The Oracle: Lost Secrets and Hidden Message of Ancient Delphi - Hardcover

Broad, William J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1594200815 ISBN 13: 9781594200816

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

Of all the stories of Ancient Greece, few capture the imagination as much as the Oracle of Delphi. Human mistress of the great god Apollo, the Oracle had the power to enter into ecstatic union with him and bring back his prophecies and counsel for all who came seeking answers. Residing in Apollo's temple on the sacred slopes of Mount Parnassus in central Greece, the Oracle was consulted on matters large and small. Though the air of magic that surrounds her might cast her as a legend like the cyclops or the mythical Cassandra, the Oracle did in fact exsist and her visions caused her to become the single most influential figure in all of ancient Greece.

About this title

About the Author

William J. Broad is a senior writer at The New York Times and with colleagues there has twice won the Pulitzer Prize as well as an Emmy. For three decades, he has covered topics ranging from biology and geology to astronomy and nuclear arms. He is the author or coauthor of six books, most recently Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, a number-one New York Times bestseller. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and his work featured in The Best American Science Writing 2005. He holds a master's degree in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin and lives with his wife and three children in Larchmont, New York.

Reviews

The oracle at Delphi influenced politicians and slaves with her prophecies, yet her life and practices are shrouded in mystery. In a fascinating story that is part detective tale and part science report, Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times writer Broad unveils the oracle. In order to prepare for her encounter with Apollo, the oracle descended into a chasm near the temple, where she would breathe the holy pneuma. She would then deliver her prophecies in a trance, sometimes foaming at the mouth and sometimes in a frenzy. When the temple was unearthed in the 19th century, archeologists and geologists searched for the mysterious chasm. Broad traces the history of these efforts and the conflicts they produced. By the mid–20th century, many scientists argued that the chasm never existed. He follows two modern-day Indiana Joneses, geologist Jelle de Boer and archeologist John Hale, as they refute those conclusions by uncovering the chasm and the geological faults that produced hallucinogenic vapors. Broad's lively prose and fast-paced storytelling conduct us on a breathless adventure of religious mystery and scientific discovery—and ends with a surprising consideration of the meaning of the oracle's powers and the existence of "shadowy worlds... beyond the ken" of science. B&w illus. (Feb. 20)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Oracle of Delphi, human mistress of the god Apollo, had the power to communicate his prophecies and advice. Accounts from the time describe how she breathed in vapors rising from the temple floor before communing with the god. But modern scholars have long discounted these reports. Broad, a writer at the New York Times, tells the story of scientists who worked from subtle clues scattered through the ancient literature and the landforms near Delphi to uncover evidence that explains the oracle's powers. They discovered that the vapors actually existed--they were petrochemical fumes that contained a hallucinogenic gas, which rose through cracks in the earth into the oracle's chamber. A fascinating account in its own right, the story also allows Broad to weave in the modern debate between science and religion.

Editors of Scientific American

*Starred Review* The Oracle at Delphi, with its enormous influence on Greek civilization, has been scrutinized over the centuries by scholars of religion and science. The female oracles, who consulted the god Apollo on everything from state matters to human affairs with the aid of mysterious vapors emanating from a chasm beneath the temple, were revered by the greatest of Greek philosophers. In this absorbing book, New York Times science writer Broad recalls the ancient history of the Oracle, its discrediting during the rise of Christianity, and scientific investigations from a French excavation in 1892 to more recent studies. Broad dramatically details the most recent scientific investigation, revealing that ethylene was the source of the mysterious vapors that enhanced the prophetic powers of the oracles. With all the drama of a science thriller, Broad masterfully weaves the interpretations of artists, scientists, philosophers, and historians into a remarkable account of the search for the secrets of the Oracle. Broad examines how the latest Oracle discovery fits into efforts to reduce the world's wonders to scientific explanations, positing that the discovery enhances knowledge of the Oracle but never diminishes its mystery. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594200815
• ISBN 13: 9781594200816
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320