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Sibyl of Cuma- how was she selected?


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:rolleyes: Can anyone learned out there tell me how a new Sibyl of Cuma was chosen after the death of the previous one (not believing for a second that she lived to over a thousand years old...)?

 

Is there any truth in Graves' assertion that she lived with the mummified body of her predecessor?

 

Apologies if this is not the right forum for this question (have just arrived).

 

Saphira

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:ph34r: Can anyone learned out there tell me how a new Sibyl of Cuma was chosen after the death of the previous one (not believing for a second that she lived to over a thousand years old...)?

 

Is there any truth in Graves' assertion that she lived with the mummified body of her predecessor?

 

Apologies if this is not the right forum for this question (have just arrived).

 

Saphira

 

I don't know enough about the Sybil story to really answer your question, I've only got two or three old prose translations of the Aenied currently to hand, but would observe that from a quick net search there are probably at least five or six ancient sources who make references to the Cumae Sybil. However each seems to have used different names in referring to her, which may indicate that there were a succession of Sybil's rather than just one, alternatively no one knew what her name really was and made up their own. :rolleyes:

 

If there were a succession of Sybil's then it seems possible that she would have chosen her own successor either from supplicants who initially served as her attendant or more formally as part of a 'religious' community.

 

Which brings me to Graves, while he made use of Seutonius and Tacitus as some of the basis for his work, I couldn't in all honesty say that what he wrote has been taken as being completely historical fact.

 

As far as the Sybil and her putative mummified predecessors are concerned possibly someone else knows the answer?

Edited by Melvadius
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I'll try to find out the answer.

 

But as far as Graves, I agree you have to be very careful with his "history." He made a fine poet and translator, but there were times he seemingly could not separate poetry from his history. His poetic "reimagining" of classical religion gave birth to some very bad New Age theories which are still around today.

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Ok, here is the deal:

 

Pausanias is our chief primary source on the Sibyl of Cumae. Frazer made a famous translation of Pausanias.

 

I have not read Frazer's translation. I have not read Pausanius word for word either, only passages and summaries.

 

However, the only thing in summary I can find is this: Pausanias mentions the locals at Cumae showed him an urn. The legend was the bones of the Sibyl were stored therein. Apparently the myth was the Siby asked her patron god Apollo to live for a thousand years, but she did not ask for the youth to go along with it; so after a few centuries of aging she becomes a very shrivelled up creature that can fit inside a jar. Pausanias apparently wasn't impressed by this colorful bit of local folklore.

 

My advice is, if you are so inclined, find a translation of Pausanias by someone other than Frazer and read it yourself word for word.

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