Ernest B. McGinnis
Ernest B. McGinnis
Ruins at the Castillian Falls. Pythian priestesses would ritually bath themselves in the Castillian Falls just prior to delivering their oracles in the Temple of Apollo.
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Introduction
The Greeks have been characterized as lovers of philosophy, experts in military tactics, breathtaking artists and the founders of democracy. History has recorded, as the forerunners for these achievements, men such as Plato, Socrates, Alexander the Great, and Homer, who have decorated our history books and painted the picture of ancient Greece in our minds. However, it was not men who put the greatest oracular city on the Greco-Roman map, but women. In the last article in this series on Delphi as Center of the Earth and center of a Corinthian controversy, we explored the mythological beginnings of Delphi and the gods and goddesses whose names are forever linked to this influential city. In this article, we shall explore not the men, but the women who applied this mythology to the everyday lives of the Greco-Roman people. These ancient women of Delphi, known simply as “the Pythia,” ruled and served in Delphi for nearly 600 years, and left a mark on Christianity which survives even to this day.
Ernest B. McGinnis
Marketplace at Delphi. The Agora or Marketplace in Delphi drew not only seekers of answers, but also the treasures of city-states and wealthy citizens from around the Mediterranean.
The Role of Women at Delphi
Prophecy was certainly not unique to Delphi in the ancient Mediterranean world. A myriad of ancient historians record such practices as divining the flight of birds, reading entrails, casting lots, interpreting dreams, and sleeping on bare soil. These prophetic mechanisms, however, share at least two similarities: they were all practiced by men and they were all done, dare I say, rationally. These acts of reading the future or the will of the gods were practiced within a calm, even systematic, manner. This was not the case however in Delphi. The Pythia were indeed a unique anomaly within the Greco-Roman world. Any armchair psychologist would immediately assert that before one can grasp “what” these women did, we must first ascertain “who” these women were.
The role of a Pythia priestess was not easily attained, as certain qualifications, both circumstantial and spiritual, were taken into account. Of course the first qualification was that of gender. All Pythian priestesses were required to be women. Moreover, it was required that they would be women of freeborn Delphic citizenship (Plutarch 1975). The Delphic Pythia were expected to be a sort of concubine to the god Apollo, and the Pythia were expected to sleep in the temple during the months when the oracles were given (Herodotus: 1.182). Therefore, it was
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expected that a Pythian priestess “has spent her life in a virtuous manner” (Plutarch: Delphic Oracle). This so-called “virtuousness,” however, of the Pythia was not maintained, as reports of rape and sexual promiscuity among the Pythia were rampant. This led to an edict that only women over the age of 50 should take on this role, and by the time of Plutarch virginity was once again demanded of the Pythia (Plutarch: Delphic Oracle).
The daily life of a Pythian priestess depended upon the time of the year. During the cold winter months, Dionysus ruled Delphi. Dionysian drunken orgies were understood to help move along the cold winter months, as the Pythia would engage in indiscriminate acts brought on by drunkenness and the frenzied worship of Dionysus, who was believed to have “entered” them. Once the warmer spring and summer months arrived, the Pythia’s days became somewhat more regimented. On each occasion when oracles were given, the Pythia would bathe in the Castilian Fountain, a large natural pool just outside the city gates. After the ritualistic cleansing, they would enter the temple of Apollo and take their place upon a Tripod, a high chair with three long legs. The Tripod was set atop a slight, natural crevice on the temple floor, which would release “the breath” of the god. The Pythia would then begin chewing the leaves of the sacred laurel tree. The laurel tree had become sacred to the god Apollo, as the story goes, when Apollo fell in love with a beautiful mortal woman named Laurel. Apollo’s father, Zeus, was displeased with this union and instructed Apollo to cease his relationship with Laurel. Apollo’s love was so intense that obedience was out of the question. In retaliation, Zeus turned Laurel into a tree, which grows abundantly in Delphi. Therefore, the Pythia’s chewing of the laurel leaf would supposedly draw Apollo’s presence to the Pythia, and thus allow her to reap the prophetic knowledge of the god.
