among the heathens, was the answer which the gods were supposed to give to those who consulted them upon any affair of importance. It is also used for the god who was thought to give the answer, and for the place where it was given.
The credit of oracles was so great that in all doubts and disputes their determinations were held sacred and inviolable: whence vast numbers flocked to them for advice about the management of their affairs; and no business of any consequence was undertaken, scarce any peace concluded, any war waged, or any new form of government instituted, without the advice and approbation of some oracle. The answers were usually given by the intervention of the priest or priestess of the god who was consulted; and generally expressed in such dark and unintelligible phrases, as might be easily wrested to prove the truth of the oracle whatever was the event. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that the priests who delivered them were in the highest credit and esteem, and that they managed this reputation so as greatly to promote their own particular advantage. They accordingly allowed no man to consult the gods, before he had offered costly sacrifices, and made rich presents to them. And to keep up the veneration for their oracles, and to prevent their being taken unprepared, they admitted persons to consult the gods only at certain stated times; and sometimes they were so cautious, that the greatest personages could obtain no answer at all. Thus Alexander himself was peremptorily denied by the Pythia, or priestess of Apollo, till she was by downright force obliged to ascend the tripod; when, being unable to resist any longer, she cried out, Thou art invincible: and these words were accepted instead of a farther oracle.
Of the ambiguity of oracles, the following, out of a great many examples, may be mentioned. Croesus having received from the Pythoness this answer, That by passing the river Halys, he would destroy a great empire; he understood it to be the empire of his enemy, whereas he destroyed his own.—The oracle consulted by Pyrrhus gave him an answer, which might be equally understood of the victory of Pyrrhus, and the victory of the Romans his enemies:
Aio te, Ἀείαδα, Ῥωμαῖοι νικήσετε πολέμῳ.
The equivocation lies in the construction of the Latin tongue, which cannot be rendered in English.—The Pythoness advised Croesus to guard against the mule. The king of Lydia understood nothing of the oracle, which denoted Cyrus descended from two different nations; from the Medes, by Mandana his mother, the daughter of Astyages; and from the Persians, by his father Cambyses, whose race was by far less grand and illustrious.—Nero had for answer, from the oracle of Delphos, that seventy-three might prove fatal to him. He believed he was safe from all danger till that age; but, finding himself deserted by every one, and hearing Galba proclaimed emperor, who was 73 years of age, he was sensible of the deceit of the oracle.
When men began to be better instructed by the lights philosophy had introduced into the world, the false oracles insensibly lost their credit. Chrysippus filled an entire volume with false or doubtful oracles. Oenomaus, to be revenged of some oracle that had deceived him, made a compilation of oracles, to show their ridiculous vanity. Eusebius has preserved some fragments of this criticism on oracles by Oenomaus. "I might (says Origen) have recourse to the authority of Aristotle and the Peripatetics, to make the Pythoness much suspected: I might extract from the writings..." writings of Epicurus and his sectators an abundance of things to discredit oracles; and I might show that the Greeks themselves made no great account of them."
The reputation of oracles was greatly lessened when they became an artifice of politics. Themistocles, with a design of engaging the Athenians to quit Athens, and to embark, in order to be in a better condition to resist Xerxes, made the Pythoness deliver an oracle, commanding them to take refuge in wooden walls. Demosthenes said, that the Pythoness Philip prized; to signify that she was gained over by Philip's presents.
The cessation of oracles is attested by several profane authors; as Strabo, Juvenal, Lucan, and others. Plutarch accounts for it, by saying, that the benefits of the gods are not eternal as themselves are; or that the genii, who presided over oracles, are subject to death; or that the exhalations of the earth had been exhausted. It appears that the last reason had been alleged in the time of Cicero, who ridicules it in his second book of Divination, as if the spirit of prophecy, supposed to be excited by subterraneous effluvia, had evaporated by length of time, as wine or pickle by being long kept.
Suidas, Nicephorus, and Cedrenus, relate, that Augustus, having consulted the oracle of Delphos, could obtain no other answer but this: "The Hebrew child, whom all the gods obey, drives me hence, and sends me back to hell: get out of this temple without speaking one word." Suidas adds, that Augustus dedicated an altar in the Capitol, with this inscription, "To the eldest son of God." Notwithstanding these testimonies, the answer of the oracle of Delphos to Augustus seems very suspicious. Cedrenus cites Eusebius for this oracle, which is not now found in his works; and Augustus's peregrination into Greece was 18 years before the birth of Christ.
