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PRIESTESS (PYTHIA) OF ANCIENT DELPHI

                               PART II

In Part II, we will now explore how the priestess was chosen, and the vapors that were said to have played a role in her inspirations and prophesies.

Though little is known of how the priestess was chosen, the Pythia was probably selected, at the death of her predecessor, from amongst a guild of priestesses of the temple.  These women were all natives of Delphi and were required to have had a sober life and be of good character. (1) (2) Although some were married, upon assuming their role as the Pythia, the priestesses ceased all family responsibilities, marital relations, and individual identity.  In the heyday of the oracle, the Pythia may have been a woman chosen from an influential family, well educated in geography, politics, history, philosophy, and the arts.  It has been reported that during later periods, however, uneducated peasant women were also chosen for the role.  The archaeologist John Hale reports:

“The Pythia was (on occasion) a noble of aristocratic family, sometimes a peasant, sometimes rich, sometimes poor, sometimes old, sometimes young, sometimes a very lettered and educated woman to whom somebody like the high priests and the philosopher Plutarch would dedicate essays, other times who could not write her own name.  So it seems to have been aptitude rather than any ascribed status that made these women eligible to be Pythias and speak for the God. (3)

The job of a priestess, especially the Pythia, was a respectable career for Greek women.  Priestesses enjoyed many liberties and rewards for their societal position, such as freedom from taxation, the right to own property and attend public events, a salary and housing provided by the state, a wide range of duties depending on their affiliation, and often gold crowns. (4)

During the main period of the oracle’s popularity, as many as three women served as Pythia, another vestige of the triad, with two taking turns in giving prophecy and another kept in reserve. (5)

Plutarch, a known statesman and historian, said (6) that the Pythia’s life was shortened through the service of Apollo.  The sessions were said to be exhausting.  At the end of each period the Pythia would be like a runner after a race or a dancer after an ecstatic dance, which may have had a physical effect on the health of the Pythia.

Several other officials served the oracle in addition to the Pythia (7) after 200 BC at any given time there were two priests of Apollo, who were in charge of the entire sanctuary; Plutarch, who served as a priest during the late first century and early second century AD, gives us the most information about the organization of the oracle at that time.  Before 200 BC, while the temple was dedicated to Apollo, there was probably only one priest of Apollo.  Priests were chosen from among the main citizens of Delphi, and were appointed for life.  In addition to overseeing the oracle, priests would also conduct sacrifices at other festivals of Apollo, and had charge of the Pythian games.  Earlier arrangements, before the temple became dedicated to Apollo, are not documented.

 Fumes and vapors

There have been many attempts to find a scientific explanation for he Pythia’s inspiration.  However, most commonly, (8) these refer to an observation made by Plutarch, who presided as high priest at Delphi for several years, who stated that her oracular powers appeared to be associated with vapors from the Kerna spring waters that flowed under the temple.  It has often been suggested that these vapors may have been hallucinogenic gases which placed the Pythia in a trance.  It is said that the gases were “sweet and perfume-y” according to Plutarch.

NOTES

1.       Broad, W.J. (2007), P. 31-32

2.       Herbert W. Parke, “History of the Delphic Oracle and H.W. Parks And D.E.W. Wormell “The Delphic Oracle, 1956 Volume 1: The history attempt the complicated reconstruction of the oracle’s institutions; a recent comparison of the process of select at Delphi which Near Eastern oracles is part of Herbert B. Huffman, “The Oracular Process: Delphi and the near East.” Vetus Testmentum 57.4, (2007;449-60)

3.       quoted in an interview on the radio program “The Ark,” transcript available.

4.       Broad, W.J. (2007), p.32

5.       Plutarch Moralia 414b.

6.       “Plutarch – On the Failure of Oracles,”  Penelope.uchicago.edu. retrieved 2012-03-19.

7.       On the temple personnel, see Roux 1976, pp. 54-63.

8.       J.Z. DeBoer, and J.R. Hale.  “The Geological Origins of the Oracle of Delphi, Greece.” in W.G.McGuire, D.R. Griffiths, P. Hancock, and I.S.  Stewart, eds. “The Archaeology of Geological Catastrophes (Geological Society of London) 2000. Popular accounts in A&E.