Ernest B. McGinnis
Tripod lighter. The tripod incense burner was made to burn the laurel leaves, which drew the presence of Apollo to his temple and the Pythian priestess.
Ecstatic Oracles
Upon completion of the laurel ritual, the Pythia would drink deeply from the water of the Castilian Fountain, burn laurel and barley on the unending fire of the altar to Apollo and finally take her seat upon the Tripod in preparation for what was to come. Instantly the Pythia would enter into a manonion (mania), which was characterized by frantic and uncontrolled bodily movements and speaking in unknown tongues. As the Pythia went into her ecstatic and maniacal trance, a prophate (male prophet) would interpret and write down the oracle or prophecy of the Pythia.
The wild and ecstatic manner in which these Pythia would receive the oracle did not always end well. Plutarch notes,
on one occasion she died as a result of the violent agitation caused by the prophetic furor, due to the fact that the Pythia had entered the tripod against her will and was possessed by an “incoherent and evil inspiration” (Dempsey 1972: 68; Plutarch, Obsolescence of Oracles 438; LCL 5: 499).
The idea of a Pythia becoming possessed by an “evil spirit” can also be attested by the New Testament book of Acts. Luke
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Ernest B. McGinnis
First or second century BC relief, located at the Piraeus museum, showing Pythian priestesses being initiated at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi.
records an incident regarding a young woman who was known to be “a slave girl who had a spirit of pythos divination and brought her owners much gain by telling fortunes” (Acts 16:16). Paul’s response to this Pythia was one of resolve, as we find that he “was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, ‘I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her’. And it came out that very hour” (Acts 16:18). One may certainly ascertain that the Christians of the first century did in fact attribute the ramblings of the Pythia to that of demons, which had indwelt the ecstatic Pythia. Furthermore, even pagans saw the cause of the Pythia’s “mania” during the giving of oracles as being “divine” as well.
Dempsey notes that the ancient writers saw the utterances of the Pythia as being both physical and divine. Plutarch, Strabo, Lucan, and Cicero “agreed that a physical cause cooperated, or even was the leading agency, in the Pythian frenzy,” and Plutarch adds that this vapor, which was the physical cause of the frenzy, “was a mere instrument: the final cause of the power which the vapor possesses is the Deity [Apollo]” (Dempsey 1972: 68). Although we may conclude that the vapors rising from the cleft in the earth may have possessed hallucinatory elements, and the Pythia may well have been demonized, we can also conclude that these Pythia were also under other influences, such as the power of suggestion and the chemical composition of the very “breath,” which held hallucinatory properties. This fact we shall consider in the next article.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have found that many factors contributed to the life and legacy of these unknown and nameless women who held such power over the ancient world and the men who ruled it. The manner in which they conducted their “prophetic” and “inspired” duties held the learned and simple-minded in awe for thousands of years. Only over the past 25 years have geological discoveries at Delphi shed light on this ancient mystery. These discoveries have provided answers to the physical causes for the mania and ecstatic behaviors of the Pythia. Though these discoveries answer many ancient questions, a deeper and more spiritual issue remains to be explored. In the article to follow, we shall explore these recent discoveries as well as seek to link these findings to the claims of Paul in Acts 16 and his condemnations of the Corinthian Christians in 1 Corinthians 12–14. Though there is no New Testament epistle to the people of Delphi, it is clear that this city’s sphere of influence over first century Christianity was one of intrigue and mystery.
Bibliography
Dempsey, Thomas
1972 The Delphic Oracle: Its Early History, Influence and Fall. New York: B. Bloom. Reprint of 1918 ed., Oxford, England: B.H. Blackwell.
Herodotus
1975 Herodotus. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University.
Plutarch
1975 Plutarch, XXII.. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University. 1999 Moralia 5. Trans. Frank C. Babbitt. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University.
Bible And Spade 20:3 (Summer 2007)