Suidas and Cedrenus give an account also of an ancient oracle delivered to Thulis, a king of Egypt, which they say is well authenticated. The king having consulted the oracle of Serapis, to know if there ever was, or would be, one so great as himself, received this answer: First God, next the Word, and the Spirit with them. They are equally eternal, and make but one whose power will never end. But thou, mortal, go hence, and think that the end of the life of man is uncertain."
Van Dale, in his treatise of oracles, does not believe that they ceased at the coming of Christ. He relates several examples of oracles consulted till the death of Theodosius the Great. He quotes the laws of the emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian, against those who consulted oracles, as a certain proof that the superstition of oracles still subsisted in the time of those emperors.
According to others, the opinion of those who believe that demons had no share in the oracles, and that the coming of the Messiah made no change in them, and the contrary opinion of those who pretend that the incarnation of the Word imposed a general silence on all oracles, should be equally rejected. They allege, that two sorts of oracles ought to be distinguished: the one dictated by the spirits of darkness, who deceived men by their obscure and doubtful answers; the other, the pure artifice and cheat of the priests of false divinities. As to the oracles given out by demons, the reign of Satan was destroyed by the coming of the Saviour; truth shut the mouth of lies; but Satan continued his old craft among idolaters. All the devils were not forced to silence at the same time by the coming of the Messiah; it was on particular occasions that the truth of Christianity, and the virtue of Christians, imposed silence on the devils. St Athanasius tells the Pagans, that they have been witnesses themselves that the sign of the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles, and dissipates enchantments. This power of silencing oracles, and putting the devils to flight, is also attested by Arnobius, Lactantius, Prudentius, Minutius Felix and several others. Their testimony is a certain proof that the coming of the Messiah had not imposed a general silence on oracles.
Plutarch relates, that the pilot Thamus heard a voice in the air, crying out, "The great Pan is dead;" whereupon Eusebius observes, that the accounts of the death of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tiberius, when Christ drove out the wicked spirits.
The same judgment, it is said, may be passed on oracles as on possessions. It was on particular occasions, by the divine permission, that the Christians cast out devils, or silenced oracles, in the presence, and even by the confession, of the Pagans themselves. And thus it is we should, it seems, understand the passages of St Jerome, Eusebius, Cyril, Theodore, Prudentius, and other authors, who said that the coming of Christ had imposed silence on the oracles.
As to the second sort of oracles, which were pure artifices and cheats of the priests of false divinities, and which probably exceeded the number of those that immediately proceeded from demons, they did not cease till idolatry was abolished, though they had lost their credit for a considerable time before the coming of Christ. It was concerning this more common and general sort of oracles that Minutius Felix said, they began to discontinue their responses, according as men began to be more polite. But, however oracles were decried, impostors always found dupes, the grossest cheats having never failed.
Daniel discovered the imposture of the priests of Bel, who had a private way of getting into the temple, to take away the offered meats, and who made the king believe that the idol consumed them.—Mundus, being in love with Paulina, the eldest of the priestesses of Isis, went and told her, that the god Anubis, being passionately fond of her, commanded her to give him a meeting. She was afterwards shut up in a dark room, where her lover Mundus, whom she believed to be the god Anubis, was concealed. This imposture having been discovered, Tiberius ordered those detestable priests and priestesses to be crucified, and with them Idza, Mundus's free woman, who had conducted the whole intrigue. He also commanded the temple of Isis to be levelled with the ground, and her statue to be thrown into the Tiber; and, as to Mundus, he contented himself with sending him into banishment.
