The attitude of the ancient Greek writers toward oracles

Abstract

The object of this dissertation is to show to what extent the educated people of ancient Greece believed in the reality, power, and authority of the oracles. There is no doubt that the common people believed implicitly. The great amount of wealth accumulated at Delphi is evidence of this. That many of the most prominent Grecians firmly believed that the oracles were of divine origin and were guided by their advice, is not unlikely, but others, owing to the undermining influence of philosophic speculation, probably had little or no faith in their reality, though they consulted them in obedience to popular opinion and demand.