According to Edith Hamilton in The Greek Way, in “Greece there was no dominating church or creed, but there was a dominating ideal which everyone would want to pursue…different men saw it differently…excellence is the nearest we have to the word they commonly used for it” (209). Like any other culture, however, Greek individuals commonly sought guidance for help with the struggles of daily life. Because of this, a number of temples known as Oracles were located throughout Greece. These oracles have become immortalized in the works of Herodotus, Homer, and Sophocles in plays like Antigone and Oedipus as well as epics like the Illiad and the Odyssey.
Those seeking counsel on a dilemma would travel to the oracle, where upon asking a question, the inquirer would typically receive an answer that was “supposed to express the will of the gods” (Vlasyuk 2). Oracles were greatly responsible for changing the course of Greek history as many famous leaders and prominent Greeks sought their counsel. According to Vlasyuk (2) the Oracle dates from around 700 BC to about 300 AD “The word oracles describes three things: the person through which god speaks, the actual temple of the god, the answer given by god through the prophet”. Most oracles or temples in Classical Greek culture were dedicated to Apollo. Divination is a concept closely related to the purpose of oracles and this concept is found in many other religions and cultures. Divination is the interpretation of symbols into meaning or messages.
Those who acted as the prophet or intermediary of the word of the god to whom the oracle was devoted had no official affiliation with on temple or oracle. In fact, this kind of divinity was often practiced in oracles as well as homes, marketplaces, and even in the offices of work and the state. The Oracle of Delphi was one of the most famous Greek temples dedicated to Apollo (See Appendix). The original inhabitants of...