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, not only destroyed the temples of the false gods, but discovered the cheats of the priests, by showing that the statues, some of which were of brass, and others of wood, were hollow within, and led into dark passages made in the wall. Lucian, in discovering the impostures of the false prophet Alexander, says, that the oracles were chiefly afraid of the subtleties of the Epicureans and Christians. The false prophet Alexander sometimes feigned himself seized with a divine fury, and by means of the herb sopewort, which he chewed, frothed at the mouth in so extraordinary a manner, that the ignorant people attributed it to the strength of the god he was possessed by. He had long before prepared a head of a dragon made of linen, which opened and shut its mouth by means of a horse hair. He went by night to a place where the foundations of a temple were digging; and having found water, either of a spring, or rain that had settled there, he hid in it a goose egg, in which he had enclosed a little serpent that had been just hatched. The next day, very early in the morning he came quite naked into the street, having only a scarf about his middle, holding in his hand a scythe, and tossing about his hair as the priests of Cybele; then getting a-top of a high altar, he said that the place was happy to be honoured by the birth of a god.— Afterwards, running down to the place where he had hid the goose egg, and going into the water, he began to sing the praises of Apollo and Aesculapius, and to invite the latter to come and show himself to men. With these words, he dips a bowl into the water, and takes out the mysterious egg, which had a god enclosed in it; and when he had it in his hand, he began to say that he held Aesculapius. Whilst all were eager to have a sight of this fine mystery, he broke the egg, and the little serpent starting out, twisted itself about his fingers.
These examples show clearly, that both Christians and Pagans were so far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human impostors. That, in fact all of them were so, will be concluded by those who give equal credit to demoniacal inspiration, and demoniacal possession. The most ancient oracle was that of Dodona (see Dodona); but the most famous was that of Delphi, to which article we also refer for farther particulars on this subject, so famous in Pagan antiquity. Another celebrated one was the oracle of Trophonius, in the neighbourhood of Lebada, a city of Boeotia, which was held in high estimation. It received its name from Trophonius, brother of Agamedes, who lived in a subterraneous dwelling near Lebada, and pretended to the faculty of foretelling future events. He died in his cave, and was deified as an oracular god. This oracle owed its reputation to one Saon.
Those who repaired to this cave for information, were required to offer certain sacrifices, to anoint themselves with oil, and to bathe in a certain river: They were then clothed in a linen robe, took a honeyed cake in their hands, and descended into the subterraneous chamber by a narrow passage. Here it was that futurity was unfolded to them, either by visions or extraordinary sounds. The return from the cave was by the same passage, but the persons consulting were obliged to walk backwards. They generally came out astonished, melancholy, and dejected; hence the proverb τις ἐποίηνεν μυστήρια. The priests on their return placed them on an elevated seat, called the seat of Memnonyse, where an account was taken of what they had seen and heard. They were then conducted to the chapel of good Genius by their companions, where, by degrees, they recovered their usual composure and cheerfulness.
Besides these three principal oracles of Greece, it is proper to take notice of that of Amphiaraus at Oropius in Attica. It was so called from Amphiaraus, the son of Oicles, a man skilled in magic, the interpretation of dreams, &c. and who after his death was deified and delivered oracles in a temple erected to his divinity. (See AMPHIARAUS). They who applied to them for information, were to purify themselves, offer sacrifice, fast twenty-four hours, abstain from wine two days, and make an offering of a ram to Amphiaraus; on the skin of which they were to sleep, and see their destiny in a dream. Near the temple was Amphiaraus's fountain, which was sacred, and the waters of it forbidden to be used for ordinary purposes.
At Delos also there was an oracle of the Delian Apollo; in Milesia was that of the Branchidae, with others of less note, which require not a particular description, such as that of the camps at Lacedaemon, that of Nabarchus, that of Chrysopolis, that of Claros in Ionia, that of Mallos, that of Patarea, that of Pella, that of Phasellides, that of Sinope, that of Orpheus's head, &c.
Though the Romans consulted the Grecian oracles upon many occasions, and had few oracles in their own country; yet we must not omit mentioning the Cumæan oracles which were delivered by the Sibyl of Cumæ. For an account of the Sibyls, see the article SIBYL. See also DEMON and DEMONTAC.
We have hitherto only considered the oracles of false gods, of which there was a far greater number than our limits permit us to observe, and before either Greeks or Romans had risen to any distinction. Oracle is in sacred history sometimes used for the mercy seat, or the cover of the ark of the covenant; and by others it is taken for the sanctuary, or for the most holy place, wherein the ark was deposited.
