Among the heathen the term oracle was usually taken to signify an answer, generally conveyed in very dark and ambiguous terms, supposed to be given by dse- mous of old, either by the mouths of their idols or by
those of their priests, to the people who consulted them. Oracle is also used for the daemon who gave the answer, and the place where it was given. Seneca defines or- acles to be communications by the mouths of men of the will of the gods; and Cicero simply calls them efe- orum oralio, the language of the gods. Among the pa- gans they were held in high estimation ; and they were consulted on a variety of occasions pertaining to national enterprises and private life. When the heathen made peace or war, enacted laws, reformed states, or changed the constitution, they had in all these cases recourse to the oracle by public authority. Also, in private life, if a man wished to marry, if he proposed to take a jour- ney, or to engage in any business of importance, he re- paired to the oracle for counsel. Mankind have always had a propensity to explore futurity ; and. conceiving that future events were known to their gods, who pos- sessed the gift of prophecy, they sought information and advice from the oracles, which in their opinion were supernatural and divine communications. Ac- cordinglj', every nation in which idolatry has subsisted has also had its oracles, by means of which imposture was practiced on superstition and credulity. See Proph- ecy. The principal oracles of antiquity among the Greeks were that of Aba, mentioned by Herodotus; that of Araphiaraus, at Oropus, in Macedonia ; that of the Branchida?, at Didymeum ; that of the camps at Lace- diemon; that of Dodona; thatof Jupiter Ammon; that of Nabarca, in the country of the Anariaci, near the Caspian Sea ; that of Trophonius, mentioned bj^ Herod- otus; that of Chrj'sopolis ; that of Claros, in Ionia; that of Amphilochus, at Mallos; that of Petarca; that of Pella, in Macedonia; that of Phaselides, in Cilicia; that of Sinope, in Paphlagonia ; that of Orpheus's head at Lesbos, mentioned by Philostratus. But of all the or- acles, the oracle of Apollo Pythius, at Delphi, was the most celebrated. The responses of oracles were deliv- ered in a variety of ways : At Delphi the priestess of Apollo was seated on a tripod over a tissure in the rock, from which issued an intoxicating vapor, under the in- fluence of which the priestess delivered incoherent hex- ameter verses, which were interpreted by the priests. At Dodona the responses were uttered from beneath the shade of a venerable oak. The oracle of Trophonius was in a cavern, in which the inquirer spent the night. The god replied by visions, which were usually of so awful a character that it was said that he who had passed a night in the cave of Trophonius was never again seen to smile. Uniformly the answers of or- acles were given in ambiguous terms, and capable of quite opposite and contradictory interpretations. The Komans, who had the Sibylline books, augury, and many other means of discovering the will of the gods, never adopted the oracle. The ancient Scandinavians had their oracles, and it was generally believed by all the Northern nations that the Three Destinies gave forth these oracles. Some, among whom were nearly all the fathers of the early Church, contend that these oracular responses were really given by daemons; citing as proof a host of testimonies to their truth in ancient times, the fact that all oracles died away soon after the coming of Christ, who gave to the early Cluirch miraculous gifts by which such utterances were stopped ; and arguing that much more glory is given to God by a theory which allowed the reality and continuance of diabolic power than by one which resolved all such wonders into mere fraud and imposture. Others, among whom are Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Eusebius, main- tain that they were but more or less refined examidcs of imposture; dwelling on the ambiguity of most of the re- corded responses — which indeed were so contrived that, whatever happened, the event would justify the oracle — the merely traditional testimony concerning those cited as true, and observing that oracles continued after Christ, and that some of the most remarkable miracles claimed by the post-apostolic Church rest upon that continued existence. The ambiguity of the oracles in
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their responses, and their double meaning, contributed much to their support. But notwitlistanding all these and other precautions, the heathen priests succeeded very imperfectly in maintaining the credit of the or- acles. The wiser and more sagacious of the heathen, especially in later times, held thein in utter contempt. They were ridiculed by the comic poets; and the pre- tendedly inspired priestess was, in several instances, even popularly accused of being bribed to prophesy ac- cording to the interests of a particular party. Such was the poor success of false prophecy, even with all the aids of art, and a systematic plan of imposture, to pre- serve it from detection. The ancient and beautiful tradition (see Plutarch, De Oraculorum defectu) above referred to, that immediately on our Saviour's death all the heathen oracles became silent, cannot indeed be supported in the face of many testimonies of ancient writers to responses given after that time (see esp. Plu- tarch, De Pi/t/i. Orac. c. xxiv) ; but the legend, in the sense in which it has passed into modern Christian po- etry as emblematic of the triumphs of the cross, is suf- ficiently justified by their rapid decline in the apostolic age (comp. Strabo, ix, p. 420 ; Pausan. x, 7, 1). See Man- ger, De Adyto ^"121 (Tr. ad Bk. 1751); Milton, Hymm on the Nativity ; E. B. Browning, The Dead Pari ; Schil- ler, Gutter Griechenlands. See Necuojiaxcek; Witch- craft.