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Oracles.
Explain the use of oracles in the mythological world. How do they work? What is their purpose? Use examples from your readings to explain why ancient Greeks felt the need to create/rely on oracles and their predictions.Oracles were basically the prophets of ancient Greece. They predicted, and were usually 100% correct, what would happen to certain heroes or what disasters would hit what cities. The gods gave the Oracles their powers of prediction and their purpose was to answer the questions of man as allowed by the god that supported that specific oracle. An example would be the Oracle from The Quest Of The Golden Fleece. He predicted that a man wearing one sandal would come to take back the throne from the king and that prophecy came true in the story so the Greeks thought that the gods wanted it to happen that way and made Oracles to speak their desires of destiny. Any other reasons why Greeks needed Oracles in stories? What are they?
Oracles were like prophets that forsaw the future and never made a mistake about what was to come. If the oracle said you were going to get struck by lightning and live then die by drowning in the river stynx then it was bound to happen in one or another no matter how much you avoid it. They work by predicting the future and giving the gods and people reassurance of their future and eliminating the unknown. For example in the story of Zeus his father’s oracle predicted that his son would on day dethrone him so he swallowed all his children whole moments after their births, but Zeus’ mother sent Zeus away safely and he later dethroned his father. No matter how hard Zeus’ father tried to stop the oracles prediction from occuring it did anyways which shows the accuracy of the oracles. Do you think that if someone did not like the prediction their oracle gave them that they should try to avoid it or just acvcept it as fact?
RE:hockeydude8
The oracle was needed in the story of Oedipus because it was the base of the plot and without it the storyline would not make sense. The oracle’s prediction was mentioned in the second paragraph which set the scene for the rest of the tale and made it all make sense and come together in the end.The oracles are prophets who tell the truth about the future. Oracles predictions are never wrong, yet throughout mythology people try to change their destiny. For example, King Laius, of Thebes, was told by an oracle that one day his son would kill him. He tried to change his destiny by killing his son so that his death could be prevented. Like I wrote before, oracles are never wrong, and Oedipus, his son, survived and killed him. Another instance was the prediction Cronus was given that one of his children would overthrow him, and so he ate his children. His wife saved Zeus, and he grew up to dethrone his father. In the story of Jason, king Pelius was predicted to be killed by a one sandaled man. With Medea’s help Pelius was killed. Also in that story princess Ino determined to kill her husband’s first wife’s children by parching the seed-corn and bribing an oracle to tell the people her children must be sacrificed in order for corn to grow again so the people would not starve. She depended on the oracle to convince the people to do her bidding. In the story of Troy, Achilles death was predicted by an oracle, and it came to pass by Paris shooting an arrow at the heel of Achilles foot. In the story of Cupid and Psyche,Psyche’s father was told by an Oracle to send his daughter to the summit of a rocky hill to be left alone to wait for her destined husband, who was a fearful winged serpent, stronger than the gods themselves, who would come and marry her. She dressed for a funeral and went there and married Cupid. Would any of the heroes of the past considered going to an oracle if there was a chance that the oracles prediction was wrong?
RE:jnpitcher21
I think it would be best for them to accept the oracles prediction as a fact. Oracles were never wrong in their prediction, and it would not change the outcome of their destiny. In the story about Oedipus, his father tried to change what the Oracle predicted by attempting to kill him when he was born. Oedipus grew up and seemed like a good guy because he even self-exiled himself because he did not want to kill his alleged father. Both the father and son tried to change the Oracles prediction and met as strangers and ultimately caused the prophecy to come true. By taking the situation into their own hands they basically confirmed each other’s doom.The oracles were heavily relied upon in Ancient Greece. Oracles were a form of communication between the gods and the humans. Many people traveled to oracles to seek advice, have their questions answered, or even ask for a prediction of the future. The person would ask for his or her request to a priest or priestess, and the god of the oracle would decide whether it was worthy enough to be answered. The questions that were answered by the oracles always came true. Stories that the oracle plays a significant part in include: Troy (the sacrifice of Iphigenia), Jason and the Argonauts (man with one sandal), and Cronus and Zeus (war between Titans and Olympians). Greek oracles establish special roles and beliefs within the Ancient Greek world, which is why it is so heavily relied upon.
Do you think that the predictions from oracles are necessary to the plots of myths we’ve read so far?
jnpitcher21: Do you think that if someone did not like the prediction their oracle gave them that they should try to avoid it or just accept it as fact?
