The Oracle Thing

[heraklia]

I apologize, I've been lurking for some time but a bit shy to post. I wondered if there is a place in the Forum where ya'll have discussed, not only the Siwah experience, but the fact that Alexander apparently went to the oracles at Dodona and Delphi - and Didyma? - before he got to Siwah. It seems all the books I have read talk as if his trip to Siwah was a one-of-a-kind situation, but in fact, I'm fascinated wondering why he went to the other oracles, and if he was asking the same questions (?) as at Siwah - concerning his parentage, future, life? - or whether, in fact, he was directed to go to Siwah by one of the other oracles. I can't find any sources right on point, and wondered what ya'll thought.

[Taphoi]

Alexander seems to have been very fond of oracles. Apart from the famous trip to Siwa, a visit to Delphi is attested by Plutarch 14.4 and Diodorus 17.93.4. It looks like Cleitarchus was one of the primary sources for this. Justin (Trogus) 12.2 also affirms that Alexander received an oracle from Delphi. The connection with the oracle of the Branchidae at Didyma (near Miletus in Asia Minor) comes from Strabo 17.1.43, who quotes Callisthenes as reporting that oracles from Didyma attesting AlexanderGÇÖs descent from Zeus were delivered to him at Memphis (btw. AlexanderGÇÖs family claimed descent from Heracles, son of Zeus, via the kings of Argos, so this was no great revelation GÇô this is also why people should be much more careful in their interpretation of the GÇ£Son of AmmonGÇ¥ stuff from Siwa.) Callisthenes also said that the Sibyl of Erythrae concurred. I do not know of any explicit report of a visit by Alexander to Dodona in Epirus, but Alexander certainly spent a lot of time in that vicinity (e.g. Justin 9.7, Plutarch 9.5) and planned to build a great temple near the oracle of Zeus (Diodorus 18.4.5).In general, Alexander was very interested in religion and quasi-religious ideas seem to have been a strong motivating factor for him. However, Greek religion was very different from modern religion. For example, it assumed that heroes and wise men would inherit the Earth, rather than the meek and the innocent.GÇÿTis mute, the word they went to hear on high Dodona mountain
When winds were in the oakenshaws and all the cauldrons tolled,
And muteGÇÖs the midland navel-stone beside the singing fountain,
And echoes list to silence now where gods told lies of old.
I took my question to the shrine that has not ceased from speaking,
The voice within that tells the truth and tells it twice as plain;
And from the cave of oracles I heard the priestess shrieking
That she and I should surely die and never live again.

[kate]

Hi,I don't know of any source for Alexander visiting Dodona, but I agree with Andrew that it seems very likely Alexander visited the shrine. His mother was from that part of the world and she seems to have been religious too so I would imagine she would have suggested a visit there to Alexander even if he didn't decide to go there for himself.As for his motive in visiting oracles, in addition to any religious faith, I suspect it was simple curiosity. People have always been fascinated by the idea of knowing what the future holds so maybe this was the equivalent of reading your horoscope
in a newspaper.BTW, I liked the quote at the end of your post, Andrew. Where is it from? Sounded a bit like Byron. Cheers,Kate

[Taphoi]

Hi Kate,It's the first two stanzas of "The Oracles" by A E Housman.Best wishes,Andrew

[ancientlibrary]

Some other points to mention:1. The oracle at Didyma was inoperable when Alexander came through, having been destroyed at or about the fall of Miletus to the Persians in 494. Apparently it "came to life" again when Alexander passed by--recounted probably in Strabo citation Prof. Chugg gave, but I don't have a copy of that book and am working off secondary sources.2. The story goes that the Branchidae gave it and its treasures up to Xerxes voluntarily. When Xerxes' expedition failed they were forced by the ire of their countrymen to withdrew with Xerxes' army. They settled on the Oxus, and grew into a Carian mini-state in the heart of central Asia. (They were presumably also the source of the Carians who fought on Darius' side during the battle of Gaugamela.) When Alexander came through he destroyed the city. Curtius' account (7.5.28ff) emphasizes Alexander's cruelty--they voluntarily opened their gates to him and offered no resistance; they were themselves innocents. The story is found more briefly in Stabo 11.11.4 and probably elsewhere. I gather there may be some doubt about the action. For this discussion, however, this can be another (if perverse) act of respect for oracles. The Oracle at Didyma didn't really resume again until Seleucus commissioned the stupendous building partially extant today. He also found the cult statue in Ecbata and reinstalled it.4. I don't think much can be said about Alexander's attitude to oracles from Delphi, Didymus or Erythrae. That Callisthenes publicized the story indicates how much propaganda value it had. Siwah may be another story--it seems less motivated, and looms larger in Alexander's story generally. 5. Alexander's attitude to oracles might be illuminated by his attitude to divination generally. Alexander had a number of seers (manteis) on his staff, most prominently Aristander of Telmessus. Again, it's clear Aristander's predictions had a PR effect--calming the army in the face of eclipses and bloody bread; tired, worried armies need divine help (witness the finding of the Holy Lance during the First Crusade). But Aristander appears often enough, and enough in less public contexts, that one is tempted to suppose it more than just PR.

[heraklia]

Thank you so much! This was my first real question at Pothos, and the response was more than I could have hoped for.