Oracles

An oracle is a person, place, or medium believed to relay messages from a divine or supernatural source. Oracles functioned as intermediaries who conveyed prophecies, auspices, or guidance to individuals and communities. The term derives from Latin oraculum, referencing a place or means of divine communication.

In antiquity, oracles were highly influential in politics and religion. The most famous Greek example was the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, where the Pythia, a priestess, spoke in ecstatic form and offered cryptic prophecies. Other Greek sites included Dodona, dedicated to Zeus and Dione. Outside Greece, oracles appeared in various cultures, such as the Oracle of Ammon at Siwa in Egypt, consulted by rulers including Alexander the Great.

Oracles typically operated through ritual specialists who interpreted ambiguous utterances. Messages could be delivered by spoken or chanted verse, interpreted dreams, or omens observed in natural signs. Communities consulted oracles before major decisions, wars, or temple dedications, and offerings or pilgrimages reinforced the social and political importance of oracular authority.

In modern usage, the term survives as a literary or metaphorical label for a trusted source of guidance. In computing, Oracle Corporation is a major software company known for its database products. In theoretical computer science, an oracle is a hypothetical black box that provides answers to specific questions, used in complexity theory and algorithm design. In blockchain, oracles supply external data to smart contracts.