guy Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 (edited) Quote “In a time and place that offered few career opportunities for women, the job of the priestess of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi (called the Pythia) stands out. Her position was at the centre of one of the most powerful religious institutions of the ancient Greece.” https://greekreporter.com/2021/07/28/pythia-delphi-oracle/ Excellent video about the Oracle of Delphi. I had never heard this anecdote before: Quote In 67 AD, Emperor Nero, who was just 30 years old and had killed his own mother in 59 AD, when visiting the Oracle was told: Your presence here outrages the god you seek. Go back, matricide! The number 73 marks the hour of your downfall! The incensed emperor had the Pythia burned alive. Nero thought he would have a long reign and die at 73. Instead, his reign came to a short end after a revolt by Galba who was 73 years of age at the time.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi Quote ”And after consulting the oracle at Delphi and being told that he must look out for the seventy-third year, assuming that he would die only at that period, and taking no account of Galba's years, he felt so confident not only of old age, but also of unbroken and unusual good fortune, that when he had lost some articles of great value by shipwreck, he did not hesitate to say among his intimate friends that the fish would bring them back to him.“ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/suetonius/12caesars/nero*.html (Suetonius Life of Nero 40.3) Edited February 2 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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