Is an oracle always a person?

Question

I am reading Plato's Apology, and am not sure when he mentions the oracle at Delphi, whether this refers to the specific figure of the oracle, or the place in general (i.e. a place that could still be known as an oracle beyond the lifespan of a particular person acting in that capacity.) Any clarification is appreciated.

Of course I realize that the "Oracle at Delphi" means the temple there.

I've already read the Wikipedia article. It doesn't do much in the way of clarifying the point, or else I would not have asked here.

Answer 1

This is actually a very smart question. Don't let people make light of it.

Of course, in modern usage, the word "oracle" means any number of things, but that's because people often misuse a word if they don't really understand it.

The Oxford English Dictionary reports that in Greek and Roman times an oracle was a MEDUM through which the Gods spoke, thus a person. I believe the same was true in ancient Egypt. I know it was true in ancient Tibet (and even in modern Tibetan culture), where a person was trained to go into a trance and receive messages from the spiritual world while in the trance. The reason the Dalai Lama is still alive today is that the Nechung Oracle told him to flee Tibet as the Chinese were invading it.

The reason the issue gets complicated is that sometimes the "person" who was the oracle was a spiritual (not human) person, or a spirit mediated by a human, like the oracle at Delphi. Still, if you accept that "persons" can be spiritual and non-corporeal (Tibetans accept this readily), it still works.

The bottom line is that genuine "oracles" are human or spiritual persons, not places or things. There are a few divination methods (like the Chinese "I Ching") that involve only objects that have been referred to as "oracles", but that is a mis-translation of the correct designation in the native language.

Answer 2

An oracle is a shrine or temple sanctuary consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic god. The person who transmits prophecies from a deity at such a shrine is also called an oracle, as is the prophecy or revelation itself.

Oracles are usually presented in the form of an enigmatic or ambiguous statement or allegory. "Socrates is the wisest of men." "A great king will achieve victory." Such statements can have several meanings, thus affording a greater chance of being interpreted in such a way as to make them accurate than if they were more clear and precise, such as "Socrates has seven toes" or "Cyrus will defeat the Persians at Salamis on Tuesday."

The belief in oracles can be traced to the desire to know the future. There are literally dozens of strange techniques humans have developed in an effort to divine events before they occur. Unfortunately, the only sure guide to the future is the past, and even that isn't always reliable.

Answer 3

The Oracle at Delphi

Answer 4

No, oracles can be a lot of things:

(Taken straight from www.dictionary.com)

or·a·cle /ˈɔrəkəl, ˈɒr-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[awr-uh-kuhl, or-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.(esp. in ancient Greece) an utterance, often ambiguous or obscure, given by a priest or priestess at a shrine as the response of a god to an inquiry.
2.the agency or medium giving such responses.
3.a shrine or place at which such responses were given: the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
4.a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements.
5.a divine communication or revelation.
6.any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication.
7.any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible.
8.oracles, the Scriptures.
9.the holy of holies of the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem.
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And, according to the definition, the oracle in your book is probably a place. (See #3 in the definitions)

Answer 5

sure, notwithstanding that's a procedures much less complicated and greater effective to coach divination. p.c.. a approach you like and shop working in the direction of. that's not a remember of inherent or "organic" skills. Even violin virtuosos might desire to coach.