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Deceiving oracles

by Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti

Deceiving Oracles

Also deceiving was the answer that the Lacaedemonians got from Delphis when they decided to declare war to the Arcadians. The Pythia predicted so:
“Do you ask me of Arcadia ? Quite a lot you are asking me and I won’t tell you.
The Arcadian are strong, determined, heroics, and live eating acorns.
They’ll give you many problems, but I won’t keep you from it.
I’ll give you Tegean land to trample dancing,
Fruitful plain to measure with your rope
The Lacaedemonians thought that this was an approval and that the god’s promise to give them Tegean ground to trample was a sure promise to enlarge their fields on the fruitful Arcadian plain. Therefore they were sure to win and to earn an easy victory, then they brought with them lot of chains to fetter the prisoners and enslave them. However “Loxias” was as always at his work. Thus instead of winning the war, the Spartans lost it, and were put in fetters with their own chains. Yet the oracle did not lie and the prophecy was fulfilled because as they were put to cultivate the fields, they trampled with their feet the Tegean land and they certainly measured it, but they did it for their new masters. Afterward the Tegeans hanged up the chains to the temple of Athena Alea and Herodotos saw them still there (Herodotos. I. 67).