Oracoli su Pausania

Abstract

In the first book of his historical work, Thucydides refers to two commands the Delphic oracle gave to the Spartans: they had to shift the tomb of Pausanias the Regent to the place where he died and they had to give to Athena Chalkioikos two bodies in return (Thuc. I 134, 4). These two commands (prostagmata) are generally explained as a single oracle, although composed of two answers (P.-W. 114; Q174 Fontenrose). But the aforesaid two commands seem to be contradictory, since they probably deal with two different assessments of Pausanias' death. This study therefore aims at demonstrating that Thucydides bears witness to the answers of two distinct oracles.

Keywords

• tomb
• Pausanias the Regent
• impiety
• Delphi
• Athena Chalkioikos