246 



On the Poetical Oracles of the Greeks. 



[Oct, 1, 



account oriiclcs obtained fo great a cre- 

 dit and rllcein, that in all doubts and dif- 

 putes their dctcruiinations were held f'a- 

 crcd and uiviolable : whence vail niini- 

 liers flocked to them, to be refolved in 

 all manner of doubts, and a(k counlel 

 about the management of their aiTairs : 

 infomuch that no bnfinefs of great confc- 

 qucnee and moment was undertaken, 

 fcarce any peace concluded, any war 

 wai'cd, any new ibriu of sioverrnnent in- 

 ftituted, or new laws enacted, wirhont 

 the advice and approbation of an 

 oracle." 



Herodotus is particularly fond of quot- 

 ing them, and he has prefervcd fonie 

 very curious I'pccinuns. Though lie is 

 by no means iingnlar among the Greek 

 hiltorians in this rei'pe^'t, yet, on account 

 of his venerable antiquity, we are inclin- 

 ed to elieem thofe valuable rel cs which 

 lie has been the means of handing down 

 to us ; and it may not be unpleaiing to 

 ic\v.(:i from his work a few of the oracles 

 we luue mentioned, as Qjecimens of their 

 general fpirit and tendency. The moll 

 remarkable of the qualiiies by which 

 thcv are diftins;ui(ru d from the common 

 epigram, is the cloud of enigma which is 

 call over them, and wh.ich renders fome 

 even of the moll ancient of them divert- 

 ing from their quibbling abfurdity, 



*' That palters with us in a double fcnfc, 

 Th;it keeps the word of promile to our ear, 

 And breaks it to our hope." 



The Spartans were at war with the Te- 

 geata', and, having font to the oracle 

 to inquire vvliethcr or no they were di'f- 

 tined to come oft" viciorious, were an- 

 fwered, " That they ll-.ould conquer, pro- 

 vided they tirli fetched home th.e bor.es 

 ofOrellcs." Ecing ignorant where thole 

 remains were depofited, they lent a fe- 

 cond time to make the necelfary inquiry', 

 and tlic oracle returned this ambiguous 

 rcfponfo : 



Where, in the midft of wide .Arcadia's land, 

 The far-fam'd towurs of Tegeoea ftar.d, 

 'Jv/o advcrfe winds with furious force contend, 

 Form batters form, and ills on ills defcer.d ; 

 There lies Crcfies, — bear his bones away, 

 And fumM Tcgaea fliall become your prey. 



It is eafy to imagine that no gnat 

 comfort accrued to the inquirers from 

 this dillicult problem. However, fome 

 tinie after, (fays the hilh)rian,) as a cer- 

 tain Spartan was Raying on Ibme private 

 Lufmefs at Tegexa, he was informed by 

 a blackfmith, with whom he was acci- 

 dentally converling, that, in digging a 

 rell direttiy ui.du" the jilnuc where his 



forge ufed to iland, his workmen had 

 found tl^e bones of a man feven cubits in 

 lb:ture. Now our Spartan (being, it 

 fhould feeni, a clever fellow at folving 

 riddles by a Chriltmas iirefide,) inflantly 

 bethought hinilelf of the words of the 

 oracle. The fmith's bellows might well 

 liave caufcd the contention of the winds, 

 and the hammer and anvil, whenever the 

 fniith was at work, were certainly two 

 fonns eternally battering each other. As 

 fi)r the latter part, it full feemed a little 

 abllrufe and metaphvlical ; neverthelefs 

 our flircwd riddler eafdy fatislied himfclf, 

 that as iron was the caufe, or at Icall the 

 infirument, of v.ar, and war was indifput- 

 id)ly the greatell of human ills, fo when 

 the hannner came to blows with the an- 

 vil, it was little more than a poetical pa- 

 raphrafe to fay that ills were defcending 

 upon ills. He kept his counfe', however, 

 bef jre the Tegeiean blackfmitii, and oidy 

 begged him, as a virtuofr) or naturalill 

 might do, to let him fee thel'e remarkable 

 bones. He foon was a witnefs to the re- 

 ality of the Itory ; and by conqiaring the 

 lit nation of things with the reprefenta- 

 tions of the oracle, was perfectly perfuad- 

 cd that the important difcovery was 

 made. He gave a handfome fum to his 

 friend the blackiinith for the pofleirion of 

 this great natural curiofity, which he af- 

 fured him would make a moll refpcctable 

 figure in his mufeum at Sjiarta. On his 

 arrival there, he immediately reported 

 his difcovery, and prefented iiis treafure 

 to the Kphori ; and the confecjuence of 

 all this was, that the oracle was finally 

 accomphlhed in the total overthrow of 

 Tegca.'a, M-hich foon enfued. Such 

 (with a little aineudnient,) is the account 

 which Herodotus gives of this lingular 

 traiifa6tion. 



The greatefl; reverence for the gods 

 was, as might be expected, inculcated by 

 thcfe oracuhir refponfes ; and often mo- 

 ral precepts were conveyed in them, as 

 well as in the epigrams and other poems 

 of their wife men and legillators. It 

 caiinot be doubted that great ufe was 

 made of fo formidable an engine by ge- 

 nerals and politicians, with whom it was 

 of the firft confequcnce to obtain the ear 

 of the prieiiefs of Delphi. 



The Cnidians had a defign of digging 

 through the iflhmus of their little penin- 

 fula, in Older to render their lituation 

 more defenlible than nature had appoint- 

 ed it to be. But the oracle (very proba- 

 bly inftrucied b}' Harpagus the Ionian, 

 whcfe defigns on their (late were the im- 

 mediate fubje^t of the upprehciifions of 

 "^ tli^ 



