We
know of the Classic Greek who relied on a number of oracles
for to make important political decisions, the most famous
Greek oracle being that of Apollon at Delphi, the ancient
Pytho.
Several thousand prognostications from this oracle have
come down to us. The best known perhaps is from 480 B.C.
and concerns the strategy of how the Athenians should face
the threat posed by the Persian king Xerxes who had set
out, with a formidable fleet and army, to invade the Greek
mainland and take their city.
The image to the right is the design on a cup from around
430 B.C. that shows the Greek Goddess of Justice, Themis,
in the sanctuary of Apollon at Delphi.
Seated
on the famous tripod of the oracle - priestess Pythia,
she reveals her prognostication to King Aigeus who
is in want of a son and heir to his throne. Museum
of Antiquity, Berlin.
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