Among the Jews we may distinguish several sorts of real oracles. They had first oracles that were delivered viva voce; as when God spake to Moses face to face, as one friend speaks to another, (Numb. xii. 8.). Secondly, Prophetic dreams sent by God; as the dreams which God sent to Joseph, and which foretold his future greatness, (Gen. xxxvii. 5, 6.). Thirdly, Visions; as when a prophet in an ecstasy, being neither properly asleep nor awake, had supernatural revelations, (Gen. xv. 1. xvi. 2.). Fourthly, The oracle of Urim and Thummim, which was accompanied with the ephod or the pectoral worn by the high priest; and which God had endued with the gift of foretelling things to come, (Numb. xii. 6. Joel ii. 28.). This manner of inquiring of the Lord was often made use of, from Joshua's time to the erection of the temple at Jerusalem. Fifthly, After the building of the temple, they generally consulted the prophets, who were frequent in the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. From Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who are the last of the prophets that have any of their writings remaining, the Jews pretend that God gave them what they call Bathcol, the daughter of the voice, which was a supernatural manifestation of the will of God, which was performed either by a strong inspiration or internal voice, or else by a sensible and... and external voice, which was heard by a number of persons sufficient to bear testimony of it. For example, such was the voice that was heard at the baptism of Jesus Christ, saying, This is my beloved Son, &c. (Matth. iii. 17.)
The Scripture affords us examples likewise of profane oracles. Balaam, at the instigation of his own spirit, and urged on by his avarice, fearing to lose the recompense that he was promised by Balak king of the Moabites, suggests a diabolical expedient to this prince, of making the Israelites fall into idolatory and fornication (Numb. xxiv. 14, xxxi. 16.), by which he assures him of a certain victory, or at least of considerable advantage against the people of God.
Micahiah the son of Imnah, a prophet of the Lord, says (1 Kings xxii. 21, &c.), that he saw the Almighty sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven round about him; and the Lord said, who shall tempt Ahab king of Israel, that he may go to war with Ramothgilead, and fall in the battle? One answered after another manner, and another in another. At the same time an evil spirit presented himself before the Lord, and said, I will seduce him. And the Lord asked him, How? To which Satan answered I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets. And the Lord said, Go and thou shalt prevail. This dialogue clearly proves these two things: first, that the devil could do nothing by his own power; and, secondly, that with the permission of God, he could inspire the false prophets, sorcerers, and magicians, and make them deliver false oracles.
Respecting the cessation of profane oracles there have been a variety of opinions; some of which we have already remarked. It has been generally held, indeed, that oracles ceased at the birth of Jesus Christ: Yet some have endeavoured to maintain the contrary, by showing that they were in being in the days of Julian, commonly called the Apostate, and that this emperor himself consulted them; nay, farther, say they, history makes mention of several laws published by the Christian emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian, to punish persons who interrogated them, even in their days; and that the Epicureans were the first who made a jest of this superstition, and exposed the roguery of its priests to the people. As we suspect most of the facts here asserted should be understood in a qualified sense, we shall endeavour to discuss this point of controversy in as few words as possible, although it is undoubtedly a matter of some consequence.
1st, The question, properly stated, is not, Whether oracles became extinct immediately upon the birth of Christ, or from the very moment he was born; but, If they fell gradually into disesteem and ceased, as Christ and his gospel became known to mankind. And that they did so, is most certain from the concurrent testimonies of the fathers, which, whoever would endeavour to invalidate, may equally give up the most respectable traditions and relations of every kind.
2ndly, But did not Julian the apostate consult these oracles? We answer in the negative: he had indeed recourse to magical operations, but it was because oracles had already ceased; for he bewailed the loss of them, and assigned pitiful reasons for it; which St Cyril has vigorously refuted, adding, that he never could have offered such, but from an unwillingness to acknowledge, that when the world had received the light of Christ, the dominion of the devil was at an end.
3rdly, The Christian emperors do indeed seem to condemn the superstition and idolatry of those who were still for consulting oracles; but the edicts of those princes do not prove that oracles actually existed in their times, any more than that they ceased in consequence of their laws. It is certain that they were for the most part extinct before the conversion of Constantine.
4thly, Some Epicureans might make a jest of this superstition: however, the Epicurean philosopher Celsus, in the second century of the church, was for crying up the excellency of several oracles, as appears at large from Origen's seventh book against him.
ORÆA, certain solemn sacrifices of fruits which were offered in the four seasons of the year, in order to obtain mild and temperate weather. They were offered to the goddesses who presided over the seasons, who attended upon the sun, and who received divine worship at Athens.