Croesus at Dodona: The Test of Oracles in the Oracular Context

Authors

  • Daniel J. Crosby

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/histos501

Keywords:

Herodotus, Croesus, Oracles, Delphi, Dodona, Divination, Narratology

Abstract

In this paper, I reinterpret Herodotus’ account of Croesus’ test of the oracles (1.46–9). By comparing the words of Croesus’ question with the oracular tablets from Dodona, I show that Croesus’ inquiry was troublingly ambiguous. Croesus meant ‘What do I happen to be doing right now?’ but in the oracular tablets, similar questions mean ‘What might I do to find fortune?’ I propose, therefore, that the other oracles could have offered Croesus advice about having fortune, which the king unwittingly discarded as not fitting his test, and I argue that this interpretation is more consonant with Herodotus’ view of oracles in the rest of the Histories.

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Published

2022-07-01

How to Cite

Crosby, Daniel J. 2022. “Croesus at Dodona: The Test of Oracles in the Oracular Context”. Histos 16 (July). https://doi.org/10.29173/histos501.

Issue

Vol. 16 (2022): HISTOS 16 (2022)

Section

Articles

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