OPPapers.com Essay Index >> History Other >> Greece And Rome
We have many free term papers and essays on Greece And Rome. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
Dreaming of the Past: A Glimpse into Greece, Rome, and the Year 1000. Dreaming
of the Past: A Glimpse into Greece, Rome, and the ...
Greece And Rome. Early man's ... in Rome. The sister civilizations of early Greece
and Rome contributed many things to our world today. ...
Greece And Rome. Early man's ... in Rome. The sister civilizations of early Greece
and Rome contributed many things to our world today. ...
Women's roles in Ancient Greece and Rome. Women's Roles in Ancient Greece and
Rome Women have played important roles throughout history. ...
Rome and Greece. Rome and Greece The Roman Republic and the Ancient Greek world
were two civilizations that shared a great deal of social and cultural aspects. ...
Submitted by keno152 on April 10, 2008
Category: History Other
Words: 413 | Pages: 2
Views: 90
Popularity Rank: 100,586
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
CLAS 100
January 30, 2008
The Will of the Gods: Omens and Oracles
- Omen
o Observed, spontaneous natural events (i.e. lightning strike, seen as ultimate omen from the gods)
o Can also be provoked
o Interpreted as having divine significance (i.e. comets seemed random and divine, especially since sky was seen as realm of gods)
- Oracle: 3 meanings
o 1) Place of prophecy
Site specific (i.e. Apollo at Delphi)
o 2) Speaker of the prophecy
o 3) Prophecy itself
o Oracles are sought out: human initiated activity
Answer to specific question; asking the oracle
Answers given: yes, no, “by sacrificing to X”
Sometimes answers are set in poetic verse
- Omens + oracles = divination
o Aka prophecy (foretelling the future)
o “the art of determining the future by supernatural means
o Everyone has always wanted it
o By-product of human forethought
o Still evident today? Still around today (psychics, tarot cards, etc)
- Divination: 2 types
o 1) Inductive divination(artificial)
Interpretation of omens
Indirect: requires human interpreter (diviner)
• Technician, not always a priest
• No prophecy without omen
• High profile: advisors to rulers
Some omens good, others bad, others more specific
Natural phenomena: stars, eclipses, comets, thunderstorms
- Divination in Nature: Animals
o Prophetic: snakes, frogs, birds
o Sometimes prophetic: dogs and horses
o Never prophetic: fish
- Humans: channels for the divine
o Chance remarks
o Sneezing
o Epileptic fits
o Small child’s speech
o Noise in a crowd
- Prodigy
o Unnatural occurrences
Hermaphrodites
Two headed animals, etc
o Means something wonderful
o Skilled...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!