How did the Oracle of Delphi Work? Ancient Greece DOCUMENTARY

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Croesus: Sooo, should I attack Persia or is that a really bad idea? Oracle: Yes.

Oracle:''I am the Oracle. I can answer any question you ask'' Me:''Who's the sea people'' Oracle.''Any question but that''

One of the common "services" of the Oracle of Delphi, was also to give advices to each Greek city-state, who wanted to create a new colony. The amazing thing is that the priests of Delphi had indeed a rich archive of geographical knowledge, which allowed them to guide with precision, each expedition to the location that they would build their new city.

So in other terms, the Oracle is basically similar to a horoscope of today: vague.

-You are invincible, my son. -That's all I wanted to hear. Alexander the Great pulling the priestess by her hair im the middle of night.

If I wanted to hear a girl high on drugs talk about weird stuff I’d just go to a uni dorm room rather than go all the way to Delphy.

K&G Historian: It's okay, I work at a job that I love, and nobody will have to know that I am balding! Devin clears throat

Kings and Generals always comes at the right time glad you made my day.

I was there a few weeks ago after visiting Marathon and Thermopylae! Quite hot day to ascend what actually is a mountain side, but still a very powerful experience. It must have been astonishing at the time, considering its size and the extraordinary remains that are still visible there. The temple itself in now merely a large stone foundation but I still lingered there an extra minute pondering the words that were spoken there, "A wooden wall will save Greece", giving Themistocles his grounds for creating a large fleet, which was instrumental in defeating the persians.

So fortunate to have had the privilege of visiting Delphi on my holiday in Greece.

The most famous and of course ambiguous prophecy was :Ήξεις, αφήξεις ου, εν πολέμω θνήξεις By changing a comma the whole meaning changes. You can read either "you will go , you will return , you will not die in the war" or you will go , you will return not, you will die in the war. Still in Greece when we hear something ambiguous we say "Ήξεις, αφήξεις"

Themistokles when the Persians were about to invade, he sent emissaries to the Oracle of Delphi, to ask them what about to do? The prophecy originally was terrible, it was saying that any kind of resistence was useless, and that the Atheneans should flee to the edges of the world. The brilliant Athenean general and politician when he read the Oracle's "advice" he send again the emissaries demanding (!) a new "prophecy". Only then the Oracle gave the famous "prophecy"about the "wooden walls", that Themistocles "interpretated" them, as being the ships. There is also the suspicion that the scheming Athenean general bribed the Delphi's priests...

Stuff like this is so much more interesting than battles to me. Your battle vids are fine too, but this is the stuff that really fascinates me.

The Hellenic Ministry of Education must become a patreon to this channel

In a BBC documentary they theorized that they had a lid on the chasm so it would build up from the hole, and could be used for some divinations. Practices might have changed also during the times when the ethlyne source was going out. Geologist in the documentary said that the area has veins of asphalt that were source of the ethylene, but earthquakes might have blocked the cracks or the source might have burnt out eventually, so that is why it isn't abundant enough today.

Considering the Oracle of Delphi was around for hundreds of years, it’s quite possibly different oracles were affected in different ways at different times in history. That’s why some sources may say she ranted and raved while others said she was calm.

Delphi should have set up a concessions stand (Delphi water and goat sandwiches) and a souvenir shop. They would still be in business if they had. Judging from the drawings, replacing the maidens with old women probably hurt business as well. Should have hired some bouncers, big Olympic wrestler types looking to make a few extra drachma.

Something for me! I was recently in Delphi (I recommend the video on my channel :P). Amazing story, beautiful site! ❤Thanks for the video about ancient Greece!

14:06 "Should I marry Mr. Dimitris if he buys me bubble tea everyday?" Girl, as a bubble tea addict he's basically asking for your hand with every cup he buys 😂