Oracle

For alternate usages of "Oracle", see Oracle (disambiguation)

Oracles are human beings who make predictions, or offer insight, based on a (claimed) connection to the Gods. In the ancient world many sites gained a reputation for the dispensing of oracular wisdom: they too became known as "oracles", as did the oracular utterances themselves.

In classical Greece, the pre-eminent oracle - the Sybil (or Pythia) - operated at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. This oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture: the Greeks consulted her prior to all major undertakings -- wars, the founding of colonies, and so forth. The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Macedonia, Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt also respected her. Croesus of Lydia consulted Delphi before attacking Persia, and according to Herodotus received the answer "if you do, you will destroy a great empire." Croesus found the response favorable and attacked, and his enemies destroyed his empire.

The oracle also allegedly proclaimed Socrates the wisest man in Greece, to which Socrates said that if so, this was because he alone was aware of his own ignorance. In the 3rd century A.D., the oracle (perhaps bribed) declared that the god would no longer speak there.

Dodona became the second most important oracle in ancient Greece, dedicated to Zeus, Heracles and Dione.

Another oracle of note lay in Egypt, in a temple dedicated to Ammon, whom the Greeks associated with Zeus. Alexander the Great visited it, and though no record of his query remains, the oracle certainly hailed him as Ammon's son, which influenced his conceptions of his own divinity.

On Crete lay another important oracle, sacred to Apollo. It ranked as one of the most accurate oracles in Greece.

In Norse mythology, Odin took the severed head of the god Mimir to Asgard for consultation as an oracle.

In Chinese lore, Oracle is the set of symbols used for fortune-telling in the Shang Dynasty