Aristonice

Aristonice was an Ancient Greek prophetess who served as the Pythia in the 5th-century BCE and counseled numerous Ancient Greek polities regarding their conduct in the Greco-Persian Wars.

Prophecies and interpretations According to Herodotus, a 5th-century BCE Greek historian, Aristonice had instructed a Cretan and an Argive delegation to retain neutrality; she warned a Spartan delegation that, should Sparta fight, either their king or their city would fall; and she warned an Athenian delegation to surrender and flee. More specifically, Aristonice warned the Athenians to "" (""), which the classicist A. D. Godley translates as "flee to the ends of the earth." Alternatively, the philologist Noel Robertson suggests that the term "" ("") may also mean "land" or "country," and therefore the text may refer exclusively to the land of Greece, or—even more specifically—Attica. Consequently, the passage may also be translated as "Flee to the ends of Attica" or "Flee to the ends of Greece," which could itself be interpreted as a reference to the Peloponnese. However, Robertson suggests that it is unlikely that the city of Delphi would ally with the Persians, as their city was intimately connected with the Peloponnesian League, which was itself staunchly dedicated to resisting occupation.

Herodotus recounts that the Athenian ambassadors, although initially dejected, were then approached by a prominent resident of Delphi named Timon, who advised them to approach the oracle once more, this time with olive branches. Upon returning to Aristonice, the Athenians supposedly received another prophecy. The second divination opens with a description of Pallas unsuccessfully entreating Zeus, likely—according to Robertson—in reference to the persistent attempts of the Athenians to consult the oracle. Regardless, the messengers, considering the second prophecy to be more propitious than the first, wrote down the oracular response and reported back to the city of Athens. which may relate to the mention of "Syrian horses" in the account of Herodotus. These two passages may reflect the same oral tradition—though, it is unclear whether Aeschylus invoked the oracle or vice versa.

Text of the prophecies Ancient Greek text Latinized variant of the Ancient Greek text Translation Herodotus concludes the description of the prophecies with verb , which is inflected for the pluperfect tense, a grammatical category in Ancient Greek utilized to express events occurring prior to another specified point in time. This phrase may indicate that—at least according to Herodotus—the oracles were delivered prior to the assembly of "all the Greeks" described in the ensuing passages. This assembly may itself represent the Congress at the Isthmus of Corinth in 481 BCE, at which various Greek poleis attempted to organize a resistance against the Persians. Alternatively, the classicist James Allan Stewart Evans argues that the final pluperfect is unrelated to the subsequent topics and merely refers back to the introduction of the first prophecies. Yet, this account of Herodotus is contradicted by the Themistocles Decree, a document of dubious authenticity which claims that the decision to abandon Attica as a pre-determined plan.

In the second prophecy, the oracle references the arrival of cavalry and foot infantry from the mainland, which—according to the classicist Jules Labarbe—may indicate that the events occurred in 480 BCE, whilst the Persian army was stilling crossing into Greece from Anatolia. Moreover, the historian J.A.S. Evans notes that Herodotus himself recounts a tale whereby Macedonian messengers supposedly informed the Greeks at Tempe of the size of the Persian force. If this story is to be accepted, then it indicates that the Greeks were not fully aware of the threat imposed by the Persians until 480 BCE, thereby removing any apparent justification for the oracle to express such despair in 481 BCE.