The Inspired Voice

This chapter deals with oracles, a paradigmatic type of religious communication that cannot be said to accomplish any of the typical aims that otherwise may be taken for granted—such as transmitting information, influencing recipients or observers, or fostering relationships. As Kindt shows, some Greek oracular shrines encouraged misinterpretation by adopting an enigmatic style of expression that mixed ambiguity with vagueness, opacity, and a countervailing impression of divine infallibility; she focuses on this “enigmatic voice” at Delphi, the most famous ancient oracle. She seeks to explain why this voice characterizes some oracles but not others; how it complicates the interpretation of oracular messages; and how oracles confirm, but adjust, the Greeks’ notion of a barely bridgeable gap between human and divine participants in their polytheistic religion.