Monday, November 7, 2011

[Lecture] The Delphic Oracle: Ancient Religion, Modern Science by John R. Hale

"The Delphic Oracle was the most influential religious site in the ancient Greek world. Speaking from a tripod in a crypt under the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the priestess called the Pythia acted as a medium for the god, and spoke the divine prophecies while in a state of trance or possession. The testimony of eye-witnesses linked the oracle's prophetic power to geological features in the rock under the temple: a mysterious chasm or cleft, a natural vapor or gaseous emission, and a sacred spring. Although long doubted by modern scholars, these ancient traditions have recently been put to the test by an interdisciplinary team of researchers -- a geologist, an archaeologist, a chemist, and a toxocologist -- with surprising results."

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[Lecture] The Delphic Oracle: Ancient Religion, Modern Science by John R. Hale

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