THE priestess of the Delphic oracle in ancient Greece may have delivered her prophecies under the influence of petrochemical fumes, says a geologist. If so, descriptions of the oracle, often dismissed as mere fable, may have been correct.
According to classical Greek writers, including Plutarch, the exhalations of the Earth came from a chasm below the temple of Apollo at Delphi. The oracle's priestess, a woman called the Pythia, sat over the chasm and breathed this "divine afflatus", from which she drew powers of prophecy.
At the turn of this century, however, archaeologists excavating the temple at Delphi saw neither a chasm nor any traces of volcanic activity in the area. They concluded that the exhalations were a myth.
But now Jelle de Boer, a geologist at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, claims he has uncovered evidence to corroborate the classical accounts. De Boer found an active geological ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.