4.8.2 The oracles — messages from the gods Today, some people believe in fortune tellers. The ancient Greeks believed in oracles, too. An oracle was a place to ask the gods about the future. The most famous oracle was at Delphi, known as the ‘navel of the world’. To consult the oracle, people paid a fee, sacriýced a goat and looked for omens in its entrails . They asked questions to a priestess called the Sybil. The priests of Apollo explained her answers, but they were often unclear and could mean many things.
SOURCE5 From The Persian Wars , by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus
. . . the Athenians, anxious to consult the oracle, sent their messengers to Delphi . . . [They] went back with it to Athens. When, however, upon their arrival they produced it before the people, and inquiry began to be made into its true meaning, many and various were the interpretations which men put on it.
4.8 SkillBuilder activity COMMUNICATING 1. Use your library or the internet to investigate a Greek myth. It could be related to the scenes in SOURCE3 or SOURCE4 . 2. Brieþy summarise the myth and tell it to the class. 3. In small groups, discuss how myths, religion and future predictions are alike and different in ancient Greece and today. For example, compare oracles in ancient Greece to today’s astrologers who write horoscopes.
4.8
Exercise
Learning pathways LEVEL1 1, 3, 5
LEVEL2
LEVEL3
2, 4, 8
6, 7, 9, 10
REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND 1. Recall how most crimes were punished under Solon’s laws.
A. Death B. Fines C. Imprisonment D. Banishment 2. Identify which of Solon’s laws would have been popular with poor citizens in Athens. 3. What were the two meanings of the term ‘oracle’? A. A message from the gods B. A Greek myth C. A place where messages from the gods were requested and received D. Awar E. A law 4. Explain why the ancient Greeks consulted oracles. 5. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were the gods who lived on Mount Olympus. True or False?
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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