For the majority of the myths we’ve read, the ones who had their questions answered tried to outsmart the oracle’s predictions (whether it be swallowing his offspring, or leaving the child on the mountainside to die). The oracle’s predictions always came true no matter the circumstances. It wouldn’t have mattered if they accepted it or not because the predictions are guaranteed to occur.
The use (and purpose) of oracles is to predict what will happen in the future. Usually the oracle is learned from a god, but in some cases, like Cronus’s, they just randomly learn. One imporant oracle is the one in Troy about Hector and Achilles dying before Troy was taken. I feel like the reason they had these oracles was to show when the time was near. The only way Troy would be taken over is if Hector and Achilles were dead. And the knowing of that time being near would be their deaths. People needed to create oracles to sort of act like gods. The gods basically told the future and then the oracles were spread. I guess you could say that they are used just to give people insight of what the future holds.
Do you think the stories would be the same if there were no oracles? Why?RE: noreensmiles
to answer your question, yes, I do believe that oracles are necessary to the plot of the stories because there is no truth in the story. The truth is in the oracle of what will be to come. If there was no oracle in the story of Cronus and Rhea, then Cronus would have no reason to eat his because he would not know that one day one of his children would overthrow him. So, I hope that answers your question.RE: noreensmiles
to answer your question, yes, I do believe that oracles are necessary to the plot of the stories because there is no truth in the story. The truth is in the oracle of what will be to come. If there was no oracle in the story of Cronus and Rhea, then Cronus would have no reason to eat his because he would not know that one day one of his children would overthrow him. So, I hope that answers your question.Oracles are the ones that tell the future and are never wrong. It always happen in one way or another. To the Greeks, they are extremely important in their lives. The Greek people usually go to them when they don’t know what to do or if they are in trouble. Just like in the story of Psyche and Cupid, Psyche’s father had no idea what to do because his daughter had every man looking at her except none wanted to marry her. So he went to the oracle of Apollo and asked him what he should do for his daughter. And even though it wasn’t the best answer in the world, he still delivered and did accordingly to what the oracle said. That shows that most everyone respected the Oracles. Do you think that having an oracle around in order to ask it for your future would be better than having none at all and just go with the flow of life? Why or why not?
RE: emmymolina921
I think that it is better to just go with the flow instead of knowing the future. My reasoning is because we are not supposed to know what is going to happen in our lives. If we did know what was going to happen then the surprise factor is gone and if something bad is going to happen we will always try to prevent with all of our might. It is better to just go with the flow. Also, nice points and example.Oracles were created to “explain the unexplainable,” just like the rest of mythology. When the Greeks did not have the answer to something they ran to oracles, who were always right. The thing about oracles is their answers were usually ambiguous and vague. The Greeks thought they needed oracles in cases like Psyche where her father asked if she were ever to be married. What other circumstances are similar?
RE: emmymolina921
I think it would be better because like Psyche, you would have an idea of what to look for but not specifics.RE: emmymolina921
I think it would be better because like Psyche, you would have an idea of what to look for but not specifics.RE: emmymolina921
I think it would be better because like Psyche, you would have an idea of what to look for but not specifics.Oracles were similar to prophets. They would predict that an outcome of a certain topic would occur and they were always right in some way or another. An example would be the oracle in Oedipus’ story claiming that he would kill his father, marry his mother, and have children that the whole world would shudder to look at. Though Oedipus that he could out smart the oracle and in the end he did not because everything the oracle said came through, but it came in an indirect way. Oracles were also had another job which was answering the questions of man and they would also be a mediator between the humans and the gods. The reason why oracles were used in mythology was to add a hint foreshadow to the different myths and they also helped highlight the strengths and weaknesses in some characters. For example, the oracle in Oedipus’ story showed how stubborn a man can be when he thinks he can out do someone he that he truly can’t. My question would be: What other purposes did the oracle show in Oedipus’ story and other myths throughout the book?
Re: slogger17
I don’t think the stories would have been the same without the oracles because they added a few key elements to the stories. First, they added an element of foreshadow which is used to intrigue the reader and indirectly tell the reader of the ending of the story. Second, the oracles were mediators between the gods and man so without them the characters in the story would have been bland because many of them had a trek leading up to the oracle which added to the story and the character himself. Third and finally, the oracles somewhat acted like foil characters to the main characters because they showed their strengths but they also showed their weaknesses such as Achilles and Hector’s weaknesses in the Trojan War.
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