Delphi, although by far the most prestigious, was not the only oracular site dedicated to the god of prophecy. The Oracles of Apollo in Asia Minor, first published in 1985, presents the first unified account of these lesser-known religious establishments: at Didyma, Claros, Gryneion and Patara.
Many Greek communities in Asia Minor turned to Apollo for advice on conduct in their affairs, and it is at the oracles that we can discern the most explicit interaction between normal people and their traditional religion. Oracular interventions in history are examined, as is the organisation of the shrines themselves, and the methods of consultation in the mysterious darkened passages of Didyma or on the bright headland of Claros.
The Oracles of Apollo in Asia Minor is accessibly written, does not require a prior familiarity with Classical Greek, and will be of value to students of ancient religion, Greek culture and archaeology.
Part I: The Apolline Oracles of Asia Minor: Branchidae – Didyma 1. The Archaic Period from the Literary Sources 2. The Archaic Period from the Archaeological Remains 3. From the Fall of Miletus to the Revival of the Oracle (334 BC) 4. The Hellenistic Period 5. The Imperial Roman Period: The Flowering 6. The Imperial Roman Period: The Decline Part II: Claros 7. In the Archaic and Classical Periods 8. Claros under the Hellenistic Monarchs and the Augustan Principate 9. The Laete-Flowering of Claros Part III 10. Other Apolline Oracles; Epilogue; Appendix I: Didyma and Claros. The Sources of the Responses and Supplementary Material; Appendix II: The Functioning of the Oracles at Didyma and Claros; Notes; Select Bibliography; Index
Biography
H. Parke
