Possession andPneuma: TheEssential Nature oftheDelphicOracle PETER GREEN Τ Ahe persistenceofmyth (mythos) intheface ofreason(logos)hastobeoneofthemostfascinating phenomenainGreekhistory . Theyoften goton quitewelltogether , as canbeseennotonlyfrom thepolitical rhetoric of thefourth-century oratorsbut,rather moresurprisingly, fromthe medicalliterature. Hippocraticdoctorsmight soundoffabouttherational nature oftheso-called sacred disease, epilepsy (though they themselves gavea splendidly dottyexplanation of it as phlegmdescending fromthe brain);nevertheless, they worked inclosecooperation with theAsclepiadpriest-physicians at healingshrines suchas thatofEpidaurus, and exchanged bothideasand patients withthem. Butperhaps themostextraordinary example of mythos persisting, century after century, sidebysidewith ever-more-refined logos,is theoracleof Delphi.At least from theeighth century βce, andmoststrikingly from the daysofMidas,Gyges, andCroesus, richdedications testify tothebelief, bothpublicandprivate, thatApollo'sPythian priestesses gavevoicetomore-than-human knowledge: that they wereinfact, ina very literal sense, theVoxDei,theinstrument through which divinity expressed itself onearth. In whatdidthisspecialknowledge consist, andhowdid theprivileged winaccess toit?Thedesire topenetrate theveil ofthefuture isdeep-rooted inthehuman psyche, andvarious moreorlessmagical rituals evolved overtime to do so: the interpretation of dreams("fora dreamtoo comesfrom Zeus," as Homer's Achilles notes[17.1.62]),divination by anything from theflight ofbirds tothestate ofsacrificial livARION 17.2 FALL ZOO9 28 POSSESSION AND PNEUMA ers,oracular pronouncements. Yetwhatemerged from these operations was notso muchpredictions, inwhatwe might call theNostradamus sense,butrather advice,based on whatwas regarded as the will of the gods, channeled through their interpreters. At thesametime, thisadvice's specialvaluewas directly conditioned bythefactthatits giver, liketheHomeric seerCalchas, washeldtoknow"the present, thatwhich wastocome,andthatwhich hadbeen before" (τατ' έόντα τάτ' έσσόμενα πρότ ' έόντα, //. 1.70). Certainly at leastuntil theendoftheArchaic Age - andin many respects wellinto thefifth century - human fear andignorance oftheunknown, faced with thegods'unpredictable jealousy(phthonos) and thedreadof pollution (miasma, whether physical orspiritual), desperately needed thepsychic lifeline ofsupernatural order andpurpose, the feeling that there was a divine omniscience intowhich, withluck,mankind might occasionally bevouchsafed a privileged glimpse. Delphi'sknowledge of thepresent was famously vindicatedbytheLydian monarch Croesus, whochallenged the priests tostate whathewasdoing ona certain day:"Boiling a lambanda tortoise ina bronze cauldron," camethecorrect response, coupled with theclaimtoknow"thenumber ofsand-grains andthemeasure ofthesea" (Hdt.1.47.1-3). The future was another matter. Herakleitos (citedat Plut. Mor.404e) putitsuccinctly: "Thelordwhoseoracleis in Delphineither speaksnorconceals, butgives signs"(ό αναξ ουτο μαντεΐόν έστιτοένΔελφοΐς ούτελέγει ούτεκρύπτει άλλα σημαίνει). Similarly, Theognis (805-10) reminded his young friend Kyrnos that"themantowhom thepriestess at Pytho inherresponse gives signs (σημήνη) ofthegod'soracularvoice (όμφήν) from herwealthy shrine (αδύτου)" hadto teaseoutherutterance as meticulously as a carpenter with hisruleandsquare;adding orsubtracting from thesumof themessage bywish-fulfillment madetheconsultant guilty inthegod'seyes.Thisis also proof that - certainly bythe mid-sixth century, andinalllikelihood a hundred years earlier - thePythia was inplace,thefamous oracular method PeterGreen 29 (complete withtripod andomphalos) wellestablished, and theDelphicshrine already highly successful. Hintsand guesses, as T. S. Eliotsaid:hints followed by guesses. Menseektoreinforce their ownmortal projections ofthefuture through appealsto omniscient deities suchas ZeusorApollo,andeagerly follow suchcryptic signs as the gods'inspired agents, andtheir prophetai - that is,originally, interpreters - mayprovide. Predictions, forobvious reasons, arevery seldom specific. Delphiknewabouttheseven types ofambiguity longbefore William Empson popularized them: they form part oftherandomizing devices, especially unusual language, common to divination worldwide. A trained diviner candecodethem; no other human agent canmanipulatethem .1 AsWalter Burkert wisely observes, "thegainin confidence which thesigns bring as an aidtodecision-makingis so considerable thatoccasionalfalsification through experience doesnottellagainst them."2· Thisismore true ofprivate thanofpublic prognostication. Delphicertainly sawthrough Croesus, justas Herodotos did later:"He was themillionaire whobothbelieved wealth to be thesummum bonum,and used it indiscriminately to bludgeon goldenopinionsout of theworld, "3 and could safely berelied upontopushambiguous evidence inthedirection hewanted. Toldthatifhecrossed theHalysriver he woulddestroy a great empire, he didjustthat.Theempire was Lydian, andhisown.Butwhenitcameto thePersian Wars,theforecast forAthens was, understandably, bleak: "Flyto theendsoftheearth," theconsultants weretold. Though they managed togeta slightly lessbleak(andhighly ambiguous) secondoracleas a concession, no one could claimthatDelphicprescience hadforeseen a Greek victory from thestart. Thegod,onthefaceofit,hadsimply advised whatcommon sensedictated atthetime. This may partially explainwhycivic,and especially politico-military, consultation oftheoraclesuffered a slow decline during thefifth century, andwasvirtually a deadletterbythemiddle ofthefourth. Direct predictions regarding 3O POSSESSION AND PNEUMA publicaffairs - never theoracle's mostcharacteristic type of utterance - beganto disappearfromDelphi'srepertoire. Thosethat survived longest tended, notsurprisingly, tohave a religious angle; for example, thePythia continued tobeapproached regularly to declare a siteasylon, thatis,a nonplunderable demilitarized zone protected by its sanctity. (Henceourterm "asylum.") Butthephenomenon was something moregeneral, the change more linked toman's slowly expanding control ofhis environment. Magicand experimental science share,often indistinguishably, intheslowdissipation ofchaosandignorance , butitisthelatter that gradually gains theupper hand. Allweather godsarediminished bymeteorology. Themore knowledge humans possess...