6 - Decentralising Delphi: Predictive Oracles, Local Knowledge and Social Memory

Summary

Delphi did not play a crucial part in the creation and circulation of the predictive oracles. After recalling the importance that the modern narrative of ancient Greek history accords to the idea of Delphi, the relationship between oracular texts, events and historical narrative tradition is discussed, focusing on the question of whether the oracles are pertinent to the event or to the narration of the event. There are reasons to assume that the Delphic predictive responses were integral constituents of oracle stories embedded in narratives usually shaped by popular local knowledge. It can be argued that the origin of those oracle stories coincided with the development of the relevant ‘local’ traditions. What is more, oracular narratives contributed not only to reconfigure the past but also to construct an image of an event, or even the alleged event itself. The conclusion is that the oracle stories that hinge on predictive oracles are intrinsic elements of the cultural identity and image of the past belonging to specific political communities. They cannot have originated in Delphi, and they must be placed within the context of the Hellenic social memory; they are, indeed, an aspect of the pre-Herodotean oral tradition which has not yet been adequately recognised.