Previous studies of Greek oracles have largely studied their social and political connections. In contrast, this pioneering volume explores the experience of visiting the oracle of Zeus at Dodona in NW Greece, focusing on the role of the senses and embodied cognition. Building on the unique corpus of oracular question tablets found at the site, it investigates how this experience made new ways of knowing and new forms of knowledge available. Combining traditional treatments of evidence with more recent theoretical approaches, including from psychology, narratology and environmental humanities, the chapters explore the role of nature, sound, touch, and stories in the experience of consultation. By evoking the details of this experience, they help the reader understand more deeply what it was like for ancient men and women to visit the oracle and ask the god for help. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
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A pioneering exploration of the embodied and sensory experience of visiting an ancient oracle-the oracle of Zeus at Dodona.
Introduction: contexts and chronotopes Esther Eidinow; Part I. Site and
Senses:
1. 'At a Time When the Temple of Dodonean Zeus had no Walls' Until
the first century BCE Eleni Vasileiou;
2. Pilgrimage to Dodona: visibility,
movement, motivation Diego Chapinal-Heras;
3. What can the lead tell us? Hugh
Bowden;
4. Materialist insights: the tablets of Dodona as objects Erica
Angliker;
5. Soundscape and religious experience at Dodona Katerina
Kolotourou; Part II. Consultation and Cognition;
6. The lost 'Instructions
for Use' of the Dodonaean Lamellae Pierre Bonnechere;
7. Master of clarity:
the utterances of Zeus Dodonaios in fifth-century tragedy Jessica Piccinini;
8. Selves, self-talk and stories in the Dodona Oracle question tablets Esther
Eidinow;
9. The environmental dimension of consultations at Dodona:
negotiating material practice, performing resilience Christopher Schliephake;
10. Consulting the Oracle at Dodona: an Ontological Perspective Michael
Flower.
Hugh Bowden is Professor of Ancient History at King's College London. He is the author of books on the oracle of Delphi, ancient mystery cults and Alexander the Great. The main focus of his research is religious experience in the ancient world. Esther Eidinow is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Bristol. She works on ancient Greek culture and literature, especially religion and magic, and has published widely in this area. Most recently, she designed and led the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Virtual Reality Oracle project. She is also a Fellow of the British Academy.
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