolepsy. A degree of possession of an individual by a nymph is known as nympholepsy.
Greek thinkers thought epileptic fitting and thus epilepsy had an origin with a divinity, and the means of making this association is thought through divination. This conclusion on the consciousnesses of ancient Greek thinkers is drawn by the fact of the sheer number of divine signs observed within society of the time, and the propensity of people to know a variety things as all having divine causes.

Hydromancy

Hydromancy, or divination by water, is a Hellenic practice which still survives in the modern era.

Necromancy

Necromancy is a divinatory practice of consulting the dead.

Pyromancy

Pyromancy, divination by fire is a practice that has survived to the modern era.

Stikhomanteia

Divination of this type utilizes writings, either by scraps of paper with writing upon them chosen from within a vessel, or by opening a book at random. The first of these two type was practiced by the Sibylline oracles.

Thriai

This is divination by using pebbles. The Thriai were personification of this type of divination.

Ancient sources

advocated divination. Herodotus provided a record of the prophetic productions resulting from Delphi. Dicaearchus dismissed any notion of the trueness of divination by any means other than dreams and frenzy. Aristophanes mentions an oracle in his comedy Knights. Aristotle wrote On Divination in Sleep, written 350 BCE. Posidonius attempted to elaborate a theory of divination; he envisioned the sight of the future, as a cable might unwind, so insight into the future unfolds within the mind. Chrysippus claimed empirical evidence for the truthfulness of divination. Plutarch advocated the divination at the Oracle of Delphi; he considered enthusiastic prophecy to be possible when the soul of the Pythia becomes incorporated with Apollo in an inner vortex internal to the Pythia. Cicero wrote a book On Divination. Xenophon recorded his own meeting with a diviner named Eucleides, in chapter 7 of his work Anabasis.
Pythagoras was said to have practiced divination. Socrates both practiced and advocated divination. Xenophon was thought to be skilled at foretelling from sacrifices, and attributed much of his knowledge to Socrates in "The Cavalry Commander".