Oracle Divinations were a part of Greek Mythology

Added: 12/11/2006

Writers like to write a god story so that people will read at and tell others to read as well. That way many people are familiar with a certain writer's writing style. However, as hard as this seems to believe at one time in history there were no computers or, for that matter typewriters. Therefore, scribers had to write down the stories that were narrated by hand or just told by mouth.

Most people love to hear or to read a good story. Many people have a favorite author. Some great stories involve oracles. An oracle is believed to be a person who foretold information to anyone inquired of by the oracle. It is believed that the information that the oracle gives to others who seek it is called oracle divinations. Oracle divinations seem to be popular in stories regarding Greek mythology. There are many topics that can and are discussed in Greek mythology that oracles like to tell and retell stories about. Some of the topics in Greek mythology include: gods and heroes. Gods include Zeus and the Olympians, Pan and the nymphs, Apollo and Dionysus, and the sea gods and the Earth gods. Some stories about heroes in Greek mythology include: Hercules and his labors, Achilles and the Trojan War, Odysseus and the Odyssey, and Oedipus and Thebes. The most famous of these stories in Greek mythology that involved oracle divinations was the story of Oedipus, king of Thebes.

According to Greek mythology, Oedipus was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who unwittingly and unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. In Greek, the name Oedipus means "swollen-foot". Oedipus was given up for adoption so that the prophecy that he would indeed kill his father and marry his mother. However the prophecy did eventually come true. This is due to the fact that when Oedipus went to the Oracle at Delphi to ask about his parentage. Instead of telling Oedipus who his birth parents were the Oracle at Delphi told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. (Darn those oracle divinations). Oedipus probably could have avoided this fate all together if he didn't lose his temper and kill his father, thereby making him king of Thebes and falling in love with his mother who was the queen of Thebes. But, alas the oracle's prophecy came true. After Oedipus learned that the oracle's prophecy came true he blinded himself by forcing his mother's brooch pins into his eyes. This story in Greek mythology seems to be a cautionary tale about ruling a kingdom, love, fate, and destiny. This story dealing with oracle divinations also seem to be saying not to run from your destiny because it will catch up with you. In fact, it seems that all of the stories in Greek mythology are cautionary tales of some kind or another. Tales from Greek mythology are very rich tales and very important tales to be read and by people in different generations because many stories of Greek mythology are read by many high school and college students.

Even though there were oracles in Greek mythology today there are not oracles that people can go to in order to get answers to all of their questions unless fortune tellers count as modern day oracles. Some people believe in fortune tellers and visit them or call them on a regular basis. Other people believe that either fortune tellers are just fun or that they are a fake or at least that their predictions are fake. Fortune tellers use tarot cards or oracle cards to make their predictions. Fortune tellers are mostly used for entertainment purposes only today. However, in Greek mythology it seems that oracles are viewed as handing down the word of God. This is because the oracles in Greek mythology were thought to know people's destiny; that isn't the case with fortune tellers today.

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