What Gave the Oracle her Power?
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Posted by Robin Fowler Nov 4, 2006 |
The Oracle at Delphi was a sancturary to the god Apollo that attracted hordes of ancient Greeks looking to learn their fates. Visitors would visit the Pythia, or sacred priestess, who would be in some type of trance that everyone believed gave her the power to see into their futures.
When I was in college, my Classics professors held that the cause of the Pythia's dream-like state, which allowed her to believe she could predict the future, was caused by a burning mixture of laurel leaves, which were a common attribute of Apollo, and some other chemicals. As reported by the Greek historian Plutarch, the sweet smell of the gases exhausted by this mixture were strong. I assumed that this odor was a mixture of the laurel, or bay, leaves, along with the ethylene that has been found in trace amounts at the archaeological site. However, new archaeological research is attempting to suggest otherwise.
Archaeologists are now asserting that the induced state was more likely caused by a combination of methane and carbon monoxide, which would cause oxygen deprivation and hallucinations. This does not, however, explain the sweet odor as described by Plutarch.
Benzene has been supposed as another candidate, as it does emit a sweet aroma. However, repeated exposure to the toxic fumes of the chemical would have caused certain death in a relatively short time period. And the priestesses were known to have lived very long and fruitful lives.
So, the mystery of the Delphic Oracle and the Pythia's "powers" seems to still remain. I wonder if the trance was not caused by some coincidental combination of burning the laurel leaves along with the emissions from the walls of the sanctuary?
What do you think?