Greece and Rome
By: Monika • Essay • 253 Words • May 18, 2010 • 1,000 Views
Greece and Rome
CLAS 100
January 30, 2008
The Will of the Gods: Omens and Oracles
- Omen
o Observed, spontaneous natural events (i.e. lightning strike, seen as ultimate omen from the gods)
o Can also be provoked
o Interpreted as having divine significance (i.e. comets seemed random and divine, especially since sky was seen as realm of gods)
- Oracle: 3 meanings
o 1) Place of prophecy
 Site specific (i.e. Apollo at Delphi)
o 2) Speaker of the prophecy
o 3) Prophecy itself
o Oracles are sought out: human initiated activity
 Answer to specific question; asking the oracle
 Answers given: yes, no, “by sacrificing to X”
 Sometimes answers are set in poetic verse
- Omens + oracles = divination
o Aka prophecy (foretelling the future)
o “the art of determining the future by supernatural means
o Everyone has always wanted it
o By-product of human forethought
o Still evident today? Still around today (psychics, tarot cards, etc)
- Divination: 2 types
o 1) Inductive divination(artificial)
 Interpretation of omens
 Indirect: requires human interpreter (diviner)
• Technician, not always a priest
• No prophecy without omen
• High profile: advisors to rulers
 Some omens good, others bad, others more specific
 Natural phenomena: stars, eclipses, comets, thunderstorms
- Divination in Nature: Animals
o Prophetic: snakes, frogs, birds
o Sometimes prophetic: dogs and horses
o Never prophetic: fish
- Humans: channels for the divine
o Chance remarks
o Sneezing
o Epileptic fits
o Small child’s speech