Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119
On the Obsolescence of Oracles
Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων χρηστηρίωνPlutarch's dialogue On the Obsolescence of Oracles (De defectu oraculorum), addressed to Terentius Priscus and set at Delphi at the time of the Pythian games, asks why so many oracles have fallen silent. Lamprias, Ammonius, Demetrius of Tarsus, Cleombrotus, Philippus and Heracleon debate whether the gods or the daemons are responsible, whether daemons die, how many worlds there are, and how the Pythia is inspired by the exhalation of the earth. The work preserves the story of the death of the great god Pan, the Isles of Daemons off Britain and much on Delphic divination.
Contents · 13 passages
- 1–4The Navel of the earth; Demetrius and Cleombrotus at Delphi; the lamp of Ammon1324 words
- 5–7The silence of the oracles in Greece and Boeotia; the Cynic Didymus' complaint1392 words
- 8–10Is the god the cause? Ammonius, Lamprias and Cleombrotus on providence1299 words
- 11–15The daemons: Hesiod's ages, Xenocrates' triangles, rites and the tales of the gods2376 words
- 16–19Bad daemons, the death of Pan, the Isles of Daemons off Britain1234 words
- 20–22Ammonius answers the Epicureans; Cleombrotus's tale of the stranger and the worlds1485 words
- 23–26Lamprias on the plurality of worlds1648 words
- 27–30Worlds, the Stoics and the gods' care for each world1316 words
- 31–34Why five worlds? Theodorus of Soli and the two natures1551 words
- 35–38Unity and duality, five as the number of the world, and the return to the question2014 words
- 39–42The soul, the exhalation of the earth and the shepherd Coretas1545 words
- 43–46Apollo, the earth and the sun; the oracle of Mopsus; Ammonius' objection1515 words
- 47–52Plato's two causes; sacrifices at the oracle and the exhalation; the end of the dialogue2211 words
More by Plutarch
English translation by Robert Midgley (1874). Original text: William W. Goodwin (ed.), Plutarch's Morals, translated from the Greek by several hands, vol. 4, Boston: Little, Brown and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874 (Greek text: Gregorius N. Bernardakis, Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, vol. 3, Leipzig: Teubner, 1891, as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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