1. Homer, Iliad, 12.235-12.236, 12.241, 16.234-16.235 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •day, fateful Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 742 | 12.235. / seeing thou biddest me forget the counsels of loud-thundering Zeus, that himself promised me and bowed his head thereto. But thou biddest us be obedient to birds long of wing, that I regard not, nor take thought thereof, whether they fare to the right, toward the Dawn and the sun, 12.236. / seeing thou biddest me forget the counsels of loud-thundering Zeus, that himself promised me and bowed his head thereto. But thou biddest us be obedient to birds long of wing, that I regard not, nor take thought thereof, whether they fare to the right, toward the Dawn and the sun, 12.241. / or to the left toward the murky darkness. nay, for us, let us be obedient to the counsel of great Zeus, that is king over all mortals and immortals. One omen is best, to fight for one's country. Wherefore dost thou fear war and battle? 16.234. / and himself he washed his hands, and drew flaming wine. Then he made prayer, standing in the midst of the court, and poured forth the wine, looking up to heaven; and not unmarked was he of Zeus, that hurleth the thunderbolt:Zeus, thou king, Dodonaean, Pelasgian, thou that dwellest afar, ruling over wintry Dodona,—and about thee dwell the Selli, 16.235. / thine interpreters, men with unwashen feet that couch on the ground. Aforetime verily thou didst hear my word, when I prayed: me thou didst honour, and didst mightily smite the host of the Achaeans; even so now also fulfill thou for me this my desire. Myself verily will I abide in the gathering of the ships, |
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| 2. Homer, Odyssey, 14.327-14.328, 19.296-19.297 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •day, fateful Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 742 |
| 3. Sophocles, Ajax, 757, 778-779, 756 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 245, 742 |
| 4. Sophocles, Electra, 410-411 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 244 |
| 5. Sophocles, Oedipus At Colonus, 44, 84-85, 91, 45 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 245 |
| 6. Sophocles, Women of Trachis, 164-165, 173-176, 44-45, 79-83, 85, 84 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 245 |
7. Herodotus, Histories, 7.140-7.143 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •day, fateful Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 742 | 7.140. The Athenians had sent messages to Delphi asking that an oracle be given them, and when they had performed all due rites at the temple and sat down in the inner hall, the priestess, whose name was Aristonice, gave them this answer: , quote type="oracle" l met="dact" Wretches, why do you linger here? Rather flee from your houses and city, /l l Flee to the ends of the earth from the circle embattled of Athens! /l l The head will not remain in its place, nor in the body, /l l Nor the feet beneath, nor the hands, nor the parts between; /l l But all is ruined, for fire and the headlong god of war speeding in a Syrian chariot will bring you low. /l /quote , quote type="oracle" l met="dact" Many a fortress too, not yours alone, will he shatter; /l l Many a shrine of the gods will he give to the flame for devouring; /l l Sweating for fear they stand, and quaking for dread of the enemy, /l l Running with gore are their roofs, foreseeing the stress of their sorrow; /l l Therefore I bid you depart from the sanctuary. /l l Have courage to lighten your evil. /l /quote 7.141. When the Athenian messengers heard that, they were very greatly dismayed, and gave themselves up for lost by reason of the evil foretold. Then Timon son of Androbulus, as notable a man as any Delphian, advised them to take boughs of supplication and in the guise of suppliants, approach the oracle a second time. ,The Athenians did exactly this; “Lord,” they said, “regard mercifully these suppliant boughs which we bring to you, and give us some better answer concerning our country. Otherwise we will not depart from your temple, but remain here until we die.” Thereupon the priestess gave them this second oracle: , quote type="oracle" l met="dact" Vainly does Pallas strive to appease great Zeus of Olympus; /l l Words of entreaty are vain, and so too cunning counsels of wisdom. /l l Nevertheless I will speak to you again of strength adamantine. /l l All will be taken and lost that the sacred border of Cecrops /l l Holds in keeping today, and the dales divine of Cithaeron; /l l Yet a wood-built wall will by Zeus all-seeing be granted /l l To the Trito-born, a stronghold for you and your children. /l /quote , quote type="oracle" l met="dact" Await not the host of horse and foot coming from Asia, /l l Nor be still, but turn your back and withdraw from the foe. /l l Truly a day will come when you will meet him face to face. /l l Divine Salamis, you will bring death to women's sons /l l When the corn is scattered, or the harvest gathered in. /l /quote 7.142. This answer seemed to be and really was more merciful than the first, and the envoys, writing it down, departed for Athens. When the messengers had left Delphi and laid the oracle before the people, there was much inquiry concerning its meaning, and among the many opinions which were uttered, two contrary ones were especially worthy of note. Some of the elder men said that the gods answer signified that the acropolis should be saved, for in old time the acropolis of Athens had been fenced by a thorn hedge, ,which, by their interpretation, was the wooden wall. But others supposed that the god was referring to their ships, and they were for doing nothing but equipping these. Those who believed their ships to be the wooden wall were disabled by the two last verses of the oracle: quote type="oracle" l met="dact" Divine Salamis, you will bring death to women's sons /l l When the corn is scattered, or the harvest gathered in. /l /quote ,These verses confounded the opinion of those who said that their ships were the wooden wall, for the readers of oracles took the verses to mean that they should offer battle by sea near Salamis and be there overthrown. 7.143. Now there was a certain Athenian, by name and title Themistocles son of Neocles, who had lately risen to be among their chief men. He claimed that the readers of oracles had incorrectly interpreted the whole of the oracle and reasoned that if the verse really pertained to the Athenians, it would have been formulated in less mild language, calling Salamis “cruel” rather than “divine ” seeing that its inhabitants were to perish. ,Correctly understood, the gods' oracle was spoken not of the Athenians but of their enemies, and his advice was that they should believe their ships to be the wooden wall and so make ready to fight by sea. ,When Themistocles put forward this interpretation, the Athenians judged him to be a better counsellor than the readers of oracles, who would have had them prepare for no sea fight, and, in short, offer no resistance at all, but leave Attica and settle in some other country. |
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| 8. Aristotle, Poetics, 5, 7, 12 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Jouanna (2018) 245 |
