TheDelphic Sibyl was a prophetess associated with early religious practices inAncient Greece and is said to have been venerated from before theTrojan Wars as an importantoracle. At that timeDelphi was a place of worship forGaia, themother goddess connected with fertility rituals that are thought to have existed throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. As needed to maintain the religious tradition, the role ofsibyl would pass to another priestess at each site.
The Delphic Sibyl was dated to as early as the eleventh century BC byPausanias[1] in his writings from the second century AD about local traditions. This Sibyl would have predatedPythia, the oracle and priestess of Apollo during the period of the religious traditions ofArchaic Greece, who is dated to the eighth century BC.[2]
Throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, there were several prophetic women calledSibyls who were associated with religious centers. The Sibyl ofDodona, was dated to the second millennium BC byHerodotus. ASibyl famous among the Greek colonists living nearNaples, Italy, was located atCumae and she had a strong influence upon the Romans. Delphi was well known in these ancient times and was a location at which the Sibyls were venerated.[3]
Pausanias claimed that this Sibyl was "born between man and goddess, daughter of sea monsters and an immortalnymph".[4] He said that the Sibyl came from theTroad toDelphi before theTrojan War, "in wrath with her brother Apollo", lingered for a time atSamos, visitedClaros andDelos, and died in the Troad after surviving nine generations of humans. As religious traditions changed and the cult of Apollo gained prominence at Delphi, it was said that after her "death", she became a wandering voice who still brought tidings of the future to the ears of humans, while wrapped in dark riddles.
The Delphic Sibyl experienced a revival in cultural depictions during theRenaissance in the fifteenth century AD and appears prominently among the frescoes ofMichelangelo'sSistine Chapel ceiling. This revival is thought to be due to a prophecy by the Delphic Sibyl that is believed to foreshadow the coming ofChrist. In her prophecy a savior is prophesied who will be misjudged and shamed by unbelievers with a crown of thorns.Michelangelo's rendering of the Delphic Sibyl is located opposite the depiction of the drunkenness of Noah, which also is said to have foreshadowed the shaming of Christ.[3]
Male prophets, calledBakis, also existed in the Graeco-Roman world; the most famous Bakis was atBoeotia.
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